Andrew's blog

9/11, part 3

2011-10-22T09:59:00.001+02:00

Dear readers,

here’s the third and last part of the 9/11 story:

New York, 30th June 2001

Paul had now been working for more than a year in his new office at the World Trade Center 7. Everything seemed to go pretty well: he liked his new colleagues and he also often saw his previous ones as they came to the WTC 7 quite often. Yet, there was something strange in the air. He noticed some kind of tension in meetings and sometimes even during breaks while talking to other co-workers, but he could not understand where this feeling came from.

One day, while he was alone in the main meeting room, he decided to go through some documents that one of the managers had left on the desk for the next conference. It was going to be a meeting only for top high levels and it was going to start in about 20 minutes. He remembered all the strange things going on a couple of years ago at the Pentagon and he knew that there was something going on.

He walked back to the corridor, looking out to see if anybody was coming: nobody. A few colleagues were on a break and the others were all at their computers. He closed the door and returned to the desk and started going through the papers. What he found changed his life.

Two documents were about shooting down planes: the first stated that only the president could give the order, the second one instead said that after the 12th September the decision could be taken by any military chief.

Another was a contract with a demolition company dated 11th June 1998 to wire up the whole World Trade Centre complex. What the hell…?!?

A forth document forbade the public usage of video coverage from the Pentagon CCTV cameras, unless otherwise ordered by the president himself.

Another one was about residence and work permits for some Arab immigrants and there was a list of names.

The last two papers were an official memo to the president from the national security office, but text and date were still to be added and a list of military exercises over the whole American territory planned for September, the exact dates were missing.

Paul couldn’t believe his eyes: they were actually planning a terrorist attack in their own country! But when? Possibly, in the first weeks of September. He didn’t even stop to think: he first made a copy of all the documents, then he put the originals back on the desk and ran to the door. As soon as he opened it, Ted Froman, the head of national security was coming in.

“Hey, Paul. What the hell are you doing here?” he asked him, quite surprised to find him there.

Paul hesitated for a moment, then said: “Nothing, I’ve just made some photocopies of some documents for the next meeting that’s going to take place here. Will you be in it?”

Froman looked at him suspiciously at first, then answered him: “Ehm, yes. I didn’t know you were responsible for organizing this meeting. Usually only the top levels have access to this information.”

“Yes, I know”, Paul said. “I just volunteered to help. You know, I think I’m going on holiday very soon. I’m sorry, I must go now. See you later then.”

“Paul, wait.” He looked at him and straightened out his arm. “The documents, please.”

Paul didn’t answer. He just handed the papers out to him. He knew they would have found out anyway. He just hoped that they would think he was just doing his work, nothing more. After all, he was used to copying documents without even looking at them.

He faked a smile. “Yes, sure. Here they are.” Then he left.

The first thing he did is indeed take a two weeks’ holiday. He really needed it.

11th September 2001, World Trade Centre

When Paul got out of WTC 7, he realized that it was useless for him to stay in the area so he walked back to his flat. That was the last time that anybody ever saw him again.

A few days after the attack all his colleagues were told he was helping people getting out in the South Tower when it collapsed. Nobody had any reasons not to believe that. We know it was not so. However, we don’t know what happened to him. Maybe he had to leave the country and is now hiding somewhere. Most probably he was killed because he knew what really happened on that day. I hope he’s still alive.

NEVER FORGET. SPEAK OUT AND TELL YOUR OWN TRUTH.

Stop the nuclear monsters!

2011-04-28T20:39:00.001+02:00

Dear readers,

to my mind a person who is for nuclear energy is a monster, someone who is blind to the thousands and thousands of deaths caused by nuclear disasters, to the various illnesses caused by radiations, to the potential risks for our society. Blind to all this because of profit.

There are two main reasons why people are for nuclear energy: either because they have been disinformed about this source of energy or because they personally profit from the production of it. I believe there are no other reasons why people support nuclear energy. All sensible citizens who are correctly informed about it are against it.

We cannot put the life of future generations at risk just because we want to use an alternative source of energy. After all, I am pretty sure that the consequences of a nuclear disaster will be much worse than the ones of any other natural disasters caused by global warming. Indeed, that is another reason why we should stop as soon as possible producing nuclear energy: with the number of natural catastrophes increasing every year, the risks of having nuclear disasters is growing exponentially, see what happened in Japan.

A human error, an accident, a terrorist attack, whatever happens in a nuclear power station may have disastrous consequences. Do you really want to take that risk? And why? To produce energy? There are many other ways to produce energy and we should really try to use as many renewable sources as possible. Moreover, where shall we put all the nuclear waste? No country in the world has yet found a long-term solution, not even Japan.

Accidents will happen, that’s a fact. Ok, then what will we do in case of one? Well, decontamination procedures, check-ups in hospitals, evacuations, medical treatment, etc.. If the radiation reaches dangerous levels then you may expect to get cancer or other diseases in the future, or maybe your children, or even die in a short time, depending on the circumstances. Every household will need to have a radiation detector and special protective clothing. Furthermore, we will have to organize emergency drills in schools and at work. I definitely don’t want to even think about having to go through all this.

We have to stop these monsters who defend an obsolete, very expensive and extremely dangerous source of energy against the will the people and despite all the risks and the dangers that this technology involves. We have to first get informed from independent reliable sources, then spread this information and let people know what is at stake. We have to raise our voices and fight against this crazy nuclear lobby.

Stop the nuclear monsters!

Bye for now,

Andrew

911, part 2

2011-02-24T07:53:00.000+01:00

Dear readers,
here's the second part of the 9/11 story:

It all started some months after the first terrorist attack back in 1993. At the time, he was working at the Pentagon as a simple clerk. His main tasks were to go through the paperwork, make the necessary copies and forward them to other people or departments, write reports about ongoing activities and so on. Now and again he would be asked to do some more challenging jobs, like to give feedback about a defense plan or help to draft a new one.
Paul knew that something was wrong, but he did not know what exactly. Many of his colleagues probably did not notice anything at all, but he had to report to his boss more than once a day and he had seen and heard things that he had not liked. Mind you, nobody had noticed him, possibly because they had not even known he was there or that he was listening.
Well, at the beginning, he was not really listening, until he overheard words like "explosives", "collapse" or "terrorists". So he had started to listen to what they were saying while he was just writing reports at his desk or sending emails or looking for material. He still remembered the day he started to think that they were dealing with something big. It was the summer of 1999. He was making some photocopies when one of his colleagues came out of the main office. He stopped at the door, still talking to the person inside:
"So, are you sure they're going to do it?"
"Yes, definitely. I'm going to contact them as soon as possible to make sure everything is ok with the plan."
"Who's going to do the work at the towers in New York?"
"Well, that's something we'll have to care about once we know for sure if and when it's going to take place."
What was going to take place, he wondered? He went back to his desk and sat down. He went through the documents he was copying, the reports he was forwarding to his boss, the documents he had to file. Most of them were about national security, some of them were about regulations for the New York police department and for national defense in case... of... terrorist attacks?
Wait a minute...
He went through a second pile of documents he had on his desk. Some of them were warnings coming from different sources, among them also were foreign government information services. Some warnings were about hijacking planes, some others about a few terrorists living somewhere in the US.
"They must be talking about a possible terrorist attack. After all, we are responsible for national security", he thought.
However, something was wrong. All of them were internal communications, no official statements, no communications to the president, no warning was actually forwarded to the government. He decided to put them aside and ignore them. He was sure they were going to inform someone soon.
The following week everything changed: when he went to work in the morning, he noticed that the people he worked for had moved to another area of the Pentagon. Suddenly, nobody was there. Instead, he had to report to a new boss, who explained to him that he would now work for the department of internal organization and information technology. They needed more personnel and he was the right person for the job. He actually did not mind about a change, but he wondered why. Soon, he forgot all that stuff about terrorism and went on to do his new job. Until one day...

New York, 4th April 2000

After a long working day, Paul felt really tired. He had just finished to tidy up in his office when John Davidson came in. John had been one of his superiors before Paul was moved to another sector and was mostly responsible for air defense.
"Hi Paul, how are things going?" He sat down, smiling.
"Well, fine thanks. I've had a long day today. A lot of paperwork." He sat down as well, longing to go home already.
"Listen, Paul. I've got good news for you: you've been assigned to the World Trade Centre in New York. In about a month you'll start working there. We need you there for a special job."
Paul looked up at him. He knew who worked there: defense, CIA, secret service. The news was indeed good: he lived in New York, just a few blocks away from the WTC. He only wondered why this sudden change.
"Oh really? Well, that's good. That's round the corner for me. What is this special job?"
John did not answer immediately. He first looked around and his look went to the different documents on Paul's desk.
"Terrorism", he finally said. "As you have probably noticed, there have been warnings from different sources and we have to check them out and decide what to do."
Paul suddenly remembered the warnings and the documents he had noticed a few years before. Maybe there was a connection, but he decided not to say anything about it just now.
"I see. Well, that's great. I just don't understand this sudden change. I was assigned to another department last year. Now you're calling me back?"
John looked at him and smiled. "Exactly. We need more people to go through all those documents and help us out with our plans."
Paul was happy to go back to work for the defense department. He had been working for them for years and he liked his colleagues there. Moreover, he loved the World Trade Centre in New York. He also knew a few people there and couldn't wait to move to his new office there.
Then one day...

The culture of violence

2010-10-22T18:34:00.001+02:00

Dear readers,

Every time people want to protest and show their disapproval in Italy, they have to face violent riot police squadrons. Whatever age or gender the protesters are, the Italian police regime knocks them down, no matter if they are university students, women with their children or old shepherds. There is no democracy in that country.

The problem is of course that this violence produces further violence as people get used to it and fight back. This creates a very tense atmosphere of social and political unrest, creates no room for critical thinking and no time for reflection on important moral social and political issues like democracy, self-governance and human rights. This is very dangerous, especially in Italy, because the government takes advantage of this situation to do what they want while people fight against the armed forces. Moreover, the more violent the police are, the angrier the mob is, the less people think about the whole situation, about their rights, about democracy.

Every month, every week and lately even every day I read articles and watch videos about Italian police attacking people somewhere who are protesting against something: against waste disposal sites, against the new government plans in secondary and further education, against the new laws about the fight against organized crime and many other things. The only thing the government does is send riot police trained and ready to fight to disperse the people and show them who is in charge. Then, as I mentioned before, this violence produces further violence because the people fight back and a kind of civil war develops. In such a country, there is no room for democracy because the most important issue in a democratic society is that every person has the right to express their opinion and show their approval or disapproval without being attacked, threatened or without risking their lives and this right is clearly not respected in Italy.

On the contrary, in a country where there is a culture of democracy, things happen differently. Of course, even in such countries there are violent police, of course there are riots but first of all they are usually isolated events that only take place in extreme situations, secondly the first general reaction by all parties most often is: this is unacceptable, people have the right to protest, we are against violence. This happened, for example, here in Germany some weeks ago. Right now the government is building a new railway station in Stuttgart and thousands are against it. Last week there was a critical moment when the police used water cannons and pepper spray against the people and this was immediately criticized by different parties: some politicians, the media, the citizens. There has been a lot of discussion about the action of the police and the project itself and now some people are trying to find a compromise as it is becoming very clear that most people are against this project. All this has started a general discussion about the democratic system and its values.

