Farmers' protests spread throughout Europe

Why farmers' protests that kicked off in The Netherlands are spreading across Europe | Firstpost:

July 18, 2022 - "A farmers protest that began in The Netherlands over proposals to slash emissions has spread to other parts of Europe with cultivators in Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland taking to the streets in solidarity with their counterparts.

"It all kicked off in June as Dutch farmers protested over their government’s proposals to slash emissions of damaging pollutants, a plan that will likely force cultivators to cut their livestock herds or stop work altogether.... Some 40,000 farmers gathered in June in the central Netherlands' agricultural heartland to protest the government's plans. Many arrived by tractor, snarling traffic around the country.... Days later, farmers again took their protests to crowded highways, driving slowly along the roads or stopping altogether. Some have dumped hay bales on roads, and small groups demonstrated at town and city halls, in some cases starting bonfires outside the buildings. Some farmers set hay bales ablaze alongside highways, while others gathered in towns and cities, including The Hague.

"The Dutch government was forced to act after a series of court rulings that blocked infrastructure and construction projects because of fears they would cause emissions that breach environmental rules.... The government says emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia, which livestock produce, must be drastically reduced close to nature areas that are part of a network of protected habitats for endangered plants and wildlife stretching across the 27-nation European Union. Dutch farmers say that they are being unfairly targeted as polluters while other industries, such as aviation, construction and transport, also are contributing to emissions and face less far-reaching rules.... As per The Scottish Farmer, supermarkets are running out of food as the protests continue to intensify. This, as fishermen have been blocking ports and several ships honking their horns to express their discontent over inflation.

"German farmers blockaded roads on the border with the Netherlands and gathered in large numbers to protest near the city of Heerenburg. As per The Deep Dive, German farmer groups are themselves upset over a recent renewable energy Act amendment by parliament, claiming it does not provide enough support for biogas production. 'It is completely incomprehensible that in the middle of this far-reaching energy crisis, a sustainable domestic energy source such as biogas is being curbed in the production of electricity, heat, and biomethane,' Bernhard Krüsken, secretary-general of the German Farmers’ Association, told the website.

"As per the website, Polish farmers also rose up in protest over the cost of fertiliser and cheap food imports being allowed and thus increasing local production costs. The farmers took to the streets of Warsaw shouting: “Enough is enough! We won’t let ourselves be robbed!” and “We workers cannot pay for the crisis created by politicians!”

"In Spain, farmers blocked highways in the southern region of Andalusia to protest against high fuel prices and the rising costs of essential products, as per The Scottish Farmer. In Milan, Italian farmers in a convoy of tractors blocked city traffic, as per Morning Star Online. This comes in the backdrop of Italian farmers facing a severe drought that has put a third of agricultural produce at risk. Farmers say they have lost around €3 billion as a result of the emergency and are being hit hard by rising fuel prices with costs rocketing as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, as per the report....

"The ruling coalition wants to cut emissions of pollutants, predominantly nitrogen oxide and ammonia, by 50 per cent nationwide by 2030.... They warn that farmers will have to adapt or face the prospect of shuttering their businesses. 'The honest message ... is that not all farmers can continue their business,' and those who do will likely have to farm differently, the government said in a statement this month as it unveiled emission reduction targets. Livestock produce ammonia in their urine and faeces.... The problem is compounded in the Netherlands, which is known for its intensive farming practices, with large numbers of livestock kept on small areas of land.... 

"Agriculture — from dairy farming to growing crops in fields and greenhouses — is a significant part of the Dutch economy. According to a national farming lobby group, LTO, there are nearly 54,000 agricultural businesses in the Netherlands with exports totalling 94.5 billion euros in 2019."

Read more: https://www.firstpost.com/world/explained-why-farmers-protests-that-kicked-off-in-the-netherlands-are-spreading-across-europe-10925091.html

Madrid stayed open in 2nd Covid wave

Madrid, the City That Wouldn’t Lock Down | Wall Street Journal - Adam O'Neal:

December 2, 2021 - "Isabel Díaz Ayuso ... was sworn in as president of the Community of Madrid — analogous to a U.S. state governor — in August 2019. By February 2020 the novel coronavirus was spreading throughout Spain. The country quickly became among the hardest hit in the world, with Madrid at the center of the crisis. In March 2020 the regional government ordered the closure of schools and most shops before the central government did so nationally.

"'We were the region that warned the rest of Spain that we had to act against Covid because no decisions were being made,' Ms. Díaz Ayuso tells me in Spanish during a recent interview. 'The first wave was very hard.... It is true that back then nothing was known about Covid,” she continues. 'I believe that the difference in management comes after the second, third wave, when one must have learned'... But as fall approached, the number of cases rose again. 'When everyone was asking to close, with no alternatives, we decided to go against the virus, not the people.

"I arrived in Madrid in October 2020, fleeing an impending lockdown in Germany, and stayed until April. Bars often seemed as full as they were during pre-pandemic visits, and the city center was buzzing with holiday shoppers. I visited offices filled with workers. Playgrounds echoed with the sounds of schoolchildren at play. Meantime, Catalonia’s regional government shut down its bars in mid-October, while in November the Valencian government imposed stringent capacity restrictions on churches, restaurants and stores. Countries like the U.K., France and Germany also imposed lockdowns and stay-at-home orders of varying severity.

"The hospitality industry — one of Spain’s most economically and socially important — flourished in Madrid. Earlier this year it became the Spanish region with the most hospitality workers.... Some restrictions remained, including a curfew, neighborhood-based controls on movement, and a mask mandate, strangely even outdoors..... It was rare to see someone outside with an uncovered face, and plenty continued to wear masks after the mandate was narrowed to apply indoors only.

