In a recent report, scientists from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) analysed how critical raw materials (CRM) are currently used in the EU and whether their use is in line with the principles of the circular economy.
The result is a data heavy report detailing reuse for work in extractive waste, landfills, electric and electronic equipment, batteries, automotive, renewable energy, defence as well as chemicals and fertilisers. It also references a number of good practices in each sector, such as in mining: ‘Building on the principle that all valuable metals contained in the ore should be recovered rather than ending up in e.g. the tailings dam, the BRAVO (Bauxite Residue and Aluminium Valorisation Operations) project in Ireland is targeted to the recovery of CRMs from bauxite residues (red mud). Using red mud as a source of critical raw materials (e.g. gallium, titanium, selenium, germanium, dysprosium and cerium) simultaneously brings environmental benefits due to the additional treatment of the red mud itself, which potentially causes environmental damage due to its alkaline content.’
These graphs taken from the report show some key figures on recycling CRMs in the EU.
However, Figure 8 does not yet show the level of circularity of CRMs in the EU-28. For materials used predominantly in the EEE sectors (i.e., gallium, germanium, indium, and dysprosium, provides an indication of the amounts of secondary raw materials functionally recycled to contribute to EU demand in 2012 (see purple coloured Sankey arrow in the Figure).
I have always been a socialist, and have almost always voted Labour ( the exceptions being voting tactically in an area Labour could not win, and in some local elections ), but I only became a Labour party member to support your candidacy. I, along with so many others, saw you as someone who would return Labour to its correct place, to fight for a fairer society and for the majority of British people who have not been represented in politics in recent decades, and in your promise to return to being a party led by the will of its members.
And you have fought for these things. You have shown Labour to be a strong, radical, socialist alternative. You have withstood attacks from the right wing of your own party and the constant denigration by the British media, and I have been proud to be one of your supporters. However, your recent comment on Brexit is not only a failure of your party membership, but a betrayal of us.
The vast majority of the Labour membership - 86% of us - are in favour of a referendum on details of the withdrawal agreement and that one of the options should be to remain in the EU. Many have been pinning our hopes to end this self immolation on Labour, so to be told by the leader that Brexit would still go ahead under a Labour victory in a snap general election is the most shocking betrayal.
Mr Corbyn, one of your greatest features is the strength of your convictions, and I understand that the history of the British left has not alway been easy with the EU - seeing it, not always wrongly, as a neo-liberal capitalist mission. This has been, and is, one aspect of the whole, but it is at tension with others; human rights, social progress, regulation of the excesses of corporate power. The EU comprises the most progressive nations on the planet as members - Sweden, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany - or close associates, such as Norway. All these countries and more are far to the left of where the UK has been for decades, and should be models we emulate, so to pretend the club of which they are members and, indeed, run is some capitalist conspiracy is ludicrous. The EU is project is an active entity, shaped by and shaping the members and a socialist-lead UK should be part of that.
There is the argument that Labour represents many areas that voted Leave, so is beholden to its constituents. On the face of it this is a sound argument - we are an representative democracy whose politicians are elected to conduct the will of the people. However, leaders must also lead. It is often a fine balance - to serve but also educate and inform. In this instance, this is nothing but an excuse and rank cowardice. It is clear that, not only were the British people misled and lied to, but that there is no possible outcome of leaving the EU that does not render vast swathes of the country much, much worse off - and those working-class, under-privileged, poor communities that so often voted leave will be and are being hit hardest of all. It is the duty of those who represent these communities - as so many of the Labour MPs are doing - to talk honestly to their electors about the position in which we find ourselves and what the immediate decisions for our future, and that of our children and grandchildren.
Brexit is the most immediate threat to this country’s well being and prosperity. Mr Corbyn, as leader of the opposition, as leader of the party that should represent those most at risk, you should about face on your attitude. For the members of your party and for the good of your country, you should - you MUST - state that you will fight Brexit until there is no other choice. How can 86% of your own party support you otherwise?
Remember Bucha? Well, right now the same thing is happening in Kherson region. More stories about killed, tortured and raped children. There’s also Mariupol - it’s like Bucha, but 20 times worse. And people still buy russian gas
i watched this analysis in which it was explained that Germany and France don’t want Ukraine to join the EU cause that would basically mean a massive shift of power within Europe - from Germany + France to Poland + Ukraine. and to that i say: let’s fucking do it. also: fuck them for being so used to being in a position of power that both Macron and Scholz would rather see Putin win than let Ukraine develop within the EU
COVID is slowly becoming a “third world” disease. While first world countries are hoarding vaccines, having doses for populations many times their size, third world countries can’t get any because pharma companies want to sell to the first world countries first. Even then, first world countries will receive them first. While rich countries recover from COVID, they will forget about the pandemic while many other countries live the absolute worst moment of the pandemic without being able to vaccinate their population.
