PeaceDrops

.STANDBY.

2008-12-25T01:48:00.000-05:00

Mon Song.

2008-12-08T02:36:00.001-05:00

Have a good week.

3-11 Porter - Surround me with your love

Hello
Can you hear me
Please don't go
Where are you going
Conversations go over my head
Isolation has an ugly face
Surround me with your love
Understand me I need you now
Surround me with your words
Understand me I need your love
I need your love
I need your love

Hello
I'm so lonely
And it feels like disease
Come and stay, stay beside me
Stay always forever don't go
Surround me with your love
Understand me I need you now
Surround me with your words

PS: So sorry but i couldn't be able to find any decent live performance.

Picture of the Week.

2008-12-07T01:42:00.000-05:00

Silvio, Chantal and Leonardo.

2008-12-06T05:06:00.006-05:00

First: the picture. I rarely saw something more pathetic than this. Honestly. Second: the month. December, when the less popular Silvio's colleague was born, 2008 years ago. Third: the children. They're not Italian or European, they come from east, to send the message that Silvio, the new prophet loves diversity and cultural acceptance of different ways to see the world. Mmmmhhh, we should ask about it to a couple of very good and real journalists that everyday fight against the lost of values that Italians are paying because of his presence everywhere economically significant. This brief introduction was to present you the amazing project "Italian Politicians For Children 2009", very, very interesting and touching. Thank you for your time and attention.

- Ansa.it -

2008-12-05T05:23:00.006-05:00

I couldn't find any title to introduce this video. As you can perfectly understand even if everything take place in Italian, we are attending at the press conference by which Minister Sacconi (Public Health) and Minister Tremonti (Economy) presented the "Social Card", a monthly 40 euros bonus for poorest families. Ok this article is not into criticize these kind of anti-crisis public programs, even if i think this spaghetti social card is a bullshit -like 95% of Berlusconi Governments' decisions- i also can affirm that few money for few people is better than zero money for everybody. I'm putting this video under you attention because i wonder if in other countries in the world people detaining the power look so retarded as our two friends do, i mean for sure there's places where governors are more corrupted or less honest than Italians (change for sure with maybe) but yes, this time with no doubts, there's no country where governors are dumber. You can perfectly hear how many journalists and reporters tried to tell, to the same ridiculous persons that invented the card, to turn it upside down, but nothing, they couldn't be able. Now my question: is that possible in 2008 that we continue to be forced to have such retarded mother fuckers to take care of million people's communities? C'mon, can we organize attitudinal tests before deciding to give such responsibilities to politicians that aren't even able to understand what is the right side of a card?
I have no other words but thank you for your time and attention.

Coming Soon.

2008-12-05T04:03:00.004-05:00

So sorry, but tonight I'm too drunk to write about it, let's see what about tomorrow.

A Little Bit Better.

2008-12-03T00:58:00.005-05:00

I'm glad to announce that Mediaset.it decided to update the horrendous and embarrassing graphics of their video section. As you remember i was complaining about it in a previous post dated Nov. 28th considering it outrageous and disrespectful of all Internet's viewers. Of course i don't pretend you to believe they did it because of Peacedrops (they should be part of the mass of 11 people that downloaded this page that day) but after that, things seems to get a little bit better. Obviously the Berlusconi's touch is still impressively clear, as clear as the preminent sponsor Fineco. Maybe the quality of the advertiser was better with Nokia considering Fineco one of the best Italian representation of what had already collapsed in United States...Internet trading, financial consultings and bullshits like these, at least, this time, the sponsor is not scrumbled with the reason why i chose to get the site. Thank you for your time and attention.

Immersion

2008-12-02T12:03:00.002-05:00

If you wonder why i posted this video just read yesterday's article.

November's Gone.

2008-12-01T00:45:00.016-05:00

Another month had been spent by every one of us, earthlings populating this great planet, or better what once ago was a very great planet, full of nature, colors, amazing smells and animals free to live with the beloved families they generated. But you know, things had changed, especially in the last 20/30 years and many reasons could be responsible for it. Things had changed big time, but what mostly contributed to this general impoverishment of life on this planet is our mind and our way to get and psychologically elaborate the things we see every day. We have many examples under our eyes of this gradual lost of values: how can a 12 yo guy be impressed and disgusted in seeing scenes from Baghdad when the same guy spent the last 5/7 hours killing people on his console? It's almost impossible he'll grow up considering as a holy value the one of life. I don't blame him, what he represent is just a victim of the system that purposely pushed him and his whole generation to consider normal what normal is not. I perfectly agree with those parents that told me with the playstation they could find a sip of time to dedicate to themselves instead taking care of the kids, but I'm 34, and I'd never had a console, i still don't miss it, we'd better start to consider the fact that kids need to re-discover what is the mining of sacrifice, since the beginning... they need to re-deal with feelings like disappointment and delusion to form their consciences in a right way, we cannot accept to put them in front of bloody screens to avoid they start to claim our attention, if you are busy just don't give it to them, if they cry put on you earphones.
I confess the couple of times i played, i got right away that i could get addicted like a high school kid, that's why i kept my self far away from that stuffs, you know, you can enjoy cocaine but once you get that is dangerous for your body and brain you don't use it. Maybe we could try and consider consoles like drugs, because that's exactly what i think they are. At least we could try to ban certain kind of games that inevitably influence children high receptive brains, letting them consider normal things like wars, fights or the possibility to be called to kill someone once in live, they consider the news coming from all over the world and showing them thousands of dead bodies anything else than the prove that the game they just finished to play is a precious training to what they'll expect to find in the reality. Unfortunately to achieve the great result of total consoles' disappearing from the face of earth we don't need to fight with the producers nor the children, the adults need to find a way out from this bad habit, or brain illness if you prefer.
Same exactly matter with animals. Going to the circus or watching animals' performances on TV, we and our sons had modified the way to interpret animals' lives. Anytime we enter a supermarket (above all in United States), we step by miles of line refrigerators full of any kind of meat, the red carpet that welcomes you into the store is stuffed with deaths and sufferance. In this case, meat is not as dangerous for brain and sociability as consoles are, though i don't feel to invite any one of you to consider it like a drug, even if the quantity of meat under market disposal push a fresh mind to consider it with no intrinsic value putting child's brain under the same consequences X-box does: lost of consideration for any body's else life, human or animal. Life is precious, that's why in a consumption era like this, where anything is measured throughout its price, meat is so cheap, nobody cares for the animals' lives and families, we should claim Governments to put limits to familiar meat consumption in a way to avoid collectivity to take charge of all this fuckin cardiovascular sickness due to the excessive quantity we normally eat. I'd like every one of us to start and think a way to drastically reduce the number of animals we kill to eat and to have fun because fortunately (until now) we are not aside from nature, we are ourselves nature, and if we are forced to eat something once used to have its own life and soul cos we need proteins or bullshit like those, in this case just do it considering you're chewing the father, the Mather or the kid of some one else, what i mean is just diminish meat consumption and, any time you eat it, just respect the sacrifice that nature accept to gift you with such a tasty pleasure. I took these two examples (there's many others) of lost of interest for life on the purpose to find another occasion for signaling you the great "Earthlings" documentary responsible to stop my meat eater's habit, you'll find a direct link just clicking on the "make the connection button" - scroll your right to last icon-(95 min.). Every month i like to upload my vegetarian situation with you and, like the past months i confirm that i feel healthier and above all more involved in others' lives and problems. Human or Animal.
Thank you for you time and attention.

Mon Song.

2008-12-01T00:31:00.003-05:00

Have a good week.

Weezer - Say ain't so

Oh yeah.
All right.

Somebody's Heine' is crowdin' my icebox
Somebody's cold one is givin' me chills
Guess I'll just close my eyes

Oh yeah
Alright
Feels good
Inside

Flip on the tele'
Wrestle with Jimmy
Something is bubbling
Behind my back
The bottle is ready to blow

Say it ain't so
Your drug is a heartbreaker
Say it ain't so
My love is a lifetaker

I can't confront you
I never could do
That which might hurt you
So try and be cool
When I say
This way is a waterslide away from me that takes you further every day (hey)
So be cool

Say it ain't so
Your drug is a heartbreaker
Say it ain't so
My love is a lifetaker

Dear Daddy,
I write you in spite of years of silence.
You've cleaned up, found Jesus,
things are good or so I got you.
This bottle of Steven's
awakens ancient feelings.
Like father, stepfather, the son is drowning in the flood

Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah yeah.

Say it ain't so
Your drug is a heartbreaker
Say it ain't so
My love is a lifetaker

Picture of the Week.

2008-11-30T02:12:00.003-05:00

Preparing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. New York Nov. 26th.

It's Never Too Late.

2008-11-29T05:05:00.003-05:00

I needed just 10 months to claim this blog on Technorati that seems to represent the blogs' worldwide and most used search engine. I'm sure I'm the only blogger on this planet that didn't know about it, i feel very retarded. Thank you for your time and attention.

Anachronistically...

2008-11-28T00:01:00.008-05:00

...following his perfect Silvio Berlusconi style, the Italian Premier looks like he discovered the Internet. With this short post i admit with no problems that I'm usual to see some shows produced by the Berlusconi's media empire, i can do it thank to the web that let me watch for free, and from very far away from Italy, many interesting programs like "Le Iene" or "Striscia la Notizia". Couple of days ago I'm afraid someone in Mediaset's (Berlusconi's TV broadcasting) offices started to think that it was no fair that people like me could watch their programs without paying nothing, without dealing with their plenty advertisements... i don't blame them, they know their boss cares too much for money and everyone of us can remember the lawsuit with which Mediaset were accusing YouTube to use their property with no rights. Good morning guys, you know... Internet exists. So I'm sure they started and think how could they make their big boss happy, how could they make him proud of his crew, how could they obstacle life of thousands people watching the few good stuffs they do through the Internet space. Some of the programs had recently been cancelled from the videos section on Mediaset.it, you can see the rest of the consequences of the new style coming from high with your eyes in the picture, basically you see everything like you are watching a Nokia cell phone. Pathetic, and unique i guess, and hope.
In Italy everybody know that the Prime Minister cannot suffer Internet, he cannot understand what it is for and above all he doesn't understand how to use it, if it was for Berlusconi the web could disappear from the face of earth today, and this is again another prove of it. Come on have you never guys seen something like that? A TV show watched from a cell phone display? That's ridiculous. Thank you for your time and attention.

Happy Thanksgiving Day.

2008-11-27T02:09:00.005-05:00

If you'd try to understand why United States and Canada celebrate a Thanksgiving Day every year, just don't ask New Yorkers. I spent my last week trying to investigate about the origin of this celebration asking people if they knew something about it. Nothing. I mean a lot of them tried to tell me crazy stories, inventing some strange stuff happened somewhere couple of hundreds years ago. I decided to find my own information on the matter and i admit i couldn't find any clear explanation of the origins anywhere i checked out. Wikipedia give us different options to date the first Thanksgiving Day: 1565, was celebrated on September 8 when Pedro Menendeza and other 600 Spanish settlers landed at what is now St. Augustine, Florida. They didn't loose any time and once realized they were alive in the new world they started right away with dances and feasts. First Thanksgiving. But guys from El Paso, Texas, think different, they're sure the first Thanksgiving is their one on April 30, 1598 when Spaniard Don Juan de Onate ordered his expedition to rest (nobody knows after what) and organized a mass in celebration of thanksgiving. That's it? Second Thanksgiving. Bah. The third option we have is December 4, 1619 when 38 English settlers arrived at Berkeley Hundred -Jamestown - where the first permanent settlement of the Colony of Virginia was established. Like the first two, this Thanksgiving is dedicated to God to thank Him they could be able to get there still alive. The fourth option is dated 1621 when Squanto a Patuxet Native American taught the pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn and served as an interpreter for them... wait, how could he know English? Just because he previously spent some nice years in Europe covering as a slave. The pilgrims set a day to celebrate right after the first harvest of 1621. This was the very beginning, then we have the 1777, during the American Revolutionary War the Continental Government appointed one or more Thanksgiving day per year, each time recommending to the executives of the various states the observance of these days in their states. After that, many Presidents started to proclaim Thanksgiving day different days in different years: George Washington (Nov. 26th 1789 and again 1795), John Adams (1798 - 1799), no Thanksgivings under Jefferson, James Madison (1814 and twice (?) in 1815). In the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November 1863. So, starting from 1863 the last Thursday of every November has been dedicated to Thanksgiving, President Roosevelt broke this tradition in 1939, just because that year there were 5 Thursdays and Roosevelt decided to celebrate the fourth and not the traditional last. He couldn't wait, so from that the official date of the Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday of every November.
I hope I've been clear enough and now that everyone of us know what kind of celebration is this, we can easily start to forget the reason why this country (and Canada) invented it. The reason why and when this celebration had been invented is not that important like the meaning that the simple world Thanksgiving brings, so let's start to think at this celebration in a new or more modern way: Thank to all the people that everyday fight to save animals, Thank to all the people working in Africa for children and families, Thank to all the organizations like Medicins Sans Frontieres or GreenPeace, Thank to all the people that Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, Thank to all the people strong enough to advocate Human Rights anywhere they're threatened, Thank to all the people that don't live for money, Thank to all the people that is sensible to problems of other people, Thank to all the people that will write a comment suggesting a reason why to thank somebody....
Thank you for your time and attention.

- Wikipedia.org -

Can We Still Enjoy This?

2008-11-26T01:24:00.007-05:00

Sometimes good news come exactly from where you never expect: from Italy.
Gabriella Gianmarco is a 31 yo beautiful blond girl, she is a member of the Italian Parliament and surprisingly she's not under investigation for corruption or crimes against the public administration, if we consider that she belongs to the Berlusconi's party (Popolo delle Liberta') the surprise is double. Mmmhhh.... sorry couldn't keep it. I'm telling you about this young woman because last July she'd presented to the Parliament a law proposal as the first signatory. The law proposal NR. 1564 is about regulating the public programs supposed to finance circus and the enterprises behind them, and adds to the previous legislation new rules for a gradual retirement of animals. I particularly appreciated the introduction by which On. Gianmarco explain why Italy should approve a kind of law like this:
"It's more than 25 years that Circus are under the attention of environmentalists, this kind of attention is now part of every one's cultural DNA, that's why people in our country is going to circus less and less, and that's why our spectacular and glorious Circus' popularity dropped so deep. The use of animals put our way to do this kind of job very anachronistic and not anymore interesting or exciting.
For their whole existence long, animals are forced to live in small cages, with arms and legs chained. Always. When they work they're obliged to play games that don't exist in nature, they're transported anywhere in the world into dirty containers, their whole life is sufferance, phsyco rapes and punishments. Due to the rising disaffect of people, Circus sustainability is mostly depending from public support programs, without them they should close very soon. We intend circus to get back their social function, we intend to support this traditional and joyful, familiar moment and we try to give Circus back their huge audiences. In a view to achieve such results we need to urgently present a discipline that strictly forbid animals' performances. Someone could think that this is an attempt to abolish Circus, we just plan they match a common sense and a concept already absorbed by masses, the concept of respect of animals' dignity, no matter if they were already born in captivity. If we think at the success of the "Cirque du Soleil" we can understand that good athletes are better than a substitute of animals, these creatures tolerate incredible violence to learn the moves they have to repeat during the show, this kill their beautiful nature and instinct. Exhibitions are the result of unaudited sufferance, any micro mistake during the training is punished with terrible injuries and no food, basically an entire life dedicated to submission. As you know most of children find very funny watching an animal acting unnatural, but surely they won't have any pedagogic benefit mostly on the sensibility development point of view. The relationship between men and animals inside a Circus is not the relationship between men and animals you want your kids to think as the right one, children could learn that animals are nothing more than toys, with a life but without a respect due to it, without the dignity that every life deserve. Children get the message that animals are just funny or are created to have fun of them, no thinking at their human side or need of freedom. If we intend to re-discover a relationship between men and nature, children and animals, we don't see this law as a possibility but as a necessity. Consider that when our Circus organizations go to Belgium, Israel or Germany, they are welcomed with protests pushing foreign authorities to ban Italian Circus from their territory, actually they think at that like an attempt to mine the cleanness of their national image. It's not a case that European Union usually condemned our Circus for the conditions of the animals, we'd like all this to find an end, to give back dignity to animals and circus both, to save art and not to support a stereotype cancelled by mass cultural acquisitions". Good job, I'll let you know if the Italian Parliament will approve this law proposal. Thank you for your time and attention.

- "Personal" translation of the Proposta di Legge Gianmarco n. 1564 introduction -

Peacedrops AD.

2008-11-25T14:44:00.003-05:00

Replaceable heads save 80% of the material used by standard toothbrushes. Renewable resource bio-plastic handles are made for recycled wood or flax mixed with post-consumer polypropylene.

Radiustoothbrush.com - 800 626 6223

Mon Song.

2008-11-24T00:01:00.001-05:00

Have a good week.

Oasis - Lyla

Calling all the stars to fall
And catch the silver sunlight in your hands
Come for me and set me free
Lift me up and take me where I stand

She believes in everything
And everyone and you and yours and mine
I've waited for a thousand years
For you to come and blow me out my mind

Hey, Lyla!
The stars are about to fall
So what d'you say, Lyla?
The world around us makes me feel so small, Lyla!
If you can't hear me call then I can't say, Lyla!
Heaven'll help you catch me if I fall!

She's the queen of all I've seen
And every song and city far and near
Heaven help my mademoiselle,
She rings the bell for all the world to hear

Hey, Lyla!
The stars are about to fall
So what d'you say, Lyla?
The world around us makes me feel so small, Lyla!
If you can't hear me call then I can't say, Lyla!
Heaven'll help you catch me if I fall!

Hey, Lyla!...

To all my Lylas, everyday stuffing my life with love, peace, perfumes, colors, joy, respect...

Picture of the Week.

2008-11-23T02:08:00.005-05:00

This is the Time Magazine's cover announcing Mr. Johnson as the new President of United States, Nov. 29 1963. Yesterday was the 45th anniversary of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy death.

Welcome to Polyface.

