Friday was Labor Day in Europe. Also called May Day. I see the U.S. also had a big May Day walk out. Italy always has lots of strikes and also parades on this day. Umbertide always has a parade too. It’s made up of the labor unions and also lots of tractors all shiny and clean blowing their horns. The local mill is a union operation and all of its trucks rumbled past. Oh, and of course the Umbertide town band, who were sporting spiffy new uniforms. They actually seem to have improved a lot recently. They even had a few flags against the Iran war. They said “war is not our business”. Sentiment here is very high against that war. Here are a couple of pictures with captions.
Diesel fuel is now up to 2.05€ a liter. That works out to about $9.50 a gallon. This is hurting a lot of people here. And the airlines are canceling lots of flights internal to Europe due to lack of jet fuel. Lufthansa canceled 20,000 flights. This will start to hurt the tourist industry hard. I read Americans are rethinking their plans to come to Europe. 20% have decided to wait. None of this is good for Europe. No wonder they are anti-US administration. Of course that administration is threatening to close the U.S. bases here because they won’t support the war that it started. Closing bases would hurt the U.S. more than Italy and Spain. The U.S. needs those bases. Enuf of that.
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Our weather is spectacular right now, the Umbrian countryside is verdant green. I had my inaugural Campari spritz of the season last night at Bar Mary in the Piazza with newly returned friends and friends of theirs who have come to visit. Lots of fun and laughter. Salute a tutti! 🍹🍹🍹
It is infuriating.
Well, after a little further research, I guess I have to eat a few of my earlier words. It appears that Iran could possibly build an atomic bomb much more quickly than earlier reports indicated. To wit, see:
https://www.iranwatch.org/our-publications/articles-reports/irans-nuclear-timetable-weapon-potential
and
https://www.iranwatch.org/our-publications/weapon-program-background-report/irans-nuclear-milestones
Still, the most common recommendation for how to react to this is not to start a war but to return to negotiating a win-win solution as was started by the JCPOA.
No problem—rant on! I agree, the U.S. president started the war without consulting anybody, neither NATO nor the U.S. Congress—let alone the U.S. American people—claiming, like G.W. Bush did regarding Iraq, that they possess the ability to build an atomic bomb, i.e., a weapon of mass destruction. Intelligence reports indicate they are years away. This is a war of monstrous egos not reason.
Hi Carlo, the fact is, he started a war without consulting his allies in NATO that is the problem. You don’t start a war and expect NATO to get involved. He doesn’t understand that NATO stands together to defend one another from attack. It doesn’t mean when one of the NATO countries STARTS a war the others will get involved. Also the 5,000 troops he is pulling out of Germany are there to support the U.S., NOT to defend Germany 🙄 Sorry for the rant!
Yup Steve, that’s why!
I wonder if any of the tractors are Lamborghini’s?! They made tractors long before they made sports cars. The price of diesel fuel passed $5 something per gallon here in Colorado but I believe is over $7 in California. I was surprised to hear Georgia Meloni speak out against the war. She must be under a lot of pressure given her previous catering to the US federal administration. The war is disrupting the entire world economy so, it’s not too surprising. Hang in there.
And that’s why we’re all here
Thanks Matt. Living here and being American has become uncomfortable (there were many other words that came to mind). The world is interconnected and what the admin does affects all of it.
I appreciate yor sentments, Nancy. We’re living in a global world and our actions affect everybody. Sadly, it’s not always for the better.