A dream in California

The United States of America, you know, are a country very contradictory, in which reality can also opposed each other for better or worse to live with. After a short trip in the most populous U.S. state, California, you can draw very superficially a list of pros and cons that you encounter in a city such as, for example, San Francisco: Island "happy" pacifism, environmentalism and human rights ("minorities" gay in the first place) very unusual in the American context.

Energy, Ireland is always greener

While Germany has just announced the closure of its nuclear program is irreversible, whereas in Japan are expected up to 400 thousand cases of cancer in the next 50 years to the catastrophe of Fukushima, while Italy is expected to see the outcome of the referendum the next 12 and June 13, in Ireland the issue of atomic energy does not arise.

The "Green Ireland" has never had a nuclear program. Indeed, along with Portugal, Austria, Norway, Greece, Denmark and Luxembourg has sided openly against this source of energy, preferring to aim, since time is not suspected, renewable sources. If the first wind farm in the country dates back to 1991, since 2002 the government established the Sustainable Energy Authority, the SEAI, which deals since then to transform Ireland into a society based entirely on environmental sustainability and energy.

The "Spanish Spring" will arrive in Italy?

"When you begin to say enough in Italy? When?!? "This is what a little 'time wonder many Italians, young and old. Among them is also Johanna, 29, a girl from the Trentino Alto Adige, which works in Valencia for more than a year. Johanna is experiencing first hand the so-called "Spanish Spring" and then, more than others, can not help but ask yourself this question, to desire the same "spring" for his country of origin.

Italian Revolution: the "European Spring"?

The wind of democracy blowing from Tahrir Square, Syria, Spain. And tomorrow in Italy, with appointments in the streets of many cities. Perhaps historians in the future, do not devote a single line of their tomes to Scilipoti. Rivers of ink will be paid instead on the Arab Spring, "the French Revolution" of the Arab world.

If you think about it, it's crazy: we are living the story in real time. For the first time in a protest calling for rights and democracy, is playing the "Third World" and extends to the first. There were those who said that Islamic culture was in itself incompatible with democracy. Far from it: the exploits of the Egyptians have already set an example for the countries of the West.

Slipping into the bottomless abyss of war

Call things by their name is an essential condition for not cheat yourself and others. In Libya there is an ongoing war, a civil war with foreign intervention (see behind the scenes interview with Lucio Caracciolo). Resolution No 1973 of the Security Council, which authorized the no-fly zone military intervention to protect civilians, already had several questions of legitimacy in itself, since it characterized as a threat to international peace a situation of evident internal scope, in contrast with art.

Born: uranium to Libya?

E 'from the first Gulf War that speaks of the terrible effects of depleted uranium projectiles. It's been more than 15 years since the scandal exploded with thousands of Iraq veterans who became ill and died. There was talk of Gulf War Syndrome. P or it was discovered that someone had the brilliant idea to dispose of the radioactive waste produced by nuclear power plants manufacturing armored bullets.

What a good show Parliament that works!

The Question Hour which is held regularly in the House of Commons in London, is an occasion when MPs of the United Kingdom may have a direct confrontation with members of the executive. It is a good idea of the British Parliament who think that government should be accountable for all policy and be prepared to justify it.

The Italian equivalent is the parliamentary questions. Generally, an empty ritual, a set of big words and concepts that are broadcast by Rai disconnected on Wednesday afternoon, where it is shown semi-deserted classroom in which the present doze or make believe, with poor results, to be interested in the discussion.

Moussa Koussi, Libya with love?

A spy, indeed, the spymaster of Gaddafi, can not bring a repeat mysteries. Since Moussa Koussi, until yesterday, Libyan Foreign Minister, and former intelligence chief Colonel in the late afternoon of Wednesday 30 has landed a surprise with a clearly non-scheduled air in the small English Farnborough Airport, all you do one question: has failed to cooperate with British authorities and the pro-rebel forces of the alliance? He came to dealing with his personal salvation, or perhaps even that of the Libyan leader? Of his own, turning his back to Gaddafi, as stated by an official of the Foreign Office, or rather "diplomatic mission", as argued by London in the very first time? Nobody, perhaps not even those directly involved, can currently give a definitive answer.

Libya, lean figure for all

In January, Libya has brought its share of shares in Finmeccanica 2 per cent and had outstanding € 800 million of contracts. And committed. L 'Ansaldo for two railway systems, which resulted in 16 Agusta helicopters and entered into joint venture with the Libyan government to assemble a new near Tripoli and then sell them all over the world, even though the law prohibits trading in '90 185 arms to countries at war and it is perfectly clear that he could take advantage of the Agusta-triangulation coverage offered by the Libyan state to export to areas of crisis and, finally, Selex Sistemi Integrati Marina Grossi in Guarguaglini that was making the electronic control of boundaries in southern Libya.

A reputation to maintain

La Dolce Vita, the largest exhibition of Italian products in the UK, will take 11 to 13 March, the Italian gastronomic traditions at the Business Design Centre in Islington (north-central district of London), trying to revive the image of ' Italy and to forget the scandals involving the prime minister.

