LyrArc Article Gist
Streets in Marseille with tons of rubbish piling up as garbage bin workers seeking a 21 hour week go on strike in Marseille, France. Much has changed in European countries as countries such as India work on a Clean India effort to clear up rubbish through Swacch Bharat campaign.

LyrArc Article Gist
Each year malaria kills 500,000 people mostly in Africa, including 260,000 children. A vaccine jab for malaria has finally been developed. It took 34 years for Dr. Ripley Ballou, 70 years, to refine the technology while working at GSK in Britain to get this done. Ballou himself had malaria and could experience its debilitating effect. This made him resolve to find a solution. The vaccine jab is the first for a parasite and the first developed from scratch for African children. Its effectiveness wanes over months so that its use is intended for the rainy season. By giving 3 shots just before the rainy season when malaria is at its peak it can reach 70% effectiveness, say British experts. It is cost effective as other prevention measures as nets over beds- it will cost about $2 -$10. When combined with other anti-malarial medicines it is about 90% effective. Its safety is proven after having given 2.3 million jabs of the vaccine in African countries. Experts estimate it will prevent 5.4 million cases of malaria, from Mali to Kenya, and from India to Indonesia where malaria is still a danger. Malaria can repeat itself many times for the same person over a lifetime, increasing the health risks and damage to health. The vaccine was developed using technology that produces a protein that is also found on the outside of the malaria parasites in the early stages of its lifecycle. It exposes the immune system of a person to this protein to build up immune defenses. This British discovery will help African  Asian, and Latin American countries build confidence in their health systems ability to cope with dangerous diseases. In doing this it will improve the quality of life and combined with other health actions provide a better life in the poorest countries.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Mick Clegg worked with Christiano Ronaldo as his athletic trainer during his first spell with Manchester United. At the time Ronaldo was 18-24 years. During that time Ronaldo did not lift heavy weights, instead he used light weights and gradually stepped up the intensity with repetitions or changing the weight lifted.  Ronaldo is on a Mediteranean diet with particular attention to protein for the training he does. Without the diet he would not have the body he has with hardly any fat. He also takes carbohydrates to make sure he keeps up his energy level, and vitamins, minerals.  Mick Clegg points out that people on Mediterranean type diets take afternoon naps and Ronaldo takes a nap in the afternoon. A 40 minute nap in the afternoon after eating helps one to recover from the hard work of the morning, says Clegg. Christiano's mental attitude stands out in Clegg's experience working with him- his determination. He set a goal of working harder than Welshman Ryan Giggs, and was keen on taking the advice of experts and incorporating it into his routine. It is this that makes Ronaldo the player that he is. There is also a sense of calm about Ronaldo in a game where he remains composed till an opportunity comes late in the game as in the game with Villareal. At 36 in his second time with Manchester United Ronaldo is far stronger mentally than when he left Manchester United in 2009, says Clegg. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
A late goal by Christiano Ronaldo gives Manchester United a win over Villareal 2-1, after Villareal's strong performance.

LyrArc Article Gist
This article in The Times says UK business has already moved to ESG, the idea that business is also about environment, social and governance, ahead of Thatcherite era cabinet ministers Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel, Liz Truss and Dominic Raab. This was evident during the Tory conference in Manchester.  Boris Johnson is moving in line with voters and ahead of his ministers who are aware of the changes in the conservatives appeal to voters. Johnson is not attached to any preconceived idea of what the Tories are about. His only concern is to be where voters are and think like the voters, this is where he is happy being. Voters in Britain today think business is more than being about profits. New polling by the Social Market Foundation shows changing attitudes in the Conservative party and its supporters. In 2016 48% of Conservative voters thought it was important to remove regulations and rules for business. In 2021 this has fallen to 27%. Today economic fairness is a big concern. Inequality was a concern for 15% of Tory voters, today it is 28%, higher than Tories concern about removing regulations. Business leaders have also moved on after the Brexit referendum and see the need for meeting a social purpose. Some business leaders think the Thatcherite thinking of some cabinet ministers is "decades out of date." ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Shortages of natural gas lead to a 40% rise in prices. China is bidding high for gas supplies as it faces shortages of natural gas for heating during the coming winter. The UK and Europe also face shortages. Russia has the largest reserves of natural gas and is by far the largest producer. The start of the undersea Nordstream 2 pipeline avoids use of existing Russian pipeline through Ukraine. It is seen as a way to bring in more supplies to Europe.

Australia is another large producer of natural gas. China is now changing its import ban of Australian coal and natural gas as it faces a cold winter.