2008-11-21T01:52:00.007-05:00

The guy you see in the picture is Mr. Joel Salatin, he runs a farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, the Polyface farm. As you can notice from the name and the picture, this is not the kind of feedlot plant we are usual to consider the meat we eat to come from.
Joel's father, William, was an ingenious and very interesting man, after flying planes in World War II he earned an economics degree from Indiana University, after that he bought a farm in Venezuela, simply because, he thought, he could farm the way he wanted there, with no crazy conventions and regulations. In 1961 William and his family were forced to leave Venezuela because of the guerrillas and because this great man refused protection from local authorities (in change of nobody knows what). Mr. Salatin Senior was very determined to start over again, he needed to buy some acres close to Washington, D.C. in the way he could continue petitioning the Venezuelan Embassy for compensation. He ended up buying 550 acres of badly eroded and hilly farmland on the western edge of Shenandoah Valley, in the small town of Swoope. William quickly discovered the farm couldn't support both a mortgage and a family, so he took a job as an accountant. Many of his clients were struggling farmers and one look at their book convinced Mr. Salatin that all the advice he'd been hearing from consultants and extensions agents -to build silos, graze the forest, plant corn, sell commodities- was the perfect recipe for financial ruin. This man was very smart, creative, visionary and inventor, he quickly understood that the key to success on a farm was (is) first GRASS, and second MOBILITY. When William noticed that in hot days the cattle gathered under the trees, concentrating their manure in one place, he built a portable "shademobile", he could easily induce the cattle to spread their manure evenly over his pastures, simply by towing the car to a new spot every few days.
Joel had returned to the farm in 1982 after four years at Bob Jones University, 6 years later William died of cancer, and his proud son took charge of the farm continuing the great job of his father and bringing it to the top.
Polyface raises chicken, beef, turkeys, eggs, rabbits, and pigs, plus tomatoes, sweet corn, and berries on one hundred acres of pasture patchworked into another 450 acres of pure forest. The diversity -unfortunately- of the Polyface consists on the fact that if you wonder what Joes Salatin does for a living he wouldn't tell you he's a cattle rancher or a chicken farmer, he would tell you he's a grass farmer. There should be a lot of things to say about the fondamental importance of grass in animals' diet. As i already wrote in a previous post, cows are normally fed corns, or better corn paste with hormones, vitamins, syntetic proteins and liquefied fat coming from animals already processed. Cows and cattles are not supposed to eat this kind of shit, but they're supposed to eat grass and hay. You know, the reason is very simple, and of course it comes from the sun, it comes from the main source of energy ever discovered. Plants normally process the powerfull energy of the sun, the step to get the sun energy into food (meat) is very short. That's why we could also call Joel as a sun farmer, his daily work is to try to substitute grass with petroleum as a sun energy collector. Photosyntesis versus fossilization. So: if you cannot avoid to eat meat just try to buy from people like these. The right ones.
One of the guiding principles of Polyface is that the farm has to provide a habitat that allows plants and animals to express their psychological distinctiveness, that means they are considered as individuals, with the respect their individuality deserves. Forget about Polyface to ship you food, they should all seek food closer to home, in their foodshed on their own bioregion. GREAT. Polyface repeat again the truth that cows are herbivore and not omnivore, that's why Mr. Salatin never feed his animals dead cows or corn and hormones like the United States Department of Agriculture has been encouraging for long time, that created Joel's professional life many problems with stupid inspectors and other sub-persons like them. DISGUSTING. Basically at Polyface they want every animal to eat as much salad (green material) as its full genetic will allow.
Looking the many pictures in their web site i felt very joyful and peaceful, people working there show beautiful smiles, and the atmosphere looks so light and collaborative. The team is amazing, Richard, the delivery driver, has been many things before, a medical illustrator, an aerospace designer or a college-level design instructor, Polyface farm helped him very much: eating Polyface's fresh food he lost kind of 150 pounds. No diets, just amazing and natural food, the one in peace with God. Wendy, the farm phone representative is a very nice youg blond woman, she's a young mom and when became pregnant she left the pr/marketing world to stay home with her baby. I LOVE THESE KIND OF MOMS, they remind me mine. After reading about the farm in "Omnivore's Dilemma" she was so excited and she talked them into hire her. Andy is the young full-time apprentice, after graduating with honors from the Idaho Coalition of Home Educators, he worked at an organic diary and at an Apple reseller as a technician. Andy's dream is to run a farm that produces clean, healthy nutricius food, he's so young, he will realize it for sure, and it's so beautiful to finally see a young man and not the usual stupid 20 yo i-phone addicted. Ben is the other full-time apprentice, he's one year older than Andy, he is a graduate of Walkersville Christian Family Schools and attended Towson University until his move to Polyface, he's able to play a fiddle and he plans to work toward setting up his own farming enterprise based on the Polyface model. Finally we've got Matt, the tour guide and apprentice manager -even if the word "manager" in a kind of environment like the Polyface one sounds to me a little bit weird-. After he graduated with a degree in Environmental Studies he spent a year as a full-time apprentice after which he confirmed his choice becoming manager and responsible for the tours the farm guests. He works with two beautiful white dogs, Jack and Faith, part of the team as well as Polyface's poultry guardians. These people seem the classic kind of people everyone would love to meet with.
There's many other interesting things to say about these great guys, for example their web site is absolutely not interactive, i guess how many people, no getting the whole philosophy behind Polyface projects, bothered them requesting food by e-mail or other crazy requests like catering and so... -tomorrow I'll send them a fax to let them know about this post-, notice also, the site map to reach the farm is totally hand made. FANTASTIC and finally authentic, so unusual in last years, above all in this country.
Writing this story i never used the world organic just because Polyface is not organic, they use to say they're beyond organic. This means many things but I'd love you to read the authentic point of view of Mr. Joel Salatin from "Omnivore's Dilemma":

"Me and the folks who buy my food are like the Indians, we just want to opt out. That's all the Indians ever wanted, to keep their tepees, to give their kids herbs instead of patent medicines and leeches. They didn't care if there was a Washington, D.C. or a Custer or a USDA; just leave us alone. But the Western mind can't bear and opt-out option. We're going to have a refight the Battle of the Little Bighorn to preserve the right to opt out, or your grandchildren and mine will have no choice but to eat amalgamated, irradiated, genetically prostituted, barcoded, adulterated fecal spam from the centralized processing conglomerate" .

Thank you for you time and attention.

- The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan - Polyfacefarms.com -

True Cost Economics Manifesto.

2008-11-18T01:51:00.002-05:00

We, the Undersigned, make this accusation: that you, the teachers of neoclassical economics and the student that you graduate, have perpetuated a gigantic fraud upon the world.

You claim to work in a pure science of formula and law, but yours is a social science, with all the fragility and uncertainty that this entails. We accuse you of pretending to be what you are not.

You hide in your offices, protected by your mathematical jargon, while in the real world, forest vanish, species perish and human lives are callously destroyed. We accuse you of gross negligence in the management of our planetary household.

You have known since its inception that one of your measures of economic progress, the Gross Domestic Product, is fundamentally flawed and incomplete, and yet you have allowed it to become a global standard, reported day in day out in every form of media. We accuse you of recklessly projecting an illusion of progress.

You have done great harm, but your time is coming to its close. Your systems are crumbing, your flaws increasingly laid bare. An economic revolution has begun, as hopeful and determined as any in history. We will have our clash of economic paradigms, we will have our moment of truth, and out of each will come a new economics - open, holistic, human-scale.

On campus after campus, we will chase you old goats out of power. Then, in the months and years that follow, we will begin the work of reprogramming your doomsday machine.

Sign the Manifesto at:
TRUECOSTECONOMICS.ORG

- ADbusters Magazine -

Mon Song.

2008-11-17T00:01:00.003-05:00

Have a good week.

Dan Tyminsky - Man of Constant Sorrow

I am a man of constant sorrow,
I've seen trouble all my day.
I bid farewell to old Kentucky,
The place where I was born and raised.
The place where he was born and raised

For six long years I've been in trouble,
No pleasures here on earth I found.
For in this world I'm bound to ramble,
I have no friends to help me now.
He has no friends to help him now.

It's fare thee well my old lover.
I never expect to see you again.
For I'm bound to ride that northern railroad,
Perhaps I'll die upon this train.
Perhaps he'll die upon this train.

You can bury me in some deep valley,
For many years where I may lay.
Then you may learn to love another,
While I am sleeping in my grave.
While he is sleeping in his grave.

Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger
My face, you'll never see no more.
But there is one promise that is given
I'll meet you on God's golden shore.
He'll meet you on God's golden shore.

Picture of the Week.

2008-11-16T04:45:00.007-05:00

After 178 posts i decided to put a picture of me on Peacedrops. The first reason is because i honestly had never introduced me beside the first post and the small steady picture you see on your right. Doing this I'd like to put again my face on everything you read on these pages. The second, and most important reason is because the news coming from Italy, as always, are bad. Italian Parliament is trying to approve a law by which bloggers using the '.it' should be legally betrayed like official information medias are, they should declare their activity to tax offices, they would be forced to subscribe a public register of "free communicator, or information producer" -straight from Italian-, every blog would be under the rules of press crimes codes, with the risk, if you don't subscribe the register, to be accused of clandestine expression of opinions. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? That's why Mr. Beppe Grillo (if you want see previous post published on Feb. the 3rd) opened to a new initiative, he started to publish on his blog -one of the most visited in the whole world- pictures of many free thinkers, not afraid to put their face and name on their ideas. If you'd like to support this try to abolish such a clear demonstration that Italy is getting into a soft-dictatorship (even if this law proposal comes surprisingly from left), if you don't like this attempt to close minds and ideas just take a picture like mine and send it to freeblogger@beppegrillo.it, object your name, text your blog's address and attach your picture but anyway you'll find instructions on Beppe's blog. You'll see your face with thousands of other faces and you'll contribute to free a country getting the way of censorship. Have a nice Sunday and sorry for my unpolite invasion of the Sunday's Picture of the Week, till now always more interesting than my face...thank you for your time and attention.

- Beppegrillo.it -

Sharkwater.

2008-11-13T03:59:00.005-05:00

I'd like to put under your attention this amazing work done by Rob Stewart, unfortunately there's no other way to see it beside renting or buying a dvd. Anyway, i saw it, and of course, right away after, i felt like a piece of shit, yes, because that's what we are, betraying animals like we do everyday. Sharkwater is a beautiful film documentary about an incredibly intelligent animal, the shark, the images are unbelievable and describe life behind water in a way you can touch it. The product itself is almost perfect, i think, but the messages it brings are the most interesting part of the project.
Firstly i admire the fact that someone put lights on the sufferance of animals that normally nobody defends. Sharks are amazing animals, for more than 400 million years they have been the unchallenged rulers of the world's oceans, they were already 150 million years old when the first dinosaurs appeared on this planet. But nobody cares that much because sharks are not so loved among humans. Let's make it very easy: sharks kill humans, and so do bees, bears, lions, hippos, elephants, snakes, but, i don't really think there are good animals and bad animals. I also don't think generally beasts are very much into human meat, if you consider what we eat, the stressful lives we live, the drugs, i don't blame them at all, our meat should taste awful. So why animals would like to kill humans? Try to think, it's maybe because they (humans) cause to them and their families (animals) terrible injuries and death? The only bad animal on the face of earth is us. The story of dangerous animals is a total bullshit on me, they are dangerous because it's thousands of thousands of years we don't give them a break, of course as they can they f...in' bite us, if i was a strong animal i could not wait to see a man without a gun, i would kill him in a second. This completely lost of connection with nature put us at the lowest level of evolution, consider that most of these great creatures normally die for a soup. The very unfamous and disgusting Chinese shark fin soup. You'll see, they take the fish and when still alive they cut their fins and they re-put them free in the water. The fish go down and down to the end with no move, and slowly die. For their fuckin bastards soup. Sorry, these things are totally crazy guys, totally out of mind, plus shark meat is completely tasteless and full of mercury, very unhealthy, but a lot of stupid idiots ask for it. Maybe they should learn what are the consequences of a mercury intoxication or, if you want, just google "Minamata disease". A soup. Nothing more humiliating for who's been killed to make it. I always imagine animals' societies like ours, i mean of course better than ours, but with almost the same rules and differences between status that we have. Maybe one of the kings, or the oldest member of a sharks community was killed to make a fin soup. Definitively horrible. As always and unfortunately it's a long time that any good news come from China, shark fin soup is one of the worst i heard.
This great film-documentary gave also me the possibility to value my state of mind. One of the most important message of Sharkwater is that sharks are not bad at all, sharks don't want to hurt us, sharks are beautiful creatures, don't believe in what you see on Spielberg's movies, and other stuff like that. What i mean is this: if there is anybody in this world that still believe that sharks or lions are bad because they eat people, then i think i cannot complain about my mind's conditions. That's why i found myself surprised when i realized that the main message of the movie is something that should be already known by everyone. But you know, schools and teachers are not as powerful as televisions and video games, unfortunately our minds are controlled by media able to create our emotions and feelings like the equation between sharks and blod. That's very bad and so untrue, if you'll decide to watch this movie you'll better understand why. Thank you for your time and attention.

For donations and further informations: Sharkprotect.com - Sharks.org

Good Morning...

2008-11-11T00:01:00.011-05:00

Laura: "Good Morning..."
George: "But Laura, it's 2pm!?"
Laura: "Oh, I'm sorry dear, you're right, at the end you are the President in charge until January, so you'll be always right until there, oh, did you sign the papers my lawyers sent you sweety?"
George: "We'll gonna talk about that later, don't you see we are receiving the Obama's?"
Michelle: "Oh my Gosh Barack, am I supposed to move in here? It's half hour from the garden's gate to the house lobby...I mean...if I'll find myself in the heart of the night without the milk for Sasha, what i could figure out?"
Barack: "Don't worry, if we want this world to change we need to sacrifice our little world and change it even if we should like it got ahead like the last few joyful years, hello Mr. President..."
George: "Oh my God Barack, the Elected, i was strongly waiting for this moment to come. Finally this damn presidency is over for me and i can freely go back home and get drunk again whenever i want. I read on the papers that you are afraid I'm gonna invent some new "bushshit" before the end of my mandate, Barack, believe me, you can forget about it, i mean, do you want the sit today the same? Man i'm so ready to go..."
Barack: "Emmhh, Mr. president i know these last years had been so difficult for our country, but now things are gonna change, i mean, really..."
George: "Do you mean that the intentions you were talking about during the campaign are gonna be taken seriously? Come on, it's impossible, they're gonna kill you as they already did..."
Barack: "Excuse me? What are you talking about?"
George: "You know how these kind of things are processed by neo-cons elites and secret service and other connected guys..."
Barack: "What kind of things?"
George: "Things like saving the planet from a sure death, things like kicking the ass of banks, insurances, corporations, oil companies...I'm sure there's many people ready to prefer the planet to finish its life than their lives to finish without money..."
Barack: "Excuse me George, but as always you didn't get the message. The people supposed to kill me are the same people that voted for me because they couldn't continue to dedicate their careers to clean bloody jobs for you and your cruel friends. If you still didn't realize, I'll tell you: the world of hate, anger, 9/11, wars is gonna finish to welcome a world and a new philosophy for human beings, everything based on respect, honesty, environmental sustainability and so on, you and your friends' model are done man...."
Laura: "...As you can understand my dear Michelle I'm crossing out days on the calendar...your husband or that other guy veteran McCain, who cares, the most important thing is that I'm out of this dirty game, i don't intend anymore to tie my name with the one of this crazy man i married i don't even know why, at least for the beautiful daughters he gave me, hopefully they seem they're smarter than their father, i know that's not a big challenge".
Michelle: "I'm sure you deserve a long vacation Laura...."
Laura: "You're right babe, I'm gonna spend the first divorce's million in Jamaica. I'm dreaming of it day and night".
Michelle: "Oh, ah, emmhh, cool..."
George: "Barack, tell me, did you hear about how Italian Premier Berlusconi commented your election, naming you as an extra-suntanned guy? He's the same Berlusconi that told me that the history of Statesmen is gonna leave a place of honor dedicated to me".
Barack: "Yes i heard about the way ber-whatever talked about my election. That's why he's the 71st President i called after the victory. About the other matter what can i say George, the only thing i feel to say is that yes, we'll gonna remember you for a long time, to fix the problems your administration caused to our country we'll need a huge period of time, when we'll finish to re-build it, that's when we'll forget you".
George: "Emmmhhh, confidentially, let me ask you something, are you gonna try to discover what really happened in New York?".
Barack: "This is not one of my priorities, but in a second time, when economy problems will be fixed, when free health-care is gonna be part of the life of every person that live in our country, when all the wars will be over around, at that time i think the world will be ready to know, maybe after my eight years, with the next president that, I'm afraid for you, is not gonna be a Republican".
George: "You don't pretend I'm gonna believe you know already who's gonna be your successor".
Barack: "No George, I don't pretend you believe that, even if i well remember when you started and cry while having known that Mickey Mouse is not real. You got ahead telling everybody that you met him and you shacked his hands many times in Orlando... You even believed Cheney when he told you the story of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.... what i meant is that i think the next president is neither gonna be a Republican or Democrat. Things are gonna change, told you Georgie..."
Laura: "...And as i was telling you few minutes ago Michelle, you can personalize your private rooms, the kitchen and everything else you don't like in these boring, empty, neo-cons furniture..."
Michelle: "Oh thank you Laura, it's so nice from you, i guess these objects are full of memories for you..."
Laura: "Oh yes darling, full of bad remembers that i need to cancel from my mind, you cannot imagine how bad this people are, their cruelty is no ending, just take a look at the way they had been betraying animals and our planet, I'm so glad my husband cannot cause troubles anymore..."
George: "...Oh, f...ing unbelievable, think about 50 years ago blacks and white didn't even share the same sit on a bus, is there somewhere in US where they still do it? I'd better start and look for my Texan luxury two bedrooms. Ops, I'm sorry Barack, my tongue was connected with my brain even if i didn't notice that...".
Barack: "Don't worry, everything is gonna change, cannot say thank you for your service but yes, mmmhh, have a good retirement".
Thank you for your time and attention.

- Afp photo -

Mon Song.

2008-11-10T01:12:00.003-05:00

Have a good week.

The Verve - Lucky Man

Happiness
More or less
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my
Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know just where I am

But how many corners do I have to turn?
How many times do I have to learn
All the love I have is in my mind?

But I'm a lucky man
With fire in my hands

Happiness
Something in my own place
I'm stood here naked
Smiling, I feel no disgrace
With who I am

Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know just who I am

But how many corners do I have to turn?
How many times do I have to learn
All the love I have is in my mind?

I hope you understand
I hope you understand

Gotta love that'll never die

Happiness
More or less
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my

Gotta love that'll never die
Gotta love that'll never die
No, no
I'm a lucky man

It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my

Picture of the Week.

2008-11-09T01:49:00.002-05:00

With this picture we definitively archive the most intense week since this blog started its history.
Time.com

President Barack Obama First Press Conference.

2008-11-08T05:17:00.001-05:00

Part 2.

2008-11-08T05:16:00.003-05:00

Part 3.

2008-11-08T05:16:00.001-05:00

The Italian Failure.

2008-11-07T06:01:00.008-05:00

2008-11-06T18:20:00.004-05:00

Question that GR3 (3rd channel - Italian public radio news) asked to Sen. Maurizio Gasparri, President of PDL Senators (PDL stands for Popolo delle Liberta', President Berlusconi's party).

GR3: Sen. Gasparri what is gonna change now with Mr. Obama President?
MG: Americans are gonna pay higher taxes, as we see from the history of Democratic choices on the matter, always punishing tax payers. From the point of view of the international terrorism we wait to see his moves, because i think this is the real issue with which Obama could convince the world. America is the democracy we take as an example, it's where you can affirm your freedom, freedom threatened by Islamic terrorism. Over Obama there are many question marks, with Obama at the White House, maybe Al Qaeda is gonna celebrate.

