Member Info for Madpunter

Part 4
Belgium, March 22. The coronavirus has fueled tensions between Belgium, which is on lockdown, and the Netherlands, which is not. «In the Netherlands, shops are still open and meetings of 100 people are still allowed — these are breeding grounds for the virus,» said Marino Keulen, mayor of the Belgian border town Lanaken. Belgian authorities have set upbarricades along the border and are ordering cars with Dutch license plates to turn around and return home. Keulen called the border checks a «signal to The Hague» to «quickly scale-up» its response and align with neighboring countries. «The Dutch government is incompetent and ridiculous in its response to the coronavirus crisis,» said Leopold Lippens, the mayor of Belgian seacoast town Knokke-Heist. «The Netherlands is doing nothing, so we have to protect ourselves.»
Spain, March 25. After failing to obtain assistance from the European Union, the Spanish government asked NATO for help in acquiring 1.5 million face masks and 450,000 respirators. NATO lacks this material and is limited to passing the Spanish request on to the remaining 29 allies, many of which are also members of the EU.
Poland, March 25. Polish authorities prevented hundreds of thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer from being exported to Norway, which is not a member of the EU. The Norwegian company Norenco manufactures and packages hand sanitizer for the Scandinavian market at a factory it owns in Poland. Norenco’s chief executive, Arne Haukland, said that after he applied for an export license, five men arrived at the factory, and demanded to be shown its stock of hand sanitizer. He said the company then received a letter ordering it to sell any hand sanitizer it had produced to the local city authorities in Lubin at a fixed price, under emergency coronavirus laws passed in Poland at the start of March. The seizure will exacerbate the supply problem faced by Norwegian hospitals.
France, March 25. President Emmanuel Macron, in an address to the nation at a military hospital in the eastern city of Mulhouse, which has been especially hard hit by the coronavirus, called for national, as opposed to European, unity: «When we engage in war, we engage fully, we mobilize united. I see in our country factors of division, doubts, all those who want to fracture the country when it is necessary to have only one obsession: to be united to fight against the virus. I call for this unity and this commitment.»
Meanwhile, in Italy, a nationwide survey published on March 18 found that 88% of Italians believe that the EU is not helping their country. Only 4% thought the opposite while 8% did not have an opinion. More than two-thirds (67%) of Italians said that they believe that being part of the European Union is a disadvantage for their country.

Part 3
Italy, March 13. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde dismissed calls by Italy for financial assistance to help it cope with the pandemic. After her comments rattled financial markets, Lagarde said that the ECB was «fully committed to avoid any fragmentation in a difficult moment for the euro area.» Italian President Sergio Mattarella replied that Italy had a right to expect solidarity rather than obstacles from beyond its borders.
Denmark, March 14. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen imposed border controls on all traffic by land, sea and air until at least April 13.
Poland, March 15. The government closed the country’s borders to everyone except Polish citizens or people with a Polish residence permit.
Germany, March 16. Germany, the largest and most powerful country in the European Union, introduced controls on its borders with Austria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The move came after Germany registered 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 in just one day.
Hungary, March 16. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán halted all passenger traffic into Hungary would be halted and only Hungarian citizens allowed to enter the country.
Spain, March 16. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska decreed the establishment of controls at all land borders.
Serbia, March 16. President Aleksandar Vucic declared a state of emergency due to coronavirus. He condemned the EU for restricting exports of medical equipment and appealed for help from his «friend and brother,» Chinese leader Xi Jinping. «European solidarity does not exist,» Vucic said. «That was a fairy tale on paper. I have sent a special letter to the only ones who can help, and that is China.» Serbia applied to become a member of the EU in 2009. Accession talks began in January 2014.
Czech Republic, March 17. Czech authorities seized 110,000 face masks that China had sent to Italy. On March 23, the Czech Republic delivered the confiscated material to Italy. «There are 110,000 masks on board the bus as a gift to Italy, which is supposed to replace the material that was probably a Chinese gift for Italian compatriots,» said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Stichova.
Germany, March 18. Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a rare televised speech, urged all Germans to obey rules aimed at reducing direct social contact and avoiding as many new infections as possible. «It is serious,» she said. «Take it seriously. Since German reunification, actually, since World War Two, there has never been a challenge for our country in which acting in solidarity was so very crucial.» Merkel’s address to the nation was the first time in nearly 15 years in office that she had spoken to the country other than in her annual New Year’s address. She did not mention the European Union or other EU member states.

