1 in every 246 vaccinated people

An article published early this month by https://expose-news.com/ revealed that 1 in every 246 vaccinated people in the UK died within 60 days of Covid-19 vaccination. According to the UK's Office for National Statistics, 9 in every 10 Covid-10 deaths were among the vaccinated population. The article also shows that in April and May 2022 90% of Covid-19 deaths were among the triple vaccinated people. 

Data above mentioned, with regards to deaths in England by vaccination status, were published in early July while Boris Johnson was resigning as Prime Minister of the UK.

https://expose-news.com/2022/08/09/1-in-246-people-die-shortly-after-covid-vaccination/

This shows us that the "bought and well paid" mainstream media had been helping Western politicians to justify pharma multinationals' earnings and restictions in the name of Covid-19. It gives us once again a beautiful example of how we have been lied since the very beginning of the alleged Covid-19 pandemic.

New arms race in Europe

I've noticed that world's policy-makers are not worried about the new arms race that has been triggered in East Europe. On the contrary, since Russia-Ukraine war began about three months ago the US has sent more the $ 3 billion in military equipments to Ukraine. Not to mention of other countries, such as China and the UK that are also involved in shipping weapons respectively to Russia and Ukraine. 

In addition, other European countries located close to Russian and Ukrainian border, such as Poland, Estonia, and Romania, have also been buying weapons and missiles. With its 37% of global arms export, the U.S. is world's largest weapons exporter. There are no doubts that military-industry complex and contractors are winning this war.

The picture above, which shows the Azovstal steelworks in the devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol, was published on 6th May, 2020 by the BBC website: 

https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-61348541 

I have got that powerful picture via email from Willie, our blogging friend from Blandford.

2021 military exercises close to the Russian border

If we were to get a wider perspective of the Russian's invasion of the East Ukraine's territories, we would need same information about the military drills held in 2021 on the Ukrainian territory by US and UK. 

In June 2021 US, UK, and Australia (which is not a NATO member), held naval exercises in the Black Sea and Southern Ukraine. One month later, The US, Poland, and Lithuania held another military exercise involving more than 1200 troops in West Ukraine. In addition, from 20th September to 1st October 2021 large scale war games with US, UK, and same NATO and Ukrainians troops took place close to the Belarus border. 

As it is known, Since early 1990s Ukraine has been a buffer state between Westerners and Russia. On the other hand, according to a core principle of international law, there is the right of people to decide their own destiny in the international order (principle of self-determination). That's why it's not easy to say who is right. Obviously, that has nothing to do with shellings of residential neighborhoods, railway stations and hospitals, as we have already seen in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, etc.   

Since Ukraine war began in late February, Russians have been knoking on Finland's door. In this viewpoint, the geopolitical neutral Scandinavian country was recently hit by two cyberattacks and an airspace violation by a Russian plane. If Finland's people or policy-makers of Finland try to join NATO, it would be a strategic mistake. Finland has been successfully developing economic ties with both Russia and EU. I think it would be a terrible mess for the Finnish people. 

Covid-19 cases are still rising

Starting on Monday 15th, in the most populated Italian regions will be required to stay home except for work, health and other essential reasons.

The whole country, which has recordered more than 100,000 coronavirus deaths, will be locked down on Easter weekend for the second year in a row. I am sorry to see that Italy has the second highest coronavirus death toll in Europe after the UK.

Meanwhile, some trees begin to show small leaves on their branches.

UN Climate Change Conference, UK 2021

In 2015, during the Conference on climate change, many countries signed up to limit global warming. These countries will get togheter again in November, at the Scottish Event Campus, in Glasgow, with the aim of discuss the escalating issue of climate change.

On the one hand, people around the world are aware of what is happening in terms of global warming. On the other hand, for the biggest World's CO2 exporters, such as Qatar, Norway, and Iran, oil and gas has been a very important  source of income. That's why it is politically difficult to turn down some activities, which can create terrible impact that can not be reversed. But the time has come to turn down those activities.

