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This report says Biden and other G7 leaders toured the Hiroshima Museum but does not say that they visited the East end of the Museum shown in an NHK documentary where most of what happened, of people who lived and died in Hiroshima on that day, are shown. It is not shown that Mr. Fumio Kishida is himself a cousin once removed of a 4 year old boy whose remains are shown at the museum. Mr. Obama also has not visited the East end of the museum according to reports. Lyrarc.com has suggested that the NHK documentary that was broadcast in Asia last week should be shown to G7 leaders if they have not actually seen that part of the museum that shows the lives of the people on that day. The point is not to see the dead as from one nation but as people who could be from any other nation in a different conflict with different countries, the responsibility of any one nation or of nations on opposite sides should not obscure the importance of seeing the dead as just human beings- without nationality.     ...

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The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Dec. 13, 2016, that it would increase its benchmark short term interest rate by 0.25 percentage point, to between 0.50% and 0.75%. The increase will also be reflected in business and household borrowing costs. The Fed also announced its intention to make 0.75% percentage point increase in 2017, possibly in 3 quarter percentage point moves. The Fed's forecast is for the fed-funds rate to reach 2.1% at the end of 2018, and 2.9% at the end of 2019. The Fed's policy is based on a sense of strong labor market with unemployment falling, and says it is based on discussion at a 2 day meeting, and "in view of realized and expected labor-market conditions and inflation." This reflects a view that there is now not that much slack in the labor market, that further improvements could trigger higher inflation. Fed forecasts for inflation are for it to increase from 1.5% in 2016 to 1.9% in 2017 and to the target of 2% in 2018. The unemployment rate of 4.6% in 2016 is forecast to go to 4.5% in 2017 and remain at that level till 2019. Economic growth is forecast at a median annual rate of 1.9% in 2016, 2.1% in 2017, only a slight improvement from last forecast in Sept. 2016. Support for chairwoman Yellen's policy decision was unanimous. See the link on views of NYT's Binyamin Applebaum and Neil Irwin on how Fed rate policy and economic growth under the Trump administration is likely to play out, and Ian Talley's report on impact on exports with a stronger dollar in WSJ. These views also are in line with the Fed's forecasts and policy decision as they reflect the concerns of the Fed about inflation, and also reflect the Fed's view that growth will be close to 2% in 2017-2019, and not the 3-4% stated by Trump and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin. Fed rate policies to keep inflation at about 2% tend to counter stimulus spending by the Trump administration and effect of tax cuts. The size of the stimulus and the tax cuts are also likely to be much smaller than stated because of Republican concerns about the deficit in the U.S. Congress, according to these views. The stronger dollar also has the paradoxical effect of making trade gains more difficult while increasing trade friction in tougher bargaining supported by Trump, making the higher growth targets harder to reach.   ...

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Chris Buckley of the NYT looks at selected speeches of president Xi of China to military officers during the first 5 years 2012 to 2017 but fails to look at the China Xi Jinping faced in these years. It was a period of change in China when it was not clear which direction China would take after the messy experiment with free markets under a socialist state controlled system led by the CCP. That period from 1990 onwards led to hypergrowth in China that modernized China yet shifted American and European manufacturing to China alienating working class communities in the western countries. It hurt China also through widespread contamination of air and water, and widespread corruption and decline of the CCP. The Bo Xilai demagogic effort to subvert the system from inside happened by 2012 endangering the system itself from the inside while it responded to the pressures created by the experiment with free market from corruption, regional inequality, and other problems. ...

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The British government called for 250,000 volunteers to help the National Health Service in its programs for older people. Instead it got 750,000 volunteers, in an overwhelming response. Hundreds of community based groups have also sprung up across Britain, with additional tens of thousands of volunteers seeking to help, says this report in NYT by Mark Landler. It is a massive and spirited display of national solidarity at a time of national crisis. As Queen Elizabeth II said in her television address: "Our pride in who we are is not in the past, it defines both our present and our future."