Part 2
Recent examples of the unilateral pursuit of the national interest by European leaders, many of whom publicly espouse globalism but in times of desperation embrace nationalism, include:

France. On March 3, France confiscated all protective masks made in the country. «We will distribute them to healthcare professionals and to French people affected by the coronavirus,» French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter. On March 6, the French government forced Valmy SAS, a face mask manufacturer near Lyon, to cancel an order for millions of masks placed by the UK’s National Health Service.
Germany, March 4. Germany banned the export of medical protective equipment such as safety glasses, respiratory masks, protective coats, protective suits and gloves. On March 7, the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported that German customs authorities were preventing a Swiss truck carrying 240,000 protective masks from returning to Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU. The Swiss government summoned the German ambassador to protest against the export ban. «In these contacts, the German authorities were urged immediately to release the blocked products,» a Swiss government spokesperson was quoted as saying. After facing a backlash from other EU member states, Germany on March 19 reversed course and lifted the export ban.
Austria, March 10. Austria became the first EU country to close its borders to another EU country. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced controls along the border with Italy and a ban on the entry of most travelers from there. «The utmost priority,» Kurz said, «is to prevent the spread and thus importing the illness into our society. There is therefore a ban on entry for people from Italy into Austria, with the exception of people who have a doctor’s note certifying that they are healthy.» The government also announced a ban on all air or rail travel to Italy. Austria’s decision threatened to undo the so-called Schengen Area, which entered into effect in 1995 and abolishes the need for passports and other types of control at the mutual borders of 26 European countries.
Slovenia, March 11. The government closed some border crossings with Italy and at those remaining open, had started making health checks to combat the spread of the virus.
Czech Republic, March 12. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš closed the country’s borders with Germany and Austria and also banned the entry of foreigners coming from other risky countries. On March 22, the government said that the border restrictions may last for up to two years.
Switzerland, March 13. The Swiss government imposed border controls with other European countries. Switzerland, although not a member of the European Union, is part of the Schengen zone.

Av: Soeren Kern 27. mars 2020, 12:49
In recent weeks, EU member states have closed their borders, banned exports of critical supplies and withheld humanitarian aid. Pictured: Trucks are backed up on the road leading to the Austrian-Hungarian border crossing near Nickelsdorf, Austria on March 18, 2020. (Photo by Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images)

As the coronavirus pandemic rages through Europe — where more than 250,000 people have now been diagnosed with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 15,000 have died — the foundational pillars of the European Union are crumbling one by one.

Faced with an existential threat, EU member states, far from joining together to confront the pandemic as a unified bloc, instinctively are returning to pursuing the national interest. After years of criticizing U.S. President Donald J. Trump for pushing an «America First» policy, European leaders are reverting to the very nationalism they have publicly claimed to despise.
Ever since the threat posed by coronavirus came into focus, Europeans have displayed precious little of the high-minded multilateral solidarity that for decades has been sold to the rest of the world as a bedrock of European unity. The EU’s unique brand of soft power, said to be a model for a post-national world order, has been shown to be an empty fiction.

In recent weeks, EU member states have closed their borders, banned exports of critical supplies and withheld humanitarian aid. The European Central Bank, the guarantor of the European single currency, has treated with unparalleled disdain the eurozone’s third-largest economy, Italy, in its singular hour of need. The member states worst affected by the pandemic — Italy and Spain — have been left by the other member states to fend for themselves.

The seeds of the European Union were planted in the ashes of the Second World War. In May 1949, Robert Schuman, one of the EU’s founding fathers, boldly announced the creation of new world system:
«We are carrying out a great experiment, the fulfillment of the same recurrent dream that for ten centuries has revisited the peoples of Europe: creating between them an organization putting an end to war and guaranteeing an eternal peace.»

The European Union, seven decades in the making, is now unravelling in real time — in weeks. After the dust of the coronavirus pandemic settles, the EU’s institutions will almost certainly continue to operate as before. Too much political and economic capital has been invested in the European project for European elites to do otherwise. However, the EU’s attraction as a post-national model for its own citizens, much less for the rest of the world, will have passed.

