Si può battere il record di Nelly Bly?
Sunday January 6th, 2008 | 11:21 pm | Uncategorized
On the route of Verne’s Phileas Fogg, in 1889 the American journalist Nelly Bly made a tour around the world in 72 days and wrote a book, now translated into Italian by Luisa Cetti. It is almost impossible to do the same thing today, using public means of tranportation (without planes, of course), because the passenger ships on the long routes have been abolished. But with long trips by train and using a cruiser and a cargo ship, you can circle the world in around 60 days.
Womenomics, le donne al centro dell’economia
Sunday December 23rd, 2007 | 09:49 am | Uncategorized
“Women are now the most powerful engine of global growth”, says The Economist. Womenomics are getting more and more important, and Italy is among the European countries where the female employment rate is lower. I had the occasion to work on this topic with a group who has been in charge of preparing the official “Nota Aggiuntiva” on “women, innovation and development”. This document is a specific annex which Minister Emma Bonino this year attached to the Lisbona Report presented to the European Commission, in order to underline the need of a “faster pace” in fostering the quantity and quality of women’s employment. After this interesting experience I wrote an essay in Italian and English for East, Europe and Asia Strategies.
Bilal, che fare contro l’immigrazione clandestina?
Sunday December 2nd, 2007 | 11:59 pm | Uncategorized
“Bilal“, written by the Italian journalist Fabrizio Gatti, is the story of the people who through the Sahara try to come to Europe as illegal immigrants. You cannot read this book without asking yourself what to do against this terrible exploitation of people who are the best among the young generation of their countries. Illegal immigration has to be stopped, and information campaigns are important, specially if organized in the countries from where the migrants start. But we have to find ways to help families and young people to organize a decent living in their local communities.
L’ombrello e la macchina da cucire
Sunday February 11th, 2007 | 02:49 pm | Uncategorized
Still in 1975, in the Italian jails, women were not allowed to have newspapers or writing machines. They could just ask for a sewing machine. Remembering this episode, on the occasion of the death of Adele Faccio, the Radical leader who experienced this ridiculous gender discrimination, makes one think about the evolution undergone by this country in the last three or four decades. But watch out: they are trying to send us back to those times and even before!!!
