Brexit Day

"LONDON (AP) — Britain’s long and sometimes acrimonious divorce from the European Union ended Thursday with an economic split that leaves the EU smaller and the U.K. freer but more isolated in a turbulent world. 

Britain left the European bloc’s vast single market for people, goods, and services at 11 p.m. London time, midnight in Brussels, completing the biggest single economic change the country has experienced since World War II. A different U.K.-EU trade deal will bring new restrictions and red tape, but for British Brexit supporters, it means reclaiming national independence from the EU and its web of rules."

Civic Duty - Voting ✓

Today the nation in the European Union named the Kingdom of Sweden is having elections for the national, regional and local parliaments.

I have, of course, performed my duty to democracy, myself, my friends and family, my compatriots, my nation and for all future generations by casting my vote on one of the democratic parties running for election. I will keep my votes to myself, as is my democratic right, however, I will reveal one of the parties I did not vote for in any of the elections.

I did not vote for The Sweden Democrats, because it is a populist, anti-intellectual, xenophobic, Islamophobic party, infested by Nazi ghouls from the past and Neo-Nazis from the present.

Their solution to every political problem they encounter is simple and easy and speaks to the lowest and most vile common denominator within the Swedish population and is not based on factual evidence at all but on thoughts, feelings, and beliefs based on prejudice.

Areas of politics and the Sweden Democrats solution

Healthcare:
"Bla, bla, bla and then we kick out the immigrants, the refugees, and the Muslims and send them back to where they came from. Sweden will be back to what it was in the early 50's when life was beautiful."

Housing Shortage:
"Bla, bla, bla and then we kick out the immigrants, the refugees, and the Muslims and send them back to where they came from. Sweden will be back to what it was in the early 50's when life was beautiful."

Terrorism:
"Bla, bla, bla and then we kick out the immigrants, the refugees, and the Muslims and send them back to where they came from. Sweden will be back to what it was in the early 50's when life was beautiful."

Finances:
"Bla, bla, bla and then we kick out the immigrants, the refugees, and the Muslims and send them back to where they came from. Sweden will be back to what it was in the early 50's when life was beautiful."

Taxes:
"Bla, bla, bla and then we kick out the immigrants, the refugees, and the Muslims and send them back to where they came from. Sweden will be back to what it was in the early 50's when life was beautiful."

Immigration:
"Bla, bla, bla and then we kick out the immigrants, the refugees, and the Muslims and send them back to where they came from. Sweden will be back to what it was in the early 50's when life was beautiful."

Education:
"Bla, bla, bla and then we kick out the immigrants, the refugees, and the Muslims and send them back to where they came from. Sweden will be back to what it was in the early 50's when life was beautiful."

Defense:
"Bla, bla, bla and then we kick out the immigrants, the refugees, and the Muslims and send them back to where they came from. Sweden will be back to what it was in the early 50's when life was beautiful."

Daycare:
"Bla, bla, bla and then we kick out the immigrants, the refugees, and the Muslims and send them back to where they came from. Sweden will be back to what it was in the early 50's when life was beautiful."

Etc, etc, ad infinitum!

G7 Summit

Mhmmmm my dear friend Angela posted picture this on her official Instagram yesterday. Which is in itself an example of when a picture tells us more than a thousand words.

The Guardian informs us:

"Donald Trump has left the G7 network of global cooperation in disarray after he pulled the US out of a previously agreed summit communique (my embolding), blaming the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau whom he derided as “dishonest and weak”.

The US president, who arrived at the summit in Canada late and left early to fly to Singapore to prepare for his summit with Kim Jong-un, shocked fellow leaders with a bellicose press conference on Saturday in which he attacked the trade policies of other countries." 

Today Reuters published this.

PARIS (Reuters) - France and Europe are maintaining their support for the Group of Seven communique and anyone departing from the commitments made at the summit would be showing their “incoherence and inconsistency”, a French presidency official told Reuters.

The official was reacting after U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement on Saturday that he was backing out of the G7 communique drawn up at a summit in Canada.

“International cooperation cannot depend on being angry and on sound bites. Let’s be serious,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, added.

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As I've said before, we live in exciting - if not downright scary - times! Then again, simply the thought of Trump, Putin, Xi and Kim in an unholy alliance is terrifying.