Watch also when some first world countries finish vaccinating their populations, they will turn to third world countries and “donate” or sell surplus vaccines. People in these countries will go “Oh how sweet! The government is donating vaccines to the poorer countries <3” when it was their hoarding that led to many, many third world citizens dying before they could even get vaccinated in the first place.
african and latin american countries are also pushed by pfizer to give up sovereign assets as part of their vaccine agreement
Yo europeans, sign the fucking petition, get the european commission to lift the patents
This is not a bullshit useless change dot org petition by the way this is an actual thing with legal consequences. If this petition gets to a million signatures, the european commission HAS to examine it.
They need not only a million signatures but to pass thresholds in at least seven member states - which only Belgium has done so so far. Especially if you have Italian, Irish, or Cypriot citizenship, please sign. Sign it in general, but try to circulate if you can to anyone with those nationalities specifically.
231,195 / 1,000,000 signatures as of 10/28/21
237,730 / 1,000,000 signatures as of 11/28/21 and the Signatory Deadline(it has to be signed by this date) is January 8th, 2022.
PLEASE sign, especially if you’re from one of the countries that has not reached it’s threshold. (France, Sweden, Greece, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria…basically every country except Italy and Belgium)
Minimum thresholds must be met in at least five more countries in addition to the 1,000,000 signatures requirement.
The countries closest to reaching their minimum threshold are Ireland(89% of required signatures), France(75%),The Netherlands(75%),Spain (69%), and Cyprus (46%). If you or anyone you know have citizenship in these countries, please sign it, encourage them to sign it, and pass it forward.
If the requirements are met, the European Commission will be forced to examine this and take legal action. Real change is a possibility if enough signatures are collected.
Spread this.
Biden is actually asking for an IP waiver for the vaccine in the US in order to ship it out, as well. Good time to write to your reps if you’re American.
Just wanted to add that if (like me) you have citizenship in an EU country but reside outside the EU, YOU CAN STILL SIGN
Currently only Belgium and Italy have passed the threshold. Put that dual citizenship to good use if you can!
Around 50% of Palestinian residents in Silwan neighborhood east of Jerusalem received Israeli demolition orders for their homes. Ethnic cleansing is at its peak!
I’m revising again for some exam i want to take in order to work for the Government which is something where i could see myself right now. It’s actually fun right now but also kind of hard because it’s all in french and it’s my weakest language…
19.03.2016 idomeni, greece. today strong wind was blowing away dozens, if not hundreds, of tents in the area. it was a mixture of horror, laughter and for some kids even fun. the last two photos are taken within 1 minute. two members of team humanity let one broken tent fly and in the very next moment their own big tent was blown away, leaving a sleeping member of the team pretty astonished behind on now open air ground.
somehow it was a good allegory for what was happening the same time on the greek islands, refugees hopes where blown away.
07.03.2016 harbor of mytilini, lesbos/greece. a syrian family is waiting to enter the ferry to pireaus. since the eu closed the balkan route, they will be stucked in greece, most likely somewhere in athens, with no where to go. the camps in and around athens are full. even if the greek government is able to set up new camps, turn empty industrial space into refugee spaces and using other facility´s, this will be only a drop in the ocean, because there are still coming refugees in big numbers and there is no way that greece can cope with that on it´s own. this will not only lead to a very bad situation for the refugees, ripping them of the hope to live a normal life and a prospect for their children, but also will lead to social and political unrest in greece soon. the rightwings in greece will win bigtime from this eu policy. it is most likely that we will see highly violent streetprotest on the streets of athens and other places in greece within the next 4 to 6 weeks, if the eu is not find a solution to open a way for the refugees to other country´s within the eu.
