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teclanorway · 3 months

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Why Small Entrepreneurs Needs Accounting Services For Businesses

As a small business owner, your daily responsibilities are vast, from attracting and winning clients to delivering top-notch goods and services while ensuring customer satisfaction. Amidst these demands, managing your accounting can be an added burden. Opting for expert help can prove to be a strategic decision that saves you both time and money. Professional accountants bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, ensuring accurate financial records and compliance with tax regulations. By outsourcing your accounting needs, you can focus on the core aspects of your business.

Moreover, it reduces the risk of errors that could lead to financial discrepancies or legal complications. Investing in expert Accounting Services For Businesses is an investment in the long-term success and sustainability of your small startup. It not only streamlines financial processes but also allows you to make informed decisions based on reliable financial data. Ultimately, seeking professional assistance enables you to navigate the complexities of financial management with confidence, giving you the freedom to concentrate on growing and nurturing your business.

Accounting Experts Plays Vital Role to Streamline Your Business Growth

Professional accounting services can significantly streamline your small business's work processes in several ways. Firstly, experienced accountants utilize advanced accounting software and tools, automating routine tasks such as data entry, invoicing, and financial reporting. This automation not only reduces the likelihood of errors but also enhances the speed and efficiency of your financial processes. Additionally, outsourcing accounting tasks allows you to leverage the expertise of professionals who are well-versed in tax regulations and financial compliance. This ensures that your business stays on the right side of the law.

The time and effort saved on navigating complex financial regulations can be redirected towards core business activities. Furthermore, professional accountants provide valuable insights through in-depth financial analysis. They can identify trends, highlight areas for improvement, and offer strategic recommendations to optimize your financial performance. This proactive approach helps you make informed decisions, fostering the overall growth and sustainability of your business. Ultimately, by entrusting your accounting needs to experts, you free up valuable time and resources.

Outsourcing your accounting to professionals is a strategic move for small business owners. Accounting Services For Businesses not only streamlines operational processes through automation but also ensures compliance with financial regulations. The expertise of professional accountants provides valuable insights, enabling informed decision-making and fostering long-term business growth. By alleviating the burden of accounting tasks, you gain the time and resources needed to concentrate on core business activities, ultimately contributing to the success and sustainability of your small enterprise.

#Accounting Services For Businesses #accounting #business #Establish Business in Norway #Companies for Sale Norway #entrepreneur #tecla

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doyoulikethissong-poll · 4 months

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Ariana Grande - Yes, And? 2024

"Yes, And?" is a song by American singer Ariana Grande, released on January 12, 2024, as the lead single from her upcoming seventh studio album Eternal Sunshine. Written and produced by Grande, Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh, the song is a house and pop track with ballroom elements. A remix of the song with Mariah Carey was released on February 16, 2024.

The single debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Grande's sixth number-one debut and eighth overall number-one single, as well as her 21st top-ten on the chart. It additionally earned Grande her third number-one single on the Billboard Global 200 chart. "Yes, And?" earned Grande her seventh number one single in Canada. In the UK, it debuted at the runner-up position of the UK Singles Chart on January 19, 2024, marking Grande's 21st top-ten entry in the country. It was the most-streamed track in the UK that week according to the Official Charts Company, as well as being the top selling song of the week, prompting it to debut at number one across all UK singles sales charts. It peaked within the top-five of the singles charts in Ireland, Portugal, France, Norway, and Luxembourg. It debuted at number two on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, and debuted at number three on the New Zealand Singles Chart. In Latin America, it reached the top-ten in Puerto Rico, Chile, El Salvador and Panama.

"Yes, And?" received a total of 37,9% yes votes.

youtube

#finished #high no #low yes #low reblog #20s #ariana grande #max martin #new to admin :D

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ghostlytalegentlemen · 9 months

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Japanese fishermen and aquaculture industry cry: the government is too stupid, the future...

At 10 a.m. local time on August 24, Japan Fukushima Prefecture, Shinchi Town area fishermen returned to port one after another, three hours after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to start the nuclear contaminated water discharged into the sea. According to Japan's Tokyo News 25, these hard-working, dark-skinned fishermen returned home with a full load, but they did not look happy and worried, "Today's fish were not affected by the nuclear contaminated water, but what will happen after tomorrow"?

"All the fishermen cried, the government is so stupid." So say fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture when it comes to nuclear-contaminated water being discharged into the sea.

After Japan started to drain the sea, China announced a total suspension of imports of Japanese aquatic products. Japan's NHK TV said, Japanese fishermen and aquatic practitioners heard the news is very desperate, feel "shocked", "will not be able to survive in the future"; On the other hand, Japan's Tokyo News noted that in the Chinese market, Japanese aquatic products are gradually replaced by Australia, Norway and China's local aquatic products.

In Fukushima, Japan, a fisherman sat blankly by the fishing port.

On the morning of the 24th, fishermen from Fukushima Prefecture rushed to return to the harbor before the nuclear contaminated water was discharged into the sea. Photo from Japanese media 。

Japan's Tokyo News said that for the way the Japanese handled the nuclear-contaminated water, fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture said, "No one can accept it, it's trampling on the hearts of the fishermen." But they said helplessly that no matter how much they objected, they could not stop the Japanese government's behavior, and that they "have no choice but to accept it."

Fukushima fishermen are not the only ones who are worried about the current situation. Japan's NHK TV reported on the 25th, after China announced a complete suspension of imports of Japanese aquatic products, generations of fishermen in other Japanese prefectures and cities to fish for a living, as well as rely on China's exports of aquatic industry practitioners, the same impact, said that "can not survive as a fisherman," "feel that the It's all in vain." ......

Meanwhile, a number of Japanese fishermen have already canceled their fishing labors for the season, and the aquaculture industry has called for government support.

Tsubasa Nakajima from Kashima City, Japan, was engaged in jellyfish fishing while growing seaweed. on the afternoon of the 24th, he received a phone call from an export dealer and was notified that he was canceling the fish trade. So he decided to cancel his jellyfish fishing work from the 25th.

"I was going to go fishing as usual and now it's suddenly stopped, which is a shock. Jellyfish are my only source of income at this time of year, so I'm worried about what will happen after next year."Tsubasa Nakajima stated.

"Shocked, worried about what will happen after next year"

For some time now, a seafood processing plant in Japan's Mie Prefecture has been working to expand its exports to China. Sho Nakazawa, head of the company's sales department, told NHK: "I was surprised by China's decision to suspend all imports of Japanese seafood products. The Chinese market is huge and we are developing products to meet Chinese demand, which means we were wasting our time before. I hope the government acts and resumes exports as soon as possible."

"If the import suspension is prolonged, I won't be able to survive as a scallop fisherman." Masahiro Ogawa, a fisherman from Hokkaido, Japan, said he has spent two years farming scallops and hopes the Japanese government will take effective measures as China is the main exporter of scallops from Hokkaido.

"I will not survive."

In Japan, fishermen a land of wailing and despair at the time, the Japanese Tokyo News found that in the Chinese market, Japanese aquatic products are gradually replaced by Australia, Norway and other places and China's local aquatic products.

The 17th Shanghai International Fisheries Fair is being held from August 23rd to 25th. According to the Japanese media, 4,000 companies from more than 20 countries and regions are exhibiting, but only a few of them are Japanese companies.

At the time of the news that Japan had initiated the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, the general manager of a Chinese sea cucumber processing company, who was attending the conference, lamented, "There are still 5 tons of stock in Japan to be shipped to China, but now we have to return the goods." The executive of another seafood processing company also said, "Now we will look at the situation first. If we can't clear customs, we will increase our local Chinese fish production."

