The same old untouchables
According to Thomas Friedman and his recent editorial piece on the New York Times, the American financial crisis emerged from a “critical but unspoken reason”: the fall of the education system. While the subprime mortgage mess involved a huge ethical breakdown on Wall Street, it coincided with an education breakdown on Main Street”.
Friedman is also about “creative workers” the ones that – in his opinion – are becoming untouchables and that in the long run will benefit from their skills. On the other hand, old lazy guys that were waiting for the work to come knock on their doors lost their jobs almost immediately and, most probably, won’t get back to their desks.
Italy, in some ways, is far away from being globalized. For example, the education system and the employment system are very different from the American ones. It is just interesting to notice that the same argument can have very different meanings in two Western countries and the same problems can be addressed in different ways by two famous economists.
For an Italian (European?) reader, these two basic concepts are at the same time familiar and distant. They are familiar because the simplicity of Friedman’s thesis is almost embarrassing (but the geniuses are supposed to be both embarrassing and simple, I guess). They are distant because Italians and Americans clearly have different meanings for the same word: crisis.
After a quick check on the Merrian-Webster, though, I found out that meaning is quite the same: “an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending; especially : one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome <a financial crisis”.
Nevertheless, I must be mistaken. The Italian education system, which was – no longer than twenty years ago -described as “one of the best in the world”, is now light-years away from the American one. Maybe the primary and middle school can still be considered good, but the university is in the midst of a storm.
Italian students don’t get through and are constantly struggling to find a job. If they ever find one, the salary is usually smaller than the average of their European colleagues. During the last ten years, the universities have been overwhelmed by a tsunami of new decrees that were supposed to adjust our education system and make it more similar to the Anglo- Saxon one. Three levels of degrees: bachelor, master, Phd. Those are just names though, you can’t only change the name to something and then hope that this will change its nature.
It is like painting a ancient grave in white: at first look you might think “wow, it really works”, but then you’ll still have spiders, worms and rats happily hanging around in the dirt under the brand new layer of white paint.
With the reform of the labor system that took place under the “white book” of Marco Biagi (assassinated by the Red Brigades on March 2002), Italian authorities and politicians hailed at the “beginning of a new era” in the employment sector. But that reform was introduced in a distorted way. Once again, the metaphor of the white ancient grave: they fixed the outside look but not the core problem. Italians workers got paid less than usual, prices went skyrocketing and the immediate result of the reform was a inflation of the black market and, as a consequence, illegal immigration started soaring.
I don’t need statistics to support my thesis: the reality of a country in which young workers are constantly exploited by their lazy-dinosaurs-like bosses, kept far away from a decent career and underpaid, speaks for itself.
The talk of the town in Italy nowadays is the call for a more stable job (what we call “posto fisso”) coming from our minister of Economy, Giulio Tremonti, a former supporter of the “Biagi reform” who was quickly backed by Silvio Berlusconi. Not that a leftist mantra of the recent years suddenly became the manifesto of a man of the right but, still, Tremonti’s new motto means a lot.
It doesn’t mean that people want to get back to the old labor system which was clearly not functioning well. Up until ten years ago, a state employee could be paid for a no show job, and still be guaranteed all the benefits of this world including three weeks off in August, two during Christmas holydays, and another one for Easter. But it does mean, in my opinion, that we as Italians are sick of lazy bosses that get paid tons of money for doing nothing while our young talents emigrate in the Us or elsewhere. These are our “new untouchables” . Unfortunately, they are always the same people. Meritocracy is in the eye of the beholder here in the land of spaghetti. New economy is an empty word.
Thomas Friedman is already thinking of changing the Us scholar system, while our minister of economy calls for a return to the past. Our education system should be rebooted and build from scratch, like the employment system. But we are once again painting an ancient grave in white. Worms and rats will feast forever under that new bright white layer of paint. The world is surely flat and crowded, Mr. Friedman, but for a tiny little country in the middle of the Mediterranean sea that they call “Il Bel Paese”.
