Stories and News

Stories and News No. 648 No, we are not as Uganda, where a tabloid publishes a list of the top 200 homosexuals. Watch the video We are a civilized country. No, we don’t do these things. Telling the truth, we too have our rankings. And what's wrong? There is nothing bad in classifying. The sin, where it is, concerns the object of contention. The reasons for the primacy of one over the other. It's all that, think about it. For example, speaking about press freedom ranking, it seems natural to me that provokes boast to the first as shame to last one. But these are the charts that divide. The rich from the poor. The north from the south. We do not, we in the civilized country are off these contentions. Because our freedom of the press has never been questioned. As well as freedom of religion and freedom of expression and opinion. Imagine the sex freedom. That’s why we are here to strongly reaffirm that we are not like them. Nevertheless, we are outraged and...

Stories and News No. 647 They told me, so they told me. It seems that in Europe there are 11 million empty houses . They told me so, so they did. How many empty homes are there? So that guy asked me, I never remember his name. 11 million , I replied. Because I cannot remember his name but he’s nice to me. Not always, today he does. And then, if you're nice to me today, I will not forget this. At least for today. But 11 million empty houses... Well, I do not forget it easily. Tomorrow too. An empty home, and then multiplies it. With an empty kitchen. No stove? Never mind, it's always a kitchen, listen to me. So an empty bathroom. Devoid of WC? I told you never mind, trust me. Empty means it is empty. I can go in when I want to. As in the kitchen. Then I want to see who will protest. If both are empty. Because if both are empty, and so the entire house, even the bedroom is no exception. Do you know how empty things work? You can only fill them. Th...

Stories and News No. 646 Far since the end of the Korean War in 1953, more than eighty old men and women separated by an absurd double-sided wall named north and south have finally found each other . It's a hug. No, this is trivial. Then it is a dance, with music or without. No, somebody said it before, too many times, indeed. Here we are: it is a human gesture. Too general, I agree. But what if I told you that it is an intimate image? Okay, it could be misleading. In these confused and contradictory days, we must be more precise. It's an exchange of dreams, missed by accident or crime. No, that’s not even enough. The exchange presupposes a previous interest that depreciates the main quality of the act. Spontaneity . Unspeakable spontaneity. Could it be a mutual gratification? No, huh? The temperature of the sentence has dropped to the limits. The bar of the thermometer must be kept to the top, without exaggeration, but, as the naturalness of the movemen...

Stories and News No. 645 I am breathless. The reason? I’ll tell you at the end. I read that there is yet another end of the world coming in, this time predicted by the Vikings: the Ragnarok . The end of the world. The end of the world as we know it. Let me imagine it, right now. Yes, I know, I was already fooled by Maya, but try to understand me. Here we dream, this should write on the entrance. Indeed, here we hope, that gives better the right idea. The end of the world... The end of modern society. Of one-way streets and toll roads, high but also low speed trains, ever new Iphone and always old frauds. No more national governments and geographical boundaries. No documents, residence permits or even just die on the sidelines, where no one sees you. The end of TV. Telesales interspersed with soaps selling everything except a story that is worth your time. The disappearance of the money. Banks and ATMs, taxes, transfers, checks. The disappearance of the prisons. No...

Stories and News No. 644 It’s a dream, I know. But I am a player. And those who play, must necessarily dream about it. The victory. But not a normal victory, huh? Because if you really need to dream, then look for the top. Anyway, it is just a dream, what are you going to lose? I knew that the FIFA World cup is in Rome, now, in a world tour that will take it to Brazil, where at the final whistle of the last match it will be delivered to him. The captain of the winners. Yes, I agree. I am not even the captain, to be honest. And believe me, I've never figured out if we never had one. However, who said that to win the game we should have a leader? If everyone will do his part, we won’t need science to send a ball into the goal. On the other hand, the name is game, not nuclear fission. In spite of all that stuff - strategy, tactics, high and low pressing, mixed zone and marking to man, this is always a game. Sending the ball into the goal still remains the sense ...

