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Profiting from the US presidency that the WSJ says demeans the office. Crypto firms facing investigations and downturn joined to support the Republican candidate in 2024. WSJ Editorial Board is critical of the dealings with crypto firms by the DJT family. Democrats hope to make this an issue in the elections and these crypto and other dealings have a high degree of disapproval among Republicans.

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US president Biden announces a 5 year offshore drilling plan that will allow some drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Cook inlet of Alaska. The Atlantic, Pacific and the Arctic will be closed for drilling leases. Biden had to create a path between opening up drilling and not allowing any drilling following the shortages of oil and gas and high prices from embargoes on Russian oil and gas.

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Instead of normal appropriations process $140 billion for DHS funding to be secured by Republicans using simple majority by May 2026. It takes longer yet accomplishes the same goal of ending DHS shutdown and paying DHS people.

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About 400 engineers of IO with connections to Apple joined Open AI in an acquisition. Apple's lawsuit against Open AI with which it had started a partnership in AI in 2024 which has soured states-

"OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets” 

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The uncertain returns from AI is not good for retirees whose funds are invested in AI funded by corporate bonds. With enormous needs for capital how about $3 trillion for Ai investment to 2028 , says WSJ, only $1.5 trillion can come from cash flows and $1.5 trillion has to come from elsewhere such as corporate bonds and annuities retirees purchase. This lowers credit ratings of these instruments as AI returns are uncertain. This is not a good situation for retirees in the US.

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Azimji Premji of Wipro is one of the few Indian business leaders with a strong bonding with Gandhi's ideas of personal responsibility for India's betterment and the betterment of millions of ordinary people in India. He says Gandhi influenced him only next to his mother who ran an orthopaedic hospital for disabled children for 50 years, and learned what it took to do this as well as the difference it made in people's lives. He quotes Gandhi as his own personal philosophy-  "Supposing I have come by a fair amount of wealth- either by way of legacy, or by means of trade and industry- I must know that all that wealth does not belong to me; what belongs to me is the right to an honorable livelihood, no better than that enjoyed by millions of others,. The rest of my wealth belongs to the community and must be used for the welfare of the community." Azimji Premji gives as three enduring parts of Gandhi's leadership- the pursuit of truth, the importance of means over ends, and empathy for all human beings. He cites a saying of Gandhi to be seen at Sabarmati Ashram and Gandhi Smriti- "I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man (woman) whom you may have seen, and ask yourself of the step you contemplate is going tobe of any use to him or her. Will he or she gain anything by it? Will it restore him (her) to control over his (her) own life and destiny? In other words will it lead to swaraj for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away." ...

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NYT looks at Judge Tanya Chutkan, the judge in the January 6 trial in the US, the first federal trial of Mr. Trump beginning March 4, 2024. She is a former public defender and civil litigator. Her strong presence in the courtroom reflects her extensive trial experience and her upbringing in a prominent Jamaican family, says NYT. Her great grand parents came to Jamaica from India to work on the sugar plantations during the British colonial rule and her father was selected to go to college on a scholarship. She no longer rides the 5 miles to the federal courthouse in Washington DC on her bicycle, she jogs different routes with US marshals and they drive her to work. On some days she can be seen toting a bottle in Lycra shorts and tennis shoes after a jog entering the courthouse with US marshals at her side.

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VW which has failed to build market share in the US is leaving aside its appeal point of German engineering in 2023 and now selling itself as an American brand. VW has become dependent on China for half its sales and badly needs to avoid overconcentration in one country. It is trying to enter the SUV market with the Scout brand for buzz as an off road vehicle and will introduce 2 dozen models. Scout is a 4 wheel drive recreational vehicle designed in America for International Harvester, a company VW acquired in 1981 when it was called Navistar. It is a mashup of a World War II Willy Jeep and a pickup truck with its boxy shape. Half a million were sold from 1960 to 1980. With this plan VW with only 4.5%  of the American market is trying one more time, this time as a way out of overconcentration in China. Realizing that America is where the automobile entered mass production in the factories of Detroit. South Carolina's assembly has approved $1.3 billion to support VW in building a new plant near Columbia to build the Scout.   ...

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China’s 15th Five-Year Plan recommendations set out China’s energy and climate priorities - from the Sino-German Cooperation on Climate Change. It says in its Conclusion as it relates to China's Energy Initiative working with German cooperation. It shows China is committed to cutting its reliance on fossil fuels from the Middle East particularly now with the situation in the Iran War and cutoff of such supplies. It is a broad comprehensive approach to industry, business and society's needs and how to best make the transition to low carbon emissions and renewable energy similar to what Germany is accomplishing on its own. "In essence, the recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan point to three main priorities: further expanding renewable energy and modernising the power system to reduce reliance on fossil fuels; shifting policy focus from controlling energy use to directly controlling carbon emissions, including plans to peak coal and oil consumption and expand carbon markets; and integrating climate and low-carbon goals across industry, finance and consumer policies, making green development a central pillar of China’s long-term economic strategy." ...

