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Operation Wetback in 1954 under Eisenhower and US immigration action in 2026 compared to Sweden and Denmark in Northern Europe. The mood has shifted and so has the political situation with new governments in Europe, the mood has shifted in Italy, Germany, France, UK, Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, across all of Europe. Merkel's failure to grasp the true nature of the situation has led to a huge burden on social services, on literacy for national identity, and created dissension within democratic processes in many countries in Europe and North America.

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The Ethics Commission appointed by Chancellor Merkel following the nuclear disaster in Japan has recommended that the German government close all of its nuclear plants by 2021. Merkel said that Germany will end its dependence on nuclear energy and use nuclear as a bridge technology till other sorces are developed. Germany gets 22.6% of its electricity from nuclear energy, according to the Energy Ministry. It has 17 reactors, six of the boiling water type, a design used at Fukushima, and 11 using pressurized water. A former Environment minister, Klaus Topfer, heads the panel, with the other 22 panel members draw from the energy industry and nongovernmental organizations. While recommending closing the plants "to eliminate risks," the panel said it would also boost the German economy. It said "a withdrawal from nuclear power will spur growth, offer enormous technical, economic and social opportunities to position Germany even further as an exporter of sustainable products and services." Germany has already moved ahead in developing wind and solar energy sources, and is developing leading edge technologies and capabilities in the area of environment friendly alternative energies. Wind and solar energy and renewable sources already meet 16.5% of Germany's needs. Italy and Switzerland said they would not develop new reactors after the Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown. Only Germany with its strong environmental consciousness across all parties is making a decisive break with nuclear energy. ...

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DJT asks Putin to not attack Kviv during bitter cold week of Jan 29 2026 with -30 C. Putin has agreed to this says DJT. Much of Kviv is without heat and electricity after Russian drone and missile attacks on Kviv in the worst winter of the 4 year war.

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Japan does not support Russian assets plan of the EU to use assets in Belgium $210 billion for Ukraine loans. A $71 billion shortfall in the Ukraine 2026 budget. EU's Leyen wants to use Russian assets in Belgium. Belgium is against the idea. Only Canada and UK support it.

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Deforestation makes way for soyabeans planting in Brazil 2026, increasing the acreage devoted to soyabeans agriculture. This is happening with changes in politics in Brazil even under government of Lula Da Silva of the Worker's Party, with Greens in the administration asked to make room for economic development.

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Largest flyover in Israel's history as 200 aircraft  strike 500 targets in Iran on February 28, 2026. Talks to get Iran to stop its nuclear program and antiballistic missile program fail to produce any results. US joins the strikes using aircraft carriers in the vicinity of Israel.

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SCOTUS decision on Voting Rights Act by knocking down gerrymandered district in Louisiana April 2026. US Supreme Court says it is time to decide on this and leans in favor of the Constitution and limits tampering with a election map to create districts on the basis of race or gender.

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DW. com looks at the controversial effort of privage equity firms Blackstone and Carlyle to buy stakes in Bundesliga soccer clubs. Approval of 24 of 36 clubs sets out a plan to attract 1 billion euros of funding for digitalization, internationalization, in return for an 8% share of TV rights revenues for a period of 20 years. Experts say any effort to take international preference for the Premier League will be difficult. There is also the 50+1 rule in Germany where the ownership stays with the clubs not investors, so that the ticket prices are affordable for the club fans and the clubs belong to the fan base. For the fans and locals the situation is better without private equity.

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This video report in DW.com shows a Romanian worker shortage of 500,000 workers. During the early postwar period and for many years following that Romanians immigrated to Germany looking for work. Workers from Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan, Philippines are filling the need for foreign workers in the Romanian economy which is growing since it joined the European Union.

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In this analysis of Keir Starmer's speech at the Labour conference inLiverpool in October 2023 The Guardian looks at the scale of the task ahead. Starmer faces the task of the 1997 style decline of public services, the need to channel the Harold Wilson mission to modernize the economy in a time of change, and the Clement Atlee 1945 imperative to build a new Britain "out of the trauma of collective sacrifice." Starmer told delegates- "In 2024 it will have to be all three." Such is the task facing Britain and Starmer in 2024. Something similar is taking place in the US with Biden and Modi in India in 2024, in three of the largest democracies in the world, and two of the oldest.

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Autoworkers want a raise of 40% from depressed levels with two tiers one for entry level workers set really low during a crisis when auto companies were near or entering bankruptcy. Automobile companies want to use high profits for EV vehicles.  Autoworkers have worked hard through the pandemic and have suffered low wages for a decade, now face a cost of living crisis- the 40% should be seen in the context of starting a depressed level trying to meet costs of living that have surged in 2021-2022. If both conditions are removed the increase might be a modest closer to 10% over a hypothetical higher wage and lower cost of living.

