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National Portrait Gallery exhibition on "America's Presidents," opens May 15 after a month long closure during which the writing about each president was changed to take out comments from the culture wars in the description of each President. The format includes extracts from farewell addresses, basic resume of life, education, accomplishments. For the recent presidents history's assessment is not known so that descriptions cannot be authoritative. For the presidents from an earlier period there is a sense of authority. For instance the presidency of James K. Polk- “The presidency of James K. Polk reflected his belief in Manifest Destiny,” begins one summary. Another is "Andrew Jackson campaigned for president as a self-made man." Previous descriptions were filled with controversial statements which have been corrected. “Andrew Jackson’s life was colored by struggle, conflict, and aggression.” The Washington Post says it now drops the omniscient judgment it is making which has caused controversy and quotes Jackson giving his own self-analysis: “’I was born for a storm, and a calm does not suit me,’ Andrew Jackson reportedly told a friend. This kind of omniscient judgement is seen at the National Portrait Gallery on Woodrow Wilson. It said- “Wilson is most often remembered as a champion of liberal values, but recent scrutiny has drawn attention to his regressive actions with regard to women’s voting rights and segregation in the government, as well as other violations of civil rights.” Is this fair to Woodrow Wilson who laid some of the basic foundations -for what was to come later with the efforts of Franklin Roosevelt -in setting up the fair conditions for working men and women in the industries of the day, the essentials of the modern economy? New wall text says Wilson supported the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. But it could have said more as these presidents from George Washington and Jefferson,Lincoln to Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, FDR, Truman, Kennedy/LBJ, laid the foundations of the modern society and economy we have today, and its democratic parliamentary process, industrial development, higher standard of living than the rest of the world. One such laggard is the entrance to the Smithsonian Exhibition in Washington DC where Benjamin Franklin's efforts and achievements do not receive the recognition and admiration of the Nation's future generations of young people, with statements of this kind including race relations. It is not stated that Ben Franklin was the President of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. And little is shown about the 6 difficult 6 week voyages across the Atlantic ocean to London and France that secured the support of France critical for Washington to win in the deciding battles of the War of Independence; and signing the peace settlement with Britain that set up this glorious experiment with democracy that is ours now for 250 years. The current zeal to see things only from today's lens puts everyone at risk from the founding fathers to the eminent writers of America. For instance the media tends to exalt contemporary writers and ignores the writers that set America apart for its uniqueness and being exceptional for much of its 250 years. Too much of this mistaken view only makes one miss the significance of 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and what it means to the people of the world on different continents Asia, Africa and Latin America. Whitman and Longfellow are forgotten and were it not for some brave schools and teachers in public schools left out of the curriculum. Whitman has this to say about Longfellow- "Longfellow brings what is always dearest as poetry to the general human heart and taste, and probably must be so in the nature of things. He is certainly the sort of bard and counteractant most needed for our materialistic, self-assertive, money-worshipping, Anglo-Saxon races, and especially for the present age in America- an age tyrannically regulated with reference to the manufacturer, the merchant, the financier, the politician and the day workman- for whom and among whom he comes as the poet of melody, courtesy, deference- poet of the mellow twilight of the past in Italy, Germany, Spain, and in Northern Europe- poet of all sympathetic gentleness- and universal poet of women and young people. I should have to think long if I were ask'd to name the man who has done more, and in more valuable directions, for America." ...

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Jennifer Hassan reminds readers of the significance of the date June 8, election day in Britain. On this day 104 years earlier Emily Wilding Davison lost her life running in front of the king's horse in the Epsom Derby, a desperate act to gain support for women's right to vote. In response women voted in large numbers leading to a turnout above 69%. 200 women were elected to parliament. Preet Kaur Gill, a Sikh woman became the first Sikh woman in parliament, representing the Labor Party in parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston.

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Stephanie Shirley pioneered working from home for women and for women in computers in Britain in the 1960's.

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Ian Jack asks if Johnson's Conservative party can deliver for Britain, can deliver for women, can deliver for climate change, can deliver for health, education and infrastructure, can deliver dignity for workers, deliver for families and children, by looking at the roots of one of its leaders. He looks at Jacob-Rees Mogg and how he sees himself in the bewildering mix of English social classes in St Pancras neighborhood of London where he comes from.

