refusing to give up hope

Today I, a daughter of an Allied soldier, met with a friend, the daughter of a German soldier, to plan our peace work for next year, the 65th anniversary of the the end of the Battle of Cassino.

We work with veteran soldiers and youth, to commemorate and reconcile, to remember and to educate. We bring together the soldiers and the civilians. It is a small thing, perhaps, but surely it is worth doing?

Our blog may seem a small thing, but surely it is worth doing too?

Many people read, but do not write. That is the way of the world. We don't know if we have planted a small seed somewhere, and will not be able to watch that seed grow. But we must have hope,and peace and hope are not empty words to me.

Starting again, but from where?

The idea of this blog was born months ago with a specific purpose: education for a culture of peace.

It wanted to be a virtual place where the wonderful people who believe and are committed in their daily lives to seeing a different world emerge could meet and discuss to find the best way to achieve common objectives. That's because educating other people to peace is an almost desperate goal but educating yourself to peace is only a matter of time and will.

This blog was intended to be a place where people who want to cultivate a culture of peace could find the necessary exchange of ideas to do so.

However I must admit that things have gone in a different way.

I must admit that the debate and exchange have turned into a monologue from myself to a captive and wonderful audience, a select group of people with fantastic principles and strong motivation but who not talk to each other, who hear my words perhaps with pleasure, perhaps with friendship, but do not talk to the others and perhaps even do not hear themselves.

From my point of view I have learned so much from this work, every day having to find, understand and put in the form of short articles the struggles that many are fighting throughout the world in search of justice. Newspapers report such events only marginally giving us only superficial information instead of debate on justice in the world, and without justice there is no peace.
But this is a project for myself that I would do even without this blog, so then I do wonder why a blog? To whom should I speak and in which way? In the same moment I admit that I have not reached my goal then I need to rethink how to get back to work on the culture of peace effectively. Where should I start from?

I need to think about it and maybe I need help in my reflection.

Turn off Olympic flame, turn off TV

1 million 300,000 signatures in Italy against the "democradura" of the Italian media
1 million 300,000 signatures for the respect of human rights and the principle of self-determination of peoples
1 million 300,000 glances of disapproval toward the Olympic torch which celebrates the power of those who don't want any question to their own power
1 million 300,000 voices against the shameless opportunism of Western governments that give priority to GDP growth regardeless to moral issues
1 million 300,000 choirs against cultural genocide in Tibet and Eastern Turkestan, against 5,000 death sentences each year, against the repression of dissent
1 million 300,000 switched off TVs during the Olympic Games 2008
1 million 300,000 unsold copies of the main sport magazines
1 million 300,000 click less on the main online newspapers
1 million 300,000 advertising contracts less for those who give us information deprived of any content

1 million 300,000 people who believe that a better world is possibile

Gandhi said: be the change you wish to see in the world!

It would be a claim opposed to a true culture of peace asking a few thousand professional athletes to sacrifice years and years of work, to sacrifice perhaps the only chance in life to get a sponsor, because *** I *** do not agree with the significance of these Olympic Games 2008.
I do not agree then I boycott! I do not watch the Games on TV, I do not buy newspapers that talk about it, I do not talk with friends about it, I delete the Games from my existence. This year I will live without the Olympics.
This is non-violent struggle, intellectual resistance, active citizenship: let's turn off the Olympic torch by the cold of our disapproval!

By the same disapproval we will hit the hypocrites trade agreements signed by our blind politicians, the tributes to an illiberal regime by our deaf politicians, the silence on human rights by our dumb politicians.
By the same disapproval we will hit all acts of abuse, oppression, repression, cancellation of the opposition and dissent that go on all over the world, from China to Italy, from Tien An Men to Abu Ghraib to Bolzaneto.
We will rise our voices at the same time against all the lies to justify war, against all the hidden wars in the world, against the dominance of economy on civil society, against the increase of GDP at the expense of moral issues, we will shout to the arrogance of those who believe that having the power means having the truth.

Let's turn off the Olympic flame, unguilty symbol of injustice in the world.
During the Olympic Games, let's turn off TV!