- NO COMMENT -

BBC vs. CNN

2008-11-06T00:37:00.005-05:00

I'm sure I'm not able to explain you, how happy i am realizing that the President of United States of America is now Barack Obama. That's why i won't do it in this first post-election-post.
The feeling I'd like to share with you firstly is something that, i confess, bothers me a little bit: before the election i met a lot of Obama supporters, all of them are people that perfectly understand what CHANGE should mean, and above all, are people that showed me how much they care about this change and how much they need it, to live.
Today, the day after, every single person i know, every single person that sent me messages or e-mails, actually everyone of them was an Obama supporter, even if before yesterday they used to say things like "America is not ready" or "I'm not gonna put a Muslim into the White House". Should i take this like a good news, like a took of knowledge? I'd better prefer to tell them the truth, that is that the values, the speeches, the philosophy, the people, the change, the environment, that Obama will bring with his presidency represent exactly the contrary of their scale of values. I mean, people i know for sure that support the ridiculous Italian soft-dictator Mr. Berlusconi today sent me felicitations through the facebook, or people that cannot live without their expensive SUV sent me e-mails telling me the nightmare is over. All right, i know, to love and share ideals with Obama is not requested to be poor, but come on, if in your daily life you don't give a f..k about: sufference of people around you, environment and pollution, corruption in politics, super-power of corporations and insurances, human rights, censures... if you don't care about all those stuffs, i don't like to receive your happiness for the Barack's victory. What i like is to walk around my neighborhood (in Harlem) and to see into the eyes of many people, that don't know how to get tomorrow, a new hope, i loved when this morning i saw the people that i see everyday on the same sidewalk with a strange smile coloring their faces. So, I intend this as a sort of protest against all that people that call themselves with Obama because it's just cool, knowing a shit about what's going on in this crazy world. I don't think it's cool at all, i think that in most cases it's necessary, and being able to believe in certain kind of values means that you life hasn't always been that easy or comfortable. Got me? This was something i cared you to know right away after this amazing victory, i invite you to tell the people you know that, to support Obama, they need to share his Ideals and Values in their selfish daily life.
Ok, now i can start and tell you about the night between November 4th and 5th: the Great Night. I was home drinking a glass of terrible wine when i decided to open on my screen the life coverage of the event by CNN, BBC and FOX, simultaneously, it made me feel like an important journalist following the historic event, of course i was just listening at one. If you're wondering why i also opened a window on Fox, it's because: first when you are a famous journalist three is better than two, and second and most important, because Fox was covering with no comments the headquarter sites and a still camera was focused on the two stages (Chicago and Phoenix) where the two contendents where supposed to address, on the contrary, Cnn and Bbc were hosting people and talking about the magic night. I was very excited and the time was going very fast, the quality of the two network talk-shows was very good (don't wanna say nothing about Fox) and, beside the wine, i was enjoying my time pretty much. Something kept my curiosity around 11.20pm when John McCain showed out in Phoenix to pronounce his very good concession speech. I was looking at my screen when i saw the republican candidate appearing in the Fox and, after a few seconds, in the Bbc window. After 3 minutes, Cnn reached the two competitors and, keeping the sign "LIVE" programmed something that was already on air, live but not synchronized on the Fox and Bbc windows. I thought many causes could be responsible of that, for example the satellites orbit or other strange things that, i admit, i don't think i know about.
I had to wait less than an hour to see the elected President getting the stage in Chicago, of course Fox was the first (they had been shooting an empty stage for hours), in less than 30 seconds Bbc started live from Grant Park and Cnn? At the same time they were going ahead interviewing the funny couple you see in the picture i took with my phone at midnight. On the left you see Bbc (small) and Fox (big), on the right Cnn, down on the right you see my computer's watch on 12:10':14", consider that i keep my watches 10 minutes ahead 'cos I'm always late. I took that picture at 12.00am, Obama was already addressing and Cnn was interviewing the two most viewed guys in the history of the channel. Can someone tell me who these two guys are? Please leave comment if you know it. This time Cnn got the coverage at 12:00':37" while Bbc did it at 11:58':05, this time the mismatching is less than 3 minutes, it confirm that the satellite and my signal are not guilty and that maybe someone screwed up at Cnn, i mean, getting late, even if for 3 minutes, at the most important acceptance speech of the US history should be everything but smart. Thank you for your time and attention.

2008-11-05T00:01:00.003-05:00

Barack Obama for President.

2008-11-04T00:01:00.000-05:00

Mon Song.

2008-11-03T01:26:00.012-05:00

Ok, let's try something new this morning. I think I'm almost obsessed with the tomorrow's election day. What i feel is to post an Italian song for this week in a view to send a special good luck to Sen. Obama. At the same time people that doesn't understand Italian won't get any sense, that's why i decided to do the most stupid thing: I'm gonna translate the lyrics, we'll see.

Have a good week.

Luciano Ligabue - Voglio Volere.

I want a comic world, a world that makes people laugh
and a comfortable sky, where someone get out from the window to answer questions
I want to get back from my dreams whenever i want
I want to find you here anytime i need it

I want to want everything like this
I want to be able to avoid to grow up
I want to bring you somewhere you cannot even imagine
I want to keep something for me
Something that finally is for me, for me

I want back my free time, free every single moment
Pushing on the gas with life tickling me
I want never sleep with all of my dreams
I want back my virginity anytime i want

I want to want everything like this
I want to be able to avoid to grow up
I want to bring you somewhere you cannot even imagine
I want to keep something for me
Something that finally is for me, for me

I want to want, i want a world the same level of my dreams
I want to want, i want to decide when is enough
I want to want, I want to enjoy the world until we can, we can

I want a comic world that never cares when gets ridiculous
An easy world that always pay 'cos wanna be the coolest
I want never say it's late, or what a pity
I want that any second is always better than the one just spent

I want to want everything like this
I want to be able to avoid to grow up
I want to bring you somewhere you cannot even imagine
I want to keep something for me
Something that finally is for me, for me

I want to want, a whole life same level of my dreams
I want to want, i want to decide when is enough
I want to want, I want to enjoy the world until we can, we can

Picture of the Week.

2008-11-02T03:21:00.003-05:00

Pakistanis warm themselves after the earthquake that struck near Quetta, killing more than 200 people.

Time.com

October's Gone.

2008-11-01T01:40:00.006-04:00

Time goes so fast, doesn't it? October is gone, and i spent another month eating no meat. I feel great even if i have to invent something new every time i eat, it contribute to keep my brain active. If you didn't already, "enjoy" the great Earthlings documentary clicking the direct link on the right side of this page. Make the Connection.

Living Planet Report 2008.

2008-10-30T02:08:00.003-04:00

Our great planet is exhausted. It's exhausted to deal with us, sub-human beings. If you didn't know already the news it's just because it's TOP SECRET. Nobody wants you (and me) to know about the health conditions of the planet Earth that patiently guests us since a long long time ago. I don't think television and traditional media cared very much, during the past 40 years, to inform people about the real risk we are going to face in a few years. I know there's Discovery Channel or National Geographic but year after year they're more and more entertainment than information, you see that. What i mean for information is the first of the titles of national news edition in which someone of these great WWF guys goes and explain the world that the planet's resources are gonna finish by 2030. If this news is authentic why are we talking about bullshits everyday? Why we are still not sure that Obama is gonna triumph with 95% of votes? Because the majority of the people with whom you share this environment don't give a f..k about that. Maybe most of us are sure we can buy another Earth when we'll finish this one. I hope we gonna find the money full of debts as we are it would be very difficult. That's why i invite you to take a look at the "WWF - Living Planet Report 2008", you can easily find it on google. It's very nice and colored and explains the cruel reality in a joyful and full of hope way. Because the most important message that the report brings is that changing our life style we can all together save our planet. I mean it's the greatest engagement anyone of us can take or not, but for sure, we all need, our planet needs, God need, us to change our whole modern mentality, scale of values, relationship with money and so on...
From the report: "Humanity’s demand on the planet has more than doubled over the past 45 years as a result of population growth and increasing individual consumption. In 1961, almost all countries in the world had more than enough capacity to meet their own demand; by 2005, the situation had changed radically, with many countries able to meet their needs only by importing resources from other nations and by using the global atmosphere as a dumping ground for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In an overexploited world, ecological debtor nations are particularly at risk from local and global overshoot, and from the associated decline in ecosystem services, the life support system on which humanity depends". Not so hopeful i know. I found very interesting the Ecological Footprint of Nations, index measuring humanity's demand of the biosphere in area of biologically productive land and sea required to provide the resources we use and to absorb our waste. Winner as the worst of the planet's enemies is the United Arab Emirates, 2nd United States of America, 3rd Kuwait, 4th Denmark (?!?!?!), 5th Australia, than New Zealand, Canada, Norway, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Italy (28th), Germany (34th), Mexico (43th), Brazil (65th), China (74th)....Right away after you can see another graphic showing the Bio-Capacity per Person by County. In this case Gabon is the champion, Canada is the 2nd, Bolivia, Australia, Mongolia, New Zeland...
Another very interesting index is the Water Footprint of Consumption that is the total volume of water used globally to produce the goods and services consumed by its inhabitants. It includes water withdrawn from rivers, lakes and aquifers (surface and ground water) that is used in agriculture, industry and for domestic purposes, as well as the water from rainfall that is used to grow crops: 1st United States, 2nd Greece, 3rd Malaysia, 4th Italy, 5th Spain....
Honestly, you can find in the report many others very interesting informations, and above all you can start and individuate the countries more responsible for these last disastrous 40 years. WWF confirm that the bad causes of the environment damages are recently created by humans, that's why, again, changing, we can gift our kids with a better world, or at least with a world. Thank you for your time and attention.

Do You Facebook?

2008-10-29T01:38:00.010-04:00

Facebook is a social networking web site launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg that at the time was still studying at Harvard University. I don't intend to denigrate this brilliant 24 yo guy that had a genial, amazing idea, in fact i subscribed and I'm still part of his community. But day after day i log in to see what's going on on my wall, i feel like I'm doing something really weird.
Let's start with this, during the last week-end i received more or less 50 e-mails from Facebook, there was people inviting me to join groups like "i hate slow drivers that don't keep the right on highways" or "i love to ask my bartender for a rum and coke with no coke". Sometimes it happens that even your best friends can tell you bullshits like these, or you as well can do it with them. The most important thing is that, by the way, someone thought about me and sent me an invitation to join a group. This always made me joyful, even if, fortunately, i never have the time to get into all the invitations i receive everyday. So where is the problem? The first of my problems with Facebook is that i think that a lot of people got the fact that other people send them such a bullshits with the fact they have a lot of friends. If i receive 50 mails in a week-end from Facebook what does it mean? Does it mean that my friends are thinking of me? My real friends? The ones i grew up with?
To answer to this question i took my Facebook friends' list and i divided it in 4 categories: Best Friends, Close Friends, Acquaintances and Total Strangers. I can say that among my actual 108 friends there's 25 people that I've never met in my life, maybe i saw a couple of them somewhere i don't remember when...what i can say is that i just accepted their requests because I'm afraid that having a lot of friends on facebook is starting to be cool and mindlessly appreciated. 54 of them are acquaintances, i mean people that have never cared that much about me and vice versa. I don't wanna say that i don't like them, i just think the contrary, but i feel embarrassed, i mean, after that long time having the chance to talk directly, what do we need to say each others now, and so urgently and quickly? Through Facebook?! I live abroad so next time I'll go back home I'll try to know deeper a lot of the very interesting acquaintances i have in my friends' list. I found myself surprised when noticed that i could see in 19 people a close friend, i mean, no thinking just at the Facebook side of the matter, i realized that at the end i can say I'm a lucky guy thinking to have 19 close friends, and others and not less interesting and important with no profiles on the Facebook. That made me happy. I can honestly define the last 10, people that i love, the friends i usually spend most of my time with once at home, the frends i spent most of my life with during the past 10 years. But strangely we don't get into any relation through Facebook beside to say hi each others, that's all. I mean, we're 30/40 years old, do you think we really need someone to invent this thing to keep in touch with ourselves? C'mon, i don't like to chat on Facebook with the guys with whom i shared the funniest and fullest of experiences part of my life, and i don't want to to discover who they are on the web. This time, for the first time, i feel i don't need the Internet. Ok, that's my situation, if you want let me know about yours voting the poll.
The problem is that Facebook is for people that already know each others, this give to the subscriber the impression to know a lot of people, to be popular if his/her stupid list counts more than a hundred or thousand of people. No matter if you don't even know who these people really are. We can say that this is a good, sane way to know new people, all right, but really, do you still think that relationships starting from the web have a future? And was the Facebook created for that reason? To make people know each others?
Why these new young generations are so far and not touched by the reality? I mean if you live in a city like New York you see that most of the people you meet base their lives on a fake unreality. Everyone of these young new geniuses define himself as painter, writer, dancer, bartender, waiter, artist, without knowing at all what are they talking about, or having just a couple of years of experience. These people don't know that you have to fight and to suffer like a stray dog for years if you honestly intend to achieve and build something solid in your life, i know I'm getting pathetically rhetoric but i think that's the true, most of these occidental guys (Americans, Italians...) think they did sacrifices they never did and are sure to be popular and appreciated because of their long list of Facebook friends or because of their smart "I'm doing this", "I'm doing that"...John is taking a nap or your friend Bob took a "Movie Quiz"and scored 14/20. I'm sorry but why should i care?
I need to repeat something that maybe you've read already in a billion blogs, but let me spend again just a few words on the quiz-invitations-pictures matter, i wonder if it's just a stupid Italian habit due to the fact that 95% of my contacts are from Italy, and that anybody of my 5% not-Italian "friends" never took the chance to send me a picture of a Mojito with the invitation to drink it together somewhere impossible to reach. Maybe i still don't know exactly how this kind of things work, like to send gifts or to receive kisses, mah, to be honest i really don't care that much about this symbol of the fake culture i see lately...easy money, easy popularity, easy life, easy relationships...is for everyone of you everything always so easy? Not for me.
Less than a week ago, one of the plenty bastards present in my 10 best friends category, posted a couple of really embarrassing pictures of me...when i say really embarrassing picture i mean naked. Ok, what i can say, i can say that i didn't appreciated that much his move, but i can also say that i laughed a lot (a lot), and i understood why that son of his mother published it. Because yes, i surely smiled, but i guess what many people did, not watching the horrible picture, just thinking at my face when i saw it. But that's ok. A question: was without Facebook so easy to find pictures of yourself visible by so many people? I don't like the idea that anytime, anyone (real friends or not) can publish a picture of me without asking the permission to do it. Don't you agree that Facebook could think about that on its policies and rules?
I was born in the era of people that used to know new people simply web chatting. I don't understand why now, people that already know each others need to see themselves together in a sort of blog-chat. I can understand people who doesn't live in the same city, but most of my friends, and most of my friends' friends live in the same towns, so what's the matter guys? Is the matter that if i see your profile with more than 200 friends I'm directly supposed to consider you a nice, successful or interesting person? Or the matter is when you receive 25 sms per hour from your e-mail address, telling you someone sent you some idiot staffs on the Facebook, and you look around you with that proud eyes, the eyes of popularity? I hope that's not the matter even if i already heard fake complaints like: "Oh Lord this Facebook never stops. I didn't realize i knew so many people".
Of course you can say the same thing of me, looking for popularity writing a blog, but with the difference that you can choose to read it or not, and your will to download this page is my popularity, even if it's 10/20 people per day. At the end you did choose. With Facebook i feel like i'm forced to read all the bullshits anyone is able to post just because of a sure audience.
Finally, am i quitting Facebook? I still don't know, but I'm gonna go ahead to ignore any sort of stupid invitation to keep the 10 minutes i usually spend on the network just to say hey to the people i love.
Thank you for your time and attention.

- Facebook.com - Wikipedia.org -

Mon Song.

2008-10-27T02:32:00.003-04:00

Have a good week.

Blur - Tender.

Tender is the night
Lying by your side
Tender is the touch
Of someone that you love too much
Tender is the day
The demons go away
Lord I need to find
Someone who can heal my mind

Come on, come on, come on
Get through it
Come on, come on, come on
Love's the greatest thing
Come on, come on, come on
Get through it
Come on, come on, come on
Love's the greatest thing
That we have
I'm waiting for that feeling
I'm waiting for that feeling
Waiting for that feeling to come

Oh my baby
Oh my baby
Oh why
Oh my

Tender is the ghost
The ghost I love the most
Hiding from the sun
Waiting for the night to come
Tender is my heart
For screwing up my life
Lord I need to find
Someone who can heal my mind

Come on, come on, come on
Get through it
Come on, come on, come on
Love's the greatest thing
Come on, come on, come on
Get through it
Come on, come on, come on
Love's the greatest thing
That we have
I'm waiting for that feeling
I'm waiting for that feeling
Waiting for that feeling to come

Oh my baby
Oh my baby
Oh why
Oh my

Come on, come on, come on
Get through it
Come on, come on, come on
Love's the greatest thing
Come on, come on, come on
Get through it
Come on, come on, come on
Love's the greatest thing
That we have
Im waiting for that feeling
Im waiting for that feeling
Waiting for that feeling to come

Oh my baby
Oh my baby
Oh why
Oh my

Tender is the night
Lying by your side
Tender is the touch
Of someone that you love too much
Tender is my heart you know
For screwing up my life
Oh lord I need to find
Someone who can heal my mind

Come on, come on, come on
Get through it
Come on, come on, come on
Love's the greatest thing
Come on, come on, come on
Get through it
Come on, come on, come on
Love's the greatest thing
That we have
I'm waiting for that feeling
I'm waiting for that feeling
Waiting for that feeling to come

Oh my baby
Oh my baby
Oh why
Oh my

Picture of the Week.

2008-10-26T02:55:00.003-04:00

Seropedica Recovery Center Rio De Janeiro.
Baby parrots waiting to be released back into the wild.

Time.com

Blue States Political Solution.

2008-10-25T02:36:00.019-04:00

This is the first time i just copy and paste something i received by e-mail a couple of days ago from one of my smartest friends, Kanna, the same person that gifted me with the funny song i posted last Thursday. I do this for two reasons, the first is that i think the letter you're gonna read in a few seconds is one of the funniest things I've never read in my life. The second reason is that, even if i cannot complain for the results this blog is achieving in less than a year, i confess that during the week-end my stats say that nobody gives a f..k about it. That's why i never post on week ends, but this time I'm gonna change, it's a sort of fidelity bonus to all the few people who will download this page during the starting week end. Remember I'm Italian, so for this first time a "copy&paste" i think will be more than enough, please forgive me if you don't agree.

Blue States Political Solution.