In every aspect of life violence is always the wrong way to solve problems and if it comes from the police, then citizens really feel hopeless and left alone by the people who govern the country. To make it worse, little by little people get used to it and do not develop any opinion of their own, especially if the mainstream mass media (TV channels, newspapers, etc.) are also controlled by the government, as they are in Italy. Many citizens just accept things as they are and if they indeed plan to do anything against the situation, they just have to get ready to fight police forces at the next riot.

I hope that in the future human beings will be able to implement other forms of government where citizens have more possibilities to express their opinion and take decisions. Politicians think that once they are voted, they can do what they want. This is basically wrong. We cannot just base our democratic system only on one vote every five years. It is and will never be enough.

Students' rights

2010-09-23T08:25:00.000+02:00

Dear readers,
students are the soul of a university. They pay the fees, they take the exams, they fill up seminar rooms and lecture halls, they give us work. If they have problems, we must find solutions and we have to do this together, not just by having staff meetings and negotiations among managers and professors but sitting at a table and listening to the students.
I remember that when I was a student in Italy there were several cases when professors just did what they wanted, treating us badly, failing us in the exams for no reason at all, asking impossible questions and so on. We actually had no rights and no possibility to fight all this. In one specific case that some of my friends will surely remember, the names of the students who protested were given directly to the professor in question, making matters even worse.
At the university where I teach we have now a similar case, though the context and gravity of the situation are completely different. What makes things worse is that the teacher in question could now get a full permanent contract. Well, let's just hope they won't get it.
Anyway, I am going to tell students that if they have big problems with a teacher, there are a few things that they can do: inform the head of the language department, inform the students' board, inform the president and/or any person responsible for complaints and boycott the course. By doing this, they can really show their disapproval.
Moreover, there is often another problem in universities as in many other workplaces: the complicity and the partisanship among some colleagues who exchange favours and help each other instead of being honest and fair, indeed ignoring and causing problems instead of solving them. I hate this behaviour because it shows no respect for others. These people lie for each other and are false and selfish.
Well, enough of it now. Some good news before I close: tomorrow I'm going to Erfurt to see Supertramp in concert! A great comeback!
Have a nice weekend and stay tuned for other news or updates.
Bye for now,
Andrew

9/11, part 1

2010-09-11T18:53:00.000+02:00

Dear readers,
today is the 11th September, the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I'm publishing here the first part of a short story about 9/11. I still don't know how many parts there will be, possibly three. I'm still working on the second right now. I hope you'll like it. Stay tuned for the other parts.

New York, 11th September 2001

Paul finished his breakfast and turned off the TV. It was a very nice day but he didn't feel like going out yet. He sat on the armchair and went through a few documents he needed to look at before going to work. He lived and worked in New York.
He had worked at the Pentagon for many years, then in 2000 he came to work in New York, at the WTC 7. He did not even have to take the train to go to work, he lived a few blocks away and he loved to have a walk in the morning.
On that fateful day it was about 8:30 when he left his flat. He looked up to the sky: a wonderful day. He loved this weather: warm, clear sunny sky. He started walking towards the World Trade Centre, greeting the people he knew and met every morning: shop owners, postmen, cleaners, etc. Just as he was walking into the newsagent's to buy a newspaper, he heard a sound coming from the sky.
What the hell...
Having worked for the Pentagon for years, he recognized that sound immediately: that was a plane flying low over New York. He knew very well that no plane may fly so low over the city. Then, the explosion, from just around the corner.
He almost felt the earth shaking. And suddenly, he knew. He remembered all the conversations, all the documents he had had to copy, all the words he had overheard, all the reports he had gone through. In that specific moment, everything came back to him and he knew.
This is it. They have made it.
He went over to the next crossroads and he looked up for the World Trade Centre towers. Here they were. One of them was on fire.
Holy shit!
He did not know what to do. People were in shock, some were crying, some others were running away, others were just looking up. He stopped for a while, looking up at the gaping hole in the North Tower. Then he turned around and went into the first cafè he could find. As soon as he went in, he saw a group of people watching CNN. He joined them and listened to the first reports: it seemed a plane had hit the North Tower. Probably a twin-engine jet. That was exactly what he thought he had heard a few moments earlier. He listened to the news for a couple of minutes, then he decided to go to the World Trade Centre. He went out again and saw a colleague coming up the street towards him. It was Anne, one of the many secretaries in the WTC 7 building. She was walking slowly, tears in her eyes.
"Paul!" she ran to him and hugged him. "Have you seen that? How terrible! Think of all the people there!"
"I know. It's unbelievable. I was coming to work when I heard the sound of a plane coming. Then, the explosion. What are you doing here? Were you at work when it happened?" Paul asked.
She nodded. "Yes, I was at my desk when I heard the explosion. A the beginning I thought it was a bomb, but then somebody came into the office and told me that a plane had crashed into the North Tower. Most people immediately thought that it was a terrorist attack. Then they said that soon they're going to evacuate the building. Most of the management is still there but they want everybody to leave."
"I see. Well, maybe it's the right thing to do. Our building is just next to the two towers and debris may be falling. Well, Anne, now get out of here. I'll go and see if..."
He didn't manage to finish his sentence. He heard that sound again, louder this time. He looked up just in time to see the crash and the big explosion. People started screaming, crying, running away. Paul and Anne sat down on a bench along the pavement.
"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Anne screamed in shock. "Who the hell could do that? What the hell is going on?"
I know who.
"I don't know, Anne. Terrorists, I guess. Listen, I'll go and see if there's anyone at the office, there must still be someone there. You just..."
"No! Don't go, Paul!" Anne begged him. "You never know, maybe they'll attack again, it's not safe here..."
"Don't worry, I'll be right back. You just go and see your family. They'll surely be worried about you. I'm sure this is on every channel on TV, probably they've even seen the second plane crash live."
"Yes, you're probably right. Ok then, I'll go, but be careful! You should go home as well." She started walking down the road, turning round two or three times to him. "Take care!"
Paul waved her goodbye and then started to walk fast towards the World Trade Centre. While walking, he took his mobile phone and started calling all the people he knew that were in the towers to tell them one thing: get out of there! He managed to reach just a few of them while walking towards the WTC complex. Most of them had already got out. At a certain point, police stopped him.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you have to get out of here. We're evacuating the whole area..."
The policeman didn't manage to finish the sentence because Paul had taken out his ID card.
"Paul Winters, I work for the Pentagon, national security."
"Well, sir, be very careful, debris is falling from the building."
"Ok, thank you."
Paul went on towards the World Trade Centre. Now and again, he looked up to the towers. Debris was falling, people were jumping to their deaths.
Oh my God!
When he reached WTC 7 he noticed that they were evacuating the building. He saw some people he knew at the main entrance. One was Tom, one of his colleagues.
"Hey Paul, they were looking for you. Have you seen what happened? They're trying to..."
Paul was not really listening to him.
"Who's still up there?"
"Well, I don't know exactly, a few have left but other people have arrived. I guess they were CIA."
"Listen, Tom. I want you to help evacuate, tell everybody to get the hell out of here."
Tom looked confused at first. "Why, what's going on? You think it was a terrorist attack?"
Paul looked at Tom. He lowered his voice. "It IS a terrorist attack. It's not over yet. I'll go and see who is upstairs, they're already waiting for me, I guess."
Tom did not have time to reply because Paul had already left. He chose to take the lift. After all, this building was safe, at least as long as they were inside. He reached the 25th floor and went straight to the conference room. He knew they would be there. He got in and looked around. It looked like a control room: in one corner, one group were listening to some kind of radio, probably emergency services. On the main table a meeting was being held by one of his superiors. They were looking at some maps and plans. In another corner, two men were watching the news while working on the computer. Next to them, two or three people were destroying documents and papers. John Perry, one of the people sitting at the table turned round and saw him. He stood up and walked over to Paul, taking him out of the room.
"Hi Paul. Listen, there's no need for you to stay here, we are evacuating the building, soon we will get out as well. They're setting up another control room somewhere else. We'll need you there later at some point."
Paul tried to look calm and relaxed. "Why, what are you doing now?"
"Well, monitoring everything. It was a terrorist attack, the planes had been hijacked and flown into the two towers. We're in contact with the oval office and the defense, waiting for orders."
Well, exactly what he had expected to hear.
"Ok, I'll pick up a few things from the office. Let me know if and where you need me", he said.
"Sure, I will, I'll send you a message on your mobile phone. See you later then."
John turned round and disappeared inside the room again. Paul went over to his office and went straight to his desk and sat down. He needed to think carefully: what was he supposed to do now? It was too late to do anything now, the only thing he could do is tell people to get away from the WTC. He made some phone calls to people he knew would be in the towers or in the other WTC buildings. Fortunately, most of them had already got out. One or two were trapped on the higher floors.
He noticed that most of the documents he had copied or forwarded had been taken away. Probably, they had already been destroyed. He looked around: most desks were emtpy, everything had already been taken and destroyed. He sighed and stood up.
"Ok, let's get out of here", he said to himself.
He took the lift downstairs and got out of the building. His colleague Tom was not there anymore. Actually, nobody was there anymore, only a few policemen who were helping people evacuate. He started to walk away towards his flat, thinking back to the time when everything had started...

* * *

Second Life

2010-03-09T17:36:00.019+01:00

Hi everybody,
some years ago, while surfing the Internet, I came across the name "Second Life". I don't remember exactly how or where I saw it, but I remember that I visited the website and wanted to register, but I had to give my credit card details and maybe even pay a fee or something, so I decided not to.
In 2006 I joined a Beppe Grillo meetup group and while I was going through the different meetups in the world, I noticed the "Second Life Beppe Grillo meetup group". I was pretty sure that none of the Grillo meetup groups would be based in a virtual world where people would have to pay to get in. It must be now free of charge, I thought. I checked the website again and indeed, I could register for free.
Here's how it works:

First of all, you have to choose a name for your avatar. You can choose any first name you like but you have to pick a last name from a long list. Then, once you've registered, you have to install the software and that can be a big problem. Check the system requirements before installing it.
When you log in for the first time, you will find yourself in Help Island, a place where you can learn to use SL, how to fly and teleport, you can choose your clothes, appearance, edit your profile and so on. You can also do different tutorials on the basics of SL. Once you leave Help Island, you cannot go back. If you need help, you can go to other public help islands to learn and practice.
I must say, I was very disappointed at the beginning once I left Help Island (at the time it was called Orientation Island). There is no main place where all new residents go, no main hall where you can meet everybody, a kind of starting point. However, there are many of them spread around the Second Life world. I also thought that there would be a map and you could actually walk around or move from place to place. Not really. The SL world map doesn't resemble any normal real world map. It's just an enormous puzzle of land slots, some very big, other very small, a kind of patchwork. Basically, you have to know exactly where you want to go. Well, I had a place, the only place I knew of, which was the "Second Life meetup group". That was the other big disappointment. I thought I would find a place where there were public meetings, discussions, information and so on, as in all other Grillo meetups. Instead, it was utter chaos: there was no real calendar of events, many people were flying around, singing, listening to music, shouting, just having fun.
I attended a few meetings but after some time I just stopped going there. Basically, there was no real connection between this group of people in SL and the meetup world.
The main problem for me is that most people I met there (and I think a lot of people who regularly visit SL anyway) don't really use it as a means of communication, but as a real virtual world where they lead a second life, where they have a second identity. Many residents have property there, a job, daily activities and so on. Some have even changed sex in SL! So when you chat with these people you don't really get to know anything about them, but only about their avatars. This is anyway the impression I had and what I also read about it. I didn't really get to know anybody in SL, so I'm not talking by experience.
However, at the same time, I realized that this software was really a great technological breakthrough: here you can talk to people from all over the world, using video, chat notecards and voice, a world where you can recreate any kind of environment. You can organize meetings or conferences with many people at low or no costs. For example, every year I attend a big conference called SLanguages about teaching languages using online platforms or virtual worlds like SL, with so many people from many different parts of the world, connecting from the most different places like home, a hotel, a public place. This year it will take place at the end of May.
After some research, I also discovered that in SL there are many institutions helping people, for example people with disabilities or people who have gone through terrible traumas, like victims of violence or rape. It seems they are more able to talk about their experiences when they are on their own talking to a computer than in a self-help group or to a psychiatrist. There are also many institutions where you can go and attend courses, learn languages and many other things. There are many events every day, like live music concerts, conferences or just even meeting places with all kinds of people. So it's a great world that we can use for many different purposes.
I sometimes go to SL and walk around, looking at the different landscapes, visiting new places. I am probably going to start teaching languages there soon. If you are already a SL resident or want to join, well, let me know, we can meet there and have a chat :)
Bye for now,
Andrew

Update

2010-03-04T13:39:00.010+01:00

Hi everybody,
long time no post! Anyway, just an update for the curious: for Christmas I stayed at home and my mother came to visit me and we had great time here in Nordhausen. Then, after the end of the winter semester here at university, on 10th February I went on holiday. First I went to München to see Beppe Grillo: fantastic show! Then from there I went north, visiting a few cities including Strasbourg and Trier. Finally, on 25th I was in Bochum for a conference about quality in language teaching in universities. I finally came back home on 28th. Then ...

