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Compare AI models for versions v2 v3 by DeepSeek that cost $5.6 million with Anthropic AI model that cost $100 million+, and one gets the order of magnitude in cost for the new DeepSeek China model vs its US counterparts.  The hundreds of billions of dollars that OpenAI and big spenders such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft would have to drain capital markets would be a disaster for workers and families in the US and the standard of living, the infrastructure improvements that don't get done, and the investments in transportation and other vital needs such as schools, education and healthcare that directly impact the cost of living and the standard of quality of life in America and other countries. This is where competing models from China, from India, and from European countries can get us back to where we want to be to continue improving the cost of living and standard of living, quality of life in America for workers and families. This is the choice workers and families made in 2020 and in 2025, rejecting the wasted resources in wars that serve no purpose, and rebuilding the Nation's infrastructure, its water, schools, transportation, healthcare, childcare.  ...

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Daegu in South Korea was hit early and hard by coronavirus. Now 3 months later the social distancing rules are practiced diligently and people have become used to it. Large gatherings are still banned. Daegu is South Korea's Wuhan the center of the epidemic in China,  with a city of 2.4 million having 40% of South Korea's cases. People in Daegu remain comfortable with social distancing guidelines. What they worry about is not having to practice these guidelines- these are an accepted way and it makes everyone feel safer. It also gives people in Daegu a sense that this way another upsurge is less likely to happen and drive away consumers from shops, shops then having to close. In fact preparation and disciplined approach, with backup scenario planning and continued testing for cluster isolation and quarantine following contact tracing, is giving people here an extra sense of confidence. In some areas markets and shops have gained back 80% of customers, and most shop owners want to keep it that way.  ...

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The Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Republican House health Care bill shows 24 million Americans would lose health insurance over 10 years. In terms of budget savings the bill saves $337 billion over 10 years. The increase in uninsured comes from the roll back of expansion of Medicaid under the House plan, the reduction of tax credits, plus the removing of income based credits replacing it with tax credits based on age. President Trump is promoting the bill saying it will reduce the premiums that have gone up since Affordable Care Act was passed and increase competition. House Speaker Ryan in promoting his plan says he is not in "some coverage beauty contest." The House Plan says Ryan, does not mandate that all be covered, but simply says coverage is in a free market giving people the option to buy insurance that they want, so that the numbers of insured would not be as many as under a mandate.

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Mario Monti, the new prime minister of Italy, is taking on one of Italy's toughest problems, a pervasive culture of tax evasion. The loss to the economy is not measured ony in terms of the loss of money to the Treasury, which one estimate puts at $340 billion a year. This burdens companies and the manufacturing sector with higher taxes and reduces investment in new plants, research and development, capital equipment, which would increase jobs. By encouraging this culture of tax evasion Berlusconi undercut and jeopardized his own plans to bring new economic growth to Italy. Berlusconi prevented allegations of false accounting against his companies by passing a law through parliament that made reduced penalties for false accounting. In Italy one saying goes that "only fools pay." In a country of 60 millon people only 394,000 people earn an income of more than $135,000 a year. "Evasion totale," referred to in newspapers in Italy is about total evasion by some owners of large property. One effort in parliament is to introduce legislation that would require the use of debit or credit cards, electronic transfer or other similiar methods of payment for amounts above a certain amount- with one of the amounts proposed being 100 euros. A recent poll by Demopolis showed that 73% of Italians polled want to see strong action to prevent tax evasion. This is also a strong reason why Monti, Draghi at the ECB, Bundesbank officials at Germany's central bank, and German chancellor Merkel, do not see the ECB's large scale buying of eurobonds by essentially printing money as a solution to eurozone debt problems- it puts off taking the neccessary and essential steps for reviving eurozone economies....

