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Brick Wall

Polish farmers plan 'complete blockade' of Ukraine border on Feb. 20

STOP sign
© Kacper Pempel/ReutersA Polish farmer promotes protest over price pressures, taxes and green regulations
Poznan, Poland • February 9, 2024
Polish farmers plan a total blockade of all border crossings with Ukraine on Feb. 20, a trade union said on Tuesday, escalating their month-long strike that began last week in protest against EU policies.

Farmers across Europe have been protesting against constraints placed on them by EU measures to tackle climate change, as well as rising costs and what they say is unfair competition from abroad, particularly Ukraine.

In Poland, farmers have been particularly vocal about the impact of cheap food imports from Ukraine. They began a 30-day strike last Friday that has seen them block roads across the country as well as border crossings with Ukraine.

The Solidarity farmers' union, in a statement, said:
"On Feb. 20, as part of the 30-day general strike of farmers, we announce that all protest activities will be focused on a complete blockade of all border crossings between Poland and Ukraine and protests in the field. Not only border crossings will be blocked, but also communication hubs and access roads to transshipment railway stations and sea ports."
truckers
© bne IntelliNewsTruckers at the Polish-Ukrainian border

Comment: Pressure is rising on the border in several ways:
The protest will be against the "uncontrolled inflow of goods from Ukraine" that is causing "problems with the profitability of agricultural production, processing and other industries in our country," Solidarity RI, a farming trade union said in a statement.

Polish farmers are also unhappy with the EU's Green Deal policy, which, they say, imposes too strict measures to protect the environment and climate.

Farmer protests have been underway intermittently along the Polish-Ukrainian border since November.

In the latest round last weekend, protesters at the Dorohusk-Jahodyn border crossing spilled grain from three Ukraine trucks on the ground, causing friction with the Ukrainian side.

Polish agriculture ministry apologised to Ukraine, saying that spilling grain was not the "right form of protest," but it was understandable.

Poland's Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski said in a comment:
"[Polish farmers] are in a very difficult economic situation. At the beginning of spring, they have no money to buy fertilisers and plant protection products. It is hard not to understand their desperation. The government is considering further restrictions and tax measures to curtail Ukrainian imports."
Farmer protests are expected to last until March 8.

They are putting Poland's government in a precarious position ahead of local elections in April in which the ruling coalition will seek to expand power in many rural communities that have so far been under the control of the opposition's Law and Justice (PiS) party.

The blockades on Ukrainian imports have already caused severe damage to Ukrainian farmers and businesses, the country's central bank said earlier this month.



Dollar

Climate agenda set to push food prices even higher, analysts say

meats
© Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSafeway store shopper • San Francisco, California
As inflation remains stubbornly high, farmers throughout the Western world are warning that cost increases from the net zero movement will drive food prices still higher, while simultaneously putting many smaller farmers out of business.

January inflation numbers showed that prices increased by 3.1 percent over what they were a year ago, indicating that the fight against inflation, while progressing, has not been won.

Overall, prices have surged by nearly 18 percent since January 2021 when President Joe Biden took office.

Americans are struggling in an economy in which, by official statistics, nearly one-fifth of the value of their dollars has evaporated in three years — though many will say the cost of food and other essentials has become more expensive than what the official numbers state.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which tracks food prices, offers an optimistic assessment of the coming year. After having gone up 9.9 percent in 2022, the USDA states, "[food] prices grew more slowly in 2023," increasing by only 5.8 percent.

"Food prices are expected to continue to decelerate in 2024," the USDA projects.

While some predict that the worst is behind us, analysts of the U.S. farming industry say there is another round of price inflation in the works, which will come from the Biden administration's "whole of government" effort to reduce global temperatures.

A recent report by the Buckeye Institute attempts to quantify the cost of Bidenomics to farmers.

Oil Pipeline

EU bought almost €30bn worth of Russian energy last year - media

Working men gas pipe
© Global Look Press / Zhao Jialin
Despite bans and extensive sanctions, the bloc has continued to import oil, petroleum products and natural gas from Moscow

Russia supplied just over €29 billion ($31.2 billion) worth of energy to the EU last year, according to data from the bloc's statistics office, Eurostat, as cited by the Russian business daily RBK.

This figure represents a threefold drop compared with the previous year, when the EU purchased over €90 billion worth of Russian energy.

The bloc continues to import Russian oil, petroleum products, and natural gas. Though Brussels banned purchasing oil and petroleum products from Russia, temporary exemptions were provided for the import of Russian seaborne oil by Bulgaria and for use of the Druzhba oil pipeline, which supplies Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, Russian pipeline gas and LNG were not affected by the restrictions.

Comment: Sanctions on the one hand, but then buying the sanctioned goods in a roundabout way on the other is not only expensive, but also incredibly stupid and calls into question the credibility of the decision-makers. Not only that, but it could also backfire for the EU. And Russia doesn't give a damn about the sanctions. Some buy less, others buy more. It all depends on the right negotiations.

See also:


Bizarro Earth

Record number of teenage first-time offenders in The Netherlands

Firefighters use a water hose
© AP Photo/Lewis JolyFILE: Firefighters use a water hose on a burnt car in Nanterre, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 1, 2023.
In 2022, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) disclosed that more than 17,000 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 were implicated in criminal activities, as reported by NL Times. Among them, 11,000 were facing legal repercussions for the first time, marking a historical high. The majority of these first-time offenders were boys, constituting three-quarters of the total.

