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With heightened scrutiny of president Trump's interactions with Russia, and lack of detailed documentation of what was said at meetings, Mr. Trump told reporters - "I never worked for Russia." House Democrats are looking at whether there was an effort to limit documentation of meetings. 

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A conservative Catholic farmer becomes prime minister of New Zealand in 2016. Bill English grew up on his family's 125 year old farm, and says it was not about politics for politics sake in his family, but about education for their kids, farming and such things. He says it is very helpful for someone in public life to sit down and hear for an hour in mass about forgiveness, sinfulness, mercy, worship, and lives of people in a  thousand years, which are absent in daily discourse.

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Akerson's efforts to change the culture at GM. The struggle against the bureaucracy and practices of the old GM that still persist.

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After the surge in illegal migration, concerns about crime, concerns about integrating newcomers, cost and strain on social and public services, homelessness in cities, there is a sense that the pause will be a good thing to give the US an opportunity to reevaluate how it manages entry and integration of newcomers. Theodore Roosevelt's remarks in 1904 Message to Congress come to mind when he said about citizenship in the US- "The citizenship of this country should not be debased. It is vital that we kep high the standard of living of our wage workers, and therefore we should not admit masses of men whose standards of living, customs and habits are such that they tend to lower the level of the American wage worker. Above all we should not admit any man of an unworthy type, any man of whom we can say that he will be a bad citizen, or that his children will detract from instead of adding to the sum of the good citizenship of this country." This is not something new. Operation Wetback was conducted by no less than president Dwight Eisenhower in 1954 after the surge in illegal migration during the Truman administration during WW II. There was a similar sense then that the administration had taken up removal of migrants seriously and there were situations where illegal  migrants were loaded onto trucks, yet there was also a sense that there were problems with illegal migration surge that needed to be fixed including homelessness, strain on services, safety on the streets, lack of integration in culture and language. A pause means less population growth with declining population growth in the US. The natural population growth from births/deaths was 1.9 million in 2000, down to 1.1 million in 2017 and in 2025 was 519,000. At some point it will be declining, yet a pause is needed to get the citizenship education, the integration, the economic participation, the cultural side, strain on public services, to get this right. Another facet of this is its political context but all sides should think about the Nation and not politicize the issue. Outmigration to southern states and mountain states from California was 230,00, from New York 137,000, from 3 states, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts about 30,000-40,000 in 2025. As a result the southern and mountain states mostly Republican may add 6-8 Congressional seats by 2028 or 2030.   ...

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Luis Enrique suffered a nose injury in the 1994 Euro soccer quarter finals against Italy, and a loss to Italy. Now the coach for the Spanish soccer team is back with the win in the quarter final against Switzerland, that game going to penalties. Spain is now in the final four with Italy, England and Denmark. He will meet Italy now as the coach of the national team. Spain has gone through long periods when the national team has not done well. Spanish soccer revived after 44 years with a win in penalties in Vienna that took it to the soccer semifinals in 2008.

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The risk premium for investors in the U.S. stock market is about 5.4%. The risk premium is the higher return investors expect above the return on less risky government bonds to assume risks of a volatile stock market.This is the finding of researchers Fernando Duarte and Carlo Rosa at the New York Federal Reserve. It is the weighted average of 29 models used to calculate the average over the last 50 years. This is close to what it was after the bear market of the mid 70's and when shares were in a slump in 2009, and suggests a positive outlook for stocks. A separate indicator is the cyclically adjusted price earnings ratio of the American stock market developed by Robert Shiller of Yale, which averages profits over 10 years. This is at 23.2 in May 2013, and above the historical average, suggesting the U.S. market gains may not be too much higher from this point. Inflation is low, and commodity prices are lower which gives central banks in the U.S. and the eurozone more room flexibility in monetary policy. Japan's central bank is increasing the money supply to fight deflation and other central banks are cutting rates. This adds to the positive picture for U.S. share prices and stock market....

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Max Fisher of the NYT points out the unique approach taken by Canada in the U.S.-Canada relationship - to cultivate a grassroots network of Americans in legislatures, business, and at different levels of government. This has enabled the Trudeau government to build a relationship with president Trump, and at the same time have relationships at different levels of government and with business in the U.S. to tackle issues where the Trump administration has acted in ways unfavorable for Canada. Provincial governments in Ontario and Quebec lobbied against a New York state government provision for Buying American on state contracts worth over $100,000. By emphasizing the $10 billion in exports from New York to Ontario this lobbying persuaded the New York legislature to cancel the provision. Premier Trudeau's popularity helps and the proximity to the U.S. means Canadians can visit quickly and understand the U.S. as a close neighbor. Still Premier Kathleen Wynne of Ontario says Canadian businesses are nervous about the uncertainty from the Trump administration.   ...

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Phil Foden and Kevin DeBruyne find a way through Atletico Madrid's defense as Manchester City prevail.

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Binyamin Applebaum of NYT looks at the situation today when tech companies pretend or act like they can perform the role of government. The pandemic has shown the need for a strong government role on many issues facing America and the world such as healthcare and healthcare infrastructure. This has exposed the dangers of the government not being strong enough and having a clear idea and vision for the interests of the public in health, education and infrastructure. A culture change is underway after decades of misallocation of resources and neglect of the public interest, neglect of essential investment in workers, students, and families.

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Aerial pictures of the damage done by cyclone Idai in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Over 2.6 million people are affected in the three countries and the port city of Beira with 500,000 people is an island in the ocean completely cut off from the rest of Mozambique. Dams in the area of Beira are also under threat of bursting.