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The British Council in Colombo, Ceylon, as far back as the 1960's, has shaped the founder of Lyrarc.com's knowledge of Britain in shaping the ideas of the Modern World we know today, knowledge of its parliament and democracy, that are vital in shaping society in China, India, and other nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa to this day. For this reason the closing of the British Council facilities around the world to pay a loan it had taken years ago under the Conservatives during Covid, is to be seen as a major blow. This report in The Guardian is about fears the world's leading soft power agency, which is more than that a transmitter of ideas that shape the Modern World and all our democracies in Europe and America, Asia, other parts of the world, will disappear in a decade. The Madrid building which houses the British Council in Madrid at 13 Paseo del Martinez Campos in Madrid's Chamberi district, has been put up for sale to pay Covid era debt. About 5000 Spanish students attend classes in English and prepare for exams in 35 classrooms. Over the years hundreds of thousands of Spanish people passed through this building. 320 jobs will be lost, employees with passionate dedication who it will be difficult to replace. Another center in Barcelona also is expected to close. This comes at the wrong time when Britain needs to make its voice heard in the world, when a mediocre level of British parliamentarians and leaders since Blair and David Cameron have allowed this to happen. English language classes in Italy at the British Council are also being shut down. Paris building may also be sold, and shrinking operations in the Baltic Republics, Croatia and Austria. This will be a major blow to helping spread knowledge of British parliamentary traditions, its history and participation in shaping the Modern World we know today.  It is now hoped and this is a message to Labour's Andy Burnham who studied English at Cambridge, to restore Britain's image and the value of its parliamentary and other lasting contributions to the Modern World, to the benefit of all nations, to cancel this debt and give the British Council new leadership for the next 2 decades. Neil Kinnock, a Labour leader, and a chair of the British Council says- “The British Council does not want to make these cuts. They are being forced into it by the conditions required by the Treasury." “I sympathise very much with the staff, so does the leadership,” he said. The British Council had “camped out” in the Foreign Office for last three or four years and put up a “hell of a fight”. Kinnock said: “What the government should do is either find a way of cancelling the debt, or even rescheduling the debt. Because it’s to absolutely nobody’s advantage to lose the British Council.” A desperate effort to pay an outstanding £197m debt from a Covid-era Conservative government emergency loan on commercial terms, with interest to be repaid by September, is what is causing this massive destruction of a century old institution that belongs to Europeans, to Asians, and to the world at large for better societies through knowledge. Who runs Treasury in Britain? Rachel Reeves, who has no concept of the role constructive Britons have played for two hundred years from the time the British agent at Rajkot encouraged Mohandas Gandhi (Gandhiji) to study in London in 1888, a role that the British Council has played since its founding. His name Sir Frederick Souter, who wrote the letter of recommendation for Gandhi to enter the University College, London. Sir Dingle Foot, Solicitor General of the UK, another Labour leader, played that role for a youngster of 22 years at the University of Baroda in India, for Law School at the University of London in 1969, after years of educational experience at the British Council in Colombo, Ceylon. Now the founder of Lyrarc.com. We call upon Andy Burnham to make this one of is first priorities to put Britain First, and India, other European nations, the US, to assist in this effort, to preserve one of Britain's brightest contributions in throwing light on the brave scientific, educational and industrial endeavors that built the Modern World. ...

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A copy of the letter Mr. Trump sent to Mr. Erdogan of Turkey telling him " don't be a tough guy... don't be a fool," to invade the Kurdish zone in Syria. He says history will judge him, that he should "not let the world down." 

Turkey sent forces into the Kurdish zone even after the letter from Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump said that it was a bad idea getting involved in the Middle East that trillions of dollars had been wasted. He made exceptions for keeping the Straits of Hormuz open and flow of oil from a commercial standpoint in providing assistance to Saudi Arabia and Aramco, something the U.S. has done since FDR administration.

It also says Mr. Trump has worked hard to help Turkey. And admonishes Erdogan saying "I don't want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy- and I will."

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Gerald Seib of the WSJ says don't be shocked at the resignation of Mattis at Defense after the withdrawal decisions on Afghanistan and Syria by president Trump, the shutdown of the government in Washington D.C. over Mr. Trump's demandsfor $5 billion to build the border wall with Mexico on grounds of security. As president Trump prepares his reelection bid he is going back to his own sense of what the public and his support base want. The border wall issue was popular with his supporters, and by withdrawing troops from Afghanistan Trump is lowering the troops number to below that when president Obama left office, for a war that is unpopular in the country. Mattis is looking at it from the perspective of sacrifices made in Afghanistan by U.S. soldiers. 