It also shows how in an affluent society one can now see the people who really matter when it comes down to this, the everyday effort to get through a day or a week at a time, says Landler. Everyone from garbage collection, grocery clerks, delivery service, and pharmacy workers, get us through each day, each week.

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After hurricane Helene only about 10% of FEMA workers are available for Hurricane Milton headed towards the Tampa Bay Area at 175 miles per hour.

Christopher Flavelle of NYT  points out FEMA desperately needs more funding and staff as it is responding simultaneously to many disasters. The full effects of climate change in more and more natural disasters all across the US have not been taken into account for the added funding and staffing needed. In this situation FEMA is spread thin causing other problems such as attrition and burnout and unfilled positions.

The Government Accountability Office report found in 2023 that 35% of FEMA's positions were unfilled, because of “rising disaster activity during the year, which increased burnout and employee attrition.”

There are also lot of people who are out of work in disaster areas who can be pulled in for disaster work.  

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Chancellor Merkel tells the newspaper "Sachsische Zeitung," that she sees a follow through on policies on refugees after reestablishing control over EU borders as one of the lessons learned from last years refugee crisis. This has reduced the flow of refugees and Merkel says the process of deportation of non-German nationals who had no residency permit had to be done rigorously and speeded up.  Having said this Merkel defended her policy on refugees as "coherent," and was clear about it- "I do not see a change of course, but coherent work over many, many months." Responding to Pegida and anti-immigrant sentiment in Dresden, Merkel said it is important to remember the lessons of history, that "we are the people" slogan used by the far-right is misplaced, that in a free society "we all are the people."

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Bennhold and Erlanger of the NYT point out that prime minister Theresa May has remained vague about the nature of the negotiations for Brexit. The snap election increases the confusion with a hung parliament and no party getting a majority. The result can be seen as sending mixed signals. The British public by supporting parties such as Labor, SNP and Liberal Democrats with over 50% of the vote, is saying that it is not sure about Brexit being a priority for Britain, given the uncertainty for the British economy and other pressing problems. All this had been lost in the debate about hard and soft Brexit, in the political rhetoric taken up by Ms May when the basic questions about Brexit have not gone away. Here Erlanger and Bennhold take leaders back to these questions posed by former finance minister George Osborne. Osborne as Editor of The Evening Standard asked readers 10 questions- How is withdrawal going to increase trade when you leave the biggest free trading bloc in the world? How can withdrawal help London as the financial capital of the world? How is migraton going to be tackled when its not clear which business will have its labor supply restricted or curtailed. For these reasons- apart from many others about the whole process of withdrawal and the cost to Britain- the whole idea of Brexit appears to have not been thoroughly thought through. As a result the referendum vote may be seen in Europe as a temporary reflection of British opinion at that point of time, and subject to change over time.   ...

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This report in the NYT shows how venture capital does not work for women, immigrants, latinos and blacks because there is less room for errors and failure for women and minorities. Venture capital, the $100 billion going into it in 2019 for even the fringe benefits of tech nowadays, pushes aggressively for results and returns which may not be right for companies seeking gradual growth and moderate returns without the stress and increased chance of failure in an hypercompetitive VC environment. Apart from the big names and some others there are many companies that fail in this kind of hypercompetitive environment, says this report. A bigger problem is the neglect of societal values and ethical considerations in this environment such as the disinformation in social media as one example. Ethical concerns, and greater gender and racial diversity is also a goal as most of the VC industry operates under rigid rules allowing little flexibility and seeing any variation condescendingly, says this report. ...

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This editorial in the NYT on May 23, 2015, says the country has lost something in the process unfolding at the Justice Department of large settlements during the second term of the Obama administration, a continuation of a singular feature since the first term- a noticeable and serious lack of individual accountability for serious wrongdoing. This lets bank officers move on calling the situation of pleading guilty to criminal charges for currency manipulation nothing more than "an embarrassment," says this NYT editorial.

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The first use of chemical agents in Europe since 1945 in the poisoning of a former Russian spy led to strong coordinated action by the European Union countries, Germany, Britain and France with the U.S. Trump administration. This NYT report shows how the action was taken and the meetings of Macron, Theresa May and Merkel that led to strong action. Because Russia is energy supplier to Europe and the Social Democrats in Germany as part of a coalition in Germany not favoring strong action earlier governments in the EU shied away from such action.

