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This WSJ analysis shows China giving Huawei a total of $75 billion in subsidies through grants, credit facilities, tax breaks, and other forms of financial assistance. It is this state support that enabled a little known vendor of telecom equipment to become the largest telecom company in the world. This also made it possible for Huawei to offer generous financing terms and undercut pricing of competitors by as much as 30%, according to analysts and customers. The WSJ analysis shows loans and credit lines from state lenders of $46 billion, tax breaks of $25 billion from 2008 to 2018 with state incentives to the tech sector, $1.6 billion in grants, and $2 billion in land discounts.  In the developing countries lacking financing the Chinese state lenders and government financed a project and Huawei built it. In competitive bidding Huawei's bids came with financing from state lenders that made Huawei a much stronger bidder than competitors such as Ericsson of Sweden and Nokia of Finland. With this kind of steady support and its own determined founders Huawei changed from a small vendor when 4G was first introduced into a pioneer and leader in 5G networks in 2019. Lacking this kind of support and without clear focus of the American and European governments American and European companies now lag behind in 5G technology.  This has caused tensions in the U.S. and Germany over loss of technological leadership in key areas. The Trump administration in its trade tariffs and other actions against Huawei is responding to the issues of state subsidies in China, intellectual property of American firms, shift of factories to China, and loss of tech leadership, leading to a loss of American jobs, risks to national security. ...

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A heart warming story of aging well of a world class Masters swimmer who stays fit at 89, Gail Roper can be an inspiration for people wanting to live healthy into an advanced age. She was a national champion by the time of the 1952 Olympic games in Helsinki, FInland. At 44 she started swimming in Masters competitions. She thinks one should not need a walker when one is growing old, provided one has plenty of exercize. She says she could be competing even now except for her driving. She lives in a senior community and swims 2000 yards everyday in an outdoor pool. Her daily routine includes, 20 sit-ups while watching the news, 20 push-ups against her kitchen sink between washing dishes, 200 revolutions on her stationary bike, 100 steps on her stair stepper, resistance bands to stretch. Want to stay straight up and down, and not crouched or humped over, then you must work at it says Gail Roper. Its that simple. It means working lives don't end when you retire, just take different shapes and adopt new routines. She speaks to 5 people everyday as a rule to keep up social skills. And she reads as well to keep her brain active. Gail starts the day with a cup of Nespresso coffee, granola and fruit, and adds yogurt. Snacks on walnuts, almonds and dried fruit throughout the day. Her main meal is lunch which includes a salad and beverage where she spends time with other people at the seniors center. Dinners are small portions. On Sundays its pizza and wine. Thats it! Secret to healthy living for the retired and older people.   ...

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GM executives say China's auto market could reach 17 million in 2010 and 19 million in 2011. This is up from the 13.7 millon vehicles sold in China in 2009. More Chinese are crossing the threshhold of making $3000 to $4000 a year, as a result sales are booming in smaller, lesser-known cities in the inland western parts of China. Also helping is government vehicle purchase incentives as part of the stimulus policies.

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A vote in the Indian parliament leads to the creation of India's 29th state- Telengana. Telengana is the inland part of the state of Andhra Pradesh in southwestern India. Both Telengana and Andhra Pradesh will share the state capital Hyderabad for 10 years.

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Overall America's Infrastructure gets only a C grade- but that is the best grade since 1998 so badly has the Nation's infrastructure been neglected under Clinton-Bush-Obama.  Bridges, broadband, drinking water systems, hazardous waste treatment, inland waterways, public parks and solid waste received grades of C+, C or C–, mediocre condition needs attention. Dams, levees, roads, schools and infrastructure for aviation, energy, storm water, transit and wastewater get grades of D+ or D, poor condition. Ports get a B, Rail gets a B- dropping a notch, and Energy get a D grade in this report on US infrastructure by the US Society of Civil Engineers. It comes out every four years. The shortfall in infrastructure spending- $3.7 trillion. This after the $1.2 trillion Biden Infrastructure bill made a real difference since 2021. Grades have improved on half of the 18 categories this report tracks. “Better infrastructure is an efficient investment of taxpayer dollars that results in a stronger economy and prioritizes American jobs.” Darren Olson, chair of the committee on infrastructure of the Society of Civil Engineers. "The investment levels that we saw under the last administration have really started to move the needle, and we’re looking forward to advancing that conversation as we move into this administration.”- Kristina Swallow, president of the Society of Civil Engineers ...

