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China's Producer prices declined by 3%, Consumer prices flatlined, and imports and exports are both down 6.2% in September 2023. Growth is expected not to exceed 5% in forecasts by IMF and others.

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 Harris's role for the Border was limited to telling Central American migrants to stay home. Much of the migration was a result of wars started in the Reagan years in Central American states of Nicaragua and San Salvador. This destabilized the region and led to gangs taking over parts of the country in San Salvador and entrenching Castro style regime in Nicaragua, leading to outward migration of young people. As this report points out Harris was supposed to take on decades of such misguided policies in Central America in a few months. A drought hit agricultural coffee regions of Guatemala increasing migration. Her role instead was to ensure several wins. Win No.1 to generate stability setting up the peaceful transfer of power in Guatemala, singling out corrupt regimes. Win No. 2 to generate jobs. US AID and IFDC loans were increased, foreign investment attracted to generate 250,000 jobs. Win No. 3 the increased stability led to gradually declining migration from Central America. What replaced it was Venezuela. And that is a repeat story of Reagan style wars in Central America. Under the Trump Administration the US did not take up the Monroe Doctrine and act directly to support a stable fairly elected government in Venezuela, an obvious solution. Instead going half way- destabilizing the government but then left it on its own. The result about a third of the population leaving the country in these years to Colombia and other parts of Latin America in a immense humanitarian tragedy.  In 2023 Venezuelans not Guatemalans entered at the US Border in large numbers, most of them middle class families that left Venezuela after hyperinflation and mismanagement of the economy. Realizing the danger by January 2024 Biden negotiated with Senate Minority Leader McConnell and his Republican representative Senator Lankford to pass legislation in the Senate closing the Border. All that was needed was the House to act and 30 years of Border problem would be solved.This was blocked in the House by new Speaker Mike Johnson on advice from former president Trump who chose to use the issue in the 2024 election. Biden then used his executive powers to close the Border leading to lower numbers of migrants under Biden by July 2024 than under Trump. Migration Border Czar was never a term used by Democrats in the Obama and Biden years. Biden who also served in a role given migration as one of the issues to handle under Obama, had this as only one of his assignments. Biden played more important roles in foreign policy with his experience as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for decades. Border policy was made by president Obama and his advisers. The same is true of Harris, Border policy being done by president Biden and his advisers. Similar to Biden's role as VP Harris was given assignment to cover foreign policy and was the US representative at 3 Munich Security Conferences in 2021-2024 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Chancellor Scholz of Germany said of Harris last week that he had full confidence in Harris as both competent and experienced. ...

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Merz popularity dips slightly as he brings up tough issues such as 4 days work weeks in Germany, Many working part time and CDU calling for restricting part time to workers giving care to elderly, childcare, and for education. The German welfare payments close to minimum wage was an issue in Germany but is declining in significance. Most significant today at 35% is the issue of social inequality. Taxes unfairly distributed at 13%, and the asylum seekers issue at 9% lower today by 2%. On the economy Merz pointed out that- "Prosperity cannot be maintained with a four-day work week and an exaggerated work-life balance." He also criticized the high number of sick leave days at 14.5 average days sick leave per employee per year. Polls in February 2026 show CDU at 26%, SPD at 15%, Greens at 12%, Left at 10%, AfD at 24%, FDP 3% BSW 3%. Popularity in Germany is highest for defense minister Pistorius and next comes foreign minister Wadephul. Merz is less popular but he is raising the tough issues and taking strong action compared to Merkel who was more interested in her personal popularity than what was good for Germany. Also not given credit for action is Merz removing constitutional brake on spending for investing in Germany's infrastructure and defense, and fixing problems left behind by Merkel who neglected infrastructure, digital economy, and defense. ...

