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Russian president Putin tells the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, before his visit to Italy, that the failure to carry out the agreement of Feb. 2015 called Minsk II- following the eruption in fighting at Debaltseve and Mariupol in eastern Ukraine- is because of the Poroshenko government in Kiev. He called on the U.S. and Europe to pressure the government in Kiev. The Ukrainian position is that the local elections cannot move forward until pro-Russian fighters and weapons are withdrawn, and the control of the border with Russia is given back to Ukraine. As western sanctions on Russia over intervention in Ukraine are coming up for renewal at a meeting of the G-7, Putin said he was committed to the Minsk II agreement for autonomy to be given to the region of the Luhatsk and Donetsk republics, which were established in the east with Russian assistance. Putin told the newspaper in an interview: "The document we agreed upon in Minsk, called Minsk II, is the best agreement and perhaps the only unequivocal solution to this problem. We would never have agreed upon it if we had not considered it to be right, just and feasible. On our part, we take every effort, and will continue to do so, in order to influence the authorites of the unrecognized, self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics. But not everything depends on us. Our European and U.S. partners should exert influence on the current Kiev administration, We do not have the power, as Europe and the U.S. do, to convince Kiev to carry out everything that was agreed on in Minsk." That the two sides are far apart on issues is shown by Ukraine president Poroshenko's position that for an election to take place for implementing decentralization in the eastern region of Donetsk and Luhansk - "It is impossible to provide the election when the bandits and terrorists with guns are on the street. This is not free and not fair." Putin's position is that " Specifically there needs to be a constitutional reform to ensure the autonomous rights of the unrecognized republics. The Kiev authorites do not want to call it autonomy- they prefer different terms, such as decentralization. Our European partners, those very partners who wrote the corresponding clause in the Minsk agreements, explained what should be understood as decentralization. It gives them the right to speak their language, to have their own cultural identity and engage in cross-border trade- nothing special beyond the civilized understanding of ethnic minorities' rights in any European country." ...

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The response of Ronald Reagan and George Bush in a Republican presidential primary debate to the question: Do you think the children of illegal aliens be allowed should be able to attend Texas public schools free, or do you think that their parents should pay for their education? Bush's response: "I would reluctantly say I think they would get whatever it is that society is giving to their neighbors... If they're living here I don't want to see a whole thing of 6-8- year old kids being made totally uneducated and made to feel they're living outside the law. Lets address ourselves to the fundamentals. These are good people, strong people. Part of my family is Mexican." Ronald Reagan's response was: "Rather than talk about putting a fence, why don't we work out some recognition of our mutual problems with Mexico? Make it possible for them to come here legally and with a work permit- and then while working and earning here, they pay taxes here. And when they want to go back, they can go back. And open the border both ways by understanding their problems."...

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Lucy Powell Central Manchester MP elected Labour's Deputy Leader with 54% of the vote in 17% vote turnout. In a sign of the big changes in UK politics and economy Lucy Powell was fired by PM Starmer as leader in the House of Commons as recently as September 2025. Starmer clearly has not led the Labour Party in Britain in ways that would win the confidence of the people of Britain as demonstrated in a recent Wales by-election with Labour having only 11% of the vote after Reform in a previously safe seat.  Lucy Powell says about the lack of listening within Labour to the grassroots people and organization- “I think we often feel like our members and elected representatives are something we need to stand against or not value. They are our strengths. “They connect us to the national conversation. Instead of just telling people what we want them to do, we need to respect, value and include them more, and recognise that debate is not division or dissent, and recognise you have to take people with you and hear from broader voices, not just a narrower group of voices. “They haven’t felt they have been included and connected as they should in recent months, and that’s what often happens when you go into government. “I’m going to really help to do that, to re-engage with the party, and make them feel part of the conversation again. I’ll do that through working with Keir [Starmer], working with government, working right across the party in the leadership roles that I will have.”     ...