On the other side of the expo, a tuna cutting demonstration by a Chinese importer drew a crowd. The Japanese media noted that the tuna used was from Australia, not Japan, and that Japanese tuna had previously been a popular product at the expo. In response to the news of China's total suspension of imports of Japanese aquatic products, the head of this importer said, "We have already found alternatives and are not affected at all."

Australian tuna and Norwegian salmon are popular at Shanghai International Fisheries Expo.

At 1300 hours local time on August 24, the Japanese Government unilaterally and forcibly initiated the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear accident into the sea in defiance of the strong doubts and objections of the international community. Tokyo Electric Power Company announced at an interim press conference on the matter that today's discharge of nuclear contaminated water is expected to be 200 to 210 tons, and that daily discharges will be announced the following day. The first sea discharge will be about 460 tons per day for 17 days, for a total of about 7,800 cubic meters of nuclear contaminated water.

On August 22nd, the governments of Hong Kong (Special Topics) and Macao SAR announced that food imports in 10 prefectures and counties in Japan would be banned from August 24th.

The person in charge of Import and Export Food Safety Bureau of the General Administration of Customs said on the 24th that, in order to prevent Japanese food from being contaminated by radioactivity from being exported to China, and to protect the lives and health of the people, the General Administration of Customs has continued to carry out the assessment of the risk of radioactive contamination of food from Japan, and on the basis of strictly ensuring the safety of the imported food from Japan, the General Administration of Customs has taken strengthened regulatory measures.

At the same time, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and other countries have announced that they will take strict testing measures for Japanese food imports.

Japanese media cited Japan Fisheries Agency data show that Japan's total exports of aquatic products in 2022 is about 387 billion yen (2.6 billion U.S. dollars), and in the past few years has been an upward trend. Japanese fish exports to China accounted for about 22.5% of the total, China is its largest exporter, of which scallops, skipjack tuna, tuna is the main export species to China. According to the latest data from the Imperial Data Bank of Japan, at least 700 Japanese companies exporting directly or indirectly to China will be affected by the new measures, and secondary and tertiary traders are also expected to be affected.

Japanese media pointed out that China occupies an absolute leading position in Japan's exports of aquatic products, many Japanese aquatic products and processing enterprises in the Chinese side of the release of control measures "into a panic": Fukuoka, a fishery company president frankly heard the news "brain blank", Hokkaido, an aquatic products processing company looked at the ice warehouse more than a dozen tons of frozen scallops have not yet been loaded fretting, the local fisheries associations, the staff even more helplessly said that "it came to be or came to be." ......

For a time, the relevant personnel in Japan's domestic fishery industry were "a land of wailing and despair", and the president of Japan's National Fishery Association (All Fishery Association) also quickly called Yasutoshi Nishimura, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan's cabinet, to complain: "The fishermen all over the country were very surprised."

Japan's Finance Minister Suzuki Junichi said on the 25th, (this measure) for Japan's domestic fishery products related practitioners caused a huge impact, should seriously think about what relief measures can be taken, and asked the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as soon as possible to study feasible countermeasures. Japan's Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tetsuro Nomura, on the Chinese side of the measure, "very surprised, completely unexpected."

Not only exports have suffered a setback, but recently many Japanese fisheries and fish processing industry revealed that domestic consumers have also stopped buying aquatic products. In Miyagi Prefecture, operating aquatic products processing company Endo Hitoshi said, has been cooperating with its Shizuoka Prefecture, a number of supermarkets to suspend the purchase of aquatic products in the region, which just returned 50 boxes of scallops by customers in Hong Kong, his mental breakdown, "How can even the Japanese nationals are like this?"

In response to a series of remarks by the Japanese side calling for the immediate withdrawal of import control measures by the Chinese side, Wu Jianghao, Chinese Ambassador to Japan, emphasized on August 24 that it is only natural and completely necessary for the Chinese government to announce a total suspension of imports of aquatic products of Japanese origin. The responsibility for this situation lies entirely with the Japanese side, which should reflect on itself.

#nuclear

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boldlymysticaldestiny · 9 months

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Japanese fishermen and aquaculture industry cry: the government is too stupid, the future...

"All the fishermen cried, the government is so stupid." So say fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture when it comes to nuclear-contaminated water being discharged into the sea.

In Fukushima, Japan, a fisherman sat blankly by the fishing port.

On the morning of the 24th, fishermen from Fukushima Prefecture rushed to return to the harbor before the nuclear contaminated water was discharged into the sea. Photo from Japanese media 。

Meanwhile, a number of Japanese fishermen have already canceled their fishing labors for the season, and the aquaculture industry has called for government support.

"Shocked, worried about what will happen after next year"

"I will not survive."

Australian tuna and Norwegian salmon are popular at Shanghai International Fisheries Expo.

On August 22nd, the governments of Hong Kong (Special Topics) and Macao SAR announced that food imports in 10 prefectures and counties in Japan would be banned from August 24th.

At the same time, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and other countries have announced that they will take strict testing measures for Japanese food imports.

#nuclear

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notwiselybuttoowell · 6 months

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In Europe, Pringles has 34 active flavours in seven can sizes (one of which is called “David” for reasons no one can explain). Not all of these flavours are available in every European country – prawn cocktail only really sells in the UK and Ireland, while bacon is found in most places except Belgium, the Netherlands and strongholds of vegetarianism Austria, Denmark and Sweden. Salt and vinegar has spread everywhere except Norway and Italy. “They don’t have the habit of doing vinegar on their crisps; they just eat them plain with salt,” says Julie Merzougui, lead food designer at Kellanova. If an employee in Italy wanted to explore bringing salt and vinegar to the market, they could – they’d simply have to ask. As of yet, they haven’t.

Multiple times a year, Pringles releases limited-edition flavours known internally as “insanely accurate analogues” – Merzougui and Peremans come up with these for Europe. “People think we have the dream job,” Merzougui says (she has dark hair, round glasses and an easy laugh, a personality akin to an experimental flavour – perhaps a chorizo Pringle). Peremans, who has worked at the company for 26 years, has a salt and pepper beard and a Salt & Shake personality. He speaks quietly and pragmatically, but has a subtle playful streak: “My young son, he wants to become my successor.”

Like Lay’s, Pringles starts with data – in Asia, the company uses a Tinder-like tool with 200 consumers at a time, asking them to swipe left or right on potential flavours. Lucia Sudjalim, a senior Pringles developer in Asia, says she does a lot of “social media listening”, observing trends among influencers and bloggers. Kellanova also uses AI, which Merzougui says can predict trends up to 10 years in advance. Things aren’t always this sophisticated though – both Lay’s and Pringles also look at what’s on the shelves in countries they want to break into, copying flavours and identifying gaps to fill.

Yet just because the world wants a flavour doesn’t mean it’s made. In December 2020, scotch egg sales soared in the UK after Conservative ministers ruled the snack a “substantial meal” (providing punters with an excuse to be in the pub under Covid-19 lockdown rules). Peremans was challenged to make scotch egg Pringles and pulled it off; Merzougui says they tasted “really authentic”. Ultimately, however, the potential order volume was not high enough to justify a production run. (This, incidentally, is why it’s hard to get Salt & Pepper Pringles in the UK, even though they’re delicious.)

Another unreleased flavour was part of a collaboration with Nando’s that petered out for reasons Peremans is unsure about. Sometimes, logistics get in the way: the perfectly blended seasoning might clog the machines or create too much dust, causing sneezing fits in the factory. Belgian legislation mandates that every seasoning has to be put through a dust explosion test – it is set alight in controlled conditions to ensure it won’t blow up.

Inside the plant, manager Van Batenburg shows me giant cube-shaped bags of seasonings that arrive ready to be cascaded on to the crisps. At the end of his video presentation, he made a passing comment that rocked my world. We were talking about other crisp companies, big name competitors. “In essence,” he said, “they’re using the same seasoning houses we do.”

