A crisis rarely comes alone and the current one certainly does not. How a war amplifies the energy crisis and will lead to higher food prices, declining food production and a greater need for warm clothing. Because oil and gas producers have invested little in new oil and gas extraction with a view to 'getting rid of fossils', they are unable to increase production in order to slow down oil and gas prices, writes the Financial Times. As a result, the green Western policy is pushing up prices even more, as a result of the battle between Russia and NATO for Ukraine. By Thursday morning, the international oil benchmark Brent had risen to $102 a barrel, the highest level since 2014. It later rose to $105; the price has now fallen below $100 again. Insiders stated yesterday morning that the gas price has already risen by more than 40% since the Russian attack, an unprecedented high percentage within a day.
Much less barrels Russia is the world's third largest producer of crude oil and the main supplier of natural gas to Europe. Christyan Malek, head of global energy strategy at JPMorgan, expects Brent to reach $125 in the second quarter of this year. Global spare capacity, usually around 5 million barrels per day, has now fallen to 2.8 million barrels per day. According to Bob McNally, head of Rapidan Energy Group, the disruption from the Russian attack in Ukraine will likely be limited to that portion of the oil and gas transported through Ukraine. But more importantly, he thinks it becomes clear that there will be no interruption in the oil and gas supply. Putin guarantees it, but conditionally. Until that clarity is there, he expects prices to rise. Europe is 40% dependent on gas from Russia. Russia's Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov also said at an energy conference in Qatar on Tuesday that Russia aims to keep its gas flows "uninterrupted." If that fails, there is no country that can take over this gas supply, the Qatari energy minister said at the same conference. After all, as with oil, there was already a shortage on the reserve market. Russia has long refused to supply more gas to Europe than was contractually required. As a result, Europe had to draw on its stocks, which meant that reserves had already dwindled sharply before the invasion of Ukraine. Germany announced last Tuesday that it was halting certification of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would bypass Ukraine to supply Russian gas directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea. It is not inconceivable that Russia will further restrict the supply of gas in response to this. Putin's power: Energy The rising gas price is a reason for Greenhouse Horticulture Netherlands to urge the government to act quickly. "The longer it takes, the more entrepreneurs get into trouble. Some of them are already eating their bank balance. But eventually all contracts will expire," says Alexander Formsma of Greenhouse Horticulture Netherlands. He also points out that this situation means that horticultural companies no longer have any money left over to become more sustainable. As I wrote before, everyone will notice if Russia turns off the gas tap. Within four weeks we will all be cold. For the time being, we can hope that the editor-in-chief's gamble will come true: it is to be hoped that Russia will indeed 'let us feel it for a while' and will leave it at that. According to the South China Morning Post, China still sees opportunities to get out of the process diplomatically, which started with bloodshed. After all, Europe - which depends on energy imports to keep daily life and industry running - has no way out at the moment. Putin has made it clear that he has the power to drastically disrupt life and has us by the throat.
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The Collaboration of Ukrainian Nationalists with Nazi GermanyBoth the Ukrainian state and its society have undergone dramatic changes since the beginning of the new millennium. With the “Orange Revolution” in 2004 and even more with the “Revolution of Dignity”(Euromaidan) in the winter of 2013/14, a slow and difficult process of inner liberalization, democratization and modernization took shape that might finally result in the integration of the country into the European Union.