At the moment, I'm doing different things: first of all, I'm doing some research about teaching online and as I said in my previous post, I may soon start giving private lessons online. If you are interested, just contact me. I also would like to start teaching in Second Life. For those who don't know what that is, I'll publish a post about it in the next days.
Secondly, here at the university we're busy trying to find new concepts and ideas for the language centre and our courses. For example, we may soon start offering students the possibility to take TOEFL and TOEIC, two international exams to test your level of English as a foreign language. We are also reorganizing the SLZ, the self-study lab. We will soon come up with a timetable and a program of events and tutorials.
Finally, I'm planning to go to Italy this summer and stay longer than usual as I have to finish my holidays for 2009 and start taking the ones for 2010. Of course, the cheapest way to spend long holidays for me is going to Italy! I'm also looking for something to do when I am there because otherwise it may get very boring for me, so if you have any work for me, let me know!
Ok, that's enough for now.
Take care.

Latest news: work and more

2009-11-23T09:06:00.019+01:00

Hi everybody!
Sorry for not writing for a long time. I've decided to change a few things in this blog and use it also to keep you updated about me and what happens around me here in Nordhausen and Germany. Furthermore, I've been working on one or two posts that I will publish soon here. One of them is about 9/11, but I don't want to anticipate anything, wait and see.
Let's start with some important news:

As some of you may already know, I'm part time now here at the FH Nordhausen and soon I'll be working privately as well. So, if anybody needs some help with English or Italian, feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to help you. Don't worry, I won't be that expensive! I'm also going to try to start teaching online, so if there are any volunteers out there, please contact me. As I've never taught online before, I won't charge you for the first lessons!
There is, however, an important point: as I already have a well-paid job, I'm not going to do this private work only for the money but mostly because I love it and I want to do it. So, I'll do it in my own time. Therefore, I'm not going to accept any work with short-time deadlines.
If you want to contact me, you can do it through Skype (andrew25675), email (check my profile in this blog) or Facebook (.../andrew25675).
Let's go on with other news:

Paul is back! On 3rd December I'm going to Berlin to see Paul McCartney live at the O2 World Arena! I'm sure it will be a great concert!
After 15 long years, I've started playing the piano again! Last September I bought a Kawai digital piano and now and again I play it. I download sheet music and MIDI files from the Internet and I've learned to play some new songs now.
On 10th February 2010, I'll be in München to see Beppe Grillo, he's giving a show there. After that, I'll go on holiday and I'll visit a few cities here in Germany and I'll end up in Bochum, where I'm going to attend a conference.

Ok, that's all for now. Take care and stay tuned.

G8, L'Aquila, July 2009

2009-07-08T11:59:00.011+02:00

Dear readers,
here it goes again: the G8 in L'Aquila has started and the Italian police state is already in action to strike down whoever tries to express his opinion against it, and of course they will knock down whoever opposes the system, as we have seen in different occasions in the last ten years or more.

I honestly do not know who, when, where and how will organize protests and demonstrations during the G8 in L'Aquila, what I know is that there will be a lot of anti-riot police around and they will surely not just stand still there, just looking. They will do their job: beat and suppress the opposers. In fact, the right name for them would be riot police, because they are the ones who start the riots.
Anyway, we'll see. Maybe nothing will happen and everything will go well. Maybe people will follow Beppe Grillo's advice to stand back and laugh at the anti-riot police squadrons going around an empty city! Imagine the pictures in the news in the evening of people sitting at tables in bars around the city, having ice-cream and relaxing, looking and laughing at these policemen going around, not knowing what to do, who to beat! That would be fabulous! But we all know that will not happen. Possibly and hopefully, everything will be fine.
The most important thing is: whoever you are, whatever you do, never use any violence against anybody. Violence brings only other violence, it brings death, pain, sadness, anger, distress. It has no sense.

Always the same story...

2009-06-07T13:56:00.013+02:00

Dear readers,
after a long break, here I am again. After watching one or two documentaries on You Tube about the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001, I have to say I am really happy of having taken that decision of leaving Italy forever a long time ago. A place where the citizen does not exist, where the state uses police forces, the media and money to control people and institutions, where most of the people accept the status quo anyway.

Those days in Genoa were terrible. Extreme violence, beatings, killings, insults, abuse of authority and many other crimes against simple individuals. Crimes that are usually committed in dictatorships, crimes that should never take place in any country in the world, but that were committed again in various situations in Italy, sometimes against single citizens, some other times against the masses, like in Naples, when people protested against the incinerators and rubbish dumps, or against the students who protested against the latest reforms on education. What makes things even worse is that all this comes from the police, from the people that should defend citizens against criminals, but in this case, who should defend people against the police?
One of the biggest problem is the complete lack of real and serious information. Many people don't have enough information to be able to take the right decisions, to have an objective opinion about what happens around them. The authorities take advantage of this to control people's opinions and actions, buy their votes, change laws for their own profit. In fact, the parliament is full of criminals, who only think about themselves and their parties.
Fortunately, I live now in a civilized country, where of course sometimes there is violence and of course crimes are committed, but it never comes from the government. I feel I can trust police forces here and I think I have all the information I need from the national and local media. Some politicians may be dishonest or corrupted, but at least I'm pretty sure that the ones in office are not criminals who have already been convicted.
Of course, there are also other personal reasons for my living here, but I think that the most important things in choosing the place one wants to live in are the respect of human rights and of the environment, honesty and respect in public life and good infrastructures for the people.

Network

2009-02-11T17:15:00.016+01:00

Dear readers,
today I would like to talk about the tube. No, not the London Underground! "The tube" can also mean television, the TV set. TV is or has been the most important means of communication, one of the most common mass media, maybe the most powerful tool ever. Fortunately, with the Internet boom, TV has lost a lot of its influence and power, but I guess it is still the most common means of communication.
The following text is taken from the film Network, a film made in 1976 about the power of TV. While you follow the text, you can watch the extract here but I suggest you watch the entire film. You can find it here: Google Video: Network. The film is fiction, of course but just change a few names and sentences in the text and it will perfectly fit the Italian context. Here is the text:

Edward George Ruddy died today!! Edward George Ruddy was the chairman of the board of the Union Broadcasting Systems and he died at 11 o'clock this morning of a heart condition, and woe is us, we’re in a lot of trouble!!!

So... a rich little man with white hair died. What has that got to do with the price of rice, right? And why is that woe to us? Because you people and 62 million of other Americans are listening to me right now. Because less than three per cent of you people read books. Because less than 15 per cent of you read newspapers. Because the only truth you know is what you get over this tube. Right now, there is a whole and entire generation that never knew anything that didn’t come out of this tube.

This tube is the gospel! The ultimate revelation! This tube can make or break presidents, popes, prime ministers. This tube is the most awesome goddamn force in the whole godless world and woe is us if it ever falls into the hands of the wrong people and that’s why woe is us that Edward George Ruddy died.

Because this company is now in the hands of CCA, the Communication Corporation of America. There’s a new chairman of the board, a man called Frank Hackett, sitting in Mr Ruddy’s office on the 20th floor, and when the 12th largest company in the worid controls the most awesome goddamn propaganda force in the whole godless world, who knows what shit will be peddled for truth on this network.

So you listen to me. Listen to me. Television is not the truth. Television’s a goddamned amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a travelling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers and football players. We’re in the boredom-killing business.

So if you want the truth, go to God. Go to your gurus. Go to yourselves. Because that’s the only place you’re ever going to find any real truth. But, man, you’re never gonna get any truth from us. We’ll tell you anything you wanna hear. We lie like hell. We’ll tell you that Kojak always gets the killer, and that nobody ever gets cancer in Archie Bunker’s house and however much trouble the hero is in, don’t worry, look at your watch, at the end of the hour he’s going to win.

We’ll tell you any shit you want to hear. We deal in illusions, man. None of it is true. But you people sit there, day after day, night after night, all ages, colours, creeds. We’re all you know. You’re beginning to believe the illusions we’re spinning here, you’re beginning to think that the tube is reality and that your own lives are unreal. You do whatever the tube tells you. You dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube, you even think like the tube. This is mass madness, you maniacs. In God’s name, you people are the real thing! We are the illusion!

So turn off your television sets. Turn them off now. Turn them off right now! Turn them off and leave them off. Turn them off right in the middle of the sentence I’m speaking to you now. Turn them off.

Die Wahrheit

2009-02-10T13:38:00.012+01:00

Hallo zusammen,
ich habe gerade einen Zeitungsartikel gelesen, der die Wahrheit sagt. Natürlich, nicht in der italienischen Presse. Das würde fast ein Wunder sein. Nein, diesen Artikel habe ich in der Webseite des staatlichen öffentlichen deutschen Fernsehens, ARD tagesschau.de. Der Journalist Stefan Troendle schreibt einen Kommentar über Berlusconi. Die meisten Artikeln über Berlusconi sind normaleweise entweder nur ein Bericht ohne Kommentare (oft auch nicht der Wahrheit entsprechend) oder witzige Sprüche, lustige Bemerkungen usw. Sehr selten kann man ernste Kommentare oder richtige Zeitungsartikeln lesen, die die Wahrheit sagen. Lesen wir mal:

Fall Englaro zeigt Berlusconis Gefährlichkeit
Von Stefan Troendle, ARD-Hörfunkstudio Rom

Auch wenn man manchmal daran zweifeln mag: Italien ist ein Rechtsstaat. Und in Italien ist gestern Recht geschehen. Die 38 Jahre alte Komapatientin Eluana Englaro ist gestorben, vier Tage nachdem künstliche Ernährung und Flüssigkeitszufuhr abgestellt wurden. Grundlage für diese Form von passiver Sterbehilfe war ein Urteil des obersten italienischen Berufungsgerichtes.

