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Tesla's autopilot system was engaged when a fatal crash happened on Highway 101 near Mountain View in California in March 2018. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the second such incident since 2016.

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The behavior of the US stock market is examined in this analysis in the WSJ. It shows that tech stocks that comprise a major part of the S&P 500 made a big surge in 2020 and 2021, dropping by 30% in 2022. Consumer discretionary stocks which also experienced an upsurge in 2020 and 2021 are facing headwinds from higher inflation and decline in demand. Retailers such as Target and Walmart are reducing inventories as demand shifts. 

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Station from Christopher Beanland published in the UK shows unique rail stations from all over the world. They tell a lot about the place, modernistic art in Shibuya, Tokyo, curvy modernistic in white purple in Chengdu Metro, China, to the classical European facade in Helsinki and Prague, and mix in St Pancras of the industrial age, glitzy orange in Los Angeles Union station, and reviving the 1930's Soviet era in Ivanov northeast of Moscow.  This includes rail stations of Helsinki, Prague for architectural significance from the period after 1900. St Pancras in London which was saved from demolition and was restored mixing the modern with the historical setting. As it says in the Times the upper levels are quiet and pianos are playing at the lower levels with a gateway to Belgium and France. The Ivanova station 150 miles northeast of Moscow is restored to 1930's style along with hammer and sickle murals and design of that period with wooden benches rehabilitated. The glitzy Union station in Los Angeles is all orange looking ceilings that have a flower sculpted design. Next there is Shibuya station in Tokyo with huge mural modernistic paintings. ...

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John Fuhnrer, chief executive Walmart, says store owners get an automatic stock grant to make them think like store owners. A 200% store bonus and $20,000 stock grant goes to superstore managers added to average store manager salary of $128,000 a year. This takes it to $400,000 for a superstore manager who runs a small company as it were of 350 employees and $100 million in sales including online sales. This is the way Walmart conceptualizes its business. Store employees provide the pipeline for these managers many who start as clerks and do not have college degrees.

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The large infrastructure investments in the high speed rail network - estimated at $300 billon- have increased the debt of the railway ministry to about 5% of national GDP in the 1st quarter of 2011.The high speed rail lines are not likely to be economically viable, with revenues not enough to pay for operation and investment costs. With the higher fares it would take 9% of monthly disposable per capita income of urbanites or 555 yuan ($86) to pay for the cheapest ticket on the 300 mile Beijing-Shanghai high speed rail line. This makes high speed rail less affordable for middle and lower income people in China. The acceleration of the program in 2008 with stimulus funds and the moving up of deadlines for completion have led to corruption, stress on suppliers, and overinvestment. The program suffered from lack of good financial management and supervision in the rush to complete the program. Lack of equitable access and affordability to income groups from a majority of Chinese people have left the impression that it was for higher income groups. Higher tolls on highways and now the higher prices on highspeed rail have left the impression among ordinary Chinese that all income groups are not being served by the large infrastructure investments....

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Marketing innovation at Ford. Marketing campaign called "Bold Moves," to help Ford reconnect with younger buyers, bring the younger demographics into Ford's customer base again. Could cost upto $100 million. It would have a documentary style internet program starring Mark Fields, head of North and South American operations, and features a new Kelly Clarkson song. Ford plans to produce this show itself, to tell its own story in its own words.

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Just one scheme by a Dallas doctor, Dr. Jacques Roy, cost Medicare $350 million over 5 years. HHS data analysis showed Dr. Roy approved 500 times the number of patients normally approved per physician for home health care services- he approved 5000 instead of 100. A case in 2011 resulted in charges against 115 doctors, nurses and company managers, in 9 cities leading to $240 million in false billings.

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The impact of HSBC's large deposit base on the banking operations. HSBC has $1.2 trillion in deposits and $1 trillion in assets, and $100 billion still there for lending before it hits the 90% loan to deposit ceiling set by the bank. Nixon says this large deposit base may have led HSBC into a badly planned international expansion and the disastrous acquisition of Household Finance leading to loss of $15 billion.

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Former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas is the nominee of the New Democrat Party for the presidential election in December 2014. He needs 180 votes in parliament by the third round of voting.

