L'insegnamento della musica?

Petizione per l'insegnamento della musica nei licei.
Il mondo della cultura musicale sta subendo un forte attacco. Le bozze
relative alla riforma della scuola secondaria superiore, dopo tante
promesse, vedono definitivamente sparire la musica dai curricula di
qualsiasi tipo di liceo (ad eccezione del liceo musicale). La Facolta'
di Musicologia di Cremona promuove una petizione in favore della musica
a scuola. Si chiede tutta la collaborazione possibile nella diffusione e
sottoscrizione di questo documento.

Per aderire basta inviare una e-mail a petizione-musica-nei-licei@unipv.it indicando nome, cognome, qualifica e citta' (vale per l'Italia).

Trovate il testo della petizione:

Links

   
• comunicato

Desiderio e dolore

Il desiderio è la mente che cerca salvezza o appagamento nelle cose esteriori e nel futuro come sostituti per la gioia dell'essere. Fintanto che io sono la mia mente, io sono questi desideri, questi bisogni, necessità, attaccamenti e avversioni, e al di là di questi non vi è “io” se non come pura possibilià, potenziale inespresso(...). Bisogna essere presenti. Bisogna diventare osservatori della mente.
Gli esseri umani sono in balia del dolore da millenni.
Il dolore è ineviatabile fintanto che ci si identifica con la mente. Mi riferisco principalmente al dolore emotivo, che è la causa principale de dolore fisico e della malattia fisica. Risentimento, odio, autocommiserazione, senso di colpa, collera, depressione, gelosia, eccetera, perfino la più lieve irritazione, sono tutte forme di dolore. E ogni piacere o esaltazione emotiva contiene in sé il seme del dolore, il suo contrario inseparabile, che si manifesterà col tempo.
Chiunque abbia mai assunto droghe per andare “su di giri” saprà che l'euforia prima o poi si trasforma in depressione, che il piacere si tramuta in qualche forma di dolore. Molte persone sanno inoltre per esperienza con quanta facilità e rapidità un rapporto sentimentale può trasformarsi da fonte di piacere in fonte di dolore. Viste da una prospettiva più elevata, entrambe le polarità, negativa e positiva, sono facce della stessa medaglia, entrambe fanno parte del dolore fondamentale che è inseparabile dallo stato di coscienza incentrato sull'io e identificato con la mente.
Esistono due livelli di dolore: il dolore che noi creiamo adesso e il dolore proveniente dal passato che ancora vive nella nostra mente e nel nostro corpo. Bisogna cercare di smettere di creare dolore nel presente e dissolvere il dolore del passato...

E. Tolle

Person of the year

Il Financial Times ha eletto uomo dell'anno 2004 Eliot Spitzer, procuratore generale a New York.
Spitzer ce l'ha su con le banche e le multinazionali. Fra i suoi "bersagli" ci sono state assicurazioni, aziende farmaceutiche e giganti del tabacco. Grazie alle multe comminate in tre anni ha fatto entrare nelle casse dello Stato 4 miliardi di dollari.
Le aziende pagano per evitare scandali che deprezzerebbero il titolo in borsa.
Oggi Eliot Spitzer punta alla carica di governatore di New York nel 2006. I sondaggi riportano un gradimento del 62% fra i repubblicani e lui e' democratico.
(Fonte: La Repubblica delle donne)

WDCS joins call for action to save right whales from extinction

Press release

(Yarmouth Port, MA – 17 January 2004) – The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS - www.wdcs.org), IFAW (the International Fund for Animal Welfare – www.ifaw.org) and the International Wildlife Coalition (IWC - www.iwc.org) today called on the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to immediately undertake aggressive efforts to protect North Atlantic right whales. In the last six weeks, four right whales have been found dead, three of them mature females and, at least two of them, pregnant. This alarming rate of right whale mortality threatens the entire species with extinction. The right whale is one of the most endangered mammals on earth, and with a population numbering fewer than 350 individuals, each death is significant.

On November 24, a 49-foot pregnant right whale was killed off the Virginia coast after it was apparently struck by a Navy Vessel on November 17th. This pregnant female and her full term fetus both bled to death. In December, a dead right whale was found 86 miles east of Nantucket, Massachusetts. On January 10, another right whale, a 45-foot female named Bolo, was found dead 75 miles east of Nantucket. On January 12, another female right whale named Lucky, was found 15 miles east of Cumberland Island in Georgia. Lucky, named for scars she received from a previous ship-strike, was pregnant with her first known calf.