"Europeans may have a lower standard of 'pandemic freedom' than Americans, but the lockdown-fatigued public rewarded Ms. Díaz Ayuso’s People’s Party during regional elections in May. She campaigned on the simple slogan 'freedom' — previously 'communism or freedom' —and it worked. The party doubled its share of the electorate from two years earlier, finishing with a million votes more than its nearest competitor. Such electoral success has made Ms. Díaz Ayuso the most prominent conservative politician in Spain and prompted speculation about her as a potential challenger to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, a Socialist....

"She says Madrid got back on its feet 'around the values of freedom, of prosperity. It has been an example. In fact, the May 4 elections are an example for a lot of countries.' Covid-19 devastated the Spanish capital, but several regions have faced more deaths per capita. Critically, the results suggest voters understand that a locked-down economy has public-health implications as well.

"'I believe in freedom in all aspects of life. And against everything that tyrannizes and enslaves the person—against addictions, against the identity division between man-woman, left-right, rich-poor. That is what the communist ideology often does, always seeking to collectivize the person and control them from above,' she says. 'Responsibility and freedom is what I think there has to be.'

"Masks are still required indoors in Madrid. But unlike in France or Italy, restaurant and bar patrons don’t need to show a Covid health pass to enter. I texted a Díaz Ayuso adviser this week to ask whether the Omicron variant had changed the government’s calculations. 'It hasn’t changed our plans,' he wrote back. 'We continue to choose to go against the virus with vaccination, testing and individual responsibility instead of the policy of closure for the sake of closure.'"

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/madrid-the-city-that-wouldnt-lockdown-isabel-diaz-ayuso-freedom-covid-19-coronavirus-11638475346

Spain's Supreme Court rejects vaccine passes

Why has the Covid health pass for daily affairs been rejected in Spain and not elsewhere in Europe? | The Local.com - Alex Dunham:

19 August 19, 2021 - "Twenty-two European countries require hospitality green passes or similar health passports for citizens and tourists to enter restaurants, bars, museums and more public places.... Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece and Italy are among the countries in Europe which have – to a greater or lesser extent – introduced covid health pass schemes to control access to the interior of hospitality, sporting and cultural venues. 

"But in Spain, the launch of a Digital Covid Certificate to verify that customers and visitors have been vaccinated, tested or recovered from Covid-19 hasn’t managed to take off. Regional authorities in four Spanish regions – the Canary Islands, Andalusia, Cantabria and Galicia – have all seen ... introduction of such measures ... pushed aside by local judges.

"On Wednesday August 18th, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled against the matter of using Spain’s Digital Covid Certificate to access nightlife venues. This suggests that there will be little point for any of Spain’s 17 regional governments to attempt to use Covid health passes in their territories for any purpose other than travel abroad, and if such measures were introduced, they would only be in force for a matter of days or weeks until a court shelved it.

"The reasoning of judges, both regional and national, is that having to prove Covid vaccination, testing or recovery status to enter a bar or visit a museum breaches fundamental rights without having enough of a positive impact on public health. In the case of the Supreme Court’s latest decision, there wasn’t enough 'substantial justification' for the requirement of a health pass in bars and nightclubs across the entire region of Andalusia, seeing it more as a 'preventative measure' rather than a necessary action.  

"Instead their verdict is that such a measure 'restrictively affects basic elements of freedom of movement and the right of assembly,' and that even 'a technical report from the General Directorate of Public Health' of Andalusia is just an 'opinion that does not allow us to understand the proportionality of said measure'.

"This clashes with the stance of judges in neighbouring France, where the top national court approved the government’s Covid health passports for locals and tourists to enter a variety of establishments, only tweaking the initial conditions. In Italy, the national government has been able to require Covid health passes to access certain venues without the matter having to go to the constitutional court. In Germany, restrictions vary between states but proof of Covid testing or vaccination is widely accepted for hospitality customers to be allowed inside establishments. However, the EU’s three biggest economies have seen thousands of protesters take to the streets to slam the mandatory imposition of these QR Code documents. 

"In Austria and Norway, Covid health passes are also considered legal and haven’t been met with much resistance by the public. Sweden on the other hand is among the EU countries where Covid health passes for venues haven’t been introduced, with the Scandinavian nation continuing with a more unregulated way of handling the pandemic and the matter of health passports is not even due to appear in court.

Read more: https://www.thelocal.com/20210819/why-has-the-covid-health-pass-for-daily-affairs-been-rejected-in-spain-and-not-elsewhere-in-europe/

John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail cell

Antivirus software creator John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail | CBC News:

Jun 23, 2021  - "John McAfee, the creator of McAfee antivirus software, was found dead in his jail cell near Barcelona in an apparent suicide Wednesday, hours after a Spanish court approved his extradition to the United States to face tax charges punishable by decades in prison, authorities said. 

"The eccentric cryptocurrency promoter and tax opponent whose history of legal troubles spanned from Tennessee to Central America to the Caribbean was discovered at the Brians 2 penitentiary in northeastern Spain. Security personnel tried to revive him, but the jail's medical team finally certified his death, a statement from the regional Catalan government said....

"The statement didn't identify McAfee by name, but said he was a 75-year-old U.S. citizen awaiting extradition to the country. A Catalan government source familiar with the case who was not authorized to be named in media reports confirmed to The Associated Press that it was McAfee.

"Spain's National Court on Monday ruled in favour of extraditing McAfee, 75, who had argued in a hearing earlier this month that the charges against him by prosecutors in Tennessee were politically motivated and that he would spend the rest of his life in prison if he was returned to the U.S. The court's ruling was made public on Wednesday and was open for appeal, with any final extradition order also needing to get approval from the Spanish Cabinet.

"The entrepreneur was arrested last October at Barcelona's international airport. A judge ordered at that time that McAfee should be held in jail while awaiting the outcome of extradition proceedings.