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Letters to the Editor from a Congressman (for 18 years), a Quantum Lab at Duke, and a South Carolinan with Wedemayer's example in WSJ on Chinese students at US universities. Most agree that American students deserve the same opportunities. And the Duke Quantum lab seems to say Americans are not also part of the best and brightest and so do not deserve the same opportunities, looking only at his own lab in 2025 not America as a whole, and ignoring the history of science and invention since 1600 where European and American scientists built the Modern World. 

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John Lyons of the WSJ writes in this report from Seoul, South Korea, that president Moon may have inadvertently contributed to the sense of the futility of talking to South Korea about missile defense when he opposed the installation of the Thaad, Terminal high altitude missile system, in his election campaign. This led to the U.S. and the South Korean government of president Ms. Park moving ahead with the system before Moon was elected. Moon is a human rights lawyer who favored improved relations with North Korea. Domestic South Korean politics were decided by younger voters alienated by the existing business structure, leading to the conviction of president Park and later the head of Samsung on corruption charges, and the election of Mr. Moon. In foreign affairs the picture is quite different as Moon is seen in South Korea as not being consulted by the U.S. as it frames policy for the region. South Koreans call this "Korea passing." As U.S. and Japan are directly affected by North Korean missile tests, the most recent on August 29th passing over Japan, U.S. president Trump consults with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. People in Japan are cited in the NYT as saying recently, that they knew they had to worry about earthquakes, but had not expected to have to worry about missiles. A recent report in NYT showed that most people in Seoul have not prepared seriously to use underground shelters because they do not believe a war could take place with Seoul only 35 miles from the North Korea border. The U.S. policy is now focused on working with China, and coordinating its policy with Japan. A U.S. anti ballistic missile test was conducted from the ship USS John Paul Jones on August 29th. Moon has changed his position and now supports Thaad missile defense. South Koreans are apparently resigned to the prospect of "Korea passing." ...

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Efforts to elevate education for all students and not leave students not in Honors classes to think they could not reach for something better through efforts of their own.

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President Trump announces the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Agreement of 2015 signed by president Obama. He calls it a bad deal and "a one sided agreement, that "didn't bring, calm, didn't bring peace, and never will." Since the signing of the agreement the conflicts in the Middle East have increased and relations between the U.S. and Iran have deteriorated under the Trump administration. During the election campaign candidate Trump and Republicans had criticized the deal and deal never gained Republican support. It was also not initially supported by France which called for stronger safeguards on nuclear weapons development. The appointment of John Bolton as National Security Adviser, and Mike Pompeo as the new Secretary of State, who were strong critics of the Iran nuclear deal also influenced president Trump. He was also influenced say aides by the success of his policy with North Korea of imposing strong bargaining pressure with tough sanctions on North Korea including Chinese sanctions, which led to the talks between North and South Korean presidents and the planned Trump meeting with Kim Jong-Un of North Korea. Iran's president Rouhani says Iran will stay with the agreement as the EU countries Germany, France plan to support the agreement. This could also leave an opening for future talks with Iran on a new peace agreement as  president Trump talked about Iranian people deserving a better deal at the end of his 11 minute announcement. As Stephens points out in a op-ed in the NYT Iran's economy needs the removal of sanctions so that focus could shift to economic development, as the lifting of sanctions have yet to result in increasing living standards and building infrastructure neglected during the sanctions years. ...

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The children's commissioner in the UK says the internet is a powerful and positive resource, but social media is a negative force from which children need protection for mental health that is fast and effective. Anne Longfield was responding to the comments of the NHS head Simon Stevens who stated that the web giants are "fuelling" a crisis and should come under tough scrutiny. Many experts see social media as a negative force, especially for children. Not taken up yet is the crisis in reading and reading comprehension that leaves about half of children in schools and students in high school without adequate reading skills- with about half of school children not meeting the reading comprehension requirements of the ACT test for 2016. Social media and smartphones have cut into reading time in schools, in ways that were never anticipated with iPads for reading not making a difference. The problem is of global dimensions requiring educational leaders across the world to come together in a movement for global literacy.   ...