Every country can make something, and we need to act now, as climate change  affects us all. This is a global challenge.

https://www.sec.co.uk/cop26

New barriers between the UK and EU since 2021

The new year begins with "late evening" curfew in many EU countries, such as Italy, France and Germany. The new lockdown measures have come to replace the ideal of the smart city with that of the spectral city, while the US is surpassing 20 million COVID-19 cases, which is almost one fourth of global infections. It's easy to understand the main reason why 25% of global infected people (and 25% of global Covid-19 deaths) are in the US. While many Westerners continue to blame China, these figures show us where the epidemic really began to spread in early 2019.

Meanwhile, the UK leaves the EU Single Market and Customs Union. Actually, even with the new agreement between the UK and EU, since January 2021 businesses will face new barriers to trade in goods and services, and to cross-border mobility and exchanges. The UK, that relies on the EU for roughly half of its total trade in goods, will no longer benefit from the principle of free movement of goods and services. In addition, all the imports in the EU must meet all EU standards and will be subject to regulatory checks and control for safety, health and other public policy purposes.

The EU is the UK's biggest trading partner, as around 65 % of British agricultural exports go to the EU Member States, and 70 % of UK imports originate from the EU countries. In addition, last year Italian cheese exports grew just as fear of no-deal Brexit, as with about 7,000 tons, the UK is one of the leading markets.

We will see what UK's businesses and policy makers will be able to do, considering that a non-member of the EU does not enjoy the same benefits as what EU membership offers. 

Expiry of post-Brexit transition

Do I need a passport to get the UK? Unfortunately, yes! From January 1st,  2021, free movement of people between the UK and EU will end. And from 2022 British people must pay for an electronic authorisation to travel to the EU countries.

Actually, it seems the UK and EU might find themself in a "no-deal" situation on January 1st. As a consequence,  from January 1st  Brexit will change many things. For instance, to visit Britain we have to make sure we have at least six months left on our passport. In addition,  importers and exporters have to label many goods, such as meat, fish, and plants in specific way. Food products shipped from the UK have to comply with EU standards. 

The good news is that lorries can continue to drive across the border between the Republic of Ireland (which remains in the EU Single Market) and Northern Ireland (which leaves the EU, as part of the UK).

The five pictures below taken in 2018 show some places in London. I have been to the UK three times without a passport, as there wasn't any restriction of free movement of people in Europe.

                    

The last time I went to London I saw the roads covered with show ❄☃️

How Covid-19 has been spreading in Italy

The first cases, in the most affected country by the coronavirus outside China, were two visitors from the Chinese town of Wuhan, the epicenter of the infection. 

The next day Italy became the first country to block all flights to and from China. But the virus was already spreading: a man known as "patient one", with severe flu-like symptoms, was only diagnosed  on the second visit hospital after 36 hours. He had had a dinner party and had gone running a marathon. Northern Italy was sealed off quickly.

Within a few day, exactly on March 11, the lockdown was extended to the entire country. Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, ordered all but most essential businesses to close until at least April the 3rd. The entire country, home to over than 60 million people, was, and still is, on lockdown. Italy became first democratic country since the second world war to impose a nationwide lockdown.

Meanwhile, other countries, such as Spain, Germany, and the UK, that would have learnt the lesson from Italian experience, allowed the virus to spread silently until the last week of March 2020.

On the one hand, we saw that some Italian hospitals and care centres for elderly people became the epicenters of transmission. On the other hand, Italy couldn't endorse the same approach as we saw in Japan and Singapore, because there weren't enough coronavirus detection testing kits to meet demand. Consequently, the high rate of asymptomatic cases complicated efforts to stop the spread of the infection, because many hospitals didn't test people who hadn't a fever and flu-like symptoms.

Now, in late March, it is not too late to act in the rest of Europe. Many lives can be saves, as Italy has become the symbol of the challenge facing the Europe's public health system.

Since 2020 circumstances have changed

With regards to Scotland  independence referendum, a British Conservative polician, Michael Gove, recently said Scotland is disrespecting the 2014 referendum results, considering that Scottish people already held a referendum. Actually, as Mr. Gove mentioned, the 2014 independence referendum would be "once in a generation event", and Scotland agreed on this point. But since 2020 circumstances have changed because Scotland will be out of both the Single Market and the Custom union. In other words, Scottish people will be out of the EU against their will.

