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Elena Mayors Taylor gold medalist at Milan WInter Olympics 2026 age 41 years, is th eoldest gold medalist in Olympic history. Her colleague in the winter sport of bobsledding is Armbruster Humphries who has 3 gold medals and is 40 years She says-  "You get a lot of people that like to write you off as soon as you reach 40, it's all downhill from there, is what you hear. I think Elana and I are both proof that that's not true." Former bronze medalist from Britain Jon Jackson says of Elena- "She is not only a ferocious athlete but also a beautiful human being and a genuine person. It has been a real show of dedication to keep going through the struggles of now being a mum in a high-performance sport, the dedication that takes to maintain that level of physical fitness and the hard work of being a parent. It shows her true nature." Elena has 3 children with disabilities and is an advocate for mums. "It should be celebrated that they're both mums, using mum power, both in their early 40s and it's great to see them competing at the top of the world not only physically but the drive and experience too,"   ...

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After mentioning the transformative game of Van Dijk, Sadio Mane, Firmino, Alexander Arnold, one can only turn to the incredible resilience of Jordan Henderson against many setbacks and being written off more than once. Here he is put forward as the choice for Footballer of the Year. Precept and example counts for more here than individual game performance.

The "mentality monsters" Germany's Klopp talks about in coaching is about calming the mind and continuous improvement, hard work in practice that makes this happen. Henderson shows a lot of this work ethic and resolve.

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Not since Suez crisis in 1956 (when Queen Elizabeth II visited the US), says NYT, is a visit so critical for US- British relations as King Charles visit to the US today, April 27th 2026.

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George Orwell says "let the meaning choose the word" which is absent in AI writing which pulls together on industrial scale vast amounts of content and cliches. AI cannot replicate the way we think and process words to write and convey the meaning we have in mind. One reason AI cannot replace the hard work of writing. Lyrarc.com's Movement for Global Literacy goal is to improve literacy, reading comprehension, and writing skills that are related to reading and reading comprehension. Writing skills enable a person to think clearly as he has to have a clear idea what is the meaning he wishes to convey and find the right words to express it. This becomes the style of the person and the expression goes that "style is the man." This becomes his individual style, unique only to him and his way of expressing himself. This process cannot be done with AI, it cannot create the style of the Authorized Version of the Bible, or the style of a Lincoln, a Frost, a Whitman or any other of the writers of western civilization. ...

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Much of the reward for Labour goes to Health, Nutrition (food choices), and Education (schooling choices for children). This is the backbone for any Nation that is going to be strong and have a good future. Yet economic structures in 2026 and for decades has swung too far in one direction away from Labour and more and more for Capital, creating grave risks for the Nation, and setting the US as the wrong role model. Labour and Capital in 1980 vs 2026- increasing reward for Capital from 7% to 12% of GDI decreasing for Labour 58% to 52% in same period. In some areas this is not so because other regions have set their own priorities and this is a good thing Europe has a strong and fair access healthcare system, India has a strong and fair access pharmaceuticals healthcare system, which act as role models for the US. In 2026 RFK Jr, Dr. Oz at HHS and DJT are focused on getting US pharmaceuticals prices down to levels in the European Union. The real dangers of the skewing in the direction of Capital of rewards is creating a class that is not sensitive to the lives of ordinary people resulting in fracturing of society. Something like that happened in 1600-1800 in India and China leading to the disintegration of society and becoming overcome by foreign European powers which had more dynamic societies from the bottom up that led to discoveries in science leading to the industrial revolution. One detects something like this happening by accident by poor governance and bad decisions for wars (Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama), and the same administrations pushed by bad advice from economists to ship the productive manufacturing resources of the Nation to China. If not reversed it would lead to the kind of decline Asia witnessed after 1600- hitting all classes of society and destroying the economic structures as foreign powers get the upper hand. The surrendering of research labs and higher education in advanced science fields to foreigners at US and European universities poses similar risks as fractured society with Capital dominant and unaware of the risks. Such societies have less perception of such risk than a bottom up built social, economic and political framework with large numbers of aspiring local citizens seeking these positions in science and technology in the Nation. ...