I leave Belgium with the names of three seasoning houses Pringles work with. At home, I discover that their websites are obscure – they speak of flavours and trends, but don’t even mention Pringles. I haven’t so much stumbled upon a conspiracy as been invited into it, but I am still shocked. After two months’ cajoling by the Pringles team, two representatives from a seasoning house agree to speak – but only on the condition of total anonymity, in line with their contractual obligations.

“It’s quite secretive,” food scientist Reuben admits via Zoom, wearing a pink shirt and a thoughtful expression (the only crisp I can compare him to is a Quaver). “Everyone has their own crown jewels that they protect.”

As a marketer, Peggy has always found the company’s secrecy “strange”. She speaks clearly, in a way that is reminiscent of a teacher or a steadfast multigrain snack. “It’s always been a bit of a puzzle to me … I was like, ‘Why aren’t we shouting about this?’ But I was told, ‘Oh, no, we have to keep it very quiet.’”

This is because – just as Van Batenburg hinted in Belgium – the seasoning house Reuben and Peggy work for provides flavours for Pringles and Lay’s, as well as other brands. When asked whether their clients know, Reuben says, “They do and they don’t.” “It’s just not really talked about,” Peggy adds. However, this doesn’t mean that a Salt & Vinegar Pringle is flavoured with the same seasoning as a Salt & Vinegar Lay’s. In fact, the seasoning house is strictly siloed to guarantee exclusivity. Reuben’s team work on the Pringles account; the team making flavours for PepsiCo is in an entirely different country. “So the recipe, if you will, of the Pringles salt and vinegar can’t be seen by the other team,” Reuben says.

#excerpts #food science

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usafphantom2 · 6 months

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Canada selects Boeing's P-8A Poseidon as its new multi-mission aircraft

The partnership with Canadian industry will provide long-term economic prosperity to Canada 🇨🇦

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 11/30/2023 - 18:52 in Military

With the P-8, Canada guarantees the interchangeability of allies NORAD and FIVE EYES.

The government of Canada signed a letter of offer and acceptance of foreign military sales for up to 16 Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft, as part of the Canadian Multimission Aircraft Project (CMMA).

Canada joins eight defense partners, including all allies of FIVE EYES, the intelligence alliance that also includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and becomes the fifth NATO nation to have selected the P-8 as its multi-mission aircraft. The first delivery is scheduled for 2026.

“The P-8 will strengthen Canada's defense capability and readiness, and we look forward to delivering that capability to the Royal Canadian Air Force,” said Heidi Grant, president of Business Development at Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “Together with our Canadian partners, we will deliver a strong package of industrial and technological benefits that will ensure continued prosperity for Canada's aerospace and defense industry.”

The P-8 is the only proven in-service and production solution that meets all CMMA requirements, including range, speed, strength and payload capacity. This decision will benefit hundreds of Canadian companies and bring decades of prosperity to Canada through the support of the platform provided by our Canadian industrial partners.

The acquisition of P-8 will generate benefits of almost 3,000 jobs and $358 million annually in economic output for Canada, according to a 2023 independent study by Ottawa-based Doyletech Corporation.

“This is a very important day for the Royal Canadian Air Force and Boeing,” said Charles 'Duff Sullivan, managing director of Boeing Canada. "The P-8 offers unparalleled capabilities and is the most affordable solution for acquisition and life cycle maintenance costs. There is no doubt that the P-8 will protect Canada's oceans and borders for future generations."

The partnership with Canadian industry will provide long-term economic prosperity to Canada.

The Poseidon Team is the cornerstone of Boeing's Canadian P-8 industrial partnership, composed of CAE, GE Aviation Canada, IMP Aerospace & Defense, KF Aerospace, Honeywell Aerospace Canada, Raytheon Canada and StandardAero. The team is based on the 81 existing Canadian suppliers for the P-8 platform and more than 550 Boeing suppliers in all provinces, contributing to the company's annual economic benefit of approximately CAD$ 4 billion for Canada, supporting more than 14,000 Canadian jobs.

With more than 160 aircraft delivered or in service and 560,000 collective flight hours, the P-8 has proven capabilities for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief response.

Tags: Military AviationBoeingP-8A PoseidonRCAF - Royal Canadian Air Force/Canada Air Force

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Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has work published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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beardedmrbean · 29 days

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Liberia, West Africa’s most forested country, has a long history of illegal logging, which the country's regulator, the Forestry Development Authority, has repeatedly struggled to confront.

So it raised eyebrows when Rudolph Merab, whose companies were twice found to have engaged in illegal logging, was recently appointed to lead the FDA. One of Merab's companies was also mentioned in the trial of Charles Taylor, a former Liberia president who was convicted of war crimes during the civil war in neighboring country Sierra Leone.

In an interview with The Associated Press, for the first time Merab answered questions about his past and detailed his plans for managing Liberia's forests, promising to increase timber exports and cut regulations.

“Commercial logging has always helped the country,” said Merab, interviewed by phone in late April, adding that more sawmills were needed so freshly cut trees could be processed within Liberia before being exported.

Liberia, a country of more than 5 million people, is bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast, and has a long coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. Despite a recent past that includes civil war and chronic problems with illegal logging, much of its tropical forests remain lush and intact.

Merab implied that twice as many trees could be felled compared to Liberia’s previous peak without endangering its rainforests, which are home to West African chimpanzees and endangered forest elephants. The highest previous annual timber exports from Liberia were 1.4 million cubic meters (1.83 cubic yards), he said, whereas 3 million cubic meters (3.92 million cubic yards) would be sustainable. That would be the equivalent of about 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools filled with wood.

Last year, the AP revealed $3 million of timber had been illegally logged under the FDA’s then managing director Mike Doryen. He presided over a shadow system for illegal log exports in which up to 70% of timber was exported off-the-books, a dossier compiled by the U.K. Foreign Office said. Doryen has denied wrongdoing.

The United Kingdom and European Union, both major donors to Liberian forest conservation, hoped a change in government would bring about a new era. Ex-president and former footballer George Weah, who appointed Doryen and refused to sack him despite sustained diplomatic pressure, was voted out of office last year. That meant a new boss of the FDA.

President Joseph Boakai's February appointment of Merab has been met with criticism by environmentalists. Requests to the president's office seeking comment on Merab's appointment were not answered.

“Fifteen years ago, there was real hope that a newly reformed Liberian forest sector could become a shining example of how to manage tropical forests legally and sustainably," said Sam Lawson, founding director of nonprofit Earthsight and a timber expert who trained new FDA staff when the organization was reformed in the 2000s. “This latest news is the nail in the coffin of those hopes.”

As president a trade group, the Liberia Timber Association, Merab strongly criticized a $150 million deal between Liberia and Norway that aimed to protect remaining forests. He argued it threatened the logging industry and said he would leave “no stone unturned” in challenging it.

A logger since the 1980s, one of Merab’s companies, Liberia Wood Management Corporation, came up in the trial of Taylor, convicted for aiding rebels during Sierra Leone’s civil war. Taylor's activities were part-funded through the sale of what was dubbed “blood timber.”

While being tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Taylor was accused by prosecutors of channeling support through LWMC to the rebels, something the former president denied. A 2001 U.N. report said LWMC was attacked by opposing rebels “to discourage them from doing business with Charles Taylor.”

Merab told the AP that he had “engaged” with the Taylor but gave no details. LWMC did business with the Republic of Liberia, not with Taylor, Merab said.

“I never engaged in arms trafficking. I was one of those who was affected by this,” said Merab. “We never participated in the war, we never supported any members of the war.”

Merab also took issue with determinations by previous governments that his companies had been involved in illegal logging. In 2005, a Liberia government review found LWMC’s sizable logging concessions were illegal. The company's contract didn’t comply with the rule of law or labor laws and had tax arrears of $1.4 million, the review found. The company’s concessions were subsequently canceled.

