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French appellate court says 15 month sentence adequate and  letting Marie Le Pen run for president in 2026. The judges said that- "disregarding this would undermine the principle of freedom of candidacy, an essential condition for the democratic exercise of universal suffrage.” This happens as French elections show France divided between the urban areas such as Paris and major city centers from the rural areas and small towns across the country who favor Le Pen's party. The socialist parties have split with Melenchon leading his own party. Macron has failed to win support and is highly unpopular as president. This has led to failure to have a prime minister in office with a clear program. It also has created much uncertainty in French politics, similar to what is happening in Britain and also in Spain with Starmer out, and Pedro facing problems in Spain.

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Migrants and Jihadist tendencies in Europe in the years 2016-2026 a period in which Europe put up with attacks on crowds across European cities. Laurent Raviot was the judge of the Paris Criminal Court for the Nice Attack by a Tunisian migrant on July 14 2016 ramming a truck into crowds in Nice killing 86 people, injuring 458 people gathered on the English Promenade on Bastille Day celebrations. On the 10th anniversary of that attack and after many such attacks across Europe Le Monde interviews Judge Raviot, who describes his own emotions while judging this case. A minute silence for the people killed to honor those who died that day was held before the Spain France soccer World Cup game today. Judge Raviot says he hasn't completely recovered from judging such a huge case, he says- "I want to go to the Promenade des Anglais, to see it in the sunshine, filled with joy, telling myself that it's over, that we've moved on and that life is regaining its colors, its light." This is something that the whole of France, the whole of Europe, needs to recover from, this mindless exercise in letting in so many migrants and others who radicalized from remote parts of the world. ...

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UK Reform Party has taken large donations from cryptocurrency companies. Reform leader Nigel Farage has received a 5 million pound gift from a cryptocurrency firm. What does this mean for cryptocurrency regulation in the UK as a world financial center, if Reform wins a general election and appoints the next Governor of the Bank of England when Andrew Bailey retires in 2028. This is discussed in The Guardian. The banking system of the US, UK and large countries was set up over many years and currency is only issued by a central bank with the financial backing of the nation. Cryptocurrency cannot on the basis of technology take that role without posing risks and destabilizing the financial system. The gradual splitting of society by the information economy, neglect of infrastructure, pharmaceutical pricing, banking speculation as in 2009 crisis, have been eroding some of the basic structures of democracy for the last two decades from within.  The wars in the Middle East policies, and the open borders migration policies, were effects from outside. What this has led to is counter to what one would expect. To fight open borders and the marginalization of some parts of the working class DJT Republicans have used whatever resources were available at the time in the 2024 presidential election. The cryptocurrency firms used this in opportunistic fashion to affect regulation of this currency by supporting the reelection bid of DJT in 2024 by making large donations. This has led to less regulation of cryptocurrency firms. Is this in the best interests of the Nation? Will this destabilize the banking system in ways that have happened before in the deregulation of banks before the 2009 financial crisis? In Britain a new Bank of England governor will be appointed after Andrew Bailey's term expires in 2028. Reform party in UK if elected as government would appoint the next Governor of the Bank of England. Reform's growing popularity is a result of Conservatives and Labour failing to take action on open borders, asylum hotels, and migration policy, following an ECHR code of rights that is inappropriate to such migration. What this means is that unexpected things happen as a result. Cyrptocurrency risks of destabilizing the banking system increase as a result of failure of parties on migration. This could be more destabilizing for Britain because of its role as a financial centre than the industrialized  economies such as Germany, China, and industrializing economies such as India. It poses risks in the US yet Federal Reserve Governor Walsh can exercise his own judgement about cryptocurrency and Congress can exercise oversight, the large banks can act to show the risks of destabilizing that cryptocurrency can pose. For Britain it is particularly dangerous as the US is also an industrialized power compared to Britain's focus on finance alone. Andrew Bailey can ignore lobbying by Reform Party in 2026 (Farage met with the Governor of the Bank of England), yet what happens if Reform appoints the next Governor in 2028? These are questions Britain needs to ponder. It is also why Andy Burnham is Britain's last chance to get things right on migration to the point that the British people feel good and proud of their heritage and history, British neighborhoods across the country feel safe and secure, and Britain shifts to reindustrialize its economy with partners in China and India, the European Union, and the US. A former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Charlie Bean told the BBC about donations of Christopher Harbonne, who has a 13% ownership interest in cryptocurrency firm,Tether. "Stablecoins are only stable if they have the appropriate regulatory environment… But there is right now an unsurprising regulatory race to the bottom amid the potential for greater profits." He added: "When funds are coming from major shareholders of such large financial institutions, there is a clear potential conflict of interest here, for example, in the appointment of a new Bank of England governor. Transparency is one solution." ...