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Kviv winter 2026 with heat infrastructure destroyed by Russian missile attacks.  In the dark days of winter, life in Kviv and Ukraine contrasts with that of life in the other nations of Northern Europe (UK, Nordics) that see a continuation of the war from the comfort of their own homes not having experienced any of the aspects of life in such a war. The US has sought to bring an immediate or early end of the conflict that serve no purpose for Russia or Ukraine or the US. The root cause of the war is enlargement of NATO and it was done under a series of Northern European leaders starting with Solana in Spain, and Robertson from UK under whom much of the enlargement of NATO happened, followed by Nordic heads of NATO. This was a grave mistake and the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama administrations in US failed to grasp this mistake. NATO was created under the threat to Eastern Europe and Greece Turkey during the Truman administration from the Soviet Union, after Soviet Union collapsed it served no purpose and another institution was needed built from scratch in which all of Europe could freely participate free of influence of any particular part of Europe, with respect for all parts of Europe. In that situation the Ukraine war would not have happened among people who speak the same language and share the culture. ...

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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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Crowley home to Gatwick airport- situation of migrants in UK in one English town, shown in The Guardian. Migrants has become a divisive issue in Britain with Labour shifting to new policy on migrants, many Conservative party leaders joining Reform UK party. The situation is similar across the continent in Italy, Germany and France, Netherlands and Nordic countries. It is also a divisive issue in the US in January 2026, and has been since the Operation Wetback under President Eisenhower in 1954 as the US Border at the time was not secure following large migrant flows similar to the last decade. The issues of citizenship are still what they were in 1904 when US president Teddy Roosevelt in his Annual Message to Congress said- "The citizenship of our country should not be debased. It is vital that we keep high the standard of living of our wage workers, and therefore we should not admit masses of men whose standards of living, customs and habits, are such that they tend to lower the level of the American wage worker, and above all we should not admit any man of an unworthy type, any man of whom we can say that he will himself be a bad citizen, or his children and grandchildren will detract from instead of adding to the sum of the good citizenship of the country."    ...

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Under VW CEO Martin Winterkorn sales were up by 77% to 10.2 million units, revenues by 92% to 202 billion euros, and net profit tripled to 10.8 billion euros from 2007 to 2014. Winterkorn's contract ends in 2016.

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The Carter Center finds that Democracy was thwarted in Venezuela when the Oppoostiion Candidate won by as much as 67% of the vote compared to 30% for Maduro and the Venezuelan regime. After over 300% inflation and 8 million refugees Venezuela's situation had deteriorated to the point that no government could win with such dire conditions for the economy.  Most essential goods and services difficult to find. This is the situation that the US faced as it asserted the Monroe Doctrine in the face of drug trafficking gangs in Mexico and Venezuela pushing drugs and migrants across the US borders. The drug and migration crisis in the US reached levels that led to the election of DJT in the US in 2025.

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WSJ's Michelle Hackman, Josn Dawsey, and Tarini Parti give this in depth report on the way Kristi Noem has run the US Department of Homeland Security, and sidelined Tom Homan who headed the Border effort, resulting in the mistakes made in Minnesota and other places in law enforcement that led to strong protests. Eventually Tom Homan was put in charge and has helped to restore some of the trust lost through the actions taken by Noem. This WSJ report is critical of how the former governor of North Dakota has run DHS and taken actions to help her image as she planned to run for national office in 2028. In the process she has damaged trust in the DHS methods for law enforcement, with criticism from Republicans in Congress.

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Parent accountability in Georgia high school shooting- when parents buy children rifles is this OK? Most parents responding to this article in the Washington Post say parents should be held responsible. In this case of a shooting at a Georgia high school by a 14 year old 2 teachers and 2 students were killed, and nine injured, there was something wrong about how this happened. Colin Gray 55, was convcted for second degree murder because he gave his son a Colt Gray a rifle for a Christmas gift in 2023 and ignored his son's deteriorating mental health, did not secure the rifle. Both parents were struggling with drug addiction. Should he gift a rifle to a 14 year old?  

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A sign of how VW has faded in the American market. In 1970 the VW van sold at $20,000. Sales were 570,000 in 1970. Today the 2025 EV Van (ID.Buzz) priced at $60,000 has'nt made much opf a dent in the market with 2025 sales at under 10,000. It can charge up from 10 to 80 percent in 30 minutes in a DC fast charger. Its two tone yellow and white colors were a key part of its attractiveness to buyers, which were not produced on the production line. 

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A significant portion of Apple services business including Safari payments app revenues is now at risk with changes in 2025. Google payments for search alone make up 19% of Apple's operating profit, says this report in WSJ.