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Heather Stewart and Jessica Elgot ask if Johnson's Conservative party can deliver for Britain, can deliver for women, can deliver for climate change, can deliver for health, education and infrastructure, can deliver for workers dignity, can deliver for families and children, by looking at one of its leaders. He looks at the polished image of Rishi Sunak after his Stanford days. This Guardian report says Treasury insiders see this Tory leader with respect rather than warmth, with some saying that the smooth veneer or polished tech-bro image is hard to penetrate. In a separate piece Ian Jack looks at Jacob Rees-Mogg in The Guardian in January 2022. This comes as Johnson's leadership is challenged because of Christmas partying at a time when the Queen was alone in Westminster Abbey mourning for Prince Philip to follow Covid-19 protocol. What kind of leadership Britain needs for the future after the pandemic is the question put forward by these writers in The Guardian. ...

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British establishment Labour's Mandelson and Conservative's Prince Andrew -the Epstein connections in the Epstein files and the political fallout for Labour and the Conservatives. This happens as they approach local elections with the Greens, Liberals, and Reform UK already taking 50% of Labour's 2024 general election voters with disillusionment over results in the first 2 years of Labour. Labour assumed it had the immigration issue under control with some headline grabbing  stories of it taking tough action when it won in 2024. That has not deterred illegal migrant trafficking. Labour soon lost sight of the ball, and did not realize that the cultural issues around excessive tolerance of such migration itself had not been resolved such as ECHR rights which were completely misinformed when written to approve of such illegal migrants rights and ignore the citizens and women of the neighborhoods in which people had lived for generations. After decade and half of Conservative Cameron austerity Labour needed time to wrestle with the issues of levelling facing Britain's north and the Midlands. Instead Labour found itself on the backfoot and Farage was brought out of retirement after issues in towns like Epping and all across England, where migrants were put in hotels as women and locals loudly disapproved. Labour thought under Conservatives  that over 50,000 were in asylum hotels in 2023 and this has come down to 35,000 in 2025 under Labour, as a kind of improvement not realizing that the public mood questioned the whole idea of the migrants in hotels itself, of little tolerance for any illegal migrants in neighborhoods itself. It shows the political processes have great importance and a series of mediocre leaders from Blair, Brown, Cameron, Johnson, Sunak, Starmer and Farage over a period of 4 decades can change the trajectory for nations and region. A similar period for India in 1720-1760 with warring factions and regions inviting British East India Company troops to opposing sides fractured the country and led to losing its grip on itself. Gandhiji describes this for introspection in Hind Swaraj (1905) not taking the easy road most now discredited anticolonial writers after 1950 took in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Where does this leave Britain in 2026? It can only come to grips with it knowing that the quality of education, quality of leadership, honesty and introspection of the kind suggested by Teddy Roosevelt in Applied Idealism in his Autobiography, chapter 5, and in Gandhiji's Hind Swaraj are essential.  ...

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What did Queen Elizabeth think of Mohandas Gandhi. Did they meet? The Deccan Herald shows the encounters between Elizabeth and Gandhi. And Modi's tweets about the the small hand woven cloth given by Gandhi to Elizabeth shown to him by Elizabeth, as a moment he treasures. This was given in November 1947. On November 12, 1947 Gandhi went to the All India Radio studios for the first time for a broadcast so the gift must have been sent to Britain for the princess of Wales's wedding. Mountbatten as the first governor general of India suggested to Gandhi that hand women cloth was the perfect gift. On it was woven Jai Hind. Not much is known about what was said by Elizabeth about Gandhi, because the monarchy had to be so discreet, yet the warmth and enthusiasm for Gandhi is unmistakably present.

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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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With misinformation and harassment online  during election year 2024 Annalena Baerbock, foreign minister of Germany, says "democracy did'nt fall from the sky. We have to protect it" Elections take place in Mexico, European Union, India, Britain and France, in 2024 as online media spreads misinformation. Baerbock says the yardstick of women's rights is a crucial one. If women are in danger it is a bad omen for society." Peter Limbourg of DW says "Even in dark times optimism is a better way to handle it. Because pessimists normally do not contribute to solutions." Hendrik Wurst stressed "the critical role of promoting media literacy in the digital age," something that is done through the efforts of Lyrarc.com by bringing in the best articles from leading media publications in the world on all topics to create educated informed mindsets that shape better lives and societies, and by keeping it open to all to access.