"McAfee had been charged the same month in Tennessee with evading taxes after failing to report income from promoting cryptocurrencies while he did consulting work, made speaking engagements and sold the rights to his life story for a documentary. The criminal charges carried a prison sentence of up to 30 years.

"Nishay Sanan, the Chicago-based attorney defending him on those cases, said by phone that ...  Spanish authorities have not given his legal team a cause of death, and he wants to know if there were video cameras in McAfee's cell or in the prison. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Memphis declined to comment Wednesday."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/john-mcafee-found-dead-prison-spain-1.6077412

Lockdown opponent wins Madrid election

She Kept Madrid Open in the Pandemic. Voters Rewarded Her | New York Times - Raphael Minder:

May 5, 2021 - "She is a conservative who campaigned on a slogan that came down to one word: freedom. She offered herself as a champion of small business and scoffed at national coronavirus restrictions. Her critics called her a 'Trumpista.' But Isabel Díaz Ayuso is now a rising force in Spanish politics. Voters rewarded the right-wing leader of the Madrid region with a landslide victory on Tuesday after she defied the central government by keeping the capital’s bars and shops open throughout much of the pandemic.

"She suggested that her victory showed that pandemic fatigue and economic distress had left Spaniards unwilling to endure more of the measures favored by the left-wing national government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez....

"Ms. Ayuso’s Popular Party more than doubled its number of seats in Madrid’s regional assembly, trouncing other parties, including Mr. Sánchez’s Socialists. Her party fell just short of an absolute majority but will hold onto power with support from the far-right Vox party.

"She is the most talked-about politician in Spain right now. But with nationwide elections not planned for another two years, analysts are divided over whether she could make the leap to the national political stage, or would even want to. Even so, Ms. Ayuso’s victory could signal that a shift to the right is underway more broadly as the country struggles to emerge from the ravages of the pandemic.

"Ms. Ayuso, 42, stuck to a simple and clear message that connected with voters who have endured more than a year of pandemic, said Lluís Orriols, a professor of politics at the Carlos III University in Madrid. 'Maintaining Madrid open and economically active was something visible to all, while demonstrating that lockdown measures really help keep people healthy is something harder to do,' Mr. Orriols said.

"Madrid was the epicenter of Spain’s pandemic in the spring of 2020, when its hospitals overflowed with Covid-19 patients. But after the central government lifted a nationwide state of emergency last June, Ms. Ayuso ensured that the city was one of the most bustling in Europe, even when its Covid-19 infection rate crept back up after Easter [2021]....

"Ms. Ayuso’s handling of the pandemic provoked tensions even within her administration. After resigning last year as the head of Madrid’s regional health services, Dr. Yolanda Fuentes recently attacked Ms. Ayuso’s campaign slogan on Twitter. 'To understand that freedom means to do whatever you want during a pandemic, when intensive-care units are above capacity and colleagues feel defeated, seems to me indecent, to say the least,' Dr. Fuentes said.

"Outside the headquarters of the Popular Party on Tuesday evening, a crowd of supporters ... said they were celebrating Ms. Ayuso’s personal victory rather than that of her party and its national leader, Pablo Casado.... Mariola Vicario, a 25-year-old student, said of Ms. Ayuso. 'I don’t consider Casado to have her strength.' In terms of handling the pandemic, Ms. Vicario said that Ms. Ayuso 'took measures when needed, but what she did not do is let people starve to death' by keeping Madrid’s economy shut down as long as that of other cities.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/world/europe/spain-election-madrid-isabel-diaz-ayuso.html

Vitamin D cut Covid death 60% in Catalonia study

Vitamin D for patients admitted to hospital could cut Covid deaths by 60 per cent | The Telegraph - Sarah Knapton:

February 14, 2021 - "Giving high-dose Vitamin D to coronavirus patients when they are admitted to hospital could cut deaths by 60 per cent – double the benefit of the best current drug, new research suggests. Scientists from the University of Barcelona showed that patients prescribed calcifediol – an intensive dose of Vitamin D usually used for people with chronic kidney failure – had their risk of admission to intensive care dramatically cut and death rates significantly lowered.

"Currently the steroid dexamethasone has shown the greatest impact, reducing deaths by 30 per cent, and is now recommended for seriously ill NHS patients, but the new study suggests calcifediol could be twice as beneficial if given early.

"In the study, 10 per cent of patients admitted to Barcelona's Hospital del Mar with coronavirus died within 30 days. However, while 57 out of 379 (15 per cent) control patients died, just 36 out of 551 (6.5 per cent) of those treated with calcifediol died.

"The researchers found that earlier treatment was better. If given on admission to intensive care, the treatment made no difference. The authors concluded: 'Our results indicate that early calcifediol administration is critical for mortality reduction.... Ultimately these effects are thought to curb the inflammatory cascade that leads to the cytokine and chemokine storm associated with the pathogenesis of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Adequate Vitamin D status could also play a role in preventing Covid-19 infection.'

"There has been growing speculation that one of the reasons why black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities are so disproportionately impacted by coronavirus is endemic low levels of Vitamin D in BAME populations. The vitamin is produced naturally in the body when skin comes into contact with sunshine and is vital for healthy bones, strong muscles and a good immune system. But not as much sunlight can penetrate darker skins, meaning less of the vitamin is produced.... 

"Italy and Spain have both experienced high mortality rates, and scientists found both countries have lower than average Vitamin D levels. This is partly because people in southern Europe, particularly the elderly, avoid strong sun, while their darker skin pigmentation also reduces the body's ability to produce natural Vitamin D. In contrast, the highest average levels of Vitamin D are found in northern Europe, due to high consumption of cod liver oil and Vitamin D supplements, and possibly less sun avoidance.

"Vitamin D has been shown to protect against acute respiratory infections. It also regulates the response of white blood cells, preventing them from releasing too many inflammatory cells which may stop the body overreacting to the virus.