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 U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, views China's response in trade negotiations as one of conducting extended negotiations that lead to little change. This has continued says Lighthizer for over a decade putting the U.S. at a serious disadvantage in trade. At a White House meeting in August 2017 Lighthizer convinced president Trump that China was in his words "tap, tap, tapping us along."  This confirmed president Trump's own instincts about the U.S. trading relationship with China. Lighthizer is a veteran of trade negotiations, having experience in the Reagan administration as the Deputy Trade Representative in 1983 in negotiations with Japan, when Japan was in a similar situation that China is today. At the time trade negotiations with Japan were getting nowhere. Lighthizer is said to have turned one Japanese response in negotiations into a paper plane and sent it flying right back. Lighthizer does not seek the limelight but is serious about his role having published op-eds in the NYT and WSJ since 2000 about how U.S. trading relationships were putting the U.S. and U.S. workers at an unfair advantage. Many of these op-eds are in the Lyrarc archive and a Search with the term "Lighthizer" would bring up these articles. This report in NYT shows how the role of Lighthizer was not anticipated by China when it sent Liu He to Washington in November 2017 to negotiate with the U.S. President Trump made certain Liu He and other Chinese leaders would have to talk to Lighthizer first. In a session with president Jinping laid out U.S. views that the past negotiations had accomplished little and new negotiations had to be undertaken very differently from negotiations in the past. Earlier in July trade negotiations conducted by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross were "shut down" by president Trump because China continued to repackage earleir offers which meant little to the U.S. As a lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher LLP Lighhizer represented steel industry clients hurt by subsidized Chinese steel industry imports. Mr. Trump and Lighhizer have bonded well because their instincts have been the same- that the U.S. had not been well represented in earlier negotiations by lawyers who saw themselves as speaking for American exporters.  Lighthizer is also a seasoned trade negotiator and has waited for the right time and situation to tackle the unbalanced trading relationship with China. For 30 years Lighhizer represented American manufacturers as he practiced trade law at the Skadden law firm. His strategy has been to get the administration to unite behind a clear trade strategy. He says "I try to be friendly in trade negotiations. I am not the theatrical type. The art of persuasion is about knowing where the leverage is." At this time the leverage lies in the huge trade surplus of about $300 billion China has with the U.S. The U.S. goal is to bring this down by $100 billion through this new negotiating strategy as earlier negotiations have failed. ...

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Ford plans to reduce the weight of its F-150 pickup truck by about 700 pounds, a 15% reduction in weight, by switching parts of the body from steel to aluminium. The new F-150 pickup truck is designed to be introduced in 2014 and capable of meeting new fuel efficiency standards through 2020. This would enable a 25% increase in fuel efficiency and help meet the Obama administration fuel efficiency standards of 2011, which require the U.S. vehicle fleet to average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

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President Trump's poll ratings decline in the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. There just 78,000 more votes made him president, even after being behind 3 million votes in the nation overall, because of America's unique voting system by state. In these states the number of Americans proud or embarrassed of the president shows a decline in support. Only a third of adults express approval and about 40% express strong disapproval, 60% saying it leaves them embarrassed. Polling was done by Marist. 

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Florida added three million people and North and South Carolina two million people over the last 20 years from domestic migration mostly from the north and northeast and midwest to south and south east and western US. Places such as Phoenix and Las Vegas in the West have grown rapidly. This has put more people at risk from climate change events across the US, from heat waves lasting 100 days in Phoenix and hurricanes in Florida and the Carolinas.

This NYT report shows maps by county and color, where the people are moving in and moving out. 

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The first voter tests on DJT's first 100 Days in office and a series of executive orders will take place in two Florida Congressional seats and a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Mike Waltz's Daytona Beach seat was won by 30 points yet the new Republican candidate Fine is polling 3 percentage points behind a Democrat. Waltz was picked from Congress for National Security Adviser. Elise Stefanik will retain her upstate New York seat as the math in Congress is too close 215-213, a small 5 person lead for Republicans. DJT needs the House to pass his agenda.

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The iPhone X at $1000 is it worth it? This review says you don't really need it. Its not more powerful than the iPhone 8 that can be purchased without a wait. It says Apple took out the home button and made some design changes but otherwise its not much different in what it offers. You don't buy a fancy banana split and pay a lot extra, the same reason you might want to stay away from the $1000 iPhone X. 

