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At this rate China and India will through the time young people are being encouraged to pursue reading and education- and through strictly regulated social media and videogames in China and TikTok banned in India- move in the direction of developed nations and the US with 150 million users of TikTok be moving in the other direction where Brazil 126 million users and Indonesia 99 million users are. This report in MIT Technology Review says in 2022 the children and teenagers in America spent 103 minutes on TikTok. Tiktok and Facebook split the social media market with about 5 billion minutes each. If users are on both this could give an average of 206 minutes or over 3 hours a day. Consider that there is a Chinese version Douyin. In China its version of TikToK is strictly regulated for a long time now and nowhere poses the kind of threat to education, reading and building a better educated population in China than in the US. Is that a conspiracy. No, says MIT Technology Review, it is because how quickly and forcefully the Chinese governments regulates digital platforms.  It a clear failure of the US Congress and the federal government that has led to this situation where this may be the first generation of young people that are less prepared for civic responsibilities and are from the amount of time dedicated to social media spending less time on reading to to be knowledgeable, and reading in general for education.  In China action is swift. Take for example video games and addiction. In 2021 the rule was put in that children under 18 could only play video games between 8.00 pm and 9.00 pm on weekends and holidays. They are blocked from using outside of these hours. China is looking for new measures that require creators to obtain a license, and for ways for the government to regulate the social media algorithms themselves.  ...

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A sign of irrelevant factors intruding into political discourse is this lawsuit challenging the TikTok ban in Texas saying that it prevents academic research. TikTok as a social media app was never known for its use in academic research. A lot has been written about its harmful effects on teenagers. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed this lawsuit making this bizarre, as it brings a large east coast university into this discourse, that does nothing to address the harmful effects of social media when two thirds of fourth graders in the US are not proficient in reading.

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Why Rachel Reeves type of strict financial rules will hurt Labour. DJT in the US relaxed the borrowing limit to $5 trillion, and has designed his One Big Beautiful Act to have parts of it to boost the economy and investment. Reform UK gains on both sides with Reeves efforts to cut benefits losing Labor voters and it's struggles on migration hurting it on the other side with conservtaive voters who voted Labour. With the Conservatives in disarray, Labour has to keep its focus on improving the lives of Britons.  Today it does not matter whether you are Social Democrat or Christian Democrat or Socialist, what matters is to have common sense policies that help te vast majority of people even in unconventional ways by breaking the rules or fixed ideas about what can be done. DJT and Merz are on the Christian Democrat side, Denmark's PM Mette Frederiksen is Social Democrat, what matters is to have a culture and policies that help the people and stands up for ordinary people in the Nation. ...

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As U.S. coronavirus cases reached 2 million, a new virus hotspot emerges in Arizona. With the economy reopening attention has shifted to how the economic damage can be reduced and businesses remaining open. Many retail businesses relied on online orders,or in the case of restaurants on takeout orders, now these stores and businesses are gradually reopening with social distancing and other rules.

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An ad for a state sponsored campaign to promote women having babies on "Fertility Day," September 22, in Italy, shows a man holding a cigarette that is half burned, with the line: "Don't let your sperm go up in smoke."  The ads were deemed offensive and were withdrawn. Women say the problem is not that women don't want to have babies. It is because women depend on grandparents to provide childcare in a country that lacks enough child care facilities. Companies are still backward when it comes to offering flexible hours for women with small children. Birthrate in Italy is about 1.37 per woman compared to France at about 2.0, because France does better at flexible hours, and social safety net that includes day care and subsidies for families with children. In fact women say in cities it is prudent for women to think about having a second child because of work related issues. Italy spends less on social protection benefits- about 1% of GDP. Has a low female employment rate with some young women having to sign a pre-sign a resignation letter. Only recently did premier Renzi introduce a baby bonus of 80 to 160 euros. But the culture at work and the social support net is not encouraging. ...

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Women's job losses because of child care responsibilities and the jobs impact of the pandemic is likely to lead to fewer woman working. In the past recessions construction and manufacturing took a hit and men were more affected. This time social distancing in professions such as personal care, nursing care and service sector jobs, is leading to job loss for women.

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About half of the people in a FES/ Bonn University report say they are fairly or very satisfied with German democracy. Skepticism about democracy is highest among people with less education and income. This is why the author of the study Handrych is concerned about social cohesion. As in the US with Biden the Greens Habeck and SPD's Scholz have to meet the challenge of social cohesion, a challenge put up by our times and the economic changes of the last few decades with the inequality of wealth. And the need for governance to serve the interests of all the people, not just a few that do well.

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This report in WSJ says Mr. Musk's agreement with Twitter for the $44 billion merger had terrible timing. It comes with the future for social media companies becoming dimmer and the plunging shares in Tesla with the high inflation and the war in Ukraine hitting stocks.  It is striking that Musk around January 2022 before the invasion of Ukraine referred to Twitter as "the future of civilization," as reported by WSJ. This was typical of the hyperbole and talk typical of the last two decades that hyped up internet stocks. Musk said- "Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important for the future of civilization. I don't care about the economics at all." Twitter stock meanwhile has dropped to 20% below the price it came into public markets in 2013, now at about $35 a share. Mr. Musk agreed to buy Twitter at $54.20 a share about 50% more than it stands now. Twitter ad revenue outlook is dimming further as has happened at other social media companies and the company is now cutting jobs says the WSJ. ...