"The study was published as a preprint of The Lancet journal and is yet to be peer reviewed."

Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/14/giving-hospital-admitted-patients-vitamin-d-could-cut-covid/

Read study here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3771318

The fallacies behind state Covid mandates

No ‘rule of six’, please, we’re British. We can make our own decisions | The Times - Jonathan Sumption:

September 13, 2020 - "The prime minister has declared that he will do 'whatever is necessary' to stop the spread of the coronavirus. One of the things that is necessary, apparently, is to stop us enjoying the company of our friends and family in numbers above six. There are at least three fallacies behind these bossy declarations. One is that the spread of an endemic virus is amenable to government control. The second is that legal coercion is a good way of doing it. The third is that stopping infections is all that matters, so that one does not have to count the human cost.

"If one thing has become clear over the past six months, it is that aggressive measures of social distancing make little difference in the long run. They buy time, but reduce deaths only if they last indefinitely. Even buying time comes at a heavy price in depression, mental illness and misery.... Spain took the most extreme and brutally enforced measures in Europe. Sweden had the mildest measures: no lockdown or school closures and only moderate measures of social distancing. Yet Spain now [i.e., September - gd] has the worst second spike on the Continent and Sweden none at all.

"There are many variables that affect the long-term progress of the disease, including the population’s state of health and age balance. But one thing that does not seem to affect it is government policy. The reason seems tolerably clear. People can spread Covid-19 before their symptoms appear — and even if they have no symptoms. So isolating known cases is always too late. Whatever distancing measures you take, short of shutting everyone indefinitely in a box and feeding them through a tube, the virus will still spread, but more slowly....

"Of all the ways of buying time, legal coercion is the most inefficient. Legal coercion is indiscriminate, whereas this virus discriminates. It attacks the old and clinically vulnerable. Across Europe and the UK, the upsurge of infections is heavily concentrated among healthy people under 50. 

"The increasingly absurd health secretary Matt Hancock gets cross about this being pointed out. But, with a handful of exceptions, the infected young will experience only mild symptoms or none. What matters is not infections but hospital admissions and deaths, which have increased relatively little, both here and in other European countries. This suggests that, while the young and healthy are getting on with their lives, the vulnerable are sheltering themselves. It is happening spontaneously.

"What is more, it is exactly what ought to be happening. People are making their own judgments, guided by their own vulnerabilities and their own tolerance of risk. The result is a far more discriminating approach than the government’s regulatory blunderbuss. Left to themselves, people can manage this virus better than Boris Johnson and Hancock because they can fine-tune their precautions to their own situation and that of the people around them. Taking the decisions out of their hands and imposing one-size-fits-all measures is despotic and ineffective....

"To justify their policies and command submission, ministers have to resort to fear, the classic tool of despotic regimes.... Will the public take it seriously?... Why should they? No one can respect laws made with no achievable objective or coherent plan. There is a limit to what people can be expected to put up with from a government that thinks hyperactivity is a substitute for thought, that seems incapable of matching the measures to the problem and has nothing but crocodile tears for the collateral damage to people’s lives."

Read more: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/no-rule-of-six-please-were-british-we-can-make-our-own-decisions-9j8zbh5nh

Spain, Italy, Poland locked down

Italy imposes harshest coronavirus restrictions since spring lockdown as second wave sweeps Europe | Washington Post - Ruby Mellen:

October 25, 2020 - "Italy became the latest European country to announce new restrictions to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus on Sunday as countries across the continent continue to report surging infections.... Beginning Monday, restaurants and bars will be required to close by 6 p.m., and gyms, pools and movie theaters must shut down entirely. The restrictions are the fourth round of tightening this month in Italy, and the most severe since the country lifted its nationwide lockdown in May....

"Spain, which flattened its spring curve with a three-month-long lockdown that started in March, announced new national restrictions Saturday. Under a new state of emergency, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez imposed a national nighttime curfew, banned gatherings of more than six people and gave regional governments the authority to restrict movement. 

"On Thursday, Ireland became the first European country to go back under national lockdown."

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/coronavirus-europe-italy-second-wave-lockdown/2020/10/25/6c011306-16df-11eb-82db-60b15c874105_story.html

New Lockdowns in Europe Amid Coronavirus Resurgence | Voice of America:

October 25, 2020 - "Both Spain and France, which enacted nighttime curfews to quell the spread of the virus, have surpassed more than 1 million cases, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center....  

"The European Union's disease control agency, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, has joined the World Health Organization to sound the alarm over a new surge of the coronavirus across the continent, as the WHO warned that the infection is rising exponentially. ECDC Director Andrea Ammon said Europe is facing a major threat to public health and a 'highly concerning epidemiological situation.' All EU countries except Cyprus, Estonia, Finland and Greece fell into a 'serious concern' category, as did Britain, the agency said.

"Elsewhere in Europe, Poland has seen a sharp increase in infections, with 13,628 new cases reported Saturday. Polish President Andrzej Duda is among those who have tested positive, as the country imposed more lockdown measures including a two-week closure of bars and restaurants and students beyond third grade moving to distance learning.

"As coronavirus infections in Belgium continue to reach record highs, authorities ordered the closure of the country’s cultural facilities on Saturday and announced a longer curfew beginning Monday..... 

"In Greece, authorities imposed a nightly curfew Saturday in the Athens area and in other regions of the country with high infection rates and made it mandatory to wear face masks indoors and outdoors."

https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/new-lockdowns-europe-amid-coronavirus-resurgence

Spanish gov't sends in army to enforce lockdown

Spanish army to enforce lockdown in Madrid | The Independent - Kate Ng:

September 22, 2020 - "Spain has requested its army’s help in enforcing coronavirus lockdown restrictions that were imposed in some parts of Madrid on Monday. The restrictions apply to poorer districts in the capital, sparking protests over the weekend against what residents described as discrimination against the poor. The Spanish army was deployed at the height of the first wave of infections between March and April to help civilian authorities contain the outbreak.

"Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the regional governor for the capital, announced the deployment after a meeting with Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez. 'We need help from the army for disinfection … and to strengthen local police and law enforcement,' she told a news briefing on Monday....

"850,000 people living in 37 districts in Madrid have been barred from leaving their neighbourhoods as of yesterday, except for work, family care o[r] legal obligations, as the number of infections surge in the capital.... 

"Demonstrators protested against the restrictions on Sunday night, claiming the lockdown affected some of the poorest neighbourhoods in the capital and accusing the Spanish government of treating them like second class citizens.

"Madrid’s mayor, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, denied the accusations, tweeting on Monday: 'There are no first-class residents and second-class residents. We have to be together at this moment.'

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/madrid-spain-coronavirus-lockdown-restrictions-army-b526693.html

Governments imposing a 2nd wave of lockdowns

Localized lockdowns show that we're in the most complex phase of coronavirus yet | CNN - Emma Reynolds:

July 9, 2020 - "From English cities to the Spanish seaside and Australian housing estates, local lockdowns are cropping up all over the world as countries ease restrictions only to encounter new coronavirus outbreaks.... Beijing re-entered a partial lockdown in mid-June after a new coronavirus outbreak linked to a food market in the Chinese capital, while at least 24 states in the US are pausing or rolling back their reopenings as cases accelerate....

"The threshold for imposing new lockdowns as well as their size and scope varies dramatically between countries, from a single building in Italy, to several Rwandan villages, to a community of 200,000 in Spain's northeast and a coastal area of 70,000 in its northwest, to the whole of Israel. There are hopes this approach could minimize the economic damage resulting from large-scale shutdowns. In Portugal, for example, 19 boroughs on the outskirts of Lisbon have shut down, while the capital's downtown area has continued its reopening, along with the rest of the country.

"The German city of Guetersloh was put back into lockdown after 1,331 workers at its Toennies meat processing factory tested positive for the virus.... Guetersloh's lockdown was lifted Monday when a court in the state of North Rhine-Westfalia ruled that the regulation was 'no longer compatible with the principle of proportionality and the principle of equal treatment'....

"In the Italian city of Mondragone, authorities sealed off a building that housed migrant seasonal workers as a 'red zone' late last month after 49 people tested positive for Covid-19. The army was sent to monitor the hotspot and a group of workers living in the building broke the quarantine to protest.... And in Serbia, police in the capital Belgrade on Tuesday fired tear gas at protesters demonstrating against the President Aleksandar Vucic after he announced a weekend-long curfew to try to combat a surge in cases....

"The English city of Leicester returned to lockdown for two weeks from July 2, with non-essential businesses shutting, people advised to minimize social contact, and schools closed for most children, after a spike in cases there. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that Leicester showed 'the virus is out there still circling like a shark in the water,' raising fears of further lockdowns in other UK areas with rising numbers of new cases....

"In the Australian state of Victoria, 6.6 million people have been isolated from the rest of the country for six weeks after Melbourne saw a record rise in daily case numbers. On Saturday, 3,000 residents of nine densely populated public housing estates were put under full lockdown and from Wednesday, residents in metropolitan Melbourne are no longer allowed to leave their homes, except for grocery shopping, caregiving, exercise or work. Victoria's border with New South Wales will close for the first time since the pandemic began....

"Israel has re-imposed strict limitations across the whole country, closing event halls, bars, gyms and pools after the country hit a record daily figure of 1,140 new infections. It is facing a near 40-fold increase in daily cases from mid-May, when the nation appeared to have the virus under control....

"[Alexander] Kekulé, the virology professor [of the Institute for Biosecurity Research in Germany], believes that large-scale reopening and then locking down again is a mistake, and risks causing psychological or economic damage to those affected. 'We need a reliable picture of our future [f]or the economy,' he told CNN. 'You cannot plan when you have the possibilities of lockdowns at any time. People will not do that several times, again and again.... In the United States, [and] also in Brazil, we have the situation that the people are beginning to fight against lockdowns and I understand why they are doing that,' he said. 'Instead of braking and accelerating, we needed a completely different concept.'"

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/health/local-lockdowns-leicester-melbourne-gutersloh-intl/index.html

Raw milk sales legalized in Catalonia

Spain's Catalonia in raw milk controversy, Consumer - THE BUSINESS TIMES - AFP:

July 25, 2018 - "Catalonia is in the eye of the storm again, but not for its independence drive. This time, the controversy is all about ... raw milk.

"The Spanish region's decision last Thursday to allow the sale of unpasteurised cow's milk directly from producers to consumers after it was banned 28 years ago has caused alarm due to the potential health risks involved. Spanish media has published article after article outlining the bacteria-induced danger, health experts have come out against it and the issue has gone viral on Twitter, echoing similar vivid debates in countries such as the United States.

"Catalonia's food and agriculture regional minister Teresa Jorda argues raw milk has 'spectacular' health properties and is safe due to the 'technological improvements in farming equipment' and strict hygiene standards.... But critics are sceptical....

"On Tuesday, Spain's health ministry revealed that a decree allowing the sale of raw milk nationwide had been in the works under the previous conservative government. But the new Socialist executive has decided to suspend this until a 'full analysis' of the issue is done, it said in a statement.

"This suspension does not affect the decision in Catalonia, which has autonomy in food safety matters....

"Jorda also argues the measure will help small farmers increase their earnings as they will be selling milk directly to customers.