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About the collapse of two banks- Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank Fed vice chairman for financial and banking supervision, Michael Barr, had this to say at a Congressional hearing last week- "I think anytime you have a bank failure like this, bank management clearly failed, supervisors failed, and our regulatory system failed."  The rest of this report looks at changes the Fed can on its own make stricter supervision of banks over $100 billion, action the Biden administration is thinking of taking, and action by the FDIC. The Biden administration does not want to be seen supporting wealthy depositors at Silicon Valley Bank by guaranteeing uninsured deposits as it did. It took this action solely to protect the financial system so that it would not hurt working families. For this reason alone the Biden administration will seek tighter controls of mid sized banks now that the illusion that banks below $250 billion do not pose a risk to the financial system is gone. It will also seek to recover all funds used to support these failed banks from the banks and financial sector that has lobbied for so long for less regulation leading to failure of banks not once in 2009, but again in 2023. This time under the Biden administration the damage is carefully controlled so that it does not affect the American economy and working families. ...

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The US president DJT said today Feb. 13, 2025, as he introduced the new Health Secretary of the US-  "There's something wrong, and I think it's it's something that can be found out. In 2022, more than 40% of children had at least one chronic health condition, and today, nearly 80% of young adults do not qualify for military service in large part for health reasons. We're, ah, think of that 80%. Something is wrong and that's why immediately after Bobby is sworn in, I will be signing an Executive Order establishing the President's Commission To Make America Healthy Again. We have some great people on that commission chaired by our new secretary. This groundbreaking breaking commission will be charged with investigating what is causing The decades long increase in chronic illness, reporting its findings and delivering an action plan to the American people, and it's going to be a plan that people are really waiting to hear. Bobby, ah, I want to thank you. You've gone through a lot. It's taken great courage. You've been amazing actually. I'd call him and say, You're gonna be OK. And he said, I know, I really do. "Perhaps most importantly though, Bobby created a nationwide movement made up of millions and millions of mothers and fathers and young people and concerned citizens of every background who want to end this horrible chronic disease crisis that exists, exists in America. He's absolutely committed to getting dangerous chemicals out of our environment and out of our food supply and getting the American people the facts and the answers that we deserve after years in which our public health system has squandered the trust of our citizens, and they really have, they didn't, they don't trust us. They don't trust anybody, frankly they've gone through hell. There's no better person to lead our campaign of historic reforms and restore faith in American health care, and Bobby's going to do it. The United States spends more money in health than any other country on Earth, but we're growing sicker every year. We're not as healthy as countries that spend just a fraction of what we spend, so there's something wrong. He's going to figure it out. In recent decades we've seen staggering increases in cancer rates across all age demographics, including more than 40% increase in childhood cancer since 1975. Who can believe that? And an explosion in other chronic childhood illnesses not long ago, 1 in 10,000 people, children had autism. Now it's 1 in 36. Think of that 1 in 10,000, 1 in 10,000. Now it's 1 in 36. Who can believe that there's something wrong. There's something wrong, and I think it's it's something that can be found out. In 2022, more than 40% of children had at least one chronic health condition, and today, nearly 80% of young adults do not qualify for military service in large part for health reasons. We're, ah, think of that 80%. Something is wrong and that's why immediately after Bobby is sworn in, I will be signing an executive order establishing the president's commission to make America healthy again. We have some great people on that commission chaired by our new secretary. This groundbreaking breaking commission will be charged with investigating what is causing The decades long increase in chronic illness, reporting its findings and delivering an action plan to the American people, and it's going to be a plan that people are really waiting to hear. Bobby, ah, I want to thank you. You've gone through a lot. It's taken great courage. You've been amazing actually. I'd call him and say, You're gonna be OK. And he said, I know, I really do. He's really, ah, been supported amazingly by Cheryl and his family. And it was a very tough. It was a very nasty group of people that were after him, but he was tougher and he was smarter than they are, and that's why he's here today. There are very few people that could have withstood the, ah, the assault, but he was able to." ...