Alongside these remarkable changes, extremely emotional and conflict-laden debates about the historical past and national legacy are also taking place. This often leads to painful retrospection, taking into ac-count that recent Ukrainian history was battered by two World Wars and also 70 years interlocked with the Soviet Communist regime a history full of repression, violence, ethnic conflicts and paternalism. It is the narrative of a repeated national awakening and keen fights for freedom, but also of aggression against vulnerable ethno-cultural minorities in similar circumstances. A Ukrainian feeling of national cohesion arose in the 19th century, firstly in the arts, language and intellectual ideas. Poets like Taras Shevchenko, musicians like Mykola Lyssenko and painters like Oleksandr Murashko planted the seeds of Ukrainian culture and character. As in many other ethno-cultural groups of the centenary, national patriotism also gained traction, along with the vision of an independent Ukrainian state. These efforts have been stunted twice, first of all by external forces in the course of both World Wars (and more than ever in their results.) Moreover, the Ukrainian fight for independence has regrettably twice turned into political and military radicalization, not least at the expense of minorities like the Jews. It is possible to retrace this ambivalence surrounding idolized heroes bravely and somewhat successful fighting for freedom in both World Wars, while at the same time unable to prevent mass crimes committed by their own followers. This is true, for example, in the case of Symon Petljura, the highly esteemed govern-mental head of the short-lived independent Ukraine at the end of World War I, and similarly true in the case of Stepan Bandera, the leader of the Ukrainian na-tionalist organization OUN-B in the 1940s. Petljura was assassinated in Parisin May 1926 by the Jewish activist Salomon Schwarzbart, who avenged his family killed by Petljura troops in the Russian Civil War years before. Bandera was murdered in Munichin 1959 by a Soviet KGB (Комитетгосударственнойбезопас-ности/Committee for State Security) agent. Consequences of challenging NAZI authority Auxiliary police 109, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 201-st Ukrainian Schutzmannschaftant-battalions participated in anti-partisan operations in Ukraine and Belarus. In February — March 1943 50-th Ukrainian Schutzmannschaftant-battalion participated in the large anti-guerrilla action «Winterzauber» (Winter magic) in Belarus, cooperating with several Latvian and 2nd Lithuanian battalion. Schuma-battalions burned down villages suspected in supporting Soviet partisans. ("Gerlach, C. «Kalkulierte Morde» Hamburger Edition, Hamburg, 1999"). All inhabitants of the village Khatyn in Belarus were burnt alive by the Nazis with participation of the 118th Schutzmannschaft battalion on 22 March 1943. Waffen-SS Division "Galizien" By April 28, 1943 the German Command had created the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Galizien (1st Ukrainian) manned by 14,000 Ukrainians. The history, composition, and function of the Waffen-SS Galizien are the topic of contentious debate among scholars still today. Some have held that these men volunteered eagerly for war against the Soviets, claiming that as evidence of active support of Nazi Germany: [Williamson, G: "The SS: Hitler's Instrument of Terror"] while others claim that at least some of them were victims of compulsory conscription as Germany suffered defeats and lost manpower on the eastern front. [cite book | author=Melnyk, Michael | title=To Battle: The Formation and History of the 14. Gallician SS Volunteer Division | publisher=Helion and Company Ltd] Sol Litman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center claims that there are many proven and documented incidents of atrocities and massacres committed by the Waffen-SS Galizien against minorities, particularly Jews during the course of WWII: [cite book | author=Litman, Sol | title=Pure Soldiers or Bloodthirsty Murderers?: The Ukrainian 14th Waffen-SS Galicia Division | edition=Hardcover | publisher=Black Rose Books | year=2003| id=ISBN 1551642190] however other authors, including Michael Melnyk, [cite book | author=Melnyk, Michael | title=To Battle: The Formation and History of the 14. Gallician SS Volunteer Division | publisher=Helion and Company Ltd] and Michael O. Logusz [cite book | author=Logusz, Michael | title=Galicia Division: The Waffen-SS 14th grenadier Division 1943-1945 | publisher=Schiffer Publishing] maintain that members of the division fought almost entirely at the front against the Soviet Red Army and defend the unit against the accusations made by Litman and others since the war. Neither the division nor any of its members were ever charged with any war crime. Virtual chain restaurant provider Rocket Kitchens has unveiled the first Dogecoin-inspired cryptocurrency burger joint in Dubai. The restaurant named Doge Burger will also allow payments through Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, CRO, XRP, USDT, and Shiba Inu, local outlet Time Out Dubai reports. On the menu, the restaurant will offer a beef burger, chicken burger, mushroom Swiss burger, a char cheese, and garden burger alongside hot dogs. Customers can place orders through the restaurant’s website, where the cost of the burgers will range from Dhs35 to Dhs50. According to the founders, the initial capital used to open the restaurant is from profits emanating from early Dogecoin investments. The restaurant seeks to capitalize on the growing shift towards cryptocurrency payments across the United Arab Emirates. Notably, businesses have been accepting crypto payments in UAE as early as 2014, and more operators have been setting up shop in the region, launching various crypto-related products.
