LyrArc Article Gist
Throughout their work as high school teachers in Mankato, Minnesota, during Tim Walz's 8 years in the US Congress, 8 years as Minnesota Governor, Tim and Gwen Walz were a pair that depended on each other and were each others closest advisers. Gwen Walz had an office in the Minnesota Governor's offices. She has taken a strong interest in education, in Minnesota's schools and colleges and shares the same passion that Tim Walz has for the school lunch programs and other ways to build educational opportunity in the state. Jospeh Bernstein looks at the life and work of Gwen Walz, spouse of the new running mate of Kamala Harris, Tim Walz of Minnesota. In 2002 when Tim Walz was running for Governor Walter Mondale came out of retirement to fill the seat of Senator Wellstone. At a meeting she is shown with Walter Mondale whom she thanked for inspiring her with his VP choice of Geraldine Ferraro. This is memorable because Hubert Humphrey was a mentor of Walter Mondale. Humphrey's role in US politics goes back to the days when he was a candidate for the presidential nomination against John F. Kennedy in 1956 and 1960. Humphrey was Vice President under LBJ. Mondale served as Vice President under president Jimmy Carter from Georgia 1977-1981. Minnesotans have served in the VP role twice before - with Tim it would be three- all highly competent Americans with a measure of respect worldwide. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
American men took the biggest hit for life expectancy in an Oxford University study, with life expectancy dropping by 2.2 years in 2020. American women life expectancy dropped by 2.65 years. Lithuanian men had a decline of 1.7 years. This is the largest decline going back to the days of the Great Depression in the 1930's

Elsewhere in Europe, life expectancy declined in many countries for the first time since the Second World War. This happened in Spain, Italy, England, Wales and Belgium. Women in 8 countries and men in 11 countries had drops in life expectancy over more than 1 year.

LyrArc Article Gist
Ms. Powell Jobs, the wife of Steve Jobs of Apple has a long relationship with Kamala Harris since the days she ran for Attorney General of California. She has followed Kamal Harris's career in politics over 2 decades. It is a friendship of shared interests in arts and culture, in political philosophy, and shared feelings in being women in the spotlight, says this report by Theodore Schleifer in the NYT. It is less about money, though it sounds odd to say this, than in a shared sense of purpose and as women caught up in events at this time in history.

LyrArc Article Gist
Approval process by government is now much stricter and the approval process takes longer for new wind turbines. A leading renewable energy developer BayWa re. estimates 45% of the old turbines installed 20 years ago would not be approved under today's stricter standards. As these become unprofitable a lot of new turbines have to replace older ones. After years of gains suddenly in 3 years the wind power capacity installed each year is dropping sharply, and is in deep trouble. Especially because wind energy plays a big role in Germany, accounting for 25% of total electricity production in 2019, solar only has 10%. For all of Germany only 290 MW was installed in first half of 2019, 80% drop from same period 2018.  In 2018 2800 MW of wind turbines were installed, and that was down from 5000MW in 2017. Problems in addition to stricter approval standards is the resistance from the public which fears wind turbines close to residential areas could affect health of residents. In Bavaria 10H ban is imposed on new installations, requiring 10 times the height of the wind turbine as minimum distance from homes. Other issues are wildlife and the impact on  birds in the area. 300 turbines for 1200 MW are blocked for this reason. Other reasons are military concerns, FM radio beacons. It used to take 10 months for approval. Now the process is so long that the technology itself has changed by that time. Commercial risks are growing for operators in this environment as new costly regulations come into place. A regulation in Brandenburg requires payment of 10,000 euros to neighboring municipalities per wind turbine. Subsidy eligibility is also being cut. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
One Big Beautiful Act will generate $64 billion from fees and Medicaid savings. It will reduce incentives for migrants to enter the US by imposing fees on migrants entering the country for economic reasons yet using asylum laws meant only selectively for humanitarian purposes. In past American history in the 1930-1954 migrants entered the country only for agricultural activities, for the first time in 2000-2024 asylum laws intended strictly for a limited number of thousands for humanitarian reasons were being used by millions of migrants from Asia and Latin America. 