“To say the last 12 months have been devastating to right whales is an understatement,” said Regina Asmutis-Silvia, biologist for the IWC and WDCS. “The incoming Secretary of Commerce must take immediate action or else leave a legacy of overseeing the extinction of a majestic species.”

The most significant threats to right whales, and the greatest source of mortality, are shipping and fishing activities. Shipping and fishing vessels are prevalent in the species’ breeding, feeding, and migratory corridors along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. About 72% of whales bare scars from entanglements in fishing line. Incredibly, six right whales were reported entangled in 2004 with four of those animals trapped in the gear since 2002. Entanglement in fishing line can quickly result in death as the line may often become embedded in the whales flesh, leading to infection, or starvation as the gear prevents the feeding, diving and other life activities of the whale. One to three right whales are killed by ship strikes annually, and an unknown number of animals lost at sea.

Under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is obligated to protect the species from harmful human activities. The NMFS acknowledges that if a single North Atlantic right whale is killed by anthropogenic causes each year, the entire species may go extinct. In last 12 months alone, at least five right whales were found dead, including three full-term, pregnant females believed killed by ship strikes. The tragic loss of these five animals does not even take into consideration the number of right whales that may have been struck and lost at sea, or entangled in fishing gear.

NMFS has still not issued its proposed fishing regulations to minimize the risk of entanglements (scheduled for release in March of 2004) and there are currently no mandates requiring ships to alter course or change speed in right whale habitats.

“Each death is a tragic loss,” said Erin Heskett, Senior Program Officer for IFAW. “NMFS needs to immediately implement shipping regulations, such as speed restrictions and re-routing before this entire species disappears right before our eyes. This is not a question of waiting until we have more information; if there was ever a case for precaution, this is it.”

About IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)
Founded in 1969, IFAW is an international animal welfare and conservation organization that works to protect wild and domestic animals and to broker solutions that benefit both animals and people. With offices in 15 countries around the world, IFAW works to protect whales, elephants, great apes, big cats, dogs and cats, seals, and other animals. To learn how to help IFAW protect animals, please visit www.ifaw.org.

About IWC (The International Wildlife Coalition)
IWC is a US based wildlife protection organization founded to challenge the needless deaths and abuses to wild animals world-wide. IWC has representatives in the US, Canada, Kenya, and Brazil.

About WDCS (The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society)
The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society is an international charity dedicated to the protection of whales, dolphins and their environment. WDCS maintains offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Argentina and Germany.

Links

• wdcs


• ifaw


• iwc


• Accobams


• Tethys

Unarmed Bodyguards

Peace Brigades International (PBI) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) which protects human rights and promotes nonviolent transformation of conflicts.

When invited, we send teams of volunteers into areas of repression and conflict. The volunteers accompany human rights defenders, their organizations and others threatened by political violence. Perpetrators of human rights abuses usually do not want the world to witness their actions. The presence of volunteers backed by a support network helps to deter violence. We create space for local activists to work for social justice and human rights.

Where does PBI work?
Currently, we have volunteers protecting human rights activists in Colombia, Indonesia, and Mexico, as well as a project restarting in Guatemala and a joint project with other organizations in Chiapas, Mexico.

How can I help?
PBI volunteers and supporters around the world demonstrate that individuals working together can act boldly as peacekeepers even when governments cannot or will not. You can help in a variety of ways (see 'What You Can Do' links opposite). The effectiveness of our volunteers depends directly on the support that we can draw on.


Brigadas Internacionales de Paz (PBI) es una organización que promueve la paz y defiende los derechos humanos.
A petición de organizaciones locales, enviamos grupos de voluntarios a áreas que se encuentran en conflicto y bajo represión política. Estos voluntarios acompañan a defensores de los derechos humanos, a sus organizaciones y a aquellos que son víctimas de la violencia. Los responsables de las violaciones de los derechos humanos no quieren que el mundo sepa de sus acciones. La presencia de los voluntarios, apoyada por una red de emergencia ayuda a disuadir la violencia. De esta manera creamos el espacio para que activistas locales puedan trabajar en pro de la justicia social y de los derechos humanos.

¿Dónde trabaja PBI?
Actualmente las Brigadas Internacionales de Paz tienen proyectos a largo plazo en Colombia, Indonesia, y México y un nuevo proyecto en Guatemala, al igual que un proyecto en conjunto con otras organizaciones en Chiapas, México.