This appeal starts from the BIPPIblog but must travel on the web. I invite all the bloggers to publish it.
I invite all my five readers to copy and paste this post on all blogs and forums that you can find, on message boards and mailing lists. Translate it into other languages, send it to all by mail, stick it in university bulletin boards, send it to newspapers and radios. I invite all those who live without chains to dissociate themselves from these Olympic Games 2008 and to declare it with a message. Declaring is important, so that everybody will be able to read and know it: I do not agree!

We are millions, let's not be dumb, we too, in this desert of dumb television, let's rise our voice high on Internet, the last place of intellectual freedom; let's hit the blind, deaf and mute power in his wadding kingdom of money and publicity; let's shout our peaceful protest in the only way that the nomenklatura and the caste can understand: let's turn off TV!

PS
Till May 10th there will be no other posts on this blog.

Mothers will cry...

The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, is an imposing mausoleum, erected after the “war to end all wars”, WWI. It was built to have a soul, designed like a Greek temple; democracy is thought to have begun in Greece. It was built to be everlasting, eternal. Two of the three architects were returned soldiers. It was built in the belief that there would be no more war.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Armistice Day, a ray of light passes through an opening and strikes the word “Love” on an inscription. The marble plaque, placed where it must be viewed with heads bowed, and where no hand may touch it, reads “Greater love hath no man than this”.

The imposing monument was built as a tribute to sacrifice for peace. That peace lasted only 21 years.

I stood amongst the wreaths and remembrance poppies looking at a statue of fathers and sons by Raymond Ewers. It was erected after WWII. I was told that it was erected by the women of Victoria, the mothers, the daughters. I cried.

I am a mother, and the daughter of a veteran soldier. I am not ashamed of my tears. Every soldier has a mother.

Does a culture of peace start in the home?

Read a veteran soldier's comments on a woman's tears

What was the tipping point?

Michael Stokely, 23, killed in 2000 a few miles south of Baghdad. Read the comments on The 48th goes to war.

What makes a man prepared to kill?

I remember a conversation with a young man. A devout Christian and youth leader, he lived a responsible life. He wanted to take a year “off” after leaving school to work with street kids in another city through his music. His parents expected him to go to university and continue to live at home.

He was passionate about planes; he wanted to fly or to be a doctor, but he is colour blind. He thought about being a paramedic, being flown in to rescue injured in the mountains. His career options were always to serve others.
Finances were tight at home. Family expectations were for a university degree. The armed forces would provide a salary as well as a degree. He joined the army as an officer cadet. He was 18. He reached a point where he had to face the question about whether he was prepared to kill another human being, or order his men to kill.
He signed.

Another student who wanted to fly looked to the air force to get a degree, to have some adventure, to be with his mates. He was told that he would not be able to fly a particular plane because the length of his leg from his hip to his knee was too long. He would lose his legs if he had to eject. He thought a bit more.
He paid his own way through university.

Neither choice was “right” or “wrong”. But I wonder, when a self-declared Christian and pacifist who wanted to help street kids through music signs that he is prepared to kill, what happened along the way?

Does a culture of peace start with an equitable distribution of wealth? Or does it start when love and respect over-rides ambition?

Kay de Lautour Scott

14 years on, has anything changed?

Watch the video

From the blog Gnuwanda Lounge, April 7, 2008.

A mark and a question mark.
Today is the fourteenth anniversary of the "beginning" of Rwandese genocide . "Beginning" is in quotation marks because in reality the genocide began some years before with meticulous attention to detail, today (or rather yesterday evening at 8) brought down the President's plane and from there began the 100 days of collective madness that has pervaded this country [800 thousand people murdered]. 14 years, today the week of memory begins, dim lights, no music, a sense of mourning justifiably permeates the country this week. The country for 14 years has changed and much, I do not have enough information to really understand if there is the famous reconciliation, and there is probably no. Certainly the country is peaceful, certainly it is safe, even at the cost of an African-way democracy, where the leader takes 98% of the Bulgarian votes. But just as certainly there are outbreaks, which will disappear only with another two generations, others will take perhaps 15 years to reach one another or for both to seek reconciliation (with a vision 2020 in the midst). They're taking all the dead from the genocide and slowly are burying them in memorials. Hundreds of thousands of bodies will be moved today and in coming years to gather all the bodies of madness under common roofs. Today it is up to the husband of Valerie too. 14 years ... I do not know if it is enough to hear less pain, if things are safe enough to hold hope for a different future, and I hope for this country that it will be.