Stories and News No. 643 Ladies and gentlemen, after 400 years we made it. Watch the video One of the most famous optical illusions has been unveiled . Why does a white object on a black background appear larger than the contrary, even with the same size? Galileo Galilei was the first to raise this question, and on the occasion of his 450th anniversary, a team of researchers from the State University of New York found that the illusion depends on how our eyes identify light and dark. That is, our interpretation of the black/white contrast is conditioned by the idea we have of both. Damn, this is a scoop. Come on, who among you has not thought the same thing? The implications of this revolutionary scientific enterprise force us to look at things on a different light, literally. Although of the same size, up to now the white on black seemed larger than the black on white background because we had prejudices. Let's face it. This conditioning mechanism has made great da...

Stories and News No. 642 What are my eyes reading ? Reading ... Watching, that is how it should be. The world's largest solar power plant, Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System , was opened in California, in the Mojave Desert, 40 Miles (64 km) southwest of Las Vegas. Well done, you are good, really. Well, it doesn’t bother me. I've never done any discussion, you are my witnesses. Anyone who sees me, knows what kind of silent spectator I am. Not at all, I agree. It's normal, right? Somebody looks, looks, and looks, then something resonates in. The lake, the river and even the sea agree, it's like when someone throws a smooth stone on your back, possibly with a multi-purpose rebound. Sooner or later the stone stops and while you count the rebounds I’ll do the same with circles spreading around . Inside of me. Read as well as the consequences of the end . Of a journey, a love, a lifetime. Of a story. And this is my prize, at sunset. Listen , you mig...

Stories and News No. 641 An old spinster , yes. So that artichoke face called me some days ago. If I knew what it means, I might as well reply. The fact is that I am convinced that he does not even know the meaning too. Spinster. People talk nonsense, this is the truth. They see you there, alone. Alone now, you know. So they draw their conclusions. Hasty ones, there is no doubt about. Well, would you like to comment? Stop for a moment and let's talk. Come on, ask if you are interested. Yes, I'm alone. But it was not always so. It may seem strange to you, but I also had friends. Affection, chatter, laughter, and lots of camaraderie, more than you could imagine. The reality is that all go fast, today, as the rats chased by cats. Unintentional rhyme, but you get the idea, right? I am alone, I cannot of course deny it. It's my today life. But why it must necessarily be a disgrace, I don’t understand. What about: congratulations, you survived . Very good,...

Stories and News No. 640 Good news , ladies and gentlemen. Every now and then, here are some good news. After twenty days of worrying silence, Yutu , the Jade Rabbit Chinese Lunar Rover, has awakened and returned to work. These were days of anguish and sleepless nights for Yutu’s family, I think it's understandable. But now is the time to rejoice and get rid of accumulated anxiety. “I've always said, and no one ever listen to me,” dad Chang complained, a retired satellite. “A narcoleptic astronaut should not being there, but his mother advised him not to put it in the resume and this is what happens.” The parent has thus revealed the secret problem to the press that apparently Yutu had hidden during the talks with officials of Beijing Space Agency. The latter invited Yutu to return immediately but in the monitor he smiled without speaking. “He left the hearing aid at home,” his mother Lyn attempted to justify, an old black and white TV, those with knob and no remot...

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Stories and News No. 638 I read just now that a bird called Pallas's Leaf Warbler, or Phylloscopus proregulus , during its migration suddenly changed idea and from central Siberia flew up in Italy, near L'Aquila, rather than China, where it actually was supposed to lead by instinct. Travelling 6000 km in the wrong direction. According to the experts it was a mistake. Experts… why do not ask the guy directly? He is also a singing bird… Dear friend, Remember what you told me a whisper from death, in that black tight hug? You cannot fly , these were your last words. Almost the last ones. The last, really last, it was something different than a simple word. Something more. Fly . I loved you so much, in the time I spent with you, together, possibly far from that overrated floor of grass and rock called mainland. But so more, when you have become just a memory. That is, the story of you . With a heartbreaking finale, I agree, but seasoned with a hint of mystery. ...

Stories and News No. 637 "I'm proud because we gave the children a great knowledge of the anatomy of a giraffe that they could not have had through photos," this seems to be what the spokesman of the zoo in Copenhagen declared , on Sunday, when they killed a baby giraffe on live TV before an audience of children and their parents, then dissect the animal and give it to the lions. Here is what it creates in my animalistic fantasy... My name is Marius and I am a giraffe. Ooops, I was . We're on the air? The cameras are on? May I go? Well, I wanted to add a sort of tail to my yesterday performance. Metaphorical tail, of course. By the way, I have one only tail. Pardon, I had . Sorry, this is the Jet Lag. You see, getting in the paradise of the beasts is not like making two stops on the subway. Where I am now is incalculably far more than the place I lived. I lived , I begin to guess the verb tenses. Too bad, however, it is a shame it is so far if you l...