¿Cómo puedo ayudar?
Los voluntarios de PBI y las personas de todo el mundo que brindan su apoyo, nos demuestran que trabajando en forma conjunta se puede actuar valientemente para restablecer la paz, con o sin el apoyo de los gobiernos. Tú puedes ayudar de diferentes maneras. La eficacia de nuestros voluntarios depende en forma directa de todo el apoyo que se pueda obtener.

Links

• PBI


• PBI España

On volunteers:
"The accompaniment volunteer is literally an embodiment of international human rights concern, a compelling and visible reminder to those using violence that it will not go unnoticed."

On being nonpartisan:
"Nonpartisanship is a widely misunderstood issue facing all humanitarian organizations working in conflict situations...Nonpartisan service responds to demonstrable objective and external criteria rather than to alignments in the conflict. Categories such as the poor, the suffering, and those in need are criteria that cross boundaries of specific political conflicts. To be partial but nonpartisan, then, is to say, "We will be at your side in the face of injustice and suffering, but we will not take sides against those you define as enemies."

On deterrence:
"If the general deterrence attempt of the international community could ensure respect for human rights, there would be no need for accompaniment. When Mejía underestimated or ignored the international community's concerns about the GAM, and Hector and Rosario were killed, PBI accompaniment was the next line of defense. Immediate deterrence becomes necessary when general deterrence fails. Accompaniment does not replace the general deterrence attempts of the human rights community: the two complement each other."

On the idea of political space:
"The concept of political space is crucial to understanding how the incremental protection and encouragement provided by accompaniment interact with each other. Each actor in a complex conflict situation, whether a soldier or a human rights activist, perceives a broad array of possible political actions and associates a certain cost or set of consequences with each action. The actor perceives some consequences as acceptable and some as unacceptable, thereby defining the limits of a distinct political space."

Andrei Nekrasov: il Michael Moore russo?

L’hanno definita il Michael Moore russo: è d’accordo?

Beh, per certi versi è vero: le similitudini tra i nostri lavori ci sono. Ma c’è anche un’enorme differenza: lui negli Stati Uniti è circondato e sostenuto da un ambiente culturale e politico forte, quello dei democratici che si oppongono alla guerra e alle politiche di Bush. Io, in Russia, sono praticamente solo, una delle poche voci fuori da un coro in cui tutti cantano le lodi di Putin. Nella Russia di oggi non esiste opposizione.

Qual è la tesi centrale del suo film?

Disbelief non accusa il governo russo di aver commesso gli attentati del ’99. Lo accusa però di non aver fatto quello che qualsiasi governo democratico avrebbe dovuto fare al suo posto: cercare la verità su una tragedia che ha colpito il suo popolo, indagare a fondo in maniera chiara e trasparente. Invece, come racconta il documentario, le autorità non hanno fatto altro che ostacolare le indagini e insabbiare le prove, tappando la bocca a chiunque osasse mettere in dubbio la verità ufficiale.
...

See the

Links

• disbelief-film
• L'intervista
• Peace Reporter

Radio Insurgente: la voz de los sin voz

RADIO INSURGENTE es la voz oficial del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN). RADIO INSURGENTE es una estación totalmente desligada del mal gobierno mexicano. Difunde las ideas y los contenidos de la lucha zapatista a través de FM y en Onda Corta. También da cuenta de los avances del proceso de construcción de la autonomía indígena en las zonas zapatistas.

En Frecuencia Modulada (FM), RADIO INSURGENTE transmite, desde varias emisoras en las montañas del sureste mexicano, programación destinada a las bases de apoyo zapatistas, a los y las insurgentes, milician@s, comandant@s, a la sociedad civil regional, así como a los soldados y paramilitares. Los programas son transmitidos, además del español, en las lenguas tzotzil, tzeltal, chol y tojolabal. La programación alterna noticias locales, nacionales e internacionales con música, mensajes educativos y políticos, cuentos y radionovelas. La programación musical incluye música tradicional de los pueblos indígenas, corridos zapatistas, canciones revolucionarias y todo tipo de música internacional.

RADIO INSURGENTE es un medio para que las comunidades difundan su música, su palabra y su pensamiento.

RADIO INSURGENTE es la única estación de radio independiente que transmite en lenguas indígenas en el Estado de Chiapas, y por esta razón es entendida por hombres, mujeres y niños. En Chiapas, por las políticas educacionales catastróficas del mal gobierno, aproximadamente un tercio de los hombres y la mitad de las mujeres no saben leer ni escribir. Especialmente la mayoría de las mujeres no hablan ni entienden el español.