SCOOP: Trump Proposes Another Border Wall

The editor at large of this blog has learned - from usually well informed and trustworthy sources - that president Donald J. Trump, in talks with family and his closest co-workers, has been proposing the constructing of yet another border wall, this time at the border between the United States and Canada.

Trump is supposed to have told his confidants:

"I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great great wall on our northern border and I’ll have Canada pay for that wall."

The news comes as no big surprise considering president Trump's fascination with border walls and after Canada (together with the European Union, Mexico and Southern Charm) was named as a threat to the national security of the United States.

If built this wall would be 8,891 km (5,525 mi) long.

PLEASE NOTE: This is actually fake news!

On the Brink of A Global Trade War

Mr. Donald J. Trump, Esq.
president of the U.S.A.

The president of the United States of America, Donald J Trump, this morning announced that the European Union (amongst them the Kingdom of Southern Charm), Canada and Mexico would no longer be exempt from tariffs on imported steel (25%) and aluminum (10%).

The European Union, Canada and Mexico have retaliated with raising duties on imported American products. We are now at the brink of a trade war that can potentially have massive effects on the world's economy and could - if it continues to escalate - lead to a global financial crisis. 

Similar protectionist measures led to The Great Depression in the 1930's.

The Much Honored Bock McMillan,
laird of Southern Charm

The Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm, prince of Cascade Falls, Sovereign Ruler of the Commonwealth of the Southern Enchantment Region and Outer Territories and finally UN appointed Protector of the Mount Whitney sim in SecondLife, in an attempt to calm the worried princes and princesses of the nation, announced that he was working tirelessly with other world leaders to prevent the crisis from deteriorating further.

Brexit Negotiations Start

Article 50 negotiations just started. #Brexit pic.twitter.com/xxbt5ayrqz

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) June 19, 2017

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This should take awhile, I'm guessing.

I am also a bit confounded by the Britons talking about a "hard-Brexit" or a "soft-Brexit".

What do they expect? I should think it would be naive to believe that these divorce proceedings will let them off the hook easily. The European Union has no interest whatsoever to set an easy example for other countries to follow should they make the same choice.

Net Neutrality Wins In Europe!

The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC)—which consists of EU national regulators - has published guidelines to ensure the regulators apply the rules consistently across the bloc on August 30, 2016.

Telecom operators in the European Union will have to treat almost all web traffic equally under net neutrality rules that took effect in April, according to the new guidelines.

The move dealt a blow to telecoms...

SaveTheInternet.eu/en/ comments:

"This summer, hundreds of thousands of Internet users banded together to keep the Internet open and free. Together, we sent a loud, clear message to BEREC, the Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications: protect net neutrality.

And it worked! BEREC’s final guidelines, which were published on 30 August 2016, offer some of the strongest net neutrality protections we could wish for. So long as these new rules are properly enforced by national telecom regulators, they represent a resounding victory for net neutrality. 

The public has made clear that will not leave the future of its digital public space to big telecom lobbyists, but wants to decide for itself. To that end, civil society has to stay watchful and observe that telecom operators don’t violate the new principles. 

The consultation came as the final step of a legislative process that was launched in September 2013. During the ensuing three years, the SaveTheInternet.eu coalition campaigned successfully for the Regulation on which the consultation is based."

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EurActiv.com shares this analysis of the new regulation.

"Large telecoms companies signalled their disappointment over the regulators’ move to rule out many so-called zero rating services that are offered for free with data packages, such as unlimited access to Facebook.

National regulators will approve those services on a case-by-case basis. Under the new guidelines, the watchdogs said they will block zero rating if it interferes with freedom of expression or internet user rights. 

Telecoms operators won’t be allowed to offer zero rated services for free if a customer has already used up their data allowance.

The European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO), which represents major firms including Deutsche Telekom and Orange, said in a statement that “most of the concerns outlined and described by industry experts have not been taken into account”.

Under the rules, telecoms firms will only be allowed to slow down internet traffic to fix bad quality, not to tamper with speed for commercial gain. 

The watchdogs can force companies to stop if they’re found violating the rules, or can issue fines."

European Commission Approves Truvada

On August 22, 2016, the European Commission announced that it approves Truvada as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV) in all 28 EU countries.