(in translation, original blog written in Italian)

Leaders warn on biofuels and food

Today, on the BBCNEWS:

Speaking at the UN in New York, Bolivian President Evo Morales said the development of biofuels harmed the world's most impoverished people. And President Alan Garcia of Peru said using land for biofuels was putting food out of reach for the poor.
Meanwhile UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is hosting a meeting to discuss European policy encouraging biofuels.
But as food prices climb worldwide, there is a fear that development of biofuels could reduce the production of badly-needed basic foodstuffs. The global prices of wheat, rice and maize have nearly doubled in the past year, while milk and meat have more than doubled in price in some countries.
Such rises, combined with high oil prices, are causing increasing political instability in less developed countries across the world. Food riots earlier this month in Haiti, which is highly reliant on imports of food and fuel, led to the deaths of at least six people, including a UN peacekeeper. There has also been unrest in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal.

"Biofuels" have shown great promise in weaning the world away from the use of petrofuels. They are supposed to be less polluting, renewable, and all that acreage (primarily corn and soybeans) will go a long way toward absorbing that excess CO2 in the atmosphere.
Not so fast, say critics in the science community. First of all, they say, there's no proof that "biofuels" are any better than their fossil-fuel counterparts when it comes to greenhouse emissions. The other concern is what it may do the planet's ecology. The rush to plant additional acreage for biofuel production could put rainforests at risk, deplete fresh water supplies, deprive wildlife of habitat and eventually, affect the world's food supply.
It comes down to deciding whose needs are greater: the 800 million people all over the world who own and drive automobiles, or the billions of others who survive on a day and already spend half their income feeding themselves.

Goodbye Pippa

From the blog of Pino Scaccia, 12 april 2008.

Buried few inches below ground, just before midnight the Turkish police have found the naked corpse of Giuseppina Pasqualino, the 33 year old Milanese artist who disappeared on 31 March in Istanbul where she had arrived with an Italian friend.
A chronicle of news like many others, a girl killed, the curiosity of her bridal clothes. Friends used to call her Pippa and she had a peace plan, those clothes had a specific meaning. There is the Brides on Tour website (note: in Italian but look at the map - Kay) to explain the project:

"An ambitious and poetic dream. A dream of travelling independently through countries that were upset by recent wars and not always completely secure. The trip is not the normal travel of two daring travellers, but the journey of two beautiful brides dressed for a wedding that perhaps has already happened or is not done or perhaps is the trip itself. A marriage to the earth, peace, all people, or in search of the bridegroom? Who is and what is the husband? Two brides, two is a number for togetherness and femininity, also of multiples, and difference. Readings of an artistic gesture of this type are endless. The bride is white, light, feminine, she generates life, so peace, love and purity. "
A dream shattered, in the worst possible way. The world is not yet ready for the idea of peace. Good bye, Pippa

Pino Scaccia (in translation)

From war to peace in Nepal

This man has a complicated name but he is better known as Prachanda, the Fierce.
For ten years he drove tens of thousands of Nepalese Maoists in a bloody war against the ancient pluricentenaria monarchy and its one hundred thousand soldiers, in a country of nearly 30 million inhabitants. The war has killed more than 13 thousand, there has been abuse, kidnappings, torture, massacres, atrocities of all kinds. Both armies were responsible, civilians have been the victims, as always.
In 2006 the opposition parties and the Maoists agreed on a democratic programme based on the abolition of monarchy, and the war is over. The King did everything to oppose this but in the end there were democratic elections, supervised by an international team of observers led by Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States. The American government has the Nepalese Maoists on a list of terrorists!
Civilians, once victims, have become actors and democratically voted for a constituent assembly in which the Maoists have easily won a majority of seats, contrary to all expectations of Western observers.
Other parties to win elections were the autonomous southern ones struggling with strikes and weapons for the rights of Madhesi people, majority in the rich southern plains. Whoever called Madhesi to boycott was repudiated by the great participation in the vote.
The ferocious Prachanda has led his supporters in the war and now leads them to peace, in a democracy that will write a new constitution, abolishing the monarchy and its privileges, making agrarian reform and seeking good relations with powerful neighbours, India and China.
The people were called to vote and gave him great confidence. Confidence will be removed if the promises of the Maoists not become reality.