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This WSJ Editorial Board opinion says president Biden needs to get European partners to make key decisions at the G-7 meeting to support Ukraine.  On the level of support it says the US has contributed 42.7 billion euros in military and humanitarian assistance compared to only 27.2 billion euros from European Union countries, according to the Kiel Institute for World Economy. Cpuld the EU do more? Russia continues to keep frontline nations such as Estonia and Lithuania on edge. The NATO support force has only 40,000 allied soldiers- more like a tripwire defense and clearly inadequate says WSJ. This needs to expand to a significant force. Separately from this NATO's Stoltenberg has announced that the NATO Response Force will now be expanded to 300,000. Mr. Erdogan needs to be persuaded to let Finland and Sweden join NATO to strengthen Baltic area defenses. WSJ says Erdogan is facing a tough election in 2023 and is objecting not because Turkish Kurds pose a threat at this time but to rouse nationalist sentiment for the election. WSJ Editorial does not mention what is critical for Ukraine's people, the refugees of women and children to return home and live normal lives - the stopping of missile attacks on civilian population and buildings. Separately Mr. Biden has announced that he will be sending Advanced Missile Defense Systems to Ukraine. Germany is sending an IRIS missile defense system that covers a space of 40 square miles enough to defend cities like Kviv and Lviv, Kharkiv. Here the question is how soon as this needs to be taken up immediately to protect the lives of the civilians caught up in this war, the women and children of Ukraine. Some are returning to their homes in Kviv, Kharkiv, other cities, that are already damaged, and are facing more missile attacks. This is the most difficult aspect of the war and hope can only return when this is prevented. It would also set the beginning conditions for the end of the war by removing this element of the war for the people of Ukraine and their homes and lives.   ...

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Some key takeaways from the Biden State of the Union- Biden has a vision for the future and the way forward for the US to a new frontier and new progress, where his predecessor really has none or has shown none. On China under his predecessor the US was shown as being behind and the US did little to sending of advanced US technologies to China. Today the US is growing and has the strongest economy of the G-7 and China is falling behind, flow of advanced technologies to China is stopped. On investing in the US. It is there plain for everyone to see. If the US has fair taxes the US can rebuild its infrastructure, modernize, invest in education and the working people of the country, and yet cut the deficit by large amounts. The thousand billionaires in the US pay only 8.2% in taxes. At 25% tax what a firefighter or policeman or teacher pays this would cut the deficit by $500 billion over 10 years. The oil companies and other corporations are similarly only paying less than what ordinary Americans are paying. This at fair tax rate of a minimum of 21% instead of 15% would further cut the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars after investing in the infrastructure and modernization of the economy that his predecessor has no plans for and instead given a tax cut to the corporations which studies show was really not paid for. Negotiating drug prices for Medicare with drug companies would save the country hundreds of billions of dollars. This could be reinvested in cutting child poverty, in free preschool education, in raising teachers wages. Sitting next to Jill Biden the First Lady was the prime minister of Sweden. What it told the US was that countries like Sweden and Finland in NATO had strengthened the alliance and it was for mere political reasons that Ukraine aid was prevented by his predecessor from being passed in the House after passage in the Senate by 70-30 with bipartisan support that also exists in the House. ...

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The Economist describes efforts in the European Union countries to come up with a common approach to the problem of integrating migrants into the European Union. There is the problem of migrants from English, French or Italian speaking regions in North Africa or the Middle East preferring to immigrate to countries where knowledge of the language makes integration easier. Germany has come up with an approach to integrate migrants that is the largest and furthest ahead in the EU. Finland has a program to integrate migrants from Somalia. The Economist points out the need in the EU as society ages, for young people from outside to fill the need for workers to support a larger numer of pensioners. For this to happen governments in Europe have to manage this carefully, so that fears of terrorism and political backlash in society against immigrants can be overcome.

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Finland is taking steps to keep older workers in the workplace longer as its population ages. Finnish companies are going all out to have older workers stay and continue to use their knowledge and experience for the company. Helathy productive workers continue to work after 57 or 60 years of age. And attractive benefits are offered to older workers to make them stay. Companies in Finland are catching on to the value of older workers.

