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Reeves wants to remain UK Chancellor (Finance Minister) and is campaigning for the job. Yet there are questions whether she is the right person. Kiran Stacey of The Guardian asks does Andy Burnham need a clean break from the Starmer administration considering the missteps on disability benefits, cutting winter fuel payments, and other actions of Rachel Reeves. These missteps were not necessary and clearly eroded support for what Labour should be standing up for and doing. The idea that she has something that keeps the bond markets happy is a complete myth- in which case the Tories could do just as well or better. Labour was elected not to be like the Tories but to enact its own program. Clement Atlee was elected in 1945 even after the popularity in the war of Winston Churchill. He could not have done what he did without the clear confidence in himself that Starmer clearly lacks, with the added problem of Reeves instincts in the wrong place for a Labour government elected to enact its own program. If Labour cannot believe in its own programs fro the working class how are working class people in Britain supposed to believe in Labour? That is the problem of the Starmer-Reeves running of the British economy and addressing problems of cost of living, the shrinking of opportunity in Britain, mismanagement left by the Tories.  ...

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This report in The Guardian looks at key allies of Andy Burnham as he prepares to run in the Makerfield by-election, and prepares to contest the leadership of the Labour Party in Britain. Key allies include deputy leader of the Labour party Lucy Powell. It includes Mathew Lawrence, Director of  the Common Wealth Project who has set out the philosophy of Manchesterism for a robust effort to make the utilities water, energy and transport serve the public interest, something that never happened under the Tories. Lawrence says it is not about fairness alone "it is good macreconomic policy." Neal Lawson of the Compass thinktank. Lawson says this is about "real change not the cosmetic appeal."Of MP's Anneliese Midgley political director of Unite, Louise Haigh, the former Transport Secretary, of the Tribune group, Lucy Powell a fellow Manchester MP and an ally of the Mayor. Haigh is taking on a role in the Makerfield campaign. Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, is also a friend of Burnham. The Mayor's assistants in Manchester are Kevin Lee, with Burnham for 15 years, and Josh Simmons, policy aide. A lot depends on these colleagues and assistants of Mayor Burnham in the days and years ahead, and the future of Britain may rest on their shoulders, on what they do in the days ahead to give the Mayor the support he needs to run the government of Britain in a new direction, and with the resolve and action plan to make for a "Vibrant Britain." ...

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Bookshops in India that offer space to browse.

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UK decides it wants to join single market in Europe.

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Why men and boys are falling behind especially in working class neighborhoods.

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Why no new infrastructure building plan is in place in the US for decades as China, now India build new infrastructure every day with a Master Plan. The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in March 2024 in the Baltimore, Maryland area. There was much hand wringing at the time and president Biden also stepped in with help. The Washington Post says 2 years later no plan is in place to build a new bridge. The cost keeps going up from $1 billion to $1.9 billion and up again to $5.2 billion, with the dates shifting 2028 to 2030. Maryland received $2.6 billion insurance payments for the damage to the bridge by a ship, yet the project is stalled in disagreements with different parties involved. Even in the streets of New York, the pedestrian pavements in Brooklyn and other places are so dilapidated but no one seems to care. Suggesting that New Yorkers are also numb to infrastructure being bad as it is, just as Mumbai residents were in the old days before infrastructure became a daily priority in India in recent years, following China's example. ...

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Reading a physical book is better than seeing some on on You Tube reading a book- this becomes a problem with You Tube targeting schools and school children with its Chromebooks in American schools. You Tube has become prevalent in American classroom and its marketing works closely with parents and teachers. Problems are that children can end up spending too much time watching You Tube, neglecting reading and home work. Watching a person read on You Tube gives verylittle of the benefits from reading a book oneself. The practice of reading is an important skill and can be developed only by reading and reading a physical book. Attention spans become shorter when watching You Tubes and more You Tubes. Sweden has studied the problem of using screens with teachers, education experts and curriculum experts and is now moving all its classrooms from screens to binders that include exercize books for children to write in. Writing is similar only when takes up a pen and paper can one write and write more till one gets better at it. Sweden should be closely followed and the US should start using a similar approach to fight the lack of reading comprehension skills in American schoolchildren as part of the Movement for Global Literacy of lyrarc.com. ...