Andrea Loquenzi Holzer
The Bomber Next Door: Who Is Behind Him?
Mohammed Game, the Libyan alleged “lone wolf” suicide bomber who attempted to blow himself up at the military barracks in Milan on October the 12th, is now in a coma and cannot be questioned by the Italian authorities. In the meantime, his two partners were arrested.
The investigators are starting to think that Game was just a tool in the hands of his older mentor, Abdel Azziz Mahmoud Kol.
Kol is a 52 year-old Egyptian plumber and, together with Mohammed Israfel Imbayea (33, an electrician), helped – some believe convinced - Game to undertake the failed suicide bombing mission at the Santa Barbara army barracks in Milan. Even though the bomb did not explode entirely, the Italian investigators cannot yet determine whether this is just an isolated case of sudden violence erupting from the severe social conditions of a desperate immigrant or a well thought-out plan, perhaps decided elsewhere.
Losing the “War We Cannot Afford to Lose”
What the Italians are really doing is fighting a tough war against tough enemies and their “splitting the troops strategy” is not only brave, but is also paying off. And this strategy is risky. It goes without saying that if there were more troops on the ground everything could be easier. The insurgents would have to plan their attacks more carefully and their suicide bombing missions. That would take them more time and time is everything in this war.
When six of our Italian compatriots lost their lives in Kabul after the attack of September 17th, the total number of Italian soldiers who died in Afghanistan since 2004 was raised to 21. According to various sources, ten Afghan civilians also died in the explosion which left another 55 people injured.
The Italian soldiers are staying in the Herat province of Afghanistan for a “peacekeeping mission,” but the truth is that our soldiers are fighting in there. They are fighting a very hard daily battle against the insurgents and they are calling on every bit of experience they have and giving all they can in this struggle. The Italian foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, told TG1 that “Italian soldiers have paid a high price for the freedom and the security of Afghanistan, Italy and Europe. We must stay the course in order to show everybody that the Italian pride is still high”.
The Party of God vs. The Country of God
Hezbollah, the Party of God, is flexing its muscles again. The situation in Lebanon has deteriorated during the last months, Obama’s diplomatic approach leaves Israel isolated in the land of rogue states, while the Europeans are systematically failing to secure Lebanon.
In the Nazar Valley, scores of trucks have been travelling at nighttime, filled with weapons to be hidden away in the tunnels for the Party of God. European soldiers are powerless: they cannot prevent Hezbollah from getting machine guns, rifles and rockets.
It was nighttime on March 30, south of the Litani River (a no-go area for Hezbollah, according to the UN resolution no. 1701). While European troops were patrolling the area, they spotted an unidentified truck and approached it. Some armed men got out of the truck, pointing their weapons directly at the soldiers’ faces. In order to avoid tensions, the UNIFIL troops had to give up the fight and retreat.
Despite the rumors, Berlusconi is still here
We Italians woke up today expecting a revolution like the one in Iran. It did not happen. In a way, the assumptions of some newspaper articles are intelligent and, indeed, a certain concern about Berlusconi’s boat in these troubled waters exists. Luckily enough, though, the situation is not so desperate.
Newspaper articles such as Guy Dinmore’s in the Financial Times have appeared about the supposed free fall of the Italian government, depicting a sad Berlusconi on the brink of a precipice. From this perspective -supported by “well-placed government sources speaking on condition of anonymity” – our Premier is overwhelmed by scandals of all types, ravaged in the solitude of the party he created, running on empty.
According to the Italian premier, Silvio Berlusconi’s dream of becoming President of the Republic is vanishing; all of his old time friends and allies are abandoning the ship, except for those who can only survive in his shadow. These few loyalists, nevertheless, are afraid to speak out in his defense.