Was allerdings irritiert, ist das absolut unrechtsstaatliche Verhalten des italienischen Regierungschefs Silvio Berlusconi, der monatelang Zeit hatte, ein Gesetz zur Patientenverfügung auf den Weg zu bringen. Aktiv wurde Silvio Berlusconi nämlich erst am letzten Freitag, als er urplötzlich von der Dringlichkeit des Falles Eluana Englaro überrumpelt wurde. Dann musste plötzlich ein Eildekret her, das Staatspräsident Giorgio Napolitano aufgrund dessen Verfassungswidrigkeit nicht unterschreiben konnte.

Problem mit der Gewaltenteilung

Dass es sich hierbei um eine Intrige handelt, wird noch deutlicher, wenn man die Titelseite der Berlusconi-Zeitung "Il Giornale" liest. Die erscheint heute mit der großen Schlagzeile "Sie haben sie umgebracht" - und kritisiert offen den Staatspräsidenten. "Er hätte es verhindern können, herzlichen Glückwunsch Napolitano" heißt es zynisch.

Berlusconi hat ein Problem mit der Gewaltenteilung in seinem Land, das ist klar zu erkennen. Er schreckt weder vor einem Angriff auf das Staatsoberhaupt zurück, noch respektiert er Urteile des höchsten Berufungsgerichtes, wenn ihm diese nicht in den Kram passen. Er kommandiert das Parlament, das auf seine Anweisung nach Belieben Gesetze einbringt und wieder zurückzieht, wie im Fall Englaro geschehen. Und noch etwas wird deutlich: Der Regierungschef kontrolliert fast das komplette Fernsehen und viele Zeitungen und er nutzt diese Macht schamlos aus. Niemand spricht über seinen Interessenkonflikt, den er - obwohl versprochen - nie gelöst hat.

Berlusconi regiert das Land nach Gutsherrenart. Er verhält sich wie ein Vespa-Fahrer mitten im römischem Verkehrschaos: rote Ampeln ignorieren, bei Stau einfach über den Bürgersteig fahren, und im Zweifel sind sowieso immer die anderen schuld. Dieser Mann, der außer Scherzen über US-Präsident Barack Obamas Hautfarbe auch gerne mal in aller Öffentlichkeit KZ-Witze erzählt (zuletzt geschehen am 17. Januar, ohne dass die italienischen Medien darüber berichtet hätten), ist nicht nur unmöglich. Er ist vor allem gefährlich. Gefährlich für die Demokratie, gefährlich für das Ansehen des Landes. Er hat nicht die Interessen Italiens im Blick, sondern nur seine eigenen.

Höfliches Übersehen ist die falsche Strategie

Silvio Berlusconi wird im Ausland gerne als "nicht ernst zu nehmender Spinner" unterschätzt, der nur durch regelmäßige Ausfälle auf sich aufmerksam macht. Ich glaube, das ist ein großer Fehler. Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen und das höfliche Übersehen des einen oder anderen Fauxpas sind genau die falsche diplomatische Strategie. Diesen Mann muss man ernst nehmen, man muss ihm genau auf die Finger schauen, man muss ihn kritisieren. Nicht zu vergessen: Italien hat dieses Jahr die G8-Präsidentschaft inne.

Was besonders schmerzt: In Sachen Eluana wurde Berlusconis Kurs von der katholischen Kirche unterstützt, wenn nicht sogar angeschoben. Natürlich kämpft die Kirche gegen jede Form von Sterbehilfe - das ist ihr gutes Recht. Dass sie dazu aber auch Allianzen mit Berlusconi eingeht, anstatt diesen offen für seine gefährliche Politik zu kritisieren, ist sehr schade.

Beim deutsch-italienischen Gipfel in Triest hat sich Italiens Ministerpräsident hinter einer Säule versteckt und fröhlich "Kuckuck" gerufen, als die Bundeskanzlerin vorbeikam. Leider haben viele Italiener immer noch nicht begriffen, was für einen Vogel sie da eigentlich gewählt haben.

Quelle:
● Fall Englaro zeigt Berlusconis Gefährlichkeit von Stefan Troendle für Tagesschau.de, 10. Februar 2008

Democracy

2009-02-09T15:15:00.010+01:00

Dear readers,
what is democracy? Being a language teacher, I believe in the conservation of the original meaning of words. The word "democracy" comes from the Greek and means exactly "government of the people" (demos = people; kratos = rule, strength). Actually, that is a bit too general. What does it really mean? Well, basically, it is a system where the people have the power to choose, to take decisions and govern. Taken literally, this system does not exist, it is just theory. In practice, it is totally different. What we have had in the world in everyday life since world war II can hardly be defined as "democracy", in any part of the world. I would like to show you what democracy really is. The following are the main principles of democracy. I took them and translated them directly from the website Officina Democrazia which is an appeal to all Italian citizens who believe in these principles. My previous post contains the same text in Italian but I felt I needed to translate it for the ones who do not speak Italian, as these are maybe the most important principles we should fight for. Here they are:

A - The sovereignty belongs to the people, who should be able to exercise it in a direct and appropriate way. The popular sovereignty can be delegated, provided the right of the people to the change or removal of the delegation. In particular, the legislators must not legislate on themselves, their powers, the ways they can be elected, the relations between their power and other powers, without going through the consent, directly expressed, of the will of the people.

B - Decisions taken under the will of the people, directly expressed, may be amended only by the will of the people.

C- All citizens should be encouraged and enabled to responsibly and effectively control the actions of the delegates.

D - Indifference and isolation must be fought by encouraging participation in all forms of aggregation and association. They are precious means in our society, because through them the people experience social life and democracy. All initiatives for the logistic and material support of all forms of association are therefore supported, provided they respect the universal human rights.

E- The powers of the state control organs in civil and economic life must be consolidated and made effective.

F - Free and independent information must be pursued and defended. The governing bodies of public media shall be appointed by popular election rather than through party nomination. The private monopolies should be prevented in all fields and particularly in the media.

G - The highest transparency in political life and in the sources of funding of political parties, associations, movements, and the media must be achieved.

H - Easy access to knowledge and the freedom of the Internet should be preserved and promoted.

I - The "collective good" must be pursued. The "collective good" is what corresponds to the greatest welfare of the community in respect of the environment in which that community lives.

L - The choice of candidates in elections is up to the citizens and not to parties or other organizations. The representatives should be and feel responsible only to the citizens.

M - No citizen can be a candidate if in a state of conflict of interests, or subject to prosecution for offenses affecting the collective or public interests or convicted for such crimes.

N - A constant attention and openness to new proposals, to criticisms, to competence and merit must be guaranteed within the political organizations in public institutions with attention to the rotation of office and setting limits to reeligibility and to the duration and overlapping of mandates

O - We must constantly look for consent and be ready to share, through the constant confrontation of wills and ideas while respecting the views of minorities, with the absolute commitment by all to pursue the common good and to see the vote as extrema ratio.
P - All fundamental human rights must be protected and respected.
Q - All of these objectives should be pursued only by peaceful and non-violent means.

Officina democrazia

2009-02-09T11:26:00.011+01:00

Cari lettori,
volevo informarvi su qualcosa che ritengo sia molto importante: sono venuto a sapere dell'esistenza di un appello per la difesa e lo sviluppo della democrazia sul sito Officina Democrazia con l'intento di riunire tutti i cittadini che condividono lo scopo di salvare e difendere la democrazia. Qui vi riporto i punti principali. Vi pregerei di leggerli attentamente e di andare sul sito per ulteriori informazioni e, se siete d'accordo con i punti e gli intenti dell'appello, per apporre poi la vostra "firma". Ecco i principi fondamentali:

PRINCIPI FONDAMENTALI:

A - La sovranità appartiene al popolo che deve poterla esercitare in modo diretto, per quanto possibile ed opportuno. La sovranità popolare può anche essere delegata, fermo restando il diritto del popolo di modifica o revocabilità della delega. In particolare va impedito che il legislatore possa legiferare su se stesso, sui suoi poteri, sulle forme della sua eleggibilità, sulle relazioni tra il suo potere ed altri poteri, senza passare attraverso il consenso, direttamente espresso, della volontà popolare.

B - Decisioni prese in virtù della volontà popolare, direttamente espressa, possono essere modificate solo dalla volontà popolare.

C- Tutti i cittadini devono essere incoraggiati e messi in condizione di svolgere responsabilmente ed efficacemente la funzione di controllo dell’operato dei delegati.

D - Vanno combattuti l`indifferenza e l`isolamento tramite l`incoraggiamento alla partecipazione ad ogni forma di aggregazione e di associazione. Esse, infatti, rappresentano una ricchezza per la società, in quanto per il loro tramite le persone fanno esperienza concreta di vita sociale e di democrazia. Vanno, pertanto, promosse tutte quelle iniziative volte al sostegno logistico e materiale di tutte le forme associative, purché non in contrasto con il principio del "massimo bene aggregato" e dei diritti universali dell`uomo.

E- Vanno potenziati e resi efficaci tramite poteri effettivi tutti gli organi di controllo dello stato, della vita civile ed economica.

F - Va perseguita e difesa l'informazione libera e indipendente. Gli organi dirigenti dei mezzi di informazione pubblici vanno designati mediante elezione popolare e non attraverso nomina partitica. I monopoli privati vanno impediti in tutti i campi ed in particolar modo in quello della informazione.

G - Va conseguita la massima trasparenza nella vita politica e nelle fonti di finanziamento dei partiti, delle associazioni, dei movimenti, e dei mezzi di informazione.

H - Va favorita la facilità di accesso al sapere, va conservata e favorita la libertà di internet.

I - Va perseguito il "bene collettivo" e va affermato che esso non è il « vantaggio del partito », del « gruppo » o del « movimento » e tanto meno quello personale. Il "bene collettivo" è quello che corrisponde al maggior benessere della comunità in rispetto dell'ambiente in cui quella comunità vive.

L - La scelta dei candidati alle elezioni, spetta ai cittadini e non ai partiti od ad altre organizzazioni. I rappresentanti devono essere e sentirsi responsabili soltanto verso i cittadini.

M - Non devono poter essere candidati cittadini in stato di "conflitto d'interesse", oppure soggetti a procedimenti penali per reati lesivi degli interessi pubblici e collettivi o condannati per questi reati.

N - Va garantita all'interno delle organizzazioni politiche nelle istituzioni pubbliche, una costante apertura ed attenzione a nuove proposte, alle critiche, al ricambio dei ruoli, al limite temporale dei mandati, al limite alla ripetibilità degli stessi, alla loro non sovrapponibilità, e l'attenzione alla competenza ed al merito.

O - Occorre costantemente mirare al consenso ed alla condivisione, mediante il costante confronto di volontà e di idee nel rispetto delle opinioni delle minoranze, con l'irrinunciabile impegno da parte di tutti a perseguire il bene comune e ad intendere il voto come extrema-ratio.

P - Vanno difesi i diritti fondamentali dell'uomo.

Q - Tutti questi obiettivi vanno perseguiti con soli mezzi pacifici e non violenti.

Energie rinnovabili nella provincia di Macerata

2008-12-12T10:23:00.006+01:00

Cari lettori,
torno a scrivere in italiano in quanto l'articolo che riporto riguarda Macerata: chi vuole installare impianti per l'uso di energie rinnovabili, potrà ricevere degli incentivi dalla provincia di Macerata e coprire circa un terzo della spesa. Trovo che questa sia una grande notizia in quanto si dà la possibilità a privati cittadini di usare risorse non inquinanti e naturali come il sole o il vento per produrre energia. Ovviamente, bisogna poi vedere se questo progetto funziona, ma per quanto riguarda le energie rinnovabili, sono molto fiducioso. Ecco l'articolo:

MACERATA - Arrivano nuovi incentivi da parte della Provincia di Macerata per lo sviluppo e la diffusione delle energie rinnovabili. E’ in pubblicazione in questi giorni, infatti, un nuovo bando che prevede l’assegnazione di contributi per complessivi 400mila euro a privati (famiglie, associazioni senza scopo di lucro, liberi professionisti) che in edifici di loro proprietà installano impianti fotovoltaici, impianti solari termici, pompe di calore.