It is easy to see the 2016 Brexit referendum's results changed everything, and only 37% of the electorate voted leave or remain in the Single Market. In addition, not one person born in the XXI century voted in favour of leaving the EU.

Consequently, as it is known, the UK Constitutional principles, the international law, and the Self-determination principle gives the right to the Scottish people to hold another independence referendum, considering that since 2020 circumstances have changed.

That's the reason why if Mr. Michael Gove and his political followers continued to talk about the disrespect of the results of the 2014 Scottish referendum, people might get a wrong idea. 

Protecting business with Iran

Since the US began to increase pressure on Iran, we have heard that the Rouhani regime has been passing  3.67% uranium stockpile limit permitted by 2015 nuclear deal. It is a very low level, which proves that Iran is not working on a nuclear weapon.

In this context, while the US is still imposing severe sanctions against Teheran, the Europeans should allow their companies to make business with Iran. Companies that want to import oil from Iran they have to be protected from the US.

According to international law, America can't interfere in the internal Europeans affairs, telling them who they can trade with, and who they cannot trade with. In addition, some calculations show that European economy is larger than US economy, and the European population is larger than US population. Consequently,  the EU has leverage on the Americans.

Meanwhile, after British Royal Marines had seized an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar, Iranian boats tried to impede a British oil tanker near the perilous strait of Hormuz.

Although the tension in the region is rising by the day, the US, UK and Iran say they don't want to escalate conflict.

Sea-Watch 3

On July 3rd an Italian Judicial Court rejected the validation of Carola Rackete’s arrest, declaring she acted out of an obligation to save migrants. The judge disputed the crime resistance to public officials was justified “in a performance of a duty to save lives at sea”.

Consequently, since July 3rd vessels’ commanders of the NGO involved in human trafficking, who pretend to help people, may feel free of an obbligation while they will perform illegal migrants smuggling through the Italian territorial sea. So Europeans, who are interested in prostitution and illegal low wage employment in agricultural sector, can continue to steal human resources from the African continent. Actually, the Italian magistrates aren’t able to find evidence about the relationship between rescue vessels and people who exploit human trafficking. As it is known, on June 14 the NGO vessel “Sea-Watch 3” refused to take rescued migrants to the Libya’s capital, after it “had saved” migrants next to the Libyan territorial see. The Dutch rescue vessel asked for a port and obtained it in Tripoli. “Sea-Watch”  said Tripoli is not a safe port. 

While the Italian judge was stating that the German captain of the rescue charity ship had not broken the law, at least 44 migrants and refugees were killed by an air raid on a detention centre in the Eastern side of Tripoli.  Although there is no evidence yet, it seems there is a combination between the two events. Since July 3rd rescue vessels must not go back to Tripoli,  as it is no safe for migrants, because of the air raid. The military attack involving aircraft was conducted by Egypt and UAE, who delivered bombs purchased by France’s government on Tripoli's suburbs. Since 2011 France has been responsible of civil war in Libya, which caused illegal migrants smuggling and human trafficking. France's government decided to start a military operation against Libya, which  caused very serious damages, not to mention of humanitarian aspects. European people today is totally divided on the existing interests of France and Germany, as European politics has been too far from people and too close to finance and human trafficking. That's why people in the UK decided to leave the EU when they voted the 2016 Brexit referendum. Actually, there are criminals at global level who want to continue to steal human resources from the African continent.

To summarize, at the moment NGOs and smugglers may ship thousands of migrants towards Italy, under the pretext of rescuing, because Italian judge stated  “Sea-Watch 3” captain, Carola Rackete, didn’t break the law when she sailed through the Italian territorial sea and docked her migrants rescue vessel on the Island of Lampedusa without permission".