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Voter awareness and discomfort about the $1.6 trillion deficit this year, does not translate into wanting to see spending cuts in Medicare, Social Security and popular programs. It is the view of public opinion that is determining political leaders inaction on these issues, which are at the heart of controlling spending and the deficits. It is no surprise then that the Obama budget showed no action on these issues. Both parties are careful not to talk about cuts to popular programs without broad public support. The Pew Research Center survey shows 12% of Americans want to cut spending on Medicare or on Social Security, only 6% want to reduce spending on veterans benefits. Politicians can do the math from these numbers. They may be sending loud signals to Democrats and Republican politicians that voters will punish those who cut these popular programs. Polling done by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News produced similiar numbers.

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Labour's Keir Starmer wants to make Britain the first nation to have a zero emissions power system. His plan put forward in September 2022 would double onshore wind, triple solar energy, and quadruple offshore energy production by 2030. It would create half a million jobs, reindustrialize Britain and cut electricity bills by hundreds of pounds, says this report in The Guardian.This is Labour's answer to the Tories faltering energy plans. The Breakthrough report on achieving COP26 goals of the IEA and IRENA, international renewable energy agencies, shows the opportunity to create 85 million additional jobs by 2030, compared to 2019. Many world leaders including president Biden and Starmer, Germany's Habeck, and India's Modi are setting aggressive goals for renewable energy.

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On Gandhi Jayanti remembering American president FDR's contribution to Hind Swaraj. FDR rejected Churchill's ideas of retaining the British Empire's colonies while fighting the German Nazis in the name of freedom. FDR said- " India should be made a commonwealth at once. After a certain number of years- 5 perhaps or 10- she should be able to choose whether she wants to remain in the Empire or have complete independence." 

FDR (US president Franklin Roosevelt) said -"I can't believe that we can fight a war against fascist slavery, and at the same time not work to free people all over the world from a backward colonial policy."

 

 

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U.S. companies have decided to wait out the conflict in Libya till a clear picture emerges. Mufson gives a good account of the history of Libya's tumultuous relationships with western oil companies over 3 decades. Nason Saleri, former head of reservoir management at Saudi Aramco, now head of Houston based Quantum Reservoir Impact, says oil companies have decided not to get involved until the situation stabilizes. Oil companies such as ConocoPhillips attended a meeting of the U.S.-Libya Business Council where representatives of the Benghazi based coalition presented. Ali Tarhouni, leading economic policymaker for the Benghazi coalition says oil contracts will be honored. Saleri says western oil companies are preparing for the time when a new government takes charge in Libya after the end of the Ghadafi regime. His view is that once things settle down and a new government is in charge he sees the potential of enhancing the percentage of oil from known reservoirs. The reserves are there in Libya to stabilize production to earlier levels and to increase it says Saleri....

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China's COSCO taking an ownership stake in Hamburg port was opposed by the Greens and Free Democrats parties in the three party coalition government with the SPD in Germany. Scholz of the SPD went ahead over their opposition saying this will preserve jobs in Hamburg port. In the compromise reached the ownership is capped at 24.99% so that no foreign country owns a majority stake. At one point Germany's cyber security agency BSI classified the Hamburg port as critical infrastructure.

China is Germany's largest trading partner  for 7 years with trade reaching a record $320 billion.

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Michelle Yeoh, Ocar winner, describes her role in promoting the UN Sustainability Goals, the millions of women who are part of the 2.7 billion people she says lack digital connectivity around the world, and face barriers to information and resources in all spheres of their lives. She wants to put the spotlight on the women who are on the frontlines of crisis- who are rebuilding their communities, taking care of children and older people, and putting food on the table. Yeoh says she is 60 and she know what perseverance means, but nothing compares to what these women are doing today.

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The Guardian has this remarkable story of actor Anthony Hopkins, who comes alive and get all his vigour and energy from just working and being happy to stay alive. He is acting for some sixty years, yet all he wants is to work and be humble about it, no pretenses, and he is 81 years. He just acted in BBC's King Lear and in Netflix's The Two Popes as Pope Benedict. He has taken up classical music composition and painting on the advice of his wife Stella of fifteen years, helping him relax and not take himself seriously.

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What went wrong to get 100,000 deaths in the UK? A lot says this analysis in The Times. Don't need a big test and contact tracing effort was the early response, no quick decisions to build the infrastructure for this like South Korea or Taiwan. The Cheltenham Festival? Superspreader events a bad idea. Open Borders- another bad idea. After a break in the coronavirus weather by summer- relaxing vigilance and preventive steps, another bad idea. So on till a coronavirus variant stepped in through the open borders. You make your own luck, says this analysis in The Times of London.