La señal de RADIO INSURGENTE se escucha en regiones aisladas en las que no hay energía eléctrica, adonde no llega ningún periódico y donde la diversión principalmente consiste en jugar básketbol o fútbol. Para estas comunidades, RADIO INSURGENTE abre una ventana al mundo y trae información acerca de las luchas de otros pueblos en otros países. Los cientos de cartas que todos los días llegan a las cabinas de RADIO INSURGENTE con saludos y mensajes políticos de los oyentes demuestran la importancia de esta Radio para los pueblos indígenas de Chiapas.

See the link

Links

   
• radio insurgente


• in these times


• nuovi mondi media

Sperimentazione sugli animali

Dati resi noti dal Ministero della Salute sugli animali usati nelle sperimentazioni farmaceutiche e cosmetiche.
Dal 2001 al 2003 sono stati oltre 2 milioni e 700 mila (in Italia..). Secondo Legambiente questo avviene perche' la legge che regola il settore vivisezione e' una farsa.
La responsabilita' dei controlli e' delegata agli stessi "utilizzatori".
Scegliete cosmetici, naturali, non testati sugli animali! Costa un po' di piu' ma non sarete partecipi di questa gattastrofe ;-)

Links

• lav


• antivivisezionisti svizzeri


• Pets or Food

Fotovoltaico

Secondo il rapporto "Solar Generation 2" presentato il 18 Gennaio a
Bruxelles da Greenpeace e dall'Associazione europea dell' industria
fotovoltaica (EPIA), entro il 2020 un miliardo di persone utilizzera' il
fotovoltaico, nasceranno 2 milioni di posti lavoro e le emissioni di gas
serra si ridurranno di 169 milioni di tonnellate l'anno, l'equivalente
di 75 centrali a carbone. Dal 1998 il fotovoltaico cresce del 35% l'anno
ed entro il 2040 potrebbe coprire il 20% del fabbisogno energetico
mondiale. Sarebbe pero' necessario un maggior sostegno da parte dell'Europa.

(Fonte: Greenpeace.it)

Indonesian Army Said to Block Tsunami Aid in Aceh

January 6th

Indonesian Army Said to Block Tsunami Aid
Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil finds an extra $5 million for victims

WASHINGTON, D.C. “In the last few days there have been accusations that the Indonesian military has used the tsunami disaster as a means to further crush a long-running rebellion, denying food and aid to rebel groups. The devastated Aceh province is under virtual martial law.
Aceh is the center of the struggle, dating back to the 1970s, by local groups who want independence from Indonesia. The region, an ancient kingdom which once included much of Malaysia, actually predates Indonesia; after the struggle against the Dutch colonialists following World War II, Aceh came together with the other islands that make up Indonesia, with the understanding that it would keep considerable autonomy. But the central government wasted no time in encroaching on Aceh. Jakarta wants to hold on because the region is so rich in natural resources, especially oil and gas.

The financial linchpin of the Aceh province is Exxon Mobil. Its large liquefied-natural-gas plant there is the base of the region?s economy and provides gas to customers throughout Asia.

Now the region has been plunged into chaos. Allan Nairn, the American activist and journalist who has been active in the independence struggle in East Timor and elsewhere in Indonesia, this week told Seven Oaks, a magazine based in British Columbia, that the Indonesian military, which is supposedly doling out aid to devastated communities, is in fact using the earthquake as a pretext for attacking villages away from the coast in East and North Aceh.
"The military is also impeding the flow of aid," said Nairn. "They've commandeered a hangar at the Banda Aceh airport, where they are taking control of internationally shipped-in supplies. We just got a report that the distribution of supplies is being done in some towns and villages only to people who hold the 'red and white,' which is a special ID card issued to Acehnese by the Indonesian police. You have to go to a police station to get one of these ID cards, and it is only issued to people who the police certify as not being opponents of the army, not being critics of the government.
Of course many people are afraid to go and apply for such a card.
"There's been a tremendous outpouring from the public; all over the world people are giving donations," Nairn continued. "But most of these donations are being channeled through the U.N.agencies or through the big mainstream charities. There's a major problem. Those agencies and charities all have contracts with the Indonesian government, contracts which oblige them to either channel funds through the government or work in concert with the government, which means that government officials and army officers can
steal the aid, and there are already indications that this is happening. And even that aid which is not stolen may be used in a way to consolidate military control over the population."

For Exxon Mobil, the tsunami wasn't a great hindrance to operations. The company reported only a "minor disruption." More generally, times are good.
Company revenue for the first nine months of 2004 stood at $214.67 billion, up from $180.79 billion a year ago. Profits were up 39 percent.
After the disaster, Exxon Mobil announced that, together with its employees, it would be making a $5 million donation to help tsunami victims.

by James Ridgeway,
www.villagevoice.com

Links

   
• Aceh before&after

Bisogno di caldo?