Dear Red States:
We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country and
we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware,
that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all of the Northeast. We believe
this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the
people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research, the best beaches and the Statue of
Liberty. You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get
WorldCom. We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss. We get 85 percent of
America's venture capital and entrepreneurs.
You get Alabama and we get two-thirds of the tax revenue;
you get to make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the
Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a
bunch of single moms. Please be aware that Nuevo California will be
pro gay-rights, pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all
our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask
your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send
to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show
pictures of their children's caskets coming home.

We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but
we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent
of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple
and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of
America's quality wines, 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the
high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living
redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools
plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88
percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care
costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the
tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern
Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh,
Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia. We get
Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was
actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred
unless we're discussing the war, the death penalty or gun laws, 44
percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam
was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy bastards believe
you are the people with higher morals then we lefties.

Finally, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed
they grow in Mexico.

Thank you for your time and attention.

2008-10-23T03:43:00.003-04:00

- Thank you Kanna -

Dry Tortugas.

2008-10-22T01:53:00.011-04:00

As everyday, i was riding my express downtown's train when, surprisingly, the magazine in my hands showed me the picture you see on the left and i thought right away: what the hell is that?
That's Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, one of the many car-free sites in United States.
Of course this blog supports any sort of pro-environment initiative and National Parks are one of the smartest demonstration that human beings and nature can perfectly share the same environment. Planning vacations in protected areas is honorable and prove that men can be intelligent at the point to understand that vacation doesn't always mean luxury or long siestas. In fact in most of these kind of Parks there's nothing than a beautiful nature to admire and camping there is a really primitive experience, you'd better bring with you the water you need to drink and to wash yourself. That's very cool and useful. I'd love to have the time and energy to face a trip in one of these beautiful American car-free islands like Channel Islands National Park, a beautiful archipelago virtually free of people despite being only 60 miles far away from Los Angeles. The archipelago counts 5 islands, home of thousands of species of plants and animals 145 of which are found nowhere else on earth. If you are so lucky to live close to Maine, it won't be so difficult for you to reach Isle au Haut, a pine-slab of rock 7 miles off the coast of the Arcadia National Park. But the choice you have is huge: Cumberland Island National Seashore -Georgia-, Isle Royale National Park -Michigan-, Fire Island -New York-, Cape Lookout national Seashore -North Carolina- and many others...
So, go there, you'll enjoy nature and you'll experience something new.
I spent almost 5 minutes observing the beautiful image of Dry Tortugas and many thoughts came to me. The first though, i confess, was an embarrassing mistake, in fact i couldn't understand how they could be able to name a resort big like that as a National Park. They'd been able just because that's not a resort and there's no jacuzzi rooms inside it.
That's the nineteenth-century Fort Jefferson and the island was discovered in 1513 by Ponce De Leon who used plenty of tortugas (turtles) as a provision of fresh meat for his ships, but he had no fresh water so, Dry Tortugas.
Looking so long at the picture and having under my eyes just that big title "Car-Free Islands", i felt like living the depressing future that many movies already showed me... that kind of situations where there's only couple of hundreds protected areas on the planet where you can find no cars or generally no human negative impacts. Reserves. That's why i thought that i want a future where the concept of Protected Area or National Park won't exist anymore. I don't want any national park in my future.
I mean, the change i hope for the next years suggests me that cars will be able to go anywhere they want or anywhere there's a street (no Dry Tortugas...), because cars won't pollute anymore. I don't intend my future as a polluted world with a nice and every time less extended, not polluted protected area or national park. The same idea of national park let me feel like i need it. In a clean world there's no national parks guys, the whole planet is a f....ing national park. At least we could accept some restricted areas where to put the factories we could not survive without and that's it.
The concept and the idea of no-impact vacation is great, but I'd like this to be the rule. As you already know I'd like many things to change in our up coming future, in the mean time enjoy your time in the American National Parks never forgetting that you can always hope to find that beautiful nature closer to the place where you live, that means every where.
Thank you for your time and attention.

- Plenty Magazine - Fortjefferson.com - Yankeefreedom.com -
- Sunnydayskeywest.com -

Mon Song.

2008-10-20T04:33:00.008-04:00

Have a good week.

Pixies - Where Is My Mind.

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
But there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind

Way out in the water
See it swimmin'

I was swimmin' in the Caribbean
Animals were hiding behind the rocks
Except the little fish
But they told me he swears
Tryin' to talk to me, coy koi

Where is my mind

Way out in the water
See it swimmin'

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
But there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind...

Picture of the Week.

2008-10-19T02:59:00.004-04:00

Chinese workers taking rest in a cotton field in Manas - Xinjiang region.

China Daily - Reuters

Hipsters.

2008-10-15T03:09:00.011-04:00

It looks like you cannot read anymore a nice magazine without facing with this curious and -for me- absolutely unknown word. Hipster, hipsters, hipsterdom, hipster era...
Finally for the first time i write about something i can see everyday with my eyes, simply because i live in the city of hipsters. New York. Williamsburg and Bushwick -two of the most popular and fancy Brooklyn's neighborhoods- are crowded of them, but you can easily see lots of hipsters even in the East-Village, Harlem or Astoria -Queens-, it just depends on their parent's money. Yes, actually this is one of the most common critics you can read anywhere you read about hipsters, these guys are not supposed to be part of the working class but they pretend to dress that way. In their fancy lecture of thrift-shop t-shirts or really cheap warm and inappropriate wool coats, hipsters don't spend a lot of money to appear, sometimes they wear expensive clothes but always appearing cheap and not that just showered.
What is a hipster? The problem is that a definition of this counterculture's movement actually doesn't exist. Most of the people that hardly criticize these guys talk about their meaninglessness abusing of glorious icons that used to signify very much for many people all around the world in the past. The idea of hipster is generally indefinable. We can say this people wear skinny jeans, cotton spandex leggings, vintage flannel, fake eyeglasses, keffiyeh, American Apparel V-neck shirts. As you already know they buy in thrift-shops but it seems also they eat organic, locally grown, vegetarian or vegan food, they ride bicycles, they mostly smoke Parliament and they never forget home their camera. Generally we can say hipsters are middle-upper class adults (18-34, I'm out) with interest in non-mainstream fashion and culture.
That's why if you go to a hipsters' party and you ask someone: "Is this a hipster party?", he or she is gonna reply: "Don't you see? 99% of the people around you is a hipster". But when you'll ask: "Are you a hipster?", he or she will reply for sure: "Fuck no". You won't find anyone who will define him or herself as a hipster.
Actually i deal with hipsters -or with people dressed like that- everyday, i share this city with them, i use the same trains or buses, i work with them -clients or colleagues- i spend time in the same bars...
What i personally can say is that they're very young, and they dress the way they want. Most of them are students or sort of artists moved to New York in a view to demonstrate their family they can do something great in their lives -old story-, usually, they come from middle and not that upper class, so their parent are not supposed to finance them a luxury New York lifestyle. They buy second hand clothes, they leave scarce tips at restaurants and bars and of course, like everyone at that age, they act like adults sometimes getting arrogant. I just think they're angry. I see hipsters like that kind of guys grown up with no problems with money, grown up in the center of the globalization era. Most of them don't know the meaning of a no global world as i do, that's why i buy local like them when i can.
I'm also sure that if you go to one of them asking about wars, corporations, environment issues, philosophy, web, arts you could find yourself surprised. These people simply understood that globalization fucked up the world, they're just trying to change young people's mentality like stop eating in fast foods, stop buying big-chain-products and other important educational like that. Of course they look so similar each others and they dress like following a fucking meaningless trend, but believe, if you life in New York you need to go shopping and when the maximum you can afford is a 4 dollars t-shirt, you buy it, and you love it. Above all if you are a 21 years old so lucky to live in a city like this without your parents. Come on guys, everyone of us should consider him or herself in paradise, or better, like a cool modern hero.
I usually wear a keffyieh, i eat no meat, i used to smoke Parliament -DON'T SMOKE-, so am i a hipster apart I'm drastically out of age? Maybe if i was younger i should be part of them, they look so involved in getting better of our society, and, of course they are different. They think different, they are single persons and singles brain thinking. Why every time something easy, pacific and polite is trying to appear in a society, envy old puritans try to destroy it accusing of meaninglessness. Hipsters just didn't get into globalization that much.
Some of them are fake, i recognize -like the ones who ridiculously wear fake eyeglasses- but most of them gave me the sensation of no-global, anti-violence, silencious protesters. They look to me with an adorable touch of retro', they usually believe in family values and, as i can say no one of these guys or girls had been impolite with me, all that make me smile any time i meet with some of these sons of global world. Maybe they're the good side of gobalized guys. Do you prefer people who spend 15 hours a day in front a play-station or a television?
I wear American Apparel t-shirts. So what? They're cheap -kind of- and the quality is ok, do i need to be afraid that I'm using a no-logo icon of no-logo with meaninglessness? Come on, try to talk with these guys, and maybe you're gonna find some interesting guy or girl, they can have beautiful ideas, they can be intelligent, stupid, educated or not, they're young, in New York and with no parents. They also just know the "Patriot act reality", so they don't even think there was a time you could see someone even pissing on the streets of New York, and not only as you guess. Of course the fact they don't use heroine or crack has to be taken as a very good news, that's why i really don't understand that journalists that criticize hipster suddenly reminding how cool was living New York 10/15 years ago...i read crazy things complaining about the fact that New York's arts scene is poorer and poorer cos nowadays dealers in Washington square just deal with NYU kids or because there's anymore that 20 yo art kids jammed on acid at clubs in the middle of the night. Maybe it's true and i can believe it but two things: is this hipster guys the responsibility of the absence of any new underground creative community? Second, did any critic journalist of these important papers never take an acid?
Thank you for your time and attention.

- ADbusters - Paper - Wikipedia.org -

Mon Song.

2008-10-13T03:22:00.007-04:00

Have a good week. Volume suggestion: really loud.

Bloc Party - Banquet

A heart of stone, a smoking gun
I can give you life, i can take it away

A heart of stone, a smoking gun
I'm working it out
Why'd you feel so underrated?
Why'd you feel so negated?

Turning away from the light
Becoming adult
Turning into my soul
I wanted to bite not destroy
To feel her underneath
Turning into my soul

She don't think straight no no no...she don't think straight
She got such a dirty mind and it never ever stops
And you don't taste like her and you never ever will
And we don't read the papers, we don't read the news
Heaven's never enough, we will never be fooled

Turning away from the light
Becoming adult
Turning into my soul
I wanted to bite not destroy
To feel her underneath
Turning into my soul

And if you feel a little left behind
I will see you on the other side

Cos I'm on fire
You know I'm on fire when you come

I'm on fire so stub me out.

Picture of the Week.

2008-10-12T04:19:00.002-04:00

Mecca, Saudi Arabia, tens of thousands people congregated for the last week of Ramadam.

bbc.com

Interview With Antonio Di Pietro.

2008-10-10T04:07:00.005-04:00

Antonio Di Pietro
Italian Minister for Public Works in 1996
EuroParliament Member in 2004
Italian Minister of Infrastructures in 2006.
President of the Italia dei Valori Party.

PD: Peacedrops
AdP: Antonio Di Pietro

I'd like to invite you to read the articles i posted on Aug. 29 (Alitalia) Sept. 22 (coming next), Oct. 1 (upload) before reading the following interview. If you already did, or you already know the matter we are talking about than just enjoy the honor this great man gave this blog answering its questions.

PD: Again Mr. Di Pietro i really thank you for taking into consideration this young blog, that means you're really close to everyone of us, even if (like me) we live far away from home. I'd like to start asking you something about Alitalia. What's going on, did they sell it? Who's now the owner?
AdP: Thank you for this first question. When he was asked about the matter Mr. President Berlusconi said: "Mission accomplished". I wonder which mission was he talking about and which rescue was he dreaming about? Alitalia as a business company doesn't still exist anymore, bankrupt. In simple words we can say that now it had become a smaller company, victims: workers and tax payers. It looked to me like an extortion, a moral and politic extortion, that kind of things that disappear from newspaper in just a few days, like it effectively had happened in Italy. Now CAI (the Italian entrepreneurs and banks interested in buying the company without its debts of course) is starting and look for foreign buyers. I didn't get why the same State, the Italian Republic itself couldn't do it (like Prodi Government did with AirFrance -that up to now remain the best offer-).
PD: Looks like for you everything is Berlusconi's fault.
AdP: To be honest i really don't hate Mr. Berlusconi as a person. What i very don't like is that kind of politicians that always take position against poor not visible people and work hard to give more and more power to a few elite of lucky men. That's the point, you cannot even imagine how much i care at the future of workers that every month need to invent something new to get the 4th week without letting their kids without a meal, you cannot imagine how much i care at the future of our country, i put all my effort and the energy that God give to me everyday. The whole problem is that the Government don't care as i do.
Italia dei Valori (Italy of Values) party is always on the side of honest citizens and fight for their rights. You want an example? Yesterday (read Oct 7) at the Press Room of the Italian Chamber of Deputes took place a conference to announce the petition to promote Referendum against the "Lodo Alfano" and that will start on October the 11th in Piazza Navona, Rome. We'll all get to the Piazza to abolish an immoral and unconstitutional law. We think we're fighting a hard and with no-concessions war for legality, in a view to re-establish the equality of all Italians in front of the law.
PD: Polls tell us that since the last Italian general elections your Party the Italia dei Valori almost doubled the number of voters, but what exactely is this party, someone called it the "YouTube Party".
AdP: Polls tell us that Italia dei Valori is around an 8%. That's represent a wonderful result, a result that reminds us, every day, the big issues we have to face in respect of all that people that believe in what we do. We need to be constantly next to people to understand their problem and defend their rights. Nobody else does it in our country, we took charge of it. To improve this sort of direct line, direct touch with people we started, day after day, to use the internet as a main instrument. Did you know, for example, that everyone of the Italia dei Valori's member of the Italian Parliament regularly reply to the e-mails from private citizens? Our party is strictly connected with the base of our society. Of course, as the president, i do the same thing they do. I talk with people. I try to be punctual in replying to the plenty e-mails i receive everyday and i do the same with the questions that normal people ask me through the blog antoniodipietro.com. After so long there's a spontaneous direct relationship with citizens, i feel tied to them and this make me feel safe. Me and the Italia dei Valori Party will never get into the dark Italian power rooms.
PD: What kind of Government would you like to serve?
AdP: The Government of my dreams? The one that really get into the citizen's rights and fight for it. A Government that really respect people. A Government able to give back to our country the dignity and the respect it used to deserve, never forgetting the values coming from our incredibly amazing Constitution. Always, no exceptions.
PD: Thank you very very much President Di Pietro, please never give up, and thank you guys for your time and attention.

Many thanks to Mrs. Fabiola Paterniti, Capo-Ufficio Stampa President Di Pietro and Mrs. Sara Mangieri , National Vice-Coordinator of the Italia dei Valori Party.

What's Going On?

2008-10-08T01:20:00.005-04:00

Every time i write an article to post on Peacedrops it's because there's something strange going on in the world that i don't completely understand. In fact i think that media explain us things in the way we regularly don't understand a fuck, it's their job at the end. That's why i took my own informations in a view to try and explain the matter in the easiest possible way.
All right, to better comprehend the reason of the deep crisis involving the world's financial markets we need to know what is an ARM. It means adjustable rate mortgage, that simply represent that kind of mortgage loans where the interest rate that the client is supposed to pay to the bank is periodically adjusted based on a variety of index (i.e. Cost of founds, London Interbank Offered Rate and many others...). The mechanism basing the economic model is very well projected and make the possibility to own an house -or more- very easy. That's why i don't intend the concept founding this economic system as totally wrong, i think that to let people make their dream come true, like owning the house where to live, it's honorable by the way. The system, the concept, the theory, is honorable. Not the men supposed to handle with it.
Let's see in which way this model permitted many people in United States and in many other countries to buy their own house: i wanna buy an house so i go to the bank that after checking my stability give me the money i need. I decide to chose an adjustable rate mortgage because I'm sure the interest rates will drop and I'm also sure the price of the house I'm buying will rise. After three, four years i notice that I'm a lucky guy, and things are going exactly like i planned. If my house's price rise and the interests rate i pay drop, it's exactly the same thing than affirming that i payed more than i effectively payed, the whole economy payed for me part or better everything of my mortgage. Good, in this case i have different options, maybe the gap between rising of houses' price and dropping of rates is that big that it payed my loan in half time, I'm done, I've my house and my money. More frequently people make other plans. For example the bank can tell you that you can renegotiate your mortgage, in the way that for the same amount of the monthly payment you already faced with no particular problem -or, at least, putting a couple of hundreds dollars more-, you can buy a second house. Exactly because the price of the first home you bought rose up and the rates you pay dropped down the bank is offering you to renegotiate. You buy a second house because the free market took charge of most part of the amount you monthly were supposed to pay, that means that with the same amount of money you already planned to pay now you have the chance to have two houses instead of one. Three instead of two. Four instead of three.
At the same time, as you can figure, when houses' price drop and interests rates rise it starts to become more difficult renegotiate a mortgage. If this happen people is not able anymore to face the rising monthly payment and banks don't receive cash anymore. But banks, as you know, are very smart, so i guess it's impossible they couldn't know in advance that something big and really bad was coming soon. That's why I'm sure they invented something called "Securitization". It is an almost new practice with which banks transfer or sell a right to a person, in this case an investor. To make it more understandable the bank transforms the right to receive from a debtor his monthly payments in a certificate that sell to an investor. The investor buy this bank certificate and the interests rate connected. If you know a little bit of economics you surely know that the interest rate of any investment is almost totally related to the risk of the same. In this case, the risk that the bank smartly transfer to the investor (better if small) is called "Credit Risk" and represent the risk that the mortgage holder would not be able to face the payments anymore. And sorry, THE BANKS ARE SUPPOSED TO TAKE IT. These certificates or securities are called mortgages backed securities (MBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDO), and there is many people that bought this shit to make a good investment, maybe to pay someones grandson university education.
This is the background of the story, of course this caused the domino effect that's under everyone's eye. Firstly banks don't have that much money to finance new enterprises and new investments, people that lost big money with MBS and CDO live in not very good conditions, generally you can attend a crisis of consumption and other stuff like that. NO LIQUIDS.
So i thought: have been changed something in my life after i started and read every single day that Dow Jones got another -6% or that another bank went bankrupt? No. But will anything change? I honestly hope not, but i mean, every day you see on the news that this index lost 3, 4, 5 points, that means that there is more shared sold that bought that day in that market. So the price of them dropped. But this is the risk of investing in a stock market or not? People who decided to allocate their founds on stock market already knew that beside a nice rate of earnings should find an extremely high level of risk...and than, in a few word, people that put money in a stock exchange has many more money somewhere else, so, who the fuck cares? The stock exchange is like the second car or the second house, you can lose it, i care to the people who's losing their only house, or people that invent everyday a way to let their kids eat. I'm actually very happy if some of that mother fucker speculators lose some money. So, the stock exchange doesn't make me worried too much, but, i know, behind the shares they exchange everyday all around the world's markets, there are enterprises and people losing job. Maybe there were enterprises.
Right now the share represent the enterprise, i mean, there was a time when the solidity of a company or the ability and honesty of a management was the base of the share prices, now it's exactly the contrary, empty, bubble companies that base their importance on the daily quotation of their share. If i was working for an empty fake bubble company i think I would notice it right away and right away i would start to look for another job cos i don't think should be that difficult to understand that under the high quotations there's nothing else than speculation when you are inside it. But no body talked. My life didn't change at all, is this a crisis that maybe just involved banks, stock exchanges, house prices (so house owners) and mother fuckers in general without touching all that normal people that handle with normal problems and pay regularly normal rents? I'm going ahead and paying the same rent even if the houses prices dropped.
I'm thinking about that every time i read anywhere articles or big titles about this crisis, everyday i spend without this crisis involve my life and the life of all the normal people i know i face these articles with an always more pronounced smile.
I'll be back on the matter with the funny solutions that the ridiculous world's genial Governors are inventing day by day with a focus on subprime mortgages, the evil invention of banks and i hope to tell you other nice and above all encouraging news, thank you for your time and attention.