Le domande di contributo debbono essere presentate entro il 31 dicembre al settore Ambiente tenendo conto di quanto specificato nell’avviso pubblico consultabile anche sul sito internet della provincia di Macerata alla voce “bandi”.

“Con questo nuovo intervento, che qualifica l’azione della Provincia nel campo energetico", sottolinea il presidente della Provincia, Giulio Silenzi, "sale a circa 1 milione e mezzo di euro negli ultimi tre anni l’impegno dell’amministrazione provinciale. Lo consideriamo un investimento importante per l’energia pulita che porta benefici in termini di risparmio sulla bolletta energetica di famiglie e piccole imprese, ma anche utilità sul piano ambientale”.

Il contributo previsto è di circa un terzo della spesa (35%) con dei massimali che sono stati così determinati: 2.000 euro per il solare termico; 8.000 euro per impianti fotovoltaici e per pompe di calore del tipo geotermico; 3.000 euro per pompe di calore del tipo aria-acqua.

Il bando prevede la possibilità di chiedere finanziamenti, fino a 10.000 euro, anche per impianti “micro-eolici” (potenza non superiore a 20 kw e altezza inferiore a 20 metri). Oltre che per nuovi impianti si può beneficiare del contributo anche per impianti realizzati dopo il 1 gennaio 2008.

Tratto da:
● Macerata: incentivi a chi installa impianti termici su Gomarche.it, 11 Dicembre 2008

Some good news: German academy offers green energy knowledge to 14 countries

2008-12-08T20:08:00.015+01:00

Dear readers,
as you may have noticed, it's sometimes very hard to find good news in newspapers and online. Most articles are about crime, financial crisis, corruption, gossip and so on. Now and again, I find an article giving good news. From now on, I'll try to publish here some good news that I find online.
The following article is about a series of seminars and conferences about renewable energy technologies that will take place in Germany. The German Renewables Academy is going to share a lot of knowledge with engineers from all over the world, especially from developing countries. I believe this is very good news, because I think it is very important to share our knowledge with these countries and help them develop their own projects and improve life standards.

Germany is sharing its renewable energy and energy efficiency expertise with developing countries in Africa, Asia and South America. The German Renewables Academy said this week that it has invited engineers and key players from 14 countries to learn the lessons gleaned from its own booming green energy industry.

More than 800 applications have already been received by the academy, which will be hosting one-week introductory and advanced seminars at its Berlin training centre from this month until June 2009. Follow-up training will be provided throughout 2009 via online courses and one-to-one consultations.

"The program is aimed at participants who can apply the acquired knowledge in the best possible way in their careers," said Berthold Breid, founder and chief executive of the academy. It is hoped the seminars will allow participants to share details of green energy projects in their own countries.

The scheme is part of the academy's Transfer Renewable Energy and Efficiency (TREE) scholarship, which is part-funded by the German government. The TREE website says its objective is to "facilitate the transfer of know-how in renewable energies, energy efficiency and climate protection, for decision makers, high potentials and engineers from developing and emerging countries".

Thanks partly to heavy investment in its solar and wind power industries, Germany has become a key player in green technology, vying with the US for the crown of global cleantech hub.

Fedex recently revealed plans for a solar-powered hub in Germany, and earlier this year German industry sealed one of the biggest ever wind power supply deals when energy giant E.ON agreed to buy 500 wind turbines from engineering conglomerate Siemens.
Source:
● Germany academy offers green energy knowledge to 14 countries by Adam Vaughan for BusinessGreen.com, Monday 8th December 2008

Let's make this a better world... why the world won't change...

2008-12-05T20:30:00.008+01:00

Dear readers,
everybody would like to change the world. All of us would like to live in a better society than the one we live in, all people would love to have peace on earth, food and water for everyone and so on. Why is that impossible? How a great bluesman once used to sing, "everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die". In other words, everybody wants to change the world, but nobody wants to change. In fact, the most common human fault is selfishness.

I think the world will change only after millions of people forget their own needs, wishes and problems to inform and help others. Only changing ourselves will enable us to change the world, and anyway that would take hundreds of years.
However, there are many people in the world who already do this: they forget their own needs to think about other people. I believe most of them do it on a fulltime basis, but there are also many who do it during their free time. The most important principle is, as Michael Jackson said, "...if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make the change...".
I also had joined a group of people who fight for a better world, but I left it when I realized that most of it was just talk and frustration. When it was time to come together and speak about what could be done and how, share ideas and information, organize events and actions, the usual three or four actually showed up and all turned to dust.
Why is all this so difficult, if not impossible? Because in our society now we have too much for ourselves, too many possibilities, too many rights, too many freedoms, basically, too much of everything. We don't appreciate life anymore, we always want more, we want to have the best performance with the least effort. Of course, many people are not like that, but most of the people who have the power to change things are so, especially politicians and business people. After all, even the ancient Greeks told us that politics is corruption, but as Sting said, "history will teach us nothing".
What should we change in the world anyway? Basically, everything. First of all, introduce renewable energy sources as the only options for the future and stop destroying our environment but even the fear of a climate catastrophe does not stop politicians and tycoons to finance and build monsters like coal power stations and incinerators. Secondly, design and make products that have a very long life cycle and buy and consume local products. Then, reorganize the school system, social services, judicial system and most important, think more about the future. Many other things should be changed but I think nothing will ever change, at least not in the next few centuries. Obama? Maybe a starting point, maybe not.
However, hope is the last to die and of course, the show must go on.

Another victim of the Italian judicial system

2008-11-09T13:11:00.017+01:00

Dear readers,
here it goes again. Another victim of the system. This is the testimony of a mother who has lost her son. I've watched the video and read the text of the interview, yet I still cannot believe it. A young man with no criminal record, arrested, locked up in a maximum-security prison without anyone being allowed to speak with him or contact him in any way. He died three days later. According to official sources, he committed suicide. I cannot believe that such things can happen in a country that claims to be democratic. The truth is, this is not a democratic country. Here's Ornella Gemini's report:

"My son was arrested in Cattolica on 19 June 2008. Since that day I was never again able to see him nor speak with him. He was arrested and when I was eventually allowed to see him, what I saw was an experience that I don’t wish on any mother! My son was arrested for an alleged offence and he was in protective custody. The word custody says it all! They should have given my son back to me standing on his own two feet, just as he was when they took him away. Instead, from the moment of his arrest, everything became more complicated and nothing was ever the same again. I was told that he had been arrested and taken to the Rimini prison, and that he was only transferred to the Sollicciano (FI) Prison the following day because they needed him there to be questioned by the magistrates. The first statement is false: my son was never in Rimini. My son was arrested and his first stopover in jail was in Sollicciano at 19h 45. He was arrested in Cattolica, having been called by the mother of the owner of the firm for which he worked because her son had been arrested the night before. She had asked him to go and see the attorney in order to find out what was happening.
My son, the one who was acting in total good faith, the one who made no attempt to escape, but went directly to this attorney in Cattolica, was arrested the moment he came downstairs and went through the door. From that moment on, he was allowed no further contact with his family. In the prison admission report from the Sollicciano prison, we see that he told them that he had an attorney and that he had telephoned his family, but I received no such telephone call from Sollicciano. It is also stated that his mother should be contacted in case of need or any other eventuality. In other words, me. Why then was I not contacted? I only found out about the events on the following day. I was told that he had been transferred. All good and well, and thus began the telephone calls putting pressure on me in an attempt to get me to change attorney. I tried to find out the name of the company’s attorney in order to find out what was going on because, at that moment, my entire world was collapsing around me! Everything was escaping me. So I telephoned the company’s attorney, a certain Mr. Marcolini, who was the person that had originally told me that Niki had been arrested, however, not even he knew anything. We had to wait for the police interrogation in order to find out precisely what my son was being accused of. I wanted to move to San Marino because I live in Avezzano, but the attorney told me: “No Madam, you won’t be allowed to see him or speak to him in any event because he has been placed in solitary confinement for three days”. Therefore, we would only be able to find out precisely what he had been charged with on Monday morning, once he had been questioned. Meanwhile, pressure was being put on me to change attorney, but I refused, asking “Why?” By that Sunday I couldn’t stand it any longer. I went to the attorney’s office, spoke with him and I mentioned the fact that perhaps a telegram should be sent to Niki, suggesting that he change attorney. Marcolini told me not to worry about it because when a prisoner is in solitary confinement, he is not even able to receive telegrams. Why, instead, was another telegram delivered to him? A telegram that I only got to see a few days ago (November 2008 - Ed). It stated that: “You must appoint attorney so and so..” Must! It was an order. Well, during those three days my son changed his attorney, appointing the one whose name appeared in the telegram. Meanwhile, Marcolini had been recused.During the course of the interrogation, this new attorney came down and told me that, at that time, Niki should exercise his right to say nothing, just as the others had done but, instead, he was talking. The attorneys I had brought along left at this point, while I stood around waiting outside. After a while I saw the armoured Police van moving in to pick up my son and I ran toward the vehicle. All I wanted was to see my son. We understood each other perfectly and a single glance would have been enough. I wanted to say to him: “Don’t worry Niki, I’m here”. However, those officers in the police van pushed me away with needless violence. They told me: “Go away, otherwise we’ll arrest you too, you must remain at least twenty metres away from the police van”. Then I saw my son exit the building, he turned towards me and they proceeded to turn his head the other way. Who had they arrested? A 26-year old young man with no criminal record! He had never before been in trouble with the law. Never! This was the first time ever! What would have been so bad about allowing him to look at me? This was the last glance we ever exchanged. I then waited for this new attorney, a woman, and I asked her: “What did Niki say? What happened?” She answered me as follows: “Niki wanted to talk, stating that he wanted to collaborate because he wanted to get out of there. So I let him talk. I asked him to explain to me precisely what was going on”. She then said: “Madam, I need to examine the case since I was only appointed the other day …”. That was precisely what the company attorneys that I had spoken to told me would happen. Clearly she could not have known this … I also had some clothes to take to the prison because Niki had taken nothing with him. I again appealed to the lady attorney saying: “try to see whether I can speak to him even just for a moment and even with you present, I don’t care how. I also have some clothes for him”. The attorney tried her best, however, I found out that 48-hours notice had to be given even for the clothes to be accepted in a super-prison. My question is WHY? Why was my son taken to a super-prison? First offence, no previous criminal record. There is no way that my son would have committed suicide in any event, but even less so without leaving me something in writing. Nothing makes any sense here! If this was such a major investigation, precisely what role did the telephone service providers play in this matter? Why were they never mentioned? They are mentioned in the arrest warrant. In addition to the Internet sites, a job that my son was very good at, he had also been involved in the deals with the telephone service providers. But how come their names were never even mentioned in the newspapers? And why was no application submitted for a rogatory to be held in San Marino? In other words, I go into a thief’s house, I arrest the thief but I don’t bother to look for the loot. Does this seem right to you? The rogatory was necessary in order to seize the computers that could perhaps help to explain precisely what was actually going on. Why did this not happen? Twenty days after my son’s death, I sent my husband and my brother-in-law to talk to the owner of the apartment in San Marino where my son had been living. It turned out that the apartment had been totally cleared out. Not even a single one of my son’s socks was left behind. I was not even able to lay my hands on something that smelled of my son. So, who was it that was so keen to clear out that apartment? Perhaps the seventeen other people arrested, whose situation could have been aggravated? Or perhaps someone who was afraid that they could land up in jail because of the information stored on those computers? They disappeared with everything! Everything! I didn’t even get back the keys to my own house. How am I supposed to defend him? How am I supposed to try to make head or tail of what happened when I have nothing left? What am I supposed to do? Please help me, I can’t do it alone! The person that sent the telegram and the person that burgled the apartment, do we know who they were working for? It costs very little to arrange these things. What I want to know is who gave the order to get my son to change attorney. Who gave the order to have the apartment cleared. I want to know who is behind it all! We cannot keep hiding behind monsters speaking of names. Are there any existing recordings of tapped telephone conversations? When a telephone call goes from one number to another, it means that there are two people speaking on the line. If you and I talk to each other, then why am I the only one that gets arrested? Nevertheless, by mid July these excellent suspects were still at work, doing precisely what they had done before. My son, instead, has been lying under two metres of soil since 24 June. The Solliciano prison medical officer, Doctor Franco Corleone, stated in an interview with La Repubblica that he had spoken with the prison governor who, in turn, had told him that just after the exercise period – and here it is important to understand the timing because the exercise period lasts from nine-thirty to ten-thirty – when my son had just made use of the opportunity to grab a breath of fresh air, he had then, according to the official verdict of suicide, gone back to the bathroom and hung himself. In that same interview, Franco Corleone added that: “You know, Niki had already shown signs of psychological collapse when he changed attorneys”. Dear Doctor Corleone, that was no sign of psychological collapse. He was ordered to change attorney. He would not have done so of his own accord. What did Doctor Franco Corleone say to the prison governor? Why did the autopsy show that death had occurred at 10, while the “118” emergency services were only called out at 11:15. Does that mean that you could have saved him? Could he have been saved? Believe me, absolutely nothing tallies! The prison gave me the archived records, but I ask myself, how can you archive something when nothing tallies? Just the day before his death, my son had asked to be placed in a cell with other Italian inmates, preferably non-violent ones. What does this tell you? Did he want to stay alive or not? In my opinion he did, otherwise he would have said “Put me with whomever you wish”. I know precisely what he would have done had he really wanted to commit suicide. The statements made by Niki’s two cellmates also don’t tally. One apparently asked the other: “Where is Niki?” and the other apparently answered: “He went out for some exercise”. In the other cellmate’s deposition, in response to the same question, he answers: “Niki went to the bathroom to wash his clothes”. I have to ask myself precisely where Niki actually was? Furthermore, there is also another statement from one of the prison warders, in which he states that: “Niki spoke to me. He appeared to be quite relaxed. He asked me “When are they going to question me again?” according to the warder, this questioning session took place at 10. The exact time that my son apparently died. I have to ask myself when exactly did this warder talk to my son? And where, because it is not specified? I appeal to all you journalists out there. Don’t concern yourselves with the idiotic news reports that we hear on a daily basis on the television, rather act like serious journalists. Stick your heads into these prisons. Reading through the “Prison Information” booklet, I discovered that all sorts of things can and do happen during the exercise period, since all of the cells are open and inmates have access to cells other than their own. My son was supposedly in custody. Who was looking after him? "