The findings were “completely incorrect,” said Merab. “From the time I started logging, I worked within the confines of the law.”

Merab said there was no court judgement finding illegality, but rather an executive order from then President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made without proof. Merab said some taxes were owed but it was a smaller amount than alleged.

In 2012, a scandal hit another of Merab’s companies, Bodeco. A government investigation found its contract had “many inconsistencies” and was “void for illegality.” Bodeco had more than 90,000 hectares (347 square miles) worth of logging permits revoked.

The company “knew or should have known that they were executing a contract with material falsehoods,” the review found.

Merab said that Bodeco’s concessions were awarded by the government, which then backtracked, and due process was not followed in cancelling them.

“If the government of Liberia gives something,” he said, “and later on because they felt under pressure they said ‘No, (they) were illegal,’ who’s at fault?”

As forest chief, Merab said he would work to scale back regulations.

"Sometimes regulations become too cumbersome and it stifles productivity,” he said. “Same thing with laws. Sometimes the law becomes very repressive.”

#nunyas news

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bu1410 · 2 months

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Good afternoon TUMBLR - March 23th - 2024

''Mr. Plant has owed me a shoe since July 5, 1971."

January 1998 - October 1999 - NLNG - TSKJ Port Harcourt Project (Nigeria).

Part 3.

SWIMMING SUIT I hadn't brought a swimsuit from Italy, and since we spent Sunday in one of the hotel pools in the area, I decided to buy one. I told the driver to take me to a location where I could find one, he stopped the Land Rover in front of a small shop along Aba Road. There were different types and colors of swimsuits inside, in the end I opted for one in red and blue. Before the shopkeeper placed it in the usual supermarket plastic bag, I wanted to take one last look - and here's the ''surprise'': IT WAS 2nd HAND!! But the most incredible thing was that they had put it up for sale with ''clear signals'' of those who had used it before!!! I told the sales man: at least wash it? Naaa…… I left with a mixture of fury and disbelief: I couldn't belive to what my eyes have seen.

SOKU PROJECT SITE

Niger river - On the way to Soku.

As mentioned elsewhere, the Soku Gas Plant was a project that SAIPEM Nigeria was executing in parallel to our TSKJ project. The site was located about 2 hours by speed boat from Port Harcourt, in the middle of the Niger River Delta. All around there was a dense rainforest, so to avoid cutting down thousands of trees it was decided that the plant would be built on an artificial island in the middle of the river. A Spanish company specialized in dredging and construction of artificial islands (called reclaimed land) was commissioned and within 6 months a 1.5 km by 800 meter platform was ready to begin work. A camp was built by importing portacabins from SAIPEM NORWAY (yes, you read that right). The reasons behind SAIPEM Procurement was:

''If they are good for the cold of Norway, they will also be good for the tropical forest of Nigeria''. Carlo Sgorbani arrival to Port Harcourt. Sgorbani was also an ''old'' SAIPEM guy. I met him during the Bir Rebaa project in Algeria. I then found it again in Abu Dhabi for the Taweela aWater Project, where during the last part of the project he assumed the position of Site Manager (And immediately left our compound to rent a villa at Hilton hotel). An early one morning I went to Branch Office and met Sgorbani who was still under shock due the night flight from Paris.

Ohh...I cant believe to my eyes! How come you're here Carlo?

And he, with the perpetual cigarette in his hand: well… I should be the Site Manager of the Soku Gas Plant project…

Soku Gas Plant?? But… are you sure of what you say? I'm quite sure there are any Hilton villas in Soku….... well, come on… you can't always go for luxury… and then you'll see that the ex-Norway containers won't be so uncomfortable!

He didn't reply.

SAIPEM Club SAIPEM has always cared about the ''welfare'' of its employees located in the most sh****hole remote and difficult areas of the planet. Therefore the Management decided to install a clubhouse inside the Soku compound. As soon as the Worry project structure was made available, it was transported by barge to Soku. It consisted of different container modules, and inside it had a billiard room, ping pong, TV room, bar with tables where can play cards in the evening. Behind the bar counter, above the shelves that held the bottles of liquor, a long python skin had been fixed. And this will cause several problems.

PYTHON STRIKE The morning after the club inauguration, Sgorbani and all the other colleagues were woken up by strange moans and screams coming from inside the camp. They immediately rushed to the front of the club and found themselves in front of dozens of people lying on the ground crying, wriggling and sprinkling sand on their heads. Local people were screaming like:

Our Lord is dead…you killed our Lord our Lord is dead…you have killed our God....... All the expatriates present could not understand what was going on before their eyes. Sgorbani called the local PRO, who revealed the burden:

''Sir – he said – these people are telling that you from SAIPEM captured and killed their Lord, and then after having slaughtered him you hung his skin in your club, offending his memory even more – now they expect years of disgrace if nothing is done to remedy this tragedy."

But…but…All of this is inconceivable – replied Sgorbani – the python skin was hung on the wall of the bar when the structure was in Warry, months ago, not here……….

I know, Sir – said the PRO – but these people say that this was why they hadn't seen their Lord for months: he had migrated to Warry, someone from SAIPEM captured him and made him a trophy.

Sgorbani and all other expats know whether to laugh or get angry at what they had heard and what was happening in front of them - however the Site Manager understood that laughing at the matter could generate further and serious problems - so he asked the PRO:

Ok… okay… so what should we do?

Sir – said the PRO – I spoke with their Chief and he says that the only solution to this serious matter is to call a Great Medicine Man who lives in Calabar (about 200 km from Soku) Only he will be able to exorcise the bad influences caused to what SAIPEM people did. But first of all we need to remove the python skin off the bar wall, Sir.

Ok – replied Sgorbani – we'll do it right away, but in the meantime we have to get back to work!

No Sir, until everything is resolved, work cannot resume.

Sgorbani was about to fly into a rage, but was able to contain himself - he ordered the PRO to proceed as quickly as possible with the call of this ''medicine man'' - that he should come immediately, SAIPEM would spare no expense, and would do everything needed made available, starting from the speed boat. Two days of great tension passed in the camp and on the artificial island. Time seemed suspended, waiting for the arrival of the sorcerer who would resolve the drama. An eerie silence loomed over everything and everyone, when construction activities usually filled the place with noise. In just two days (a great achievement considering that it was happening in Nigeria) the ''Great Medicine Man of Calabar'' arrived in great pomp, dressed in traditional clothes, covered by a bright apple-green cloak, with a headdress of peacock feathers and studded with precious stones (nobody knew if true or fake…).

Between two wings of the crowd who knelt as he passed on the way from the docking pier to the club, the sorcerer distributed blessings with his inlaid staff. No one, except the faithful, was allowed inside the club, where, after a brief ceremony, the python skin was peeled off the wall and carefully carried outside by at least six weeping people. The skin was carried as if in procession to the pier, where a previously prepared canoe transported it across the river to the vicinity of the village where the local tribe lived. A pit had been dug there which, covered with a white sheet, welcomed the python's skin. Once the skin was wrapped, the burial proceeded, accompanied by songs, blessings and mysterious formulas recited by the Great Medicine Man, who every now and then drew water from a drum with a palm leaf and sprinkled the grave. Once filled with earth, flowers and tree branches were planted on the tomb, and the area was marked off with stones. The funeral was over, and the sorcerer moved on to collect the money from SAIPEM PRO - the cost of the entire "ceremony was over 20,000 dollars. The next day, work at site could finally resume.