-Wikipedia.org-

Mon Song.

2008-10-06T06:48:00.008-04:00

The Srokes - Electricityscape

Starting from today I'm gonna post a good-vibe-for-the-week-song every Monday, "Mon Song Post", i also intend to show you the lyrics of the performances. Two reasons: the first, i'll choose the songs above all for the lyrics, and if you're not an english mother tongue it's impossible you'll understand it just listening (i still have this problem after almost two years living in an English speaking country, ok I'm retarded). Second, now we can sing like crazy, guys, that's always good believe. So, enjoy:

Oh, with strangers to impress so near
Old friends don't realize i'm here
I wish two drinks were always in me
I'd pretend i had the perfect day.

Take me to the water
Make me understand
That i was wrong

For me tomorrow is the first day
So please don't tempt me in the wrong way

It's almost after midnight
I can see the city lights, we're here

Change your mind tonight
You belong to the city now
And you're closer now, i know
You belong on the radio

I swear I'll give it back tomorrow
But for now i think that I'll just borrow
And the chords from that song
And all the words from that other song i heard
Yesterday

Change your mind tonight
You belong to the city now
And you're closer now, i know
You belong on the radio

I will not disturb you
I was just returning you a compliment.

Picture of the Week.

2008-10-05T03:44:00.007-04:00

As you can see not only the United States have the right men at the right positions to face the economic crisis. This is from yesterday's Paris meeting, they look so smart don't they?

Coming Soon.

2008-10-04T14:12:00.002-04:00

Semptember's Gone.

2008-10-01T22:39:00.014-04:00

Today's October the 1st. If you are a regular you already know that every first day of the month i constantly invite all of us to watch this incredible documentary narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, feat. Moby.
I spent the first whole month eating no meat at all, considering i started right away after seeing the film it's actually kind of 7 week that i follow this personal, strange, irregular diet. I eat cheese, rarely eggs, rarely fish -mostly sushi- pasta with rich Italian vegetarian sauces and the rest is more or less vegetables. What i can say to you is that i don't miss meat at all, my body feels much lighter and healthier, my mood has changed a little bit as well. My personal experience is that this is a process that involve your soul more than your brain or food taste, that's why i don't condemn meat eaters or i don't blame myself because sometimes i eat a fish or a scrambled egg. I accepted the choice i took in a really soft and natural way, without imposing me anything. In fact if tomorrow i will see again a steak like i used to see it few more than a month ago, I'd surely eat it. Right now what i see is a cadaver, a carcass going to go on decomposition inside my long intestine. But it's not just this that stopped me. I'm thinking so hard and wondering why my mind had changed so quickly and had accepted with no traumas this crazy and absolutely not announced change in my diet habits. The first selfish explanation i gave you it's not enough, but it's a big motivation to stop eating meat. Your health. No body will tell you that all that damn cardiovascular diseases and many many other health problems are due because of the meat we eat. All over the modern world, and of course above all in the modern countries, and of course above all in United States the way to feed and grow up animals, the way to slaughter them, the way to consider them had changed in the last decade of years. People in this world think that the animals we eat are nothing else than robots, non animated species born to eat, or better to be fed, and died to be eaten by us. That's why people thought that was normal feeding beefs with grounded bones coming from the slaughter house always present close the feedlot. Fortunately in 1997 the US authorities banned this crazy practice that brought us to the crazy cows scandal. At this point the managers of the big corporations involved in feeding animals for us had to think to another way to find a really really really really really cheap food to let animal grow up. As fast as possible. In grandfathers time cows were 5/6 years old at slaughters, now they are 14/16 months. Why? Simply because they don't eat the same things they used to eat 50 years ago. Grass. And what they eat? We can say they eat corn that United States produce mostly to feed animals. So, is just corn able to let a cow grow up and be ready to be slaughtered in such a short time? That's not that simple. Corn, nowadays, is a kind of high tech product but is not enough to let a cow ready to be killed in one year. So corn and antibiotics and enzymes and liquid vitamins and synthetic estrogens and protein supplements and, all together mixed up. But we love fat in our steak, so they get from the always present close slaughter house some fat, coming from already 'treated' animals and burn it getting in its liquid form. And then? Mix liquefied fat with corn and the chemicals. And feed animals with that shit. Three times per day. Daily cost: 1.6$. You don't need me to understand that this "food" get into the body of the cows, get into the meat you eat, get into the shit the cow produce. Think about the fact that farmers cannot use that shit as a fertilizer because it's too chemical. I mean if you take it directly from the ass of a cow and put it into the ground it's already too chemical, it's chemical since the production. What do you think about it? I think that all that shit that i guess it's a lot of shit, goes somewhere underground infecting the water we drink and the fruits we eat.
Finally i invite you again to see "Earthlings", you can just click the last icon on your right. I'll inform you when October also will be spent about my personal no-meat experience, and above all I'll be ready to tell you something more about the surprising book that I'm reading on the matter. Thank you for your time and attention.

- Omnivore's Dilemma - Michael Pollan

Update Di Pietro Interview.

2008-10-01T16:47:00.009-04:00

I just received an e-mail from President Di Pietro announcing that he won't be able to answer the questions that Peacedrops sent him before next Tuesday, so let's be patient a little bit more. I'd like to take the occasion to inform you that Mr. Di Pietro is promoting a referendum to abolish the "Lodo Alfano" that is a law, approved by Italian majority, and allowing President Berlusconi a total immunization to any form of law, involving rules he can brake covering as Prime Minister or not. Right now, in Italy, if President Berlusconi -like President of Chambers and President of the Republic- kills his wife or an opponent, he cannot be processed. He cannot go to jail until he finish to be in charge, and believe, Berlusconi intends to stay in charge for a long time. This is a ridiculous, pre-dictatorship bill, that a corrupt Parliament approved in a record-time and that Italian President Granfa Giorgio Napolitano countersigned even shortly. Mr. Di Pietro is trying to cancel this offense from Italian codes like the tribunal in Milan did sending to the Italian Constitutional Court a bill called "eccezione di incostituzionalita" in which some judges are asking the Court to pronounce about a law that make 4 Italian citizens different from the rest in front of a judge or law in general. The article number 3 of the beautiful Italian Constitution said clearly that every one of the Italian citizens is absolutely equal in front of the law, no matter religion thoughts, sex orientations, politics ideas. There's no doubts that Silvio Berlusconi's bill won't have a long life, as every Italian free intellectual knows this law is too much unconstitutional, so the court will abolish it for sure, like it did a couple of years ago when Berlusconi firstly tried to approve a bullshit so big (Lodo Schifani). In the mean time, as i told you, Antonio Di Pietro is collecting signatures to promote the "Refefendum Abrogativo" of the Lodo Alfano. I hope I've been clear enough, so stay tuned for the next week's interview and thank you for your time and attention.

Slacker Uprising.

2008-09-29T04:18:00.002-04:00

First of all I'd like you to know that i love Michael Moore. I cannot say i saw every single thing he did but i really and deeply appreciated movies like Sicko, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11. About him as a filmmaker i cannot tell you anything else. I love his activism and his straight opposition to war and any form of oppression. I enjoyed and learned many things reading his articles, maybe he's the man that mostly contributed to my personal discover of the truth about what happened in New York 7 years ago. The world's signals that continue to explain this truth to me are better understandable when you enter in a sort of point of view that i got because of him and his works. And i thank him very much for this.
Second, i watched the last Moore's movie totally and totally legally for FREE. You know, i always appreciate when someone, really good in doing what he does, gives the fruit of his creativity and work for free, it's a kind of noble act that can only give honor and respect to the man who does it.
Third, ok maybe sometimes I'm a little bit stoned, i confess, some other times i feel like purely stupid, but what i can tell you is that i got "Slacker Uprising" like the story of the tour that Michael Moore did to document the new hope of people following Obama's electoral tour and to invite them to invite other many people to vote. I got it was this campaign, in fact watching the trailers i felt something, a little duck skin coming, an up coming tear, right away. So, it's my fault cos I'm sure i didn't approached the movie with the right expectations.
Fourth, as i think you get by the way i write, I'm not American. I don't think i feel things in the same way Americans do...i mean of course i cried when Balboa ended the cold war on the ring with the American flag on his shoulders as many times i felt excited or cried watching Michael Moore's movies. And when, this last time it didn't happen i put the responsibility on the fact that I'm not American at the point to be interested or involved in something so bad and happened so long ago. The disastrous lost of any hope for all that people that knew what could mean other 4 years with psycho-Georgie make me sad any time i think at the 2004 American elections. My dark remembers of that electoral tragedy don't need to be refreshed. What i mean is that I'm not that into American politics to get involved in something so dated and expired for me. Actually if you think that we are talking about an electoral tragedy that everyone of us is hoping won't happen again, this give to the movie that touch of "terrible-delusion-again-around-the-corner" that made me feel really depressed, minute after minute, watching Slacker Uprising. No duck skin and tears this time...but a little feeling of scare.
Fifth, i hate to do this, and i hate to criticize a person that i really respect, i hate me because I'm doing it, but i think the change that can come with the new president also means deep honesty and peaceful acceptance of critics, anywhere coming from. That's why I'd love you to get this message absolutely not like a critic to Michael Moore as a person or as an expert filmmaker, the critic i feel to move is about timing and quality of the contents.
I'm not a movie critic, and i don't intend this blog like a movie review, there's people who does it better than me, but, honestly i cannot hide the thoughts that came into my mind watching the Slacker Uprising. You wanna know why? It's very simple, because i posted the "coming soon picture" before watching the movie, of course being sure that I would love it. I had no doubts. Ok, once i saw it i had these three options: cancel the coming soon, lie to you or tell you my real point of view. My real point of view this time doesn't match that much with the one of a person that i take as an example for every one of us, it's very easy for me to write bad about Berlusconi, it's not that easy when you talk about Michael Moore. Fuck.
Sixth, lately and incredibly, really important people of science or politics accepted to make talk interviews with this blog, unfortunately i started and think that i can get an interview from anyone i want at anytime... this bad and really regretful behavior pushed me to write an e-mail to Michael Moore asking him for an interview about this last movie. Of course -but fortunately- he didn't reply, so i just care to precise that what I'll affirm and what i already -sorry- affirmed is absolutely not connected to the fact that Mr. Moore didn't reasonably reply to me.
Ok, let's finally start, what's wrong with timing? Next November 4th the United States of America are going to face one of the most important presidential elections of their history. Maybe the most important. What people need is to finally find again a guide, a president who's able to run this country in a complete different way, a president that can be able to make America loved all across the world like it used to be. People want to feel emotions hoping something better for the future. Michael Moore shot Slacker Uprising 4 years ago, why did he need to publish it now? Why not right after the big delusion as a gift for all the people that hoped so strongly for a change? I mean, the whole structure of the movie is well working just in the case of 2004 democrat victory, but I'll talk about this later, for now i just wonder why he didn't choose another time to put this movie under the eyes of the world. I cannot understand why a smart guy like Michael Moore didn't get the fact that 4 years represent an era in the internet era. That's why i found expired the movie since its first seconds. Expired and boring. I don't comprehend the sense of watching a movie like this right before the most important American election. At the beginning of the movie you can read about John Kerry: "Even if he'd known in advance that Bush was lying about weapons of mass destruction in Irak, he still would have vote for the war". And so? Who cares? Who is John Kerry? Where is he? Who remember him? And above all, who's missing him? Come on, this politician disappeared right away after the elections -did he appear anytime?-. So Michael, it's really too late to talk about Karry, and it's very very late to complain about Bush's second failure. It's done. Finished. Over. Now we need to go ahead.
I also tried to explain to myself that maybe everything was made by Michael Moore in a view to support Obama's campaign but not in a too direct way. Maybe there's an American law that forbid to make a movie about the campaign of a presidential candidate and to let people see it little more than a month before the elections. So Mr. Moore took the old story of the 2004 elections to refresh hope and will to vote and attempted to recycle the old, expired, boring, bad ended story connecting it with the new desire of change you can breathe these last months in this country. Wrong. It didn't work at all. To me of course. I definitively think that this is the worst time to see an historic movie like this, to hope now, in 2008, George Bush not to be another time the President is pathetic and very useless, think also he will never be President again by constitution so what's the matter?
Let me finish complaining a little bit about the quality or poverty of the contents. That's mostly what make me mad with Mr. Moore.
Watching the movie i couldn't believe that i was attending to one the hugest celebrations of a man that i saw in my life. When, for the 10th time, i heard the speaker screaming LADIES AND GENTLEMEN MR. MICHAEL MOOOOORE or when i watched him getting the stage of an arena or a theater for the 15th time i thought i was already sleeping. Unfortunately i wasn't. The center of the movie, the protagonist, is not hope, anger or emotions this time. This time is Michael Moore. And i feel sorry for it.
Ther's another thing i don't really understand: you call 15,000 people in an arena or in a park to tell them to go to vote. They are slackers so you give them clean underwear and noodles. Michael do you really think that someone who comes to your shows and someone who doesn't go to vote can be the same person? In fact, at the minute 11 you asked to the 15,000 people attending your speech who among the audience didn't vote in 2000 and 6 or 7 people stood up to receive noodles and clean underwear. Cos they're slackers right? Come on.
Many things impressed me in a negative way in this horrible film, i just want to leave you telling that i found really weird to see Michael Moore getting the private jet that brought him all across the country or noticing that for him George Bush regularly won the 2004 elections. I hope this is just a mistake and the next movie will impress us like the others, for now i just can invite you to download and see it, and, if you want, let this blog know your point of view. Sorry Mr. Moore and thank you for your time and attention.

Picture of the Week.

2008-09-28T04:03:00.003-04:00

First, boring debate between the two candidates. Let's wait next week to see Biden vs. crazy Palin, maybe they'll be funnier and, hopefully, little more involved.

Coming Soon.

2008-09-25T03:33:00.006-04:00

I need to apologize because the editing of the interview with Antonio Di Pietro is requiring more time than i expected, his office already sent me an e-mail informing that these last, are very intense days for him...You know, if your job is to try to control Berlusconi's Government in a view to avoid it approves crazy laws, well, i don't think you have that much free time in your life. Hoping to be able to translate the answers at the three questions i sent his office last Tuesday before the end of this week, i invite you (if you are US or Canada resident) to freely download the last Michael Moore's docu-movie at slackeruprising.com (find also in my link list). I'm gonna watch it tomorrow and I'll let you know in a coming soon post. Thank you for your time and attention.

Coming Next: Interview with Antonio Di Pietro.

2008-09-22T04:59:00.006-04:00

Antonio Di Pietro at his desk in the Italian Parliament.

It's a big pleasure for me to inform you that Antonio Di Pietro accepted to release an interview with Peacedrops.
So, let's talk a little bit about this man before he tells us what's going on in Italy.
We could say a lot of things about Mr. Di Pietro, about his long and hard career or about the important, Institutional roles he covered during it. Well, I'll do it, but before, I'd like you to know what is my feeling when i think at this man. I see Antonio Di Pietro like one of the last honorable public Italian men, every time i hear his speeches or i read his articles it's like to be in front of a guy that spend every day, hour and second of his life to fight a war for legality, always close to the poorest and "less-connected" people.
Antonio Di Pietro is a strong, lucid, focused, member of the Italian Parliament, Founder and President of "Italia dei Valori" party and this is one of the many reasons why, every Italian knows him.
Surely his charisma and the colorful and extremely clear way he express his ideas are part of the success of the politician, but i think Mr. Di Pietro is not just a successful politician, i think he is a successful man.
I consider a man, who dedicate his life (in Italy) to fight against corruption, power abuses, inequity of justice, a successful man...any way.
A man who can look inside himself -and his past- and see everything clear, a man who can be able to enter and move in the dark palaces of power never being involved in illicit or semi-licit traffics (in Italy), i think a man like this, is what everyone should consider "successful".
You know, anyone of us has different point of views, that's why i guess President Berlusconi doesn't look at him like a successful man, probably for the rich and "botoxed" President the meaning of success is money and power when, on the opposite side, Antonio thinks that it means helping people and cleaninig the Italian bad smelling Institutions. Two different concept of success you see? Consider also that Di Pietro promptly refused the Minister of Internal Affairs that Berlusconi (as a Prime Minister) offered him when he was trying to form his first Government, obviously the position was offered just in a view to close his mouth in a "friendly" way, of course Di Pietro smelled the purpose and right away said: no thanks.
If you know Mr. Di Pietro you don't need to read on wikipedia that he comes from a poor rural family. The position he takes on any issue is enough to understand that the people he tries to protect come from the same social status where he comes from. He was born in 1950 in a small village called Montenero di Bisaccia, in the Molise region (south-east Italy), very young he migrated to Germany where he used to work in a factory (in the morning) and in a sawmill (in the afternoon), to pay his studies. These many sacrifices let him get the degree in law whom permitted him to be hired as an officer in the Italian Police (Polizia di Stato). Antonio Di Pietro spent just a few years in serving the state as a police man, after which he started the judicial career as a prosecutor. Was in 1992 when, together with other famous judges (Borrelli, Boccassini, Colombo, Davigo...), he founded the "Mani Pulite" (clean hands) team, which investigated on political-financial corruption. Mani Pulite cleaned, like an house keeper with a vacuum, the Italian Institutions which unfortunately got dirty again very soon because of Berlusconi that, seriously risking the prison, decided to get into the politics challenge. He won the1994 national elections, he became Prime Minister and consequencially saved the skin.
Romano Prodi formed in 1996 his first Government, after the center-left victory, and called Antonio Di Pietro to serve as Minister for the Public Works with competences on all what was primarily object of bribery. The Di Pietro politician had right away a good relationship with people, just because he talks directly to people, like me for example. The success of his politics effort pushed him to found a party called "Italia dei Valori" (Italy of Values) in 1998, making its main theme the fighting against political corruption in Italy. The condescendent attitude of left-wing politicians like Massimo D'Alema towards Berlusconi, imposed him to not run together with the center-left coalition in the general elections in 2001, which were won by Silvio Berlusconi. Di Pietro just got the 4% who permitted "Italia dei Valori" to get into the Parliament, with 1 senator. Unfortunately he immediately defeated to Berlusconi's party. So strange.
Antonio Di Pietro got a seat at the European Parliament in 2004 and in 2006 he run again for the general elections and again, with Romano Prodi, won. He was chosen as Minister of Infrastructures in the second Prodi Government.
We are living the rest. Right now Di Pietro is fighting against the Berlusconi Government with all the weapons that a democracy can let him use. Every day Mr. Di Pietro fiercely enters the Italian Parliament and tells to the Prime Minister what he thinks about his way to run the country. No matter if Berlusconi never shows up at the Parliament, the important thing is that we have a man, inside an Institutional palace, in Italy, that tells Silvio Berlusconi exactly what he deserve because of the ridiculous laws his government is approving every day. Note that the laws that Berlusconi propose to the Parliament every day -approved in 95% of cases- are written by his smart lawyers, Parliament's members as well. Well, fortunately some one stands up screaming: SHAME ON YOU! Every day. Thank you very much for that Mr. Di Pietro.
So, such a man decided to talk with us and answer to a couple of questions, i don't need to remind that this is a great honor for me and for this blog. I hope you'll enjoy this great Peacedrops guest reading his interview in the next coming post.
Thank you for your time and attention.

