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Young men's views of women in 2026 King's College/Ipsos survey shows men feeling left out in this economy and frustrated, the result is to be blaming women. 

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Andy Kessler looks at the prospects for China's effort to dominate the market for advanced chips used in everyday devices, just as it did in solar panels and electric vehicle batteries.  He says Apple leaves US manufacturing technologies at a disadvantage by securing its M1 processor chip from Taiwan's TSMC. Intel has fallen behind in 10 nanometer chips and will need a few years says Kessler.  Kessler says Chinese threat to invade Taiwan which has made the US and the EU take a firmer stand on Ukraine poses a danger to TSMC which has 5 fabs or factories in just 1 science Park- Hsinchu Science Park. This poses a question is it safe to concentrate about 92% of the world's semiconductor production in one place Taiwan so close to the mainland of China? And knowing sit tight taking no action? Google's last chairman Eric Schmidt asks this question in the WSJ and calls for a new investments in the US to manufacture advanced semiconductors and other semiconductors for everyday use so that the US national security is protected. Even the $50 billion that is in Congressional legislation has yet to be approved by the US Congress, says Schmidt, showing that US Congress is not moving quickly to address this problem. South Korea and Taiwan including TSMC need to be told to make a large part of the semiconductors in the US and other locations such as India to diversify production. 92% of world semiconductors made in Taiwan that could be taken out with a few missiles, is no way to diversify manufacturing, when manufacturing can be done in India or other parts of the world with lower costs and with needed engineering manpower. ...

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Gen. Christopher Neve of 82nd Airborne and Eighth Army to be new US Army chief of staff in May 2026. He is known for restoring traditional army discipline to the 82nd Airborne Division. This has brought him to the attention of Defense Secretary Hegseth and the US president. This is similar to Eisenhower who after West Point gained from his relationship with Gen. Pershing in 1920's and later by 1940 with General Marshall who appointed him to Commander in the North African and European campaigns in WWII. One difference is that Neve came up through the Army's Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Arizona University. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg says this about Neve- "What he did which I admired, he brought the 82nd—it had drifted away a bit—back to traditional training and traditional values.”  Kellogg a former 82nd Airborne Division commander himself. He was brought to Hegseth's attention for a future appointment by Kellogg. He was then appointed to assistant to the Defense Secretary. Eisenhower was assistant to Pershing who mentored him in the interwar years in the 20's for the Battlefield Monuments Commission and for Pershing's Memoirs on WWI. The 82nd Airborne is a paratrooper unit that saw action in closing days of WW1 and in WWII in Normandy Sicily, throughout the war. Based in Fort Liberty, North Carolina. The other unit is the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. ...

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Taking Social Security early by age 62 years to invest in stocks is a crazy idea, says Jason Zweig in WSJ November 2025. Money for social security accumulates faster after age 62 in Social Security. If you take social security at age 70 instead of now at 62 years the money in social security will be 77% higher than if you start taking it now at age 62 years. At the rate of spending $400 billion for $20 billion in returns in 2025 for AI and AI overspending in future years suggests poor returns in AI Tech stocks. Social Security by contrast offers inflation adjusted returns risk free.

For those who have a decent amount of fixed income assets including bonds selling these bonds for additional income is better than taking social security early, say experts cited in this WSj article.

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Naomi Osaka emerges as a much improved player in the way she confidently put away Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-2 in the match leading to the quarterfinals with Czech player Muchova at the US Open Tennis in Forest Hills, New York. Osaka took a break from tennis after the pressures and a child led to her needing time for herself. She is back with renewed confidence and athletic ability.

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Nutrition critical for health is only now in 2026 being made part of Medical School curriculum with efforts of RFK Jr.  It took so long and in the meantime several generations of Americans have suffered from obesity and poor nutrition, higher incidence of diseases stemming from poor nutrition, and the overuse of pharmaceuticals. This also made medical care more costly, increasing the medical cost burden for families.

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See pictures and video of the 150h anniversary celebrations in the US for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration has the immortal words of Jefferson- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." Not just Washington DC and many places in the US, but also the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and across Europe and Asia, Latin America the Declaration has created the Modern World and the Democracies that we know today. The list is long from Germany and Japan that adopted these ideas to India and many nations of Asia, many nations in Africa and Latin America, all inspired by Thomas Jefferson's words. As Jefferson himself borrowed from the European writers of the Enlightenment this means it is a European experiment also, and in Asia an Indian, Japanese experiment also- futuristic in every way, daring and bold, and with the People in mind all the way. Every generation bearing a special responsibility to its children the next generation so that these values can continue to serve as a blessing to mankind. People tend to criticize the founders for aspirational views yet it should be remembered that in all of Asia, billions of people saw a lot to learn and a lot to gain from these aspirational views as they built the Modern World in the 1950's across Asia on these principles and ideas. This is also true of Latin America and Africa. The men on Mount Rushmore were truly unique, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt, and it is our task to continue the work they gave most of their life for. ...