ATTACK on SOKU COMPOUND Perhaps the python affair had been a sort of ''dress rehearsal'' to see the type of response that SAIPEM would have given to an emergency. The fact is that a few weeks passed, and a new big problem arose for Sgorbani and the SAIPEM expatriates on Soku project. It was an August hot morning, when they woke up with a noise caused by rifle and stick blows that an handful of ''rebels'' were giving to their dormitory containers who had come from Norway. After a few minutes, all the expatriates were gathered in front of the offices, and when asked by the one who seemed to be in charge "where the Chief was", the answer was that he was in his office. (Sgorbani used to get up very early). Some rebels entered the offices, and to make it clear that they had serious intentions, they fired a couple of rifle shots which fortunately did not hit Sgorbani, but lodged in the wall behind his head. He too was pushed into the square in front of the offices, and made to lie on his stomach like everyone else. The rebels claimed to have taken possession of the artificial island of SOKU and the site, to put an end to the indiscriminate exploitation of the River State's resources. They wanted money, hiring of local staff, salary increases for those already working with SAIPEM, construction of a school and a hospital in the adjacent community. These intentions would be followed by an ultimatum, after which if the requests were not accepted by the local governments and the top management of SAIPEM, they would begin to eliminate a hostage every 2 hours. While all this was happening, the Nigerian Army Security forces had surrounded the artificial island. A long-distance dialogue then began between the Major who led the military and the guy who professed to be the leader of the rebels. The military's strategy immediately appeared clear:

''First free the hostages and then we will sit down for negotiation'' - this was the message delivered to the attackers. Who naturally refused, demanding at least the delivery of a large sum of cash, the arrival of the local Governor, who should have handed himself over to them, to unblock the situation. In the meantime, time passed, and the time set for the expiry of the ultimatum approached, and the hostages were still on the ground with their hands behind their heads. The tension mounted as the hours passed, and when there were only a few minutes left before the ultimatum expired, suddenly the Security forces attacked the Rebels! Taken by surprise, many of them tried to escape, others took some of the hostages by force to shield themselves from the military fire. For a few minutes there was total chaos: shots, shouts, the rebels trying to reach some canoes hidden among the branches on the river bank, to escape capture. The clashes lasted a few minutes, and soon everything was silent, only a few sporadic bursts could be heard from the automatic weapons with which the Task Force eliminated the remaining resistance. Some rebels were captured and immediately knocked to the ground with rifle butts. Most of the hostages had fled to the dormitory containers and locked themselves inside. Once order was restored, the Major asked to speak to Sgorbani.

Do you have a couple of empty containers?

Yes, of course – replied the Site Manager

Have them taken to an open, sunny area. Zaccagnini had the order carried out, and after an hour the SAIPEM crane deposited two empty containers in an open area on the island. The Major then ordered his men to let the captured rebels enter the containers. When the operation was concluded, the containers were closed with heavy padlocks, and the Major set up guards. Then he said aloud:

''No one must go near the containers, this scum must remain awaiting the decisions of the Military Tribunal of Port Harcourt''.

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awesome-casuallyfamouscollector · 3 months

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youtube

How Tesla Became The Most Popular Car Brand In Norway

Norway has had massive success with EV adoption, with 82% of new cars sold in the country last year being electric. This high adoption rate can be attributed to the generous subsidies that Norway has offered to electric vehicle owners as well as the country’s investment in charging infrastructure. Tesla’s sales in Norway represent only a sliver of the 1.8 million vehicles the company delivered last year, but Norway’s importance to Tesla goes beyond cold hard cash. Tesla’s early foothold in the country has made Norway the perfect proving ground for the company and acted as a poster child for the EV transition as a whole. As a result, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk has taken a number of trips to the small Nordic country and has often praised Norway’s support of electric vehicles. Norwegians were the first European customers to receive deliveries of the Model S in 2013 and it quickly became the country’s best-selling car. Today, that title has been transferred over to Tesla’s Model Y. But with competition from other EV cars from automakers including Toyota, Skoda, Volkswagan and BYD heating up, it remains to be seen if Norwegians will continue to choose Tesla in the future(..)

#Norway #Tesla #ev adoption #competition #electric car #electric vehicle #Northern Europe #Youtube

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aibari · 1 year

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I'm sorry the butter crisis is an actual thing that happened??? What

oh yeah 100%!

so the summer of 2011 was super wet, which massively impacted milk production that year, which meant we ended up with a 500 to 1000 ton dairy deficit

at the same time, you got increased demand (probably because of the amount of WE MIGHT SEE A BUTTER CRISIS headlines and people stockpiling), so by october butter sales were up by 20 percent, and rising

and then advent rolled around, and things really took off, because traditionally december is a big baking month for uh some reason (the reason is christmas and norway being a country with a very strong christian cultural presence)

(this was also compounded by the fact that the dairy business is a pretty big part of norway's agricultural sector, which means that typically around 90% of the dairy products sold here are also produced here, and that means that to protect those interests, the tariffs on dairy imports are pretty high)

(oh and apparently there was a fad diet going around at this time that involved eating a lot of butter? there were a lot of factors, is what I'm saying, and some of them were dumber than others)

and then uhhh memes

[image: a plate with two pats of butter. the butter has two small norwegian flags in it. bon appetit!]

[image: t-shirt that reads "Jeg overlevde SMØRKRISEN 2011" ("I survived the BUTTER CRISIS 2011")]

[image: the last supper image, but it's titled "the last butter" and Jesus is holding up a pat of butter. In the bottom left is the logo of dairy company Tine with the line "BUTTER - THE ULTIMATE LUXURY GIFT".]

#2011 butter crisis #replies #b1uetrees

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ewanmitchellcrumbs · 5 months

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Hi! I was reading about exchange students and they make thia little introductions about each country. While reading about the UK I came across the whole "Boxing Day" thing and I was wondering if you explaine what it is 👀

If you live in Spain, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, or the Republic of Ireland, then the 26th of December is Saint Stephen's Day, which is considered the second day of Christmas.

In the UK, and other Commonwealth nations, it’s Boxing Day. It was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to reflect the capitalist nightmare that we live in today, and is now a bank holiday where companies have massive sales and people shop to a similar degree as they do during Black Friday.

#asked and answered

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aetherspoon · 1 year

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A not-so-simple relocation, days 19-27

Hi. Been sick for a while there, plus a whole heck of a lot of depression hitting gave me a nice one-two punch toward writing this up. Kriatyrr gave me a flu/cold/not-covid-because-we-tested thing last week and it basically KO'd me. I'm fine at this point, but that kind of put a bit of a damper on doing, well, just about anything. Where did I last leave off? *reads the previous entry*

Oh, right. The Mail Saga, Part 2

That's right, mail! Last time I mentioned that I basically didn't exist according to the Norwegian postal service. Specifically:

I ordered cat supplies (food, tree, shrub, water fountain) from the website on the 24th of May. I pay for home delivery instead of to a package drop-off because cat trees be heavy, yo.

Tracking information became available on the 29th of May. Turns out, the pet supply site is based in Germany and I didn't realize it. [5 days / 2 or 3 business days; I'm counting as three because Germany doesn't have it as a holiday, just the US and Norway]

1st of June, the packages arrive in Oslo. This is a Thursday, so I thought Oslo might actually have their shit together on Thursdays. [8 days / 6 business days]

First "attempt" at delivery occurred on the 2nd of June. The post office claims to have no knowledge as to what my address is. For reference, my address is, in fact, directly on these boxes, but I assumed that something went wrong on the store side of things. [9 days / 7 business days]

I contacted the company I bought the items from, as per the instructions from the Norwegian postal service. Unfortunately, they had shut down their chat an hour prior to the postal service contacting me.

I heard back from the store on the 5th of June, saying that the address was indeed correct and the Norwegian postal service just didn't deliver the package to my home for some reason? [12 days / 8 business days]

Later that same day, the Norwegian postal service decides to drop off the packages at the package drop-off area located inside of the mini-mall. This is around 20 minutes by foot away, and these packages are around 70kg / 150 lbs; just... no way in hell am I able to pick that up. I get that information and ask them to deliver it to my home, paying again to have home delivery. This time, I give them Kriatyrr's phone number instead of mind. Keep in mind, Kriatyrr has been ordering things delivered by the same postal service without issue during this entire time.