Ornella Gemini

Source:
● Niki is no longer with us by Ornella Gemini for Beppe Grillo's Blog, 9th November 2008

Cittadini non si nasce, si diventa

2008-10-23T11:41:00.011+02:00

Cari lettori,
ecco il primo articolo in italiano! Come si diventa cittadini? Lo si è dalla nascita, lo si diventa automaticamente quando si fa la carta d'identità, lo si impara? Chi ce lo insegna? Cittadini non si nasce, si diventa: questo è il titolo di un articolo sul sito del giornale 'La Stampa' scritto da Michael Walzer, filosofo della politica americano, in cui lui parla dei tre principali requisiti da inserire nel curriculum di tutte le scuole in ogni paese affinché gli studenti possano diventare buoni cittadini in un stato democratico.

Michael Walzer, filosofo della politica americano, inaugura oggi a Asti il Master in Civic Education con la Lezione magistrale «Sull’educazione del cittadino» di cui pubblichiamo un’ampia sintesi. Frutto della collaborazione tra il James Madison Program dell’Università di Princeton e Ethica, il Master è diretto da Maurizio Viroli. Ha lo scopo di diffondere la coscienza civica, la cui nozione, in Italia e in Europa, sembra agli organizzatori assai critica. Il Master intende anche promuovere la conoscenza dei valori e della cultura americani.

Immaginate un paese moderno, come il mio e come il vostro, che sia diviso in materia culturale, religiosa, ideologica ed economica. Che tipo di educazione civica dovrebbero fornire le scuole statali e le università di questo paese? Voglio concentrarmi qui solo su questioni concernenti l’educazione politica. Che cosa devono sapere gli studenti che voteranno alle «nostre» elezioni, dove il riferimento del pronome è semplicemente l’insieme dei cittadini adulti?

Ci sono, credo, tre requisiti curriculari di importanza critica, che valgono tanto per le scuole pubbliche quanto per quelle religiose.

Il primo requisito probabilmente può essere meglio soddisfatto al livello delle scuole superiori, perché implica qualcosa di simile a quanto si usava chiamare «educazione civica». Gli studenti hanno bisogno di imparare una scienza politica pratica della democrazia; hanno bisogno di un corso dove si studino il funzionamento quotidiano dei ministeri di governo, delle assemblee rappresentative, delle corti, dei partiti, dei movimenti sociali e così via. Questa è la parte meno controversa dell’educazione democratica. Ciò nonostante, v’è un importante lavoro educativo da fare qui: insegnare agli studenti a pensare se stessi come futuri partecipanti nell’attività politica, non meramente come spettatori bene informati. E siccome lo spettacolo è spesso tutt’altro che edificante e invitante, gli insegnanti devono evidenziare come il sistema democratico non sia mai chiuso, il suo carattere non sia mai deciso una volta per tutte. Nonostante tutte le rigidezze burocratiche, ci sono sempre delle opportunità per persone con idee nuove o diverse. Gli studenti dovrebbero essere incoraggiati a sperimentare le dottrine politiche, e si dovrebbe insegnare loro come discuterle davanti ai loro pari e all’interno di specifici ambiti istituzionali.

Secondo, gli studenti hanno bisogno di studiare la storia delle istituzioni e delle pratiche democratiche dall’antica Grecia in avanti, e parallelamente devono imparare e misurarsi con la preferenza di vari gruppi religiosi per forme di governo non democratiche. Forse insegnanti in scuole con molti studenti cattolici, ebrei o musulmani cercheranno modi per naturalizzare la democrazia all’interno di tradizioni che sono state nei fatti ostili ad essa, ma io sarei per favorire un confronto onesto con le forme di governo - di re o preti o saggi religiosi - preferite dalla religione. Dopo tutto, la democrazia è una cultura della critica e del dissenso. Ci sono vari modi per aiutare gli studenti a sentirsi a casa propria in una società democratica, e la pretesa che tutti ci abbiamo da sempre vissuto non è necessariamente la migliore. Certamente non è il modo più onesto, e i giovani generalmente riconoscono e rifuggono la disonestà. Ciò detto, non penso che sia sbagliato raccontare la storia cattolica, ebrea o musulmana in una versione che metta in rilievo i possibili punti di accesso ad un’intesa democratica. Ma si deve anche raccontare la storia greca e soffermarsi sui momenti genuinamente formativi nella storia della democrazia.

Il terzo requisito è a mio parere il più importante: un corso sulla filosofia o la teoria politica della forma di governo democratica, dove si rivedano criticamente tutti gli argomenti standard. Ciò ovviamente dovrebbe includere discussioni sugli ordinamenti costituzionali, ma il fulcro dovrebbe essere sulle pratiche e le attitudini che costituiscono una cultura politica democratica: l’eguaglianza dei cittadini (così degli uomini come delle donne), la loro libertà di parola e associazione, il diritto all’opposizione, la tolleranza per il dissenso, l’esigenza (alle volte) di compromessi, uno scetticismo rispetto all’autorità e così di seguito. Queste, naturalmente, sono le pratiche e le attitudini in una democrazia liberale, ma in questo caso l’aggettivo non qualifica bensì semplicemente rinforza il sostantivo; dubito che una democrazia illiberale possa mantenere a lungo l’eguaglianza, l’inclusione, e il diritto all’opposizione che sono caratteristiche necessarie della politica democratica. Il modo migliore di insegnare queste pratiche e attitudini è esemplificarle in classe: così, i testi teorici nei quali la democrazia è stata spiegata e difesa (o criticata) dovrebbero essere studiati democraticamente, con una discussione libera, una ricerca aperta a qualsiasi interpretazione, un’idea del carattere sempre incompiuto del progetto democratico. Gli argomenti non dovrebbero mai essere ridotti ad un catechismo, in special modo non ai fini dell’esame finale.

Sebbene le nostre scuole e università pubbliche non possano insegnare teologia cristiana (tranne che, diciamo, in un corso sulla filosofia della religione), esse possono insegnare teoria democratica liberale. Costituzionalmente si tratta di un’attività permessa. Ma a me sembra un’attività politicamente e moralmente necessaria, perché gli studenti stanno per diventare cittadini attivi, e presto prenderanno decisioni di importanza capitale che determineranno la qualità, e forse anche la sicurezza fisica, della nostra vita comune. L’educazione di ciascun giovane incide su ogni altro giovane. Stante il processo decisionale democratico, i figli di genitori religiosi, i figli di politici settari, contribuiranno a decidere il destino dei miei figli e dei vostri. Non ci sono esenzioni possibili, a meno che una comunità religiosa non opti per sottrarsi del tutto dalla condizione di cittadinanza e adotti lo status di stranieri residenti. Forse dovremmo permetterlo, ma non vedo ragione per permettere a futuri cittadini di evitare o sfuggire un’educazione alla cittadinanza. La posta in gioco è troppo alta.

Pensate alla cittadinanza come a un incarico politico: senza dubbio, i futuri incaricati dovrebbero imparare qualcosa sulle responsabilità che l’incarico comporta. O meglio, coloro che occupano l’incarico adesso dovrebbero insegnare alla generazione successiva ciò che credono di aver imparato a proposito di quelle responsabilità. Questo perché la riproduzione di una politica democratica non è mai cosa certa. Dobbiamo dimostrare ai nostri ragazzi che veramente crediamo nei valori che rendono possibile la democrazia. Ciò significa innanzitutto che dobbiamo vivere alla luce di quei valori; significa altresì che non dovremmo avere paura di insistere sul loro studio. Per ragioni molto sensate, la cittadinanza, diversamente dalla professione medica o legale, non richiede una licenza; gli studenti non necessitano di una promozione in politica democratica. Ma certamente dovrebbero seguire il corso.