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The amazing story of Katalin Kariko who came to the US from Budapest, Hungary, in 1989 taking a position as research assistant professor at the UPenn Medical School.The work of Katalin Kariko in mRNA vaccine research that led to the discovery of mRNA vaccines was derided at first at Penn leading her work to be shunted to a lab on the outskirts of town and having her pay cut in a demotion, says this WSJ report. It won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2023. Universities are not places where new ideas can get a boost when there is much skepticism and constant pressure for research funding on more conventional lines. Less opportunity for experimentation that can lead to new discoveries that revolutionize science and medicine.  Kariko and others working as research assistant professors were shunned at Penn and referred to as "aliens" because inthe interests of research they took lower paid positions. As it turns out Kariko felt liberated during the period of her being demoted, to work even more patiently on the mRNA molecule, one that was more difficult than the DNA molecule most researchers had focused on. This report in WSJ shows a picture of a Budapest street with a large mural of Kariko. Unfortunately few people in her adopted country know about the work of this remarkable scientist to whom is owed so many millions of people's protection with mRNA vaccines. ...

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It all ends as expected. Another chapter in the Brexit saga ends with the mutiny in the Conservative Partyl, the resignation of Ms. Leadsom, the party's leader in the House of Commons. WIth most Conservative Party members abandoning the approach of Theresa May of putting unpopular Brexit deals to votes in parliament, the latest planned for June 7. Conservative Party members have already shown their support for Mr. Boris Johnson, who leads by a wide margin in a leadership contest. Johnson supports a no-deal Brexit and once said that would only mean a shortage of Mars chocolate bars. This faction in the Conservative Party including Jacob Rees-Moog believes that Brexit without a deal with the European Union will work. It opposes a customs union arrangement following Brexit. The only problem is that earlier votes have not shown a majority of members of parliament support no-deal Brexit because of fears about the British economy. The fall in the British pound exchange rate shows this is expected. This could mean fresh elections, yet both Conservatives and Labour Party face voter skepticism about their handling of Brexit and loss of support to Liberals in the case of labour and to the Brexit Party in the case of the Conservatives, leaving more uncertainty. Conservatives polled about 11% in advance of European Union elections in Britain, unheard of in modern British politics. ...

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Adriana Kugler a Labor economist at Georgetown is president Biden's nominee for the Federal Reserve Board. In 2021 she was nominated as Executive Director at the World Bank. Her work is on how labor and social policies can improve the lives of working people, help create jobs, and help the less well off get education and training. Asked about Biden nominating labor economists to top jobs she says-"This is the key issue of our time. This is what we need to fix." As the first Latina in this position at the World Bank, Kugler who is a Colombian-American says, "they view me differently," and have a sense of being heard by someone who understands what it is like ot grow up in a developing country.

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The Declaration of Independence July 2 and July 4, 1776. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration, Benjamin Franklin reviewed it for some changes including the word "self-evident " instead of "undeniable" for certain inalienable rights. But the spirit of it is all Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, one of the foremost Enlightenment thinkers of America. One can only grasp the extent of its importance from outside America- what the world owes to these men that their memory may not be sullied by careless remarks oblivious of the situation in Europe at that time that Enlightenment leaders were trying to change. Imagine what it means to billions of people in Asia, in China in 1900, in India in 1900 and 1940's, in Japan in 1950's, in Germany in 1950's, across all nations in Latin America, Africa, Asia, in the 1950's these words meant there was hope in this world- in ways that our imaginations cannot grasp today, that most of the media misses,  after two world wars, after hundreds of years of colonialism in Asia and Africa, Latin America. The words meant more to these people than even the people of America- "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, and they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." This shook all of Asia, China, India, Indonesia and Japan like an earthquake by 1900. Asia owes more to Jefferson, to Washington and Franklin than it can ever realize, and it is up to the new generations in Asia representing billions of people, as much as it is for the new generations in America, to carry these ideals forward. On this lies our best hope for the future. ...

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Chloe Kelly, English soccer player Interview in The Times- Kelly scored the winning penalty against Spain in 2025. She also scored the decider against Germany in Euro Cup 2022. She whopped off her shirt to celebrate in a Nike Sports bra, says The Times about the event in 2022.  

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Mental health can play a part in the life of athletes, and in sports competition. Injuries are part of this, death in the family is part of this. Mikaela Shiffrin's hopes were dashed at the Beijing Olympics in Alpine skiing.Her father Jeff Shiffrin had accompanied her through every Olympics in her skiing career and was always at the finishing line. After his death before the Olympics in Beijing, Mikaela Shiffrin was told by a German fan that she subconsciously avoided getting to the finishing line because she would not be seeing her father there.  Dina Asher-Smith is a British sprinter whose hopes at the Tokyo Olympics were dashed because of a hamstring injury. Yet she bounced back and says she had time afterwards to grapple with her emotions- "Before Tokyo I did'nt have time to grapple with my emotions, you can't be crying  your way through rehab," she said. She competes now with a different frame of mind- "you can't run fast with baggage- you gotta throw it out" she says in an interview with The Guardian's Sean Ingle. ...

