“When one thinks of the cruelty, squalor, and the futility of war…there is always the temptation to say: ‘One side is as bad as the other. I am neutral.’ In practice, however, one cannot be neutral…Nearly always one side stands more or less for progress, the other side more or less for reaction.” (George Orwell) Ukraine: one war will likely lead to another.....this article is written as war is active in Europe.

‘My second day as chairman, a plane I lease, flying with engines I built, crashed into a building that I insure, and it was covered by a (news) network I own.’ (GE’s CEO and Chairman, Jeff Immelt commenting on the events of 9/11) Who or what is General Electric – and why should I care? It is almost impossible to explain the influence, power, and mystique of General Electric (GE) to those born after a certain year, who have not lived in the US or studied its great companies. Before Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Amazon there was GE. Its brand stood for all that was successful about 20th century industrial America. GE was America, and America was GE. The love affair was mutual.

Deng: a man of unresolved contradictions. Folksy grandfather, pragmatic change agent, communist ideologue, cunning international negotiator, beloved family man, autodidact, brutal militarist, godchild of Marx and Lenin, relentless promoter of economic development, persecuted leader and lover of science and technology.