The new fees in the One Big Beautiful Act are $5000 for entering the country illegally and another $5000 for not attending a legal proceeding. The social safety net will apply only to American citizens.

LyrArc Article Gist
Trump turns to early supporters of his campaign in his appointments to key positions. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama is the new Attorney General. Mike Pompeo, three time Congressman from Kansas, as CIA Director, and Mike Flynn, who headed the Defense Intelligence Agency under president Obama for 2 years, as the National Security Advisor. Among people Trump is meeting to broaden the new administration team are- Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, and Michelle Rhee, a Democrat who was chancellor of schools in the District of Columbia.

LyrArc Article Gist
The internal feuds within Silicon Valley about ideas of altruism that support unlimited personal pursuit of profit including monopolistic behaviours, in the measure of their greed. And the presentation of lack of personal involvement in such gains by calling it altruistic. This justifies and puts a neat face on unlimited personal wealth creation in Silicon Valley at a time of great inequality and poverty in America. The consequences can be seen in the crumbling infrastructure and transportation services in New York City compared to that in newly industrializing countries such as China and India, the result of misallocation of capital.

LyrArc Article Gist
Netflix offers paid parental leave for upto 1 year in a fluid arrangement that lets parents decide how they want to do it, when they want to return to work, and when to take time off. This offers the flexibility to do this without having to worry about work or finances, a stated goal of the company.

LyrArc Article Gist
India achieves an initial vaccination target of 3 million vaccinations in a single day on March 14, 2021. Much of recent increase is from people over 60 getting vaccinated. For healthcare workers the first priority group about 50% still need to be vaccinated. This sets the stage for taking the vaccination drive to the next level in India. Increasing number of people are now getting their second dose.

Health experts see not vaccinating the vulnerable population fast and wide enough as a missed opportunity. The need has never been greater to vaccinate with better organization, vaccinating staff, and supply of vaccines at locations, so that this beats any second surge.

LyrArc Article Gist
Trade Agreement talks will begin in December between India and Sri Lanka as Sri Lanka looks for ways to bring back growth following a 9.2% contraction in the economy in 2022 and estimated 4.2% in 2023. Mr. Weerasinghe at the International Trade Office setup under the presidential secretariat will represent Sri Lanka. Engaging in trade with India and China and regional countries is part of the plan to restore growth. Sri Lanka's exports to India were about $980 million in 2021 and imports $4.74 billion. This time Weerasinghe says we must avoid taking rigid inflexible positions and strive for a win-win for both sides.

LyrArc Article Gist
After stalling in summer 2021 US vaccination picks up in August to 865,000 on August 4, 2021. At one point vaccinations reached 3 million a day and stalled with younger people hesitating to get vaccinated. Some southern states Tennessee, Oklahoma and Georgia see a surge in vaccinations. This happens as US daily cases exceed 100,000 for the first time on August 4. Of this 50% are in 8 southern states including Florida, Texas, and Louisiana. Florida is the worst affected state. Hospitals are again being overwhelmed with new cases of delta variant among the unvaccinated in August. Southern states have lagged behind in vaccination.