Looed - I'm keeping an open mind. While it is unlikely the virus was used to decimate markets, history shows that mankind can be ruthless for power and money. Lenin, Stalin and Mao killed tens of millions of their own people. Unfortunately, with the technology available today, disinformation is rife, but it also means that it's easier to implement schemes and create conspiracy theories as a cover.

Posted by Awax on the LLOY bb today :-

Friend or foe?
The corona Virus travelled entire world from Wuhan but it did not reach Beijing and Shanghai... can anybody put light?
Looks So Logical....After all Chinese Stock Market didn't crash....American and European Markets did....
Destroy other markets and be ready to capture them in every way
How to dominate the world quickly?
On his visit to the effected areas China's President Xi Jinping...just wore a simple RM1 facemask. As President he should be covered from head to toe.....but it was not the case. He was already injected to resist any harm from the virus....that means a cure was already in place before the virus was released.
Just a theory.....
Create a virus and the antidote.
Spread the virus.
A demonstration of efficiency, building hospitals in a few days. After all, you were already prepared, with the projects, ordering the equipment, hiring the labour, the water and sewage network, the prefabricated building materials and stocked in an impressive volume.
Cause chaos in the world, starting with Europe.
Stop production lines in factories in other countries.
Cause stock markets to fall and buy assets at a bargain price.
Quickly control the epidemic in your country. After all, you were already prepared.
Lower the price of commodities, including the price of oil you buy on a large scale.
Get back to producing quickly while the world is at a standstill. Buy what you negotiated cheaply in the crisis and sell more expensive what is lacking in countries that have paralyzed their industries.
But I'm guessing they are not the only ones who 'manipulate' the market

Posted by Theosus on the LLOY bb today :-

Awax
I wouldn't rule out any scenario.
I recall on meet the author they had David Baldacci. He said to the interviewer he was working on a book but wondered if it was too far fetched. So he spoke to a guy he need in Govt security. His message was unambiguous and chilling. He said.
" If you have thought of it , its never too far fetched as probably someone has already done it"

Looed - I've also copied your last post to both bb's.

Posted by Looed on the FRR bb earlier today :-

MadP - thanks for sharing.

Funny you mention the WHO as I was thinking of sharing an article on Taiwan and the WHO.

Taiwan is denied membership of the WHO as most governments and global bodies do not recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state. So Taiwan had to adopt a 'go-it-alone' approach. Taiwan did try to alert the WHO about a new human to human virus end Dec '19 but Mainland China denied such a virus existed. The WHO took no action and the world lost about 3 weeks until China finally revealed news on the virus. You can read more here - https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3904054

In that crucial 3 week period Taiwan halted flights from parts of Mainland China and monitored visitors from affected regions. Though Taiwan was one of the first places to be infected outside of the Mainland, to date there are 230 cases and 2 deaths. There has been a large increase in the past 10 days or so as many people return from overseas carrying the virus with them, so that number is likely to increase.

The treatment of Taiwan by the WHO has resulted in a petition to remove the head of the WHO and include Taiwan which has so far received over 500,000 signatures - https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3904702 It won't happen, but many countries do now look to Taiwan (and Singapore) for ideas and guidance.

Taiwan recently donated 100,00 face masks pert week to the USA. China bitterly complained, claiming that acceptance of these masks would spark a diplomatic crisis as this would imply Taiwan existed and would be an "affront to the Motherland". They urge the USA not to accept the medical supplies. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3904112

Surely the WHO should have been implementing procedures like those in Taiwan around the world. Those procedures would reduce the chances of a pandemic and the subsequent economic fallout. There have been other warnings since SARS, with MERS, Swine Flu, Bird Flu and Ebola, yet most of the world with the exception of a few countries in the Far East seem ill prepared.

Surely the WHO should have been implementing procedures like those in Taiwan around the world. Those procedures would reduce the chances of a pandemic and the subsequent economic fallout. There have been other warnings since SARS, with MERS, Swine Flu, Bird Flu and Ebola, yet most of the world with the exception of a few countries in the Far East seem ill prepared.

I also copied them to the LLOY bb.