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A recent survey by Der Spiegel shows three quarters of Germans want to continue operating the 3 remaining nuclear plants. 78% support keeping them running to 2023, and 67% support keeping them for 5 more years. The idea is that they can be used in this emergency. Even a majority of Green party support keeping them running to 2023. This is a profound change in German opinion.

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National Guard deployment in New Mexico by Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in September 2025. Grisham says of Albuquerque -“It is one of the most dangerous places. I want real results.” And Albuquerque Police chief Harold Medina says it is one of the best decisions he has made to get the help of the National Guard to cut crime and make the city safe. “I honestly hope they’re here for the next year," says Medina.

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In his resignation speech to the House of Commons UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the House on May 20, 2026. He calls for bold action based on a bold vision not simply treading water.  "I left the government because we are in the fight of our lives against nationalism, and it is a fight that we are currently losing." "Unless we change course, we risk handing the keys of No 10 to Reform, and I do not want that on our consciences." "For the first time in our history, nationalists are in power in every corner of the United Kingdom." "Scottish and Welsh nationalism represents an existential threat to the future integrity of the United Kingdom." "And Reform UK represent a threat to the values and ideals that have made this country great." “Never waste a minute – that’s been my mantra in government, and it’s why I don’t believe our party has time to waste in government treading water,” Streeting told MPs. “The Labour party was elected to deliver real change. We still can.”   ...

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It is one of the great twists of history that a dedicated Indian Civil Service Joint Secretary, follower of Mohandas Gandhi,  at a time of transformation through education of India's Madras State in 1954-63 under visionary chief minister K Kamaraj, has shaped the life and thinking of his grand daughter Kamala Harris in profound ways. Gopalan had seen and been part of the huge transformation in India wrought by Gandhi in the 1930's and 1940's. Pictures of Shyamala Gopalan with her parents P. V. and  Rajam Gopalan, and her two daughters Kamala and Maya, shown in the NYT. Kamala Harris was the first child of Shyamala who came to the US from Madras state as a young graduate student in 1954, in one of the first batches of students coming from independent India to the US.  Madras, now Tamilnadu, was being led by one of its most far sighted leaders K. Kamaraj who was chief minister from 1954 to 1963. It was Kamaraj who set up the free school lunch program in Madras state and helped bring literacy to the state and a strong educational system that would support economic development. This is important because Kamala draws her strength from her mother and her mother draws strength from her father P.V. Gopalan, a Indian civil servant in the visionary Kamaraj government in Madras state. Kamala spent time with her grandfather on visits to India which have shaped the way she thinks and her view of life. P.V Gopalan was Joint Secretary Government of India Ministry of Labour, Employment and Rehabilitation, and was sent to Zambia as Director of Relief Measures and Refugees to handle an exodus of refugees from Southern Rhodesia to Zambia. The two experiences as Joint Secretary, and as Director in Zambia, during the period when Kamaraj led Madras State were profound life changing experiences for this young civil servant who shared his understanding of Asia and Africa with his granddaughter in profound ways shaping her views on life, and what it means to be a good Civil Servant in public service to the people. Passing on to a new generation the ideas of public service of Mohandas Gandhi that P.V. Gopalan had witnessed at close range in his lifetime. ...

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Laura Meckler describes the many experiences as First Lady in Arkansas and in the White House, the many political investigations that happened, that led to the more cautious style Hillary has taken since becoming Senator from New York. This combined with her intense longing for privacy have led to the strange situation where people do not the human person that is Hillary, when they are inundated with information about the Clintons as a couple. With the 2016 campaign that human person is what is coming out as her fighting spirit kicks in, for someone who has seen all sides over a long time. 

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Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is shown to be 90% effective in results from Phase 3 trials. The findings come from a preliminary look at the first 94 infections in a group of 44,000 people in the trial. The vast majority of the cases received a control instead of vaccine. A vaccine is considered effective if it works on 50% of cases. The Pfizer vaccine is based on an experimental "mRNa" technology.

Britain has ordered 5 million till the end of 2020 and another 20 million for 2021. In total Pfizer plans to make a billion doses of the vaccine by 2021.

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Taylor Swift's show in Buenos Aires, Argentina, attracts a staggering 2.8 million on the waiting list, and 200,000 in the audience over 3 shows. Swift is amazed at this turnout, her popularity reaching that of Messi in this South American country.

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Workers in the gig-economy at companies such as Uber and Lyft are protected under a new California law AB5 that requires them to be classified as employees with minimum wage, sick pay and holidays. It also requires health care for workers with more than 15 work hours a week. This law is now being challenged in court by these companies. The challenge requires 623,000 signatures. The companies are also using the challenge as a way to protect from lawsuits.