DOGE records more adoption The launch of Doge Burger highlights the impact of DOGE’s meteoric rise in value over the past year. Although the token was criticized for lacking utility, DOGE as a payment mode is likely to drive more adoption. As reported by Finbold, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO and crypto proponent Elon Musk revealed the electric vehicle manufacturer will start accepting DOGE payments for its merchandise. Notably, Musk has stated that DOGE has better qualities than Bitcoin. Following the rise in value witnessed in 2021, most countries are warming up to DOGE, mainly inspired by the prospects of embarking on another bull run in the near future. In this line, the United States emerged as the most pro-Dogecoin nation globally as of 2021, with 31.6% of cryptocurrency owners in the U.S. holding the meme cryptocurrency. Australia emerged second at 29%, followed by Norway at 27.4%. DOGE’s price By press time, DOGE was trading at $0.13, dropping by almost 10% over the last seven days. The tokens have experienced widespread market volatility that has accelerated in 2022. Despite the correction, DOGE continues to attract interest within the crypto community, with investors looking for the token’s next all-time high. Following developments like increased utilization as a payment option, DOGE might hit the $0.5 mark by the end of 2022. But have a little sympathy for them: they do this not just because it is cynically convenient (though it is), but because this is literally the only way they know how to navigate and influence the world. The post-modern fish swims in a narrative sea, and their first reaction is always to try to control it (through what the CCP calls “discourse power”) because at heart they well and truly believe in the idea of the “social construction of reality,” as Lasch pointed out in the quote at top. If there is no fixed, objective truth, only power, then the mind’s will rules the world. Facts can be reframed as needed to create the story that best produces the correct results for Progress (this is why you will find journalists are now professionally obsessed with “storytelling” rather than reporting facts).
Normally all one need do is recast the dominant narrative of events in such a way as to allow the system to reestablish compliance by enough links in the informational control chains to inspire physical action in meat space – or at least just distract the public until the problem goes away. The problem is that none of this has worked to move the trucks. The Virtual class can’t move the trucks. Smears alone can’t move trucks. All the towing companies in Ottawa have refused to move the trucks. Because, surprisingly, it turns out tow truck drivers also drive trucks for a living. There aren’t enough police to seize the trucks, because the rank and file police in Ottawa have been taking all of their vacation and sick days, mysteriously not showing up for work, or simply resigning. It turns out that police officers tend to also be part of the Physical class, and class solidarity may actually be a thing. According to a report published by German cryptocurrency media outlet BTC-ECHO, the European Parliament, one of the legislative branches of the European Union, has moved to ban Bitcoin and other proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrencies. The final draft of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, the much-anticipated package of cryptocurrency regulations, includes a provision forbidding the “environmentally unsustainable” consensus mechanism. This means that Bitcoin could become illegal within the European Union starting from Jan. 1, 2025. Businesses would be prohibited from offering any services associated with proof-of-work cryptocurrencies.
