Stories and News

Stories and News No. 962 The mica is one of the most common minerals on a global level, of great value for its ability to reflect and refract light and is used in a multitude of products and industries. About a quarter of the mica in the world is extracted in the poorest areas of India by at least 20,000 children working every day in the mines. Some of the biggest suppliers of car paint have recently joined a global initiative to eliminate child labor in the mica industry, thanks to an investigation by The Guardian . Unfortunately today, despite using the paint produced by the above vendors, all automotive brands including Volkswagen , BMW and Vauxhall ( General Motors ) have refused to join. This is just a story. Or a fairy tale... Once upon a time there was a monster . A terrible monster, so terrifying and invincible at the same time that now no one dared to face it with a loud voice in the public square. So big and powerful to get the most important victories on th...

Stories and News No. 961 The Donald Trump ’s administration has decided to cancel the diversifications on bathrooms and changing rooms for transgender students, matching their gender identity. A sort of step back from Obama ’s government. A right move for some and a medieval action for others. Yet, I know a place... Once upon a time there was a kingdom. A great one, if you think about it, a lot bigger than you might believe, if you look from above or a good distance. You have got the best screening size and opportunities within your imagination or what it has so far survived. In the great kingdom, much more than the simple appearance, there was everything for everyone. All had been designed and programmed for each living creature. It was so for inanimate things too, let alone who breathes and loves, comes and goes. There was food for all, depending on the digestive system and tastes, the ingestion and ways to find it. And there was shelter for every kind of life, a be...

Stories and News No. 960 The bodies of at least 74 people, believed to be migrants, were found on the Libyan coast after umpteenth tragedy at sea for people fleeing to Europe to escape war and poverty. As usually, the dead were covered, as much we do with bulky stories, unless the tale or the characters decide to unsettle the readers... Once upon a time there was a news. It came forward timidly, as it had happened earlier. Nothing new, when the race is usually won by arrogance and utilities. It's normal that the creatures stripped by fate, so with no wallet, are falling behind. Nevertheless, we all get at the end of the race. What happens after can change everything, even the order on the winners podium. There are 74 dead bodies on the beach, the press agency said. Nevertheless, she said nothing more. What beach? The first curious guy asked. It's important? Replied another one. In fact, admitted the other. They’re migrants, said the expert. Are they? Asked h...

Stories and News No. 959 I read that Adama Traoré ’s death in the custody of French police has become one of the most discussed cases in Europe on the alleged or proven brutality of the agents. It becomes every day more topical everywhere. People rightly ask for justice and these days the manifestations in Paris are very crowded. However, in my humble opinion, the paradoxical aberration that lets who should protect and serve citizens to deprive them of life, offers a simple request of normalcy ... There once was a crazy land. A totally messed up country, twisted in reasonable logic and mere physical facts. Adama's sister Assa during a manifestation In the mad state lived her, Miss Simple . A quite girl, but nothing bigoted, believe me. Only someone with an understandable view of life, with emotions in the right place and a spontaneous propensity for harmony with the world's goods. Nothing special, it should be remembered, but in the realm of the insane, she serv...

Stories and News No. 958 In Cambodia the timber tycoons, working with local officials, are seriously undermining the survival of the Prey Lang’s forest. In defense of the latter there is Leng Ouch , who reveals to fear for his life and his loved ones, but that does not stop him. Because Leng is one of them... In Cambodia there are trees. In Cambodia there are crazy trees. Because it’s so everywhere, if you think about it. If you think about it carefully, nowadays you are really crazy to choose to be born tree, in this world. Also river or lake would be would as much risky choices, if not masochistic. But you know how vulnerable minds are, ready to be crossed by every living thing desired, with a tirelessly heart, which makes it noteworthy of a story. So, where the trees lost their mind to think of being the center of the universe, they themselves narrate tales and dreams. To see everything and everyone as souls composed of plant and root. Still only at birth and death....

Stories and News No. 957 These days the city of Madrid has decided to commemorate a lost generation of women among writers, artists, scientists and thinkers silenced by Francisco Franco ’s government. This is an all-female story... A story of phrases and words , like all others, that’s clear. But where nothing is left to chance. Because when the genre seriously matters, or where it causes hate and repression, letters are all capital, vowels are loud and consonants bite. The syntax shines light and the sense of the tale comes to life with female energy . The same kind of each word, then. That alone is worth the price of the strophe , never verse, within a song without the usual, useless chorus, to lift the spirits and cheer the easy ears. The music is a result of a stubborn magic, no makeup and trump card, that just when it seems to completely die, it raises an eyebrow and looks at you. From afar it scrutinizes you with female memory , the same kind of the same voice w...