LyrArc Article Gist
WSJ poll in January 2025 shows DJT has the support of the American people to make changes and at the same time not enough support for major changes the president elect has promised to make. Deport all migrants with criminal records 75% support. On large scale deportation of migrants 70% disapprove deporting long time residents who have no criminal records. Does this long time resident mean people who are here before 2021 when for the first time migrants reached 200,000 in mid year 2021 exceeding the 150,000 peak in DJT's first term, is not made clear by this report on the WSJ poll. This is the point mid 2021 when Biden was supposed to have removed Mayorkas as Homeland Secretary and come up with new legislation with Republicans to close the border before a surge.  Ending birthright citizenship- 64% disapprove 31% approve. Set tariffs on all foreign goods- 48% approve 46% disapprove Eliminating programs for healthcare, education, social safety net- 60% disapprove 34% approve. Eliminate the Department of Education, and eliminate replace career civil service officers- 60% disapprove. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
VW which has failed to build market share in the US is leaving aside its appeal point of German engineering in 2023 and now selling itself as an American brand. VW has become dependent on China for half its sales and badly needs to avoid overconcentration in one country. It is trying to enter the SUV market with the Scout brand for buzz as an off road vehicle and will introduce 2 dozen models. Scout is a 4 wheel drive recreational vehicle designed in America for International Harvester, a company VW acquired in 1981 when it was called Navistar. It is a mashup of a World War II Willy Jeep and a pickup truck with its boxy shape. Half a million were sold from 1960 to 1980. With this plan VW with only 4.5%  of the American market is trying one more time, this time as a way out of overconcentration in China. Realizing that America is where the automobile entered mass production in the factories of Detroit. South Carolina's assembly has approved $1.3 billion to support VW in building a new plant near Columbia to build the Scout.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
With 7 caps for Germany and winning the Bundesliga title for Bayern in 2005, Tobias Rau retired in 2009 after injuries. His next career- teaching sports and biology at the peter August Gasemschule in northwest Germany.

Gheerbrant of The Times of London talks to soccer players who decide to take the road not taken and branch out into different things. 

Rau says as a child he was lucky to have good teachers, and school was a part of life he really loved. With a wife and two small children he likes living in a small town. Werther the home town he came back to to teach at a Gasemschule.( a comprehensive with real mix of abilities and qualifications). He likes that he gets to spend quality time with his children, and does not have to deal with the high of adrenaline of competitive sports which can tax the body and system. He was 27 when he retired, quite young so that helps, as he could get back to university easily at that age. 

LyrArc Article Gist
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.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Rupee is moving close to 80 to the US dollar with increase in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve. The IMF expects the Rupee to go past 94 to the dollar in 2029. India's Reserve Bank is interested in carefully managing the steady decline so that business decisions can be made with some measure of stability. The weaker rupee will help increase exports at a time when India's is raising its logistics capabilities and creating the capabilities on the ground that will give India a key role in the new supply chain the US and the EU are building in Asia.

LyrArc Article Gist
US census data shows Mexico exported $382 billion worth of goods to the US in 2022, an increase of 20% over 2021, according to US census data. American companies put more money into Mexico for investment than China in 2021. The high shipping costs and 2 weeks vs 2 months of shipping time are part of the reason companies are looking at Mexico as an alternative to China. The trade friction with the US and tariffs are added incentives for companies to shift manufacturing out of China. The shift is gradual as the infrastructure improvements in Mexico lag behind the infrastructure development in other countries in Asia.

LyrArc Article Gist
37 tornadoes hit 6 US states in a weird weather pattern. One tornado stretched for 250 miles sweeping through and flattening whole towns such as the 10,000 people working class town of Mayfield, Kentucky. Kentucky was hardest hit, other states were Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Mississippi and Tennessee. The last time a tornado stretched out this far was in 1925 for 219 miles. The number and range of tornadoes suggests a change in weather patterns. Some debris hurled into the air as high as 30,000 feet is a sign of the changes in severity of weather patterns. List of people unaccounted for was 8 pages long in one town.

LyrArc Article Gist
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor from Arizona was a pioneer of women's rights in the workplace, and had her own struggles before being the first woman appointed to the US Supreme Court. Born on a vast 200,000 acre cattle ranch in El Paso she was much of a cowgirl. She is considered to have blazed a trail for other women through her life and work. She was appointed by Reagan in 1981 and served till 2006. In 1952 when she graduated from law school at Stanford women had a hard time working in the legal profession.