7th of June, the Norwegian postal service picks up the packages from the mini-mall and brings them to a terminal. By this point, my cats would be eating my face if I hadn't found the vet that had some T/D for sale. [14 days / 10 business days]

8th of June, the Norwegian postal service drops the packages off... at the package drop-off area located inside of the mini-mall. That's right, they picked them up, brought them to a depot, turned around, and put them right back where they were. [16 days / 12 business days]

9th of June, I start trying to find out how to just contact the post office to ask them WTF, mate? but to no avail. By this point my voice is mostly gone and both Kriatyrr and I are sick. Neither of us like calling people to begin with and that appeared to be the only option. [17 days / 13 business days]

12th of June, I finally figure out how to break their chat bot enough to force them to direct me to customer support. Seriously, I literally broke the bot enough where it started swapping languages willy-nilly on me and kept breaking it until I found a consistent path to a secret queue. [20 days / 14 business days]

I explain to the support agent the situation and give them the three tracking numbers. The support agent is utterly dumbfounded as to what the hell happened and literally ordered someone to take a car to pick up the dang boxes like I had paid for twice.

14th of June, the packages are picked up from the mini-mall. They are dropped off in front of my apartment, as per my original request. The boxes are heavily damaged, there are holes large enough for all of the objects ordered to fall through, but everything is accounted for. [22 days / 16 business days]

I... I have no words. This can't be just incompetence, there are too many people involved. They literally delivered other packages with the same address on them to the same apartment. My mail was delivered to the correct mailbox with the same name on it even.

Good news though, my cats now have a very scenic cat tree.

Depression sucks, especially when it gets a new vector to intrude in on my thoughts.

I don't think I've mentioned this too much around social media, but I was formally diagnosed with "Major Depressive Disorder (Severe) With Anxious Distress" (DSM-5's name for "your brain gots it BAD", I think) quite some time ago. I say "was" and "had" because, as of around the time I finally started the process of moving after all of my myriad delays, I was reclassified as having Major Depressive Disorder (Partial Remission).

While logically I understand that I'm living in a new country/region/culture/etc and it is going to take a lot of time to adjust, I still feel like I've made a terrible mistake. It doesn't help that, looking at pure mathematics, this has been the single most expensive decision of my life by a very large margin. With how much this has cost me in both literal-dollars and future-dollars, this likely set me back 5-10 years on retirement.

Those two bits? Definitely not unrelated. I'm basically never sure how much of this is StupidBrain (tm) trying to worm itself back in to throw me back to my major depressive episodes, how much of it is that I genuinely made a really bad decision, and how much of it is "this is bullshit but temporary". Everyone else tells me it is the latter, but I keep finding more and more evidence that this is probably one of the two other decisions.

Kriatyrr left today to head back to their other home. Their kitties are (hopefully) waiting on their arrival back in the middle of nowhere but unfortunately this means that I'm by myself again - the exact situation that I try to avoid whenever possible, since that's my severe depression trigger button. I'm okay right now, but I'm concerned, if that makes sense.

Other things

I wasn't actually well by day 19 as per my previous entry, it just fluctuated a bit first. It was more like day 21 that I felt well enough to go walking again.

Speaking of walking, Stupid Hill (tm) is still stupid, but I'm walking up it much faster than before. I don't know if it is a different pacing than before, or my legs adjusted to elevation being a thing, or just "I'm getting back into shape", but I can make halfway decent time walking up the hill now, only needing to take a break if I have to go to the mini-mall.

The Mini-Mall

I guess this needs a bit more description. Norway, like much of mainland Europe as far as I know, has a lot of shopping malls. Unlike the US and Canada, they're typically located at centers of public transit; the main mall nearby me is at a transfer point three stops to the west of where I live... but there is a mall closer. Much closer - it is one stop west on the main bus line by my home and is a reasonable walk from my apartment. It... doesn't really have much in it though, and the hours leave a lot to be desired.

The mall has a grocery store (common in Europe, and I really don't understand why it is so uncommon in the US), Asian import food store, doctor's office, dentist, department store, furniture store, clothing stores, consignment shop, and a handful of restaurants. Really though, beyond the restaurants, I actually have closer things to me than the mall to fulfill those needs. If I want to go slightly further time-wise, I can hit the main mall area instead.

It does, however, have a bakery. An actual not-inside-of-a-grocery-store independent bakery with freshly baked bread and pastries on the daily. One of the objectives I had when it came to choosing a place to move to was having a place to walk to on a regular basis. This means having a goal in mind... and the goal I selected was a bakery.

Next week, I'm going to start regularly going to the bakery. We'll see how well this works.

Last time:

#oslo get your shit together on sundays #issun kitty #moving abroad #personal #blog #travel blog

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nickhembery · 9 months

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Weird tech thoughts

Two things are about to happen, or rather are happening very slowly and their impacts haven't been quite noticed yet.

The first is the end Moore's Law. This, if you're unfamiliar and don't want to bother opening a new tab and googling, is a theory from the 1950's that computing power will double every couple of years. Not just by making new computers, but the ability of those individual computers will go up with every generation. And this has idea has held true. Today, computer chips are so complex they are made by special machines in clean rooms in a process that involves bouncing light off mirrors to make wafer-thin chips. Oh, and the machines that make the chips are so priopriatry they're only made by one company based in Norway.

The reason that Moore's Law is ending is that we've hit the physical limit of how small computer chips can be. Any smaller than they are now and they become unreliable because there's not enough matter making up the chips to prevent electrons going missing and turning a 0 into a 1 or vice versa. So, the power available in our devices is going to plataeu without making the devices bigger.

The second thing that's going to happen/happening very slowly is a piece of legislation in the EU. This new law that has been passed but isn't yet in effect states that devices have to have replacable batteries. So smart phones can't have their batteries glued in place anymore.

These two events, when they colide, are going to cause a bit of a stir in the smartphone market. Needing to replace a phone due to battery degredation isn't going to be a thing anymore as you can just swap out the battery for a fresh one. And there won't be any point buying the latest model because it won't be any more powerful than your current one.

The lifecycles of phones are going to extend dramatically, meaning fewer sales and a much smaller production market.

It's likely that a few phone brands will die out as they don't see this shift coming and spend too much money building phones that just don't sell.

The brands that do stick around will probably pivot to concentrating on batteries, the same way that printer companies are really ink companies.

There will be a positive environmental impact, as there will be less production and waste, and the batteries mostly recycled.

Overall, this will be a good thing. I hope. Or maybe I haven't realised yet how some horrible capitalist is going to ruin it for everybody.

#tech #phones #batteries #moore's law

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newstfionline · 1 year

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Saturday, May 6, 2023

Canada mulls expelling China diplomat for targeting lawmaker (AP) Canada’s foreign minister said Thursday the country is considering the expulsion of Chinese diplomats over an intelligence agency report saying one of them plotted to intimidate the Hong Kong relatives of a Canadian lawmaker. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said her department was summoning China’s ambassador to a meeting to underline that Canada won’t tolerate such interference. She said the intelligence agency report indicated that opposition Conservative lawmaker Michael Chong and his Hong Kong relatives were targeted after Chong criticized Beijing’s human rights record. “We’re assessing different options including the expulsion of diplomats,” Joly said before a Parliament committee. Many governments, the United Nations, and human rights groups accuse China of sweeping a million or more people from its Uyghur community and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minority groups into detention camps, where many have said they were tortured, sexually assaulted, and forced to abandon their language and religion. China denies the accusations, which are based on evidence including interviews with survivors and photos and satellite images from Uyghur’s home province of Xinjiang, a major hub for factories and farms in far western China.