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Lack of childcare has driven 250,000 women in Britain to quit their jobs. It is described as a "motherhood penalty."

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The Indian women's hockey team loses to Britain in the bronze medal match at the Olympics in Tokyo 4-3 after a valiant effort and showing great skill.

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The former UK Home Secretary for Tories under Sunak and Truss, Suella Braverman, joins the Reform UK party and appears at Reform UK event with Nigel Farage. She says the Conservatives saying they would have UK withdraw from ECHR (European Convention for Human Rights), which makes it difficult to conduct a rational commonsense policy on migrants because it was poorly designed or ECHR writers lost their way on common sense, is a lie. For example there is no ECHR type rules for migrants entering China or India or any major country in the world, one that says nations have to take in migrants from anywhere in the world, and provide benefits costing billions of dollars that cannot go into services for the local population. And where migrants can pose a risk for women hesitant to go out in their own neighborhoods- something chancellor Merz of Germany has spoken about recently after incidents in Germany. ECHR has somehow got it wrong.  Labour and Conservatives have pondered this but not acted quickly enough in becoming trapped in a cultural guilt for the colonial era, when ordinary Britons simply want to get on with their lives in their neighborhoods as they did before migrants, and as did their parents and grandparents in Britain. For most of British history colonial policy was decided by a small upper class and the India Office, colonies policy by the Colonial Office, and the lives of working people in Manchester's cotton mills went on with no connection with the Empire. A fact even India's Mohandas Gandhiji quickly recognized and grasped, and whose support Gandhi sought against the India Office of the Empire. ...

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Women are represented more in lower paid part time jobs and have borne more of child care responsibilities by two thirds than men according to ONS in Britain. Women spend more time than men on nondevelopmental care of children and average about 3 hours 18 minutes each day during the pandemic. The pandemic puts greater strain on working mothers and mothers who lost pay during the coronavirus layoffs.

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For the first time we hear of "period poverty" in advanced European countries. Scotland charities say there is "period poverty" in Britain as the pandemic hurts incomes across Scotland. Women and girls not having money to buy sanitary products needed during menstruation. The Scottish parliament passes a Period Products Bill to ensure all women have free sanitary products, the legislation costing about 10 million pounds.

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Girls made 63% of A Level entries in biology, and 54% in Chemistry. In Physics girls made 23%. This shows increased women's participation in the basic science subjects after years of effort in Britain.

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A NYT series on the forgotten men and women of the second world war includes stories on black women breaking the logjam of 17 million pieces of mail in Britain ready to be sent to allied soldiers in Europe. Read about Captain Adams from South Carolina who is the first black woman in the officer corps of the American Women's Auxiliary Corps, part of the American Army by 1944. By 1942 General Dwight Eisenhower had already found an equal role for black men in the war and American forces. He also included a role for black women in roles such as that facing Captain Adams whose unit made critical contributions to getting the mail to allied soldiers fighting in Europe. This included sorting mail in Birmingham, England, in difficult conditions, and in France as the Battle of the Bulge took place in France with heavy casualties, and after the war ended in 1945 in Rouen, France. Mail meant life and death correspondence between loved ones when there were no phones with connections we have today. In this sense it was a role that had great significance. These women worked 7 days a week, round the clock, in rotating shifts. It was an activity that meant as much to the army as anything else. ...

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Complicity of elites is a key question in the Epstein scandal. Even when some of this was known the seriousness of it was ignored by elites. About the Mandelson scandal that is rocking Britain in the beginning of February 2026 with questions for Keir Starmer, it can be said that elites just had too much awe and respect for the major centers in the world of finance or sought ot be part of that world when these centers of finance had themselves lost their sense of purpose in the Nation, as Labour's Mandelson did. In the larger sense of the influence of the financial industry on elites in the events leading to the 2009 financial crisis where the name Bear Stearns comes up repeatedly, of the pharmaceutical industry on elites in 2026, it could be said that the influence on policymaking elites is a pernicious one. As Teddy Roosevelt points out in Chapter 5 of his Autobiography titled Applied Idealism, some elites had too much respect and awe for big financial interests. TR wrote of these elites in his time- "Some of the men foremost in the struggle for Civil Service Reform have taken a position of honorable leadership in the battle for those other and more vital reforms. But many of them promptly abandoned the field of effort for decency when the battle took the form, not of a fight agains the petty grafting of small bosses and small politicians- a vitally necessary battle, be it remembered- but of a fight against the great entrenched powers of privilege, a fight to secure justice through the law for ordinary men and women, instead of leaving them to suffer cruel injustice either because the law failed to protect them  or because it was twisted from its legitimate purpose into a means for oppressing them." ...