Posted by RogerA on the FRR bb yesterday :-

Unfortunately masks are not widely available. My wife is a community nurse and there are no masks for her. Diabilical!

Posted by Looed on the FRR bb yesterday :-

RogerA - agree that is not good. I don't know if its happened elsewhere, but here the Govt nationalised face mask production to prevent hoarding, price hikes and to ensure front line staff as well as those most in need could get access. Doctors, nurses, the young and the infirm get unlimited access to masks. The rest of us can buy 5 masks a week at about 13 pence a mask. The day we can buy depends on the last digit of our ID card. There is a national database to ensure we only buy up to our weekly ration. It's not a direct comparison but its as though the Govt took over the pharmacy at Boots and made them mask distribution points. We have an app that shows real time stock levels at each "Boots" so you don't waste time going to pharmacies that don't have stock. Last week they launched online sales so we can order in advance and pick up from the local convenience store (if anyone has ever been to Taiwan or Japan you will know there is a 7-11 type store on every street corner.). They hope this means they can better plan mask production and be able to start exporting overseas as Taiwan was the worlds 2nd largest supplier of face masks. I really hope some can make it to the UK as soon as possible.

Posted by Looed on the FRR bb earlier today :-

I am not sure if the UK has a similar body, but here all policy, daily press conferences, updates on numbers etc are handled by The CECC (Central Epidemic Command Center). Our two political parties who would traditionally be attacking each other on policy have ceased bickering and let the CECC be front and centre on medical matters. CECC daily updates tend to be clear and concise i.e. https://www.cdc.gov.tw/En/Bulletin/Detail/pqRXxBZDUwUzwGLYDkxk3g?typeid=158

The National / Local Govt make announcements relating to economic and legal matters surrounding the virus, leaving medical matters to the experts.

Posted by Looed on the FRR bb yesterday :-

I was in the UK last week and now in mandatory quarantine now that I am back in Asia . I felt I lived CV twice - I was in Asia when it first hit and then in the UK when things started to accelerate.

The day before I flew to the UK I went to a department store to buy some bread from the in-house supermarket. To enter, I had to attend the hand sanitation station and then pass the thermal body heat reader. There where zero checks when I landed in London. Even the folks at passport control weren't wearing gloves. When I left there I saw a few new signs in the airport pointing to the toilets so you could wash your hands.

Before I left the UK I pre-applied for quarantine which means I allow the authorities to geo-lock my phone so they can track my movements. Its an immediate 30,000 pound fine if you break quarantine. On landing I got a QR code so I could fast-track formalities. I was given a daily health record sheet, sprayed head to toe, luggage included, in alcohol spray so I can take a quarantine taxi (that gets sterilised between each journey) to go home. There are currently about 40,000 people in various stages of quarantine here, but we are all called at least once a day to check we are OK and ask if any symptoms etc. Counsellors are available at any time for those struggling with the mental effects of quarantine. Any one with symptoms is immediately taken to hospital for testing. This system means that there hasn't been (to date) any lockdown / social distancing measures and life goes on pretty much as normal. We know if the numbers of infected increase, or if we have community outbreak, that might change. Almost all recent cases are imported, especially from Europe, which is why I need to quarantine.

The Govt here say they have been preparing for this for 17 years after the devastation caused by SARS, so they have been very quick to act and very clear on messaging. I was living in HKG during the SARS crisis and I recall it as more scary than this. I hope the UK can cherry-pick what is working in other parts of the world as it develops it policies and practices.

I usually get back to the UK around March / April and September / October - always the time for colds, flu's, allergies etc. I really noticed this time how ordinary it is for us to cough / sneeze / splutter into the air. One guy coughed right in my face - not on purpose, we just crossed each other as he coughed. I did see a couple of people wearing face masks in a city I visited, and I estimate about 10% of the people at the airport had a mask on as I left. Wearing face masks has been common practice in Asia for many years and I did wonder if the UK might move to ask people who have colds etc to wear masks to prevent the spread of germs to the elderly, infirm etc. who are vulnerable to CV and other life threatening illnesses.