"Spain's UPA small farmers' union has asked for the measure to be implemented nationwide. It says Spain's livestock are in good condition which means drinking raw milk is safe, 'always bearing in mind the milk must be boiled and preserved correctly - a maximum of 72 hours from milking'....

"Further afield, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, where many states allow raw milk, warns strongly against it.... According to its most recent statistics from 2007 to 2016, '32 states reported 144 outbreaks linked to raw milk'.

"In Europe, raw milk is [also] legally available in France and Italy."

Read more: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/spains-catalonia-in-raw-milk-controversy
'via Blog this'

Catalan independence leaders jailed

Protests in Catalonia after independence leaders held - The Local - AFP News:

March 24, 2018 - "Thousands of protesters descended on the streets of Catalonia late Friday after Spain's supreme court detained five separatist leaders for their role in last year's independence bid. The court also issued international arrest warrants for six other Catalan figures who have fled abroad....

"Spain's Supreme Court said Friday it would prosecute 13 key Catalan separatists for 'rebellion', a crime which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail. Five people were held in custody, including Catalan presidential candidate Jordi Turull ... former Catalan parliament president Carme Forcadell and three former regional ministers. Judge Pablo Llarena ... also issued international arrest warrants for former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, who is in self-imposed exile in Belgium along with four of his former ministers.

"Four other separatists had already been detained by the Spanish authorities. In total 25 people, the core of the movement, have been indicted over last year's independence drive."

Read more: https://www.thelocal.es/20180324/protests-in-catalonia-after-independence-leaders-held


Spain Catalonia: Puigdemont's arrest in Germany sparks mass protests - BBC News:

March 26, 2018 - "Protests broke out across the Spanish region of Catalonia on Sunday after former leader Carles Puigdemont was taken into custody in Germany. At least 89 people were injured in clashes with police and four arrests were made....

"Puigdemont ... had been on a trip to Finland to meet lawmakers and attend a conference last week when the arrest warrant against him was reissued, taking him by surprise.... Puigdemont faces charges of sedition, rebellion and misappropriation of public funds in Spain as a result of his role in last year's Catalan banned independence referendum. The charges in Spain could result in up to 30 years in prison."

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43535970
'via Blog this'

Catholicism and Islam

by George J. Dance

When I joined the Libertarian Party of Canada, conspiracy theory was in vogue. One book that used to be circulated a lot was Gary Allen's None Dare Call it Conspiracy. Naturally I read it. I was struck by the constant references to Carroll Quigley's Tragedy and Hope, which Allen considered the Bible of the conspirators; so, a copy being in the LPC library, I read that too.

Years later, I have forgotten most of Quigley's book. But one thing that stood out was Quigley's theory of the "Peru to Pakistan Axis", which stuck in my head and which contemporary events keep reminding me of.

Quigley's idea was that the roughly 1,000-year Muslim occupation of Spain and southern Italy turned those 2 regions culturally Muslim. Even after the Christians regained them, the culture remained essentially Muslim, and its fundamentalist Catholicism essentially the same as fundamentalist Islam, with things like the subordination of women and the killing of "heretics" and "infidels."

When a strong Catholic state emerged in Spain, it, too, was culturally Muslim, and its foreign policy was the Islamic policy of jihad. We all know the history: the invasion of and massacres in the Netherlands; the attempted invasion of England; 100 years of war, looting, and killing in Germany; and - worst of all - the jihad in South America, with the almost total extermination of the "infidel" population. Through it all, the Spanish state was stauchly supported by the official Catholic church, with its own power base in culturally Islamic southern Italy.

Spain emerged as a world power in the 16th century, due to the massive gold reserves looted from South America. It collapsed as a power less than 100 years later, for the same reason: rampant inflation caused by too much money chasing too little real wealth. But only in the 19th century did Spain start emerging from the cultural Islamic paradigm, and only in the anarchist revolution of the 20th did it shake off the Catholic Islamist hegemony. (Note that almost the first act of the Spanish anarchists in any community, as George Orwell noted in Homage to Catalonia, was to kill the priests.)

The Catholic church itself has largely shaken off the Islamist paradigm, at least in northern Europe and North America. But many are still infected by it, including those who grew up in the culturally Islamic areas of Italy, Spain, and the Spanish-occupied parts of South America (such as Argentina, the birthplace of the present Pope).

Which explains one motivation - not the only motivation, of course - for the hostility of some in the Catholic church to libertarians and libertarianism. They see us too as heretics or infidels, suitable only for killing the bodies to save the souls, as with the people of the Netherlands, Germany, and Spanish-occupied South America. Fortunately, with the Church tamed by the Enlightenment, they lack the power, and can only rant and rave about the 'libertarian invasion." But there is nothing but lack of power stopping them from reverting to their previous methods of persuasion.

It is time to identify the Catholic anti-libertarian "crusade" as what it is: a continuation of the historical pattern of Catholic jihadism.

Catalan parliament votes for independence

Spain imposes direct rule after Catalonia votes to declare independence | World news | The Guardian - Sam Jones, Stephen Burgen, & Emma Graham-Harrison: :

October 27, 2017 - "Spain’s national unity suffered a decisive blow on Friday afternoon when Catalan MPs in the 135-seat regional parliament voted for independence by a margin of 70 votes to 10. Dozens of opposition MPs boycotted the secret ballot, marching out of the chamber in Barcelona before it took place and leaving Spanish and Catalan flags on their empty seats in protest.

"Minutes later in Madrid, the Spanish senate granted unprecedented powers to the country’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, to impose direct rule on Catalonia under article 155 of the constitution. The article, which has never been used, allows Rajoy to sack the Catalan government ... and assume control of Catalonia’s civil service, police, finances and public media. It will also pave the way for new regional elections within six months.

"The European Union, the UK, Germany and the United States all said they would not recognise Catalan independence and expressed support for Madrid....