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Democrats continue to believe they lost in 2024 because they did not attack DJT enough. This fails to cite issues such as cost of living- surge in the third year of the Biden administration with 20% increase in prices and Biden failing to take notice and address this quickly. A wave of illegal immigration- the failure of Mayorkas, himself a Cuban immigrant in 1960, put in charge of Homeland Security and ICE, and Harris who was an attorney helping indigents in inner city San Francisco, to grasp the fears of border states and southern states. The failure to understand that the border was open and inviting waves of illegal immigrants, some with questionable backgrounds. This issue created a sense of unease in the fabric of society and American people. Other issues simply showed how Harris could not relate to the conservative people and average people in the country in the cultural aspect such as transgender, rural America. Biden pulling out suddenly, loss of rural vote- failure of Democrats since Obama to pay attention to rural voters, Harris not appealing to the white male vote in the US, are other factors that hurt Democrats. DJT gained with the shooting incident in Pennsylvania in which he survived, and the perception raised during a garbage truck and DJT photo that the Democrats derided, seen by the public as looking down on working class people. Democrats never really grasped how the political system had gone in reverse- the Republicans had put cultural aspect first and conservative now meant working class voters and white voters in rural areas/small towns, big cities, ( the Archie Bunker type of an earlier era who was now a Democrat, not the college educated and Ivy league Harvard type that had taken over the Democratic party). This continues to this day with some paradox as the business class and the billionaire class sit alongside the working class person in the Republican party DJT created. DJT did this in 2016 by pulling together workers hurt by Bush and Obama's policies favoring the educated classes and affluent, ignoring rural areas and farmers, and committing US to wars in the Middle East that squandered the Nations' resources and human lives. This was aggravated in the Biden/Harris/Mayorkas years by letting in migrants across the border by the millions that created a great deal of unease in the working classes. In this way labor unions or their rank and file left the Democratic party- a problem that plagues Democrats to this day, that Biden tried but failed to fix. The border issues had become complex by the latter part of the Biden administration because of the complete collapse of Venezuelan economy and the drug cartels in Mexico smuggling people and drugs across the border, for which the Biden administration or Harris had no answer.  It was the failure of administrations to continue the Monroe Doctrine in the form given by FDR as "Good Neigbor Policy," and JFK as the Alliance for Progress, allowing drug cartels and foreign European powers to intervene in the western hemisphere, desorying good governance in Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba and other nations in Latin America. By the second year of the DJT administration Venezuela, and the border were brought under control, and the situation in Mexico put in a new direction. ...

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1.4 million green cards issued in the last year of the Biden administration 2024 as green cards issuance was at the highest level in a decade. Green cards to be issued only in the home country starting in 2026. The reasoning behind this decision is given by the US Immigration Agency-

"This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes. When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency.”  

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David Sacks role in holding off AI regulation 2026- presidential executive order for AI regulation put on ice.

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Samsung stock price up 144% Intel up 255% in 5 months of 2026, as the S&P makes eight weeks of consecutive gains May 23 2026. Companies in the S&P 500 trade at 21 times their expected earnings over the next 12 months, the 10 year average is about 19 times their expected earnings. The war in Iran, the war in Ukraine, and the massive misallocation of investment to AI are risks for the US economy, yet the US stock market continues to be robust.

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For the US to do a economic bailout of IRGC Iran now would be a betrayal of the US interest, and of the Iranian people who protested, says WSJ. This strongly worded WSJ editorial from the WSJ Editorial Board says Iran entered 2026 with an economic crisis, then a political crisis with widespread protests and suppression by the IRGC, leading to the Iran war to take out nuclear sites intending to produce nuclear weapons. The US air strikes destroyed Iran's military industrial complex. For the US to do a economic bailout of Iran now, when this is the only time with the naval blockade that Iran can be asked to remove all nuclear materials to a third country, would be a serious mistake. It says the only reason would be close to the midterms and high gas prices. Yet says WSJ letting Iran have its way would mean DJT could lose standing with the American public and see this in the midterms. The US naval blockade should not be lifted until Iran not by words but by actions sends out all the nuclear material out of the country, says WSJ. Lifting the naval blockade for 60 days of talks putting off the nuclear issue is the opposite of what the US has insisted on from the beginning- the nuclear issue is the only issue and it comes first is the US position. The mediation by Turkey and Pakistan, Qatar, has done just the opposite, and in this sense it has failed, according to this view in the WSJ. ...