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On India becoming the third largest economy in the world by 2030 prime minister Modi says- "When I became Chief Minister in 2001 the size of Gujarat's economy was around $26 billion. When I left Gujarat to become PM the size of Gujarat's economy had become $133 billion. When I became PM the size of India's economy was $2 trillion, and at the end of 2023-2024 the size of India's GDP will be more than $3.75 trillion. It is this track record of 23 years that shows a $5 trillion economy is a realistic target." Further "when I talk of Modi's guarantees, I bind myself to it. It propels me to work harder. It leads me to give everything to the people."

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The battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in the North have 83% white voters in a national election compared to 69% nationwide. It is with white voters that Mr. Biden is doing better and according to three sets of data, and this could make it possible for Mr. Biden to win these states again in 2024. In Georgia and Arizona nonwhite vote remains sturdy for Biden, while the states are moving leftward, and this could tilt these states towards Biden, says this report. Biden is losing some support among nonwhite voters but this is happening in states such as New York where Democrats would have a smaller margin in their win. These changes are observed by taking into account the 2020 national and midterms results and combining them with insights from NYT/Siena polls in recent months.

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Republicans are divided in Texas in 2023 which could turn it over to Democrats. One forgets that Texas is the state that a Democrat LBJ Lyndon Baines Johnson was from and his base of support, first vice president under John Kennedy and then elected president. LBJ signed legislation for amending Social Security to create Medicare and Medicaid. He also passed Civil Rights Act of 1964 banning segregation and in 1965 enfranchised black voters. The WSJ in this editorial sees the divisions between Republicans in the House and the Senate over the impeachment of Attorney General Paxton as signs that Texas has one party dominance for too long. It says this could turn the state to a Democrat majority in 2024 as it was under LBJ in 1960, who helped create programs revered by all Americans.

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Counting only people who voted in 2020 Biden is ahead 2 percentage points. 2024 Biden campaign is complicated by irregular and disengaged voters. Will disengaged mostly younger voters stay home or will they vote? What will happen with the churn- how many of the irregular voters from the last election will turn out and how many stay home. Many are Democrat leaning and as the election campaign progresses they may become more aware and vote but this is by no means certain. Many are younger voters or minority voters who are disengaged and do not follow what is happening. The economy not abortion or the border is important to these voters. President Biden has secured the vote of only 75% of these voters and has to find ways to reach them all. 

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For the last decade restrictions on sale or purchase of apartments in new buildings were being put in place by the Chinese government to make sure that buildings were for living not for speculation. With the current downturn in construction after collapse of Evergrande and other construction companies, and China depending on construction for one third of economic growth, this policy has changed. Previously couples who divorced just to buy a second apartment were not allowed to buy one for three years. People had to move to Chengdu and pay local taxes for three yeas before they could buy an apartment in the city. These restrictions are now lifted to promote new construction that had fallen quickly after some big bankruptcies and homeowner protests over incomplete buildings in 2022-2023.

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Following the record fundraising by U.S. president Obama in the 2012 presidential election, outspending Romney at a critical point in the campaigning in Ohio, Republicans and right wing groups are making their own effort to raise fundraising levels. The spending goals set by David and Charles Koch at the winter retreat in Palm Springs is $889 million to be raised from Koch and 300 other donors. Hillary Clinton's Super PAC plans to raise $300 million. The Republican total spending in the 2012 presidential election was $657 million. Koch's 2012 organized donor effort spent $400 million for the 2012 elections.

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The Zeitenwende speech by chancellor Scholz in the German parliament came 3 days after Putin launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine. Zeitenwende means turning point in history- and Scholz's speech changed the mood in Germany to take on responsibilities for defense of Europe with a $100 billion fund. Chancellor Merz has expanded this and Germany's defense budget is expanding to $160 billion a year. Germany under Merz will invest 5% of its GDP on defense in future years making the Bundeswehr the largest army in Europe.