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The 28 Point Peace Plan offers a basis for further work to arrive at an agreement acceptable to Ukraine and to the European Union, is the view emerging at the G20 talks in Johannesburg, South Africa. The leaders of Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Italy and Spain met on Saturday, November 22 2025. Separately Leyen and the EU council president Costa meet with Meloni of Italy and Macron of France on Saturday after conversations with Zelensky on Friday.  British prime minister Starmer has this view of the 28 Point US plan negotiated with Russia-  “There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a cease-fire, and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians.” Ms. Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, says-  “Ukraine can count on us because this is not only an aggression against Ukraine, but it is an aggression against the principles of the U.N. charter." “It’s on European soil. Therefore, we will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.” Macron of France commended American efforts to reach a peace deal but said EU nations would work with Ukraine to map out a plan for way forward in 48 hours.  "What is at stake is Ukrainian sovereignty and European security.” It is this aspect of European security that may be the reason the EU and Germany may decide to modify the plan to offer a counter proposal on several points. One on limits to the size of Ukraine's defense forces to ensure its defense. Another on the stationing of forces by NATO in a peacekeeping role in Ukraine as proposed earlier. Third on the ceding of territory now in the hands of Ukraine so that these parts of Ukraine can remain independent after 4 years of ragged defense. Germany under CDU Merz and with Pistorius of SPD at Defense in a strong coalition government may be the deciding factor as Merz has already set the goal for the Bundeswehr to become the strongest army in Europe, with plans and action to prepare for this transition to defend European interests. It is true that Ukraine is at a difficult point yet if the Europeans see this as a "capitulation" and a US DJT deadline of one week to push this through Europeans may come up with a counter offer that includes these points that would make it clear that they are not an obstacle for peaceful resolution of this conflict. The history of Europe shows that in such situations with most of Europe on one side and Russia or some other major European power on the other side, eventual settlement ends up with all sides making some concessions, and in no way seen as "capitulation." Asian powers China and India have been pulled out of the conflict to a large degree in 2024-2025, with US shifting to a neutral position. Making this a purely European conflict with the Russian economy mobilized for wartime yet facing all the nations of Europe led by Germany, France and the UK in a transition towards military preparedness and unwilling to see any form of capitulation. In such a situation the larger economies and resources of the EU could effectively counter a Russian threat leading to a settlement that is better for all parties to the conflict.   ...

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Sweden now joins NATO after clearing it with Turkey and Hungary. Finland has already joined NATO. These 2 neutral nations had a strong defense and Finland has a long border with Russia. They dropped neutrality to join NATO after Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sweden's defense industry, technological innovation, and "Total Defense" based participation of everyone 16-65 years old makes it unique in Europe. A new Defense Innovation Initiative aims to integrate civilian and military technologies even more. Unusual for a small Baltic nation Sweden makes the advanced Saab Gripen jet fighter, sophisticated submarines, and jet trainer aircraft used by US Air Force. It has no border with Russia. It faces the Baltic and Russia also faces the Baltic near St Petersburg.

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Hispanics made up 14 million of California's population in 2010, whites 15 million and Asians 4.8 million. Whites and blacks declined as they moved to less pricey and more affordable states. Asian population continued to grow at rates of over 30% for the second decade, and a majority of residents in Orange County are now minorities. Hispanic growth slowed from over 40% between 1990 and 2000 to over 30% in 2010. Most of the growth in population in California has been in the inland areas such as Fresno and Riverside. The growth of the Hispanic population also means a shift in favor of the Democratic party in the state.

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A survey by Boston Consulting Group of 5000 users of online news content shows that only 48% of Americans are willing to pay to read news content online. They are willing to pay about $3 per month for access to online news content. This is much smaller than European countries presumably because of the acess to so much news content free online in the USA. The study was done by Mr Rose and Dominic Field, head of the media practice at BCG. News content is so fragmented in the USA, say the authors, that its still possible to find free content if some papers charge. Interestingly Americans were more likely to pay for sites that offered access to online news content for multiple papers. The most avid news readers are the ones most lik,ely to pay.The study concludes that charging for online access won't increase revenue that much but because the cost of reaching internet readers is very low, it has potential for significantly higher profits. Other countries surveyed are Germany, France, Spain, Norway and Finland....