Tratto da:
● Cittadini non si nasce, si diventa di Michael Walzer su La Stampa, 23 Ottobre 2008

The story of stuff

2008-10-21T18:34:00.009+02:00

Dear readers,
I'd like to recommend a website: The story of stuff. Here you can listen to a presentation about material economy: how we produce stuff, where it comes from, how we deal with it and where it goes after we throw it away. It's very interesting because it reveals what really happens along the way. The speaker, Annie Leonard, goes through the main stages: extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. From one phase to the other, she adds all the information that we need to have, all the things that nobody talks about, she adds the truth. Here are some facts that she mentions in the presentation:

• In the past three decades, one-third of the planet’s natural resources base have been consumed.
• In the United States, we have less than 4% of our original forests left.
• Forty percent of waterways in the US have become undrinkable.
• The U.S.has 5% of the world’s population but consumes 30% of the world’s resources and creates 30% of the world’s waste.
• If everybody consumed at U.S. rates, we would need 3 to 5 planets.
• There are over 100,000 synthetic chemicals in commerce today.
• Only a handful of synthetic chemicals have even been tested for human health impacts and NONE have been tested for synergistic health impacts.
• In the U.S., industry admits to releasing over 4 billion pounds of toxic chemicals a year.
• The average U.S. person now consumes twice as much as they did 50 years ago.
• We each see more advertisements in one year than a people 50 years ago saw in a lifetime.
• In the U.S. our national happiness peaked sometime in the 1950s.
• In the U.S., we spend 3–4 times as many hours shopping as our counterparts in Europe do.
• Average U.S. house size has doubled since the 1970s.
• Each person in the United States makes 4 1/2 pounds of garbage a day. That is twice what we each made thirty years ago.
• For every one garbage can of waste you put out on the curb, 70 garbage cans of waste were made upstream to make the junk in that one garbage can you put out on the curb.

Go and watch the presentation and use this information to improve your life and the world around you. Pass the word.

Kann man die Sprache einfach so ändern?

2008-10-11T17:18:00.020+02:00

Hallo zusammen,
hier ist mein erster Eintrag auf Deutsch! Ich frage mich: kann man wirklich die Sprache einfach ändern? Die Deutschen haben es schon zweimal gemacht. Ihr denkt: WAS?! Blödsinn. Doch: Mit zwei Rechtschreibungreformen. Und jetzt will ein Professor noch etwas in der Sprache ändern: er will Deutsche anders zählen lassen. Ein Beispiel: 21 = twenty-one. Auf Deutsch: einundzwanzig. Nee. Für diesen Professor soll es "zwanzigeins" ausgesprochen werden. Lesen wir mal...

Das Problem kennt jeder: Man tippt die sechsstellige Nummer ins Telefon, doch statt Tante Erna meldet sich am anderen Ende eine wildfremde Stimme. „Oh, falsch verbunden“, murmelt man, doch das Display zeigt, dass nicht das längst ausgestorbene Fräulein vom Amt Schuld ist sondern wieder mal ein Zahlendreher. Die leisten sich die Bundesbürger auch im modernen Zahlungsverkehr mit bundesweit allein sieben Milliarden Banküberweisungen im Jahr sehr viel häufiger als viele andere Völker. Der Grund: Die Deutschen sprechen im Computerzeitalter mehrstellige Zahlen noch immer so verdreht aus wie ihre Altvordern, die mit Kerbhölzern rechneten. Das will der Verein „Zwanzigeins“ ändern – und kämpft um Aufklärung.
„Das Problem, warum wir 'einundzwanzig' sagen, aber 'zwanzigeins' schreiben, ist 500 Jahre alt“, sagt der Vereinsvorsitzende und Bochumer Mathematikprofessor Lothar Gerritzen. Damals, im Jahr 1482, wurden die arabischen Ziffern erstmals in die deutsche Schriftsprache aufgenommen, und es wurde zudem empfohlen, sie von links nach rechts auszusprechen, wie im Arabischen oder Lateinischen auch: Etwa die Zahl 21 als „zwentzigeins“, heißt es im ersten deutschen „Rechenbuch“ von Jakob Köbel.
Dass Köbel sich jedoch nicht durchsetzte, lag auch an Martin Luther, der, dem Volk aufs Maul schauend, in seiner Bibelübersetzung bei der üblichen deutschen Sprechweise blieb. Die war wiederum vor 4000 Jahren entstanden: Mangels Ziffern ritzten die Indogermanen damals Zeichen in ein Kerbholz: Immer zunächst die Einerzahl – ein Strich für eine Eins, zwei Striche für eine Zwei und so weiter – und dann erst die Zehner – jeweils ein X als Symbol gekreuzter Hände für eine Zehn. Das Zeichen IXX wurde deshalb als einundzwanzig gelesen.
In den vergangenen 500 Jahren haben zwar immer wieder Schriftsteller und Mathematiker auf das Problem der verdrehten Zahlenaussprache hingewiesen. Doch sie scheiterten allesamt an einer Obrigkeit die, wie auch im Fall von Gerritzens Verein, auf Änderungswünsche eher unwirsch reagiert. So wie das hessische Kultusministerium in einen Antwortschreiben an ein Vereinsmitglied: „Sehr geehrter Herr... Ich glaube nicht, dass es sinnvoll ist, die Benennung von Zahlen in der deutschen (oder einer anderen) Sprache mit den Kategorien der Logik zu messen. Die Zahl 15 heißt im Deutschen nun einmal 'fünfzehn' und nicht 'zehnfünf'. Niemand kann dies beliebig ändern“.
Allerdings führte Norwegen wegen volkswirtschaftlicher Probleme mit der verdreht-germanischen Zahlensprechweise in Schulbüchern schon 1951 die logisch korrekte Sprechweise ein. Heute sind die Kerbholzzähler in ganz Skandinvien zumindest in der Geschäfts-, Bank- und Postsprache in der Minderheit. Hierzulande müssen sich dagegen mehr als fünf Millionen Legastheniker und Dyskalkuliker sowie unzählige Schüler ohne besondere Lese- und Rechenschwäche damit quälen, dass sie beim Hören der Zahl 84356 von der zweiten Ziffer zur ersten springen müssen, dann zur dritten, zur fünften, um mit der vierten zu enden. „Dass das überhaupt funktioniert, ist verblüffend“, sagt Mathematik-Professor Gerritzen.
Leicht fällt das vielen Schülern nicht. Josef Kraus, Vorsitzender des Deutschen Lehrerverbands, weiß zu berichten, dass selbst Abiturienten beim Hören einer dreistelligen Zahl erst links den Hunderterwert schreiben, dann eine Lücke lassen, um rechts den Einer zu notiern und danach die Lücke mit dem Zehnerwert füllen. Vor allem türkischstämmige Schüler, die in ihrer Muttersprache „richtig“ zählen, haben Probleme mit der verkehrten deutschen Zahlenwelt.
Karlsruhe Dort, bei Schülern und Lehrern, trifft Gerritzen, der nun das Buch „zwanzigeins“ herausgegeben hat, auch am ehesten auf offene Ohren. Die Wald-Schule in Bochum hat nach seinen Angaben die unverdrehte Sprechweise inzwischen in den Unterricht eingeführt. Und zu einem unlängst von Gerritzen gehaltenen Vortrag seien mehr als 500 Lehrer und Schüler geströmt. „Es wird aber noch mindestens 25 Jahre dauern, bis sich was ändert“ befürchtet Gerritzen. Dann wäre der Mathematiker neunzigzwei Jahre alt.
Quelle:
● Mathematik: Professor will Deutsche anders zählen lassen von Jürgen Oeder für Welt Online, 6. Oktober 2008

Laptops instead of text books at school

2008-10-09T18:35:00.014+02:00

Dear readers,
here is some interesting news. Honestly, I'm very suprised to see that it comes from Italy. A primary school in Turin has decided to use computers instead of books for its pupils for a year.

Pupils at a school in Italy are replacing all their text books with computers for a year - in what is being described as a unique experiment. More than 60 children - aged between eight and 10 - at Turin's Don Milani school will be using mini laptops with the full curriculum. Their access to the internet will be controlled by special software. The experiment, which is backed by parents, aims to test how a computer alone can improve the learning process.

Until Wednesday, the Don Milani di Rivoli elementary school was like any other in Italy. Children turned up, got out their books and pens and began the process of learning. But now, 60 fifth grade pupils and a number of third graders will start using computers only.
The mini laptops, which run Windows software, weigh less than a kilogram, can be dropped from a height of one-and-a-half metres and are waterproof. Instead of spending the equivalent of $700 (£400) a year on books, the laptops, built by the Italian company Olidata, cost less than $400 (£228).
Source:
● Italy pupils ditch books for PCs by Duncan Kennedy for BBC News, Wednesday 8th October 2008

Italy: the nightmare goes on

2008-08-14T07:28:00.002+02:00

Hi everybody,
the police state in Italy goes on.

They killed another innocent, a guy who was 80% mentally disabled. Allegedly, he had thrown crackers at a girl, injuring her. There are no crackers, there is no girl. Listen to his mother describing what happened :

Giuliana Rasman

here's the text in English:

Interview in English

They broke into his flat and beat the hell out of him, tortured him using barbed wire as well. When other investigators went into the flat, they found blood stains everywhere. It seems they had even used a chair to beat him.

It turns out, police knew him: they had already beat him once, when a neighbour called them because he was listening to radio and it was too loud.

The policemen have been acquitted. Of course. You cannot trust police, let alone the judicial system.

SHAME ON THEM

Italy

2008-03-26T12:45:00.009+01:00

You probably think that Italy is a wonderful country, you want to go there to spend some time at the seaside, visit some very nice towns and cities, have fun. Please, take time to see what also happens in Italy, that probably you've never seen before:

G8:FILMATI SU VIOLENZA SCONVOLGENTE DELLE"FORZE DELL'ORDINE"

Police attack aged people nearby Naple (Pustarza)

The blog's interviews: Roberta Radici

The blog's interviews: truth for Federico

Napoli - Italia - EuroNews - No Comment

G8 Genua, Bolzaneto: interviews

I want to express my disgust and my anger towards the police state in Italy.

Shame on them.

Italy is and has always been a wonderful country, but this government, these policemen, this system are destroying it. The government is full of criminals and uses violence against their own citizens.

As for the criminals in the government, here's a detailed list:

If you know them, you avoid them

The file is in Italian but you can easily see the names sorted by the parties they belong to.

Always look for the correct information. It can save your life.

V2 Day, 25th April 2008 Free information in a free state.

"... let's make this a better world... " Toto

Right to vote

2008-03-24T22:24:00.008+01:00

This is the appeal that many Italian citizens are going to send to all the Italian Ambassadors and Consuls in the world and to the candidates for the national and foreign constituency at the Italian political elections on 13th – 14th April 2008 :

Appeal
Right to vote
for all Italian citizens:
yes or no?

From the Italian Constitution (title IV, Political affairs, art. 48):

"All citizens, men or women, who have attained their majority are entitled to vote.Voting is personal, equal, free, and secret. Its exercise is a civic duty.The law defines the procedures and conditions under which the citizens residing abroad effectively exercise their electoral right. To this end, a constituency of Italians abroad is established for the election of the Chambers, to which a fixed number of seats is assigned by constitutional law in accordance with criteria determined by law. The right to vote may not be limited except for incapacity, as a consequence of an irrevocable criminal sentence, or in cases of moral unworthiness established by law."

According to the Italian constitution the Italian citizens should be put in the condition to exercise their electoral right. In fact, the Italian citizens who are temporarily abroad or far from their electoral office are not in the condition of doing it because the law doesn’t ensure their rights effectively.