23.02.2016 victoria park, athens/greeece. i met mohammad while i was at victoria park, a place in athens where a lot of the refugees stay during the day that have no other place to go. the camps in and near athens are full, so there are tenthousands of refugees with no place to go. mohammad is from afghanistan. he studied engineering, speaks a profound english and worked as a translator for amerian forces, as well for the eeas (eu election observation missions). like numberless afghan translators he was promised to get a special visa from the usa as well as from the eu, because of the high danger this translators have to face because of the taliban and like numberless other translators he was betrayed by his employers. since it is almost impossible to get through the process of being accepted for the special visa process, it needs years and many bureaucratic steps to climb. also the usa and the eu now use for years “agency´s” to employ a lot of the translators, so they can´t be directly connected to them. this way the translators don´t even gain the right for the special visa. the usa and the eu know very well that working for them is putting their employers in a life risking position, since the taliban kill everyone they know helping the usa and eu. same story with mohammed, he was warned by a friend that he should leave afghanistan asap, since the taliban are looking for him to kill him. so he went to pakistan first, but he was not save there as well and so, after a long trip through several country´s, he went on the boat-route to greece, with the final goal to reach germany, since he has a uncle living there for decades. he was on a boat with 53 other refugees, helping them in the registration process with translating and thats what he does now as well in athens. since he is a single man from afghanistan and the eu just declared afghanistan for a save 3rd country, forcing macedonia not to let pass any refugees from afghanistan coming from greece anymore, now he is stucked in athens. he have no place to go, no governmental institution that take care of him and no legal way to go to germany to his relative. all he want´s is to help as volunteer, finish his studies and live a normal live. he is smart, friendly and very polite, cares about others. apart from the illegal actions from the eu states, breaking every international treaty regarding refugees, this betray of the afghan translators, people who risk their lives to help our governments and army´s, is one of the most fucked up actions our governments take. i feel deeply ashamed that this is also done in my name, since i am a citizen of the eu.
11.10.2015 between eftalou and skala sikamineas, lesbos/greece.
this photo shows a beach, about 20 minutes after a rubber dingy had reached the shaw. it is a place where you have to climb up to a dirtroad and then walk for 30-40 minutes. the person on this photo is a photojournalist from italy that worked on the island several times. right now lesbos is kind of calm on the surface, no boats came during the last days as far as i know. it was very windy, but the weather was warm. we ask ourselfs on the island what causes the stop, if it´s the turkish coastguard or police, or the high presence of navi vessels on the water. maybe it is just the wind, or they have no boats right now. we don´t know. on the other side it is getting hefty here under the surface. a lot of volunteers suffer from the low action, feeling not needed here. the goverment and political pressure is getting stronger as well. the camps are officially run by the military now, a lot of the food distribution will come from them as well, at least that is the new plan. the lifeguards spend time on the beaches waiting. frustration. the thing is, every one here knows that there are 2.5 million or more syrian refugees in turkey, another estimated 2 million refugees and immigrants and most of them want to, need to come, because there is no future for them in turkey. the western military analysts now think that assad actually going to win the war against the people of syria this year with the help of russia. so there will be no way in the future for the syrian refugees to go back to their home, it would be suicide. i guess another 500.000 to 1.000.000 syrians will flee in the next month from syria for the very same reason. same time europa close its gates, planing to use greece virtually as detention camp, while the country itself is falling even deeper into crisis. we know, they will come, somehow. if not to lesbos, chios, kos, samos, they will find other, even much more dangerous ways. the number of more than 4000 dead refugees last year will skyrock, but they will come. there is no other choice. there is nothing left for them, for their children. they deserve a future!
