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Under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order of 2012, a group of immigrants brought to the country as children can have temporary status to stay and work in the U.S. In 2012 this was restricted to children brought in under the age of 16, with a maximum age of 30. The program was called "Dreamers." Under president Obama's executive order this will be changed to children brought in under the age of 18, with no maximum age. The number of immigrants goes up from 1.2 million in 2012 to 1.9 million with this particular change in 2014. A new group of parents of children who are citizens or legal residents residing in the U.S. for more than 5 years adds another 3.3 million to this number, with an additional 100,000 for parents of Dreamers. The total 1.9 million children and 3.4 million parents would be 5.3 million given new status to stay and work in the U.S. The 5.3 million will not be eligible for subsidies and for the Affordable Healthcare Act assistance. All will be required to pass security checks. This leaves about 6 million, including farm workers and other undocumented or illegal immigrants not touched by the new executive order. President Obama is expected to make the announcement of the executive order on Nov. 20, 2014, in Nevada, a state with a large Hispanic population. On the question of legal authority for the executive order, Prof. Stephen Yale-Loehr, an expert on immigration law at Cornell says the U.S. president does have broad authority to decide which group should get a reprieve from deportations. The decision to exclude benefits of government subsidies and subsidized healthcare was made to appeal to increased support of the American public for the executive order. ...

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This WSj editorial says the meeting of president Trump and president Putin in Helsinki on July 16, 2018, projected weakness and was "a personal and national embarrassment." It say Mr Trump could not even support his own intelligence adviser Dan Coats over Mr. Putin. This will bring Democrats and Republicans together and offers ammunition for the president's opponents, says the Journal. 

It also says that on the Nordstream pipeline Mr. Trump was right about Germany having it own favorable dealings with Russia. On NATO the lack of strategy and Mr. Trump's swagger, saying what comes to his head for Mr. Trump, only weakens support for the alliance in the U.S. The NATO alliance with spending above 2% by Germany and France after calls by Mr. Trump for spending 4% strengthens NATO, yet weakens it by weakening the alliance with America's European partners. 

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China's dollar for dollar retaliation on $16 billion of U.S. imports with 25% tariffs set to take effect August 23 excludes oil which was on the original list. China takes in about one fifth of the total U.S. oil exports, and in the space of 2 years has become the largest importer of U.S. oil. Experts say China could be shooting itself in the foot if it decides to place tariffs on oil imports from U.S. China is dependent on foreign sources for 70% of energy needs and this trend continues. Another reason say analysts is that by keeping oil out of this trade dispute there is more chance that China can continue importing Iranian oil through a waiver  after U.S. sanctions on Iran go into effect in November.

The U.S. also exports higher quality oil that is less polluting and a grade which is used in newer plants.

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In a nutshell why the economy is lopsided benefitting some, ignoring many. Labour's (salaries of all working people including professional classes) share of gross domestic income is 50% in 2026 the lowest since 1947, and profits highest since 1950 at 12%. Then you have hourly wages up 3% since 2019, while profits are up 50%. Greg Ip of the WSJ says the causes are complex and implications sobering. He says you can be a red blooded capitalist and still worry- is something wrong or unsustainable? Political stability, good governance structures, good institutional structures that were set up since Lincoln (the beginnings for the Industrial Revolution), by TR and FDR/Frances Perkins (the basic institutional and good governance structures of modern America and now the industrialized world that allied labor and capital with fairness to all), the entire setup needs to be rebuilt and renewed. The problems are also appearing in Europe and causing dismay, with calls for rebuilding and renewal. ...

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US president DJT reaches a framework in discussions with Rutte of the Netherlands. This will form the basis of future negotiations and the US has withdrawn its 10% tariff on EU countries opposing the US on Greenland. 

