Shared interests rather than vassalage

Huge congrats to the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, who blocked the US military from using critical strategic assets.  

For the first time in modern history a British prime minister denied the US permission to launch offensive strikes from Royal Air Force Fairford in Gloucestershire and sovereign base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. 

Starmer mentioned the catastrophic mistake in Iraq and the 2003 US misadventure drive by faulty intelligence regarding weapons of mass destruction.  He underlined that the UK would not participate in regime change in Iran from the sky without a clear lawful mandate.  

I took the above photo in 2019 when I visited the British Parliament.  

In the meanwhile, I think it is not a coincidence the fact that many goods imported from the US have been stalled on supermarket shelves since March 1st. People don't buy them anymore. And once again we can see how Trump destroys the economy of his country. 

Greetings from Italy. 

Non-immediate effects of Trump's war

 

While Trump was campaigning for Presidential election in 2024, he said he would not be starting any new wars in the Middle East. On the contrary, there have been massive strikes on Iranian targets for the second time in less than a year. Not to mention of deployment of tens of thousands of US forces in the whole Middle East.

Certainly now, with the loss of some US members of the military, new polling indicates that the majority of US people disapprove of going to war against Iran.

Meanwhile, there are already reverberating economic losses related to Trump's war, as many cruise ship reservations and a lot of booked tourist accomodation have been already cancelled by American tourists. 

That's how Mr. Trump destroys ecomonomic growth in South Europe 🤨

Huge congrats to Spanish policy-makers, who refused to let the US military use their bases for missions linked to strikes on Iran. 

Uranium enrichment is just a pretext to exert pressure

This is the second time in less than nine months that diplomacy was betrayed by both US and Israel.  Iranian and American diplomats were supposed to meet on Monday, March 2nd, to talk about any possible deal on nuclear issue. And Americans knew that these negotiations went quite well. This is a betrayal of the whole UN system.

The above photo shows the T-shirt I'm wearing today. On the T-shirt it says:  "Smiling even when in trouble".

I think the whole world, from China to the EU and from Russia to India must balance Washington's arrogance. Whatever it takes. 

Victory for the US Constitution

On Friday, February 20, 2026, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Washington's yellow haired man violated federal reserve law when he imposed biggest and boldest tariffs customs across the world.

In tariff case, Supreme Court justices didn't say what's going to happen to $ 133 billion already collected in import taxes now declared unlawful. 

From an economic perspective, US' small businesses are facing severe financial strain and closures due to tariffs. Now the Supreme Court decision delivers a major relief to US' importers of wine, spirits, cheese, oilve oil and other agri-food products from the EU.

According to constitutional law experts, US Supreme Court has for the first time confronted Trump's broader challenge to the rule of law.

That's victory for the American constitution.

Himalayan monkey

Last year in late August my daughter took the picture below while she was visiting Nepal. 

There is a great talk in Nepal on crop-raiding monkeys. I would have never thought that farmers in Nepal don't like those monkeys. 

These creatures are found in the South Asian country in a wide variety of habitats, including urban areas. 

Naples' Angevin Castle

Just a quick post to say that I will stay in Naples this weekend. Naples is located in South Italy, 200 kilometers South from Rome.  

 

The 13th century fortress in the above photo is a significant medieval landmark located close to Naples' port. Naples' Angevin castle was not destroyed in WWII, though the city suffered extensive damage. It is now housing the Civic Museum of Naples.  

The special Italian variety of small tomatoes, in the above photo, is famous for their ability to be stored through the winter by hanging them in bunches. Those tomatoes are typical of Naples' Vesuvius volcano and its surroundings.

I know this is quite an "instagram-style" post 😃

Greetings 

Swans in winter

 

Just to show those flocks of beautiful swans, ducks and other birds that were spot in Stockolm early this month. 

Those marvelous creatures were enjoying water in the coldest part of winter in the Northern side of Europe. 

 

  

                                           

Photo courtesy of Stefano Gazzano. He is a friend of mine who went to Stockolm for job.

 ❄  🦢  🇸🇪

With regards to another Northern country of the world touching the Arctic Circle, I appreciate the Canadian president, Mark Carney, for sharing his thoughts at Davos, Switzerland, last week. He said publicy that "In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice: compete with each other for favour, or to combine to create third path".