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Argentina's 25% export tax on soyabeans exports  has led to a mere 8% increase in soyabean acreage since 2009 compared to 118% in Brazil that has no such tax. Productivity in agriculture is restricted because lower profits mean less is invested in patented seeds and agricultural equipment. Agriculture becomes less profitable. There is also a 10% tax on wheat exports. These taxes did not exist by 2000 in Latin American countries. Under Nestor Kirchner Argentina reintroduced the export tax after repudiating the debt, devaluing the peso, and shifting the economy to diverting more agricultural production for domestic use. This worked for a while during the crisis. It is now a problem limiting growth of agricultural exports and limiting economic growth. Even under Xavier Milei, the new president who is discarding many parts of the old regime, the export tax is not discarded as it is needed to balance the budget to fight high inflation.

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President Obama's speech announcing the details of his executive order on immigration on Nov. 20, 2014, starts by saying he is not bypassing Congress or the Republicans. He says Republicans had the opportunity to pass legislation in the House that passed the Senate, or come up with their own bill. And still have an opportunity to come up with a bill he could sign into law that address the shortcomings of the current immigration system. In selling the bill to Americans he points out that this is not an amnesty, that the current system which allows immigrants here to stay illegally without paying taxes or any accountability is an amnesty. He points to deportation of millions as not an option, an out of the character of America. That deportation of criminals will continue and is up 80% in his administration, without mentioning that deportation under his administration for ordinary undocumented immigrants without any criminal record had reached a high of 400,000 a year under his administration, higher than under the Republican Bush administration. In fact it had reached such levels that Hispanic groups stated they would sit out the midterm 2014 elections and not vote for Democrats or Republicans, after providing a significant part of the winning margin for Obama in the 2012 presidential election. President Obama says he has the legal authority to prevent deportation, and that this is essentially what this executive order does- providing a temporary right to stay and work in this country to undocumented immigrants here living in the shadows who are here for more than 5 years, not a permanent status or citizenship. He cites other presidential decisions of the last 50 years, Republican and Democratic, that have integrated large groups of undocumented immigrants, including an executive order by President Reagan. And he refers to the Bush presidencies 41 and 43, where both father and son, considered Hispanic Americans "a part of American life," as good hard-working people deserving a chance to be Americans. The speech ends with an appeal to the compassion of Americans urging them to look at their own individual stories going back one, two or several generations, or Ellis Island where the early waves of European immigrants entered the country in the 19th century, and to immigrants from the period after the early British settlements in the 18th century. This is typical Obama, as much as the calculated decision to pursue a aggressive deportation policy was for the first 6 years of his administration, including the decision for "Dreamers" or young people before the 2012 election. "Scripture tells us, we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger. we were strangers once, too. And whether our forbears were strangers who crossed the Atlantic, or the Pacific, or the Rio Grande, we are here because this country welcomed them in." Over 2 million deportations in one of the most aggressive deportation policies of any administration, followed by an effort to stop deportations before the next presidential election, when the NYT had called his deportation policy "infuriating." ...

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NYT reporter Neuman takes a17 hour road trip across the island of Cuba in a 1956 Ford Fairlane. He heads west from Havana near the west end of the island to Guantanamo on the east end. He sees a changing Cuba with houses for sale, little sign of ideological signs in the countryside, old cars, oxcarts, horsecarts, a Cuba that looked like it was stuck in the past. In the five years that Raul Castro took over from Fidel Castro, money and business have gradually taken the place of politics. The average salary of $20 a month is not enough for most workers even with free healthcare and education, and most people dream of making more money to enjoy a better life. Many rely on relatives abroad for additional funds, or buying and selling on the black market, or a second job.