Which iPhone offers all you really need for a value price. Fowler says it is the iPhone 7. iPhone 7 is water resistant, better battery performance and low light camera performance. So if you want to get some extra features that are not essential pay $800 for an iPhone 8, but the iPhone 7 at $550 offers real value.

And one last word- Apple care is not recommended as the new iPhones are water resistant.

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The Mueller Report takes a position that that there was no collusion with Russia in the 2016 election but takes no position on the issue of obstruction, according to this report in NYT. Attorney General Barr provided a short summary of the 300 page report. The Judiciary chairman of the House is calling for the release of the entire report to the public.

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The legislation in the U.S. Congress includes $425 billion for U.S. Treasury Department Exchange Stabilization Fund. Treasury has used this fund to cover losses on new lending facilities launched by the Federal Reserve. The new lending facilities include $300 billion in financing for corporate credit markets, and consumer and business credit markets, with Treasury covering losses of $30 billion from the Exchange Stabilization Fund.

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A lot has been written about inflation in car pricing. This is true also of airlines and hotels this summer. Dawn Gilbertson in the WSJ says the 2023 travel rush continues, hotels and airlines have pricing power, and inflation is squeezing budgets. The solution is to have Plan B destinations, shorter trips, and plan airline reservations in advance looking at different alternatives based on airline and alternative destination choices. Average daily hotel rates have jumped to $180 this year in the US, up 10% since 2022 and 15% since 2019.

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WSJ points out that the wealthiest 400 billionaire families in America pay only 8.2% in taxes on federal individual income taxes between 2010 and 2018, not the 3% it says president Biden has said. The average income tax rate in 2020 was about 14% says the WSJ. For higher incomes it was about 25%. All this happened while infrastructure, education and health remained woefully underfunded, with Tech companies egregious behaviour in not paying their fair share of taxes and massive misallocation coupled with low productivity of capital invested compared to infrastructure. 

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Argentina faces severe inflation of over 70%. The central bank raised its main interest rate to 75% to rein in inflation. In December 2022 the International Monetary Fund approved $6 billion, in a 30 month program that is expected to reach a total of $44 billion. The government of Pedro Sanchez has announced additional $10 billion in cost of living aid to take the total to $45 billion. It comes through reduced VAT and $200 one off payments to households making less than 27,000 euros a year.

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Democrat Gretchen Whitmer wins the race for Governor in Michigan with a double digit lead. Democrats also win the state house and Senate. This report in Politico looks at Whitmer and how she has helped change Michigan since the days of Trump's win in 2016. For Whitmer it is about delivering on good roads, infrastructure, investments in electric car production, and protecting women's rights. Michigan is on track to have fixed more than 16,000 lane miles of roads and 1200 bridges, according to her office.  

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Washington Post's Sarah Kaplan takes us to Greenland where scientists are drilling through the ice to predict the future of climate change. This means drilling thorough 1600 feet of ice to reach the bedrock below. Scientists can analyze the rocks to find when a glacier last melted. The agile subgeological ice drill drills through 500 metres of ice from the US National Science foundation- amazing. If the whole of Greenland ice sheet melted it would raise sea water levels by 24 feet devastating coastlines.

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The National Maritime Heritage Complex as a World Heritage Site is shown here in the Indian Express, as prime minister Modi opens  the maritime site of the Indus civilization that existed in India in the period 2500 BC to 1500 BC. It was discovered in 1921 by Sir Hubert Marshall in the region that extends from Gujarat to Sind and the Punjab settled by the Harappan people. The four oldest civilizations are the Mesopatamian, Egyptian, Harappan Indus, and Chinese civilization, which makes this an important part of human history and cultural development.

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US president Biden holds his first formal news press conference of 2022 on January 19. It comes at the end of Biden's first year in office. Biden's achievements include 200 million Americans vaccinated, and $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed with a direct impact on the nation's infrastructure gaps. A $2 trillion Build Back Better plan for building healthcare and education, and a climate change plan are next on the agenda requiring the president to increase support for national revival and addressing challenges of climate change.