EU is going to be among two or maybe three giants

In the middle of this century the world is going to have two o three giants, such as America, China or India, because they are large population countries, huge economy and huge military power. As argued some years ago by the British former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, these super powers are going to be much bigger and  more powerful than other smaller countries such as Brazil, Indonesia or South Africa. They are large population countries but not nearly as large as China or India. From a geopolitical point of view they are considered medium-sized countries.

In this world, if the medium-sized countries aren't banding togheter, the super powers above mentioned are going to sit on them. So if medium-sized countries were to join togheter, they would have some influence. But separately they are not going to be strong enough. Unfortunately, it's just a fact.

By saying that, we are not diminishing countries which are smaller than China or US. When countries like Germany, Spain or France are banding togheter in the EU, they are with a group of others. Consequently, they become able to operate as strong collective. 

In this contest, each European country is part of the EU, which is the biggest political union in the world. How can we think that Britain or Italy are going to gain by giving up that relationship? Tony Blair defined it as an umbelievable act of self-denial.

In a globalised world economy as above mentioned, how can British and Italian people think to go it alone? As soon as Britain leaves the EU, people in the UK will have no choice but to follow US policy, everywhere. Not to mention of loss of credibility and sovereignity.

The Single Market is vital to Scottish companies

Since June 2016 most Irish people have been thinking what happens if Scotland remains in the EU by leaving the UK. Like Scotland, the majority in Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU. Not surprisingly, Northern Ireland may become an independent state of the EU in its own right, considering that its territory is larger than some existing EU members states, such as Luxembourg and Malta. 
With regards to Scotland, three out of four its international trading markets are in the EU (Germany, France, Netherlands, etc.). On June 23, 2016, Scotland voted "Remain" by 62% to 38%, while 55.8 in Northern Ireland voted to stay in the E.U. and 44.2 % "Leave". People who live in those peripheral countries of the UK disagree with the exit from the custom union, as traders fear Brexit will see Scotland and Northern Ireland lose access to the EU Single Market.

With food and drink exports reaching £ 5 billion, Scotland's products are in demand in the world over. As a matter of fact, Scotland is the third largest producer of farmed salmon in the world. Scotch whisky accounts for almost 80% of Scotland's food and beverages export market, not to mention Scottish sales of oil, gas and refined products to the rest of the world.

Scotland voted to stay in the UK in 2014, but against Brexit in 2016, and will probably be driven out of the EU against it will. Of course, most Scottish people think the European association of countries trading with each other without restrictions or tariffs is vital to Scottish economy. For this reason, Scotland should hold another referendum to leave the UK.

As already mentioned by many experts, as soon as the UK leave the EU, British economy will slow sharply, as the country will pay tariffs on goods and services it will export into the EU. For this reason, since June 2016 British business leaders have been afraid the UK will not be an attractive place to do business. According to figures, almost half of UK's exports are to the EU, therefore it's easy to know the impact of Brexit on the UK's economy. For instance, British car makers, who are the UK's biggest exporters, have warned that the UK's departure from the EU Single Market poses the "biggest threat in a generation".

European policy makers have been underlining that whoever decides to leave the European association of countries, which are trading with each other without restrictions or tariffs, cannot expect all obligations to be omitted while keeping its privileges. According to the domino theory, other Members States would follow the UK with the aim to leave the EU. Not surprisingly, things in the EU may get a little out of hand, considering that many anti-europeanism leaders face important elections in the course of this year. Meanwhile, after the House of Commons had rejected the withdrawal agreement, the European Council proposed a one-year flexible extension, with the aim to allow the UK to exit as soon as possible.  

New meaningful vote

On 12 March UK's lawmakers will vote a new meaningful vote: if Theresa May's deal were to pass, the UK would leave the EU with a deal.

On the contrary, if the new meaningful vote were to fail, MPs would vote on no deal on 13 March. And if, as expected, the UK parliament votes against leaving the EU without a deal, then there would be a third vote on whether to have a short delay to Brexit. Probably about three months. 

In this perspective, Labour  MPs want a new referendum, and other politicians in the UK think the same.