Bruno Picozzi (in translation)

We are not doing a good job!

Look at video

Education for a culture of peace.
Some think that is the responsibility of the school, someone else points to the family, others unload the burden on the Child Jesus. Many think they are just words. We will make a big step forward when we will understand that a culture of peace depends on everyone, on all of us. Especially those who have great influence on young people: parents, teachers, tutors, stars. Yes, stars! The very VIP of the world of entertainment with whom young people identify themselves. They spend many hours a day with the children and talk to them of a fake world that to all children seems true. Children move increasingly to that world; they dream it, they follow suit.

I would say that we are not doing a good job!
We have all grown up with images of shootings and TV murders and self-made vendettas, destructive videogames, good against evil, the strong against the weak, reds against blacks, exasperating competition in every corner of our lives. The opponent is not to be respected nor understood, we must reduce him, attack verbally, physically, we must strip him of any sympathy and humanity, it is only an enemy to be destroyed. As in the award-winning video clip "Girlfriend" by the beautiful Avril Lavigne, idol of teenagers, where edifying acts of shameless arrogance and bullying three-against-one, absolutely without any irony, are rewarded with the prize for "Best Canadian Video", as this is the most clicked video clip of all time on Youtube.
I prefer to be considered a stupid moralist: this video clip appears to me imbecile, vulgar and uneducational!

Bruno Picozzi (in translation)

Come and march with us!

I publish the open letter of the Tibetan poet Tenzin Tsundue. I invite all the bloggers to do the same.

Dear Friends,
The time has come for me to go to Tibet again. Last time when I went to Tibet in 1997 - after my graduation - I was arrested by the Chinese authorities, beaten up, interrogated, starved and finally thrown out of Tibet after keeping me in their jails for three months in Lhasa and Ngari. I walked to Tibet, on my own, alone, across the Himalayan Mountains from the Ladakh.
Eleven years later, I am walking to Tibet again; this time too, without permission. I am returning home; why should I bother about papers from Chinese colonial regime who have not only occupied Tibet, but also is running a military rule there; making our people in Tibet live in tyranny and brutal suppression day after day, everyday for fifty years.
The Year 2008 is a huge opportunity for the Tibet movement to present the injustices the Tibetans have been subjected to, when China is going to attract international media attention. I am taking part in the return march from Dharamsala to Tibet, that is being organized as a part of the “Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement”, a united effort put together by five major Tibetan NGOs: Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women’s Association, Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet (an association of former political prisoners), National Democratic Party of Tibet and Students for a Free Tibet, India.
The march will start on 10 March 2008, from Dharamsala, the capital of Tibetan exiles and will pass through Delhi and then head towards Tibet. Walking for six months, we might reach the Tibet border around the time China opens the Beijing 2008 Olympics ...

Read the complete letter on ProTibet Dot NET.

A blog, the sea and a spoon

Every morning I am in trouble: what will I speak about today, before my five readers? Will I tell about the violated and mutilated children in Darfur or about the war that is about to begin again in the Western Sahara? Of the rights denied to Madhesi of Nepal or of the ancient persecution of Catholic Vietnamese? The bloody repression of dissent along the beaches of the Maldives or Maya peasants 15 years of attempting to self-govern?
What is the sense of screaming against one injustice and being forced to stay silent about a thousand others? Turn off the unnecessary and unjust light in my room when billions of lights are lit unfairly?
What sense is it, I wonder every day, trying to empty the sea with an insignificant spoon?
I wonder, what really is a culture of peace?

Every morning, alone in front of the screen, I give myself two answers.
Culture of Peace is primarily education! Educating yourself every day to behaviours which are sustainable for all the billions of people on the planet. Doing so, without extremism and without excuse, as far as is possible in the society we live in.
The second response I was thinking about yesterday, during a meeting of active citizens: culture of peace is witness! Saying no, every day, to the waste of water and the death penalty. Claiming your daily personal disapproval of all that is unacceptable to your conscience. Feeding your conscience with knowledge and action. With your words and your actions, witnessing that another world is possible.
This is the meaning of this work, cultivating my culture of peace as if it were a delicate plant: water and love every day.

So, in all honesty, it is not important how many injustices I can not speak about. This little blog, for myself and for those who desire to be with it, is still a small, beautiful, effective vehicle of a culture of peace.