Stefan Berger, the center-right rapporteur behind the framework, told the outlet that the proposal was “very likely” to be greenlit. It was pushed by centre-left Social Democrats, the Greens and the Left Party. Some Christian Democrats and right-wing conservatives opposed the addition of the Bitcoin ban, but it was a deal-breaker for the parties that supported cracking down on proof-of-work. The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, will be engaging in a trialogue with the member states and the Parliament before reaching a final decision later this year. Patrick Hansen, head of growth and strategy at decentralized finance start-up Unstoppable Finance, described the proposal as “suicidal,” predicting that it would kill the entire crypto industry in the EU. But the most relevant distinction between Virtuals and Physicals is that the Virtuals are now everywhere unambiguously the ruling class. In a world in which knowledge is the primary component of value-added production (or so we are told), and economic activity is increasingly defined by the digital and the abstract, they have been the overwhelming winners, accumulating financial, political, and cultural status and influence.
In part this is because the ruling class is also a global class, and so has access to global capital. It is global because the world’s city-brains are directly connected with each other across virtual space, and are in constant communication. Indeed their residents have far more in common with each other, including across national borders, than they do with the local people of their own hinterlands, who are in comparison practically from another planet. But the Virtual ruling class has a vulnerability that it has not yet solved. The cities in which their bodies continue to occupy mundane physical reality require a whole lot of physical infrastructure and manpower to function: electricity, sewage, food, the vital Sumatra-to-latte supply chain, etc. Ultimately, they still remain reliant on the physical world. The great brain hubs of the Virtuals float suspended in the expanse of the Physicals, complex arterial networks pumping life-sustaining resources inward from their hosts. So when the Physicals of the Canadian host-body revolted against their control, the Virtual class suddenly faced a huge problem. When the truckers rolled their big rigs, which weigh about 35,000 pounds, up to the political elite’s doorstep, engaged their parking brakes (or removed their wheels entirely), and refused to leave until their concerns were addressed, this was like dropping a very solid boulder of reality in the Virtuals’ front lawn and daring them to remove it without assistance. And because the Virtuals do not yet actually have the Jedi powers to move things with their minds, the truckers effectively called their bluff on who ultimately has control over the world. To simplify, let’s first identify and categorize two classes of people in society, who we could say tend to navigate and interact with the world in fundamentally different ways. The first is a class that has been a part of human civilization for a really long time. These are the people who work primarily in the real, physical world. Maybe they work directly with their hands, like a carpenter, or a mechanic, or a farmer. Or maybe they are only a step away: they own or manage a business where they organize and direct employees who work with their hands, and buy or sell or move things around in the real world. Like a transport logistics company, maybe. This class necessarily works in a physical location, or they own or operate physical assets that are central to their trade.
The second class is different. It is, relatively speaking, a new civilizational innovation (at least in numbering more than a handful of people). This group is the “thinking classes” Lasch was writing about above. They don’t interact much with the physical world directly; they are handlers of knowledge. They work with information, which might be digital or analog, numerical or narrative. But in all cases it exists at a level of abstraction from the real world. Manipulation and distribution of this information can influence the real world, but only through informational chains that pass directives to agents that can themselves act in the physical world – a bit like a software program that sends commands to a robot arm on an assembly line. To facilitate this, they build and manage abstract institutions and systems of organizational communication as a means of control. Individuals in this class usually occupy middle links in these informational chains, in which neither the inputs nor outputs of their role has any direct relationship with or impact on the physical world. They are informational middlemen. This class can therefore do their job almost entirely from a laptop, by email or a virtual Zoom meeting, and has recently realized they don’t even need to be sitting in an office cubicle while they do it. Like many, I have spent the last couple of weeks a bit entranced by the trucker protests happening in Canada (and now around the world, from Paris to Wellington). I initially tried to document here every twist and turn of the Freedom Convoy drama, but found it nearly impossible. Events continue to unfold very quickly. As I write this, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has just invoked the Emergencies Act (i.e. martial law), allowing him to suspend civil liberties and basically do whatever he wants (more on that later) to crush the protests. So they may soon be quelled. Or perhaps not. No one can yet say precisely how all this may end.