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Patrick Healy of the NYT says Super Tuesday in 2020 changed the way Senator Joe Biden of Delaware was seen by the country. With wins in 9 states he was seen differently and unified the Democratic party behind him, galvanizing support across the country. The 2023 State of the Union Speech offered another opportunity and Biden seized it talking about Medicare, Social Security, infrastructure and bipartisan work with Senators in Congress for 2 climate laws and the Inflation Reduction Act, cutting pharmaceutical costs in the face of corporate opposition and lobbying in Congress. So feisty was that speech that one has to go back to president Kennedy's first Inaugural in 1961 to see that kind of direct call to all those looking for the nation's future in the face of seemingly intractable challenges of the new Cold War, and of the lack of imagination, candor about problems and lack of action. The State of the Union in 2024 offers that kind of opportunity again and there is little doubt that president Biden will seize it to appeal to his countrymen again. ...

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Macron's unpopularity extends to a plan for new stained glass windows at Notre Dame. Strangely enough the unpopularity of Macron comes from an imperious perceived as arrogant attitude that was also the reason of the undoing of his predecessor Nicholas Sarkozy. Is there something about the concentration of power in the French presidential palace Elysee that leads to such behaviors.

This doesn't help France or Europe in 2025-2026 with France changing prime ministers every few months, just as Britain did in 2023-2034 this time with the Brexit ideas and attitudes of indifference even snubbing behaviors towards the European Union. 

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King Charles brings Americans together on his 4 Day trip to the US, April 2026

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Modi BJP Win in West Bengal 2026- full speech on the future of Bengal, India, Indian democracy, India's modernization - May 4, 2026. For the first time most of India is now being led by state and federal governments that are aligned for rapid modernization, rapid development of infrastructure, industry and the economy. Madras, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Vizag, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Delhi, Noida, Bhopal, Dehra Dun, Srinagar,most of India's cities and urban areas, and the rural heartland of India all aligned for accelerated development under a Master Plan for the economy for the next two decades. This will close the gap with China to make India the third largest economy in the world, and a key support for the United States and the European Union. Seen through this lens many of todays reports and concerns fade into significance. The US and the European Union are not alone- they have the support of 2 billion people of India, and Indonesia and adjoining regions.

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US foreign direct investment to China goes down 40% in 2020 to 2022 compared to the period 2015 to 2020, for India this was up by 20%, according to IMF. India was the only G-20 country that received this level of foreign direct investment. Prashant Jha of the Hindustan Times correctly points out that the IMF paper and the model on which this paper is based are flawed. The paper sees countries based on alignment and India as a so called non aligned country not part of friendshoring, even though Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has openly called for friendshoring in India alongside finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. IMF experts have not caught up to Mr. Biden's remarks about the US- India relationship that it would be "the closest on earth." Closer even than America's relationship with Britain or Europe. On oil imports Biden and Jake Sullivan believe that after the pandemic India should import oil at the lowest possible cost to meet the long time denied aspirations of 1.2 billion people, and build the infrastructure that will make it a critical part of America's new supply chain. Every time there are military drills and blockade of Taiwan by China the people of America are moving a step further away from American companies that have overconcentration of manufacturing in China and closer to calling for a new supply chain that reduces concentration in China and builds new manufacturing in India.  ...

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Wealth and people migration in the US in 2020 is shown in this WSJ report. Latest IRS data released for 2020 shows migration of taxpayers and adjusted gross income from states in the midwest, on the eastern and western seaboard to states in the southern US and to mountain states in the west. Some of this is a result of the pandemic lockdowns and the shift to remote work which means that the trend for migration will continue for 2021 and 2022. The shift in income was as follows-Florida  23.7 billion, Texas $6.3 billion, Arizona $4.8 billion, North Carolina $3.8 billion, South Carolina $3.6 billion, Tennessee $2.6 billion, Nevada $2.6 billion, Colorado $2.3 billion, Idaho $2.1 billion, Utah $1.3 billion.  The biggest losses came from New York -$19.5 billion, California -$17.8 billion, Illinois -$8.5 billion, Masachusetts -$2.6 billion, New Jersey -$2.3 billion, Maryland -$1.9 billion, Ohio -$1.4 billion, Minnesota -$1.2 billion, Pennsylvania -$1.2 billion, Virginia -$1.1 billion. WSJ says the tax burdens in the southern and mountain states in the west are low. In four states there is no state tax- Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Nevada. By comparison says WSJ states losing wealth and population have high state taxes for property and income. Schools, quality of life and cost of living are also major considerations, with remote work opening up the opportunities to seek a better life in other states which offer more space for working at home.   ...

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About 1.5 million mothers of school age children in March 2021 are missing from the US workforce as mothers are slow to return to the workforce. Both men and women had lower labor force participation, but as men's is rebounding the mothers are still slow to rebound. One mother in Brooklyn, New York, with 3 school age children is typical. She decided to hastily quit work to take care of children at home during 2020 at a stressful time, and has found it difficult to return to work in 2021. It has brought men and women closer to their children but also made it harder to pursue their careers.