according to the magazine “the spiegel”, 4 members of the eu in the east, hungary, polen, czech republic and slovakia are meeting next monday to have talks and agree on ways to close the balkan route for refugees entirely. first of all this will be a breach of a whole bunch of laws and treaty´s, since these country´s have signed the geneva convention for refugees and the the european convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. they would also breach some other european laws about cooperations. also that would imply that these country would disavow on fundamental ethic grounds of the eu. it is a unilateralist move that could have the power to destroy the fundaments of the european union. the same time the eu and the nato, led by germany, is sending military forces to greece to handle the boarder situation with turkey, militarizing a crisis that is caused by refugees fleeing from a genocide like war in syria. this way the eu betrays every ethic and moral grounds that it is claiming to stand for. the last time fear was leading the european politics this way, there was no good end to it, it was in the late 20s and beginning 30s of the last century. the uprising of the far right, the barbaric ideology of fascism, especially in the east of europa, but also in most other country´s of the european union, has reached a point where these forces are able to drive the political process in front of them. in germany, after ww2, we had the saying: “resist the beginnings” and we used that phrase to remind our selfs and our fellow human beings to let this kind of horror, the holocaust, the fascist movement in germany, never happen again. we are in the middle of the beginnings already, on a european scale this time. if you wan´t to live in a free society, based on ethical standards, on democratic standards, you have to stand up for your rights and beliefs NOW. you have to leave your comfort zone, your private bubble and take a stand. there is no time for wait and see anymore, for nobody. stop distracting yourself with bullshit and talk about the important topics, get activ, find better solutions for everyone. don´t wait for others to clean up the mess. act! if you don´t, you will ask yourself in a few years: how could that happen? like our ancestors did. and like our ancestors, you will ask yourself this question in the ruins of europa. - neal mcqueen
30.01.2016 petra, lesbos/greece. this photo shows about 150 refugees waiting for getting out of the harbor area to get on busses bringing them to camp moria. they have been picked up by a greek navy vessel which is part of the frontex mission. the european union just decided to deploy a group of nato navy war-vessels to this part of the agean sea, officially to help the fight against the organized criminals that do the human trafficking. this is very obvious a false flag operation, because it is not even possible to get to these people on the water, since they are never in the boats. most of the times the boats are piloted by the refugees itself, or some poor dude making a little bit of cash. so this way there will be no chance to get to the real smugglers doing the business. the real reason will be to scare the refugees off, because they normally don´t start when they see a coastguard or navy vessel around. also, since turkey is part of the nato, this way the vessels are there for monitoring the area and pass their infos directly to the turkish side. the frontex and the turkish coastguard is actually restricted by law to do that, even if this is most likely ignored. the whole mission of the nato vessels is pretty much a task to close the boarder, which would be only legal for them in a case of defense, according to the law, which was not declared so far. this start to look like a war on refugees.
Unpopular opinion: yes, Germany is going through a cringe era rn… but we should still sing Ode à la joie in German. No other language could capture those WIR BETRETEN FEUERTRUNKEN vibes.
The secret U.S.-and-UK war against Europe is well documented but little known, and some conceptual and historical background is pre-requisite in order to understand that documentation. Historically, nations which share the same currency don’t go to war against one-another unless one of them is a colony of the other and is (like America’s colonies were in 1776) in a revolution to establish its…
The war in Ukraine is quintessentially Clausewitzean. And to understand it, we need to return to Carl von Clausewitz, the doyen of modern war, who recognised that war is practically limitless in variety, “complex and changeable,” and noting that every age has its particular kind of war with “its own limiting conditions and its own particular preconceptions.” Clausewitz’s contemporaneous…
The fallout of the war in Ukraine over Europe is largely seen in terms of the uncertainties over the continent’s heavy dependence on Russian energy and the impact of it on the economies of the 27 EU member countries. Imposing restrictions on Russian oil has proven a much more complicated task than imagined previously. Countries that are highly dependent on Russian fossil fuels are concerned about…
Soros Is Revealed In Leaked Emails To Have Been Pro-Nazi During WW II
Soros Is Revealed In Leaked Emails To Have Been Pro-Nazi During WW II
Brexit et al. 1) EU There has been a flurry of briefing papers arriving at the EU embassy in Beijing. Core agreement is reached with UK Government. There will be problems in this passing through the UK Parliamentary system. Therefore at this point we should not sound to optimistic. The Conservative grouping that support the EU are confident that Mrs May will call for a second referendum vote to…
A graffitied UKIP poster for the upcoming European elections for MEP representatives in England. Seen on the B1062 between Bungay and Beccles.
Somepolls are indicating that UKIP could enjoy a “landslide” victory in the 22nd May elections, with Nigel Farage’s party taking advantage of Euroscepticism and the perceived ineffectiveness of Britain’s mainstream political parties by offering a so-called “Common Sense” ‘populist’ protest vote against the British political establishment and the EU. A cornerstone of UKIP’s policies rest on tackling the perceived 'threat’ of “excessive immigration”, which the party claim is “crippling local services”.
There have also been several allegations of sexist remarks attributed to UKIP members. The most high-profile incident concerned Godfrey Bloom’s mocking use of the word “sluts” to describe women attending a UKIP conference, which resulted in him quitting his position as a UKIP whip, though he remains an MEP and member of the party. UKIP treasurer Stuart Wheeler denied allegations of sexism after making a comment about women's “competitiveness” in relation to men.