I've copied some of your posts and replies to the bb in the link below :-

https://www.lse.co.uk/chat/general/general/corona-virus-481C7A88-1BB0-4DC4-88CA-005BF8D9106D.html?page=2#22677254

I've copied some of your posts and those of other posters on COVID-19 to the link below :-

https://www.lse.co.uk/chat/general/general/corona-virus-481C7A88-1BB0-4DC4-88CA-005BF8D9106D.html?page=2#22676991

john46 - Northern Italy has very high levels of air pollution from industrial sources, similar to Wuhan.

'“For Italy, especially the northern part of Italy, the air pollution comes from emissions of the industry and transport. In the winter season, the weather conditions are very unfavorable due to temperature inversion that prevents the air pollution from dispersing in the higher layers of the atmosphere.' Copied from the link below:-
https://www.forbes.com/sites/emanuelabarbiroglio/2020/02/29/cities-in-poland-and-italy-among-europes-100-most-polluted/#6871c3358fde

Spain is also seeing a higher level of mortality with COVID-19, which could be explained by the higher levels of air pollution.

15 million Spaniards are breathing air the EU considers polluted
https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2018/12/05/inenglish/1544008632_514634.html

Jonathansxx - The valuation of Block 12 will be based upon the future PoO, rather than the current price, as the hydrocarbons will be extracted over decades. Morgan Stanley are still forecasting an average of $54/bbl in Q2 for Brent (see link below). The KSA will not be able to sell their oil very soon as all the oil tankers will be full and waiting at anchor to unload.

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Morgan-Stanley-Slashes-Brent-Oil-Forecast-To-30.html

The price of gas rises and falls with the price of oil, therefore the oil price war has a significant impact upon the gas industry. IMHO if Trump were to use sanctions against the KSA, the push towards gas as an alternative to oil would gain momentum, as there would be concern about supply.

Trump could even use sanctions against the KSA as remedy for Climate Change. Cheap oil doesn't encourage people to cut back on energy use and in the aftermath of the Coronovirus Pandemic (may be a long way off yet), will the world be able to survive without oil from the KSA? A few months ago the answer would have been a definite no, but now it may be a possibility. In an election year I wouldn't rule out the possibility, as some of the Trump hater's who are all for reducing consumption due to Climate Change, may vote for such a scenario.

Oil Could Crash To $10 As World Runs Out Of Storage
The growing supply glut in oil markets could end up filling all storage tanks worldwide, potentially causing prices to drop even further

Global oil storage could overflow in the coming weeks as the coronavirus pandemic has dealt a severe blow to demand while Saudi Arabia has promised to supply 12.3 million bpd—not just in April but also over the next few months.

Reuters reports, citing analysts, that such a development would overwhelm the already troubled oil industry, forcing production shutdowns. Storage facilities—both on land and offshore—are already filling up, the news agency noted, and Saudi Arabia has not yet started to increase its deliveries of crude.

If such a scenario unfolds, some analysts believe oil prices could slide as low as $10 per barrel.

“We believe we have not seen the worst of the price rout yet, as the market will soon come to realize that it may be facing one of the largest supply surpluses in modern oil market history in April,” Reuters quoted Rystad Energy’s head of oil markets, Bjornar Tonhaugen.

Saudi Arabia said yesterday it will maintain oil supply at 12.3 million bpd over the next few months, with exports to rise to a record 10 million bpd from next month, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the glut is causing traders to offer their cargos at steep discounts in a desperate effort to find buyers, Reuters also reported. This raises some questions about Saudi Arabia’s ability to sell the excess crude it plans to be producing over the coming months.

“There are no buyers,” an oil trader from the U.S. told Reuters. “Refiners in trouble, exporters in trouble, producers in trouble. This is a disaster with no end in sight.”

“Cargoes are being severely discounted to move as there are little prospects to export and also very few options to store on ship and/or tanks,” another industry source told Reuters.

At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at less than $28 a barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $22.78 a barrel.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Oil-Could-Crash-To-10-As-World-Runs-Out-Of-Storage.html

'“There are no buyers,” an oil trader from the U.S. told Reuters.'

Storage tanks will all soon be full and oil tankers will be sitting at anchor full, so where is the oil that the KSA intends to pump going to be put? They will have to stop pumping and maybe Uncle Sam will then go on the offensive. What if Uncle Sam decided then to bring in sanctions against the KSA? The KSA started this oil price war when the world was already looking at going into recession and losing millions of jobs through the Coronovirus.