I've become Grandpa!

I'm happy to announce this week I became Grandfather for the first time! On 25th October, at 3 pm, Rachele came into the world to my Daughter-in-law, Enrica, and my son, Fabrizio. 

Baby Rachele was born in Rome, Gemelli hospital.

Have a nice weekend!

Gaza City's people have nothing to do with terrorists

 

Some bloggers have already wrote something about the war in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza. And while many are acting like nothing happened, some questions haven't been answered yet! Firstly, On Saturday, October 7, Hamas fighters didn't met Israelian soldiers while they were crossing the fence, although Israel had always deployed a lot of soldiers and tanks along the Gaza Strip border in the previous years. In addition, there weren't soldiers in Israel's villages located close to the Gaza-Israel border. And last but not least, how can a musical festival be held close to Gaza Strip? ... mmm ... there is evidence  that Israel had received an official warning from Egypt of a possible attack from Gaza Strip three days before Hamas launched its deadly assault on Saturday, October 7.

In the meanwhile, according to the latest updates, more than 1228 people have been killed in Israel while in Gaza the death toll has climbed to 2329 Palestian killed. I know that some members of our blogging community don't like to discuss of such topic. I will not bore them.

Enjoy the rest of this cloudy Sunday.

How food has gone up

I have been out of blogging since late September. Naples (South Italy) and its West surroundings are experiencing an earthquake almost every 48 hours. There are 24 craters located to the West of Naples, most of them are under the sea water and on the Island of Ischia. I am worried because the risk of eruption may increase, and my mother and my two sisters live there in Naples.

As request by Nicole (through her post published on September 18th), I have taken some pictures that show how food's price has increased in Italy.

 

As it is known, since early 2022 purchasig power has been decreasing sharply also in EU contries too. 

The above picture shows walnuts € 5.99 per kilo (shipped from Chile 🤨) and chestnuts € 7.99 per kilo ❗

I hope my pictures can explain how much have fruit and veggies' prices gone up: people are buying the green lemons above € 5.99 per kilo.

Not to mention of rising prices of oil, gas and building materials used in construction, such as bricks, concrete, cupper, tiles and wood.

This morning I saw two sailing ships in the harbour ... if oil and gas prices were to rise again and again, we would see more vessels propelled by the wind 😃 LOL

It seems the seagull is waiting for lunch, considering that the grocery store and the fishmonger are there.

Have a nice weekend!

Western-centrism

In my opinion there is a biased view that favors, inconsciously or consciously, Western civilization's interests, norms and narratives. In the implementation of international law's principles we can still see that practice of privileging Western interests.

For instance, with regards to the self-determination principle we can easily see some inconsistencies. 

According to the Western media's narrative, Catalonia has NO right to secede from Spain, but Kosovo HAS a right to secede from Serbia.

The two Ukrainian provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk have NO right to secede from Ukraine.  But Taiwan has a right to secede from China.

That behaviour is still strictly related to a worldview centered on Western civilization.

The good news is that India Prime Minister has just invited African Union to join G20 as a permanent member. The head of Africa Union has already took seat.

September, 1st

On September 1st hibiscus' booms still appaer in my neighborhood. I can see them from my window. And those pink hibiscus flowers reminds me the importance of flowers and trees in the urban environment.

My daughter has come back from Ireland, where she spent her Summer holiday. She sent me a few photos of that Ireland's inspiring landscape.

She said the weather was never too hot and never too cold.

In the meanwhile, in my country many boys and girls are still enjoying their Summer holiday along Italy's beaches, as the weather is still hot here in Central Italy.

 Have a nice weekend!

1989 Baltic human chain

34 years ago, on August 23, 1989, about two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined hands. They formed a human chain stretching through the three Baltic countries. 

It was a peaceful protest .

The  above image belongs to Sonja Eftimovska.

A picture from Belfast

My daughter has gone to Northern Ireland on holiday. She's has just sent me two pictures, which she has taken in the neighborhood of the Catholic community in Belfast. 

The first photo just above doesn't need any explaination.

Have a nice weekend