"Rajoy’s cabinet was due to enact the measures after an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday evening and is expected to appeal against the independence declaration in the Spanish constitutional court. Prosecutors will also file charges of 'rebellion' against [Catalan president Carles] Puigdemont, a crime punishable with up to 30 years in jail....

"Much will now depend on how the Spanish government goes about removing Catalan officials from office and how pro-independence activists and the regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, react to the intervention....

"Puigdemont called for a peaceful response to the coming crackdown. 'In the days ahead, we must keep to our values of pacificism and dignity,' he said.... Although the Catalan leader signed a declaration of independence on 10 October, he proposed its effects be suspended for two months to allow for dialogue with Madrid....

"Friday, Rajoy had appeared before the upper house of the Spanish parliament to request authorisation for the government’s use of article 155. He told senators that Puigdemont’s decision to flout the Spanish constitution by staging the independence referendum had forced the central government to take the unprecedented step of imposing direct rule."

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/27/spanish-pm-mariano-rajoy-asks-senate-powers-dismiss-catalonia-president 'via Blog this'

Banned independence vote held in Catalonia

Hidden ballot boxes, encrypted texts: How Catalans staged their referendum - CNN - Erin McLaughlin, Claudia Rebaza and Elena Gyldenkerne:

October 5, 2017 - "Officers with Spain's national security forces, in full riot gear, smashing their way into polling stations, dragging women out by the hair, and firing rubber bullets indiscriminately into crowds as they turned out to vote. It was all part of a coordinated crackdown on Catalonia's disputed independence referendum – banned by Spain's highest court, but held in defiance of Madrid by Catalonia's passionate separatists....

"Despite the attempt to thwart the vote, more than 2 million Catalans made their voice heard. Now CNN has learned more details of the extraordinary covert operation that was mounted to ensure the referendum took place. A network of thousands of officials and volunteers squirreled away ballot boxes, conferred by encrypted messages and met in secret in an effort to get as many people to the polls as possible.

"From the educators who opened up their schools to the people who ferried the ballots and anyone who counted the votes, all risked a fine of up to 300,000 euros (about $350,000). Higher-ranking officials could even face jail. The chief of the Catalan police force, Josep Lluís Trapero, was called to Madrid this week to answer accusations of sedition, or fomenting a rebellion against the state, a crime that carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence....

"The plotters started using Whatsapp, but were worried it was compromised and turned to other encrypted platforms such as Telegram and Signal. Meetings were held in secret, some were canceled last minute out of fear.... The ballot boxes were assembled at the last minute.... In order to try to fool Spanish authorities, the components -- the plastic box, the lid, the insignias, and the box ties -- were stored in separate places.

"The night before the vote, ... activists slept at his assigned school to make sure authorities didn't seal it off. People tucked into sleeping bags spread across the gym floor.... By dawn there was a line of voters.... Some stood for hours, hearts racing as word spread that polling stations were being raided. Tweets and Facebook posts popped up on smartphones, showing voters and coordinators being beaten by the national police....

"Madrid denies that excessive force was used. 'If there was any use of force by police, in any way, it was because they were prevented from doing what they were asked to do,' Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis told CNN.

"Voting was plagued by technical difficulties and confusion.... At some stations, voter identities could not be verified electronically. People were allowed to vote anyway. The final result is still being tallied.

"The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, is expected to make a unilateral declaration of independence at some point after a special session of the Catalan Parliament on Monday."

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/05/europe/catalonia-referendum-covert-operation/index.html
'via Blog this'

Police seal off polls to stop Catalan referendum

Spanish police block polls to try to prevent Catalan independence referendum - World - CBC News - Thomson Reuters:

September 30, 2017 - "Spanish police sealed off schools earmarked as polling stations and occupied the Catalan government's communications hub on Saturday in an effort to prevent a banned independence referendum.

"Supporters of the poll spent the night in schools with their children and say they plan to remain there until Sunday to keep them open for voters, although a Spanish government source said more than half had been closed off....

"Tens of thousands of Catalans are expected to attempt to vote in a ballot that will have no legal status as it has been blocked by Spain's Constitutional Court and Madrid for being at odds with the 1978 constitution.

"Catalonia is a wealthy region within Spain that includes Barcelona, with its own language, which is taught in schools and universally spoken. Should the vote take place, a 'yes' result is likely, given that most of the 40 per cent of Catalans who polls show support independence are expected to cast ballots while most of those against it are not.

"Parents in some of the occupied schools said police officers had told them they could stay as long as they were not doing anything connected with the referendum.... 'The police have been four times,' said Laia, a 41-year-old sociologist at a school in central Barcelona.... ''They read us out the part of the court order that says no activities related to the preparation of the banned referendum are allowed.'

"A Spanish government source said police, who have been mobilized in their thousands to the region in the northeast of Spain to enforce a court order banning the referendum, would remove people from polling stations on Sunday.

"The Catalan government said police had occupied its communications hub and would remain there for two days after Catalonia's High Court ordered police to prevent electronic voting and instructed Google to delete an application it said was being used to spread information on the vote.

"Despite central government and court efforts to prevent the referendum, Catalan Leader Carles Puigdemont told Reuters on Friday it would go ahead, with no last minute compromise."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/catalan-referendum-polls-blocked-1.4315044
'via Blog this'

Recreational cannabis legalized in Catalonia

Catalonia legalises marijuana consumption, cultivation and distribution | The Independent - Chris Baynes:

June 30, 2017 - "The government of Catalonia has legalised marijuana, making the autonomous Spanish region the latest part of the world to loosen restrictions on use of the drug.

"The cultivation, consumption and distribution of cannabis will be permitted for members of designated clubs after the region's parliament voted to regulate them.

"It follows a campaign which gathered 67,500 petition signatures, forcing a government debate.