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This is what our energy wars, our climate change wars are about in summary. Europe has moved faster than the US, India and China in cutting fossil fuels use over 20 years 2005 to 2025. Europe going from 1525 trillion watt hours to 792- cutting use by half. The US from 2900 to  2553 trillion watt hours just 12%. And China...China tripled its use. This has come at a price as the costs of renewables push up electricity prices beyond what homes and industry can support. UK electricity prices 80% higher than US and half of UK energy users plan to ration its use 2025. Half of electricity costs in UK come from cost and delivery, other half of costs from subsidies of renewables and other. In Germany high electricity costs are hobbling industry and reducing economic growth. Lower electricity prices make the US more attractive than Germany as a place to invest. Another way to look at it- US and Europe cut fossil fuel use by about 1100 trillion watt hours and China increased its use by 4200 trillion watt hours or 4 times what the US and Europe cut in 2024 over 2005. Adding India, Brazil this would be 5-6 times what the US and Europe saved in 2024 over 2005. The "And "strategy of combining reduction in fossil with building renewable capacity is working out compared to dumping fossil in one shove and going all out renewable. There is also the question of equity. China and India argue equity means we should be allowed to use some fossil with renewable for 2.5 billion people's needs. The other side of equity is the US saying the same as "no fossil period" strategy puts the needs of the large part of the population for lower costs of energy  pushed aside as wealthy classes say it is OK. Even when the savings through cuts and sacrifices in US and EU are cut down, cut down by 5-6 fold increase in China, India, Brazil alone. In this kind of climate change war it makes sense not to go with labels such as climate change denial DJT vs China climate change affirming, when China is diluting US-EU climate change entire twenty year savings of 2005-2024 by a factor of 4, 1100 trillion watt hours wiped out by China's 4200 trillion watt hours added. And India, Brazil taking this to a factor of 6. This is why a lot of the discussion with self-righteous indignation becomes less purposeful. What is clear is that every action to cut cost of living in US and EU for large parts of the people is an effort in the right direction as it frees up resources for the fight against climate change, the sense that we are all in the same boat and in the same struggle. The fight against cost of living is part of the long run struggle against climate change. ...

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This report on the tax bill in Congress cites the views of senators who could decide the fate of the bill. Senator Collins sees removing the individual mandate  from Obamacare in the tax bill as a problem as it would increase premiums and negate benefit to the middle class. Senators Flake and Corker told ABC News they see the deficit impact as a negative factor that could lead to them voting against it.

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Kristof of the NYT writes about DJT Action in Venezuela January 3, 2026.  Some of the least understood aspects of the US president's language on Venezuela- The president's reference to oil resources is not for the US to benefit from the oil reserves. It is about oil in the sense that the oil industry in Venezuela is in total disrepair and broken from years and decades of nationalization followed by lack of investment, lack of western technology.  Sanctions put a huge price on the Venezuelan economy with the brunt of it borne by ordinary people- the same people that a socialist like Hugo Chavez thought he could help with his erratic ideology. As China, and now India has learned the only way to get ahead in this world for nations is to invest, invest, invest with larger and larger pools of capital, technologies and labour. By alienating the US or EU there is a loss of technologies and of investment so that one is going to bat with only one strike and you are out, so that from Day 1, China under Mao, India under Nehru had lost the race, so did all the "socialist" regimes in the world. Conversely China under Deng and successors, and India under Modi are breaking development records. How does the US change this? First it removes the sanctions on the Venezuelan economy. Second it gives Chevron the green light for increased production. Oil facilities of the Venezuelan oil company will get foreign investment and US investment from American oil companies with returns for both and the state oil revenues invested under a government that is able to invest it free of corruption or it being funneled out of the country to support other regimes in Latin America. This will rebuild the country's health system, its broken infrastructure, restore its finances, and make it in a decade one of the advanced economies in Latin America. But only if- the gangs and other private militias, the other military elements from the two decades of utter mismanagement and drug trafficking are  removed. A new way will have to be devised that the US as to work out ad hoc meaning in the process of doing, invented that meets the conditions of getting this done and the process of reconstruction of Venezuela under the Monroe doctrine of keeping the entire western hemisphere free of such elements. The US achieved this with the help of Great Britain in 1823 when it was only 50 years since it's founding in 1776. The US has the resources in 2026 to make this happen in the interests of the people of the western hemisphere, in the quality of life of people in the western hemisphere. It does not seek any country's resources, it seeks the development of the countries in the western hemisphere in the great tradition of Jefferson, Monroe, Lincoln, FDR and JFK. ...