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The Mumbai Ahmedabad Bullet Train project is shown here on the Rail Minister Ashwani Vaishnav site in You Tube Video. Rapid buildup is progressing use new technological methods with Japanese help. The first undersea rail tunnel of this kind under Thane Creek for 21 kilometres on the Mumbai side. The 508 kilometer distance cuts travel time between two major commercial cities in western India from 7 to 2 hours. It will then be replicated after completion in 2027 and 2029 (final), across other Indian cities north to south east to west. PM Modi has emphasized this in vist to Surat last week talking to engineering personnel that the important aspect is what can be learnt from this section of bullet train engineering that can be replicated or improved across many Indian cities, over a land mass almost the size of European Union (3.3 million square kms India to 4.3 million EU). Technology: India uses the Japanese Shinkansen E10 Series. In comparison Kawasaki Steel technology of an earlier generation used for China's earlier bullet trains and redeveloped for the newest CR450. Germany uses ICE 3 neo of Siemens, France 5th generation TGV M Avelia Horizon of Alstom. Stations- Mumbai (Bandra-Kurla), Thane, Virar, Boisar on Maharashtra side and on Gujarat side Vapi, Bilimora, Bharuch, Surat, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati Cost: $17 billion through a loan from JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency. A key achievement stemming from close relationship of PM Shinzo Abe 2012-2020 and Modi of India starting when Modi was CM of Gujarat. Significance:  Just as it did for China this will dispel the notion that Indians could not borrow technologies and capital and with its own engineering capabilities build high speed rail infrastructure across a terrain the size of EU. The naysayers are both in India as they were with China in 2000 period and in US/Europe. It requires a special determination, persistence, vision and leadership as happened in Japan in 1960's, in China in 2000's, and India by 2030, to show what can be done to their people oppressed by the sense that failures of the past could not be overcome. Note that it was Japan that stepped up its help to setup the bullet train system in China by 2004. Japan's Hideo Shima and Shinji Sogo were the chief engineers for Japan's first bullet train in 1964, invented by Japan as first in the world to do this.  Next bullet trains and travel time cut to: Ahmedabad to New Delhi through Jaipur Mumbai- Pune will be a mountain tunneling exercize as much of it goes through mountainous terrain. Cut travel to 45 minutes. Pune to Hyderabad Hyderabad to Bangalore cut travel to 2 hours Bangalore to Chennai or Madras cut travel to 3 hours  (Shanghai has always remained Shanghai so has Ahmedabad, its all about what can be done not names) Chennai  to Bangalore cut travel time to 1 hour and 13 minutes Delhi to Varanasi Varanasi to Siliguri through Patna From the Alps to the North Sea in the EU, in India bullet trains can take one from Indian Ocean at Sri Lanka to the Himalayan mountains terrain and Nepal. ...

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Yale endowment grows by $4.5 billion to $44.1 billion at 11% return in 2025. For 1000 students  offered no cost tution for undergrads this was about a $72 million cost in 2025 when tution is set at Yale at $72,000 a year for undergrads. Of 6800 undergrad students about 15% of students offered no cost tution at the cutoff income level of $75,000. This year the cutoff is set at $200,000. Even if this adds 1000 more students this will in 2026 cost Yale a mere $72 million, a tiny fraction of  1.6% of the total endowment gain of $4.5 billion in 2025. What this shows is that these top tier schools are still wanting to look good but are not really changing a highly flawed system. It is only in 2026 that a new law the Big Beautiful Bill of DJT increased tax on university endowments from 1.4% to 8%. Better that government can address the flawed education system with tax money than let the universities in the higher tiers make education less and less affordable, destroying a pillar of the democratic system of government by giving education to only a privileged few. ...