A Syriza rally in Rethymno, Crete (1/7/15) encouraging Greeks to vote NO (ΟΧΙ) to the bailout conditions proposed by the Troika (EU/ECB/IMF). Alex Tsipras’ decision on Saturday 27th June to call a referendum on the (now expired) bailout offered by Greece’s creditors threw the country into turmoil. ATMs were emptied over the weekend by people desperate to get access to their savings, and banks were shuttered as capital controls were imposed the following Monday. The Greek government’s refusal of the bailout offers proposed lead to the country defaulting on an IMF debt repayment at Midnight on Tuesday 30th June, plunging Greece further into crisis. The referendum will take place on Sunday 5th June, with some analysts predicting a ‘No’ vote (as encouraged by the Syriza government) would see Greece exiting the Euro and thus the EU and Eurozone. The Greek government deny this, with Prime Minister Tsipras asserting that he remains committed to keeping Greece in the European Union.
Negotiations are underway between Israel and the European Union for Israel to sell natural gas to Europe, which wishes to end its dependence on Russia for fuel. Italy and Germany presently get 40% and 35% of their gas from Russia, respectively. Russia recently informed Finland – which just announced that it would like to join NATO – that it would stop selling it gas. The dispute is officially about a Russian demand to be paid in rubles, and it represents only a small amount of Finland’s energy supply, but the political overtones are unmistakable. The delivery of Israeli gas, via Egypt, could begin as early as this coming winter.
Naturally, I welcome the idea that Israel will be able to help the Europeans in their time of need. It can get very cold in Europe in the winter. So I have prepared a draft of a letter that our government could send to the EU in order to get the ball rolling. It’s warmish now at the end of May, but Berlin, for example, is located at 54.5 north latitude, and temperatures there in January average 1 degree C. So let’s get started!
Dear European Friends and Allies,
We in Israel are excited to hear of your interest in buying some of our natural gas. We’ll be happy to sell it to you. But there are a few small bumps in the road to iron out first. So here they are:
We demand that you reverse your blatantly racist decision to demand that Israeli products from Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights, and eastern Jerusalem be labeled according to the ethnicity of the producer, and not as products of Israel (see 16 here).
Your subsidizing of illegal construction by Palestinian Arabs in Area C of Judea and Samaria, a zone which by international treaty is supposed to be under full Israeli civil and security control, is an egregious violation of Israeli sovereignty and international law, and must stop immediately.
Yourcontinued financial support, which amounts to millions of Euros annually, to subversive Israeli NGOs, terror-linked organizations in the Palestinian Authority, Gaza, and other locations, and NGOs promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories as well as BDS and lawfare against Israel, constitutes non-military warfare against the Jewish state. We demand a halt to this activity.
Your consistent support for our enemies in the UN in their efforts to deny and obscure the Jewish history of sites such as the Temple Mount, despite the overwhelming archaeological and historical evidence, demonstrates bad faith or cowardice, and is not consistent with a desire for good relations.
Your desire to reach an accommodation with Iran that will allow the regime to have nuclear weapons is not only threatening to Israel, it is dangerous to yourselves, who will soon be in range of Iranian missiles.
We understand that you have strong feelings of guilt for your colonialist past, and for the collaboration of many Europeans with the Nazi effort to liquidate the Jewish people. But it’s absurd, even pathological, to try to ameliorate these feelings by helping the heirs of the Nazis, whose leaders included Hitler’s associate Amin al-Husseini and the Father of Terrorism Yasser Arafat, to continue the Nazis’ genocidal program. We suggest that you apply some of the millions – perhaps billions – that you will save by ending your financial and diplomatic war against Israel to actual humanitarian causes.
We also understand that a growing segment of your population is Muslim, and that the great majority of them are anti-Zionist, even antisemitic. Pandering to these attitudes can be useful for short-term political gain, but you should understand that they are also anti-Western. Appeasing them is much like feeding a crocodile in the hope that he will eat you last (apologies to Winston Churchill).
We are looking forward to working to provide you with a warm winter, just as soon as you reverse your irrational anti-Israel policies!*
Israel
___________________________ * I’m not holding my breath.
Your subsidizing of illegal construction by Palestinian Arabs in Area C of Judea and Samaria, a zone which by international treaty is supposed to be under full Israeli civil and security control, is an egregious violation of Israeli sovereignty and international law, and must stop immediately.
Serious question: what legal right does the European Union have to fund costruction in Judea and Samaria? (I think they also fund some of the illegal Bedouin settlements as well.) This is such an enormous and audacious overreach of political power.
On the plus side, buying gas from Israel will undermine BDS, so silver linings and all that.