LyrArc Article Gist
A 900 mile long frontline from Kherson on the Black Sea north to Luhansk stretches Ukraine's forces along a long line in June 2023. A Ukraine effort to retake areas lost to Russia in eastern Ukraine and near Crimea as part of the counter offensive is only making slow progress because of land mines and lack of airpower. The successful Ukraine effort in 2022 to retake Kherson happened in an area which had two rivers and where Russia faced logistical issues of supplying its troops. In 2023 both sides have prepared for some time and it is very difficult for both.

LyrArc Article Gist
For the second time in two decades U.S. carmakers embrace SUV's with growing demand, moving away from passenger cars. The last time this happened in the decade before the financial crisis of 2008, automakers in the U.S. took a big hit when SUV sales collapsed, with GM and Chrysler heading into bankruptcy, and Ford in dire straits. This time increases in fuel economy and a more favorable economy are leading to higher demand for SUV's. In 2017 sedans, coupes and other passenger cars made up 37% of U.S. sales compared to 51% in 2012.  The Trump administration's move to lower fuel economies in a way poses new risks for U.S. automakers, as it is the very strong push for higher fuel economy and rapid improvements in the technologies that make this possible that have made the newer SUV's such as the Ford SUV line more attractive to buyers.  Historically the U.S. automakers have slipped badly on this issue and not managed it well as economic swings have completely reversed automakers profits. This mistake will be repeated without the automakers own push to drive demand in directions that cushion it from reversals in the economy with a broad based product line supported by new technologies. A look at Japanese car strategy shows a commitment to this concept of maintaining a borader based product line with new technology advances in each segment. Something where the U.S. automakers have found themselves asleep at the wheel. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Brexit negotiation guidelines from the EU rule out parallel talks on both Britian's future relationship with the EU and the separation agreement negotiations, preferring a phased approach. Only when the first phase of separation is complete or at an advanced stage would the second phase of future relationship with the EU be negotiated. The EU Council president, Donald Tusk, says the process would be long, complex and at times confrontational. Der Spiegel online writing on the negotiation describes the approach in a meeting with the lead German negotiator Mr. Oettinger, on the team of Michael Barnier who leads the negotiations for the EU- Oettinger focussed on what Britain owes the EU, estimated at over 60 billion euros. So far apart are the British and EU positions that Michael Barnier has no idea on the pathway for these negotiations, only awareness of the priorities such as the rights of EU and British citizens in each others region, says Der Spiegel. Looking at Theresa May speaking in parliament about her decision to move forward with Brexit in a letter to the EU invoking Article 50, one senses a mixture of confidence and nationalist appeal, far different from reality on the ground. The Leader of the Opposition cited government figures for a sharp decline in GDP as a result of Brexit, and the Scottish leader in parliament went so far as to say the government attitude in negotiations made "Scottish independence inevitable"- all headwinds Theresa May appears to be ignoring or treating with disdain. At this time the EU and the British prime minister appear to be talking over rather than to each other.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The reduced availability of child care services, longer time it takes to get steady jobs in a slow growth economy, and the "safety trap" of becoming used to a freer lifestyle, areincreasing the average age at which Italian women have their first child. It has moved up from about 30 to 31.4 in 2012. As more women pursue higher education and get university degrees the trend is to focus on jobs and lifestyle. As grandparents get older and the lack of enough preschool centers this makes child care harder, in a nation where 68% of children under 10 are still cared for by grandparents. At present only half of Italian mothers work, according to the OECD, compared to 74% in France. This worsens the demographics with currently 150 people over 65 years for the 100 under 14 years, and the figures increasing with fewer young people to support retirees, according to Istat.

LyrArc Article Gist
The effects of the Ukraine war on wheat prices and wheat imports for Egypt and other Middle East countries is shown here in the Financial Times.

LyrArc Article Gist
India prepares for Republic Day during the third year of the pandemic in 2022. The Times of India has this photo essay as Republic Day approaches.