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Thailand's prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra's intervew with foreign journalists on Dec. 11, 2013. She says no one listens to people in the northeast and northern region of Thailand around Chinag Mai where most of her support lies. She was only 18 when her mother died and her older brother, a former prime minister, is seen by her as more of a senior figure. Protesters in Bangkok see her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a Thai businessman in London as the one who runs the government's policies. The country is badly split between urban Bangkok and the rural regions in the north. The military ousted Thaksin in 2006 and protesters where shot in 2010 in a crackdown. The latest episode of confrontation between the two parties reflecting the two regions is a followup to this, as an amnesty bill was introduced by Yingluck which would let her brother return to Thailand. The interview was setup at an airbase outside Bangkok, as the country remains deeply divided and protesters occupy most of Bangkok....

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The Russian economy has proved stronger than other emerging markets in a similar situation. The ruble has declined from 35 to the dollar before the Ukraine crisis and sanctions in 2014 to 86 to the dollar in Jan. 2016. Foreign currency reserves dropped from $600 billion to $385 billion in 2009, when Russia with memories of 1997 when the ruble collapsed, decided to prop up the ruble. In Nov. 2014 Russia's central bank let the ruble float, this time responding in a different way following western sanctions over Ukraine and a emerging markets crisis. Interest rates were increased to tackle inflation.A key rate was raised to 17% in Dec. 2014, dropping by Jan 2016 to 11%. Inflation was 12.9% in Dec. 2015, the target for 2017 is 4%. The economy has contracted by 3.7% in 2015, and expected to contract by 1% in 2016, according to the IMF. Alexsei Kudrin, former finance minister, expects modest growth in 2017.

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Unrestrained lending by state owned banks, corruption and cronyism, have led to an increase in non-performing loans and bad debt. Slovenia's government banks made extensive loans for leverged management buyouts of state owned companies in the period 2000-2010. Loans for construction projects also soured, with the capital Ljubljana having many unfinished construction sites. Bad debt at the banks is estimated at 6.8 billion euros, or 19% of Slovenia's GDP, larger than the 16% of GDP for bad debt in Spain. The anti-corruption agency reports large amounts of undisclosed income for the head of the outgoing government, and the outgoing leader of the opposition party who was Mayor of Ljubljana. An election law that requires an endorsement from members of parliament for people seeking to contest elections for the first time makes it difficult to bring new faces and thinking into parliament.

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The bleak situation for Americans facing retirement as most people age 65 are likely to outlive their savings. The median financial net worth of an American household is $10,890, according to work done by Edward Wolff, an economics professor at New York University. This estimate is based on 2010 Federal Reserve data updated for the movement in market indexes. Even the ten percent of Americans who have saved $1 million will have difficulty as a 2% withdrawal rate would provide only $20,000 to supplement Social Security income. Earlier generations of Americans could depend on income from bonds. In today's low interest rate environment, the benchmark 10 year Treasury note is at 2.2% in 2013, bonds will provide only a fraction of the income generated in earlier periods. Stock markets are volatile and pose additional risks for seniors in retirement.

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Apple offers a new way to buy iPhones directly from Apple with financing in September 2015. This will change the way iPhones are sold, giving more control over the sale of iPhones to Apple. It will enable Apple to stabilize core sales for iPhones by encouraging upgrades every year. The monthly payments are $32.41 for 2 years for the cheapest iPhone. Apple is taking aim at the average upgrade time which is increasing- it went up to 26.3 months in 2015 from 18.2 months in 2010, according to a telecom consultant. With the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sales surged for Apple in the first 3 quarters of 2015 by 50% from the prior year period. It will be harder for Apple to generate this kind of sales increase as the new iPhones introduced in September 2015- the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have better cameras and "3-D Touch," only incrementally different. A 16 gigabyte iPhone 6s would cost $778, about the same as the $649 price and Apple Care coverage of $129. The way iPhones were sold through wireless carriers kept the price hidden with higher wireless service charges- 2 years of a Verizon wireless 3 gigabye data plan ended up costing users twice the amount of the $649 price of the iPhone. Now the competition among wireless carriers will shift to pricing cuts and changing their pricing strategies. The result of the changes is likely to be increasing shifts from one carrier to another as Apple allows direct buyers to choose the carrier they want....