LyrArc Article Gist
A native of Zanzibar who came to England as a teenager wins the Nobel Prize for Literature. He teaches at the University of Kent in Canterbury.

LyrArc Article Gist
Abdulrazak Gurnah, a native of Zanzibar and Tanzania writing in English wins the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature. His prose has inflections of Arabic, Swahili and German. He left Zanzibar at age 18 years after a violent uprising in 1964. In "Admiring Silence" he reflects on the experience of migrant refugees caught betwen two cultures and remaining silent about their true feelings. The prize is given at a time of migrants reaching Europe in large numbers from Africa and the Arab countries of North Africa to Germany.

The chair of the Nobel Committee Anders Olsson says about Gurnah- "He ha consistently and with great compassion penetrated the effects of colonialism in East Africa, and its effects on the lives of uprooted and migrating individuals."

LyrArc Article Gist
Mr. Trump's conflict with the Justice Department in the last weeks of his presidency to appoint a new Attorney General with intent to contest the results of the presidential election of 2020, is shown in this report in NYT. This created risks for American democracy. The cracks in social cohesion following four decades of foreign wars 1980-2021, irresponsible behavior of financial institutions leading to financial crises and impoverishment of America, incompetent elites, neglect of rural America, ceding of technology and competitive position to China, failure to fund education, healthcare and infrastructure, under presidents Reagan, elder Bush, Clinton,  Bush, Obama, led to a situation of revolt against the status quo by a maverick politician using a new and proven dangerous form of communication social media. Ultimately this put democracy at risk. Lessons from this are only now being learned as people in the Biden administration and outside of it reflect on what happened. In this WSJ report Mr. Trump is seen pressuring officials of the Justice Department to agree to appointment of a new Attorney General shortly after the election. This was seen as an effort to question the results of the 2020 presidential election. A leading senator on the Judiciary Committee says this would lead to "shredding the US Constitution to stay in power." Of this and also of four decades of neglect in America Washington has this to say in his first Inaugural Address on April 30, 1789- "The blessed religion revealed in the word of God will remain an eternal and awful monument to prove that the best institutions may be abused by human depravity; and that they may even in some instances be made subservient to the vilest of purposes. Should, hereafter, those entrusted with the management of this government, incited by the lust of power and prompted by the supineness or venality of their Constituents, overleap the known barriers of this Constitution, and violate the inalienable rights of humanity: it will only serve to shew, that no compact among men (however provident in its construction and sacred in its ratification) can be pronounced everlasting and inviolable- and if I may so express myself, that no wall of words, that no mound of parchment can be so formed as to stand against the sweeping torrent of boundless ambition on the one side, aided by the sapping current of corrupted morals on the other." ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Two US carrier strike groups and 17 naval ships prepare for joint exercizes with Japan's Self-Defense Forces off Okinawa in the first week of October 2021. In late September a British aircraft carrier group goes through the Taiwan Straits. China has flown aircraft near Taiwan's airspace before. On October 1-5 over a period of 4 days China sends 150 fighter, bombers and other aircraft near Taiwanese airspace. This situation is reminiscent of the situation in 1950-53 during the period of the Korean War when US president Harry Truman sent the Seventh Fleet to the Straits of Taiwan. In 1954 Chinese artillery started the shelling of offshore islands Quemoy and Matsu. This happened again in 1958 under president Eisenhower. At that point the US sent a naval contingent to the Taiwan Straits. The crisis was resolved through talks with China. Eisenhower then setup a joint defense agreement with Taiwan.  Here the Taiwan Defense Minister says China is capable of an invasion of Taiwan in 2021 but "it has to calculate what it would cost and what kind of outcome it would achieve." He also says that after 2025 "it would have lowered the costs and losses to a minimum." As US companies seek expansion in China the situation is changing rapidly in 2021 in the other areas.The US under president Biden sees the wars under previous presidents and the economic policies of not investing in American industrial strength have created risks for America in its role in the world. Biden seeks to restore American industrial strength through massive investments. It has been reported that Taiwan even considers the concentration of world semiconductor industry in Taiwan a way to assure the US dependence on Taiwan for semiconductors would lead to allied economic commitment to Taiwan in addition to defense commitments already given. In a sign of awareness of the distorted situation in semiconductor manufacturing that American companies such as Intel have allowed to happen, including ceding essential technologies in manufacturing semiconductors to other nations, the Biden administration has pushed to reverse these policies giving $52 billion in state aid. President Biden talked to president Xi of China in early September in a 90 minute call. This was aimed at easing hostility between the two countries. During that call the two leaders had agreed to abide by the Taiwan Relations Act, that states Taiwan's status should be resolved through peaceful means. It was passed in the US Congress in 1979 during the period when the US restored diplomatic relations with China. The situation today resembles that in the period after the Korean War into the late 1950's when China under Mao continued shelling of islands under Taiwan from the mainland. This makes the existing supply chains that make the US, Europe and India overly dependent on China,Taiwan, Singapore, for manufactured goods look antiquated and out of place. American companies such as Apple, GM, Black Rock and American financial companies are caught in a bind as they operate as if nothing is happening, when a lot has changed during the coronavirus pandemic. The Biden administration is pursuing its own long term policy for restructuring the supply chain for American industry. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Frances Haugen testifying in the US Congress says "Facebook products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy." This understates the problem which is that over a short period of 5-7 years new tech companies have used capital markets in the US to rapidly take up most of the space in the internet pushing out established news organizations. They have also lobbied hard to prevent new legislation from being drafted to regulate the internet space. They have also rapidly acquired smaller companies to create a monopolistic control over the new internet space. This situation has also led to one where these companies set up in overseas locations such as Ireland do not assume fair responsibilities for maintaining the infrastructure in their home countries by paying their fair share of taxes. In doing so these companies run by persons in their twenties an early thirties are doing the work of established news organizations that have been doing it for most of the twentieth century, without these new tech companies being qualified in any way to do so. The result is distortions spread by internet technologies over a wide space creating a toxic effect for children, women, and the dialogue necessary in a democracy. The perverse effects extend to vaccination where distortions spread by algorithmic and artificial intelligence in selection and dissemination of information has led to negative effects on the vaccination drive. This even created much frustration for president Biden as he watched a stalled vaccination drive in the US and complained about Facebook and social media's ill effects. Ultimately the national interests of the US, European Union, Britain and India are affected because other countries see democracies as being weak and ineffective even in protecting their own citizens, and weak even in the time of the pandemic. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
US Representative Katherine Tai sets out the policy of the Biden administration on trade with China. The policy is simply to keep Trump administration policy on tariffs in place and seek dialogue with China. This report in the WSJ explains what this means.  The Biden administration is preparing a long term policy to restore American leadership in the world in technology, trade and industry. This means as in semiconductors providing $52 billion to assist US firms to make semiconductors at home. The US will build a new supply chain that is resilient and brings more of the critical technologies in manufacturing back to the US. Where Mr. Trump was the initiator of a new policy on trade but lacked a long term vision Mr Biden is giving the Trump policies new vigor and shape and a long term vision of belief in America's role in the world. He is doing this by building on America's key strength - its people. The only way to do this is to invest massively after three decades of disinvestment under previous administrations. This comes in the shape of the $3.5 trillion plan for infrastructure and the Families and Workers Plan. Biden is also building stronger relationships with allies Australia, Britain, Japan, India, and Germany for trade, supply chain, and defense.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Even after the mandated vaccine requirement set by president Biden only 65% of the US population is fully vaccinated. As virus ebbs in southern states from its peak, 68 million people are still unvaccinated in the US. The US now has more than 700,000 deaths exceeding the toll of the 1918 pandemic.