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Ford announced on April 19, 2012, that it will build a $760 million plant in Hangzhou, China. This follows an announcement for $600 million expansion of a plant in Chongqing. Ford forecasts the Chinese market will grow at 5% annual rate for the next 10 years. It is planning to take sales away from other manufacturers by offering an expanded product lineup. Ford was slow to enter the Chinese market and has only 2% market share in China. The expansions will give Ford an annual capacity of 1.2 million cars in 2015, up from 450,000 in 2011. Ford's Chongqing operations are located far inland and a long distance from the west coast of China, which will make it more difficult to export if it turns out that there is too much car capacity in China.

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Mr. Zelensky of Ukraine makes his first official visit to Warsaw, Poland in April 2023. He was welcomed in Poland with an outpouring of support. About 10 million Ukrainians have crossed into Poland since the war began in February 2022. Of this 1.5 million Ukrainians have settled in Ukraine, the rest have gone to neighboring countries or returned to Ukraine. Poland has also opened its market to Ukrainian grain causing unrest among farmers because of lower prices. Poland has a population of 38 million, Ukraine a population of 43 million. These two nations are now the countries that are in the frontlines of the war after Russia's invasion. Other countries that have seen Soviet invasion such as Finland in 1939, Czech Republic in 1968, are now part of the NATO alliance force that faces Russia across a long common border. The Finnish border with Russia stretches for 830 miles through vast forested regions. The US is building a vast warehouse complex in Warsaw that will store US and NATO tanks. As the war continues a year later the resolve of the US and of Ukraine and Poland remain undiminished to the Russian invasion. This is unlike the events of post 1945 when Europe as a whole had seen the effects of 5 years of war and America faced the Soviet expansion into war ravaged Eastern Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Greece. In 2023 the economies of the US and European Union have survived the economic effects of the war and the US is embarking on a huge plan to rebuild its infrastructure and its manufacturing capacity. The US and European Union through NATO remain united to reject any nation changing borders with impunity by force- the issue they see in Ukraine and in Taiwan. On the issue of Taiwan the US, EU are joined by Japan, Australia, Philippines, Vietnam and India. The issue of impunity and allowing borders to be changed by force will remain a strong one for the US and EU, on which there may be little room for concessions because of the principle. In his History of Europe- The Struggle for Supremacy 1453 to the Present, Cambridge historian Brendan Simms has shown that no nation by itself or with its allies has been able to use its dominant position to exercize power with impunity without meeting formidable combined opposition of other countries  in Europe. Over 500 years of history France, Russia, Austria-Hungary, have in turn had to agree to give up claims after meeting a formidable opposition of other countries in Europe. This Russian invasion does not appear to be any different.  ...

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European doubts over research data, on medical interventions, and the efforts to exercise caution on transgender. Having allowed medical interventions and treatments for years, the medical community in 5 countries, UK, Finland, Sweden, Norway, France, now urge caution in their use for minors, stressing lack of evidence benefits outweigh risks, says this report in the WSJ. The UK's National Health Service limited the use of puberty blockers to clinical trials,.

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Two Syrian cities are among the oldest in the world going back to 3000 BC. They are Aleppo and Damascus. This is close to when Varanasi on the Ganges in India was settled. Aleppo is older than Damascus.  The only European city that comes close is Plovdiv, Bulgaria, says this report in The Guardian. Most of the Syrian region is populated by Syrian Sunnis about 75% and there are Christian, 10%, Shia Alawite 11%, and other minorities in Syria.  The Syrian Civil War 2011-2024 destroyed most of the old city of Aleppo. Syria has 110 miles of Mediterranean coastline, mountains along the coastline and and area inland of wheat cultivation along the Euphrates river and the Syrian desert near Iraq in the east, Turkey to the north with Kurds in that area, and Jordan in the south. The Ottoman Turks ruled from 1516 to 1918. In 1920 a French Mandate was setup in Syria till 1943. Following the Second World War Syria was an independent nation and briefly joined Egypt in the UAR United Arab Republic.  ...