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NYT interviews with Biden era officials on mistakes made with immigration - no tough enforcement on illeal migration, no clear policy to stop illegal migration, and failure to anticipate a surge as policies towards migrants were relaxed, appointment as head of Homeland Security of someone who was not tough on migration, delegation of migration to a former AG of California who had no experience in issues raised by high migration. Till it was too late and the public had lost confidence in the Biden administration on this issue and the homeless migrants in cities becoming a major local issue. The last year saw Biden negotiate with Republican Senator from Nebraska on migration which failed to get support in the Republican party and Congress. In this way Biden lost control of the narrative as migration surged and surged by 2023 and 2024. Tackling the Covid pandemic was a major distraction and cost of living affordability crisis also became a major issue leading to the undoing of the Democrats. Second generation Latino Americans from Cuba and Mexico preferred tough policies on illegal migration surges from places such as Guatemala and Venezuela. Democrats lost part of their own base. Rural America and the South, had already made up its mind. ...

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White House Correspondents Dinner shooting on April 25 2026 at Washington Hilton, the scene of the shooting of Ronald Reagan decades earlier. It is unbelievable that over 2000 guests including the US president and important members of his cabinet would be assembled in a hotel in Washington DC that is not designed for this type of event security. The Washington Post raises questions about the security as the assailant stayed in the hotel. The president DJT says this shows why the White House should have a ballroom or hall that can hold such an event that is designed with security in mind. A 31 year old graduate in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology who worked as a tutor in science subjects was the assailant who was apprehended. Secret Service agents acted quickly to clear the podium where the president and vice president were seated. Most of the people in the hotel ballroom were in complete shock. DJT has not attended previous correspondents dinners saying the media has fake news- much of the press in the US tends to have political leanings that slant the news in one direction or the other and television channels exaggerate the divisions for profit by supplying information tailored to what audiences in their political spectrum want. That may be seen as a clever business strategy when it really hurts the  democratic process that has been nurtured for 250 years. It could be said that young people in particular believe what they are told by media run for profit, opinion created for profit, and this leads to violent behaviour. A robust debate has always taken place in the US- on Iran compare that with the Mexican War under president Polk in the 1850's, before the civil war when Lincoln debated Douglas, under Democrat Harry Truman when he did a whistlestop rail campaign after the war against Republican Wendell Wilkie, yet the fragmentation of rural-urban, white male and white female, within minorities today is excessively and without remorse stoked by the television channels and the newspapers.  ...

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Iran peace talks in Islamabad on April 12 and Iranian refusal on nuclear weapons development and ballistic missiles leading to collapse in 21 hours of talks. Vance leaves talks and US plans to impose a naval blockade of Iran. This report by the Guardian shows that media coverage has created a sense of delusion that the world including the poorest countries in the world in Asia, in Latin America and even in Europe, and the industrialized countries will somehow allow the free navigation for oil and other raw materials to be interrupted by any nation. There are protests all over the world about increase in fuel prices, some of this affects LPG supplies for cooking in countries with a population of 1.4 billion people (India) many times that of the entire Middle East. Tens of millions of migrant workers head back to their homes in poorest states in India as LPG cylinder prices quadruple and are in short supply April 13, 2026.It also affects China and Japan which are dependent on Hormuz,  not the US which exports oil and does not seek to gain from oil prices. Posturing by the media and European governments on this issue has created this delusion that this is about US actions, when the US is only acting in the interests of all nations to keep the planet safer from dangerous nuclear proliferation in the region most torn by repeated wars in the last 50 years. Some of the language used about attacks on power plants has become a reason to justify such reporting to present aggressive ballistic missile development and nuclear weapons development in Iran in a benign way, becoming oblivious of how it affects the lives of billions of people around the world, as the Middle Eastern region a small fraction of the world's population (less than 7%) and a small fraction of the planet's surface (less than 6%) continues to operate in a way that is destructive for the lives of people around the world.   ...

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A Washington Post reporter tells why his reading list for 2018 has on it Winston Churchill's book "The Gathering Storm." A book suggested to him by Republican strategist Steve Schmidt. Authoritarian tendencies are evident in the interview with Schmidt of the NYT, including the idea expressed by president Trump that the Justice Department is something over which the president has "absolute rights." In a interview on CNN, Carl Bernstein, the reporter who covered the Watergate scandal of president Nixon, clarified that it was not just the break  into the Watergate apartments that led to impeachment of Nixon. Bernstein stated that it was the way in which Nixon used the powers of the presidency that led to the problems he faced.