Stories and News No. 636 My name is Colonel and I am one of those who usually are called dogs of war. Now I'm a hostage , prisoner of my enemies. My enemies... Just to clear it, the Taliban, here in Afghanistan, are not my enemies. They are the enemies of my masters. Former masters, to be precise. So, to be honest too, I am now in the hands of the enemies of my former masters. Therefore, until a moment before my capture, I was a dog of war who fought against the enemies of my masters at the time. While now, my current masters keep me captive and are very proud to show me to their enemies, who are my former masters. Well, let’s go back in time. When I started my training, early in my career. No, before that. A dog, just a dog. Nothing more, I agree. Not a police dog or a lap dog, not even a truffle sniffing dog or a retriever dog, not a dog for blind or a hunting dog. A dog, a dog and nothing else. Nothing less, you know. And suddenly, here comes the blessing, t...

Stories and News No. 635 Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come to remove the masks. The famous Japanese musician, Mamoru Samuragochi , does not know how to write music. And he is not deaf, as he has always claimed. The true composer of his works, Takashi Niigaki, is a teacher at a school in Tokyo, exploited for decades by the Japanese Beethoven, as he was called. An isolated case? An extraordinary exception in the firmament of the famous people? Quite the contrary. The all story is greater than that. The best-known writer, who I will not name because it is not yet official, confessed to copy his novels directly from the diary of the grandmother's Chinese caregiver. So, in a chain reaction of deceptive words, or a domino of first choice books, other popular authors have confessed. The porter and the plumber, the waitress at the bar and the lady of the fruits, the introverted young man on the near apartment and the girl with the cap met daily on the subway, the Egyptia...

Stories and News No. 634 Today, Wednesday, February 5, 2014, for the first time Italy has its National Day against food waste. I read that FAO has estimated that each year in the world 1.3 billion tons of food are thrown in the trash. Here is a story… It’s mine, it's my fault. Only mine. Oops, I did not present myself, sorry. I am the demon of waste, oh yes. I get, I grab and take away all I can. Read it as what the humans forget. Among the alleged negligibility of living. The white that, apparently, you do not need. The space at the bottom of the story, the absent row, the break between two rhymes, the entire page uncut to give volume to the novel. All I grab, space hairless from various inks, and I crash everything in a myriad of unusable fragments. Hopefully irreparable in a fatal dance of tearing. Pauses, ever useful breaks of common conversations. The more palatable ones to those like me. Thieves of unspoken words. Semantic sins and syntactic crimes that ...

Stories and News No. 633 I read that in the United States, improving road safety, engineers are designing cars able to communicate Wi-Fi through a technique called vehicle- to-vehicle, V2V in short, so that the driver is informed about arrivals by other cars even 300 meters away. We speak about future, of course. However, if cars could talk today, what would they say? What would they say of us? Early morning. Peak traffic. Clogged road. The first voice arises from the confusing conglomeration of metal and smoke. “Life is short,” the scooter says wriggling between the cars in columns. “What do you mean?” the preceding fast running motorcycle asks “I'm talking about your half centaur,” the former replies. “Explain.” “What's to explain? If he continues to drive as well as in a video game sooner or later someone opens a door straight on your snout.” The motorcycle makes a visibly apotropaic gesture: it touches its muffler. “Why half centaur?” “Because if he insis...

Stories and News No. 632 JK Rowling, the author of the famous saga of the young wizard of Hogwarts has revealed that, according to simple criteria of plausibility, Harry should have married Hermione instead of his friend Ron. I was disappointed, because - for what it's worth – I liked the improbable romance between the cute but clumsy Weasley and the smart and charming girl played by Emma Watson. On the other hand, is it really plausibility so important in the stories? Truth. Let’s get an injection of truth. That's what it takes, to our imagination. And all would be more acceptable. Maybe. More logical. For sure. Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and a shy nerd and geek finds himself transformed into a good looking guy, also strong as a bull. With great power comes great responsibility? Yes, I agree, but why am I doing this? Everything is a crap, you know what? In the plausible story it’s crazy to think Peter sewing the costume and mask to fight G...