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Le Monde reports from Havana Cuba in 2026- 2 million people have left since 2021, the situation is looking increasingly hopeless. There is the 800,000 called the "walking generation" that walked to th southern border of the US during the Biden administration 2020-2024, How did this happen the country of Cuba losing so many people, a third of its population? In 1960 it was 7.1 million. Taking Mexico as an example Mexico's population was 37 million in 1960, it is now 133 million up threefold. At the same rate Cuba's today would be about 20 million in 2026, today it is about 10 million. Instead of 20 million it is half that. About 3 million left the country and population growth simply stopped as the country went from crisis to crisis. Was the revolution worth it, were people in Europe, the US and Latin America who looked to Cuba as a model completely mistaken and was the story oversold to the point where someone like Chavez would try to bring that revolution to a developed economy such as Venezuela as late as 1998, when Cuba was already without US cooperation a state that had fallen behind, by 2026 it was like going back in time 50 years. Could the US offer something better to these countries in the western hemisphere. Did Kennedy JFK promise so much in 1960 and did later US administrations leave Cuba  in a state where it would not get foreign investment and be sanctioned and blocked from access to new technology in so many ways. There is much to reflect on the failure of Cuba, the story of glorious narrative that was told that overlooks the poor condition of the country and benefitted the people the least.  ...

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This report in The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, gives insights into the Chinese position in trade war with the U.S.  China has its own internal groups which support China being able to take a leadership role in world affairs. Xi Jinping made giving China a prominent role in the world a feature of his presidency. China  has this internal audience and its own sense that China's resurgence was won with hard work and cooperation, plus dedication of the Chinese people. In the past Japan and South Korea also used state subsidized industries, and subsidies to gain leadership in key business sectors involving high technology. China would see this state subsidies model as its own model of development. From this standpoint the U.S. demands on subsidies as unfair competition could be seen as changing a key part of its economic model.  Asking China to put everything in writing and show tangible proof of enforcement as the U.S. insisted in talks, was too much for the Chinese side. China said trust us to do this, and lift the tariffs based on our verbal assurances. The U.S. having seen decades of no progress on this point, wanted tangible proof before tariffs were lifted. Added to the demands on subsidies were the demands for no more of what the U.S. calls stealing of U.S. technology through forced transfer of technology by U.S. firms as a condition to operate in Chinese markets. With the U.S. lagging in 5G technology and Huawei ahead the issue resonates on the U.S. side. Add to this Mr. Trump's key voter base includes the former Democratic party supporting workers who have shifted to him because of trade agreements and policies of Clinton and Obama that hurt American workers through seemingly endless closure of manufacturing plants from Chinese competition.   ...

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What the US wanted in the initial hours- use of Diego Garcia base and RAF base in Haverford Gloucestershire. UK's Keir Starmer first denied use of the bases and till he could verify US attacks were within international law. When Iran responded with a a barrage of drones and ballistic missiles 840 drones and 340 ballistic missiles and attacked the British base RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, suddenly Starmer saw the opportunity to justify US use of British bases on defensive grounds. DJT called the British response "very disappointing." Starmer told parliament-  "To be clear, the use of British bases is limited to the agreed defensive purposes; we are not joining the US and Israeli offensive strikes. The lessons of history have taught us that it is important when we make decisions like this, that we establish there is a lawful basis for what the United Kingdom is doing. That is one of the lessons from Iraq, and that there's a viable thought-through plan with an objective that can be achieved or has a viable prospect of being achieved.That is the principle that I applied to the decisions that I made over the weekend. This government does not believe in regime change from the skies." The situation Starmer faces domestically is that voters for Reform UK and Conservatives support full use of the airbases. Voters who vote for Liberals, Greens and Labour do not support use of the British airbases. Local elections in which Labour is seen losing a large share of its 2024 vote to Greens and Liberals is one factor the premier had in mind, in addition to issues in the war in Iraq.  Another is the consideration that Britain has a large presence in the Gulf from the days of the Empire when they were British colonies.Already in 24 hours 100,000 Britons have registered for help in the Gulf region. Britishers run much of the tourism, airlines and other business in the Gulf region as the Gulf states are small in area, with small populations and a large population from South Asia for certified migrant labor, and British managers at the higher levels. When Iran attacked UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia with drones and ballistic missiles it was clear that Britain was also being attacked though the attack on the RAF base in Cyprus was cited. ...