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Exercises that help Parkinson's.

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WSJ Editorial Board on the closure of Hormuz and US efforts to strike Iranian coastal missile sites to open it after Iran's IRGC rejected the terms of the Memorandum to open Hormuz. What purpose did the Memorandum serve? DJT let JD Vance come up with a negotiated settlement -accepting efforts of Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar  to mediate a way out to open Hormuz- to make some concessions such as ending Iran sanctions, and opening oil markets to Iranian oil exports, ending the naval blockade, putting nuclear weapons development for negotiations during the 90 day period after the ceasefire.  The IRGC military inside Iran accepted it under pressure from the elected president Pezeshkian and Turkey, Pakistan. Yet its approach has been to accept one day and the following day issue statements contradicting this the next day. Some of the clauses were kept deliberately vague on the insistence of IRGC or worded in a way that IRGC could point to their interpretation and reject efforts for a ceasefire  and opening Hormuz. In the light of this experience 2 conclusions were reached by the US- the IRGC makes decisions for Iran not the elected president Pezeshkian and IRGC does not want to open Hormuz except by charging tolls as away to finance its missile operations. In this kind of a situation how does the US respond effectively without getting into a land conflict that distracts US from its domestic goals of building a strong economy, cost of living action, and rebuilding US infrastructure? This Editorial says Schumer's effort to block defense bills does not serve the national interest. Schumer's point to exercise caution to focus on domestic goals of rebuilding the US economy serves the Nation well, yet continuously blocking the president to gain in the midterms is not a good strategy. Lyrarc points out that the best way is for the US to continue the naval blockade if Iran won't allow Hormuz to be opened to all ships without tolls. And step two would be to find enough alternative sources of oil to make up for the 20 million barrels from Hormuz. Some of this could come from reducing use of oil and gas which China has done by importing less oil from 12.5 million barrels a day to 8.5 million barrels a day, effectively doing without the 4 million barrels a day it got from Hormuz. By doing this the US can avoid the effort to open Hormuz through alternative sources of oil supplies,  avoid being drawn into a prolonged conflict it does not need. Achieving its objectives on nuclear and Hormuz in a different way exercizing patience and using wisdom alongside strength. That course means the US would work with the European Union, UK, China, India, oil companies and other oil producing regions to forgo Hormuz oil as Lyrarc has proposed as the most effective answer to threats about Hormuz, and continuing the naval blockade.  ...

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Its never too late to exercise especially as one is aging. Older people can benefit even more than young people from a good exercise routine, cardiovascular exercise, yoga, and weight training. This is the conclusion of a study done at the Mayo Clinic. The decline in the cellular health of muscles for older people with aging can be corrected with exercise, particularly a good routine, according to the author of this study, Dr. Nair.

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Reduce risk of dementia later in life by taking up exercise seriously says this report in The Times. Habits of exercise are learned early and help later in life is proven. As people grow older the following forms of exercise and activities can reduce risk of dementia is proven in medical journals. Exercise such as walking, cycling, running. Strength training with weights and exercise balls.Yoga and Tai-Chi, standing on one leg for balance, and meditation. Household chores such as ironing, washing, and cleaning. Gardening and outdoor activities. Running barefoot on grass also help the mental process and brain.

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With the death toll over 10,000 on March 7, and a rise of 16% over the previous day, French public health authorites have set new rules for exercize with a daytime jogging ban. Jogging is allowed only when the streets are at the quietest in Paris and not allowed between 10.00 and 19.00 local time.

France's lockdown is strict unlike that in America. Anyone going outside has to carry a document giving the reason- shopping for necessities, visiting a doctor, or exercize within 1 kilometre or half a mile of their address. Police have fined hundreds of thousands of people for breaking these restrictions.

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Holding tension in any position that does not have dynamic movement is isometric exercise. The British Journal of Sports Medicine has a study with research that shows this isometric exercise done with squatting on the wall (or with a ball against the wall) for support for 2 minutes repeated 4 times with rest periods of two minutes each time for total 4 wall sits, taking 14 minutes, can reduce systolic blood pressure top number by 10 mmHg and diastolic pressure by 5 mmHg. Jamie O'Driscoll the lead author of the study says this is useful for people doing aerobic exercise, and yet could benefit from the use of isometric wall squats. A clinical exercise physiologist at University of Michigan says isometric exercise works because contracting a muscle and holding that position reduces blood flow to that muscle, when you release blood flow increases to muscle tissue. It creates signals that tell blood vessels to relax more and create less resistance to blood flow. To do this wall sit find a wall to lean against and take a couple of steps forward, feet hip width apart and slide your back down the wall and your knees getting to a 90 degree angle gradually. This uses quadriceps, glutes, calves, all leg muscles and abdominal muscles. ...