Bruno Picozzi (in translation)

Two stories about camels

Some time ago this little funny story turned around in the net. It talks about the difference between a culture of solidarity and a culture of exploitation. It needs no comment.

Once upon a time a lawyer was on his way in a fancy car through the desert. Passing an oasis he saw three men standing there, crying. So he stopped the car, and asked, What's the matter? And they answered, Our father just passed away, and we loved him so much. But -said the lawyer- I am sure he has made a will. Maybe I can help you, for a fee, of course! The three men answered: Yes, he did indeed, he left behind camels. And in his will it is stated 1/2 to the eldest son, 1/3 to the second and 1/6 to the youngest. We love camels, we agree with the parts to each. But there is a problem: he left behind 17 camels and we have been to school, we know that 17 is a prime number. Loving camels, we cannot divide them.

The lawyer thought for a while and then said: Very simple. You give me 5 camels, then you have 12. You divide by 2, 3 and 6 and you get 6, 4 and 2 camels respectively. And so they did. The lawyer tied the five unhappy camels to the car, and the last they saw was a vast cloud of dust, covering the evening sun.

Once upon a time a mullah was on his way on camel to Mecca. Coming to an oasis he saw three men standing there, crying. So he stopped the camel, and asked, My children, what is the matter? And they answered, Our father just passed away, and we loved him so much. But -said the mullah- I am sure he loved you too, and no doubt he has left something behind for you? The three men answered: Yes, he did indeed, he left behind camels. And in his will it is stated 1/2 to the eldest son, 1/3 to the second and 1/9 to the youngest. We love camels, we agree with the parts to each. But there is a problem: he left behind 17 camels and we have been to school, we know that 17 is a prime number. Loving camels, we cannot divide them.

The mullah thought for a while, and then said, I give you my camel, then you have 18. And they cried: No, you cannot do that, you are on your way to something important. The mullah interrupted them, My children, take the camel, go ahead. So they divided 18 by 2 and the eldest son got 9 camels, 18 by 3 and the second son got 6 camels, 18 by 9 and the youngest son got 2 camels: a total of 9 + 6 + 2 = 17 camels. One camel was standing there, alone: the mullah's camel. The mullah said: Are you happy? Well, then, maybe I can get my camel back? And the three men, full of gratitude, said yes, of course, not quite understanding what had happened. The mullah blessed them, mounted his camel, and the last they saw was a tiny cloud of dust, quickly settling in the glowing evening sun.

Congo RD, the monster created by Belgium

I’m publishing a letter I’ve received from Katia Rossi, international cooperator in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo DR).

Hello Bruno and everyone else.
I am in CONGO RD, in a remote village in Western Kasai. I saw the map with all the conflicts in the world, maybe you do not know that here we are still at war ... Or better guerrillas. In the Eastern region, the richest, although now the Congo is a whole mine of valuable minerals everywhere. At the end of January there was the signing of a peace agreement between the government and leaders of some factions in the fight. Behind the guerrilla there are economic reasons, as usual of course. Let's add that here the proximity with Rwanda plays a decisive role. This country has contributed men and means to the rise of Kabila father, whispers say that it has been behind his murder, and now fomenting the guerrillas. The adoptive son, Joseph Kabila, probably a Tanzanian, who succeeded his father, does not meet the "agreements". It seems that they concern the transfer of a part of Congo to Rwanda. Obviously mining areas ...

The Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire, is one of the largest and most unfortunate states of Africa. At the moment of colonisation, after the Berlin Conference of 1885 the Congo was declared private property of King Leopold II of Belgium. The natives had to collect rubber for the king, a lot of rubber, because the market was growing for the growing demand for motor vehicles and their tires. This production made the fortune of Leopold and his heirs but working conditions were like a circle of hell. The practice of collective punishment and preventive mutilation (I cut a hand to one man to educate ten of them) were on the daily agenda.
Between 1885 and 1908, the mercenaries who worked for the king of Belgium murdered between 5 and 15 million Congolese (for comparison, it is estimated that in the carnage of the First World War 18 million people were killed).
The process of independence promoted by Émery Patrice Lumumba in the 1950s was obviously run by Belgium, which withdrew from Congo leaving a country half the size of Europe, multi-ethnic, socially and economically devastated, prey of the multinationals and absolutely empty of administrative and political human resources.
When Lumumba sought help from the Soviets to resolve the serious internal problems, the American and Belgian governments decided to get rid of him. Arrested by Colonel Mobutu, at the behest of the Belgian foreign minister he was handed over to the rebels from which he was tortured and killed. His body was dissolved in acid.
Mobutu renamed the country Zaire and established a pro-Western dictatorial regime until 1997, when he was overthrown by rebel Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who was in his turn assassinated in 2001. Succeeded by his son Joseph Kabila who in 2006 was reconfirmed the leadership of the country in the first democratic elections in the history of the Congo.
From 1997 to 2003 Congo RD has been the scene of two wars involving 8 African nations and killing more than 5 million people, mostly civilians (for comparison, it is estimated that in the carnage of Vietnam 2 million people died). Currently minor wars go on in Kivu, Katanga and Ituri, in total international disinterest.

The map shows the division of the country into areas controlled by various militias.

Bruno Picozzi (in translation)

Does anybody know where Abkhazia is?

Knowing and understanding are the first steps towards judgement.

Abkhazia is a de facto independent state in Europe.

Below is the letter issued by the President of the Republic of Abkhazia, Sergei Bagapsh, to the Secretary-General of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, just before the NATO summit in Bucharest, 2-4 April 2008. (Read the original letter published by UNPO)

Dear Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer,
The Bucharest Summit, which is going to review the issues of new members’ entry into NATO, may create serious problems in the Caucasus. For the preservation of peace and stability in our region and disperse fear and confrontation, it is necessary, to a greater extent, to consider present realities and opinions of all interested parties.
We are deeply concerned that on a background of political instability and unresolved conflicts, some prospective members of the Organization, in particular Georgia, still consider NATO as force to resolve conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Abkhazia repeatedly has been a victim of aggression by Georgia, which gives us reason to consider Georgia as a potential source of military provocations and illegitimate claims to Abkhazia.
Groundless recognition by the United Nations of the territorial integrity of Georgia within the borders of the former GSSR had indirectly acknowledged numerous violations of Human Rights and policy of discrimination of the Abkhaz people in the time of Stalin’s era. Moreover, the troops of newly adopted to the United Nations Democratic Republic of Georgia, had launched on the 14th of August 1992 a bloody war in Abkhazia, destroying peaceful population and monuments of Abkhaz culture and history. The Georgian-Abkhaz War had inevitably broken off the relations between Abkhazia and Georgia.
It is almost 15 years since Abkhazia id developing its own democratic political system, market economy, legislation, independent courts, civil society and human rights, in accordance with the international standards. Our National interests and external political priorities do significantly differ from those of Georgia.
Today’s Abkhazia is a state with sustainable development indicators. Abkhazia is able to incur obligations and play a full connecting role in the Caucasus. Considering the abovementioned, we appeal to You to take all possible measures to prevent reiteration of the mistakes of the past. While taking a decision on the Georgia’s membership in NATO, please consider valid opinion of Abkhazia.

Respectfully Yours,

PRESIDENT S. BAGAPSH

Does anybody know where Myanmar is?

Watch the video

It was called Burma, now it is Myanmar by the will of the military junta in power since 1988. The junta has written a new constitution for the country that is called "a farce" by independent observers. Soon they will ask for a referendum for approval from the population.
Trying to understand the situation a little better I found two stories: one of them is a joke, it's fun and describes the situation in Myanmar. The other is not a joke and it's not funny, but also describes the situation in Myanmar.
Guess which is the joke.

First story
Three guys were arguing as to what race Adam and Eve were. The Myanmar Christian guy said they must be Myanmar Christians as they are so good looking. The Burmese Chinese guy said that they must be Burmese Chinese as they are so calm even with a snake. The Burmese Indian guy said that they must be Burmese Indian as they have no shelter, no clothes, no money, share one apple, and are advised by a snake who told them that they are living in paradise!
Read the complete article on San Oo Aung’s Weblog (in English)

Second story
A captain and three soldiers armed and in uniform came to Man Yong, a village near An, and gathered all the inhabitants of six villages. Each village had to send a representative to a meeting. At this meeting the establishment of a group to punish those who will vote no in the referendum was announced. "We want to see only votes in favour, otherwise the villages and their inhabitants will pay for this."
Read the complete article on Articolo 21 (in Italian)

Bruno Picozzi (in translation)

Nuclear-Weapon-Free Italy

Watch at the trailer of Aviano Italia (half in English)

In Italy, everybody knows that there are ninety nuclear warheads, in violation of the spirit of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) signed by Italy, but almost no one worries.
They are not ours, we can not decide what to do with them. We can only accept the presence, the benefits (there are those who feel more secure with a nuclear bomb in the back yard ...) and the consequences.