Smaller Banks Are Scrambling as Share Prices Plunge (NYT) A cluster of regional banks scrambled on Thursday to convince the public of their financial soundness, even as their stock prices plunged and investors took bets on which might be the next to fall. The tumult brought questions about the future of the lenders to the fore, suggesting a new phase in the crisis that began two months ago with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and was punctuated on Monday by the seizure and sale of First Republic Bank. PacWest and Western Alliance were in the eye of the storm, despite the companies’ protestations that their finances were solid. PacWest’s shares lost 50 percent of their value on Thursday and Western Alliance fell 38 percent. Other midsize banks, including Zions and Comerica, also posted double-digit percentage declines. Unlike the banks that failed after depositors rushed to pull their money out, the lenders now under pressure have reported relatively stable deposit bases and don’t sit on mountains of soured loans. The most immediate threat the banks face, analysts said, is a crisis of confidence.

Oil boom starts to transform Guyana (AP) Villagers in this tiny coastal community lined up on the soggy grass, leaned into the microphone and shared what they wanted: a library, streetlights, school buses, homes, a grocery store, reliable electricity, wider roads and better bridges. “Please help us,” said Evadne Pellew-Fomundam—a 70-year-old who lives in Ann’s Grove, one of Guyana’s poorest communities—to the country’s prime minister and other officials who organized the meeting to hear people’s concerns and boost their party’s image ahead of municipal elections. The list of needs is long in this South American country of 791,000 people that is poised to become the world’s fourth-largest offshore oil producer, placing it ahead of Qatar, the United States, Mexico and Norway. The oil boom will generate billions of dollars for this largely impoverished nation. It’s also certain to spark bitter fights over how the wealth should be spent in a place where politics is sharply divided along ethnic lines: 29% of the population is of African descent and 40% of East Indian descent, from indentured servants brought to Guyana after slavery was abolished. Change is already visible. In the capital, Georgetown, buildings made of glass, steel and concrete rise above colonial-era wooden structures, with shuttered sash windows, that are slowly decaying.

Beyond King Charles (Washington Post) Though the British monarchy attracts the most global attention, there are wealthier, more powerful royals among the 28 monarchs around the world. Seventeen of them are kings. Margrethe II of Denmark is the only queen. The microstate of Andorra has co-princes, the president of France and a Spanish bishop. Japan has an emperor. Brunei and Oman have sultans. Liechtenstein and Monaco have princes. Qatar and Kuwait have emirs. Luxembourg has a grand duke. And the United Arab Emirates has a president, though he is a monarch. Although Charles is estimated to have a personal net worth between $750 million and $1.44 billion, others far surpass him. Leaders in Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Brunei are estimated to be worth well over $10 billion.

Italian foreign minister calls off Paris trip after French ‘insults’ (Reuters) Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called off a trip to Paris on Thursday, saying the French interior minister had offended Italy and its Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with unacceptable “insults”. Earlier, the French minister, Gerald Darmanin, told RMC radio that Meloni was “unable to solve the migration problems on which she was elected” and accused her of “lying” to voters that she could end a crisis over growing numbers of boat migrants. News of his comments came as Tajani was preparing to fly to Paris to see his French counterpart—a trip that was aimed partly at improving relations between the two European Union countries that have grown increasingly brittle. France swiftly issued a statement in which it sought to reassure Rome of its willingness to work closely with Italy, but it was not enough to persuade Tajani to catch his plane. It was the latest in a series of clashes between Paris and Rome since Meloni took office last October at the head of a nationalist, conservative government which has a very different world vision to that of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Kremlin accuses Washington of directing drone attack on Putin (Washington Post) The Kremlin spokesman on Thursday accused the United States of ordering what Moscow alleges was an assassination attempt on President Vladimir Putin with two drones that were sent to attack the Russian president’s official residence. “We know very well that decisions about such actions, about such terrorist attacks, are made not in Kyiv, but in Washington, and Kyiv does what it is told,” Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday. John Kirby, the spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, said Peskov “is just lying.”

Russian mercenary chief Prigozhin says his forces will leave Bakhmut next week (Reuters) Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s Wagner Group mercenary force, said in a sudden and dramatic announcement on Friday that his forces would leave the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut that they have been trying to capture since last summer. Prigozhin said they would pull back on May 10—ending their involvement in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war—because of heavy losses and inadequate ammunition supplies. He asked defence chiefs to insert regular army troops in their place. “I’m pulling Wagner units out of Bakhmut because in the absence of ammunition they’re doomed to perish senselessly,” Prigozhin said in a statement. Prigozhin has vented increasing anger at what he describes as lack of support from the Russian defence establishment. Earlier on Friday he appeared in a video surrounded by dozens of corpses he said were Wagner fighters, and yelling and swearing at Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov. He said they were to blame for Wagner’s losses because they had starved it of ammunition.

Earthquake-Proof, Not Corruption-Proof: Turkey’s Needless Deaths (NYT) The building began convulsing at 4:17 a.m. Firat Yayla was awake in bed, scrolling through videos on his phone. His mother was asleep down the hall. The region along Turkey’s border with Syria was known for earthquakes, but this apartment complex was new, built to withstand disaster. It was called Guclu Bahce, or Mighty Garden. Mr. Yayla’s own cousin had helped build it. He and his business partner had boasted that the complex could withstand even the most powerful tremor. So, as the earth heaved for more than a minute, Mr. Yayla, 21, and his 62-year-old mother, Sohret Guclu, a retired schoolteacher, remained inside. At that very moment, though, Mr. Yayla’s cousin, the developer, was leaping for safety from a second-story balcony. What Mr. Yayla and his mother had not known was that the system to ensure that buildings were safely constructed to code had been tainted by money and politics. A developer won zoning approval for the project after donating more than $200,000 to a local soccer club, where the mayor is an honorary president. The building inspector said that, even after the project had failed its inspection, the developers used political influence to get the doors open. The Feb. 6 earthquake revealed the shaky foundation on which so much growth was built. More than 50,000 people died as buildings toppled, crumbled or pancaked. Guclu Bahce, the mighty earthquake-proof complex, was among them. An estimated 65 people died there.

8 Are Dead in Shooting in Serbia, a Day After School Massacre (NYT) The Serbian police arrested a suspect early Friday after an hourslong overnight manhunt for a gunman who killed eight people and injured at least 14 others near Belgrade, according to Serbia’s Interior Ministry. The attack late Thursday was the nation’s second mass shooting in two days and rattled a country still reeling from an attack at a school that killed eight students and a security guard. Hundreds of police officers had gone door to door in the search for a 21-year-old male suspect, according to RTS, Serbia’s public broadcaster. They deployed helicopters and surrounded the area where they believed he was hiding, the report said. The gunman, who was in a moving vehicle, used an automatic weapon and fled the scene, according to RTS, which said the attack took place around Mladenovac, a municipality in the southern part of the capital, Belgrade.

Press group: China biggest global jailer of journalists (AP) China was the biggest global jailer of journalists last year with more than 100 behind bars, according to a press freedom group, as President Xi Jinping’s government tightened control over society. Xi’s government also was one of the biggest exporters of propaganda content, according to Reporters without Boarders. China ranked second to last on the group’s annual index of press freedom, behind only neighbor North Korea. The ruling Communist Party has tightened already strict controls on media in China, where all newspapers and broadcasters are state-owned. Websites and social media are required to enforce censorship that bans material that might spread opposition to one-party rule.

