Christmas markets in EU

Almost a decade ago, UAE Foreign Minister, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, warned EU governments of what would happen if they continued down their path of suicidal altruism by inviting dangerous fanatics into their countries. They should have listened, as there  have been at least seven attacks on Christmas markets in recent years, four in Germany and three in France.

(in 2014, when Christmas markets weren't hit yet, I took the above photo from München's rooftops)

Now, after the Magdeburg's Christmas market attack, many European policy-makers try to deny the connection between mass migration and acts of terrorism. But there are evidence that before the migration crisis such attacks did not happen in Europe. 

The start of winter in the Northern emisphere.

This year astronomical winter will begin tomorrow, on the 21st of December. In the Northern emisphere this will be the shortest day and the longest night of the year.

Many trees haven't lost their brown leaves yet.

But some trees have already lost their leaves completely.

Olive trees don't lose their leaves in winter. The following photo shows a 150 year old olive tree.   

The average lifespan of an olive tree is around 500 years.

Have a great winter ⛄ 

Freeway, highway or motorway

Last summer, since early June to late September, I had been hosting some Anglo-Saxon people, who mainly came from Florida (US), Northern Ireland, England, Canada and Australia. They were coming here in my town for one or two days, as they would boarding the cruise ships at the Civitavecchia's port cruise terminal.

Civitavecchia is ranking as the 2nd busiest cruise port in the Mediterranean Sea, as most tourists who embark on a cruise in the Mediterranean come here to reach the docks for cruise ships.

Speaking with foreign tourists gave me the opportunity to learn that some words are different in American English, British English and Australian English. I have heard that some British English words come from French roots, while American English has occasionally replaced more traditional English words with their Spanish counterparts. For example one of my guests, Deanna Linney from Melburne, explained that the three words "freeway" (American English), "highway" (Australian English) and "motorway" (British English) have the same meaning in the three different Anglo-Saxon countries.

I speak once again about olive trees, which I've already mentioned in my previous post. The following photo shows the soft path through those  typical trees of the Medirreanean area where I sometimes go running/walking.  The olive trees in the photo are more than 150 years old.

Last week I enjoyed a beautiful rainbow while I was walking through the park.

The rainbow also stretched over the children playground. 

Rainy weather may sometimes shows such a beautiful optical phenomenon.

Olive trees need cold weather

 

During last week  I have noticed that the temperature was as cold as it should be. This is very good for olive trees, which need at least three months per year of cold weather to improve flower and fruit production.  

Olive trees can tolerate a wide range of temperatures. They will survive with no ill effects in temperatures as low as -15° Celsius.

As it is known, there is a great talk about climate change, and farmers involved in olive and olive oil export are afraid that a less cold winter may affect the production.  

Italy is capable of supplying a significant part of olive oil global demand, as olive trees are grown across the whole Italian peninsula.

The main destinations of Italy export on olive oil are South Korea, United States and Germany. With 36% of world export, Spain is the main exporter of olive oil worldwide.                                                                                                                                                                                         

Meanwhile, Autumn still continues to show its marvelous colours.

                      

I took the above pictures in Central Italy, 40 km North of Rome.

COP 29

On November 24 the UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, concluded with a not binding agreement to protect lives and livelihoods from the worsening impact of climate change. Unfortunately, the latter term is not interchangeable with term "global warming", although there are evidence that since 1800s human activities have been the main driver of the heating of earth's surface.  

Climatic variations can be regarded as the main cause of desertification. This factor is increasingly turning our world's drylands into deserts. 

Africa is the driest of the world continents with 45% of its landmass falling into dry mass. 

The two photos have been just took by my daughter, Laura, who is visiting the Eastern part of Morocco right now.

Continuation of inequality

I would like to thank those blogger friends who have shared their thought about political and economic interest that are fueling wars in East Europe and Middle East. Despite it is easy to understand that many people don't like to talk about this hot topic, I think it's time to write down a few thoughts about predators interested in starting and maintaining wars.

The main problem, in my opinion, is that the high level of weapons & missiles spending is strictly related to the fact that the military industrial complex is privatized in a widely known part of the world. In this perspective, it's no coincidence that private arms manufacturers sell most of their products to governments, whose policy-makers behave as puppets. 

                                         

But that's not all, as coincidentally the main investors of arms manufacturers are the top ten world investment management companies. The question is who will be the next? Moldova, Georgia, Taiwan or Iran? War spending is the main mechanism for increasing the concentration of capital among the 0.05 percent richer people. This means the continuation of inequality.

Just sentenced to death

I would like to share a news I've just heard from an East Asia's daily newpaper: former Bank of China's chairman, Liu Liange , was just sentenced to death.  He was found to have issued illegal loans and accepted bribes worth around $ 16.7 million. 

In same Western countries he would have been given a top ranking government position.

(Photo courtesy of Stefano Gazzano)