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Hiking and long walks as a way to break up the endless monotony of work and improve fitness, reducing stress and anxiety. A breath of fresh air and views of the countryside. the clarity of mind that comes with it. Putting everything aside and heading out on a long long walk. Pick a route that suits your ability and don't let anything hold you back. Hiking is great. There are many routes in every region of the world, explore and head out.

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The need for at least a moderate amount of exercise during the pandemic to counteract the many hours of sitting and sedentary life.

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Can an old Bavarian dance help to get one in shape while working at the desk or sitting watching sports on television. Watch this by clicking on Original Article to take you to DW.com article. A simple exercise routine that involves touching ones heel while standing, lifting one leg and touching the heel. The first the time doing this from the front then doing it from the leg lifted in the back. After touching the heel with leg lifted in the back one speeds this up. Then one adds to this a kneeling step. The three steps are repeated in that sequence and form an exercise routine based on an old Bavarian dance.

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Russia says it's tactical nuclear exercises are a response to Europe's increased military support to Ukraine.

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Cygnus is the rehearsal for a full blown pandemic that the British government conducted in 2016. After preparations accelerated following the SARS crisis in 2009 and the H1N1 pandemic in 2015, the British government accelerated its preparations for H2N2 the next pandemic. The exercize took place in October 2016 for 3 days, for a worst case scenario flu pandemic affecting 50% of the population and causing 400,000 extra deaths. For 3 days people were told to imagine being in the 7th week of the pandemic, facing peaks in demand for health and hospital care. Cobra meetings were to be held. This report in the Guardian gives details on the Cygnus exercize. It showed a lack of UK readiness.  By July 2016 prime minister Cameron was replaced by Theresa May in the Conservative Party and a full blown crisis emerged for Brexit. Britain lost interest in Cygnus or the pandemic prevention effort as Brexit consumed Britain's energies. Soon it was forgotten by the time Boris Johnson became prime minister and won the Brexit election. This shows how even a sincere effort and preparation over years of planning can result in nothing. This also happened in France. See France 24's coverage of this and our groups and links on this. One insight was that while every agency acted there was no coordinated response with someone in the central authority guiding the entire effort step by step. Care homes entirely privately run were also identified as a concern and anticipated significant pressures because of staff absenteeism at these social care centres in a pandemic, as reported in the Guardian ...

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Efforts by the Physiology Society and Centre for Ageing Better (CAB), Make Movement Your Mission, and other groups in Britain to launch a national public health campaign. This effort is designed to get older people to exercize and form the contact with others that helps physical and mental health during the coronavirus restrictions and lockdown. It is a campaign for public health resilience.

Medical experts warn that lack of activity even for a few days can build up into negative effects on muscle mass. Three "snack sized" breaks of exercize for 20 minutes each day are suggested as well as super bubbles of 4 people, and guidance on nutrition, mental well being.

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 A number of exercizes that strengthen the quad and the legs are shown here by tennis professionals who say this helps in playing tennis. These exercises which include a number of squats are a way to strengthen the legs and lower body including stability ball squat, medicine ball toss, and lateral band walk.

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To do this involves not just going to bed earlier. It involves shifting the circadian rhythm to earlier in the day.

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TSMC founder claims American cost of chip manufacturing is an "exercize in futility," because American costs are 50% higher than in Taiwan. This is laissez faire economic theory at work, governments overseas subsidize industries. Laissez faire economic theory that became popular with the Reagan administration means the US cannot compete by supporting its own industry in advanced technologies.  Government of Taiwan covers costs at its Taiwan manufacturing plants through subsidies some of them hidden in cost calculations. As the Oregonian reports here Intel and other US and European manufacturing companies are already competing with TSMC, and the Biden administration now plans to support American chip manufacturing- to make America a leader in chip manufacturing that it was when and obscure student from Taiwan received his engineering degrees from MIT followed by training for two decades at Texas Instruments and Reagan's misguided economic theories allowed American technologies and manufacturing to be shipped overseas. ...

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The navy of the U.S., Japan, India and Australia to join the annual Malabar exercize in the Indian Ocean. The British Navy played a critical part in the Mediterranean, the Cape around Africa, and the Indian Ocean, during the period 1750-1950, and the Indian Navy now inherits this role from the British period.