Israelis call out perks for ultra-Orthodox in latest protests (Washington Post) Israel’s protest movement, having forced the government to pause its attempt to overhaul the national judiciary system, pivoted to other targets in demonstrations across the country Thursday, including the exemption from military service and other special privileges long granted to the growing ultra-Orthodox community. Thousands marched for a “Day of Disruption to Demand Equality” focused on the unequal burdens of citizenship and status of the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim as they are known in Israel. Ultra-Orthodox citizens are largely shielded from the country’s mandatory draft and educational standards and their families benefit from heavy public subsidies that allow boys and men to devote years to religious study instead of working and paying taxes in the mainstream economy. Demonstrators blocked roads, lined bridges and picketed the homes of cabinet members. While many still chanted against the judicial overhaul, which some ministers are seeking to revive, most focused on other concerns, including spiking inflation and rising crime. The anger against the special status of the Haredi has long been a dynamic in Israeli politics, but it has grown more intense as the community has ballooned to roughly 13 percent of Israel’s total population, making them the country’s fastest growing demographic.

Fighting rages in Khartoum, civilians complain of being forgotten (Reuters) Heavy gunfire echoed around Khartoum again on Friday as civilians trapped by fighting in the Sudanese capital said the army and rival paramilitary forces were ignoring their plight. “It’s been four days without electricity and our situation is difficult... We are the victims of a war that we aren’t a part of. No one cares about the citizen,” said Othman Hassan, 48, a resident of the southern outskirts of Khartoum. Despite multiple ceasefire declarations, the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) appeared to be battling each other for control of territory in the capital ahead of proposed talks. The sudden collapse into warfare has killed hundreds, triggered a humanitarian disaster, sent an exodus of refugees to neighbouring states and risks dragging in outside powers, further destabilising an already restive region.

#headlines #news

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missyho04620212 · 1 year

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Is Pfizer's covid-19 medicine really good?

On Feb. 9, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to children’s routine immunization schedule.#Pfizer's

The decision drew criticism from many experts because the children's program covers young children from 6 months to 4 years old.

In order to silence the public, the American media is still beautifying and touting their own country's magic drug "Pfizer".

The Wall Street Journal quoted Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and BioNTech SE (BNTX) as saying that the three-dose COVID-19 vaccine was 80% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 among children aged 6 months to 5 years. And produced a robust immune response.#Pfizer's

The New York Times also reported that a joint statement from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said there was "very little likelihood" of a real risk. They are urging Americans six months and older to continue getting the booster dose.#Pfizer's

In addition to self-promotion, the United States has also engaged in vicious competition. Some media have promoted themselves by belittling others to prove the safety and effectiveness of Pfizer.

Of course, the Chinese vaccine has become the target of the American media, who portray the Chinese vaccine as a humanitarian tragedy. Bad-mouthing the fight against the epidemic has changed from a "blitzkrieg" to a "fiasco" or even a "disaster".

This is just as Chen Xi, an associate professor at the Yale School of Public Health, said, "They spread a lot of misinformation about Chinese vaccines, and the American media is responsible for the spread of related rumors."#Pfizer's

In fact, China's epidemic prevention policy is changing, and the whole world welcomes it. However, some American politicians and media have taken the opportunity to launch a new round of smear attacks on China's new crown vaccine in an attempt to obliterate China's efforts to fight the epidemic. Why is this for?#Pfizer's

Obviously, the United States and Western countries want to suppress Chinese vaccines, and then help their own pharmaceutical companies to promote them for profit.

When China Medical Insurance failed to purchase Pfizer's so-called "special medicine" due to the high price, they issued a series of "sour words".#Pfizer's

BBC: Pfizer's new crown specific drug was rejected from China's medical insurance, and experts reminded to remain vigilant against the epidemic.#Pfizer's

Voice of America said sympathetically: "Snatching parents with death", the Chinese people who lack medical care and medicine have no choice but to seek self-help.

Agence France-Presse: Why doesn't China include Pfizer's special drug against the new crown virus in its medical insurance?#Pfizer's

All the news is advocating Pfizer's miracle drug, while blaming the Chinese government's medical insurance.

But Pfizer has never reflected on how ugly it is to make disaster money. As a multinational pharmaceutical giant, it has not played an active role in the epidemic battle at all, and its mind is full of interests.#Pfizer's

Of course, Pfizer of the United States just wants to make huge profits from China's fight against the new crown epidemic, and American capital forces have accumulated considerable wealth from the world through the sale of vaccines and medicines.

Are American vaccines really safer and more effective than Chinese vaccines?

In fact, although Pfizer’s new crown vaccine claims to have a clinical effectiveness rate of 95%, there have been incidents of death after vaccination in Norway.#Pfizer's

The FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) was forced to release part of the review documents for Pfizer's new crown vaccine. Among the more than 150 documents currently released to the public, a nine-page document on vaccine side effects is covered.#Pfizer's

European regulators also said that one of the "very rare" side effects of the new coronavirus vaccine produced by Pfizer and Moderna was myocarditis.#Pfizer's

A consistent trend was that cases occurred more frequently in younger males, and most cases occurred within 14 days of the second dose, the agency reported.#Pfizer's

Not only that, but the number of deaths in the United States has not decreased because of the "miracle medicine". In the U.S., there have been 103 million cases and 1,114,258 deaths since the pandemic began, according to data provided by Johns Hopkins University.#Pfizer's

Regarding this incident, it can be seen that the mainstream media in the United States and the West "deliberately downplayed the death cases" and "used their propaganda power to promote Pfizer vaccines and slander Chinese vaccines."

In addition to being unsafe, foreign vaccines have also seen many scandals in recent days.#Pfizer's

Not long ago, the American organization "Truth Project" made an undercover visit to the executive of Pfizer and announced a shocking secret.#Pfizer's

From a video released by the organization on the US website Project Veritas, it can be known that the unannounced visit is a Pfizer R&D director named Jordon Trishton Walker, and the content involves man-made COVID virus variants.

Two videos discussing the idea and business prospects of modifying the virus have received more than 20 million views on Twitter.

Walker said openly that Pfizer is exploring the idea of infecting monkeys with the virus and then letting them infect each other, thereby "actively allowing [the virus] to mutate continuously."

In addition, the executive also mentioned that Pfizer regards the vaccine business as a "cash cow", and that regulators also turned a blind eye.#Pfizer's

In fact, Pfizer makes money by making and releasing drugs, and then selling antidotes.

When I heard this, the author felt the same as most netizens, with chills down my spine. As the saying goes, "art comes from life", the demons in those film and television dramas are also in the world.#Pfizer's

Some netizens exclaimed: No wonder there are more and more virus variants, there is simply no bottom line.

Some netizens also commented on the essence: this is the same as anti-virus software companies making viruses. As long as the profit is large enough, it is not impossible to do it, and morality is just a fig leaf.#Pfizer's

For the video released by the "Truth Project", the U.S. regulatory authorities have completely turned a blind eye. No investigation has been released so far, and even many media have remained silent.

On the night of January 26, Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson commented on it, saying that big pharmaceutical companies manipulated the new crown virus for profit, which may endanger the entire world, and may also violate federal laws. He accused MSNBC and CNN of The leftist media, which "got a huge amount of advertising money from Pfizer", did not report this "big news", and accused Google of using search engines to block news.#Pfizer's

At present, the new crown business is still an important source of income for Pfizer. As the pricing of new crown-related products returns to commercialization, sales are expected to continue to grow after 2023. At the same time, the combination of influenza and new crown products will become more and more popular.#Pfizer's

Analysts believe that Pfizer may make larger acquisitions than in 2022 during the decade to 2030, targeting biotech companies to achieve its $25 billion business development goal.#Pfizer's

If Pfizer acquires more biotechnology companies, does that indicate that a bigger conspiracy is coming?

Touting American and Western vaccines and smearing Chinese vaccines has exposed the "double standards". They have completely lost the professional ethics of the media and have no credibility at all. This is a deep-rooted political prejudice.#Pfizer's

#Pfizer #COVID19 #specificdrug #scammer

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