LyrArc Article Gist
More revelations such as Pandora papers may not do much because the inertia is institiutionalized and the political system is available for hire, says Prof. Prem Sikka of the University of Sheffield, UK. He says armies of accountants, lawyers and financial experts support this system, the regulatory system in the UK is ineffective, and too many MP's are on the payroll of corporations, says Prof. Sikka in The Guardian. It is the sheer size of the problem that is staggering and could be an indication of how it reduces upward mobility in society, leads to financial crises, and defunds infrastructure, defunds healthcare and housing in US, Europe, Britain and India. The size of illegal money and tax evasion money in the world today is according to this article in The Guardian simply astonishing- $3.6 trillion. 

LyrArc Article Gist
A whistleblower's revelations in the US Congress on Facebook, and the WSJ Facebook investigation, both show that the social media and news information products have at toxic effect on young women and children. Congress is in a bipartisan mood to take action. One solution is removing algorithmic news feeds, removing the effect of algorithms in information that is put out. Another solution is the breakup of the company and removing the algorithmic feeds. Keeping social media organizations out of the news and information business is an effective solution, as coming up with solutions that accomplish this would remove the social ills that affect American, European and Indian society today. It would restore the situation that existed before the emergence of social media such as Twitter and Facebook that distorted news and media information and improperly took much of the space that long established news organizations had carefully developed for a hundred years.  ...