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Prime minister Matteo Renzi focussed on some critical aspects of how other Europeans see the negotiations in the Greece bailout in June 2015. Considering that the EU had relaxed conditions for the surplus, a critical condition for reducing austerity programs in Greece and focussing on reforms, and considering the high unemployment not insisted on further cuts to the public sector employees, the conditions put forward focussing on reforms such as collection of taxes are seen as essental by other eurozone countries, including Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy. Renzi told II Sole 24 Ore- "The point is that Greece may get different conditions, but it has to abide by the rules. It's not the case that we have taken early retiremnt pensions away from the people of Italy just to allow the Greeks to have them! We have brought in labor reform, but it is not the case that, with our money, a number of Greek shipowners can continue not to pay taxes.. I could go on." If he went on he would cite the tax collection laws and methods in Italy which were changed under prime minister Monti to tackle tax evasion in Italy, with no effort to collect the $11 billion in estimated taxes that are not collected in Greece. Italy banned cash payment above 1000 euros and started a cross referencing initiative to tackle tax evasion under premier Monti. Greece took up tax evasion legislation in 2010 in parliament but opposition from many groups led to no action. In 2012 Labor minister Elsa Fornero broke down in tears as she described raising the retirement age for women to 66 in the private sector from 60, saying this was to prevent "collective impoverishment." Italy lacks childcare and older women help with childcare for grandchildren. Renzi was probably thinking of these changes in Italy. He went on to say- " If there is a mass get-out clause over the rules, what will happen in Spain in October? And in France in a year and half? It is one thing to ask for flexibility amid abidance by the rules. It is another thing to think that one is the craftiest of them all, in other words to be the that does not abide by the rules. We want them to save Greece. But the people of Greece also have to want that." On tax evasion and other issues for long term financial health Greece is seen as not following basic financial rules for sustaining the euro....

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In the centenary year of the Lincoln Memorial, America's and the Free World's most iconic monument, the Washington Post gives this story on how it went from conception in 1867 to the cornerstone being laid in 1915 to its opening in 1922. In 1939 it acquired new meaning as Marian Anderson sang "My Country I sing of thee," a video of this being shown here. By the 1940's it symbolized the struggle to bring all races and peoples of north and southern US together as it had done up to that time, but also the struggle of the Free World in the newly decolonized countries of Asia and Africa. This is an aspect of the Lincoln Memorial and its inscription that has not been told. The words of Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence combined with the words of Lincoln to strike a chord in the countries of Asia and Africa struggling for freedom.  The 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 inalienable Rights, and among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. The inscription on the Lincoln Memorial- In this temple as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever.        ...

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Tsai Ing-Wen is elected president of Taiwan by a landslide in the Jan. 2016 election. Tsai, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected with 56 percent of the vote, compared to 31 percent for the Koumintang candidate Eric Chu. The DPP won 68 seats out of 113 in Taiwan's parliament. Tsai told a news conference about Taiwan- China relations - "I also want to emphasize that both sides have a responsibility to find mutually acceptable means of interaction that are based on dignity and reciprocity."

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Israel's military chief told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz he did not think the Iranians will go the last mile and build a nuclear bomb. This takes some of the hysteria and escalation out of the crisis. The chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Force, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, said: "I think the Iranian leadership is composed of very rational people." He said about Ayatollah Khamanei- "I believe he would be making an enormous mistake, and I don't think he will want to go the extra mile."

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Eric Cantor is the senior Republican leader in the House of Representatives. He is a key figure in the negotiations with the Obama White House over the budget, deficit reduction, and raising the debt ceiling. Cantor and House Speaker Boehner are leading the negotiations on the Republican side. Cantor rejects any compromise on tax increases. He told reporters: "I think behind this notion of 'We want shared sacrifice' that they continue to say means 'We want to raise taxes,' and we don't accept that we raise taxes in an economy like this." Cantor is a lawyer and a former state legislator from a district that covers the Richmond, Virginia, suburbs. He was elected in 2000. Through his "Young Guns" program Cantor recruited many of the 87 new Republicans who were elected in 2010. It is this support from rank and file Congressman that has propelled Cantor into a leadership position for the deficit talks. Responding to critics that say a compromise is needed from both sides in the talks, Cantor says- "I don't think the White House understands how difficult it is for fiscal conservatives to say they are going to vote for a debt-ceiling increase." On June 23, Cantor pulled out of talks with the White House. In the current round of negotiations Boehner pulled back from "a grand bargain" which included tax increases, after consulting with Cantor....