According to CBS, there has been a noticeable rise in the proportion of young individuals getting involved in criminal behavior for the first time in recent years. In 2022, 83 percent of the 4,000-plus girls suspected of crimes were first-time offenders, a significant increase from 72 percent in 2014. Similarly, 60 percent of the nearly 13,000 boys suspected of crimes in 2022 were first-time offenders, up from 53 percent in 2014.

Comment: Whilst soaring poverty will be a significant contributing factor, data from Sweden shows that another point to consider is how weaponised mass migration factors in here; notably that data is absent from the report above. And with both of these aggravating factors worsening, it's likely that crime will too:


Biohazard

Beauty spot beaches on Tobago island are turned black after ship runs aground and spills oil along 10 miles of coastline

tobago
A massive oil spill off the coast of Tobago island which has turned the beaches black is 'not under control', the countries' Prime Minister said.

The spill was caused after a mystery 300ft-long vessel capsized on Wednesday in waters off the Caribbean island, having made no emergency calls, with no sign of crew, and no clear sign of ownership.

The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Keith Rowley, declared a national emergency today as oil leaking from the vessel affected some ten miles of coastline.

Comment: See also:




Stock Up

January inflation breakdown: Where are prices still rising the fastest?

Inflation
© Pixabay / viarami
Inflation rose faster than expected in January as an increase in the cost of rent and food kept prices elevated for millions of U.S. households.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that the consumer price index, a broad measure of the price of everyday goods including gasoline, groceries and rent, rose 0.3% in January from the previous month. Prices climbed 3.1% from the same time last year.

Both of those figures came in higher than the 0.2% monthly increase and 2.9% headline figure forecast by Refinitiv economists.

"Inflation is generally moving in the right direction... But it's important to remember that a lower inflation rate does not mean that prices of most things are falling," said Lisa Sturtevant, Bright MLS chief economist. "Rather, it simply means that prices are rising more slowly. Consumers are still feeling the pinch of higher prices for the things they buy most often."

Syringe

Hunter Biden's phone contained multiple photos of cocaine, crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia: DOJ

Hunter Biden 1
© Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images/FileHunter Biden
President Biden's son Hunter's iPhone reportedly had pictures and videos of "apparent" cocaine, crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia.

According to the Department of Justice, the president's son took "multiple photographs" of his alleged drug use in November and December 2018.

Tuesday's filing showed photos and text messages from Hunter's iPhone of exchanges with his drug dealer.

"Prior to October 12, 2018 (the date of the gun purchase), the defendant took photos of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia on his phone," the documents said. '"Also prior to his gun purchase, the defendant routinely sent messages about purchasing drugs."

Pistol

Kansas City shooting at Chiefs Super Bowl parade leaves at least 1 dead, 22 wounded

kansas city shooting
© Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesLaw enforcement and medical personnel respond to a shooting at Union Station during the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl LVIII victory parade on February 14, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. Several people were shot and two people were detained after a rally celebrating the Chiefs Super Bowl victory.
Kansas City Police said one person is dead, and 22 others were injured by gunfire after a shooting near the Chiefs' Super Bowl victory rally at Union Station on Wednesday.

Nine children are among the 22 injured by gunfire. In total, 11 children were injured, and they range in age from 6 to 15, according to Children's Mercy Hospital. None of the children are in critical condition. They are all expected to recover, the hospital said.

During a press conference Wednesday evening, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said three people were detained. At least one weapon was also recovered by police.

V

Canada's Freedom Convoy protesters sue Trudeau, Freeland following Federal Court ruling

freedom convoy canada collage
© Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images, Shutterstock
Several Freedom Convoy protesters, buoyed by a recent victory in Canadian federal court, said they're preparing to sue the federal government, banks, and the police that brought the 2022 protest to a heated end.

"I think it's the second phase to what took place with the federal court case," military veteran and plaintiff Eddie Cornell said. "We've got a big hill to climb, but it's something that's necessary. It has to be done."

On Jan. 23, Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley issued a ruling against the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act in response to the protests and blockades that gridlocked Canada's capital Ottawa for weeks.

The government's use of the act did "not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility — and was not justified in relation to the relevant factual and legal constraints that were required to be taken into consideration," Justice Mosley wrote in his ruling.

Attention

France censors Telegram channels on the day Ukraine does a bloodbath in Belgorod

Censored
© ir-press.ru
On 15 February 2024, while Ukraine was heavily bombing the Russian town of Belgorod (killing several civilians, including a baby), France censored around twenty French-language Telegram channels for "disinformation". The timing of this censorship clearly indicates that Paris no longer wants the French to know that Ukraine is deliberately killing civilians with weapons supplied to it by Western countries.

In the middle of the day on 15 February 2024, the Ukrainian army fired 18 rockets with Vampire multiple rocket launchers supplied by the Czech Republic (the range of the rockets used was 40 km). Russian anti-aircraft defence shot down 14 rockets, but four continued to fly towards the city. The result was a veritable bloodbath. Six people, including a baby, were killed and 17 injured. With several people in a serious condition, the death toll could still rise.