Victory of 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".    

Thank you to wake us up.

 

In this cold week of January, Europe coordinates forces and demonstrates that middle powers, when unified, can constrain a superpower. France, Britain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and other EU countries are ready to invoke article 5 of NATO  teatry, which was signed in Washington in 1949. 

According to NATO's Article 5, an armed attack against one member state is considered an attack against all. In this perspective, Trump's threats to Greenland did more to unite Europe than any speech or policy paper could have achieved. He threatened. Europe unified. He backed down. 

Who gives him the right to threaten an European state ❓ Greenland has been part of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1814 and it gained extensive self-rule in 2009. Denmark handles defence and foreign policy 🇬🇱 🇩🇰

I think Trump  feels humiliated by how this played out, as European countries demonstrated they will defend each other even against threats from Washington. 

Unity provides protection 🇨🇦 🇪🇺 🇬🇧

Thank you Mr. Trump to wake us up.

Globar war

I wanted to share this map that was published by the Italian newpaper "Corriere della sera" on the 18th January, 2026. People and journalists often speak about the so called risk of third world war. It is not the case, as there is already a global war.

The map shows all the current wars and tensions across the world.

On the 22nd of June, 2025, US cruise missiles hit Iran. US missiles also hit Somalia and Yemen.

Israel is still carrying on the ethnic cleansing of poor Palestinian people in Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel is at war with Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. 

On the 25th December, 2025, US missiles hit Nigeria's Jihad groups.

On the 3rd January, 2026, Venezuela President, Maduro, was kidnapped by the Americans. The US has seized a sixth Venezuela-linked oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. These are acts of war. 

The Ukraine-Russia war still continues and Kiev has already lost more than one fifth of its territory.

Trump has just threatened Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Canada.

Trump wants to occupy Greenland. He has just said that European countries that opposed to his plan to occupy/buy Greenland will face 10% tariffs customs from February. 

Some European countries will send warships, submarines, troops and military equipment to Greenland as soon as possible. 

Trump imposed high tariff rate on US trading partners, including China, Mexico and Canada, on cars, eavy trucks, aluminium, furniture, lumber, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and copper, among others. The highest average rate since 1943 ‼

We should learn from history. With regards to Greenland, Trump's behaviour reminds me Hitler's justfication for invading the Sudeteland in Czechoslovakia in 1939. He claimed that if Germany didn't take it, then others might, which was the main part of Hitler's justification. Trump sounds exactly the same, considering that he says there is immediate security threat to Greenland from Russia or China. 

The German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Fredrick Hegel wrote that while history offers lessons, people, nations and leaders often fail to apply them.  

New China-Iran corridor

 

On the 25th of May, 2025, the first freigh train from Xi'an, tha capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi, arrived at Aprin inland port, Iran. The new China-Iran railroad stretches approximately ten thousand four hundred kilometers, traversing kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. 

This integrated chain of connected railways allows the opportunity to transport oil and cargo containers on steel wheels across the Eurasian continent instead of unsafe maritime routes. In addition, the new railway also binds China and Iran closer togheter. In geopolitical terms, Iran will not be cut off from global markets. It is not a coincidence the fact that China purchases 77 percent of Iran crude oil export. 

Global geopolitical dynamics will be reshaped by this transcontinental railway, due to the fact that it gives Iran a mechanism to reduce dependence on volatile sea lanes in the Persian Gulf and its strait of Hormuz. In other words, the two Asian countries can cooperate to construct an alternative system, one less dependent on Western powers. Actually, for the Unites States and its satellites, this railway can tilt the balance of power, as it is perceived as more than just a trade route. It's a challenge to America's currency influence over global finance. China has begun shifting major trade deals with partners such as Iran, Russia and Central Asia countries, thereby avoiding the global dollar system. Actually, since 2012  China has been buying Iranian oil mostly in Yuan Renminbi.

China can forge partnership outside traditional Western systems, thank to this new transcontinental railway. It shifts the balance of power, as countries that once relied on United States controlled routes now face a parallel network China can influence directly. Countires like Iran, Central Asia states and even Russia now have options. 

The China-Iran railway demonstrates that infrastructure is more than engineering. It's a tool of geopolitics, economics and strategy, that challenges established systems.

New trade routes redefine global politics.

On the Greenland front, I'd like to write just a few words about Trump's ridiculous speeches on phantom Russian submarines sailing under Denmark's territorial waters or through the Artic sea. It is fair to say that it would be normal to spot warships and submarines of countries bordering the Artic sea, such as Russia, Norway or Canada.

Happy to see Europe taking Trump's stupid threats seriously, before it is too late. In addition, there are apparently already troops in Greenland from Canada, who are there for an annual exercise they do there 🇩🇰  🇬🇱 🇨🇦 🇪🇺

Greetings