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Apple's sales in India are insignificant because of the lack of 3G networks. RIM's Blackberry and apps work well on the existing 2G networks. Prices are higher with the cheapest iPhone costing $705 at a Reliance iStore. The cheapest iPad 2 goes for $603. Blackberry phones cost less than $200. As a result Apple's iPhone sales are only 2.6% of India's smartphone shipments for the 2nd quarter 2011. RIM's is 15%, Samsung Electronic's is 21%, and Nokia's 46%, according to IDC. RIM is extending its distribution in India from 15 cities in 2010 to 80 cities in 2011. IDC estimates that smartphone shipments in India will grow by 68% a year, reaching 81.5 million units by 2015.

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US president Trump calls for ending the Debt Ceiling on December 18, 2024.

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Portugal's foreign minister, Paulo Portas, resigns in protest against continuity of austerity measures signalled by the selection of Ms. Albuquerque as the new finance minister. Portas's party is part of the coalition of centre right parties in the administration of prime minister, Pedro Passos Coelho. Cuts in public employee pay and spending on health and education, income and sales tax increases, have cut the deficit to 6.4% of GDP by 2013 from about 10% in 2010. The cost of this is an economy that is shrinking more than expected- by 4.8% in 2011 and 2012, and an additional 2.3% in 2013. Unemployment exceeds 17% in 2013. The loan terms negotiated for the 78 billion euro bailout with the IMF and E.U. in 2010, were renegotiated so that the 3% of GDP target for the deficit for 2013 was relaxed to 5.5%. Portas's party and other leaders are calling for a further renegotiation to take into account the economic conditions in Portugal and boost growth. Portas's party opposed the effort to cut labor costs of companies with a large increase in worker social security contributions, a measure seen as counterproductive even by business leaders that was later dropped. In financial markets the 10 year Portugal bond yield increased 0.22% to 6.615%....

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Ruffenach gives an excellent account of how many people describe their expectations and how it actually turned out in retirement, the good and the bad. He cites numerous examples to give as broad based a picture as possible. Health and active life, passions and interests, loss of self esteem in work for some and finding substitute interests, taking risks to try something new and the rewards. More people describe positive experiences in those surveyed. Health is the main concern for 41% in actual retirement, children and other things are all less than 10%. Travel should be planned early as it becomes harder as the years go by and one gets older. It is not as difficult as people think to make new friends in retirement, and this active social life with new friends can play a positive part in spending time. In addition there is the opportunity in retirement to take things slowly and leisurely, and spend time more on oneself and one's own interests.

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"Because of the pressure on public services that resentment (by public) is real"- Shabana Mohamed tears up old rules in asylums that put migrants before British neighborhoods. Under the old rules refugees were given 5 years of protection and allowed to bring their families, followed by possible permanent status. Now this is cut to 30 months and if the country is safe the person has to go back, Waiting time to be able to settle in Britain will be extended to 10 years. The system worked in Denmark cutting by 90% the flow of migrants. In 2025 100,000 claimed asylum inUK half of them coming in small boats.  The asylum people placed in hotels has resulted in an outcry from locals in many British towns who see a way of life of the British people being pressured by the migrants some from remote countries with different cultures and leading to lack of safety for women on the streets. In Denmark without these changes the labour working class party would have lost power to a movement like that of Nigel Farage Reform UK which wants to shut the door completely on migrants. Public patience appears to be gone. Similar situations have happened in Dutch politics and is happening in other countries including Germany and France. ...

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In his resignation speech to the House of Commons UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the House on May 20, 2026. He calls for bold action based on a bold vision not simply treading water.  "I left the government because we are in the fight of our lives against nationalism, and it is a fight that we are currently losing." "Unless we change course, we risk handing the keys of No 10 to Reform, and I do not want that on our consciences." "For the first time in our history, nationalists are in power in every corner of the United Kingdom." "Scottish and Welsh nationalism represents an existential threat to the future integrity of the United Kingdom." "And Reform UK represent a threat to the values and ideals that have made this country great." “Never waste a minute – that’s been my mantra in government, and it’s why I don’t believe our party has time to waste in government treading water,” Streeting told MPs. “The Labour party was elected to deliver real change. We still can.”   ...