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Michael Shear of the NYT describes Biden's thinking about China and his candour during fund raising events for his campaign. Biden says he seeks "competition, not conflict with China." He tells an audience in Utah, "I don't want to hurt China, but I'm watching." Biden signed an executive order last week banning American investment in certain technology industries in China that could enhance its military capabilities. In relations with China Biden is moving forward with easing tensions by having Blinken, Kerry, Raimondo and other officials visit Beijing to ensure open communications and discussion. Biden seems to be following two tracks one of being open about China and the evolution of the relationship in erratic ways over different administrations where it was counterproductive for both nations- creating more potential for conflict than less when technology flowed freely from the US to China in business to business dealings- that did not reflect how the US sees both its responsibilities and its leadership in world affairs over the twenty first century. China has reverted to its political position in the postwar years as it adjusts to the new US perceptions of what happened to US jobs, manufacturing and trade over two decades since the opening to China at the WTO. ...

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Susie Wiles is a Florida native where she gained most of her experience running Republican campaigns from Bush/Qualyle, Romney, more recently Scott, De Santis and Trump. She also worked for lobbying firm Mercury, was an assistant to Congressman Jack Kemp. She has learned to brush away some of the boorish traits and rhetoric of the former president, says Politico.  As DJT's campaign manager of Florida in 2016 she told the Tampa Bay Times why-  "I don’t want this to continue. I think it seriously will damage our republic and who among that group can really have the fortitude to shift what I’ve seen happening over all these years?” "I will tell you this: The Donald Trump that I have come to know does not behave that way, and the lens that I look at him through, I don’t see any of that. I see strengths, I see smarts, I see a work ethic that is unparalleled,” she told the Tampa Bay Times in 2016. “I blanch sometimes. But, again, it’s not the Donald Trump that I have come to know.” During 2016 and in 2024 her disciplined attitude, humility, trying to be self effacing and focused have helped bring discipline out of the chaos in DJT's campaigns. She also has unique ability to get through at critical moments to restrain DJT from impulsive moments that create political liabilities.   ...

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Competition in the Chinese market between Coca Cola and pepsi is shifting from the traditional carbonated beverages to juices, teas and non-carbonated drinks. Pepsi sells pulp based juiced under the name Tropicana Pulp Sacs, and Coca Cola has Minute Maid Pulpy. The Chinese governmet has discouraged acquisitions, and did not approve Coke's $2.4 billion acquisition of fruit juice manufacturer China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd. Growth has to be maintained by investing and developing their own products for local tastes and culture. Both Pepsi and Coca Cola plan increased investments in China. Pepsi has 27 plants, five farms, and over 20,000 employees in China and expects to double the number of employees by 2015. Pepsi executives say Pepsi is following a"seed to shelf" approach in China, growing food on farms and developing teas and snacks for local tastes. In China Pepsi has a Lay line of chips with cool-cucumber flavors and Cao Ben le line of drinks based on Yin and Yang, cooling and warming. Pepsi's 13% growth in snack volume and 10% growth in beverage volume for its Asian, Middle East and Africa operations are mainly because of this growth in China and India. By contrast soft drink sales have declined for 5 years in the USA and come under criticism because of high levels of obesity in the USA. Pepsi's strategy is to move further into the interior of China, further west according to Pepsi executives. It plans to invest $2.5 billion in about 12 new food and beverage plants in the interior of China to be built over 3 years. Coke announced a $2 billion investment in late 2009, and is a lead sponsor for the Shanghai Expo. ...

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Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers, was arrested on July 17, 2011. Sir Paul Stephenson, head of Scotland Yard resigned the same day. Stephenson says he did not reveal information to No. 10 Downing Street that Wallis, a former top editor of News World, was also on Scotland Yard's payroll as a special advisor. Stephenson said: " I did not want to compromise the prime minister in any way by revealing or discussing a potential suspect who clearly had a close relationship with Mr. Coulson." Britain's prime minister Cameron hired Coulson from News World as his communications advisor.