The European Elections: a big defeat for politics and politicians
History is repeating itself: during the year of the global economic crisis, the left is sinking almost everywhere in Europe. The Labors parties in Great Britain have suffered the biggest defeat since 1918. Even in Germany the SPD lost badly scoring 20.8%, a new negative record. In France, Sarkozy’s coalition overwhelmed the socialists (28% against 16.48%), even though the great winner here is the Green Party (16.28%). In Italy (the biggest turnout here) Silvio Berlusconi’s Freedom Party got 34.9 % with the Democratic Party being stuck at 25%. It is a victory, yes, but the expectations were higher.
Generally speaking, these elections clearly indicate that Europe as a whole must change its policy and somehow increase the level of involvement among Europeans. They also tell us that Europeans have a certain need for security and boundaries. Look at the results in the Netherlands, where Geert Wilders’ anti-Islamic Freedom Party scored 17%. Wilders is firmly against the entrance of Turkey into the European Union. The low turnout can also be explained in terms of a popular mistrust feeling toward politics and politicians: as the Europeans struggle to stand up against the economic downturn, they do not feel as if they are being represented or supported by their leaders.
Italy’s hard line on illegal immigration
During a press conference in Matera on May the 18th, the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Gianfranco Fini, spoke about the difficult situation with immigrants in Italy and reiterated a well known concept according to which every immigrant should respect our constitution and laws.
Immigration is a hot topic on Italy’s political agenda: the biggest communities of immigrants come from Romania, Philippine, Albany and northern African countries. All these people encounter a wide variety a problems, once in this country, but the main risk they take is usually the travel itself. On Sunday, May 10th, the repatriation of almost 230 illegal Libyan immigrants who were travelling toward our country on three shabby boats was hailed as a “success” by our Home Secretary, Roberto Maroni.
The G8 in L’Aquila, will save 220 millions and keep the no-globals away
The next G8 summit is likely to be hosted in L’Aquila - the Italian medieval town hit by the earthquake less than a month ago – as Ignazio La Russa (Defense Minister) announced today, at the end of a Ministry Council meeting .
The G8 summit was previously scheduled to take place in the “La Maddalena” island, the biggest one of an archipelago situated north-east of the Sardinian’s sea. The sudden decision of re-scheduling the venue of the G8 is a Berlusconi’s idea, motivated by two main reasons: First, as il Cavaliere stated, the entire world will be forced to pay attention to the situation in L’Aquila, forcing as well local politician and others to work hard on the reconstruction of the town. Second, but not less important, the No-Globals – the violent anti-capitalist movement that caused so much troubles in Genova – will . probably be less threatening given the messy situation with L’Aquila nowadays. “The G8 in L’Aquila represents a message of hope for the entire region struck by the earthquake”, said Berlusconi at the end of the Ministry Council meeting, today.
Afghanistan: Taliban “Justice”
Parwez Kambakhsh, the young Afghani blogger accused of blasphemy and sentenced to death by the authorities in Kabul two years ago, has been recently charged with twenty years in jail. After a pig-circus trial, they arrested him for preventing his brother Yaqub – a well known investigative journalist – from writing about the misdeeds of the Taliban and the war lords. Kambakhsh is spending his time in jail together with actual criminals and his psychological and physical conditions are deteriorating every day. His brother Yaqub speaks about the situation in Afghanistan and hopes a better future for the Afghani people and for his brother.
Yaqub, your brother was arrested in October 2007 because as they said he was mocking Islam , the Prophet Mohammed and the Holy book, but isn’t there a different story behind the official accusation?
Yes exactly. As you know, they wanted to prevent me from writing about their war crimes, in this respect, my brother was the right target to hit. They also wanted to stop other Afghan investigative journalists in a indirect way so they made it very big and public. They wanted to show every journalist and writer in this country that if you do something “odd” or out of the boundaries, then you will face the consequences. They used my brother as a scapegoat by sentencing him to death – a sentence that was recently reversed to twenty years in jai]. They are showing every journalist what freedom of speech means here in Afghanistan: you can be free to express your opinion, sure, but then you must also be prepared for the worst.