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Modi in West Bengal - many rallies across the state for second phase of State Elections and goals for Vikshit Bharat (Modernized India 2047) with West Bengal as a key part in Paribortan or Transformation. The state has lagged far behind other states in India in industrial development, in women's rights, in standards of living, with much of the younger generation finding it hard to find jobs in a largely agricultural economy. State policies of the government have provided poor governance, lack of rule of law, and discouraged industries from setting up in the state, leading to a sense that the future is bleak for the state if this continues for any longer. As this poor state of governance has been happening for 15 years. Bengal played an important part in India's struggle for independence. Post war governments under the Congress party, Communist Party, and a local regional party TMC have all failed in succession to modernize the state economy and build its industries, leaving it as an agricultural backwater for the Indian economy. This election is an opportunity for the new generation of people in their 20's and 30's, for women, for all Bengalis to give modernization working together with the federal government and Modi a chance to set it on a new path to modernization.  ...

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The unexplainable situation of Peter Murrell's embezzlement of 400,000 pounds, when he was chief executive of the Scottish National party while wife Nicola Sturgeon was head of Scottish government. The loss of reputation and honor in Britain as Scotland struggled with 14 years of austerity, Brexit policies, and from the failed leaders from Labour that brought deindustrialization and the 2009 financial crisis. The loss of credibility that Scotland could better manage its own affairs as an independent state than it could as an autonomous part of Britain that it has been for centuries, in an arrangement that made Scotland and integral part of the idea of Britain in the world from the British Empire to the Brtish Commonwealth. Scotland's population of 5 million people with main industrial hubs of Glasgow and Edinburgh is relatively small compared to the population of England with 59 million people and industrial hubs in Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and London. Since the Act of Union tht brought Scotland into union with England as Great Britain in 1707, Scotland has depended on the industrial strength of England and its significantly larger financial and people resources. The autonomous arrangement preserves Scottish culture and identity inside the region, yet gives Scotland a better relationship, more access to benefits with the world as part of Great Britain's much larger presence.  ...

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BBC says "tech's seedy side exposed" by Musk- Altman trial 2026. Let's face it there is a seedy side, and a much less benevolent side to Tech than it likes to show. The overspending on AI is a sign of misplaced priorities when so much of US infrastructure is dilapidated, much of it from before 1945, that badly needs to be rebuilt. Much of the promise of hardware from Tech that would change education is a failure so much so that Sweden is shifting on a nationwide effort in its schools to a program - "from screens to binders" that gives children binders with notebooks to write in and books to read, removing screens altogether, and for good reasons of the educators of Sweden. Tech in its grandiose style pretends it is about the technological revolution when it is simply the companies Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, three of which are from the last 15 years. The technological revolution and the scientific revolution date back to Copernicus and Newton and the hundreds, thousands of scientists and pioneers of the industrial revolution of the last 250 years, and the men of vision and wisdom that gave us the British and American Constitution, the principles of self-government of civilized societies. ...

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PM Modi has been invited by Macron to Bastille day in Paris, France's National Day on July 14, as an official guest, a first for an Indian leader in Europe. This happens as India's strategic partnership with France takes new shape in sectors such as civil aviation with significant Indian expansion, in defense, in nuclear cooperation for energy, in renewable energy, and is expanding into other sectors. India's defense forces will also take part with French forces in the parade on Bastille Day in France. Bastille Day is the national day of France with parades and a national holiday. It was established in 1880 and marks the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 with the French revolution for Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, and of the National Federation Day July 14, 1790.

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Ajaz Patel comes from a humble background in Mumbai before moving to New Zealand as a child. Here he recalls the excitement of getting his first cricket spikes. His father worked at his brother's automotive shop in the new country and his mother was a schoolteacher.

