The dawn must come.

The dawn must come.

Thursday 11 September 2014

Sex & Drugs and Rock & Roll.. Pumping up the GDP.

In 2010, in a drastic move to overcome a crushing economic/financial crisis, the EU has reviewed the established criterion by which to calculate its members’ GDP. Consequently, the book-keepers were able to signal a positive increase of 3.7%!!
But what that really means? It means that while ‘Numbers’ are not an opinion, ‘Balance Sheets’ are! Let me explain.. If a good slice of the 2013 seemingly positive improvement comes from a solid 1.6% of Methodological Innovations, and a significant 1.3% from the Capitalisation of Research & Development Expenses; the best contribution derives from a sound 11.5% of the so called “Submerged Economy” (previously included under Illegal Economy and labelled as Parallel Economy) which includes mainly: Drug Commercialisation, Prostitution Activities, Smuggling, Racketeering, and Tax Evasion. Once added to other introits from those activities properly classified as Illegal Economy,  we’ll have a good 12.4% of the overall GDP.
In other words, this practice would definitely meliorate the Deficit/GDP Ratio, but it will do absolutely nothing with regard to Growth. It may apparently absorb the ‘Annual Inflation’ but it shall never have an input related to ‘Real Economy’ in terms of New Jobs, Industrial Production, Exports, and Services.
So, if the new international parameters say that “the calculations that are expressing the revenue of a nation must be exhaustive” then they should also consider into account the activities banned by law. It is no longer considered as “Criminal Economy” what could be simply defined as “activities with characteristics of Voluntarily Exchange between Economic Subjects”!
A clever accountant’s balance maneuvering that may hide some symptoms, but will never be able to cure the root cause. The viral disease will continue its life cycle and mature to an extent that no treating remedy will help.. Other than amputation.

A.                  ELNAHAS – Montopoli, September 11th 2014.

Mr. President, You didn’t do your Math!

In a most depressive desperate effort to consolidate a Middle-Eastern public opinion in support of his plans to fight ISIL*, Obama made two crucial mistakes:
1)      He tried to press the cultural/religious button using statements like “We don’t have anything against Islam….” or “I understand quit well the teachings of Islam….”; and
2)      he mentioned the Yemen and Somalia examples as “an American success”!
He, and his close advisors, didn’t foresee how mediocre such an approach will sound; because the Arab/Muslim populations (being a majority in the Middle-East) though fearing the spread of a well organised well financed well equipped Islamic State, they have also seen the outcome of all types of western intervention (humanitarian aiding or belligerent gaming, training or invading) from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Iraq and Lebanon… etc.
Obviously Yemen and Somalia aren’t any different. Look what they’ve left behind!
Ahmed ELNAHAS – Castelfiorentino, September 11th 2014.

*Even changing the acronyms from ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) to ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) is a clear evidence of a total Western under-estimation of the Arab Culture and history; because the term “Levant” was always considered, since the 11th all through the 19th centuries, the only geo-political definition of the “Fertile Crescent” (Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq) commonly known as AsSham. And as such the term brings back alive some very bad memories (The Sykes-Picot accords and the Paris Peace Conference of 1919).

Tuesday 9 September 2014

Sfogo di un Dinisauro estinto, una volta era chiamato: Viaggio!

L’ospite ha ragione.. Finché si comporta da Ospite.

È questo il concetto principale che manca dal vernacolo dei “Professionisti Del Turismo” dagli anni cinquanta del secolo scoroso ad oggi. Il cosìdetto ‘Turismo di Massa’ non ha fatto e non fa altro che colonizzare un territorio, che chiama elegantemente destinazione, e sprema fino all’ultimo le sue risorse; una volta queste siano del tutto esaurite; si sposta per colonizzare un altro territorio lasciando dietro danni e distruzione incalcolabili.. Così fanno i Virus!

Scelgiere i ‘Villagi Turistici’ non è altro che uscire da casa propria per rimanaerne ostaggi.. Senza arricchirci da nessuna esperienza nuova, che sia Sportiva, Sociale, Culinare o magari Culturle.. Perché si diventa la preda sottomessa alle scelte aziendali ed interessi privati dei Tour Operator, Agenzie di viaggi, Companie Aeree, Guide, Strutture Ricettive, Animatori..

Tutti collusi a offrire i loro migliori trucchi per farci credere che il turismo è solo e soltanto divertimento senza impegni; e mantenerci dentro il villaggio a spennachiarci, mentre faciamo esattamente ciò che interessa a loro.. Infine torniamo di nuovo a casa esattamente come l’abbiamo lasciata.. Senza soldi, e neanche senza rendersi conto di aver pagato così tanto per non imparare il vero senso del Co-Esistere!