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Reeves wants to remain UK Chancellor (Finance Minister) and is campaigning for the job. Yet there are questions whether she is the right person. Kiran Stacey of The Guardian asks does Andy Burnham need a clean break from the Starmer administration considering the missteps on disability benefits, cutting winter fuel payments, and other actions of Rachel Reeves. These missteps were not necessary and clearly eroded support for what Labour should be standing up for and doing. The idea that she has something that keeps the bond markets happy is a complete myth- in which case the Tories could do just as well or better. Labour was elected not to be like the Tories but to enact its own program. Clement Atlee was elected in 1945 even after the popularity in the war of Winston Churchill. He could not have done what he did without the clear confidence in himself that Starmer clearly lacks, with the added problem of Reeves instincts in the wrong place for a Labour government elected to enact its own program. If Labour cannot believe in its own programs fro the working class how are working class people in Britain supposed to believe in Labour? That is the problem of the Starmer-Reeves running of the British economy and addressing problems of cost of living, the shrinking of opportunity in Britain, mismanagement left by the Tories.  ...

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As shown in this Guardian report about clean tap drinking water in China in 2017 pollution of rivers and lakes was so severe that anywhere between half to 80 of water in rivers was not drinkable. This was just before the pandemic. Efforts since 2015 to tackle the problem are still in progress. This is happening as India works on getting 100% of 190 million homes covered for drinking tap water in India by 2024. Out of this 116 million homes or 60% have clean drinking tap water in 2023 under prime minister Modi's  Jal Jeevan Mission (Water for Life) led by IAS's Mr Parmeswaran. India and China started out in 1990 with about the same GDP. China attracted foreign investment to accelerate its economic growth to where its GDP is much higher today than India. Yet in 2023 India starting from behind has some advantages. In the case of clean drinking water, limiting contamination of the rivers with effective regulation of industries which was missing in China, and providing clean drinking water with newer technological means is one of these advantages. Indian investment comes with the technology of the 2020's compared to China's investment using technology from the 2000 period. This will create additional gains in GDP and quality of GDP in its challenge of matching and exceeding growth in China. ...

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Mike Pence in one of the first moves as he assumes his role as head of the transition team ordered removal of all lobbyists from the transition team, says this report in the WSJ, citing a transition team member who knows about the decisions.

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DJT appeared on Oz's health show in 2016 as a presidential candidate, and sees OZ as a fellow tv show host, a kindred spirit with a passion for what he is doing. As head of Medicare and Medicaid after afailed effort for a Senate seat from Pennsylvania, Oz is still someone whit a keen sense for the politics as well as what is good for the healthcare of Americans. He shares apassion for good health as a goal for America that was held up by JFK, and his nephew Robert Kennedy Jr who now leads the Make America Health Again movement. Oz fervently believes the time for healthy America is now after many wasted years under Clinton/Bush/Obama when national interests were neglected for places like Bosnia in a historical conflict of Turks and Serbia that goes back centuries (Clinton), in the deserts of Iraq (older Bush), in the mountains of Afghanistan that claimed Brezhnev as a victim the younger Bush followed, two wars prolonged by Obama and closed by DJT and Biden. Something as basic as health and pharmaceutical prices was allowed to get as bad as it is in 2026 with prices through the roof. DJT's plan is to get the pharmaceutical companies to commit to certain prices, to the lowest price they sell the same medicine in Europe. This is what Dr Oz wants to see not just for the next 3 years but put into established practice for the future years.  Oz says about presenting the DJT plan on healthcare to Congress and the Nation- “We didn’t demand that they do it. We said, ‘This is something that is very popular and highly achievable.’ ” Healthcare costs, gas and automobile costs, energy costs, housing costs are all part of the 4-5 costs that are the key elements in the cost of living crisis or affordability crisis that is uppermost on the minds of Americans. Already the Medicare payments to insurers are going to be flat for 2026 compared to 2025, as part of policy to get costs down, push pharmaceutical costs down. ...

