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The new German cabinet with Mr Schauble a seasoned Chritian Democrat who led reunification talks in 1990 as Finance Minister, Guido Westerwelle of the Free Democrats as foreign minister, and Philip Rosler the youngest of the leading ministers at 36 years and a Christian Social Union member, as Defence Minister.

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Friedman points to Congressional Research Service numbers showing that of the D.of D. workforce contractors accounted for 48% in Iraq and 57% in Afghanistan. Allison Stanger of Middlebury College who wrote the book "One Nation under Contract: The Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy," says tasks of diplomacy, development, defense and even intelligence are all outsourced. And State and USAID are also heavily outsourcing. In 2008 roughly 80% of State Department budget went out in the form of contracts and grants.

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Automakers have huge problems servicing debt, with GM servicing $45 billion debt. Also all that inventory in trucks but also cars weighs heavily as cost for automakers, cars 28% overstocked, trucks 13% overstocked, as sales fall according to Credit Suisse analysts. And overseas bright spots are gone with global financial crisis. And Goldman estimates GM will use up $9 billion in 2009, and working capital cash balances need to be $11 to $14 billion. So do lower oil prices matter, not so much for automakers. And Chrysler is a bad choice for merger partner says a Merrill Lynch analyst because of its product and overexposure to the US market.

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The difference in the styles of Wagoner and Henderson who is no 2 at GM. Henderson is direct and has tackled the problems facing GM with more boldness.

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The Biodiversity Summit COP15 in Montreal in December is covered in this report in the Guardian. It was meant to be held in Kunming, China but was shifted to Montreal, Canada, because of China's zero Covid policy. China, US, EU, India and other Asian, African, Latin American nations are strong supporters of restoring biodiversity on the planet.

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Mr. Ambani's Jio company is targeting both ends of the pyramid. It is investing $25 billion on a 5G network coming in late 2023. At the lower end a new $12 mobile phone calld JioBharat by India's largest telecom provider aims to reach 250 million people who use 2G mobile phones. Mobile phone penetration in India is about 46% in 2021, up from 17% in 2016, according to World Bank. This is largely due to the efforts of Mr. Ambani who built a 4G network from scratch and has 440 million subscribers with some of the lowest data rates in the world. The new phone has a smaller screen, physical keyboard, camera and runs on 4G. 

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Intel Board members disagreements on how to run the company 2025. Lip-Bu Tan replaced Pat Gelsinger as CEO only a few months back.  Pat Gelsinger had a close relationship with Biden and also had close relations with VP JD Vance. Lip Bu-Tan has no such relations and is seen by DJT and Senator Cotton as "conflicted" in his ties to China as an early investor in Chinese chipmakers. DJT calls for Tan's immediate resignation as CEO of Intel in 2025. Lip-Bu Tan left the Board a few months before the ouster of Gelsinger. It now appears that the ouster of Gelsinger as Intel's recovery proceeded but only gradually was a poor decision of the Board.  This report also shows an acting head of Intel Yeary recently considering selling of the manufacturing business to TSMC which is a staggering revelation considering that the US is trying to build its own dominant chip making business in the US, which it had ceded to TSMC in Taiwan after inventing the computer chip. ...

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Mike Pence on DJT and the Republican Party in 2025. Mike Pence puts a score on the First 100 Days of the DJT administration. The WINS- The Border- Mike Pence says border crossings are down. Crossings were 140,000 in March 2024 under Biden, a year later they were 4000 or 3% of the previous crossings. A video of gangs was shown at the DJT rally in Warren, Michigan, the Linken Riley Act and other efforts to put spotlight on victims of crime- this is doing what even legislation would take time to produce results, putting into effect a democratic mandate and the rule of law, this is not arbitrary or by force. US military capabilities- Mike Pence points to the attention to defense, yet makes no mention of the US Navy. How can the US build when it has stopped building ships to the point that it takes 6-7 years to build simple frigates in the US by European companies, when 55% of shipbuilding is done in China with ships built in 1-2 years. How is the US without restoring its industrial base going to build its Navy? This is a question Mike Pence, the Conservatives in the Republican Party have to answer. Or if they do not take on this question are they using a playbook that is obsolete, was obsolete for a decade, and is now dangerous as if this opportunity to rebuild is not taken USA may lose its leadership in the world. Foreign Investment coupled with US and US Government investment- Mike Pence and Conservatives in the Republican Party, Wall Street interests say the US is losing foreign investment through its tariffs program, and faults it for targeting Europe, Canada, India, America's allies. DJT includes these countries because it makes it easier to come to an agreement with China that offers to abide by the original rules of fair trade when it is not singled out. It is to convey beyond a doubt to China that the US intends to play fair and expects the same from China as one of China's friends throughout its struggle with British and Japanese imperialism and colonialism. In this Wall Street fails to understand what happened to China, the history of Gen. Joe Stilwell in China in fighting the Japanese in China 1920-1945 A fact check shows Mike Pence and Wall Street are not right, foreign investment as shown on the White House site is about $5 trillion in commitments, it includes a commitment by Korean, Japanese and European, America's own companies to invest in American manpower and jobs, in American communities across 51 states.   ...

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Skeptical reception of the Administration's plan as Senators on the Banking Committee question, Paulson, Bernanke, Cox and Lockhart. The plan is only a few pages long and has no details wich alarms Senators as letting Treasury act with absolute impunity. The Senators are concerned about accountability, transparency and strict oversight. They are also concerned about protecting taxpayers money and taking equity in return for funds as on way to ensure that the taxpayers benefit from the upside in this as with the Swedish example in 1992. And Senators are concerned about the high rate of foreclosures and the need to help homeowners avoid foreclosure about which this plan is silent leaving in the words of one senator " a gaping hole" in the plan as home prices will continue to deteriorate as long as nothing serious and comprehensive is done about the foreclosure rate. Neither Bernanke or Paulson had anything to say about addressing foreclosures with broad comprehensive steps. And reflecting the outrage across the country the Senators want to see a cap on executive compensation of CEO's or some way in which CEO's of these financial institutions benefit while the taxpayers bear the burden. Summing up for the committee the head of the Senate Banking committee said that the Administrations plan was "unacceptable." ...

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The mysterious disappearance of $1.2 billion from customer accounts at MF Global. Jan Corzine, CEO of MF Global, former governor of New Jersey, former senior executive at Goldman Sachs, tell the U.S. Congress he has no idea what happened to the money.