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Roger Fly 81 years, an old school fly fisherman and a nuclear scientist decides to challenge the right of landowners to prevent trout fishing by ordinary people in Colorado's pristine wilderness. Hill wants to give everyone a right to "just stand in the water" in all navigable rivers in Colorado and not to let sprawling private estates stand in the way. The NYT gives this story about Mr. Hill's efforts and how this would provide access to the 100,000 miles of navigable rivers in Coloradonfor people who like to go out on the river and for hiking, kayaking.

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The CSU wins 36.4% of the vote in Bavaria and the populist Free Voters gains ground with 15.3%. Both will continue the government in Bavaria. The AfD advanced in Bavaria to 16%. The CDU wins 34.5% of the vote in Hesse, with the city of Frankfurt in Hesse. CDU will continue to form a government in Hesse. The AfD won 18% of the vote in Hesse. The FDP got less than 5% threshhold for representation and the Social Democrats went from 19% to 15% in Hesse. The economy and immigration played a part in the losses of the Social Democrats and FDP.

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Rosalynn Carter is the most politically active first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt. She actively participated in Jimmy Carter's political campaigns first for governor of Georgia, then for the US presidency as a Democrat in 1976. Both come from a small peanut farming town of Plains, Georgia. Carter served in the Navy and went to Annapolis for naval training. After leaving the presidency the Carters wer active in humanitarian efforts to tackle disease in Africa and in other efforts including Habitat for Humanity building homes for lower income Americans. No president has served in this way for this long as Jimmy Carter.

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In 2024 one third of the mortgage payment is the average cost of insurance and taxes. Insurance went up with natural disasters fires and floods, taxes go up as home prices surge as they have in 10 years without enough new housing being built.

 For half of people in 5 major Metro areas, Rochester and Syracuse in NY, Omaha in Nebraska, New Orleans, and Miami, at least a quarter of borrowers spend more than half of their mortgage payment in insurance and taxes. Nationwide in US 9%, up from 4% in 2014 spend more than half of their mortgage payment on insurance and taxes.

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The increase in immigrants in German society is creating new tensions especially with immigrants who fail to integrate into German society. A large increase in refugees from the wars in the Middle East in 2014 is creating new tensions. Asylum applications went up from 127,023 in 2013 to 181,453 for 11 months of 2014. According to the OECD the 1.2 million immigrants admitted to Germany in 2014 make it the second largest destination for economic migrants in the world. Immigrants have also come from Greece and other countries experiencing economic difficulties. The protests in Dresden, drawing 10,000 people, show a significant minority opposes the current immigration policy. Similiar opposing views were expressed in the recent elections in Sweden and at the elections for the European parliament. The CDU Interior minister Maiziere says the Pegida movement cannot call itself as "patriots," as the acronym Pegida stands for "patriotic Germans against the Islamization of the West."

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Kamala Harris to visit Arizona and the Southern Border today. Will call for tough border action and signing into law immigration legislation negotiated by Republican Senator Lankford that would close the Southern Border. Labour's Starmer is taking the same steps in Britain, so is France under Macron and Barnier, so are Northern European socialist leaders such as Mette Frederiksen of Denmark who want to see immigration stopped so that cost of living and the economy, childcare, issues of importance for workers and families can be addressed vigorously.

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Expensive new fuel saving technology investments at BMW to meet new pollution control standards in Europe (130 grams per kilometer) and boost fuel efficiency in the US. This year only 40% of its cars will meet 140 grams per kilometer. With a production total of 1.4 million cars BMW faces sizable investments with smaller car volume than the likes of Toyota and Honda. R&D costs have climbed 22% in first half 2007 to 1.5 billion euros. BMW has agreements to jointly develop some of the new technology with Daimler and GM on hybrid gasoline-electric drive cars. Its developing a new 3 liter diesel engine for the US market that cleaner and fuel efficient. BMW plans also to boost advertising budgets to promote itself as a fuel efficient carmaker conscious of the environment, See related article. It plans to expand in India China and Russia to get a share of the expanding markets there. BMW's second quarter profit fell 23% on a 7% gain in revenues underlying the additional investments BMW faces. CEO Reithofer wants to increase profits to above last years 3.75 billion euros. ...