Ajaz did the incredible feat of getting all 10 wickets with spin bowling at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai in his first innings bowling for New Zealand. Like Jim Laker 10 for 53 against Australia in 1956, and Anil Kumble with 10 wickets against Pakistan, Ajaz's effort is a result of hard work, patience, and knowhow, says this report in The Times. And in Azaz's situation he had less experience as his first Test match was played at age 30 years. 

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Jonas Vinegaard of Denmark settles the race with a fast time working himself upto near exhaustion and adding 7 minutes to his lead during the trials in the 17th stage of the Tour de France. From 10 seconds in earlier stages of the cycling race in Basque Spain across the Pyrenees mountains and into France Slovenian cyclist Pogacar was only 10 seconds behind Vinegaard. With this time in the trials and putting up a great effort in the Alps near Geneva Vinegaard now has a 10 minute lead over Pogacar, enough for him to make it to Paris without the pressure that would otherwise be seen. Vinegaard shows a new kind of resilience, strength, strategy and skills that has endeared him with a new generation of cycling enthusiasts, with a humility that comes naturally for him.

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  US reaches agreement that would restore oil supplies and bring down oil prices. The supply chains may have to be reconstituted for replacing much of the 20% of the oil that flows through Hormuz if the US, Europe,China and India, Japan, rest of the world are to gain from this experience. The only way to understand the change of mind of the DJT US government and the Saudis/UAE/Qatar for bringing an end to the war without immediately fulfilling required nuclear conditions is from the Saudi point of view it has sought to avoid damage to its oil facilities from Iranian drone and missile attacks. From the US point of view it may see that the US + ramped up Venezuelan production by 2027-2028 with increased push for supplies in other parts of the world with better security than Hormuz, could make up for most of the loss in supply from Hormuz. For the remainder acceleration of the renewal energy in Europe and in China, India could reduce dependence on oil from Saudis/Iran.  US Energy Information Administration forecast is for oil prices currently $103 for Brent crude oil to stabilize at $89 at the end of 2026 and $79 in 2027. The year started in 2026 at $60 per barrel. The UAE oil agency ADNOC says it would take 4 months to get 80% of production back on stream and full flows by 1st quarter 2027. Rystad Energy estimates repair and restoration at oil facilities to cost $58 billion. The MAGA base which opposed wars by Bush and Obama in the region would then look at it this way. The billions that Obama poured into Iran for Iran to rebuild its nuclear program would not happen again, as the US would continue its sanctions till all nuclear materials are removed from Iran. Iran would stall in negotiations that are now put off with only a Memorandum to show for commitment of Iran- though an agreement would only be a piece of paper that Iran may not implement as the failed Obama agreement showed- but yet not have the billions of dollars to support its nuclear program. It would give the US, Israel, and the world 10-15 years in which to respond to another nuclear program by Iran. Iran will need $270 billion to repair the damage to industrial facilities, which shows the cost of the war for the Iranian people just to get a nuclear weapon is prohibitive, considering that the Iranian economy was already in trouble before the war. Inflation and the overall economy will be in difficult shape for many years. Public sentiment in Iran may change the future course of Iran away from the course currently pursued. The entire Middle East  region has not benefitted from its dependence on oil. For the rest of the world finding alternative sources of supply is the best way and EU, China, India should accelerate renewable technologies and goals for energy independence shortening the transition from fossil fuels. ...

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This editorial in the WSJ on July 16, 2016, says president Obama did not negotiate from a position of strength because of a series of decisions in the Middle East during his administration that suggested a U.S. lack of engagement. This was unlike Reagan's position with the Soviets. It describes the diplomacy as being weakened from it becoming apparent that president Obama wanted a deal with Iran badly.

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Indonesia's GDP increased by 6.5% in 2011. Analysts estimate GDP growth of about 6% in 2012. Exports are stable at about 25-26% of GDP. Consumption is about 55-56% of GDP for 2010 and 2011. Foreign direct investment increased by 20% in 2011 and reached $20 billion for investments in coal mines- to tap Indonesia's natural resources and car and consumer product factories for Indonesia's 240 million people.