But in any case news and commentary detailing the protests can now be found everywhere, so I’m just going to assume you already have a familiarity with what’s happening, as I want to try to distill a few more unique thoughts on why I find these protests so striking. Specifically, why all this seems like such a perfect reflection of the Reality War. In that essay, I noted how from the perspective of those with the most wealth and power, as well as the technocratic managers and the intelligentsia (our “priestly class, keepers of the Gnosis [Knowledge]”), digital technology and global networks seem to have created “an unprecedented opportunity for Theory to wrest control from recalcitrant nature, for liquid narrative to triumph over mundanely static reality, and for all the corrupt traditional bonds of the world to be severed, its atoms reconfigured in a more correct and desirable manner.” In this mostly subconscious vision of “Luxury Gnosticism,” the “middle and lower classes can then be sold dispossession and disembodiment as liberation, while those as yet ‘essential’ working classes who still cling distastefully to the physical world can mostly be ignored until the day they can be successfully automated out of existence.” I also quoted a passage from the late Christopher Lasch’s book The Revolt of the Elites that is worth repeating here: The thinking classes are fatally removed from the physical side of life… Their only relation to productive labour is that of consumers. They have no experience of making anything substantial or enduring. They live in a world of abstractions and images, a simulated world that consists of computerized models of reality – “hyperreality,” as it’s been called – as distinguished from the palatable, immediate, physical reality inhabited by ordinary men and women. Their belief in “social construction of reality” – the central dogma of postmodernist thought – reflects the experience of living in an artificial environment from which everything that resists human control (unavoidably, everything familiar and reassuring as well) has been rigorously excluded. Control has become their obsession. In their drive to insulate themselves against risk and contingency – against the unpredictable hazards that afflict human life – the thinking classes have seceded not just from the common world around them but from reality itself. So let’s consider this using the protests as a lens, and vice versa. The World Economic Forum (WEF), which has met at the Swiss ski resort of Davos every year since its creation in 1971 by German academic and entrepreneur Klaus Schwab, was forced to convert its annual schmooze fest into a virtual event this year due to COVID-19. Of note on the main agenda was a “stakeholder capitalism” panel, which included Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland. The former-journalist-turned-politician has been a fixture at the WEF for years. Rubbing shoulders at Davos with the world’s rich, famous and powerful was one of the inspirations for her 2012 book, Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else.
Indeed, in her book, Freeland notes that an invitation to Davos “marks an aspiring plutocrat’s arrival on the international scene.” The global elite don’t especially enjoy the glare of publicity on their privileged lifestyles, so much so that Freeland wrote in a 2015 opinion piece in The Guardian: “After my book, Plutocrats, was published in 2012, I was even — and I know this will shock you — disinvited to a Davos dinner party!” If the doors of Davos were closing for Freeland, they swung wide open after her entry into politics in 2013. Indeed, the one-time critic has enjoyed an apotheosis of sorts and since 2019 has sat on the board of trustees of the WEF itself. Other members include Canada’s own Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England; Al Gore, former U.S. vice-president; Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest individual; Larry Fink, head of BlackRock, the world’s largest investment fund; and a slew of other bankers, CEOs, tycoons and celebrities. Notably, Freeland is the only government minister presently on the board. When Turkish finance minister Nureddin Nebati this week announced plans to encourage households to convert their gold holdings into Turkish liras in a bid to shore up Turkish central bank reserves, he was targeting people like Esra G. Ms. G., whose last name has been abbreviated to preserve her anonymity, has had a life-long troubled relationship with gold. When she was barely three years old, her distaste for it as an adornment was already so strong that she dumped all her gold rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings into the Bosporus.
Nonetheless, Ms. G. grew up to be an avid collector of gold, including an assortment of five- and 10-gram Credit Suisse coins. As a young woman, Ms. G. preferred antique silver jewelry and wouldn’t wear gold but kept her gold collection under her pillow. Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic on Thursday received a warm welcome at the Dubai Expo 2020 following the global drama around his decision to remain unvaccinated. After being twice detained and deported from Australia ahead of the year's first Grand Slam Tournament last month, Djokovic was in the United Arab Emirates for the Duty Free Tennis Championships. While at the world’s fair, Djokovic posed for selfies with adoring fans and set off on a guided tour of Serbia’s national pavilion.