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James McIntyre's book about Gordon Brown, (title is Power with a Purpose) who like Jimmy Carter, was more respected in retirement for doing good work humbly and not getting into a revenue generating speaker's circuit or consulting, or boards of directors of companies. McIntyre looks at his career, the involvement of Mandelson as Business Secretary, the failures of Mandelson and Blair in New Labour, and Gordon Brown's failure to revive the Labour Party. The Times says Gordon Brown has grown in stature since leaving No. 10 Downing Street. Under Blair, Brown was No.2 and headed the British Treasury as finance minister. He only became prime minister at the end of his career during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. He started the effort to redefine Labour Party after Margaret Thatcher defeated the Labour candidate from Plymouth Mr. Foot and swept out socialist Labour and the trade unions. Then followed privatization and changes in the British economy which were followed by Reagan in the US by 1980. Through this period Brown and Blair tried to create the concept of New Labour which won in landslides as Britain switched back to Labour as the alternative. As the Blair magic withered Brown was left tackling the 2009 financial crisis but failed to define what Labour was- his Business secretary was Peter Mandelson who unlike Brown was in Labour but in for his own purpose and had a cynical attitude to politics as a way to retire in some privileged business position on boards of directors. The result is well known Cameron and the conservatives who were even less qualified than an earlier generation of Conservative politicians, their decision to call the Brexit referendum, the verdict of yes on Brexit leading to Cameron's replacement by Boris Johnson, and Britain having 4 prime ministers in a span of five years as discredited austerity drive was replaced by Keir Starmer's Labour. This project with McSweeney as Starmer's campaign manager cleared Labour of socialist outlook Corbyn supporters, won in a landslide in 2024, only to fail to define the purpose for which Labour stood for and Starmer's ratings dropping to new lows of 18% support as Reform UK's Farage took up the issue of migrants and the culture that enabled migrants to enter the UK. Britain has been let down by two generations of less competent, poorly qualified for public service politicians over three decades since the 1990's- through Blair/Brown, Cameron, Boris Johnson and left struggling with Keir Starmer. Sixty years after decolonization of an Empire in the 1960's, Britain has not gained in purpose and strength, only drifting along as new powers emerge in Asia and the world changes. ...

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What impresses most about Tuchel is his calmness and reassuring his players, taking the pressure off them so they can concentrate on the game on their skills and do better. In the half time talk for the game against Croatia he tells his players - “Even if we lost, it will not change my perception of you from the last 17 days, but let’s do it our way.” Players did not have to think of their self-worth, a load was taken off their backs, so they could concentrate on the task itself and use their skills effectively, says Cath Bishop in The Guardian. There are 10 articles on this German coach Tuchel one each for how he managed each game, with DRC, Croatia, Panama, and with Mexico, in The Guardian, and others on his approach, rare to find so many concentrating on the coach for England. Showing Tuchel has something of a rare quality- calmness plus confidence, and connection with his players.

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France's 2750 kms of TGV track and 300 TGV trains making 1.8 billion euros profit a month. Double decker trains such as on the Marseille to Paris 750 kms route are popular. These trains are very quiet and efficient. Doubledecker trains are also popular. Bordeaux, Lyon, Lille, Strasbourg can be reached, and Geneva, Brussels, London, Zurich. It is the best high speed network in comfort and efficiency, food, in the world, with large group of international travelers. France did this after the 1973 oil crisis.LGV-Sud-Est was completed in two phases in 1981 and 1983. By contrast Britain faile to build ahigh speed rail line and work has dragged on for years. Germany has a similar but smaller network. China's only started in 2008 built over 17 years to 2025. India's is starting now with the latest Japanese technologies and should be connected major Indian cities by 2030, with the first line Ahmedabad to Mumbai complete in 2027.

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The Washington Post cites the Fox Foundation of Parkinson Research, these are as described in this report. One of this is loss of smell, another is physically acting out your dreams, third is chronic constipation for weeks at a time, the fourth postural low blood pressure when moving from sitting to standing.

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Manpower decisive in 20226 for Ukraine as two hundred thousand deserted and 2 million dodge the draft. Ukraine has more older men at the front lines than before. The situation is where Ukraine with a population of 40 million faces Russia with apopulation of 120 million, three times its size. The war is in its 4th year. Ukraine needs young people to rebuild and the focus was to prevent loss of young generation to the war to rebuild. This is getting harder to do. It also show why after 4 years of war the war on both sides has dragged on for too long. Britain, France are further away from the frontlines, and Germany, Poland much closer, the Nordic countries and Baltics having lived with Russia as a neighbor, their respective locations affect how they talk about this war. US has rightly seen that it is in no one's interest to prolong this war with loss of tens of thousands of young people every month.

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The decades old Ambassador Bridge owned by the Moroun family now competes with Gordie Howe Bridge for $300 million in crossborder traffic revenues. The new Gordie Howe Bridge is owned by Canada and cost $4.7 billion to build and Michigan has ownership interest in the bridge.

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IMF forecasts are always behind the curve and come out a month or so after some event has happened. For fast paced events the lag makes the forecasts obsolete in a short time. Even so the IMF says the impact will be to reduce world growth from 3.2% to 2.5% based on situation today, a slight drop in growth. More impacted are the country's with weaker financial situation going into this period including countries in the Middle East and Africa, Asia. There are also indirect benefits from the naval blockade which is to accelerate the move to renewable energy reducing fossil fuels as a percentage of each country's energy mix with more room for nuclear and solar energy, and getting more efficient use of energy with Germany and Japan as examples.

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Patrice Lumumba look alike and soccer fans in the Congo 2026. A post independence hero in the Congo returns to the US through African soccer fans.

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In the flight from San Francisco this lawyer couple in the Bay Area moves to Sonoma working with telecommute several days a week. Exchanging 900 square feet for 1800 square feet and with life in a small town in the middle of nature.

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Does it help to be an organization man, do organizations provide protection against the buffeting storms of life, against this economic crisis and everything it may hold in store? The publisher of the Rocky Mountain News is out of ajob an a free agent. suddenly the postwar security of a job with a large company is gone. You could be in sales with a pharmaceutical company, in the auto industry, in a newspaper, working for a local government, a bank thats disappearing, in a small business, or in some other business, and your job could disappear in a contracting economy.

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George Paz, the CEO of Express Scripts, is the man who engineered the acquisition of Medco Health Solutions, creating the largest company in the pharmacy-benefit business.