The Italian citizens who reside permanently abroad can exercise their voting rights only if they are registered with the AIRE (register of the Italian citizens living abroad). An exception is provided only for a few groups of citizens temporarily abroad like university professors away for at least six months, employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the military and sailors in temporary service abroad.
People who study and work abroad temporarily are not taken into consideration, even if their number is higher than that of the ones who are actually considered by the law.

Thus
They restrict, not ensure, the right to vote of
a good number of electors.

In the political crisis that has led to the calling of the elections, which will take place in less than two months, many Italians won’t be able to return to their country in time to vote.
Many head offices of companies with branches abroad do not grant their employees days off to go back to their countries to vote, because in many countries inside and outside the EU it’s now possible to exercise the electoral right by post.

Even in case one would like to go to Italy, the transportation costs, totally at the voter’s expense, are very high and bound up to the laws of market (since the calling of the elections for the 13th – 14th April, the prices of international flights to Italy have clearly increased and the number of flights is definitely not enough to let all people go back).

Even if one tried to solve this problem by registering with AIRE, it wouldn’t be possible to vote at the next elections. Actually, only people who have been registered for a couple of months can exercise their right to vote.

In the last years, the number of Italian people temporarily abroad has increased considerably due to the rise of free circulation within the EU countries. The significant growth of bureaucratic procedures that the Italian embassies have to go through is evidence for that.

In consideration of all that, we ask the Consular Representatives and the Candidates for the foreign constituency for the next political elections on 13th – 14th April 2008:

· To take upon themselves such a legislative void and the ineffectiveness of the article 48 of the Italian Constitution;
· To promote the voting by post as a right / duty for all citizens just like it is done in other EU countries with easy and efficient mechanisms (notice of one’s will to vote by post, the retrieval of the kit at the national post offices or at the embassy, the production of a simple identification paper during the voting procedures);

· To take upon themselves and speak for the problem at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and at other Italian institutions; to promote temporary and short-term solutions for Italian citizens who are temporarily abroad to exercise their voting rights for the coming political elections at the local consulates, producing a valid identification paper.

· To promote the registration with the AIRE at the consulates for the citizens who are abroad for a short period of time regardless of the reason for their stay as in many countries of the EU and to broaden and rethink the role and the duties of the consular offices

The Beppe Grillo International Meetup Network

Poem

2008-02-18T11:48:00.002+01:00

Hi everybody,

here's a poem that I wrote a long time ago. I hope you like it:

LIFE

Life is real.

I can see it in your eyes,

when you cry

without hope.

I can see it in your face,

when you smile

with so much joy.

I can feel it in my heart,

when I hear

nothing but the cry

of a hopeless child.

Do we understand the meaning of life ?

Do we shout for fear ?

Do we laugh for joy ?

Do we really care

for our children,

for their future

in this cruel world

full of demons ?

Am I a demon ?

Life is real,

too real,

so real that sometimes

I want to put an end to it,

but I can’t,

because if I do it,

I will lose the only thing I have.

We must live !

We must live

to teach and to learn,

to hear and to talk,

to laugh and to cry,

to stay and to walk,

to love and to hate.

Hamlet said

that the question

was to be or not to be.

I think

that the question

is to be,

full stop.

9/11 part 2: a possible scenario and links

2008-02-08T15:06:00.004+01:00

After all the research I have done, I feel sick and tired. Sick and tired of all the lies that we have been told, of all the games they have played to make us believe their story. People have been paid to lie, to write misleading reports, to find nonexistent evidence. I wonder how they can sleep at night, knowing that 3000 people died on that day. I hope they can't.

Long before 11th September 2001, the government of the USA heard about some plans to hijack planes and fly them into buildings, including the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. It's probably at that time that some people decided to let it happen because they wanted to make war. They had already tried but in vain: after a terrorist attack against the United States, they had asked the Congress to declare a war against the terrorists, but it had not been possible, because it seems not enough people had died in the attack. (When I heard this, it sent shivers down my spine.)

They allowed the terrorists to come into America and they kept an eye on them. They got the details of the plan and of course they knew that the Twin Towers wouldn’t have collapsed after being hit by airplanes, they needed to have more. Moreover, they decided to change the plan about the Pentagon: the terrorists would hijack the plane, then they would take over the mission.

First of all, they had to come up with a plan for the Twin Towers: to pull them down completely they needed to plant charges in both buildings. Probably, they did it little by little, taking advantage of emergency drills, maintenance work, etc. The weekend before the attack they ended the job.

They also had to develop a plan for the Pentagon. They had to think of something that would confuse people so much that they couldn’t understand what had really happened. Here it’s very difficult to say what they may have come up with, because it’s really a mystery. Finally, what happened to the fourth plane? Well, there’s no way the terrorists could have hit the White House so they pulled it down.

There were some people who had to be informed, so that the plan could run smoothly: some people at FAA had to have known about it, that’s why NORAD was informed 20 minutes after they got to know that Flight 11 had been hijacked. Moreover, the pilots never got clear indications or orders about what they had to do or where the planes were. I believe some of the recordings that have been published may be just fakes.

The most important thing for the perpetrators was to create a lot of confusion so that it would be very difficult to find out and explain what really happened. Furthermore, they knew that the event would cause so much shock that nobody would want to talk about it or look further into it.

Let's go step by step: on the morning of 11^th September 2001 four planes were hijacked and two of them were flown into the World Trade Center in New York. Possibly, some people knew about the plan and managed to stop all actions to prevent it by omitting and hiding information, organizing other military exercises and so on. Some other people were waiting for the planes at the different targets (World Trade Centre and Pentagon). The ones at the World Trade Centre were probably inside Bulding 7, waiting for the order to “pull”, which in technical jargon means to demolish, to detonate the charges inside the Twin Towers. I don't know if there is a relationship between the highest point reached by the firefighters in both towers and the time of collapse, but if there is, well, both towers collapsed exactly when or just after the firefighters reached the impact floors. In the south tower we know it for sure from the radio communications between the firemen and the command point, in the north tower we know that at about 10:00 the firefighters had already reached the 60^th floor, so when the tower collapsed they had probably already reached the impact floors. As there is no tape of the communications inside Tower 1, we don't know exactly when they reached it, and neither did the persecutors. There is enough evidence (video and audio) to prove that there were bombs in the buildings and that it was a careful and well planned controlled demolition. Building 7 had to be demolished as well, of course.

What about the Pentagon? What we know is that no Boeing 757 hit the Pentagon that day, that’s quite clear, but then, where did United 77 go? What hit the building? According to some evidence and some witnesses it seems that there were two planes going towards the Pentagon before the explosion, one from the right and one from the left. It's very difficult to develop a theory, but anyway I think that United 77 actually flew over the Pentagon and that some other plane, possibly a military one, launched a missile that hit the building. This is for different reasons: to create confusion among the witnesses and to make sure everything went as planned. The other plane then maybe followed United 77 to pull it down. Mind you, it was a matter of seconds so I think we'll never find anybody who actually saw the whole thing because who saw one plane never saw the other one because they were coming from two different, almost opposite directions and because everything happened too fast.

There's another idea about 9/11 and that is even more terrible: the planes were never actually hijacked, they were just flown somewhere else where they were destroyed. The planes which hit the three targets were military planes. This idea is supported by some people I heard in a few videos online. There are two main points it is based on: the first is that it seems some of the hijackers have been found alive in some Middle Eastern countries. It seems the BBC even managed to interview one of them. The second idea is that some people are said to have made some phone calls from the hijacked planes using their mobile phones but according to experts, it's not possible to use a mobile phone from a plane, especially from such high altitudes. So who made those phone calls? Moreover, I found out that in 2004 two big companies, American Airlines and Qualcomm, announced the development of a new wireless technology which would allow at some future date airline passengers using their cell phones to contact family and friends from a commercial aircraft. So the passengers on 11^th September 2001 were just lucky to get the line? We don't know what happened to the people on those four planes and maybe we will never know.

Well, this is what I think may have happened. All the information I have included comes from interviews, reports, videos and documentaries about 9/11. They are all available online.

http://911research.wtc7.net
http://www.ae911truth.org
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org
http://www.911docs.net (here you'll find all the videos about 9/11 of any kind)
http://journalof911studies.com
http://killtown.911review.org
http://www.fema.gov/rebuild/mat/wtcstudy.shtm and http://wtc.nist.gov/reports_october05.htm (the two official reports by NIST and FEMA)
http://www.9-11commission.gov/ (the national commission report)
http://www.studyof911.com/
http://www.mishalov.com/11_Sept_01.html
http://www.chiefengineer.org/article.cfm?seqnum1=1029
http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/fdny_dispatches.htm
http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/pa-transcripts/
http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/article.jsp?sectionId=46&id=44026 (the audio files of the firehouse and emergency communications)
http://911review.com/articles/griffin/nyc1.html#_edn58
http://www.stj911.org
http://www.earth-citizens.net/english.html
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/met_WTC_histories_full_01.html (all firefighters' interviews)
http://911research.wtc7.net/essays/nist/index.html
http://www.jerseyshoretoday.com/archive/day_that_changed_america.htm
http://arabesque911.blogspot.com/
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/wrh_9-11_index.html

9/11

2008-01-13T16:42:00.007+01:00

This is the first time that I express my feelings and thoughts openly on the Internet. I feel I have to do it now, I feel the need to express my feelings to the world about the terrible events that shocked the world some years ago. Here is my story:

In the morning of 11th September 2001 I guess I went to university like every other day. At the time I was writing my final thesis, so first I went to a library to read some material then after lunch I went to another university building to go on writing, as I used to do at that time.
While I was working at my thesis, I heard two students talking about NATO planes, but I guess I didn't pay attention to that. At a certain time, possibly around 5 p.m., I left the place and later at 7 I went to take the bus to go back home. That's when I first heard of the attack. I didn't actually hear of the attack itself. You know, after so many hours they possibly took for granted that everybody knew about it and they gave a complete summary only in the 8 o'clock news. Anyway, what they said shocked me: they were saying that tens of thousands of people may have died in the attack, talking about a war. Soon they put music on and I was very curious to know what had happened.
When I arrived home, if I remember well my mother heard me taking out the key as she was standing next to the door and she opened it for me. I'll never forget the expression on her face. I asked her if the third world war had broken out and she answered: “Worse Andrew, this is worse.”
I saw the first images of the attack and I couldn't believe my eyes. I was petrified. I believe I also cried the following days, watching the news, but I don't remember the thoughts that went through my mind or if spoke about it with family and friends. Anyway, I remember very clearly thinking that they were talking too much about it on TV. I also went to the cinema to see a documentary, in fact 11 short documentaries in one, about the reactions to 9/11. Some of them actually conveyed the same idea: that many other things were happening in the world, many other people were being killed in terrorist attacks around the world and all we talked about was 9/11.
For some time I never thought about what really happened on that day and the details of the attack, I guess my mind just refused to think about it. Then in 2003 I moved to Germany and while I was in a bookshop I noticed the “9/11 National Commission Report”. I hesitated for a minute but then I decided to buy it. I have to say that reading it changed my life. I was shocked by the information that the book contained about the events and decided to go on and do some research on the Internet. In the following months I visited hundreds of web pages, saw video clips, read reports. Sometimes it was heartbreaking. I must admit that at the beginning my research was not very well organized: it was chaotic and there was too much information, often unclear, but one thing was clear to see: the official explanation didn't make sense and contained many holes and contradictions. The best evidence against it were the videos of the attack themselves.
After all this research I've reached some conclusions: that the official version is a lie from start to finish and that the attack was an inside job. At the moment, I'm writing a detailed report about what I think really happened on that day and I'll publish it here very soon.