"Cannabis clubs previously existed in a state of legal limbo in Catalonia after emerging in response to strict fines issued by the national government to users caught taking the drug in public.

"Clubs must be self-sufficient non-profit associations that only distribute cannabis to members aged over 18. They will be limited to producing 150kg of the dried drug a year and subject to rules designed to stop drug tourism.

"In 2014, officials in the Catalan capital Barcelona attempted to curb the boom in cannabis use over fears the city was growing to rival Amsterdam as a marijuana haven. Under the new legal framework, members will not be able to acquire cannabis for 15 days after joining a club....

"Spain's federal government could look to challenge Catalonia's legalisation.

"Last year Spain's highest court overturned Catalonia's 2013 ban on bullfighting after Madrid's ruling party argued it harmed artistic freedom and cultural heritage."

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/catalonia-marijuana-legalise-cannabis-consumption-distribution-spain-region-petition-a7816981.html
'via Blog this'

Cannabis reform creeps forward in Europe

Marijuana Legalization In Europe: Is France Next? - Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes:

January 6, 2017 - "European legislation echoes international law barring consumption of narcotic drugs, although countries can choose whether or not to sanction its use. That detail has given rise to rather peculiar ways to dance around the law, or between the two alternatives.

"Decriminalization means that the use or possession of cannabis is not a criminal offence but the production and commercialization continue to be outlawed, as in the Netherlands. 

"Legalization puts marijuana at the same level as tobacco. It lifts the ban on the use, production and distribution. The state replaces the clandestine market, regulating both demand by excluding certain consumers, such as minors. as well as the commercialization through authorized controlled “pharmacies” or other venues.

 "None of the European Union members has completely legalized marijuana. Spain, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands, among others, have twisted their laws to tolerate and frame the use and sale of small amounts through special dispensaries, recreational stores (coffee shops) and clubs.

"It has also been 'sort of' decriminalized or 'semi legalized' in the Czech Republic, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Croatia, and Slovenia, where the fines are lighter, possession of personal amounts are accepted and legislation carves the difference between 'light' and 'hard' drugs. The Czech Republic, for example, passed a law in 2010 decriminalizing possession of narcotic drugs in small quantities.....

"Germany has a 'special' regime of tolerance that makes the country one of the most lax, despite the fact that possession is still forbidden. It is expected that this year the country will approve licenses to sell cannabis for therapeutic purposes.

"In 2001, Portugal became the first E.U. member to decriminalize personal use of marijuana, although cultivation is still criminal even if the crop is intended for personal use. Sale, too, remains illegal.

"Analyses of the Portuguese law are positive: Consumption of drugs has slightly increased among adults and markedly decreased among young people.

"In Italy, which some predict will become the next European country and the second in the world after Uruguay to legalize cannabis, possession is prohibited but not for personal use and in small quantities.

"In Spain, cultivating cannabis on private property for personal consumption by adults in a private space is legal. 'Cannabis social clubs' that organize those activities number in the hundreds - more than 300 in Barcelona alone. At the same time, and as contradictory as elsewhere, cannabis sales are still illegal.

"France and the rest of the E.U. consider the use of drugs, including cannabis, a criminal offense and its possession is always a crime, even if it doesn't always lead to prison. Cyprus, meanwhile, is the strictest: Possession can be punished by up to eight years in jail."

Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2017/01/06/marijuana-legalization-in-europe-is-france-next/
'via Blog this'

The Hispanic libertarian tradition

Opinion: Hispanic voters and our forgotten libertarian tradition | Fox News Latino - Johnnes Schmidt:

May 19, 2015 - "The prevailing Hispanic alignment to the political left is far from set in stone.  After all, modern day libertarianism was born, in many ways, in the Iberian Peninsula and followed the conquistadors to the New World.  Although some Hispanics might not realize it, a love of liberty is very much a part of our cultural heritage....

"It is no coincidence that the first use of the word 'liberal,' the internationally accepted term for a libertarian, was first used in the 1800s in the context of the Spanish struggle for liberation from Napoleon and his absolutist rule. It is not, in fact, an 'Anglo' word like some scholars would have you believe.

"But the libertarian tradition in Spain begins much earlier than the 19th century; it predates the Enlightenment and even the signing of the Magna Carta.

The Charter of León, issued in 1020 under Alphonso V, for example, granted municipalities judicial and administrative jurisdiction and recognized individual rights.  This check of absolute monarchal power was in place 200 years before the signing of the Magna Carta and was considered a precedent for the United States Constitution by many of the Founders, including John Adams.

"Centuries later, the School of Salamanca would have similar influence and as former Mont Pelerin Society President Leonard Liggio noted in his essay Liberty and Morality: The Neglected Hispanic Tradition, 'modern economics, human rights, and international law were founded in the Iberian universities of the 16th and 17th centuries.'

"Latin America, too, played an important role in the development of libertarian thought. The debates over the humanity and rights of Native Americans (think Bartolomé de las Casas) influenced John Locke and the American Founders.

"Scholars such as Juan de Mariana, Roberto Bellarmine, and Francisco Suárez, both directly and indirectly, helped shape the minds of the fathers of modern day libertarianism. It is for good reason that F.A. Hayek believed that the Spanish Scholastics were the forerunners of the Austrian School of Economics....

"Whether we be first, second or third generation immigrants, we should recognize that we are in the United States because of a lack of political and economic freedom in our native countries. We know that authoritarianism and limited market freedom does not work. It is, without a doubt, why my parents and I left Ecuador in the 1990s.

"It is for this reason that we must be part of the movement to stop the astronomical growth of government that the Bush and Obama years brought to this country. We need to be part of the demographic that elects a politician that stands for limited government and free markets. We are, after all, the original libertarians."

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2015/05/19/opinion-hispanic-voters-and-our-forgotten-libertarian-tradition/
'via Blog this'