Many thanks to Mrs. Fabiola Paterniti, Capo Ufficio-Stampa President Di Pietro and Mrs. Sara Mangieri, National Vice-Coordinator of "Italia dei Valori" party.

-Wikipedia.org - Governo.it -

Picture of the Week.

2008-09-21T04:15:00.004-04:00

Berlusconi & Friends' plan to save Alitalia failed.

Coming Soon.

2008-09-19T13:08:00.001-04:00

2008-09-18T06:30:00.001-04:00

Moby - Everloving

Picture of the Week.

2008-09-14T02:06:00.000-04:00

Bankrupt.

Interview with Tommaso Dorigo.

2008-09-11T06:05:00.041-04:00

Tommaso Dorigo with Nobel Prize Winner James Bjorken, 1996.

Tommaso Dorigo, Particle Physics Researcher at INFN - Universita' di Padova.
CDF (Fermilab-Illinois)
LHC (CERN - Switzerland).

PD: PeaceDrops
TD: Tommaso Dorigo

PD: First of all thanks again for the kindness you demonstrated during these last busy and intense days for your works and passions. So at the end it looks like we survived your experiment. I'm so glad about that, but can you explain me why on the web, and not only, we assisted at that really exaggerated media coverage? People scared about creation of black holes, others looking at the money you honestly get to let human kind a step ahead in evolution... i mean do you think is this the right way to inform about an experiment that you tell me it was not that scientifically interesting?
TD: I accept with pleasure to talk a little bit about this mega-media-event, on air Sept 10 and focusing on the launch of LHC accelerator at CERN in Geneve. I repeat, that was purely a mass-media event, if you consider that the proton beam already did half way in the recent past days, there was no reason to think it wouldn't finish. There was 1/million of the protons that will normally circulate in the accelerator next year, the energy produced by this experiment is equivalent at 6.7% of the energy at a level of full regime, when the beams will have the same energy of a navy air-craft carrier at a speed of 60 km/h...the protons that circulated in LHC last Wednesday generated the equivalent energy of an old fat lady riding her bike. I admit: it was a really well built and organized mass-media event. I think CERN did the right thing taking an advantage from the hystery due to this ridiculous feeling of risk of black hole creation and did good in being able to transform legal sues, placed against CERN by ignorants looking for media visibility and easy success, in advertising (for free). An advantage for science that took all the benefits of media speculations and finally, for a day became protagonist. Anywhere. We need more occasions like these to let common people really understand why we do what we do, why our studies are so important for everybody, why 10 billion dollars spent to build LHC and its detectors are easy stuff compared to the US Department of Defense that spend more that 10 times that sum of money per year. We needed more that 20 years to spend it. We must let people realize that these researches are helpful for each one of us... this is well spent money, believe, we try to let all the people involved in what we do and i think that some of the things we do should be part of the general culture of everybody. On the contrary we see everyday difficulties in communicate with the world. People is interested in what is hadron-therapy only when they are diagnosticated with a brain cancer, but i wonder...should not be better if they knew it before and pushed with local administrators to install a small accelerator in a closer hospital instead looking at them as health travelers, usually to foreign countries (who can) or more often to long endless waiting lines?
PD: Wow. Thanks again. I feel like Aladin and his desires, mmmhhh... so atoms, electrons, neutrons, elementary particles...all the things that you work with, where are they? Everywhere? In a peace of wood like in an apple? And what's a quark? How can you obtain elementary particles? And what are they?
TD: Even if you don't know you asked me an incredible quantity of things in just a few words. Let's make it simple 'cos you know, I've not that much time and you've not that much interest... in substance protons make atoms, everything is made by atoms, matter is atoms. Protons are made by quarks, and quarks cannot exist far away from protons, they are indissolubly connected with protons by a strong interaction, something that tie them like a rubber band. The harder you try to get a quark outside his proton the more energy you need, until the rubber band breaks (because at that point it becomes energetically more efficient to break than to extend). At the borders of the band, after the collapse, appear two quarks, one quark and one anti-quark each side, the two quark disappear right away (one back in the proton and the other connected with the quark we where trying to take out firstly). So what do we have in our hands at the end? We won't have a quark but a meson, something lighter than a proton and also less stable (expires in billions of a second)... we have an elementary particle. It's just important you know that quark are inside protons, to study and comprehend it is very important in a view to understand the composition of matter at its smallest levels, from these kind of informations we'll be able to see clearer how everything works and maybe we'll be able to put our (sometimes) useless existences at a higher level of knowledge. I'll explain you how do we study quarks with another very simple example. Try to imagine a proton like a garbage bag, you cannot open it to see what's inside, if you absolutely need to open it you are just allowed to launch it against another garbage bag. If you are able to crash the two bags at an enough-powerful energy you won't have just a collision between two garbage bags (that's boring and not interesting), you'll see the two bags explode and a hard collision could take place between a can from a bag and, maybe, a glass bottle from the other. Quarks that constitute protons are bottles and cans, if you're able to break protons and crash quarks each others you'll find a bag full of glass shot to a precise direction and the other full of aluminium that will run to another direction. Very very very fast. These are the particle called "jet" and our detectors are able to measure it. From this we can understand what happened long time ago, at the beginning of everything, we understand what happen to the matter and its structure under very high levels of energy in very small distances, to discover all this we need huge structures like the LHC.
PD: LHC, you are right, it's a huge project. Incredible. What is it exactly for? And is it able to generate black holes? And what are they?
TD: LHC is very important. It will let us discover what really is the mass, and maybe it will show us what exactly is the dark side of the mass that we are sure represent a smaller part in the universe. We'll also be able to understand the reasons why of the assimetry between the presence of matter and antimatter in the universe. Matter and antimatter are nothing than particles with some opposite characteristics (like electric charge), but they both respect the same physics laws. In the universe we observe a lot of matter and not that much antimatter, LHC maybe will tell us why this sort of predominance was created when everything started. Finally black or dark holes. These guys are responsible for the media event of these last days. Dark holes are matter aggregates so dense that the gravitational field they generate is able to don't let even out photons (light). Lhc will not produce dark holes, and even if it could be able to do it in a possible far future, they will evaporate in one billion of million of million of second. By the way we can sleep safe because what LHC does, it happens naturally every second, in our solar system and everywhere else among the universe. We call them cosmic rays and every day they are sent to us from the center of very far away galaxies. They could be able to produce dark holes better than our LHC, but, for now, nothing tells us that we are under any kind of risk. Definitively i hope i convinced you that particle physics can get our existence to a better level.
PD: I think you absolutely did, thank you. And thank you for your time and attention.

- This work is dedicated to the victims of 9.11 -

Coming Next: Interview with Tommaso Dorigo.

2008-09-10T00:01:00.048-04:00

As you can figure from the fact we are still alive, fortunately the planet hadn't yet been eaten by a black hole generated in Switzerland, just because, in the experiment that took place this morning, only a beam at time had been circulated in the machine. That means NO COLLISIONS at all or if you prefer no chance to generate any black hole.
That's by the way a good point to start and talk a bit more seriously about a really interesting matter involving lots of the most brighting brains living on this planet.
Starting the researches i did to understand what is going on with this CERN experiment, i got at first an unusual fear feeling circulating through the web. It was like any opinion leader, blogger and sort of internet observer was scared by the fact that science and technology achievements are obtained putting the Earth constantly under the risk to be absorbed by a black hole (and in facts disappear for ever from the Universe) generated by the process that just started this morning in a small town close to Geneve. I mean, there's people who's dedicating to these kind of studies most of their whole life, don't you think they already considered the risk of creating a black hole able to destroy life on earth? I'm talking to all that bloggers that wrote things like: "maybe at this point what we need should be a sort of scientific regression or at least stop research on dangerous projects like the CERN one to avoid to put the planet under such a risk".
I also found exaggerated the compulsive interest showed by TV networks and newspapers, always more interested in scaring people than in treating a scientific news from the real and unique point of view of science (scare to sell).
Maybe, instead of screaming the end of civilization anytime something very new and revolutionary fell on this planet, we could try to take some better informations before throwing onto the web senseless conclusions.
CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research and this morning launched the first LHC beam, 2.500 of the most illuminated minds on the face of earth collaborated at the program, and one of these great guys' name is Tommaso. Tommaso Dorigo.
He accepted to make a talk-interview with Peacedrops in a view to involve normal people in a dream that sometimes cannot be lived because of the difficulties in understanding the almost incomprehensible (for people like me) theories founding physic processes.
Dorigo was born on February 5th 1966 in Venice, Italy. He's always been living in Venice apart from a two years parenthesis when he had a position of Post-Doctoral Fellow in Particle Physics at Harvard University and contributed to the construction of the new CDF II detector. Tommaso married MariaRosa in 1998 and they have two kids, Filippo and Ilaria. They all live in Venice where they recently finished remodeling their new house.
Currently Mr. Dorigo is an INFN (Istituto Nazionale Fisica Nucleare) research scientist working at the Universita' di Padova.
He also studied at the Venice Conservatory where he became a Master in Antique Instruments in 1982. At the conservatory he studied composition for four years after that he quit to dedicate his whole time to the study of Physics. Mr. Dorigo studied at the Univerista' di Padova where he specialized in "Experimental Particle Physics", he graduated on June 1995 with a Thesis titled: "The Search for Top Quark in the All-Hadronic Decay with the CDF Experiment". He defended his Ph.D. thesis in Padova in 1999. Later 1999/2000 he worked at Harvard University where he constructed part of the CDF II muon system. From 2001 he was back in Padova where he got a string of 2-years position, after that he won a position as researcher in INFN in the fall of 2005. He is currently a member of the CDF (Collider Detector at Fermilab - Illinois) and CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) collaborations. Most of his research time since 2007 is focused to CMS following (with other 600 Italian scientists) the CERN experiments.
Who better than him could explain to us what's going on over there?
Peacedrops is highly honored to guest such a personalty and if you consider that he is a very easy guy and a devote father and husband, the honor is doubled. Tommaso Dorigo also may contribute to change a little bit the image we all keep in mind when we think about scientists. This time we're dealing with an Italian, young, brilliant, not-so-politically correct, genial Physics researcher. I hope you'll feel involved and enjoyed by all this... coming up on Peacedrops.
Thank you for your time and attention.

- Dorigo.Wordpress.com - Infn.it - Bbc.com - Corriere.it -
- Special Thanks to Antonio, a great friend of mine who first told me about CERN -

Coming Soon.

2008-09-08T14:42:00.003-04:00

Picture of the Week.

2008-09-07T00:47:00.001-04:00

People of Thailand is fighting against corruption inside its public administration.
This blog support Thailandese protests.

E Pluribus Unum.

2008-09-06T03:03:00.015-04:00

As you can see from the coming soon picture, "E Pluribus Unum" is the motto that clearly appears on the seal of the President of the United States of America. It's Latin for "Out of Many, One". Officially there's two different ways to interpret this honorable concept: the first is that out of many colonies or states will emerge just one, powerful nation. The other meaning is that out of many people, races and ancestries will emerge a single people and nation illustrating the concept of "MELTING POT".
What i thought right after i learned this thing is that these two different ways to read this motto are just two different ways to run a country. This concept appears on the President seal, of course it's up to him the way he's gonna understand it. It's so clear the way Mr. Georgie Bush got it, or the way Mr. Clinton did, or Bush father as well.
I waited until the two conventions were over before to post again about this campaign for President of US, just because i was curious about the fact my feelings could change after listening the two acceptance speeches of Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain. My conclusions are that i don't intend to waste many words talking about the boring McCain and Palin (vice-president nominee) speeches. The reason stays inside what they talked about.
Ok, Capitan John McCain after a couple of thank you started his speech sending his gratefully to the actual, tragic, President Bush literally saying: "I'm grateful to the President of United States for leading us in these dark days following the worst attack in American history"...applause..."The worst attack on American soil in our history and keeping us safe from another attack that many, many thought was inevitable. And to the first lady"...applause..."And to the first lady Laura Bush a model of grace and kindness in public and private". It appears quite clear that Senator McCain believe that Bush made a good job only because when he was president it have been no terrorist's attack on US soil. He also believe that it have been no attacks because of Georgie's good job. All right? He also think that his poor wife -the First Lady that of course cannot wait her fucked up husband to finish this damn presidency to divorce- can make a very good Tea.
Now, the iron lady running for Vice-President did even better: "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people to get the gas lines built, so pray for that"..."Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders are sending [US soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there's a plan and that plan is God's will".
It looks like Mrs. Palin believe that the wars involving United States are following the (her) God's will. The nominee at vice presidency believe that God could support a war. This is not a religious matter. This is a matter of going ahead telling lies to people pretending to get credit from an always too sleepy public opinion.
Mr. Palin Governor of the State of Alaska, let me tell you something: GOD IS THE OPPOSITE OF ANY FORM OF WAR.
All right, let's get back serious. Obama.
What impressed me at first, listening the Obama's beautiful acceptance speech he made in Denver, was about my working life. He told to the more than 75,000 people at the stadium and to the entire world that he wants an America where if you are a waitress, and you live with tips, you can take a day off to look after your kids without being afraid to loose the job. I mostly live with tips, mostly of the people i love live with tips. So, it was very nice to hear this thing from the man running for President, i enjoyed living that moment, the moment i heard that sentence. Beside this little personal things i very believe that the Obama's speech will remain impressed in the history of this country for many other reasons.
He finally and very clearly told the world what does "CHANGE" mean for his next presidency: "tax goes to American workers and small businesses who deserve it"..."i will cut tax for 95%of all working families"..."in 10 years we will finally end our dependence of oil from the middle east"..."as President i will invest in clean-cold technologies"..."i will invest 1.5 billion dollars of the next decade in affordable, renovable sources of energy, wind power, solar power, and the next generation of BIO-fuel"..."Now it's not the time for small plans, now is the time to finally meet our moral obligations".
Let me reflect a little bit on these few important arguments. 10 years to get independent form middle east, clean energy all over technologically advanced countries and still oil and carbon in the less-at-the-time few remaining countries. But in peace. Less developed countries will contribute more at the pollution than developed world, but the mass will be 90% less than now and the planet will absorb it with no problems. Countries with different religions in peace. With no energy excuses to fight each others. And than peace drops after peace drops...
We need a President that want to become independent from middle east countries because he's running a more advanced country, not just because he won a war or found other oil somewhere else. Oil is over. End of the story, let's start to face with it. So finally someone important, beside Al Gore, talked clearly announcing huge investments in clean energy. Finally.
The stadium also exploded when, after 35 minutes he said: "Surely we can agree that gay and lesbian, brothers and sisters, deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination"..."this election has never been about me. It's about you".
The meaning of this last part is that now America has really to choose between two completely opposite ways. Going ahead with a 73 years old prisoner of war or changing with a young black new President. That's mean changing. For real. There's no more time. McCain simply cannot win. If this is what the majority of the population of the most powerful of the countries decide i don't even imagine what can happen in the really next future. I honestly confess that I'm really and seriously scared about it.
We don't have to forget Mr. Joe Biden, the guy who's gonna run for the vice-presidency of the United States. What i read about him is very nice, especially in foreign policy. But honestly the thing that interested me more is the fact that Obama didn't choose Mrs. Clinton. She could bring votes, money and make the life easier inside the Democratic Party. But Barack Obama did not care about it and chose the person who he think is the right person to build the change. No discounts. Especially in change of votes or money, the mechanisms that the new spirit is gonna involve and destroy the most. I cannot wait to see Obama as the next President of the United States. I cannot wait to be part of the change or to see and live it. E pluribus Unum.
Thank you for you time and attention.

- NYTimes - Corriere.it - Wikipedia.org - Alternet.org -

Coming Soon.

2008-09-03T04:40:00.002-04:00

2008-09-02T12:55:00.004-04:00

So Lonely - The Police - Live Hatfield 24/2/79
A really important person just left New York City, so I'm lonely, but with a rhythm.
We are all gonna miss you BopiDance.

Earthlings

2008-09-01T02:00:00.001-04:00

Earthlings
As every 1st day of the month I'll remind you, and me too, to watch this incredible documentary.
Here's the direct link.

Picture of the Week.

2008-08-31T02:10:00.002-04:00

Activist taking rest in Denver.
Democratic convention.

Thank You Zoom. Good Luck Alitalia.

2008-08-29T03:38:00.007-04:00

This article's supposed to be on Alitalia and the last masterpiece of the always surprising President Berlusconi. I know. That's what we'll talk about, but starting from the end of the story of the small British-Canadian Zoom air-lines.
I was thinking the way an article about Alitalia and Italia could begin when i found the answer in my mail box. In the same week i received two e-mails, one from Alitalia and one from Zoom. Zoom wrote me because i flew with them last march to Italy. Incredible experience: New York - Bermuda - London - 3 hrs bus transfer - Milan. 300 dollars. Round trip. They wrote me a very sad mail in which they were communicating their going out of business. Bankrupt. Due to the oil price. The company founded in 2001 honestly and clearly apologized with passengers and investors informing that they had based their business models on oil prices of about 70 to 80 dollars. Not 150. Everything collapsed. So quickly. So honestly. So clearly.
The mail was very regretful, they were trying to make me feel close to them. You can read the text i received linking on FlyZoom.com.
As you know Alitalia have been under lights for years because of the ridiculous financial situation involving the "italian Compani". The first difference between Italy and Canada or England is that in my country air-lines companies never go bankrupt. Never. Nobody knows why. Even if the disaster of the debts condemned (Al)Italia and many others to bankrupt long time ago. They always survived. They're stronger. At the end all those debts are any thing but numbers on monitors and papers. Aren't they?
Also the mail i received looked different.