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Chris Klomp, 45 years, takes over at 65,000 person $2.6 trillion government agency, Department of Health and Human Services, as Counselor, as Robert Kennedy Jr. heads for the campaign trail in addition to HHS duties March 12 2026. He impressed DJT with his negotiating ability against the drug companies in the government's efforts on Affordability of medicines. DJT calls him "my favorite Mormon." Susie Wiles was looking for a stabilizing force at HHS after vaccine controversies and wants the message to focus on improving health and cutting costs. Robert Kennedy Jr says about Klomp- "He is moving quickly to impose operational discipline, sharpen our strategic direction, and fortify a renewed sense of mission and accountability.” Klomp is pulling together all the agencies under HHS including FDA and others. Klomp takes his role seriously to cut costs and improve Health- .“In health care in particular, I do believe that I’m my brother’s keeper, and our job is to do the very best that we can for the people that we serve — the American people.” ...

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The European Union is about to ban social media platforms from accessing children under age 13. This is how Ursula Van Leyen puts it - it is not about children accessing social media, it is about social media platforms accessing our children, says Leyen. She will announce this in her address to the European Union in September. A new report by a psychologist Fegert and an epidemiologist Melchior comes to the conclusion that social media is harmful for children, not just under 13 years, restrictions should be placed on 13 to 18 year olds also to prevent infinite scrolling and other addictive features. Australia has announced a ban setting the age at 16 years. Britain is tightening its ban. France is planning to ban setting the age at 16. The following countries are about to do this- Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, India, Indonesia and Malaysia. When the EU announces a ban it will apply to all of Europe. In the US Florida passed a ban setting age at 14 years. Across Europe children spend 4 to 6 hours on social media a day and for 60% of children it is having harmful effects on emotional health and creating psychosocial problems for children. It also affects the education, the reading comprehension of children as less books are read, and a whole new generation of children is growing up in a way that was never before seen in the Modern period where books and reading were a key aspect of modern society for the last 200 years. ...

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US shifts to Naval Blockade strategy, says ceasefire on, no war powers authorization needed from Congress. Naval blockade started on April 13 on its 18th day on May 1. It means Iran's economy is affected by lack of oil revenues to finance the economic needs the longer the blockade goes on, with US goal to remove danger of nuclear materials inside Iran requiring ti to be shipped out to Russia or a third safe country. This is a goal that is supported by all nations that do not want to see nuclear weapons in a dangerously volatile region with 5 decades of wars by 2025.

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This report in the NYT says South Korea is putting itself at a disadvantage by investing in the US and with its commitments for buying LNG from the US. It like other articles in the NYT sells America short. The goodwill earned by Japan and South Korea by the approach to trade agreements that acknowledges the unfair treatment the US put up with from both partners for decades is something that will be remembered by the American people. Any agreement South Korea and Japan make with the US will be to the lasting benefit of the two Asian nations as it is built on shared goodwill of the American people and the people of Japan and Korea. Agreements with China are largely temporary adjustments in a larger situation of competition between the US and Europe with China and are transient arrangements.

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The bicentenary of Napoleon is remembered in 2021 in France and the French speaking world.  Napoleon helped defend the French revolutionary ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, in the period 1789 to 1799 including the efforts of the French Army in Italy and other countries freeing people from feudal powers. In the period that followed Napoleon ruled France 1799-1812 during which he introduced new ideas of the Civil Code and revolutionary France to countries in different parts of the world. It was in Britain and the Iberian Peninsula that his policies faltered and his regime was seen as tyrannical after the early years.  George Washington was a contemporary of Napoleon and brought both these ideals that the French Revolution cherished to the American colonies, and yet did not seek anything beyond this-as he said the "approbation of good and virtuous people is the limit of my ambition." The British education of that time he received may have made a difference. ...