The pavilion was hosting an event for his foundation, the Novak Djokovic Foundation, which promotes early childhood education in Serbia. As he ambled into the pavilion surrounded by a sea of journalists, fans clapped and chanted "Nole," his nickname. "I’m proud to be on this stage," Djokovic said after his wife Jelena gave a presentation about the foundation’s work with children. He said it was often hard to be involved as much as he wanted to be with the foundation given his whirlwind tournament schedule. But he quickly acknowledged: "It’s not as busy as it used to be." A new HIV variant with higher virulence and more damaging health impacts has been discovered in a study led by the University of Oxford. As the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated, new mutations in viral genetic sequences can have significant impacts on the virus’s transmissibility and the damage it causes. For many years, there have been concerns that this could arise in the HIV-1 virus, which already affects 38 million people worldwide, and has caused 33 million deaths to date (www.unaids.org). This has now been confirmed with the discovery of a new, highly virulent HIV strain in the Netherlands, in an international collaborative study with key contributions from the Dutch HIV Monitoring Foundation and led by researchers from the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute. The results are published today in Science.
Individuals infected with the new “VB variant” (for virulent subtype B) showed significant differences before antiretroviral treatment compared with individuals infected with other HIV variants:
Reassuringly, after starting treatment, individuals with the VB variant had similar immune system recovery and survival to individuals with other HIV variants. However, the researchers stress that because the VB variant causes a more rapid decline in immune system strength, this makes it critical that individuals are diagnosed early and start treatment as soon as possible. Further research to understand the mechanism that causes the VB variant to be more transmissible and damaging to the immune system could reveal new targets for next-generation antiretroviral drugs. The VB variant is characterized by many mutations spread throughout the genome, meaning that a single genetic cause cannot be identified at this stage. Lead author Dr Chris Wymant, from the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute and Nuffield Department of Medicine, said: ‘Before this study, the genetics of the HIV virus were known to be relevant for virulence, implying that the evolution of a new variant could change its impact on health. Discovery of the VB variant demonstrated this, providing a rare example of the risk posed by viral virulence evolution.’ Senior author Professor Christophe Fraser from the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute and Nuffield Department of Medicine, added: ‘Our findings emphasise the importance of World Health Organization guidance that individuals at risk of acquiring HIV have access to regular testing to allow early diagnosis, followed by immediate treatment. This limits the amount of time HIV can damage an individual’s immune system and jeopardise their health. It also ensures that HIV is suppressed as quickly as possible, which prevents transmission to other individuals.’ The VB variant was first identified in 17 HIV positive individuals from the BEEHIVE project, an ongoing study which collects samples from across Europe and Uganda. Since 15 of these people came from the Netherlands, the researchers then analysed data from a cohort of over 6,700 HIV positive individuals in the Netherlands. This identified an additional 92 individuals with the variant, from all regions of the Netherlands, bringing the total to 109. By analysing the patterns of genetic variation among the samples, the researchers estimate that the VB variant first arose during the late 1980s and 1990s in the Netherlands. It spread more quickly than other HIV variants during the 2000s, but its spread has been declining since around 2010. The research team believe that the VB variant arose in spite of widespread treatment in the Netherlands, not because of it, since effective treatment can suppress transmission. The individuals with the VB variant showed typical characteristics for people living with HIV in the Netherlands, including age, sex, and suspected mode of transmission. This indicates that the increased transmissibility of the VB variant is due to a property of the virus itself, rather than a characteristic of people with the virus. Huddled under blankets and thermal shields, dozens of elderly patients shivered on gurneys outside a hospital serving one of Hong Kong's poorest communities -- a grim tableau for the city as its health system buckles under an Omicron-fuelled coronavirus wave. "We call this the fever zone," a nurse in full-body protective gear told AFP, declining to be named. "Don't get too close." Hong Kong is in the throes of its worst coronavirus outbreak, and record new daily infections have pushed hospitals in the finance hub to the breaking point. On Monday, Caritas Medical Centre in Sham Shui Po district started setting up isolation tents outside its facilities -- initially limiting one Covid patient per tent. But by nightfall Wednesday, entire families were crammed into the tents, while about 50 others languished in the February chill on hospital beds wheeled outside. "Some of my colleagues say we are now in battlefield mode," said David Chan, an emergency room nurse at Caritas who is also the acting president of Hong Kong's Hospital Authority Employees Alliance. "We are worried that the patients' conditions will worsen later this week," he told AFP, calling the situation "very undesirable". One of Chan's big concerns was the forecast for wet weather. Later that evening, rain began to fall.
