Only 6 people showed up to the EU’s $400,000 party in the metaverse

Kek

Thu, December 1, 2022 at 7:17 AM

The EU commission has tried and failed to be “down with the kids.”

The commission’s foreign aid department threw a virtual “gala” on Tuesday night, having spent €387,000 (about $400,000) on developing their metaverse platform, in an attempt to attract the interest of young people. Only six showed up.

According to one of the only attendees, Devex correspondent Vince Chadwick, it was an immediate flop and he was the only one left after “several bemused chats” with the "roughly five other humans" who briefly joined.

https://twitter.com/vchadw/status/1597695719787200514?s=20u0026t=iJpO0rsYx1VtW6EVYkbUYQ

Chadwick shared a short clip on [hotlink]Twitter[/hotlink] showing multi-coloured paperclip-shaped avatars dancing on a stage next to a tropical beach. “Is anybody out there?” read one message on the screen. “The concert is just the same DJ spinning the same music,” said another.

Struggling in its early days, the metaverse space is part of an expensive plan designed to promote the EU commission’s Global Gateway Initiative, which aims to spend $300 billion by 2027 building new infrastructure in developing countries, and the official trailer was dropped on their social media in mid-October.

https://twitter.com/EU_Partnerships/status/1580591048593911808?s=20u0026t=TfojGmIvX-46F4uqaLRcbA

The platform is supposed to be a new way to explore the Initiative “through a series of ‘hero’ stories in a virtual environment,” according to the commission.

Users can find information through stories played on video screens around the tropical island on which it is set, while encountering other unusual additions such as an open book art installation on a liquid floor, drones that carry screens flashing words such as “education” and “public health,” and the ability to walk on water.

A spokesperson said the project aims to "increase awareness of what the EU does on the world stage," targeting young people in particular who spend their time on TikTok and [hotlink]Instagram[/hotlink], and who are "neutral about the EU" and "not typically exposed to such information."

Was it worth it?

Even before the empty gala, internal staff had their doubts about such methods, according to a report by Devex citing anonymous interviews; staff described it as “Digital garbage,” and “depressing and embarrassing.”

Twitter users weren’t impressed by the trailer either, with one responding, “There is a massive drought in East [hotlink]Africa[/hotlink], UNHCR doesn't have enough funds for food for refugees in camps, etc etc and THIS is what you choose to spend money on?”

https://twitter.com/BirgitHabermann/status/1585208209291505664?s=20u0026t=B1OYIec334bfC3PouAHjhg

An official assessment of whether the investment was worth it is due shortly. On Friday, representatives of EU member states are set to grill the commission on its comms strategy for the Global Gateway Initiative.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/only-6-people-showed-eu-121725348.html

>>17876488

Please stop!

4 Dec, 2022 17:06

EU must ‘take action’ against US – von der Leyen

Joe Biden’s investment plan could threaten the bloc’s industry, the European Commission chief has said

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned on Sunday that to be able to compete with the US’ government-subsidized green industry, the EU must “take action” and step up state aid to its own companies.

Signed into law by President Joe Biden in August, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is – despite its name – a $738 billion spending package that allocates $391 billion toward green energy and climate-friendly industry projects, including $270 billion in tax incentives. Initially lauded by liberals on both sides of the Atlantic, von der Leyen now sees the act as a threat to Europe’s industry.

The IRA’s provision of tax breaks for consumers who buy American products, and manufacturers who produce these products in the US, could “lead to unfair competition, could close markets, and thus fragment critical supply chains,” she told a gathering of students in the Belgian city of Bruges.

With these incentives on the one hand, and the EU’s struggles with supply chain bottlenecks and record energy costs on the other, the IRA could place European industry at a disadvantage, she continued.

Competition between the US and EU “must respect a level playing field,” she declared. “We must take action to rebalance the playing field, where the IRA and other measures create distortions.”

To that end, von der Leyen said that the EU must increase state aid to its own industries, and invest in renewable energy, while lobbying the US to “address some of the most concerning aspects” of the IRA. Earlier on Sunday, the head of the European Parliament’s trade committee, Bernd Lange, said that pressing the US to rewrite the act is a waste of time, and that the EU should file a complaint with the World Trade Organization instead.

While von der Leyen blamed the Europe-wide energy crunch on Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, the EU’s own sanctions on Moscow impeded critical repair work along Russian-EU gas lines before deliveries were reduced.

Moreover, the bloc pressed ahead with imposing a price cap on Russian oil on Saturday. On the same day, Kremlin spokesmanDmitry Peskov said Moscow is not planning to recognize the measure. He added that the government is currently carrying out a review of the situation.

https://www.rt.com/news/567653-eu-losing-green-industry/

These fools in EU thought Dementia Joe would be fair to them as partners, but they didn’t take into consideration Obama was running the country; and Joe and his family always gets a cut. The idiot outfoxed the fox of the EU. Now they are in enduring war against Russia, and they are losing their shirts and shit. And all of their citizens hate their leaders. Big major cracks in the dam.

4 Dec, 2022 15:41

Thousands rally in Rome against arming Ukraine (VIDEO)

Trade unionists and leftists marched after the new government promised more arms for Kiev next year

Left-wing demonstrators took to the streets in Rome on Saturday, demanding higher wages and condemning the Italian government for renewing a decree allowing it to send weapons to Ukraine until 2024.

Organized by Italy’s USB trade union and backed by a number of leftist political factions, the protest saw thousands of people assemble at the Piazza della Repubblica and march behind a banner reading “guns down, wages up."

“The Meloni government is dragging us further and further into a spiral of war with unpredictable outcomes,” the USB wrote prior to the protest. “Italy is evidently a belligerent and active country in the conflict, despite the fact that the great majority of the population is against the war and the consequent sharp increase in military spending.”