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Jeanne Whalen on the Two Speed Economy in the US September 2025- diverging paths of low and high income Americans. With the new administration in 2025 priorities shift to immigration and what to do about 14 million illegal migrants from Latin America and other places, war on fentanyl and drug trafficking gangs with hundreds of thousands of lives lost to fentanyl and drugs in the US, crime and safety which includes the unprecedented illegal movement of drug trafficking in the Nation, and to a bold posture on using US advantages of its huge market to get European Union, Japan, South Korea, and China to level the playing field on trade bring jobs home.The Biden administration had already conceded to DJT's approach in its one term presidency by shifting on uncontrolled illegal migration but not fast enough, by not removing DJT's tariffs, and failing to take an aggressive posture on fentanyl and drug trafficking. Of the DJT plan US has tariff based revenues of 10--15% for all countries imports into US can that it redirect to groups to soften any effects of tariffs. DJT administration oil transition policy of stretching out the transition to give middle class and lower classes cost of living relief was also accepted by the Biden administration and is now the policy of Democrat run California state government.  The US economy was slowing in 2024 under the Biden administration. What has changed in 2025 is that the US stock markets are responding to steps taken by the DJT Republican administration to lower the cost of doing business by softening regulations, and giving US business the upper hand in different industries, and rebuilding the manufacturing sector with calls for EU and Japan/South Korea to invest more in the US as a quid pro quo for market access. This has led to increase in the value of market portfolios of the income earners above 250,000, or 10% of American households. As this happens the process of trade renegotiation has introduced some uncertainty in 2025 and businesses are looking for more clarity before increasing investment and slowing job hiring which hurts younger people entering the job market and lower income Americans. Were things better under Biden? Government Covid assistance and payouts in the early years 2020-2021 helped lower income workers, as this faded and the cost of living autos, housing increased sharply under Biden in 2022-2024 the situation deteriorated. The situation today is similar to the situation in 2024 with the difference in 2025 that inflation is coming down just as government help is receding. And added factor is the DJT administration plan to tackle head on the increasing cost of Medicaid to about $1 trillion by adding new requirements and reducing subsidies. The federal workforce had a disproportionate share of black workers and the policy changes to reduce the federal workforce have increased black unemployment from 6.1% under Biden in August 2024 to 7.5 % a year later. Hispanics have seen slight improvement in unemployment to 5.3% in 2025, and the middle class incomes also have held up and are holding steady. Meantime Bloomberg points out that one third of people in the top 10% are living paycheck by paycheck because of high cost of housing, university education for children, and inflation.     ...

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This report in the NYT contrasts the 2009 protests in Iran that centred on the capital Tehran and the university with the protests in 2017. The protests in 2009 known as the Green Movement were a political protest against what was seen as the fradulent election of Mr. Ahmadinejad. The protests were from the opposition candidates who thought they had won. This led to the suppression of the movement with harsh action by the government. In 2017 Tehran is quiet. The election of Rouhani as president in 2013 led to a gradual improvement and meeting some of the aspirations of the protesters in Tehran in 2009. This has led to indifference in Tehran to the protests across smaller provincial cities in the rest of the country.  People in Tehran are still concerned about corruption and political conditions. Yet they see the protests from economic conditions in the rest of the country as lacking a clear goal and there is a sense that this could lead to chaos in the country.  ...

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A building boom during the pandemic led to extra supply of new apartment complexes in Austin. This is now coming down as the supply is 72% down from the peak year in 2025. As a result there are fewer special offers of discounts on rentals in Austin. Austin, Nashville and Phoenix experienced a wave of new apartment building complexes added to supply during the pandemic years, with Austin getting the largest supply because of new job opportunities in technology fields. Homes were going at 15% discount compared to bidding wars in San Francisco and San Jose in northern California. 

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Susie Dent on Vocabulary in decline in UK ( and the US) as screen time takes time from learning new words. “There is a huge perception that screen time is having a negative impact on vocabulary, and I think that’s because it is taking away from reading time. The digital lives of our children are taking a greater and greater role and reading certainly is in decline." Dent cites a 2023 Oxford University Press report that 40% of children had fallen behind in vocabulary development. She says there is areal danger that vocabulary development is suffering for children and that this impacts learning for children.

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James Purnell Work and Pensions Secretary in 2008 Labour government selected for position of chief of staff to UK's Andy Burnham. He worked at a an advisory firm owned by Cinven. (Cinven stands for Coal Investment Nominees for Venture Capital with its funding base coming from British Coal, the Railway Industry and Barclays Bank). The advisory firm provided advice to companies like Apple, Amazon, Google and others. There is scrutiny within the Labou Party of his appointment and any connection to lobbying the government. Burnham served in the Labour government in 2008 and 2009- first as junior minister in the Departemnt of Health and in the Home Office in 2008, and in 2009 under Gordon Brown as chief secretary to the Treasury. Burnham and Purnell are friends.

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Victor Webanyama of the San Antonio Spurs in Game Three of NBA Finals 2026. Wemby gets 32 points in a win for the Spurs to end a 13 game losing streak. It is now Knicks 2 and Spurs 1 as the games head into the 4th of 7. New Yorkers gave a rousing reception to their team at Madison Square Garden, it just revved up the city.