Unvaccinated elderly Like mainland China, Hong Kong has adhered to a zero-Covid strategy, which has largely kept the virus out but left the business hub cut off from the world. Until the most recent outbreak, all patients were treated in dedicated Covid isolation wards, and close contacts were sent to a quarantine camp. But the extremely contagious Omicron virus variant has left authorities scrambling and exposed shortcomings in plans to deal with a major outbreak. On Wednesday, the daily caseload hit a record 4,285 confirmed infections with a further 7,000 preliminary positives in the densely packed city of 7.5 million. Before the latest wave, Hong Kong had recorded just over 12,000 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Health experts say the daily case numbers could rise to 28,000 by March. Especially vulnerable are Hong Kong's vaccine-hesitant elderly. Despite ample supplies, only 43% of those aged 70-79 and 26% of over-80s opted to get jabbed. Last week, the government said people with mild cases could isolate at home but by Wednesday, there were still 12,000 people waiting to be hospitalised. 'No plan' At Caritas, the wave of patients has left staff "exhausted, stressed out and helpless", Chan said. "It's so painful that we have been working non-stop but we still cannot take care of every patient properly," he told AFP, adding that the current crisis outpaced what they faced at the beginning of the pandemic. "Back then, we did not know the virus well and we were short of equipment," he said. "Two years on, we expected the Hospital Authority to have better plans -- but there turned out to be none." City leader Carrie Lam ruled out a hard, China-style lockdown on Tuesday. But the following day, Beijing-controlled newspapers carried an order from President Xi Jinping telling Hong Kong authorities to take "all necessary measures" to control the outbreak. Yet it remains unclear whether Hong Kong could ever make it back to zero Covid cases, given the rapidly increasing number of infections in the territory. 'Sandcastles in a tsunami' The government has opened temporary Covid clinics and plans to build a makeshift mega-hospital. It also plans to requisition 3,000 unoccupied public housing apartments and is looking into whether hotels can house some cases. But whether those measures will come in time remains to be seen. In the Caritas parking area past the "fever zone", a worried mother cradled her two-year-old -- trying to keep the toddler comfortable as they waited in the 15 degree Celsius chill. "I kept calling the (government Covid) hotlines but none of them connected," the woman, who provided just her surname Chau, told AFP, adding that her daughter was running a high fever. When they arrived two hours prior, nurses instructed her to get tested -- which could take hours as she joined some 120 people waiting outside Caritas. "They have no wards for you, so you have no choice but to go home," Chau said. Healthcare professionals have long warned that Hong Kong's public hospitals were underfunded and unprepared for a coronavirus surge. Even during previous flu outbreaks, hospitals had "buckled", said Siddharth Sridhar -- a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong -- in a tweet Wednesday. "Now, with a disease that is more transmissible/severe than flu, and requires exposed staff to quarantine, HK's hospitals are sandcastles in a tsunami." Ominous developments in Canada, where the Canadian government under prime minister Justin Trudeau has now invoked a never before used Emergencies Act (written in 1988) under the pretext of a crisis, so as to try to smash ongoing protests directed at that very same government.