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A vocal advocate for women in tennis, Andy Murray of Britain, plans to retire in 2019 after chronic hip pain. Murray was a strong supporter of women in the game and an ally for the WTA Tour where women feel underappreciated compared to men in tennis.

Naomi Osaka, the U.S. Open champion found a new hitting partner in Andy Murray in Bribane, Australia recently. Murrray was taught tennis by his mother Judy. He was the first to hire a women's coach Amelie Mauresmo to his team in 2014. Among those who admire Murray is Billie Jean King, who helped establish women's tennis in the seventies. A first round loss at the Australian Open to Bautista Agut has led to Murray considering retirement.

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It is a sign of hope in Europe that the period known as the "Troubles" is over. Emma Little-Pengelly of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland has dropped the boycott of the Assembly. She is assuming the post of second minister.  Little Pengelly says that we are shaped by the past but we are not defined by it. The party with most seats in the Assembly gained by looking out for people of both communities for housing and other basic needs is Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill. This is a new form of what PM Modi has called "Nari Shakti" or women's outlook and strength in Britain bringing peace and development to the island of Ireland. The Indian parliament was recently opened by a woman president Ms. Murmu and the Budget presented the next day by Ms. Sitharaman. Michelle O'Neill says we are not asking to move on, we are asking only to move forward. Such are the changes happening on opposite ends of the former British Empire as Modi moves forward with "sab ka vikas sab ke sath," development for all by all, and in Ireland with release of $4 billion by the Sunak UK government northern Ireland can move forward with meeting people's needs. Both Catholic and Protestant communities are asked to work with each other under the Good Friday Agreement and power is shared for helping people of both communities get better housing, education and other needs for themselves and their children. ...

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Health authorites in Italy, France, Britain India and the U.S, have hesitated in reopening schools. Germany and Denmark have reopened schools with no increase in infections with schools following specific policy including mandatory masks, air circulation rules, and careful preparation of schools to ensure social distancing rules are respected. Other countries reopening schools are Austria, Norway, Finland, Australia, New Zealand.

Schools in German states are reopen for about 1 month now, with a positive experience after careful preparation. Italy faces difficulty reopening its economy as people going back to work find it difficult, particularly women,with childcare provided by grandparents no longer an option, and lack of daycare. Opening of schools in Italy would help in reopening the economy, as well as provide relief to parents and children, when done carefully.

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Much coverage in India's media on the 150th of Gandhi. This essay provides insights into Gandhi for the self-empowerment of women in India's organized and unorganized labor sector. The author worked with the Textile Labor Association founded by Gandhi and Anasuyaben Sarabhai in Ahmedabad in 1920. She reminds Indians that it is about labour and capital working together for the betterment of India not capital against labor, or labor against capital, an idea she says is lost today. Ahmedabad became a textile center in the period between the 2 world wars, and Gandhi negotiated a 35 cent increase for mill workers after a 1917  labor strike. Anasuyaben started working with mill workers after seeing a women exhausted working a 36 hour shift. Earlier she was involved in the suffragette movement in Britain  and had seen the appalling conditions for mill workers in Britain. Her brother Ambalal Sarabhai was an industrialist and her uncle Vikram Sarabhai India's leading atomic energy scientist and pioneer in that field. She says most of the stuff written about Gandhi is laudatory without going to why it worked and knowing its value in bringing dignity to millions of the poorest people in the country. By taking personal responsibility even the poorest person could find dignity and empowerment was Gandhi's idea, and with it the whole country. This idea found its best expression in the Bhagavad Gita to which Gandhi turned as he faced the problems of coolies empowerment in South Africa and rural laborers in India under colonial rulers indifferent to their condition or progress. Gandhi's idea was that this empowerment and dignity was the way out through taking personal responsibility by each person- an idea expressed clearly in his short book "Hind Swaraj" India Home Rule, written in 1910 on a steamship going back from Britain  to South Africa. Taking personal responsibility if each person did it in a country of hundreds of millions would make it impossible for a couple of thousand Britishers to remain in the country. Ideas of non-violence were instruments of action, no more, no less. This was Gandhi's idea, his and the Gita's wisdom, and his shrewdness in a situation that confounded everyone faced by problems of a vast region with mostly rural labor and an indifferent foreign government. The same idea can be translated into action in today's environment in the same way based on personal responsibility for modernization, Swachh sanitation, cleaning up single use plastic, generating employment in manufacturing, and any number of ways in key areas of development. Gandhi saw the British as more a nation of traders. Without commerce the British would have less reason to remain in India. Personal responsibility leading to empowerment for tens of millions would make it impossible for the  few tens of thousands  of British to remain as it would require too much in resources to continue in India as a colonial power. This happened in 1942 as the military leader Wavell was made Viceroy during the war and wrote back to the British government that it would require 7 divisions to maintain order in the country. Economic adviser John Keynes cautioned the British government against prolonging colonial rule because Britain could no longer afford the cost after losing a quarter of its wealth in the Second World War. This is shown in the archives cited by several authors on this period. ...