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Germany is trying not to choose sides in the trade and security disputes between China and the U.S. Yet it owes a lot to the U.S. from the days of the Marshall Plan and U.S. taking on the role of defending Germany after the Berlin Wall. China was then a partner with the Soviet Union in the Cold War.  Today China is Germany's top market for its car industry. Yet the U.S. export market is much larger than China at $119 billion with China's at $96 billion. In Germany 28% of jobs are linked to exports, and in manufacturing this goes up to 56%, according to Germany Ministry of Economic Affairs. Germany supplied much of the factory  equipment from its engineering companies and the infrastructure that powered up the China transformation. A transformation now underway in India.  There are signs of a shift as engineering companies in Germany grew faster in the U.S. than China, increasing by 6-10% a year. India remains a key growth market for Germany over the next 10-15 years as growth in China slows and India accelerates with its younger demographics and investment in infrastructure. Much of the infrastructure in China is built and it is approaching the saturation Japan reached in the 1990's with additional investments adding little in the way of productivity. Longer term Germany has more potential for growth in countries in South and South East Asia  that will need to make huge investments in infrastructure and technology for manufacturing to meet the aspirations of the people there. Other issues related to freedom going back to the Berlin Wall and the rebuilding of Germany after World War II will emerge. German companies are running out of patience says this report in the WSJ with the bureaucratic obstacles, forced technology transfers, subsidies by state model to extinguish competition, and protectionist approach to home markets, even as state funded companies in China put other companies in Europe, Asia and the U.S. at a disadvantage. Germany will need to transition to a shift in its global relations, a process that is only now taking place. Just as with austerity policies in which it has now made the shift from going with the northern European countries (Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland) to the Southern European (France, Italy, Spain) in favor of common solidarity even at the short term cost of common debt, Germany now is facing the shift for solidarity with the U.S. for its support of Germany from the period of the Berlin Wall in the 1950's, for the U.S. and European solidarity in the face of the post-coronavirus world. The U.S. showing its generosity and openness to Germany and war torn Europe even as it took on the added responsibilities for creating a new alliance with Europe.   ...

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Many of the 255 Comments on this article in the NYT say it is misleading or grossly misleading title. Michael Crowley of NYT quotes Wertheim for his conclusion that there seems to be a sense that the world is out of control, there is chaos under president Biden. This is subtly presented and clearly wrong. Wertheim is the author of a book that questions America's exceptionalism, and says "isolationism" was somehow concocted by policy makers such as Eisenhower and Dulles, both Republicans for a postwar world built on American supremacy. What Crowley and Wertheim do is put their very idea of asking questions about policy which is a part of the discussion into misrepresenting through misinformation about what happened. Biden has acted with courage to close wars no other president not Reagan/ Rumsfeld who started the conflict with Iran by arming Iraq's unprovoked war on Iran, not Bush who initiated the war in Afghanistan, not Obama and Trump who did not close the war in the mountains around Kabul that is a "graveyard for Empires" - the Maratha Empire in India in the 1700's that opened the door to British rule in India, not the British Empire wisely staying out of it, the Soviet Union beginning its decline there, and the US mired in it similar to the Soviets. Crowley/Wertheim are only making things worse- Netanyahu was emboldened by the former president and made a major security failure. Putin miscalculated in Ukraine, Biden simply acted in the way any wise American president would -strengthened NATO with Finland and Sweden, providing reasons for Russian restraint yet without escalating the conflict. To say this is chaos is to misinform and misrepresent, and favor the very Supremacy that former president Trump proposes as policy based on US power. By contrast Biden' approach is peace through strength from building close relations between partners in Europe and Asia, not provocation or supremacy. Wertheim is only one voice in a larger discussion not the authority he is presented as. For Wertheim to say "isolationism" was a bogey and point to 1950 as the point when it was created is simply wrong. It existed in some form from the early days of the Republic. Washington was an advocate of not involving the fledgling Republic in foreign entanglements of France even though it was an ally. It is not that response to isolationism is the cause of America embracing the role of leading the Free World as it is now. It is simply the situation leaders faced. Truman faced it when Soviets planned insurgencies in Turkey and Greece which would not exist as democracies today without Truman. And across Eastern Europe Hungary 1956 Ike acted cautiously. Czechoslovakia 1968 LBJ Johnson acted cautiously already in the wrong war with Vietnamese nationalism.  ...