Stories and News No. 956 Hundreds of whales died during the night on the New Zealand’s shores after a mass stranding considered the largest in decades. The news is now viral around the world, images are everywhere and so the participation for the tragedy, while the staff of the Department of Conservation and about 500 volunteers are focused on how to save the survived whales until the next high tide. However, as always, not all react to the news the same way... At night, in a crowded room, somewhere in Africa... "Guys, I have a dream for you," says Babatunde , only five years old, but a lot of crazy ideas, rarely liked by his brothers. "Another one?" asks with sarcasm one of them, the closest among those who try to fall asleep. "Do you never get tired?" "This time is a good one." "So the last time," says another kid. "Then, fortunately, you did understand that building a submarine is science fiction." "N...

Story published on the collection: Italian short stories, a dual language book : True short stories collection to understand contemporary Italy (2017)

Stories and News No. 954 In Manila, a fire destroyed 15000 homes of the shanty town. Families were forced to scour the remains of their makeshift homes in search of their belongings while the fires raged out of control, causing many injuries. These unfortunate events, among already born troubled lives, compose a sadly notorious background. However, the small story of who alone, in the middle of the night did not give up and continues to fight, it’s far less obvious than it seems... Me against the fire. Alone, covered with rags, standing still. Fighting the fire. I might look ridiculous to you, strictly behind me. So that I could listen your voice. But not seeing your eyes. Above all, avoiding you could see mine. Me alone against fire, with one bucket of water, which in a few seconds will become one of the many empty containers in my difficult existence. As the wallet, closet and drawers, as an imaginary bank account and the missing pages in my farewell to the global st...

Stories and News No. 953 Last Sunday there was an attack at the mosque in Quebec City, Canada. Six people were killed and nineteen wounded . In the following days a man was arrested and charged with premeditated murder, Alexandre Bissonnette , 27 year-old, university student with far-right sympathies , especially for Trump and Marine Le Pen . Obvious rule for “unpopular terrorist attacks”, in a few hours the fact has practically disappeared among the greatest, so-called news sources, not to mention the absolute absence of the usual manifestations of virtual-social solidarity with the victims, as “We are all Canadian” or even Muslims. However, in a small, local newspaper with high ambitions, Ambidextrous News , something unusual happens... "Boss?" Says the youngest among the reporters, recently arrived to the newspaper, a freelance and above all no money guy. "Who is it?" Asks the chief and publisher’s son. He gave the name to the newspaper, believing t...

Stories and News No. 952 Following the election and especially the settlement on the most powerful chair in the world of the Crimson King - for those who have read Dark Tower series - many increasingly disturbing reports come from the now former Land of Opportunity , just renamed as the Country the Great Walls . Among the most recent, the possible sending of troops to Mexico , the likely dismantling of the Environmental Protection Agency and the latest chapter in the Crusade against the Refugees . Old story, right? The big screen is visible to everyone, main actors and supporting ones are in the middle of the scene, music and lights create tension and suspense and the global film comes alive. A horror movie . However, as it has always been and always will be. The spectators will decreed its success ... Come on, let's sit down, it’s about to begin. Actually, no, we arrived late, it's already dark. Let’s find a seat, then, hoping not to have lost anything fundamenta...

Stories and News No. 951 In times of Fake News , Post-Truth and Pre-Lies, alleged right to insult and commentators professionals, Stories and News could not remain indifferent to the clash. Indeed, let's say that the following is an attempt to stay out of it... We are in the future, ladies and gentlemen. Here, now, on this page. Well, I remember that in other times we used to begin a story in very different ways: once upon a time , for example, a long time ago and even in a far, far away kingdom , and so on. We people of tomorrow start saying... we are in the future, ladies and gentlemen . We do this to remind us that, luckily, we are no longer in the past. With all due respect, but now things are very different, and if you knew how little would be enough to... but I don’t want and cannot say anything, forgive me, or we might tangle the time stream and we could disappear. That’s my never defeated childish terror. My mother always told something like that to warn m...