Truvada is the first antiretroviral drug to be licensed in all 28 countries of the European Union to reduce the risk for HIV infection, subject to national regulatory authority approval of required pharmacovigilance materials in each country.

Two major studies (iPrEx study and Partners PrEP trial) demonstrated substantial reductions in the risk for HIV-1 infection when Truvada was used as PrEP. Both studies linked better adherence to daily Truvada to better protection against HIV-1 infection.

Experts believe that it will be available on the pharmaceutical market in the next six months. Even now PrEP plays an important role, together with other measures, in HIV prevention.

PrEP is relatively costly (universally recognized is $1,539.90 for 30 tablets) if it is not reimbursed by health insurance and is affordable by very few people. Now many hope that alternative PrEP becomes available in the market and that this very effective method of prevention will be available to many more.

It is not yet clear when PrEP will be available in Sweden and at what cost.

In addition to the European Union, Truvada is also authorized for PrEP in the United States, Australia, Canada, Kenya, Peru, and South Africa.

Support the Open Internet

European Regulators are about to decide whether to give big telecoms corporations the power to influence what we can (and can’t) do online. Europe urgently needs clear net neutrality guidelines to protect our freedoms and rights online. We have until July to help Europe protect the open Internet.

Join the movement, take action now!

http://www.savetheinternet.eu

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Transcript of the video:

Corporations don't control the Internet. Yet.

You can visit Google, or Facebook, but they're not the Internet. Amazingly, these giant corporations exist right alongside smaller independent websites. Like those by Startups and activists, that are working to lessen their power and create something independent that allows more freedom and is less intrusive than the big corporations.

But now, that's changing. The telecom companies we use to access the internet are giving corporate giants like Facebook special treatment.

Sometimes it's a marketing trick. Other times it’s for profit: they sell special treatment to them.

Either way, the result is the same: A terrible new future where old Telecom giants and new Internet giants conspire to remain in control. Forever. A future where videos on corporate sites work. But on small sites, they break. A future where expensive phone calls work. But free calls over the Internet break.

A future where giant corporate sites are subsidized to appear free. But independent sites are so expensive or slow to access, that no one visits them. This future may be coming to Europe.

By August, EU regulators will make their final decision: They will either prohibit special treatment with strong net neutrality rules, or hand the Internet's future to the corporate giants of telecom and tech.

In the United States, Brazil, and India, net neutrality activists and small startups have been winning, with millions of messages to regulators, and protests in the streets.This summer, it's Europe's turn. And it depends on you.

Click here to send your message to European regulators, share this video, and find a protest near you.

And the World Turns...

So... I'm utterly stunned today by the news I woke up to this morning, because I really could not imagine that a majority of the people of the United Kingdom would vote for leaving the European Union.

I have always had this vain belief that people in general are rational and will make conscious decisions that are in the best interest of their communities or - at least - in their own personal interest.

I read somewhere that the results of this referendum, caused a loss in British wealth during a few hours much exceeding what they have been paying to the EU since 1975 (not counting what they have received back from the EU). Edited 10:35PM SLT

The consequences of this referendum will cause us all much turmoil over the coming years, but especially for the Britons. The British pound is plummeting and the US dollar is soaring, which will among other things - and because this is a SecondLife blog - lead to SecondLife becoming more expensive for non-US nationals.

Thankfully the British Prime Minister David Cameron, who caused this mess by calling a referendum to try to curtail conflict within his own Conservative Party, has announced his resignation.

Grandfathered

Our friends at Linden Lab recently offered those of us who rent sims from them a price reduction of the maintenance fees (a.k.a. tier).

According to the offer we can now "buy down" from a monthly tier of $295 to $195 with a one time payment of $600 before October 4th, 2016.

Today I have decided to avail myself of that generous offer and have submitted a ticket accordingly. As I am a resident of the European Union I will thereby reduce my monthly cost for Southern Charm by $125, due to the added benefit of a lower VAT surcharge.

Read the full offer from Linden Lab here: Want Lower Tier? Now You Can Get Grandfathered Land Rates!

#ProudofEdgars

I proudly announce I'am gay... Good luck all of you...
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) November 6, 2014

(via J.M.G.)

"Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs announced Thursday that he was gay, breaking a barrier in Eastern Europe’s socially conservative political arena. The declaration, made via a cheerful Twitter posting, immediately gave gay rights advocates a prominent voice in post-Soviet Eastern Europe. The region — where openly gay public figures are a rarity — has significantly lagged behind the United States and Western Europe in its acceptance of same-sex relationships. The announcement came less than two months before Latvia assumes the European Union’s rotating presidency on Jan. 1, giving Rinkevics an even higher-profile platform from which to push for more tolerance for same-sex relationships."

The European Union & The Malaysian Jetliner (Updated)

On Thursday May 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 (en route from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) crashed in Eastern Ukraine, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew members.

The tragedy has since lead to many speculations concerning what caused the airplane to crash, among other theories so far it is believed that the plane could have been shot down by a missile.

John Aravosis, over at the AMERICAblog, yesterday posted an interesting analysis of the event and it's political ramifications involving Russia, the European Union and the United States, see Destruction of Malaysia Airlines flight poses huge conundrum for Obama, Europe.

At this point, US intelligence thinks the Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine shot down the Malaysian airliner, and they suspect it was with a Russian (Soviet) “Buk” missile. And the Pentagon said today that it was basically inconceivable that the rebels could have learned to operate the missiles without Russian help. There’s also a serious question as to where the Russian rebels got their Russian weapons from (take a guess).

But it’s worse than that. CNN was saying yesterday that while it would have been obvious to the Russians that this was a civilian airliner, it would have been next to impossible for the Russian rebels in Ukraine to know the difference between a Ukrainian military plane and a civilian airliner. The Russians knew they couldn't tell the difference, the Russians knew they were providing weapons and training to people who were planning on shooting down planes in an area that was a major corridor for international civilian air traffic. And the Russians went ahead and trained them to shoot down the planes anyway (if, everything we now suspect ends up being true).

That’s not an accident. And it’s not simple negligence. It borders on premeditated murder.

You train someone to shoot down planes, in a zone full of civilian airliners, knowing full well that the people you’re training have no way of knowing which planes are civilian and which are military. You know they’re going to be killing innocent people, and you simply don’t care (or perhaps even want them to). That’s not a “mistake.”

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Although we are still at an early stage, and there has been no formal inquiry into the cause of the crash yet, I believe that Mr. Aravosis is on the right track. 

It will now be very interesting to see if - and how - the European Union and the United States decide to take action against Russia and "Little Father" Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, in the latter's attempts  "to reconstitute the Soviet Union in all its deadly glory".

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Update
Malaysia Airlines has released the full names and nationalities of every person on board. There were:

• 192 Dutch, including one who had a dual Dutch/U.S. citizenship
• 44 Malaysian
• 27 Australian
• 12 Indonesian
• 10 British, including one who had dual U.K./African citizenship
• 4 German
• 4 Belgian
• 3 Filipino
• 1 Canadian
• 1 New Zealander

Swedish Snus Is Saved!

Snus, is a moist powder tobacco product originating from a variant of dry snuff in the early 19th century in Sweden. It is consumed by placing it under the upper lip for extended periods of time. The precursor of snus, the dry form of snuff inhaled through the nose, was introduced in Europe much earlier. Snus is not fermented and contains no added sugar. Although used in a manner similar to American dipping tobacco, snus does not typically result in the need for spitting and is different from naswar in that snus is steam-pasteurized. (Wikipedia)

Snus is widely consumed in Sweden by a large portion of the Swedish male population and some of the women too. It is considered a healthier way to consume nicotine and has the added benefit of not provoking spiteful comments or hateful glances like the ones smokers get for "polluting the environment".

Snus' sale is illegal in Turkmenistan and the European Union, but due to special exemptions, it is still manufactured and consumed primarily in Sweden and Norway.

The Swedish snus recently came under threat as the EU Commission in its proposed tobacco direktive wanted to regulate the flavors that could be used in snus. It was also suggesting a prohibition to add sodium carbonate, E 500, which is used in all Swedish snus to facilitate nicotine absorption. This prohibition would, according to the manufacturer Swedish Match, ultimately mean "the end of Swedish snus".

Todays meeting of the responsible EU ministers has in Swedish press been described as "a fateful day" for Swedish snus. However, the EU ministers today took Sweden's side, thereby leaving it up to Sweden to continue to determine the flavor and content of Swedish snus.