Ho sentito che c'è qualcuno che sta morendo di freddo..

Senza dover smontare i termosifoni e' possibile migliorarne
l'efficienza (dal 5 al 10%) inserendo tra calorifero e parete uno
speciale pannello termoriflettente.
Questi pannelli sono atossici e ignifughi.
Ciao Sarah

Links

   
• Commercioetico

armamiento

La violencia armada destroza vidas al exacerbar los conflictos, la pobreza y los abusos contra los derechos humanos. La campaña propugna la adopción de un Tratado Internacional sobre el Comercio de Armas en virtud del cual sea más difícil que las armas lleguen a las manos equivocadas.

Tu apoyo ayudará a demostrar que en todo el mundo hay gente como tú indignada por los abusos del comercio de armas y que está dispuesta a exigir un control más riguroso sobre su comercio.
Para mas informaciones ver link.

Links

   
• controlarms

Human Rights Watch

We confront today’s global human rights challenges in the face of intense adversity and government opposition. Only through persistence, tenacity, and the generosity of our friends are we able to advance principles of justice and decency worldwide.

It is this same generosity that enables us to grow and strengthen our work. Our good friends Herb and Marion Sandler and the Sandler Family Supporting Foundation have offered to match every dollar you contribute by half. For every new $500 contribution received during the challenge period, the organization will receive an additional $250 gift from the Sandler Family Supporting Foundation. The Sandlers have allowed the supporters not only to support human rights, but also to get added value for the contributions.

As 2004 comes to an end, it is with pride and sincere gratitude to our friends that we reflect on some of our hard-fought accomplishments of the past year.

* We exposed and fought to reverse ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region of western Sudan. We demonstrated through on-the-ground interviews and leaked official documents that the Sudanese government has launched and supported the murderous Janjaweed militia. We then helped to persuade the U.N. Security Council to order the government to guarantee humanitarian access to displaced civilians, authorize the deployment of 3,500 troops to protect the people of Darfur, and launch an investigative team that may lead to prosecution of those behind the mass atrocities.
* We spoke out against abuses by the U.S. military at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, saying that they were the predictable result of government policy decisions taken since Sept. 11, 2001, to condone the torture and mistreatment of detainees. We contested the government’s claim that these events were an aberration involving a few low-level soldiers by highlighting its disregard for the Geneva Conventions and its authorization of abusive interrogation practices. We played an important role in the U.S. Congress’s recent adoption of legislation to halt the U.S. military’s use of coercive interrogation.
* Following our exposé of the crimes committed by brutal Afghan warlord Ismail Khan, President Hamid Karzai dismissed Khan from his post as governor of Heart in September. Khan had used politically motivated arrests, intimidation, extortion, and torture to cling to power, and had imposed severe restrictions on the rights of women.
* The state of California recently passed legislation expanding access to sterile syringes, which was the central advocacy goal of our report on how restricted access to needle-exchange programs in California fueled the AIDS crisis.

These important accomplishments demonstrate the important work we can do when we band together to defend basic human rights principles.

Your generosity makes an enormous difference to our work and to the lives of countless people worldwide. I hope you will consider supporting, and expanding, your commitment to Human Rights Watch. We need you now more than ever.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Roth

Links

   
• Human Rights Watch

Il cieco

Un giorno, un uomo non vedente stava seduto sui gradini di un edificio con un cappello ai suoi piedi ed un cartello recante la scritta "Sono cieco, aiutatemi per favore".

Un pubblicitario che passeggiava lì vicino si fermò e notò che aveva solo pochi centesimi nel suo cappello. Si chinò e versò altre monete, poi, senza chiedere il permesso dell'uomo, prese il cartello, lo girò e scrisse un'altra frase. Quello stesso pomeriggio il pubblicitario tornò dal non vedente e notò che il suo cappello era pieno di monete e banconote. Il non vedente riconobbe il passo dell'uomo: chiese se non fosse stato lui ad aver riscritto il suo cartello e cosa avesse scritto. Il pubblicitario risposte "Niente che non fosse vero - ho solo riscritto il tuo in maniera diversa", sorrise e andò via. Il non vedente non seppe mai che ora sul suo cartello c'è scritto:
"Oggi è primavera....ed io non la posso vedere".

Quindi cambia la tua strategia quando le cose non vanno bene e vedrai che sarà per il meglio.