The Emergency Act was designed to cover four types of emergencies, public welfare emergencies, public order emergencies, international emergencies and war emergencies, none of which currently exist in Canada. However, powers under the Emergencies Act allow Trudeau’s government to ban travel, force movement of people, prevent movement of people, and force private companies to do what the government directs. Not surprisingly, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association has come out saying that the invocation of this Emergencies Act is a “threat” to Canada’s democracy and civil liberties. Most shockingly, an Order under the Emergencies Act, revealed by Canada’s deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, now allows Canadian banks and financial institutions to freeze both personal and corporate bank accounts in Canada. As of Monday 14 February, Canadian banks and other financial service providers are able “to immediately freeze or suspend an account without a court order”, and will be free of liability in doing so. The Order also allows the Canadian government to share information with private banks about bank account holders. The powers also allow the Canadian government to monitor crypto transactions of Canadians. So if you are in Canada, and thought that your bank account deposits and savings were safe and private, think again, as your bank accounts and your savings are now subject to being frozen or suspended. Can it happen to your country? While it is always important to keep some of your assets outside the banking system, ring-fenced from financial repression, banking sector bail-ins and negative interest rates, those in Canada now have another reason – to stop your funds from being literally frozen. This is also a taste of what central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) will look like in the not too distant future, where governments can switch off access to account based CBDCs if citizens are ‘not playing ball'. Saving and investing in physical precious metals allows you to have full ownership of gold and silver bars and coins that if you store at home or store with a non-bank third party vaulting provider, are completely outside the banking system and safe from government and central bank interference. If you think this is a Canadian problem, think again, as both Trudeau and Freeland are very much involved with the elite operated World Economic Forum (WEF) which is angling for a ‘Great Reset’ and a world of surveillance and control. Trudeau is a WEF Young Global Leader and frequent WEF speaker, and Freeland is even one of the board of trustees of the WEF. If protests about civil liberties in Canada can lead to these tyrannical powers being introduced, this can also happen elsewhere, as to quote the WEF’s Klaus Schwab "we penetrate the cabinets” of governments around the world. Be aware, as maybe in your country, the Covid restrictions will be eased soon, there will be more threats on the horizon. Another pandemic, internet hacking or the financial system collapse can or will be the next step. Be prepared and take good care of yourself. The government and central bank in Russia have reached an agreement on how to regulate cryptocurrencies, according to a Tuesday announcement. Russia’s government and central bank are now working on a draft law that will define crypto as an “analogue of currencies” rather than digital financial assets set to be launched on Feb. 18. Cryptocurrencies would function in the legal industry only if they have complete identification through the banking system or licensed intermediaries.
Kommersant noted that Bitcoin (BTC) transactions and possession of cryptocurrency in the Russian Federation are not prohibited; however, they must be done through a “digital currency exchange organizer” (a bank) or a peer-to-peer exchange licensed in the country. The report also highlights that cryptocurrency transactions of more than 600,000 rubles (roughly $8,000) would have to be declared; otherwise, it could be considered a criminal act. Those who illegally accept cryptocurrencies as payment will incur fines. This news comes after months of speculation about how the Russian government will handle digital currencies. While it is still unclear what this decision will mean for businesses and citizens in Russia, it seems that the country is slowly warming up to the idea of cryptocurrencies. In January, the Bank of Russia called for a nationwide crypto ban in a report that warned about the speculative nature of the industry. The bank also stated that financial firms should not facilitate crypto transactions as part of that proposal to ban digital assets. However, the proposal generated opposition from the Russian Ministry of Finance. A few days after the central bank’s call for a ban, Ivan Chebeskov, a ministry official, said that the government should regulate crypto rather than prohibiting it entirely. He warned that a total ban might result in Russia falling behind in technology. Reports have also emerged that President Vladimir Putin supports efforts to regulate the country’s crypto mining sector. |
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