My son has just sent me two pictures from NY

Just two pictures taken this week by my son, who has been visiting NY since 1st January. He has just sent me the two pictures.

It seems the weather wasn't too cold this week in NY, although the picture above shows a cloudy sky. He will be back in Italy on 9th January. 

Happy new year to all the blogging community :-)

Inflaction hits Christmas dinner.

 

In late November many Mayors began to install Christmas decoretions along the pedestrian spaces. This year They began too early. But while people enjoy Christmas lights outdoors, food inflaction hits Christmas dinner. Actually, fruits, turkeys and fishes' prices have been rising by 45% since the first week of  December. 

According to Daily Mirror, food prices have been raising quicker than inflaction.

 

Meanwhile, on the ground in Ukraine the war still goes on, unfortunately. After the 2022 Qatar World Cup had been played, the mainstrean media quickly began to speak about the Ukraine-Russia war once again. Actually, we didn't hear such news from 20 November to 18 December, and since  19 December we have been hearing bad news about Moldova's people who fear new Russian offensive, Kyiv under attack and German government that freeze Russian assets worth more than $ 5 billion. It seems that while the 2022 Qatar World Cup was holding in Doha, media networks were not interested in spreading news about the Ukrainian war. I only heard something about the ongoing battle in the outskirts of Bakhmut. 

The good news is that volunteers are sending many gifts to Ukrainians boys and girls. In addition, with regards to Christmas holiday, I am so happy to hear Italians will not throw food and will not buy expensive gifts. But EU countries' governments have to shield people from the worst effects of surging prices related to the rising cost of imported natural gas.

Farmland in late Autumn

Just a few pictures of the hills that I saw yesterday while I was driving through the countryside. The owner of the farm (picture below) sells olive oil and veggies. I sometimes buy fruits and veggies that hasn't been shipped from other  continents.

I noticed that farmland shows its unusual brown and beige earthy colours in late Autumn, as it is systematic used to produced food for humans.

Some blogging friends, who live in Canada and North-East USA, are already showing, on their blogs, their environs covered with the first snow. Here, on the 42° parallel and close to the Mediterranean Sea, it is not the case. Probably we will see our environs covered with snow in early winter.

Meanwhile, Christmas decoretions are already along squares and streets.

On the Ukraine-Russia front, I am sorry to hear that the Russian government is ready for negotiations, but there's the USA's refusal to recognise new territories.  This shows that Ukraine government doesn't decide anything in terms of peace agreement. It's so sad! Poor Ukrainian people are suffering while their government isn't allowed to make any choice in terms of negotiations. Actually, other world powers, which are not directly involved in this war, will choose the terms of the peace agreement.

For instance, in my opinion Russians could leave some seized territories in East and South Ukraine if Ukrainians were not to join NATO. This is my thought that could be one of the terms of the negotiation table. 

The good news is that the USA's president would be ready to meet the Russian leader. 

Cleaning the bottom of the Sea

Since last Sunday many volunteers have been cleaning the bottom of part of Mediterranean sea off the Western coast of Italy (Santa Marinella, 50 km North from Rome). Various kind of wastes,  that had been accumulated on the bottom of the sea, such as metal scrap, plastic bottles, and waste glass, have been eliminated. Obviously, volunteers have also been cleaning beaches.

Glad to see that some boys and girls have been involved in the cleaning operation along the beaches. 

That's a great combination between volunteers organizations and the local Administration.

I do hope other local administrations will do the same.

Starting to doubt the warmongers

 

If Western governments were to continue to fund Ukraine and supply it with weapons and missiles, EU people would grow tired of the economic cost of war in East Europe. 

According to Washington Post, the USA government is privately pushing Ukraine to show openness to negotiate with  Russia, due to the fact that war takes a toll on world economy. As mentioned by the USA State Department spokeperson, "if Russia is ready for negotiation, it should stop its bombs and missiles and withdraw its forces from Ukraine".

But I don't understand why the USA didn't say that six months ago. That's an outright turnaround in the USA's policy, as American government had been claiming for months that it would support Ukraine for as long as the war goes on. This is the real and live example why USA's political friendship is sometimes fatal. Poor Ukrainian people have fallen in the same trap as we already saw with regards to Yemen, Syria, Libya, etc.  

Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland)

 

A dear friend of mine, Luigi (that's his name), has just sent me this picture, which he made with his drone. The aerial image shows the "Altare della Patria" (Altar of the Fatherland) and its majesty. It's one of the main Rome's landmarks.  

This large national monument, which was built about 100 years ago to honour the first  king of a unified Italy,  can be reached easily in few minutes on foot or using public transport.

The picture above also shows another important Rome's monument, the Coliseum, with its yellow lights.  

Nice Sunday to all the blogging community!

Middle class and working class have nothing to gain from wars

Since the Ukraine-Russia war began early this year, most politicians in USA, UK, and EU have been calling for weapons and missiles to Ukraine. But they haven't sent any weapon in other countries that have been invaded. As mentioned by Clare Daly, Irish member of the EU Parliament, Western powers have never called for weapons and missiles for people of Palestine or for people of Yemen. 

Meanwhile, this morning four Palestinians have been killed and nearly 20 others injured by Israeli forces operating in an occupied  sovereign country (Palestine's West Bank). At least 164 Palestinians (civilians) have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied territories since January 2022. 

If USA, UK, and EU's policy-makers were interested in negotiation, we would see peace agreements in Ukraine, Palestine, Yemen, etc.