Dear costumer,
Alitalia informs you that your AZ flight has been cancelled. For further details and in order to change your reservation please get in contact with Alitalia call center.

That's it. Not bad ah? Any way, to be honest i called and a nice and polite operator quickly picked up the phone informing me that i obviously and unfortunately had to call another number.
The mail Alitalia wrote me was not about its going out of business. It was about a change of schedule due to the dark operations that Berlusconi is going to invent -or that already invented- to finally destroy the AirLine and Malpensa 2000 airport.
As any other Italian story looks very complicated but at the end is very simple. And what Berlusconi is trying to do in a view to solve the situation is dramatically ridiculous. The position he took, the operation he invented, is deeply in contrast with the institutional role he's covering. He his the chief of the Italian Government. He's supposed to work for all the people. In this case he's supposed to take priorly care at the interests of workers and small share holders. Or not!? Am i wrong? Ok, what's his proposition? In a few word is a very fucked up project to give all the debts of the company to the public side of it (citizens and taxes), creating a new shiny company, under the name of NewCo involving the big names of the Italian financial gotha. Mostly banks of course. Intesa-San Paolo bank already put on the plate 100 million Euros. In the mean time Berlusconi is trying to skip a very useful Italian anti-trust low in a view to join Alitalia with Air One (another miraculous). On this point the European Commission is gonna pronounce its opinion soon. But you know what i learned? I read that the European commissar that will take decision on the matter is Mr. Tajani the historically and pathetic Berlusconi's speaker. He'd been serving the boss for many years. Isn't it tragic? So the most important Italian air line will be cut in two different and opposite sides. One will get the paradise with the bank, and the other is gonna get the hell with us. There's gonna be workers, pilots, employees, investors in the both sides. In the bad one supposedly 7.000 people. 7000.
At the time Air-France was interested at the deal they supposed to put under public program more or less 2000 people. But Silvio iced the interest of Air France announcing -right before the elections- that Alitalia would rest for ever under the Italian flag. He told journalists that maybe his son was thinking about buying it...come on. By the way, someone think that this is the most classic, basic, case of insider trading.
Trade unions are preparing the big battle to avoid citizens and workers to pay for the incompetence and the corruption of the system that drove Alitalia to this point. People is going to pay to let banks make the perfect affair.
Thank you for your time and attention.

Coming Soon.

2008-08-28T01:26:00.003-04:00

5 Days Left So Please Do It Now.

2008-08-27T01:25:00.012-04:00

The last thing i was expecting to write on this blog was something nice about American Express. This time things are different.
A friend (AnnaRita) told me about something called "American Express Members Project", at the moment i didn't understand what she was talking about, i was working and i couldn't understand why she was trying to let me comprehend that i had to visit the related site kind of quickly. I made my research as always and now i can explain to you everything, with the hope you'll do what i just did a few minutes ago.
Every year American Express devolve 2.5 million dollars to different projects, 1.5 to the winner, 500 thousand to the second and so on...
The possibilities for projects are endless, anyone could participate to change the neighborood or the whole globe, Amex just require the projects to be innovative and with good impact in the areas of: Arts & Culture, Community Development, Education, Environment & Wildlife, Health. If you take a look at the site membersproject.com you can see the most popular of the more than one thousand projects in the list.
In this smaller group there is also the project AnnaRita is supporting, and now me too, and you also can do.
The project's name is "Brain Child", i don't think i need to spend any further, useless word.
What i need you to do is simply and freely login at "membersproject.com" -even if you are not an American Express Cards holder- and vote for "Brain Child project":

http://www.membersproject.com/project/view/NN934A

Asking you to vote this project doesn't mean that the others are not good. It just means that if, without this blog, you didn't even know the existence of this great initiative so, just vote for the one that's personally involving my friend. You just have 5 days left, because Sept. 1st. is the last one you can give your preference.
If you just could know the little Princess representing the project and her sweet, strong Mom you should better understand. AnnaRita and other lovely people close to me do.
Thank you for your time and attention.

Picture of the Week.

2008-08-24T03:01:00.003-04:00

A coming back home after the bombs in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia.
- Shipenkov/Epa -

Next in Line.

2008-08-22T01:59:00.016-04:00

Oh yes, that's what you can call a great decision, one of the biggest. Stop eating meat. I admit that watching the images of "Earthlings", seriously contributed in putting under analysis my state of meat eater. This doesn't mean that I am already classified as vegetarian, this simply mean that I'm approaching the issue from a complete opposite point of view, the animals' one. I apologize with you readers because writing this post I'll do something i usually avoid to do, like talking about me, i strongly prefer to write and you to read about my ideas and not about my private life. In this case the matter is involving everyone of us, not just me and i believe that, sharing with you the reasons why someone could decide to stop eating meat, should be very useful.
Today is the 10th day i quit meat, the fact that I'm counting days doesn't look very encouraging i know but i confess that is not requiring me any particular effort, i got into a vegetarian -almost vegan- diet in a very natural way. This is the first thing I'm understanding day after day: if you don't feel it don't do it, if you have to force yourself too violently don't do it. If tomorrow my body and my brain are going to ask me to eat a filet mignon i will do it with no doubts. Right away. That's why i don't feel impressed into myself that sort of activism that many times in the past induced me to give up with good propositions after a few time.
I decided to stop eating meat because i simply think is the right thing to do for my health and for the life of millions and millions of animals that feel the pain, the loneliness, the humiliation like i do as a human being.
This is the first obvious reason but let me spend some more word to talk about something connected with this first argument but not strictly with nutrition: furs. I simply cannot understand why, right now, end of August 2008, there's still around so many stupid bitches that love to spend thousands dollars to wear the skin of a cadaver. Why they cannot understand that their ego and desire to better look is nothing but blood and cruelty. Is that so difficult? Why that mother fuckers fashion designers don't stop to produce dresses using someone else skin? Come on guys, the time is mature to understand, for you as well.
Anytime i try to understand a phenomenon that capture my curiosity i always take into consideration the point of view of the official science but i also look for some informations that meet and explain my feelings with theories that could not yet encounter the validation of the official doctrine. Sometime science is so easy to understand, just explain things that you've been having under your eyes for your whole life.
Imagine animals in nature -i know it's hard- imagine the form of the teeth of carnivores like tiger, lion, iena. Now imagine the teeth of herbivores like giraffe, monkey, zebra. Imagine the intestine of these animals...ok, i'll tell you...the intestine of carnivores is much shorter than the herbivores one. Know why? Because carnivores eat cadavers, carcasses, organic elements going into decomposition quickly and these animals don't like these rests to cause any kind of illness to them. When a lion eat an antelope he evacuate after 6/8 hours, a monkey eat a banana and goes after 20/24 hours. After these first elements of science and evolution who do you feel more familiar with? Monkeys? Lion? Giraffe?
And what could you think if tomorrow, a scientist on tv, will tell you that all these cardiovascular diseases, problem with nutrition and devastating cancers are due to the fact that human body is projected to eat vegetables and seeds? I don't know, it looks like so clear, doesn't it?
I agree with the fact that the meat we eat is treated and cooked and so on, but guys, i think you can put all the conservatives you want or you can order your meat as well done as you want but you are eating a dead animal, and the process of the decomposition of his or her body will end inside you, into your very long intestine that will host the rest of the carcass for almost a day.
Or in other terms, try to give a piece of pear and a piece of chicken to a 6 months old kid, you'll see what his human instinct will let him choose.
Other theories talk about the fact we eat meat coming from animals that suffered their whole life. Separated from sons and daughters, transported every where in terrible conditions, under chain for years. Some people think that these feelings pass from the soul of the animal to the cells composing the meat we eat. Someone observes that we eat their anger, sickness, loneliness, starvation and violent death. That's why we are so stresses, continuously angry and nervous, always under the risk of an hearth attack.
Ok, now. What about me and my really short experience? As i tried to explain this is a process, a process that let me understand, day after day, that nature did everything. Nature, God, Big Bang or whatever created life, built our body as an incredible machine. To perfectly work, this machine (perfect) need some nutritional elements, i don't think meat is part of that. I can say that since i started this experience i feel my body thanking me day after day more and more...consider that 11 days ago i was eating no vegetables no fruit 100%. Only pasta with meat, and meat and every sort of sliced turkey or fake horrible fluorescent salami. My body is encouraging me so much, letting me understand that this is the right thing to do. I don't wake up anymore with all that pain everywhere and that cryptic breathe. I mean, a little sufferances waking up is congenital, but it's getting better. I also feel really less aggressive and interested at the human facts which let me every day more insensitive.
You know that some where people eat snakes right? Or rats, insects...where i come from many people eat horse meat, i did it many times. Delicious. Some where else nobody eat cows or lambs. So why? Eating this kind of animals and not that other ones isn't it a pre-concept based on the fact that the whole "eating meat concept" is not natural, created by men and consequencially absorbed with different interpretations inside different societies?
What would you think if tomorrow your son's classmate would kill your cat, take out his intestines ant put him in the oven with some potatoes and garlic? In China they eat cats and dogs. Didn't you know? And even if you didn't know it WHERE THE FUCK IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR CAT AND THE LAMB IN THAT PICTURE?
The most interesting thing is that i don't understand why i still consider not natural stop eating meat even if my body is supporting the decision with all the ways it have to communicate with me. Why i still cannot understand a life without meat when my body don't let me feel the need of it. Why just my brain consider a no sense stopping with meat and not my body, at the point that not eating don't represent any sacrifice for me? I thought about this, and the only answer is that since i was born everyone in front of me considered good and healthy to eat any kind of meat. I don't think i have this information i my dna, i think this is a damn wrong imported, imprinted information. A wrong information that we need to cancel...who told me that 'tagliolini alla carbonara' is more delicious than zucchini or apples? I don't know who did it, but it's sure he convinced me. That's what i have to fight with if i want to continue with this experience. Fight with all my 33 years back experiences, everyone of those eating meat.
I'll let you know...
Thank you for your time and attention.

Picture of the Week.

2008-08-17T20:09:00.003-04:00

If you wanna know more Google -cows with hole-.

95 Minutes of Your Time.

2008-08-12T03:44:00.028-04:00

Earthlings
Click to start the movie.

Due exclusively to my complete, embarrassing ignorance in using computers, i accidentally deleted the article posted to introduce the documentary. I apologize for that with the promise that i will return soon on the matter with another direct link to the movie and a new related article. Sorry again and thank you for your time and attention.

Picture of the Week.

2008-08-10T04:36:00.005-04:00

Italian "Army" starting operate in the most important cities.
P.S. The picture was taken last Tuesday and not 40 years ago as you could perfectly think.

Measuring Corruption.

2008-08-07T13:41:00.007-04:00

Every year, Transparency International -the global coalition against corruption-, publish a very useful study about the level of corruption interesting different countries. The score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country, and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).

Denmark - Finland - New Zealand 9.4
Singapore - Sweden 9.3
Iceland 9.2
Netherlands - Switzerland - 9.0
Canada - Norway 8.7
Luxembourg - United Kingdom 8.4
Hong Kong 8.3
Austria 8.1
Germany 7.8
Ireland - Japan 7.5
France 7.3
USA 7.2
Belgium 7.1
Chile 7.0
Barbados 6.9
Saint Lucia 6.8
Spain 6.7
Slovenia 6.6
Estonia - Portugal 6.5
Israel - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6.1
Qatar 6.0
Malta 5.8
Macao - Taiwan - United Arab Emirates 5.7
Dominica 5.6
Botswana 5.4
Cyprus 5.3
Czech Republic - Italy 5.2
Malaysia - South Africa - South Korea 5.1
Bahrain - Bhutan - Costa Rica 5.0
Cape Verde - Slovakia 4.9
Latvia - Lithuania 4.8
Jordan - Mauritius - Oman 4.7
Greece 4.6
Namibia - Samoa - Seychelles 4.5
Kuwait 4.3
Cuba - Poland - Tunisia 4.2
Bulgaria - Croatia - Turkey 4.1
El Salvador 4.0
Colombia 3.8
Ghana - Romania 3.7
Senegal 3.6
Brazil - China - India - Mexico - Morocco - Peru - Suriname 3.5
Georgia - Grenada - Saudi Arabia - Serbia - Trinidad and Tobago 3.4
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Gabon - Jamaica - Kiribati - Lesotho - FYR Macedonia - Maldives - Montenegro - Swaziland - Thailand 3.3
Madagascar - Panama - Sri Lanka - Tanzania 3.2
Vanuatu 3.1
Algeria - Armenia - Belize - Dominican Republic - Lebanon - Mongolia 3.0
Albania - Argentina - Bolivia - Burkina Faso - Djibouti - Egypt 2.9
Eritrea - Guatemala - Moldova - Mozambique - Rwanda - Solomon Islands - Uganda 2.8
Benin - Malawi - Mali - Sao Tome and Principe - Ukraine 2.7
Comoros - Guyana - Mauritania - Nicaragua - Niger - Timor-Leste - Viet Nam
Zambia - Burundi - Honduras - Iran - Libya - Nepal - Philippines - Yemen 2.5
Cameroon - Ethiopia - Pakistan - Paraguay - Syria 2.4
Gambia - Indonesia - Russia - Togo 2.3
Angola - Guinea-Bissau - Nigeria - 2.2
Azerbaijan - Belarus - Congo Republic - Cote d'Ivoire - Equador - Kazakhstan - Kenya - Kirgyzstan - Liberia - Sierra Leone - Tajikistan - Zimbabwe 2.1
Bangladesh - Cambodia - Central Africa Republic - Papua New Guinea - Turkmenistan - Venezuela 2.0
Congo democratic Republic - Equatorial Guinea - Guinea - Laos 1.9
Afghanistan - Chad - Sudan 1.8
Tonga - Uzbekistan 1.7
Haiti 1.6
Iraq 1.5
Myanmar - Somalia 1.4

- Transparency.org -

The Great Escape.

2008-08-04T00:39:00.004-04:00

This is the first time, since I decided to start this blog, that I'm posting an article not having the purpose to tell you the truth about something I discovered researching on the web. What I'd like to do with this article is to tell you a story, it's a story that I absolutely hope will represent the reality on a fact that captured my curiosity a couple of weeks ago.
Let's begin with a little bit of biology and science: honey is a sweet and viscous fluid produced by honey bees, derived directly from the nectar of flowers, it is laid down by bees as a food source. In cold weather or when food sources are scarce, bees use their stored honey as their source of energy. In the hive there are three types of bee: the single Queen bee, a seasonally variable number of drone bees to fertilize new Queens, and some 20,000 to 40,000 worker bees. The workers are in charge to raise larvae and collect the nectar that will become honey in the hive, that's mean that worker bees are supposed to go out regularly to get some nectar from flowers and come back to the hive to start and produce honey, right away. They do it using their "honey stomachs" to ingest and regurgitate the nectar a number of times until it is partially digested, they work together as a group with this process until the product reached a desired quality. After that it is stored in the honeycomb...I don't want to waste your time talking about the amazing hexagonal geometry and perfection of these cells used by bees to contain larvae and store honey and pollen, it's an incredible demonstration of nature beauty, precision and power.
With only these few informations we can already understand that bees (and animals in general) have a very efficient and cool brain, different from the human one but genial as well. I'm also sure -but I have no idea if that is scientifically demonstrated or still not- that bees communicate between themselves without any problem, just like us, fortunately they don't even need to learn English, as I guess they speak one, whole language. I think bees' society is much more advanced and open minded than ours. That's why i think they don't like us pretty much. Bees' mission is create new lives and produce honey, beekeepers leave in the hive enough honey to survive, the rest is for pleasure. I don't think they appreciate it too much, at the moment I'm sure about their brain, I think they don't go crazy when that smoke enter inside their houses to "calm" them.
Ok, I know, it seemed a little bit to much "DreamWorks" to me too when I first thought about it, but this is a story, it's not the truth.
I think bees, like millions of other animal species, don't like humans, and I perfectly understand why just looking pictures of beekeepers opening -uncapping- cells, with strange forks or big knives. I saw that normal images from their side, and I felt bad. They spend their lives ingesting nectar and regurgitating honey and they have fun and they reproduce themselves with no problems, it's a nice insect, it produce an amazing and very healthy product, I'm not against human use of honey, I'm against human abuse of it. This is the era of abuses, against everyone, everybody against everybody, trying to get more and more of everything. I don't think bees were so angry with humans 15,000 years ago at the beginning of beekeeping art.
Someone named it Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), someone else think that the responsible is the pollution, others that captivity bees developed a virus infecting bees in nature. By the way starting from January 2008, 40% of bees in the world disappeared. I read that this happened regularly during the history of beekeeping, this convinced me more that they escaped. It's a kind of periodic and epic revolution that interest this intelligent insect. I love to think that bees planned for years or decades this great escape, I like to think they are somewhere far from humans drinking honey cocktails and swimming in pools full of it. I even like the though they all died, the fact they chose to die instead of going ahead producing their precious honey for men, make me feel smaller than a single BEE as a human being. That's the story I liked to tell you as the last post before the "Special Beijing 2008 Olympic Games" during which the blog will be utilized exclusively to talk bad about China. Thank you for your time and attention.

-Corriere.it - Wikipedia.org - Masterbeekeeper.org -

Picture of the Week.

2008-08-03T00:29:00.000-04:00

The smallest snake on earth.
Blair Hedges - Pennsylvania State University.

Beijing 2008.

2008-07-30T02:15:00.009-04:00

Olympic Games are very close to begin. I'm sure there's more than someone in this world that doesn't like too much the way China is taking on human rights and freedom of speech and informations. I'm part of the people that cannot forget Tiananmen protests in 1989, imagine that Chinese new generations, people 15/20 years old, don't even know what happened in that square. The regime had been able to cover it up completely. I'm part of that people that don't understand why nobody in Europe, America, Australia or wherever took any official position to support the Dalai Lama during the last recent Chinese repression in Tibet. I'm between the ones who think that Olympic Games and their Olympic spirit will change anything right away after they finish. China will get back controlling the world economy with the consequences that everyone can see, China will go ahead killing people who just protested or talked to other people about politics, China will continue to manipulate children brains through any kind of brain-storming, China won't stop to produce the quantity of pollution actually producing.
They recently celebrated the grand opening of the Olympic Village in Beijing, the gray thick smog of the industries and cars was almost forcing to post pone the celebration because the air was impossible to breathe. Come on, China sucks, made in China sucks, its dictature sucks, these Olympic Games are useless and will never help to fix all the problems that affect that society. That's why I'm with the people that will boycott the up coming games, it will be not so much hard for me, I'm not that sport-interested-guy that I'd like to be honestly, but I always followed the opening and some of the most attractive challenges in the past... this year i'm sure I won't do it.
Couple of nights ago I visited the official web site of Beijing 2008, I right away felt attracted by the sponsors and supporters section. What I did, and what I invite you to do is to choose one of them and write an e-mail asking how they cannot feel bad supporting this kind of people. You have to talk with the invisible employee reading your mail, you have not to write to the President or the CEO, just because everyone knows why they choose to support China. We should try to let normal people understand that most of times they are working for not-so-ethic-companies. They could protest about that, I know, with the result to be fired after a second. This makes me really upset and disappointed. There is no more freedom in this world, and I think that Chinese influence has big responsibility on the matter. I'm sure that's also because of China the world is under the God of money and wild market, I'm sure that's also because of China that every fuckin' country needs an atomic bomb, I'm sure that's also because of China that world wide workers are loosing more and more rights year after year.
I will use the time I save not watching the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games to dedicate this blog to China and write down about their fucked up mind, until games finish on Aug.24th. Two weeks in which I'll try to better understand what's going on between China and the world, why even a Pope support a Socialist regime, what's in the past of this country, who are Chinese, how do they live and in which kind of environment...and so on, I hope you'll find it interesting.
Thank you for your time and attention.
P.S. Writing bad about China doesn't mean thinking good about America, Italy, Russia, France, British Empire and so on...With this article I don't intend to offend any private Chinese person, I just consider anyone of them victim of a bad leadership, which transformed human beings in intense productive machines, as a mission for each single life. More than 1 billion of lives.
To be continued...