Job seekers' allowances. Unemployment expected to fall in Italy

This month Italian lawmakers issued, for the first time, a law which provides for a social security benefit. It will help people who are out of work and are seeking jobs.
Economic development needs the strenght of aggregate demand, which consists of public expeditures, such as investments, and consumer spending. The latter is strictly related to the change in demand for goods and services, which may be the main result of a rise in wages, benefits,  etc.

The relationship between consumer spending and income has always been of interest in the history of economic thought. According to classical economists, the wealth of nations in 1700s was related to aristocracy consumers in luxury commodities, such as tea, coffee, silk, cotton, gold, sugar, and so on. On the contrary, Marxian economists asserted that liberal economy systems need inequality: the more consumers spending the more socio-economic inequality. The experience of 1900s socialist systems by countries around the world showed the social and economic effects of  low consumer spending. 

Nowadays Keynesian economists, who recognize the "dark side" of liberal economy, think that aggregate demand have to be increased through public spending in education, healthcare, infrastructure projects, and sewage systems. These policies are strictly related to the Welfare State, which may increase public debt.

As above mentioned, Italian lawmakers are trying to implement a policy based on unemployment benefits, considering that the rise of jobless rate generates spending decline and a need for liquidity.
Since the early 1970s, successful public programs of unemployment compensation and job seekers' allowances have been designed to offset income shocks in some Anglo-Saxon countries, such as the UK and the US. That's why those countries haven't seen huge consuption losses in the last thirty years, compared with South Europe countries. In Italy and Spain the Welfare State have failed to mitigate the consequences of important labor income shocks, like those arising from the rise of unemployed people.

In Italy, unemployment benefits and job seekers' allowances are guaranteed by the Article 38 of the Constitution. Although Italian Government is still defined as "populist" by the establishment of the EU, the new decree in the field of job seekers' allowance, which had been issued in Italy this month, may help young people to successfully move from education  to employment.

Realistic alternatives to Brexit

As mentioned in my previous post, Brexit is a watershed moment for the UK, as the leader of the major opposition party, Jeremy Corbin, recently said the Parliament "must get on with the vote and move to consider the realistic alternatives".

On December 11 Brexit vote was postponed, and since then the agreement on the UK's withdrawal and future relations had been unchanged. In this perspective, the British Prime Minister promised a "meaningful vote" will take place in the second decade of January 2019. Mrs. May also underlined that a hard border on the island of Ireland will be avoided, as the Prime Minister won "fresh guarantees" at last EU summit.

Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission is focused on the role played by Russia through social media, which are considerd a powerful tool to affect public opinion. As it is know, more than 80 Million Facebook accounts had been illegally harvested by Cambridge Analitica, a British political consulting firm, that targeted people with messages to modify their voting choices. 

There are evidences that Russia is responsible of  80% of disinformation activities in the EU, as Russian interfereces in the Brexit referendum campaign had been detected. Brexit is obviously viewed as a  weakening of the EU, which is one of Russia's interests.

That's why politicians in the EU should focus on preventing this from happening in the future.

Pressure for a second EU referendum

On December 3rd, Mrs. May's Spokeman made clear there will be no new referendum while she is Prime Minister. Notwithstanding the Prime Minister publicly ruled out another vote on Brexit time and time again, since January 2018 we have seen a build-up of pressure for a second EU referendum. The Prime Minister's deputy David Lidington, and Justice Secretary David Gauke, have been in talks with labour politicians to see if there is support for a second vote or a Norway-style deal. Norway, which is not member of the EU, has a high level of access to EU market and almost the same level of tariff and trade barriers with EU countries. On the other hand, Norway accepts a relevant amount of EU regulations and directives, which include the "four freedoms", the free movement of  goods, services, people and capital.

The British Prime Minister knows that her proposal on Brexit, which has been agreed by 27 EU countries, hasn't the votes needed to get a majority in Parliament. The vote on Mrs May's deal will return to the House of Commons by the end of January 2019. 

If she were to fail to secure the votes required, then a second Brexit referendum could be on the table. Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party and a number of conservative Members of Parliament would back a people vote. At the moment we can still see three scenarios for the future of the UK-UE relationship: accept a negotiated Brexit, stay in the EU or leave with no deal.   