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About 54 million seniors in the US will benefit from the expected 8.7% cost of living increase in Social Security in 2023. Medicare premiums will remain stable in 2023 at $170.10 so that cost of living increases are not eroded by rising Medicare premiums.

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How to manage relationships as you get older. What makes for energizing connectedness feeling in relationships and when do relationships wither. Different aspects of managing this social connectedness that we all need for good mental health are discussed by Francine Russo in WSJ.

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Parents and teachers in Germany are skeptical of school reopening because of the lax rules for mostly unvaccinated children. Teachers are not required to be vaccinated and show digital certificate of vaccination as is the case in Italy. Teachers and parents see the return to normalcy not lasting long  with the relaxed rules. Britain is also following school reopening with relaxed rules going so far as to not require social distancing or masks. Health experts question this policy.

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Four million elderly women live alone in Japan. For some like For Chikako Tanaka in Aichi prefecture in central Japan who is 85 years old, social isolation is a real problem. She had no pension and lived on her savings till the savings ran out, with no one to visit her as her dementia progressed. Chikako was an unlikely person to go to prison for shoplifting because she dresses with care and looks different, yet this was the only way out of social isolation. In prison for the first time in years her 85th birthday was celebrated. 

Physiotherapists help women prisoners over 70 years with rehabilitation, walking skills and balancing exercizes. Prison services help women to integrate back into society when they return, with service centers in each neighborhood when they return.  

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This article in The Times says UK business has already moved to ESG, the idea that business is also about environment, social and governance, ahead of Thatcherite era cabinet ministers Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel, Liz Truss and Dominic Raab. This was evident during the Tory conference in Manchester.  Boris Johnson is moving in line with voters and ahead of his ministers who are aware of the changes in the conservatives appeal to voters. Johnson is not attached to any preconceived idea of what the Tories are about. His only concern is to be where voters are and think like the voters, this is where he is happy being. Voters in Britain today think business is more than being about profits. New polling by the Social Market Foundation shows changing attitudes in the Conservative party and its supporters. In 2016 48% of Conservative voters thought it was important to remove regulations and rules for business. In 2021 this has fallen to 27%. Today economic fairness is a big concern. Inequality was a concern for 15% of Tory voters, today it is 28%, higher than Tories concern about removing regulations. Business leaders have also moved on after the Brexit referendum and see the need for meeting a social purpose. Some business leaders think the Thatcherite thinking of some cabinet ministers is "decades out of date." ...

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With domestic oil consumption growing at 10% a year, and the Arab Spring leading to increased subsidies and social spending, the Saudis are looking at nuclear power to generate some of the supply of electricity. Saudi Arabia expects to have no reserve margin of supplies by 2020 at current levels of domestic consumption. In 2011 the Saudi government setup the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, or KA-CARE, for coming up with nuclear energy policies. KA-CARE has an agreement with French supplier AREVA.

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US president Biden says about vaccination misinformation- "they're killing people." He said "the only pandemic we are having is among the unvaccinated." Biden cited the risks of the social media companies not doing enough to tackle misinformation on vaccination.

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Anders Rasmusen, NATO Secretary General 2009-2014, says it is dangerous for Europe to remain a bystander in the Indo-Pacific. He says the Social Democrats and Greens in Germany, and the Nordic countries including Denmark do not support the policies of the outgoing administration of chancellor Merkel in relations with China. Rasmussen was prime minister of Denmark from 2001-2009. The current prime minister of Denmark, is the leader of the Social Democrats and won the election in 2019 to become prime minister. In the recent German election the Social Democrats were the largest party in parliament and expected to form a government with the Greens party. The situation in the world is changing rapidly in 2020-2021 the years of the coronavirus pandemic. Supply chains are being restructured. The Danish prime minister is on a 3 day visit to India. The Biden administration is committing to spending $3.5 trillion for the renewal of the American economy and for families and workers. America is committed to it role as a leader of the free world, protecting its technologies and strengthening its industries, building respect for workers and families. ...

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A major problem for President Hollande of France in the 2014 budget is how to handle the deficits in the country's Social Security System. Over the years the deficits were transferred to a vehicle called the Cades, which is approaching its legal ceiling of 270 billion euros. The vehicle was originally set up in 1996 with the idea of separating past deficits, so that the state could balance its budget every year for the Social Security System, which covers health care, pension and family allowances. Previous governments have for the most part bypassed this and added new deficits to Cades instead of making cuts in spending. The Hollande administration says it is controlling health care expenses and increasing pension contributions as a way to bring the deficits under control. It will not assess a special tax for the deficit in Social Security in 2014, as new taxes are highly unpopular. Cades lifetime has been extended twice, first in 1997 to 2014, and during the 2009 financial crisis to 2025. In 2010 following the crisis, Cades chairman, Ract Madoux says, the short term borrowing had reached 60 billion euros. It is down to 30 billion euros, which he still considers too high....