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The British Council in Colombo, Ceylon, as far back as the 1960's, has shaped the founder of Lyrarc.com's knowledge of Britain in shaping the ideas of the Modern World we know today, knowledge of its parliament and democracy, that are vital in shaping society in China, India, and other nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa to this day. For this reason the closing of the British Council facilities around the world to pay a loan it had taken years ago under the Conservatives during Covid, is to be seen as a major blow. This report in The Guardian is about fears the world's leading soft power agency, which is more than that a transmitter of ideas that shape the Modern World and all our democracies in Europe and America, Asia, other parts of the world, will disappear in a decade. The Madrid building which houses the British Council in Madrid at 13 Paseo del Martinez Campos in Madrid's Chamberi district, has been put up for sale to pay Covid era debt. About 5000 Spanish students attend classes in English and prepare for exams in 35 classrooms. Over the years hundreds of thousands of Spanish people passed through this building. 320 jobs will be lost, employees with passionate dedication who it will be difficult to replace. Another center in Barcelona also is expected to close. This comes at the wrong time when Britain needs to make its voice heard in the world, when a mediocre level of British parliamentarians and leaders since Blair and David Cameron have allowed this to happen. English language classes in Italy at the British Council are also being shut down. Paris building may also be sold, and shrinking operations in the Baltic Republics, Croatia and Austria. This will be a major blow to helping spread knowledge of British parliamentary traditions, its history and participation in shaping the Modern World we know today.  It is now hoped and this is a message to Labour's Andy Burnham who studied English at Cambridge, to restore Britain's image and the value of its parliamentary and other lasting contributions to the Modern World, to the benefit of all nations, to cancel this debt and give the British Council new leadership for the next 2 decades. Neil Kinnock, a Labour leader, and a chair of the British Council says- “The British Council does not want to make these cuts. They are being forced into it by the conditions required by the Treasury." “I sympathise very much with the staff, so does the leadership,” he said. The British Council had “camped out” in the Foreign Office for last three or four years and put up a “hell of a fight”. Kinnock said: “What the government should do is either find a way of cancelling the debt, or even rescheduling the debt. Because it’s to absolutely nobody’s advantage to lose the British Council.” A desperate effort to pay an outstanding £197m debt from a Covid-era Conservative government emergency loan on commercial terms, with interest to be repaid by September, is what is causing this massive destruction of a century old institution that belongs to Europeans, to Asians, and to the world at large for better societies through knowledge. Who runs Treasury in Britain? Rachel Reeves, who has no concept of the role constructive Britons have played for two hundred years from the time the British agent at Rajkot encouraged Mohandas Gandhi (Gandhiji) to study in London in 1888, a role that the British Council has played since its founding. His name Sir Frederick Souter, who wrote the letter of recommendation for Gandhi to enter the University College, London. Sir Dingle Foot, Solicitor General of the UK, another Labour leader, played that role for a youngster of 22 years at the University of Baroda in India, for Law School at the University of London in 1969, after years of educational experience at the British Council in Colombo, Ceylon. Now the founder of Lyrarc.com. We call upon Andy Burnham to make this one of is first priorities to put Britain First, and India, other European nations, the US, to assist in this effort, to preserve one of Britain's brightest contributions in throwing light on the brave scientific, educational and industrial endeavors that built the Modern World. ...

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Andy Burnham, Labour's Mayor of Greater Manchester region, launches his bid for Makerfield seat in British parliament with a natural style following daily runs and running Manchester. He says-

“I’m prepared to take that fight as high as I can go. I want to play whatever part I can in changing this party back to the party here people used to know, and the party that is solidly on the side of working-class community.”

He added: “I‘ve not done the usual thing of talking in code. I’ve said it plainly what I’m trying to do.”

 

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Andy Burnham launches his bid for the British parliament with a natural style following daily runs and running the greater Manchester region as its three term Mayor.

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A debate in the UK Greens Party that a vote in Makerfield parliamentary by-election for Greens was a vote for Reform UK's Farage. The Greens party candidate in Makerfield is withdrawn. As Labour's Burnham is standing for election to UK parliament from Makerfield, and hopes to lead UK as the new PM once he has won a seat in parliament, this is shaping up to be a pivotal election in 2026 to decide who will lead the country in the years ahead. Greens fear they will be labeled as promoting UK Reform party for years if they don't get this right.

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Iran's oil production filling up existing storage leading to oil well shutoffs May 2026. Tankers near oil fields are used as storage as Iran faces prospect of filled up storage tanks and ships at sea at some point in the next few weeks. It has slow throttled production, increased storage, yet with no oil getting out of Hormuz straits Iran will at some point in the next couple of weeks have to shutdown some of the oil wells. The oil tanks cannot be monitored for storage level and their is existing storage in refineries and other places making it difficult to say precisely when but it could be in the next couple of weeks. This plays a part in Iran's thinking looking for ways to settle the conflict. US insists on getting all nuclear material out of Iran as an indispensable condition and the full and entire reason for the war not anything against the Iranian people. It is a basic idea- non-proliferation on nuclear weapons. Why in the Middle East- the answer is that for 5 decades there are wars in the Middle East, many small nations created by the British and the French who take no responsibility today, and the prospect of spread is real, sectarian conflicts for centuries, and a situation worse than in the Balkans where World War I started. The region extends from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, each nation destroyed by 5 decades of war including many Americans, Russians Europeans dead.  Costs of War Project at Brown University estimates are that 4.5 to 4.7 million people died in these wars. The US is not a colonial power like the British and the French, the Dutch. It seeks no oil as it is self sufficient, and it seeks no strife or involvement in the centuries old saga of the sectarian religious conflicts in the Middle East, having settled its own between Catholics and Protestants in the 17th century so that the Industrial Revolution and Scientific Revolutions could take place to create the Modern World of science, medicine, and industry we know today. Many of the nations of the Middle East seem averse to whole heartedly embracing the European contributions in this achievement as China, India, and America have done, in the process changing how their people think and live, and strive daily to further these achievements. ...