"I feel very happy", said Minister for Children and the Elderly Maria Larsson, to the waiting journalists on location in Luxembourg. "The joy is for the fact that the tobacco directive has been approved, but in particular the Swedish "victory" on snus. We actually saved the snuff to be free to decide on content, product marketing, ingredients, distinctive flavors and also sodium carbonate and the pouches can maintain their moisture."
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How's that for some first life drama?

IDAHO Day 2013 (Updated)

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia (url).

In almost 80 countries around the world, loving someone of the same sex is still considered illegal, at times involving lifetime imprisonment and, in nine countries, it is even punishable by death!

And in many more countries still, citizens are denied their right to live according to their preferred gender identity.

As well as legal discrimination's  social homophobia and transphobia serve to daily deny millions of people across the world their basic human dignity.

The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) was created in 2004 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media to this issue.

It is not one centralized campaign; rather it is a moment that everyone can take advantage of to take action.

The date of May 17th was specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.

Today is the day to take action in your local area, talk about it or simply mention it, just spread the word!

Update 1
The European Union´s Agency for Fundamental Rights today presented a report of a survey among 93 000 gay inhabitants in the EU and Croatia (read the summary here)

The lowest rate of discrimination occurs in the Netherlands followed by Denmark and Luxembourg, while the highest rate of discrimination occurs is in Lithuania followed by Croatia and Poland.

Update 2
Read my friend Garth Raleigh's suggestion in the comments below about how to take part in the manifestation in SecondLife today!

The Shameless Grafter

Maltese John Dalli, the former Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs in the European Union resigned Tuesday due to charges of fraud.

The resignation occurred after the European Union's anti-fraud office, OLAF, presented the results of it´s investigation showing that a Maltese entrepreneur had approached the Swedish snus (Swedish snuff) producing company Swedish Match and, while referring to his close association with Mr. Dalli, tried to receive "substantial financial benefits" in exchange for influence over a future bill on removing the ban on sales of snus within the European Union.

However, no transaction occurred between Swedish Match and the entrepreneur. "We unfortunately found that the offer was credible and that it was linked to the Commission's political leadership. The professional decision was pretty simple: it was to say no. It is not in our DNA or culture - or the Swedish character, what do I know - that one works that way, it's completely unattractive" said a spokesperson for Swedish Match..

Dalli denies the charges, but the investigation by OLAF shows that he was aware of what had occurred between the Maltese entrepreneur and Swedish Match and had made no effort to distance himself from the matter or to report it.

Rumours claim that Dalli, when approached on the matter by José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, first refused to resign and only did so after being told that he would be fired if he didn't.

Unscrupulous and shameless use of one's position to derive advantages is always ugly. The statement by the spokesperson is rather touching though in all its innocence, because I could name at least five Swedish companies who under similar circumstances have - or would - accept such an offer without hesitation.

Make Your Experience Count

This is the biggest ever European survey of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender people (LGBT). The survey is looking for responses from anyone who considers themself to be LGB and/or T, who is aged 18 years and above and lives in the European Union or Croatia.

The survey is being carried out by The Gallup Organisation Europe on behalf of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), an agency of the European Union. The FRA helps to ensure that fundamental rights of people living in the EU are protected. It does this by collecting evidence about the situation of fundamental rights across the European Union and providing advice, based on evidence, about how to improve the situation.

Your participation in the survey is very important. Your answers will be processed in an anonymous way ensuring that it will not be possible for anyone to recognise your answers when the results are presented. You can read more in the privacy statement.
The questions will take up to around 20 minutes to answer.

If you have a few more minutes and would like to share your individual experiences, you are welcome to provide more information at the end of the survey.

Why is the survey important?
Besides occasional news reports about discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people, there is very little comparable data collected across the EU about the everyday experiences of LGBT people with respect to discrimination.

Based on the survey results, national and European policy makers as well as non-governmental or civil society organisations will be able to better target their advocacy strategies and activities to support the LGBT community to live and express themselves freely without discrimination.

In order to give weight to the results, the European LGBT Survey counts on the participation of a large and diverse group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people from each country.

This is the first EU-wide effort to collect LGBT experiences in the framework of the ever largest survey made in this field – make yours count as well!

▶▶▶ Click here to start the European LGBT Survey ◀◀◀

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Just do it, guys and girls, this is important!