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The Economist magazine points out that even without the one-child policy birth rates would have declined in China because of rising participation of women in the work force, education, delayed marraige, and the high cost of education and housing for more children. As China pursues a two child policy starting in 2015, many of the same factors are at work and many women are seen as unlikely to have two children. The Economist says the right policy would have been to scrap this policy altogether. This may actually happen as China sees the social and economic factors behind the falling birthrate continuing to operate limiting the size of families, and creating problems of rapidly aging society as in Japan. Latin America provides strong evidence to support the Economist magazine's point because of the falling birthrates in Brazil and Mexico for social and economic reasons.

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Walker of the WSJ describes how the new issues of immigration and identity are changing the way people vote in European Union countries. In the Dutch election there were other surprises. The Dutch Labor Party which won 25% of the vote in the 2012 elections fared badly and got only 6% of the vote. Much of this vote was picked up by antipopulist parties such as the Greens. Mr. Rutte, the prime minister under the current government, and his party centre right VVD won 21% of the vote. Social Democrats and Labor parties in Netherlands, France and Britain are doing badly, and even Martin Schulz's SPD's higher popularity is said to be reaching a peak and may not last till September, says Walker. Labor Party in Netherlands failed because of its participation as a junior party in a centre right government following austerity policies, say analysts. Overall as shown in Netherlands the tensions and loss of credibility of social democrats is playing out differently in each country. The Netherlands election shows that there is also an anti-populist shift that moves some of the vote from social democrats to parties such as Greens, or other parties or movements that have gained credibility as the social democrats faded.  ...

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The Times looks at how UK universities are dealing with the social and upward mobility gap- what numbers are present of white working class young men and women, and of first generation students for university education.

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The problem of breakthrough infections requires people to follow all necessary prevention measures including social distancing, mask use, ventilation of indoor spaces, and hand washing, even if they are fully vaccinated. People who have taken vaccination very early in 2021 and have waning protection need a booster shot to build up immunity levels. Studies show that breakthrough infections can take place, making it all the more important to take all precautions.

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The conservatives are hoping to do what Angela Merkel has done in Germany developing policies that support social protections to undercut the centre-Left parties, and working for ideas that support personal responsibility and fiscal responsibility in public finances. As Britain faces increasing national debt, polls show austerity measures are supported by 60% of the public.

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The pandemic came to young German people at a time when the trend was for less opportunity, more inequality. These trends are now aggravated and the loss of opportunities, and the loss of hope is even worse now in 2021. Job searches are being conducted while experiencing intense social isolation, boredom and lack of physical acitivity. The job competition is described here as horrendously competitive, a few roles and so many job seekers jostling to get them as companies have been hammered during the pandemic. 

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The Wash. Post says the former president's speech as it wore on for 90 minutes rambling on without clarity on discussion of issues and policies for the future was a missed opportunity. Nothing was said about bringing down the cost of living when so many actions on multiple fronts are needed. Nothing on climate change or climate change action but leaving it out out of denial it exists during the worst heat waves and floods in a century. It is now Biden's turn to spell out the details of policies for cost of living action step after step of action, says the Post. Post readers say so far the Post titles and phrases it uses are more out of social media and ask ominously is it itself turning into social media as shown by the post of Letters it has received on coverage of Biden and the future 2024-2028 on this Lyrarc page.

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Germany's social-affairs minister, Ursula von der Leyden, presents the "fourth poverty and wealth report," in March 2013. The issue of inequality is arousing public sentiment in Germany with this becoming an election issue along with the euro crisis and energy reform. The term Gerechtigkeit means "justice" in German and is associated with the idea of equality. The Social Democrats Party and the Greens talk about this in terms of "social scissors" opening wider. The Minder Initiative which passed in Switzerland enabling shareholders to restrict executive pay has led to public discussion in Germany for a similiar approach to be adopted by Germany. The ruling Christian Democratic Party (CDU) of Angela Merkel and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) party are different from other parties in Europe because of their Catholic and Lutheran roots which favor social solidarity. The FDP party in the ruling coalition supports free market principles but lacks popular support. The Economist cites the work of the German think tank DIW on inequality, which shows inequality showing sharp rise after German reunification around 1991, especially in East Germany. The situation moderates with improvements in inequality in East Germany and a slight improvement in West Germany after 2005. Both East and W. Germany have moved up overall in the Ginni coefficeint which measures inequality from about 0.4 in 1991 to about 0.5 in 2010, showing that the situation has stabilized at a higher level of inequality. Part of this could be because of the shift to temporary workers at lower wages about this time as German industry made efforts to keep wages down and improve competitiveness, even as overall conditions in the economy improved in the last decade. The Economist cites another study by the Initiative for a New Social Market Economy, a German think tank, which compares Germany with other members of the OECD. Germany ranks closer to Scandinavian countries in seventh place in this study, but does poorly in equal oportunities with 14th place. Germany lags behind other OECD and European countries in opportunities for women to work full time. Germany lacks enough daycare facilities for small children so that their mothers can work full time. There is a shortage of about 150,000 for preschool daycare openings in Germany, acccording to information cited by Deutsche Welle from government sources....