Coming Soon.

2008-07-29T14:26:00.002-04:00

Red 40 Lake.

2008-07-23T02:30:00.006-04:00

It's been almost a month since I've been started thinking about Pringles. Obviously during this time I went ahead eating it continuously. I love it, as everyone in this planet. Yes, in this planet, in fact if you take a look at the Pringles official web site you'll read that the Pringles empire goes from Denmark to Australia through Latin America and Russia. I hope they're not gonna change the site's graphic because it impressed me so much: you see mr. mustache and behind a red globe with all the countries in which the empire is present. I mean...nothing against empires, but looked to me a little bit weird.
I recently read that in United Kingdom Pringles' producers -Prokter & Gamble- are not supposed to pay the value-added tax, just because only producers of potato crisps, potato sticks, potato puffs and similar products made from the potato or from potato flour or from potato starch meet the definition required to be taxed. So, they don't produce that kind of stuff? No, because in a Pringle there's less than 42% of potatoes. British laws let them save millions of dollars. But that's ok, if it's under the law, but I wonder, what's inside the other 58%?
Three or four nights ago I was eating my delicious Pringles "Bacon-Ranch", amazing brown box. I noticed that to read the black sign "Artificially Flavored" on the brown back I had to look at the thing a couple of minutes, I don't want to tell you about the ingredients, impossible... but this this is not the matter, the box are different colored, what impressed me was that at the bottom the product was classified as "Potato crisps". That's not the true dear mr. Mustache, if you admit that you don't produce potato crisps to avoid to pay too much taxes in England, you're supposed to inform consumers in United States that you produce a kind of technological-chemical product, that looks like a potato crisp, but globalization goes only one way right? Against consumers.
I had a second box in my kitchen, a shiny white Pringles-Pizza box, so i took it to look for any strange chemical thing composing the 42%-potatoes-the-rest-who-cares I was eating. I noticed right away a very interesting and mysterious name: Red 40 Lake. I confess you that for the second time in less than 5 minutes mr. Mustache disappointed me.
The real, official, chemical name of this compost is Red 40 Aluminum Lake not just Red 40 Lake. They forgot a word. I admit that my chemistry consist in a couple of hours per week for a couple of years in the first part of high school, so my knowledge is ZERO, but I don't need a master degree in chemistry to understand that I don't intend to eat any aluminum, I don't like it. I mean, I like it to wrap my food, and not in my stomach, I don't want a silvered liver. Red no.40 Aluminum Lake is prepared by reacting an aluminum salt solution with alkali, it occurs as an orange red fine powder, it is odorless. I guess everyone of you reading this article right away understood what kind of powder is that, if you just look at some different specific Pringles (like the Pizza one) and you can clearly see it. There's not so much in the web about this 40 Lake, or better, there's not so much I could honestly understand, but i repeat, I don't want to eat aluminum, I don't like the idea of millions of children in the world eating it. Koreans think the same way. The "Korean Food Additive Code" site inform that over there it's forbidden the use of this shit for a list of 42 food items that represent 100% of what a "Korean" can eat: meat, seafood, pepper, fats and oil, butter, dairy products and so so so on. I couldn't find the word of any European or American authority on the matter. Bah.
I think I'm gonna quit Pringles, thank you for your time and attention.

- Nytimes.com - Pringles.com - Kfda.go.kr - Wikipedia.org -

Coming Soon.

2008-07-21T02:41:00.000-04:00

Picture of the Week.

2008-07-20T01:49:00.003-04:00

If you wanna know more search on google Typ-1.

Is This the Beginning?

2008-07-18T14:47:00.001-04:00

G-8 in Japan. July 2008.

2008-07-15T02:14:00.011-04:00

Last week, somewhere in Japan, the Presidents of the Governments of the 8 richest counties of the world met each other. They usually choose very fancy places where to spend some nice and relaxing days. Next year, Berlusconi promised, he will organize a beautiful G-8 in Italy, he will offer all inclusive package, kids assistance, sauna, hydro each room, international breakfast 9.00-11.00 am, lunch and siesta until 6.00 pm and following dinner 8.00 pm, happy ending with every President -full of limoncello- singing with Berlusconi and his faithful and always present Napoletan guitarist Mr. Apicella. It already happened and it could perfectly happen again. Don't you find these meetings a little bit useless? Even media ignore it, always taken as a little vacation of 8 guys that are not understanding what is going on in this world, right now. Who are these guys? I cannot say every one of them is a criminal or a son of a bitch but come on...Berlusconi, full of domestic problems, head of a Government in a State on bankruptcy since at least 20 years ago. Bush? Sorry no comment...Sarkozy? Too much egocentric. The Russian? I don't even know his name and i don't want to know it, it doesn't matter, he doesn't exist, he's a nice costume with inside mr. Putin, the Berlusconi's closest friend. Merkel? bah...I mean...maybe. But do you think these guys have the intelligence needed to guide the world in 2008? There's not to much more to say...maybe someone is a criminal, maybe someone is under investigation(s)...I don't care, there's anyone among these politicians, intelligent enough to do what we need they to do for the future of our children? No. Sorry, I'm pretty sure about that. Come on, they thought and talked and thought and talked and again and again and finally they informed the world about how do they think the issue of oil and energy should be analyzed and solved: asking producers to produce more. As every time. Sigh sigh. So sad and pathetic. Any idea about clear energy, recycle or so on? Come on guys, without using our intelligence we are condemned. We'll destroy for ever and aver our beautiful planet. Because of what? Simply stupidity, with a touch of money. Paper. Ok everyone need it, but to buy what? Mega plasma tv lcd, the last pc or mac? Do you still think you need it or you already know you don't? That's maybe why we always feel unsatisfied? Anything we could have under possession?
I think everyone of us should better take care at all these issues at the moment that all these persons are choosing for us, asking us nothing and above all doing nothing for us. I don't want people like these to guide the world. Looking at that embaraced Bush calling: "Amigo, amigo"(amigo spanish, amico Italian) Berlusconi, in the way like: damn, I forgot for a while that he's sure I'm a friend of him. Note that United States Government distributed to journalists following the summit, a press-kit in which Berlusconi was described as the corrupt President of a corrupt State. That is absolutely true. Mmhh strange, Bush did something good? By the way he apologized right away. Of course, if he tell people the truth he automatically feel the nees to say sorry. He cannot resist.
Or what to say about the usual clownesque Italian President trying to force Merkel to dance or he, again, sending kisses to really young girls. Everyone in Italy knows in which pathetic way Berlusconi is facing his third age. He was sending kisses like Don Giovanni trying to involve President Sarkozy in this "commedia all'Italiana" whom rejected Berlusconi's arm when he tried to catch his one. Sigh. Aren't they supposed to be a little bit more...mmmhhhh....let me think, serious? And focused on solving problems?
As you can see from the official pictures they have to take position depending from the country they represent. Of course Berlusconi is always border line, in the middle we see the President of the country guesting the summit and than, from right to left respecting the power of the nation represented. So prehistoric. That's why I think human kind should stop to fight for power. You'll always find someone more powerful than you.
Oh Lord, every time they meet they decide nothing, this blog will support any campaign for the abolition of G-8 reunions. After this other last, useless G-8 we can say that the document issued by the participating countries had very few of the concrete goals needed to keep greenhouse gases from growing at their torrid pace. Insiders testified that they attended in the morning at meetings finding ways to reduce gas prices and that same afternoon session focused on raising them through caps or taxes on fossil fuels. They don't know what to do. They're disoriented. They don't understand anything, anymore. Just because our, occidental economic model collapsed, I guess. There's a persistent gap between what science is saying about global warming and what countries are doing. For all these reasons I don't intend to bother you anymore telling about the conclusions of the final comunique' of the meeting. We should just use the word NOTHING. NOTHING concerning global economy, NOTHING concerning Africa, NOTHING concerning energy, NOTHING concerning rising of the food prices.
But believe, they enjoyed a very nice journey in Japan, so far from domestic scandals. Thank you for you time and attention.

- NewYorkTimes - Pictures: Reuter -

Picture of the Week - Coming Soon.

2008-07-13T02:07:00.001-04:00

2008-07-08T02:34:00.001-04:00

Picture of the Week.

2008-07-06T02:09:00.003-04:00

July 5th 2008. G-8 protests in Sapporo, Japan.
Image Corriere.it

Ingrid Betancourt.

2008-07-04T22:04:00.004-04:00

It's a couple of days I'm thinking about what could I write about Ingrid Betancourt and her rescue. I'm thinking about her biography, about the military operation behind her freedom, about the eventuality of a payment made by US or about the FARC, who are they and what they pretend to achieve? Every time I'm thinking about those different aspects of the Betancourt' story, something gets my mind to imagine her more-than-6-years living in the jungle. Her day after day, her way to face the routine.
The rescue of Ingrid Betancourt is a big peace drop falling on the floor of the world. To understand why, we need to better know Ingrid and her previous history before she had been kidnapped in Feb. 2002 by the FARC -Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-.
Ingrid's family is one of the Colombia's oldest aristocratic families, her mother, Yolanda Pulecio was a former Miss Colombia who later served in Congress representing poor southern neighborhood of Bogota. Her father, Gabriel Betancourt, was Minister for the General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla dictatorship -1953/57-, the Assistant Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and cultural Organization, UNESCO ambassador to the embassy of Paris. He's been also head of the Education Commission of the Alliance for Progress in Washington, DC under John F. Kennedy.
Ingrid had a beautiful childhood, she studied in Bogota', at the French Lyceum, her parents let her meet with people like Garcia Marquez or Fernando Botero. After graduating she married fellow student Fabrice Delloye, they had two beautiful children, Melanie -1985- and Lorenzo -1988-. The family lived in multiple countries, France, Colombia, New Zealand, Seychelles and also Quito, Equador, where she used to teach aerobics.
As you can understand we are in front of a strong, experienced, well-educated woman. A woman who couldn't co-exist with any form of elite or forced conformism. That's the reason why she decided to do something for her country, something for the entire world. She felt the need to save her people before the end of any ethic conscience, she felt the need to save Colombia from the plagues of drugs business, guerrilla, corruption. Starting from 1990 she began her political career working at the Minister of Finance, in 1994 she was elected at the Chamber of Representatives launching the Green Oxygen Party. Betancourt ran for Senator in 1998 election, and the total number of votes she received was the largest of any other candidate in that year's Senate election.
2002. DMZ means demilitarized zone, a space where the Colombian Army couldn't enter. Different locations inside the Colombian territories and forests which many critics considered a safe heaven where the FARC imposed its will as law committing military attacks and acts of terrorism outside the DMZ before withdrawing back to it, in order to avoid direct confrontation with Government Armed Forces. Ingrid Betancourt decided that, as a Presidential Candidate she had to meet with them, she had to better understand their protest. FARC is a clandestine army, a cocaine cartel, a Leninist-Stalinist organization, wikipedia inform that they fight against privatization of natural resources, multinational corporations, and paramilitary violence. Maybe Betancourt would like to talk with them about those political issues in order to stop extortions, cruelties, kidnappings and participation in the illegal drug deal. Was the February 23 of 2002 when Ingrid was stopped at the last check point before going into the former DMZ, military officers insisted that Betancourt and her party not continue in their effort to reach San Vincente del Caguan the village used for the "peace-talks". THIS IS A FUCKIN' PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE! Don't you agree? In the forest, in the middle of a demilitarized zone, alone, to talk with some of the most dangerous criminals of the world.
She disappeared. She re-appeared after 6 years and 4 months. She is smiling. She's joyful. She mental-planned to stay there for then years more. She is full of life. She resisted. She made it. She, as a human being, demonstrated to everyone of us that a good faith and a strong hope in the future can let you survive in any condition. All the entire world should say thank you to this great woman. Who cares who did it...Colombian Army perfect operation, US perfect dollars, Israeli perfect secret service, bah. I don't care, I just admire a woman, the strongest woman of the world. The strongest mind. The greatest brain. The mother, the daughter, the wife. Really impressing. In the next future she will inform all of us about the abilities she had to develop to survive in such difficult conditions. If she will decide to keep with herself this cruel experience we will understand and respect her decision. For the moment I'd like to celebrate the end of my '4th-of-July-day' to thank God that gave back to her family, and to all of us Ingrid Betancourt. Thank you for your time and attention.

- Wikipedia.org - Corriere.it - Repubblica.it -

Picture of the Week.

2008-06-29T02:00:00.002-04:00

North Korea blew up the most prominent symbol of its plutonium production -last friday-.

From Beppegrillo.it.

2008-06-28T01:36:00.001-04:00

The Man of Perseverance.

2008-06-26T02:14:00.007-04:00

I felt really impressed when I saw that writing Silvio Berlusconi in the banner of the economist.com the third articles was titled "Hair today, hair tomorrow". It was about how Silvio could fight and win his chronic baldness. Maybe there's not too much more to say about the President of the Italian Government.
This is the first time that I write about Silvio Berlusconi feeling a sort of respect for a 71 years old man fighting against Italian magistrates and prosecutors that would like to apply the law -that's their job- and put him in a nice jail. Is the first time I write about Silvio Berlusconi looking at him like an old desperate, sometime pathetic, old guy...full of experiences, that tried to live all his life at the top of the top. He was a great entrepreneur, building entire towns like Milano 2. He bought three broadcasting national networks, and than banks, insurances, supermarkets chains, book and paper editions, almost everything. But this his an old story, the old story is always about his connections with mafia and not-so-honest politicians, this is the old story about all the times he risked to be condemned but he didn't because of the expiration of the term to achieve a sentence -accelerate prescription, a strange law his previous Government approved 4 years ago-.
But now the things are different, because he's older and he looks to me like he's starting to realize that the game is over. That he's done. Well done. Finish. That's it. Fucked up. The end of the story.
But never forget, he's the man of perseverance.
I'd like to let you know about his first 100 day's government activity. In an article I posted last April the 14th, as he won the elections, I wrote about the first engagements he took with Italians the same day of the official results.
He said that at least 4 women would be part of the government, now we can say that two of them are without any power in two ministries that give them no possibility to spend any public money, another Italian fruit of creativity, fake ministries to let everybody satisfied.
He said that the first 'Consiglio dei ministri' would have been taken place in Napoli, and he, personally, would spent 3 days per week over there to better take care of the difficult situation of the garbage. Now we can say the in the first 100 days as a President he's been to Napoli three single times, doing the usual useless, official visit.
He said that in a month he would be able to fix the Alitalia-close-to-bankruptcy problem. Now we can say that on this issue he didn't do absolutely nothing beside scaring and letting escape Air France's offer -obviously before the elections-.
So, if he didn't do anything he promised what did he do? Simple question:
he saved 'Rete 4', one of his television networks, from an European Commission's sentence intimating 'Rete 4' to stop programs right away to let the legitimate frequencies' concessionee -Europa 7- free to transmit. Than he started to insist on a strange law about phone intercepts abuse by Italian tribunals and Prosecutors. The law -almost approved- will forbid journalists to write about really important processes all the Italian population should know. The law forbid the publication of public papers, not secret anymore. The law will forbid Italian Prosecutors to use phone intercepts to investigate on many crime files, they will be able to use this instrument only for a very few number of crimes, like mafia, terrorism and not so much more...will be out: corruption, crimes against public administration, false declarations to Judge, and other many crimes that maybe is better Prosecutors don't listen while he talk about it at the phone. There's a couple of very nice phone intercepts involving Berlusconi on YouTube, but unfortunately there's no translation.
He and his friends told Italian people that everywhere in the world the number of authorizations for phone or cell intercepts is enormously lower than the Italian one. They forgot to tell people a couple of things: first, Italy is governed by 4 of the world's most powerful crime organizations as mafia, 'ndrangheta, sacra corona unita and camorra. I think the situation is a little bit different in the rest of occidental rich democracies. Second, in Italy to make phone intercepts you need a judge to authorize it. Everywhere else -USA, UK, Germany...- a lot of people can use it without any authorization, local policies, cia, fbi, fire dept. in some case, you know better than me than in United States everyone of us is super-controlled, I'm not saying that is good, but I'm more than sure than Italians are less controlled than Americans. I watched on the web a lot of Italian politics talk shows, everywhere Berlusconi's speakers telling Italians that in the United States it have been done 1,700 phone intercepts last year in front of the more than 200,000 of Italy. Simply a bullshit. Or a lie. You wanna know what else he did in these first 100 days? Oh, other two incredible, I swear, INCREDIBLE, Government law proposals: the first is to stop all the processes for crimes committed before 2002, to celebrate pretty soon the newer. Is it important that Silvio Berlusconi is processed by the Tribunale di Milano for paying a British lawyer alleged to take from him 600,000 euros as a payment to reply Prosecutors' questions in a nice-for-Silvio way? Yes it is. The process is close to the sentence -of course Silvio knows he's guilty-, but the crime is ante 2002 so according this crazy, unconstitutional law, his process will be stopped. Maybe. Or maybe not. The second and last incredible law he proposed to Italian Parliament, is the total immunization from law of the first 5 high powers of the State: President of the Italian Republic, President of the Government, President of the Camera dei Deputati, President of the Senato, President of the Corte Costituzionale.
What do you think I can say more? Nothing, because, this time, I think is really, finally the end. Am I sorry for it? No, but for sure I'm sorry for a 71 years old man that spent all his life trying to be remembered in the far future, and he achieved it, but maybe he will be remembered for something he shouldn't like that much.
The image you see on top was taken less than a week ago in Sardegna.
Thank you for your time and attention.

- Economist.com - Corriere.it - Beppegrillo.it - Voglioscendere.it - Pieroricca.org -

$ 80,000,000.

2008-06-25T05:15:00.003-04:00

- Le basin aux nympheas - Monet -

Picture of the Week.

2008-06-22T01:56:00.003-04:00

Wanna know more?
Dynamicarchitecture.net