In Caravana di Pace you can read the text of a draft law of a popular initiative to declare Italy "Nuclear Weapon Free Zone".
On 26 March it was announced that the fifty thousand signatures necessary to present the law have been collected, the result of a campaign that has worked in silence, thanks to small local groups. Political parties or large-membership international organizations refused to be involved. Small associations, fair trade shops, parishes and smaller unions have supported the initiative.

On 22 December 2005, a committee of citizens called the Government of the United States in the Civil Court of Pordenone requesting that the 50 atomic bombs present at Aviano be removed from Italian territory.

Bruno Picozzi (in translation)

Education to peace for dinner

Yesterday I, as did millions of people, participated in the Earth Hour sponsored by the WWF. I turned off all the lights I could and we had dinner by candlelight, I, an Italian atheist EVS, a German Protestant student and a Muslim Pakistani researcher.
What was achieved by turning off three bulbs?
We asked ouselves this and we talked about the importance of this symbolic gesture that does not in itself create a significant savings of resources but creates awareness of the need to save resources and cut 30% of greenhouse gas emissions between now and 2020.
Sentence after sentence, between a glass of red and a chicken, among abstemious and vegetarians, we spoke of some of the unethically sourced products we buy, such as bananas or chocolate, cultivated by slaves in the south of the world. We talked about the Pakistani cotton and fair trade in Europe, labour law in developing countries, the chain of commerce liberal-style and of that ring, the last in the chain, the consumer choice, where each of us has power to act.
We came from different cultures and lifestyles but we were able to find similar words to define the society in which we live and that we contribute to forming every day with our choices.
It was only a dinner among friends and it turned into a wonderful opportunity for the affirmation of a culture of peace.

Bruno Picozzi (in translation)

What is Self-determination?

Here is a clear text about the right of self-determination, from the website of UNPO. Denying this right is the cause of dozens of armed conflicts around the world.

Essentially, the right to self-determination is the right of a people to determine its own destiny. In particular, the principle allows a people to choose its own political status and to determine its own form of economic, cultural and social development. Exercise of this right can result in a variety of different outcomes ranging from political independence through to full integration within a state. The importance lies in the right of choice, so that the outcome of a people's choice should not affect the existence of the right to make a choice. In practice, however, the possible outcome of an exercise of self-determination will often determine the attitude of governments towards the actual claim by a people or nation. Thus, while claims to cultural autonomy may be more readily recognized by states, claims to independence are more likely to be rejected by them. Nevertheless, the right to self-determination is recognized in international law as a right of process (not of outcome) belonging to peoples and not to states or governments.

PMC. Mamma mia!!!

I received from MB (for his security I write only the first letters of the name) an essay on the reality of Iraq in 2008, as we Westerners wanted it.

Did Italy ever disengaged from Iraq? (in Italian)
From disengagement of regular troops to the Private Military Companies.

It talks of mercenaries and contractors, the involvement of private companies (Private Military Companies) and the behaviour of these, which is "consonant with the political conduct" of the States involved in the war.
It talks of contracts, mentioning names and figures, facts unknown to many political columnists of the "mission of peace".
It talks of Barbara Contini, governor for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA, the occupying coalition), in the province of Dhi Qar, in the south of Iraq.
It talks of "armed men, independent of any civil or military court, who act with total impunity in a region devastated by war."

An accurate and detailed work, essential reading.

To better understand which kind of culture we are talking about here is the link to the spot of StartSicurezza srl, one of the best Italian private security agency, and here is even the link to Arcoiris TV to see per vedere una big-game hunt to man in Iraq by a small group of American "contractors" from AEGIS, a hyperspecialized private agency.

Bruno Picozzi (in translation)