Italy’s new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, issued a decree on Thursday allowing her cabinet to continue sending weapons to Ukraine until the end of 2023 without seeking the formal approval of parliament. Her predecessor, Mario Draghi, was a staunch supporter of Kiev and lost power after a disagreement over arms shipments split the largest party in his coalition government, the Five Star Movement.

The Italian public is split too, with 49% opposing sending weapons to Kiev and 38% in favor, according to a poll taken by EuroWeek News last month. Additionally, 49% of Italians believe that Ukraine needs to make concessions to Russia in the ongoing conflict to speed up the peace process, while only 36% want Kiev to keep fighting.

Last month, another rally in Rome calling for a peace deal to end the Ukrainian conflict drew 100,000 people, organizers said.

https://www.rt.com/news/567650-italy-ukraine-weapons-protest/

(Why do they call them left wing?)

4 Dec, 2022 14:41

Iran abolishes morality police

The country has been gripped by violent protests after the death of a woman who allegedly wore an “improper” hijab

Iran has disbanded its morality police, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the nation’s attorney general, confirmed on Saturday. This comes as the country has been embroiled in weeks of violent anti-government protests over the death of a young woman detained by the force.

Montazeri said that while the institution had been abolished,authorities will “continue to monitor behavioral actions at the community level.”

On Thursday, the attorney general stated that Iranian officials were reviewing whether they needed to change the law requiring women to cover their heads.

The morality police was established in 2005 to control how people comply with Islamic rules regarding their clothes and behavior. It was sanctioned by the EU, US and the UK over the death of a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini, who was arrested over allegedly wearing an “improper” hijab and died hours later.

Iran has seen weeks of violent protests that erupted in mid-September over the death of Amini. While the Iranian authorities claim that she died of a pre-existing medical condition, her family insists she was beaten to death while in custody.

According to figures released by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the riots have claimed the lives of more than 200 people. Earlier this week, Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh, who serves with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps put the total death toll during the unrest at “more than 300 people.”

Iranian officials have accused foreign players, especially the US and Israel, of inciting violence and trying to destabilize the country.

https://www.rt.com/news/567648-iran-abolish-morality-police/

4 Dec, 2022 14:59

1,700 endangered seals wash ashore in Russia (VIDEO)

The mammals were found dead on the Caspian Sea coast and are presumed to have succumbed to natural causes

Over a thousand seals have been found dead on the coast of the Caspian Sea, local authorities in Russia’s southern Dagestan Republic said on Sunday. The region’s Ministry of Environment says natural factors are likely behind the incident.

Zaur Gapizov, the general director of the Caspian Nature Protection Center, said the mammals seem to have perished at least two weeks ago and been washed ashore by a storm. “There are no signs that they were killed, no remains of fishing nets have been found,” he noted, adding that local authorities are continuing to examine the coast. Gapizov estimated that “most likely, the number of dead seals is much higher” than the 1,700 already found.

On Saturday, Dagestan’s Ministry of Environment said “the condition of the internal organs of the examined seals did not confirm the hypothesis that they had been intoxicated with heavy metals or pesticides.”

The ministry collected “a large volume of samples,” which were sent to laboratories in Moscow and the city of Astrakhan in southern Russia.

According to the Caspian Nature Protection Center, the total number of Caspian seals does not exceed 70,000. The mammals are considered endangered and are included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.

https://www.rt.com/russia/567651-russia-seals-dead-caspian/

High powered sonar has been accused of hurting whales and seals, this seems to be an outrageous conclusion of natural causes. Is Russia or someone else testing news weapons

3 Dec, 2022 20:53

UN ignores abuse of Ukrainian women in EU country – Moscow

The real threat to female refugees doesn’t come from Russia, the Foreign Ministry says

The UN and human rights bodies are turning a blind eye to reports of sexual exploitation of female Ukrainian refugees in Sweden, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, has said.

In a post on Telegram on Saturday, Zakharova called attention to a statement made last month by the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, which sounded the alarm over “an increased risk of Ukrainian refugees being exposed to human trafficking, labor exploitation and prostitution in Sweden.”

The police have been investigating some 20 such cases, but many more offenses remain unreported, according to the agency. There has also been a rise in the number of prostitutes from Ukraine in Sweden since the outbreak of the conflict between Kiev and Moscow in late February, it added.

The statement was widely reported by the Swedish media, “but no reaction from Kiev or the international community followed,” the spokeswoman pointed out.

She noted how the UN special representative on sexual violence, Pramila Patten, claimed in October that the Russian military has been pursuing a deliberate “rape strategy” during its military operation in Ukraine.

The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also recalled the former Ukrainian human rights commissioner, Lyudmila Denisova, who had been behind the claims of sexual abuse by Russian troops early in the conflict, but ended up being fired by Kiev in May. “Denisova admitted that she simply lied, ‘trying to persuade the world to provide weapons [to Ukraine] and put pressure on Russia,’”Zakharova wrote.

“The real threat to Ukrainian women doesn’t come from Russia, but awaits them in Europe,” the spokeswoman insisted.

The UN and human rights bodies, however, “are silent because it’s not in their rules to draw attention to a real humanitarian problem; or because they are performing yet another political order,” Zakharova said. She added that neither option looked good.

The spokeswoman also advised Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba to stop attacking Moscow and switch his attention to Stockholm.

Patten previously acknowledged during a prank call that her harsh “rape” claims concerning the Russian military were based solely on what Ukrainian officials had told her and that she didn’t have any actual proof to back them up.

https://www.rt.com/russia/567620-zakharova-sweden-ukraine-exploitation/