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This exceptional and detailed WPost report by Rosenwald, Boorstein and Clement on Pope Francis's popularity, also shows that on other aspects of the Catholic community's openness in the pews change is slow and gradual. In the parishes and on the pews for practicing Catholics there are not many signs of change. And Catholics who do not go to church are not coming back to the pews in increasing numbers. A slight surge under Pope John Paul II after his visit in 1993 for World Youth Day faded out, and this time the situation with Pope Francis's visit looks to be no different. About 1 in 8 Americans consider themselves former Catholics, according to the 2014 Pew Religious Landscape Survey. The Post-ABC poll of September 7-10, 2015 shows 45% of self-identified Catholics saying they attend Mass about once a week or more frequently, 19% attending monthly, and 35% saying they attend less frequently or never. There is a large gap between Pope Francis's popularity among Catholics with about 75% holding strongly favorable views, compared to 47% strongly favorable for the Catholic Church. Kathleen Cummings of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame, says the difference is because Pope Francis has accentuated the positive. The Pope's own roots in Argentina and his practice of a more humble Catholicism as a bishop, his intermingling with people in the subways in Buenos Aires and in poorer neigborhoods of the city, not only affirms the original teachings of the Church, but also affirms this at a time when the bishops and the Church have drifted away from the original message, in a period of increasing social disparities in the Western World, Latin America and Asia. The Pope has called for helping immigrants, migrants, refugees, the poor, and the environment. Most people in the U.S. are comfortable with the Pope's activism on social issues and saying this before a joint session of Congress in the U.S. on September 25, 2015. To shake up the lethargy in the Church hierarchy Pope Francis described the bishops of the church in the Christmas 2014 message as "lords of the manor, superior to everyone and everything," and having "spiritual Alzheimer's." The extent of support for the Pope's activism shows how the public now views the need for someone of the Pope's stature to speak out on issues of social, economic and environmental change. Only 14% of Americans in the September 2015 Post/ABC poll say Pope Francis should be less active. 30% of Catholics say more active is better, and 50% say continue the way he is. And over half of non-Catholics want him to continue to speak out. Issues of the role of women in the church, abortion and same-sex marraige continue to create differences. By focussing on the original teachings of the church for humility, a humble church, and serving the poor and less fortunate, the Pope has reached the hearts of most Americans and people around the world, in a way unimaginable only a few years before....

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Liu Junning points out China's heritage of liberal ideas that goes back to Laozi, the founder of Taoism (6th century B.C.), Mencius (4th century B.C), Huang Zongxi (1610-1695) which are similiar to the liberal ideas of the Enlightenment in the Western nations. He says the liberal ideas and accountability of government are the heritage of all nations and not a particular western experience.

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Ranil Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka, both Finance Minister and Prime Minister during this economic crisis, says to The HIndu in this interview- "It's hectic, this is a new experience. I am working eight days a week." He says he will firm up the staff level agreement with the IMF by June. Then he says comes the debt restructuring plan that gives a clear indication of what Sri Lanka has to do. By July there will be also the interim Budget.  He said "I must say that Indian assistance has helped us get through these difficult times." He says in addition to the $3.5 billion he is hoping to get another $500 million assistance for fuel. On austerity path Sri Lanka faces he says we have agreed with the IMF that vulnerable groups will have to be supported. He said if we look at what are called tough conditions, even if the IMF were not there, we would have to do it. The advantage of going with the IMF, you get something or everything. If you were to do it on your own you get nothing. On austerity he said yes there has to be austerity but we want it to be for the short term, so that even if 2023 will be a difficult year, in 2024 we can start moving. On the Adani investment of $500 million and Mr. Modi, he says  that he emphatically welcomes it. We need it at this moment and it is a good sign that investors are coming in, said Wickremesinghe. Look he said if anyone else in India wants to invest another $500 million I am not objecting. He said Sri Lanka needs to use its potential for wind energy which is big. ...