Calling for a second Brexit referendum

There is a growing chorus of voices calling for a second Brexit referendum in the UK. They are related to the ongoing criminal investigation conducted by the UK's Electoral Commission, which is an independent body set up by the UK parliament. It oversees elections, and its investigation includes illegal overspending and illegal use of data during the EU referendum.

It seems that some money which supported the former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Nigel Farage, was supplied by Arab banks and Russian multimillionaires. Actually, according to the UK's Electoral Commission, there are criminal level of proofs which show that, in the months before the 2016 EU referendum,  Arab banks were invited by the Russian ambassador in the UK to meet a Russian businessman. Consequently, the Electoral Commission is looking at Russian interference and illegal campaign spending during the EU referendum.

General elections or a second referendum

After more than 33 million British voters had decided in favour of leaving, on 29 March 2017 the UK triggered the article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, becoming the first EU member state to do so. Since then the UK has been attempting to strike up a free-trade deal with the EU outside the single-market once it had left the bloc. Under this model, the UK would not have to contribute to the EU budget and would not be bound by the European laws, and applying  regulations and directives concerning immigration, environmental protection, customs, and so on.

Until now, under the terms of EU's customs union, goods that have been legally imported into the bloc can circulate throughout its member states with no further custom checks.

If a trade deal weren't to be agreed between the EU and the UK, a safety net provision would be stated within the withdrawal agreement, with the aim to prevent a hard border being erected between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. As soon as the UK leaves the EU because of Brexit, a physical border could be erected between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This will raise concerns about the future of the "Good Friday Peace Agreement", a deal signed in 1998, which helped to end conflict in Northern Ireland between nationalists and unionists. The EU single-market covers all members states and four other countries, such Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein and Switzerland. It allows people, goods, services and money to move as within a single country. Britain would be able to trade freely within the bloc while also striking trade deals with non-EU countries. It would also make financial contributions to the EU budget and accept the free movement of people, goods, services and money.

In this perspective, the UK's Prime Minister believes she is doing the right thing to the country, as Britain needs a deal which protects jobs and borders at the same time. If the UK were to leave the EU with no deal, the country would face deep and grave uncertainty. 

The House of Commons will vote on 11 December on Mrs. May's controversial Brexit deal. And if the Prime Minister were lo lose a vote of that sort of importance, then a question of confidence in her government would be inevitable. Meanwhile, Labour party plays waiting game over general elections or a second referendum.

Potential threats from China, Russia, and America

With the aim to defend the so called old continent from potential threat from other countries, such as China, Russia and America, the French President recently proposed the idea of an European army .

Actually, Emmanuel Macron  thinks that there is a threat of cyber war from the U.S. to Europe, and he wants EU's answers to this threat. On the one hand, he doesn't think the European states have build an army against the U.S., considering that France is a member of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO), which is an intergovernmental military alliance between North American and Western  European states. On the other hand, French policy makers are aware  about the cyber war, as Europe has already been attacked by China, Russia, and America. 

In this perspective, France is not scared by any threat from U.S. military aggression against Europe, but it is interested in cyber offences by China, Russia, and America. Moreover, the creation of an European army is not a new idea, as it was proposed by the previous French President some years ago.

According to figures, in 2017 Europe's military spending reached 342 Billion Dollars or 20% of global cost, which reached 1,739 Trillion Dollars in the same year.   

A quarter of all the global arms exported is sold to North Africa and Middle East, where some Gulf States, such as Saudi Arabia,  UAE and Qatar, have been increasing weapon expediture in the past five years. For instance, France and Qatar recently confirmed 14 Billion Dollars fighter jet and weapon deal. Consequently, 70 % of Middle East weapon sales are by France, U.K., and U.S., which are so committed in the defence industry, although seven of the world's top ten defence companies are based in America.

It's very worring that members of the U.N. Security Council, that should bring peace to the world, are also the countries selling military machines to the world: unfortunately, most of the global weapon deals  involve five members of the U.N. Security Council.