In London the party's red-light Arcore are still among the hottest topics in pubs, bars or out of the office during lunch, but at the same time, a taboo for those who work with Italian companies. Gemma Bell and Charlie Gardiner, press officer and responsible for sponsorship of Single Market, the company organizing events that takes care of the fair along with the Italian Chamber of Commerce in London, after agreeing to an interview on the event, have literally gone to the time to answer the question whether the political scandals have had an impact sull'appeal of Italian brands in Britain.

The bread riots

There are those who had long foreseen what is happening today on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, the Bosnian writer Predrag Matvejevic, author of the Mediterranean. A new breviary and the recent Our Bread, both published by Garzanti. We met him for the readers of ilfattoquotidiano. com. "It 's been a failure - it hopes - even dozens of meetings with politicians and heads of state, then lectures, debates, in vain, I tried to warn, to understand how Europe' s own birth without his 'crib' Mediterranean.

The "perfect storm" of the world (Arabic)

Hillary Clinton on Feb. 5 said that in the Middle East could see a "perfect storm". Declaration of helplessness and waiting? Or if instead of Obama, quietly, decided and convinced the reluctant soldiers accustomed to the Bush doctrine the Pentagon that the war is done the old way of the Cold War, without ads, without spectacular deployments of troops, without ideologies of democracy and global exports of same in other cultures, but a change from below, from the underground in the sense of the riots, in silence, as before, with the CIA and funding to opposition groups and opinion, with covert and clandestine operations.

Learn the art and put it aside

It is now known that our country is light years away from the rich cultural and artistic splendor which have marked the course of history, and London, as well as being a destination for many Italians (and not) in search of employment, is now also a kind of focal point for art and culture. Bringing the term "art" out of conventional places such as museums, galleries, concert halls and the like, you realize immediately how you feel here a fair amount of freedom of expression at the level of all amateur who has something to say is free to do so and usually there is someone who listens.

Breastfeeding in a cafe in London

If you call a Facebook page "The leaking roof" (The Leaky @ B @ b) you can not expect to go unnoticed. Jessica Martin-Weber, in fact, if the view is shut in a jiffy by censorship of the social network for breach of the rules. Yet the intentions of the new mother could only be speaking of lactation, a subject that creates a few more in England line-up fronts.

On the one hand there is a reality: a third of British children cease to be fed breast milk after a week of life. Only a fifth of mothers still breastfeeding after six weeks and 7% of children are breastfed until the fourth month of life. These numbers bring into the UK in line with developed countries.

Africa: if not now, when?

The most exciting moment in its own way of the World Social Forum in Dakar broke out around 16:00 local Thursday, February 10, while the assembly of the peoples of the Maghreb intervention of an Egyptian boy, who arrived in Senegal stunned after 14 days of continuous presence in square in Cairo. In the days before the focus had been alerted by small processions sometimes walked the streets calling for the end of the campus for nearly three decades of dictatorship backed by the West.

Harmattan / 3

Wash and industry awareness of humanitarian aid. These are the key issues affecting the international cooperation. The first relates to the interventions from the bottom, the psychological attitude of the helpers, the trend superomistico, superiority. The second one covers interventions from above, major projects, the imposition of a development model that is not a real help, but in fact presupposes a relationship of subordination by the receiver.

Harmattan / 1

A documentary serials, free and available online once a week. It 's a project involving some work iK Productions, the independent production company that I founded and which I carry with Fulvio Nebbia. The idea is to give publicity to those who are normally self-produced works in the festival circuit and have no distribution to the general public.

And so, we start with this first episode (the other six will follow every Wednesday) of Harmattan. Filmed in Italy and Mali, Harmattan tells the journey of a delegation from the Italian network of supportive community that supports a decentralized cooperation project. In the documentary, we highlight all the contradictions of the Italians who are doing good in Africa realize the importance of small projects, agreed upon with the locals, the project beneficiaries.

Serving Silvio

The eminent Harvard professor was shocked. It 's a very mild Italian-American gentleman, happy, very busy with his work (helps torture survivors to heal from the trauma). E 'husband and father dovoto. "Berlusconi has damaged me beyond repair, it took me 50 years to explain to Americans of Italian origin that we are not the maniacs ...

we do not think that just touch the girls ass and try to pick up the young ones. And 'since I was kid that I have been fighting against stereotypes that haunt us Italian-Americans. I was opposed to those who consider us all a bit macho and 'pigs (pig-male chauvinist and' the exact wording, ed.) And there I was able ...

Never mind the whale

Yes! Never mind the whales, it is their fault if they are, they're too fat, and then if there is to do a trade secret bell'accordo with Japan, which go to hell 'sti environmentalists nag. So he must have thought the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in spite of its politically correct etiquette when he endorsed a wicked plot to resume sustainable hunting (now a few words are the slogan of coverage of the worst atrocities) to whales.