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Dina Asher-Smith, Britain's greatest sprinter is bouncing back in the 200 metres sprint after the Tokyo Olympics. Here she talks to Sean Ingle in the Guardian.  Much of what she says from her experience and what she has learned is valuable for people working in all walks of life. How do you take the ups and downs (she did not do well at the Tokyo Olympics) and what is the best way to be? On the best way to be- "As a sprinter I want to be light, and bouncy and carefree. So you can't run fast with baggage. It's really unhealthy. You just gotta throw it out. What happened in Tokyo doesn't affect my calibre. It doesn't affect the  work I put in, or my potential. It was just really unfortunate timing. I'm not the first person it has happened to and certainly not the last." She says one never knows what someone else is facing behind the scenes. Nobody is truly unbeatable, and everything is always up for play, even if the odds look to be infinitely stacked against you. That is why she says she approaches every race as a clean slate. And that is why she does not bring whatever  happened last year to this year. And on that last bit of effort she says- "You have to stay focused, be humble and hungry, to keep finding those 0.01 seconds in every phase, and every step you do." ...

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A terrorist attack on july 15, 2016, by a Tunisian born delivery truck driver using a large delivery truck to crush people on a Nice promenade. The death toll is about 85 with 50 people badly injured. The delivery truck driver is Bouhlel, 31, born in Tunisia and from Msaken, Tunisia, who moved to France in 2005. President Hollande extended a nationwide state of emergency for 3 months. The Euro 2016 soccer games in France went without any incidents, only to be followed by this attack.  Georges Fenech who headed a parliamentary inquiry into intelligence and terrorism said about the attack - "it is a predictable tragedy." He said France "is clearly not equiped to fight against Islamic terrorism," in an interview with news channel iTele. This was one of the conclusions of the parliamentary inquiry which called for a new agency to be setup, and merging of existing intelligence agencies. The president of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region told BFM-TV about the Hollande administration: "I don't want to hear the usual "we are going to do an investigation." He questioned the Interior Minister Cazeneuve for how a single person could have breached the security line at the Bastille Day clebrations in Nice on a prominent promenade, Promenade des Anglais. ...

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The issues China faces as it plans the next phase of massive urbanization. Urbanization is a major priority of prime minister Li Keqiang, which was also the focus of his postgraduate work in his student days. In the early 1980's about 20% of China was urbanized, this has changed over three decades to where the figure is 47%, plus 17% for workers working in the cities but classified as rural, a total of 64%. China's plan is to fully integrate 70% of the population or 900 millon into cities by 2025. In 2013 only 35% of the population has a urban residency permit, or hukou. The permit is needed for residents to register their children in local schools or qualify for medical programs in urban locations. One of the problems is the huge cost of doing this which it is feared could lead to inflation and higher debt levels. Currently local governments bear these costs using land sales, and central government transfer payments, but without added financing and unable to issue their own bonds, the local governments strictly limit the use of local school and health services to their own residents keeping out rural newcomers. Local government taking over farmer plots, often without enough compensation is highly unpopular in China. Other problems are- providing a steady stream of earnings for new urban residents from farms, if no employment can be found. So they can sustain themselves- especially as they get past 40 years of age when factory employment is harder to find. The government planners see the larger urban population as a way to shift from a largely export based economy and slowing growth, to a consumption based economy. But critics say the risk is that for this to happen new residents from the farming villages have to find jobs, something the government will have difficulty accomplishing. A permanent underclass of unemployed and other financially strapped citydwellers living around major cities, as has happened with the progress of urbanization in Brazil and Mexico, is something the government would want to avoid. ...

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As the two leaders Cameron and Merkel visit the exhibition on Germany at the British Museum, efforts are made to improve ties and keep Britain in the European Union. Merkel says about one of the contentious issues that she supports freedom of movement in the EU, but no abuse of that right by claiming unemployment benefits. Immigration is emerging as an issue in the upcoming British general election. Cameron and Merkel share similiar views on economic policy and a conservative philosophy. Merkel tells a joint news conference: "Ofcourse British citizens will decide, but I don't want to hide from you that I very much like having the UK in a strong and successful European Union and like working with them for a better future."