Ho sempre optato per il ‘Turismo di Qualità’.. Quello dei “Viaggiatori” per intenderci.. Dove tu non sei solamente un numero ma una persona con i propri esigenze, aspettative, gusti e cultura; e dove tutti gli altri pseudo-professionisti della tua esperinza evasiva fanno di tutto per personalizzarela nel quadro dell’autenticità veritiera del posto scelto da te.. Autenticità culturale, sociale, ecologica, culinare, storica, sportiva, e perfino estetica.
Dove le escurzioni non sono: gite, cammellate, o snorchelate… Ma più che altro “Visite”.. Dove un “Te Nel Deserto” non sia uno spettacolo folklorico o un passa tempo a pagamento; ma diventa un esperienza seria, e allo stesso tempo avventurosa e divertente, di scambio per aiutarci a realizzare come condividiamo le stesse origini e lo stesso destino.
Ahmed ELNAHAS – Montopoli, 2 Settembre 2014.

Thursday 4 September 2014

Seeds Savers.

By: Ahmed ELNAHAS – Montopoli, September 1st 2014.
Have you ever questioned the origin of the vegetables, fruits, cereals and legumes we are eating? To give you an answer, I translated here the article of Domenico Finiguerra published on Il Fatto Quotidiano. If you decide to read it; I invite you, once finished reading, to ask yourself:
1.      For how long we’ve been buying and eating products made from crossbreed seeds, chemical fertilisers, chemical pesticides and uncontrolled waters?
2.      What was the impact on my health and that of my children?
3.      Who is responsible?
4.      What to do about that?
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If you ask a metropolitan citizen how many vegetables he knows, he would give you a list of maximum twenty items, and that would be a perfect answer: “tomato, sweet pepper, zucchini, egg-plant, carrot, potato, salad, onion…”. Very few with regard to the enormous variety which slowly we have lost. Lost consciously, even intentionally.
In 1970(*),the European Union experts started their valuations on which seeds to include and which to exclude from a bureaucratic register; they ended up striking out and declaring “Illegal” 1500 varieties of vegetables and fruits!!! Cancelled from the list of the seeds allowed for sale! Why? Simple.. Being deprived from a documented ownership (patent), those seeds are of no benefit whatsoever to the monstrous ‘Agro-Industrial Multi-Nationals’. Thus, an entire heritage of human farming civilization is being systematically abandoned making a great favour to those who, even back then, were looking far ahead.
The tomatoes present on our tables that we eat along with our children, are crossbreeds; that a farmer cannot re-seed. So, each year he is forced to rebuy the seeds from the Multi-Nationals that we all know (Monsanto on top).
A great damage. In fact, it is scientifically demonstrated and proved, that the old (abandoned) varieties possess more vitamins, proteins, starches and complex sugars as well as natural hormones.. They also have more intense and richer taste. In short, they are much better. Moreover, the traditional plants are more resistant and robust than others; as such they do not necessitate chemical substances to mature. And for last, the traditional variations of vegetables are (were?) “Bio-diversities”: precious resources selected throughout millenniums of human agriculture experience. They are the historical and biological memory of agriculture.
It appears evident to any man with common sense that walling, or even worse abolishing, those seeds is illogic and anti-historic. As much evident it is the fact that only very few powerful individuals (owners and proprietors of registered seeds patents) are keeping under strict control (and blackmail) all the farmers of our planet.
Fortunately, some resistance do exist. The “Seeds Savers” though dispersed around the world, yet are structuring several ‘Seed Banks’.. Geminating an agriculture revolution.. Vandana Shiva is one of those.
In Italy, they have “Civiltà Contadina” (literally ‘Country-side Civilisation’.. For more info consult www.civiltacontadina.it), a group of vigilant farmers dedicating all their efforts to work silently as the custodians to save and share seeds of various vegetables, cereals and legumes inherited from the traditional Italian agriculture. Their efforts are building up and the association is acquiring more consensus, support and volunteers every day; having a common goal “..so that our heritage do not vanish and our traditions do not extinct, and that we can pass on to future generations”.
It would be a good practice to participate all in such a mission.. Our children will be grateful to us.
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Pass On the Word.
*The GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), formed in 1949 to establish the regulations for international global trade, and to give birth to the ITO (Int’l Trade Organisation) later on becoming the WTO (World Trade Organisation); among its rules are those regulating the “Intellectual Property” under which came the obligations for patents to the seed property.