You spent many words about the lack of freedom of speech in your country, did the situation change at all after your brother’s arrest?
As I mentioned, they made his case a symbol of the situation. After my brother’s arrest, all the journalists and writers in this country realized that Afghanistan is under the control of fundamentalist factions in the guise of a democracy. As they understood that in this country there is no guarantee and that no one is free to express his ideas, they started to censor themselves. That is why I am saying that Kambakhsh became a symbol: every time a journalist wants to speak out loud against the government or the factions here, the image of my brother in jail comes to his mind and he gives up. Many of my colleagues would really like to talk about what is happening in this country – as they did 3 or 4 years ago – but they cannot. This means that time is going backwards in Afghanistan.
Kambahsh was at first sentenced to death for blasphemy; now they charged him with 20 years in jail. How is your brother doing, how is his psychological situation at the moment?
He is being held in Kabul central prison, sharing the cell with seven actual criminals, and he is under severe psychological pressure. Every time he thinks about the cruel sentences they charged him with, it is a shock. We are really concerned about his health. About his safety in jail and also about his psychological and physical conditions.
Do you think he can stand all this time in jail?
With all the problems he is going through right now, he still thinks about human rights and he wishes a better condition for all the Afghani people, especially for the women here. Last time I met him he told me: “I can’t stand this at all…when I think about all the accusations with which they charged me and all the cruelty that my country is suffering from, It shocks me”.
Hundreds of Afghan journalists like you have demonstrated for your brother, people have created blogs, made interviews, tried to do something for Kambakhsh, although things have not changed much since he got arrested; do you think he will be released soon, do you still have hope?
Even though hope is the only thing that stands, I have to admit that, unfortunately, the Afghani officials are very good “poker players” and they are cheating the entire international community. After my brother’s arrest nothing has changed, but I still hope that the Afghani people, the champions of democracy and the journalists will not give up. I just hope that we will eventually get something in return for our struggle.
Is the Afghan judiciary system totally corrupted, “Islamized”?
Not only is the Afghan judiciary system corrupted, it is also under control of the Taliban or people that share their same mindset. These people are extremely radical when it comes to religion and they are against modern, western-like thinking and that way of life. The only modern things, during Kambakhsh’s trial were the microphones and the chairs, but the people who were using these instruments were old-fashioned Taliban anyway. This could be a good example of how the judiciary system has changed here: new things, old mindset. They are getting modern equipment from developed countries like Italy, but these people are dark minded and they are using these things against western values.
You have come in Italy to meet with journalists and to speak about the situation in Afghanistan, and to receive the “International Reporter of the Year” award. Speaking about achievements, did the Italian government push for the release of your brother?
I really don’t know what they are doing right now. All I know is that I haven’t seen any results. I don’t know which kind of justice are they are fighting for here. Are they fighting for Taliban-style justice or for the justice human beings really need?
How come Hamid Karzai is not really doing something? Are his hands tied?
I really don’t know, but every time he promises a lot, and, after two years, he is still doing what the Taliban want him to do. Keeping Kambahsh in jail – - despite all the requests and pressure coming from the international community and from the Afghan people.
Andrea Loquenzi Holzer for The Hudsonny
The eartquake in L’Aquila killed at least 92 people, 1500 were wounded
At least 100 people were killed and scores of others wounded tonight in Abruzzo (a region situated east of Rome) when a powerful heartquake shook at 3.32 a.m.
The tremor was reported to be between 5.8 and 6.3 degrees on the Richter scale (with 10 degress being the top) with the centre being in the medieval town of L’Aquila, 75 miles from the Italian capital.
Even though the latest death toll reports more than 100 victims, the official number of dead people is still bound to raise, as stated by the Interior Minister, Roberto Maroni, who added that “the death toll in the central province of L’Aquila was likely to rise further”.
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