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On the occasion of the start of the Indo-Pacific Framework economic alliance setting a path to a new supply chain for the US and European Union, this account of how Mohandas Gandhi was treated as one of their own by the workers of Europe serves as a reminder from the past. The only foundation that is sound in principle and deserves our support for the new supply chain that is to be forged for EU, US and India and the countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa, is one that will support American and European workers and families as well as workers and families of the partners in the Free World such as India and other countries.  The Davies family were Quakers and Socialists, who owned a textile mill in Darwen, Lancashire. In 1931 when Mohandas Gandhi visited England for a Round Table Conference to discuss self-rule he was invited by the Davies family to Darwen. The enthusiasm of the workers in Lancashire for Gandhi can be seen in this report in the BBC about that visit. Gandhi's sympathy for the workers and the common feeling of support can be seen from this account of the visit by Darwen's local historian Mr. Heys. Gustan Green was 10 years old in 1931 when she met Gandhi. She said "My father said I want you to see Gandhi, then in the future you can say that you witnessed that brave man. I stood by this door into the works that was my first sighting of Gandhi. He looked down at me, stroked my hair, grinned and walked away. He never said a single word." Gandhi's sympathies were with the workers. Gandhi said "They treated me as one of their own. I shall never forget that." ...

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This photos essay in The Guardian can be seen for pictures of US presidents since John Adams, at pivotal moments or moments that captured some symbolism of the times. John Kennedy is simply bending to look at a newspaper on the Oval office desk just  moments before meeting the French ambassador, yet the pressures of office show such as Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.  On November 22, 1963, Freedland says Kennedy warned against extreme groups. Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 had warned of radicalist groups if needed action for sharing the wealth and opportunity of the Nation were not taken. Kennedy said- "America’s leadership must be guided by learning and reason, or else those who confuse rhetoric with reality and the plausible with the possible will gain popular ascendancy, with their seemingly swift and simple solutions to every world problem.” Sometimes leaders are faced with difficult situations  “I want to tell you how grateful I am, and how worthy I’m going to try to be of all your hopes.”  a phone call to Martin Luther King Jr in 1963. Who was this US president? LBJ of Texas got it right for America, but lacked in international affairs knowledge of what John F. Kennedy had learned about aspirations in Asia and colonial rule during the war years in the Pacific. One president brought about 40 years experience in Congress to four major crises – the pandemic, crumbling infrastructure, loss of manufacturing in the US, and climate change– and passed the most far reaching legislation for trillions of dollars of investment since Franklin Roosevelt.  The most famous of these photos is the one showing Harry Truman holding the Chicago Tribune in 1948, which said "John Dewey Wins."   ...

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This New Yorker has resilence in his roots in the Scottish Hebrides islands. No wonder he was able to take up the challenge of a US unable to extricate itself from  wars in the Middle East (Reagan, Bushes, Obama), and unfair trade with China, and an onslaught of unfavorable media attention. His name is DJT. According to the BBC in this story on Donald Trump's mother Mary Ann Mcleod, she was a regular churchgoer, well respected in the community, who visited her homeland in Scottish isle of Lewis, British Hebrides, frequently. Mary Ann McLeod is the youngest of 10 children of a Scottish family in the town of Tong in the Hebridean isle of Lewis in the North Sea, northwest of the Scotland mainland. Her father ran the local post office. The family was  relatively poor coming from Scottish people cleared of Highlanders during the Clearances and with fishing disasters in the family. Two hundred servicemen returning from the first world war to Tong lost their lives in a shipping disaster and the economy of the island was in poor shape. With no opportunities or future many immigrated to Canada. Mary Ann's sister Catherine immigrated to Canada and on a visit to Tong she took Mary back with her to New York in 1930. Mary worked as a nanny for a wealthy family in New York before meeting a socialite of German immigrants Fred Trump. Mary returned to Scotland in 1934 and by then she found a new life with Fred Trump whom she married. The couple lived in a wealthy area of Queens and Fred Trump ran a real estate business he had inherited with his mother. Donald Trump still has three cousins in Tong in the British Hebrides Scottish isles. His older sister Maryanne Trump Barry regularly visited Tong. Donald Trump visited Tong in 2008. Of this family a local who knows the cousins and the family John MacIver, a local councillor and friend of the cousins told BBC in 2017- "They are very nice, gentle people and I'm sure they don't want all the publicity that's around. I quite understand that they don't want to talk about it."   ...