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Jack Draper of Britain joins the ranks of inspiring British sports athletes such as Brayshaw of the British women's Olympic rowing team who had suffered injuries in an accident to come back for the gold medal. Draper after suffering hip pain flareup and much preparation, hard work, gets to the finals of the Indian Wells Open to bean Rune of Denmark. Draper had no sign of nerves throughout his game. He had struggled in pre-season with flareups of hip pain. “I felt like I deserve it, in all honesty. The amount of adversity I’ve been through, the amount of sacrifices and time all the people around me have put in and the hard work, it’s an emotional feeling to know how much you’ve gone through and put in. To be here now and say I’m going to be No 7 in the world, honestly I can’t tell you how much that means to me.” Draper acknowledged the efforts of his team in a picture shown here in The Times. About his own effort Draper says- “I wasn’t expecting this. I put in a lot of work over time. I am just so grateful and so happy to be out there and able to play with my body feeling healthy and my mind feeling great. Just all the work I have done in the last few years, it feels like it is coming together on the big stage." In 2022 a new player 19 year old Carlos Alacaraz of Spain burst into the top ten by winning the US Open over 23 year old Casper Ruud of Norway. In 2025  23 year old Jack Draper of Britain beat Alcaraz and 21 year old Rune of Denmark to win the finals 6-2, 6-2 of the Indian Wells US tennis championship. There is now a generational shift in tennis. And not just men's tennis. The women's tennis final was won by 17 year old Mira Andreeva of Russia after losing the first set to Sabalenka 6-1, she maintained composure after a toilet break to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. ...

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This WSJ podcast looks at the influx of 3 million refugees into Poland from war torn Ukraine. During the last two decades many people from Poland left the country to find jobs in the European Union and Britain. As a result there were more elderly in many parts of Poland and acute shortage of workers. In the long run Polish officials see the refugees as assimilating easily and welcomed by the people in Warsaw and other cities. The influx of new people is seen as a positive for Poland in the long run. Yet in the current situation there are concerns about the ability of Poland to cope with social services needed for the elderly and traumatized refugees.  About one million of the three million refugees now in Poland from Ukraine are children and there is a dire need for school teachers and other help. Many are women and elderly with young men remaining in Ukraine. Poland has asked the US and Canada for help with dealing with the huge influx of refugees in a period of 2 weeks. ...

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The point at which pensions begin and retirement begins is thought of normally as 65 years. This is changing. Experts on ageing at Britain's ONS, Office of National Statistics say 70 years is replacing 65 years as the age at which people can work and contribute to society, working later in their careers and doing voluntary work. This would help ease pressure on pension system financing and cost of social service to elders. Because of rising longevity and improvements in healthcare, diet and lifestyles people age 70 had characteristics of people age 65 in 1997, say ONS experts. ONS looks at a new way to measure ageing. Do not use chronological years from birth, work backwards from remaining life expectancy and operate on the basis of 15 years as the marker for old age. Under this method start of old age is 70 for men and 72 for women. As people over 65 years is approaching a fourth of the population this fresh thinking gives more room for pension system sustainability, and helping engage people at work for longer more productive lives. Both for the economy and personally for the individual. ...