Florence, the city that houses a large part of Italy's - and Europe's - cultural heritage, is bitterly divided over plans for new tram lines that would slice through its famous Piazza del Duomo, the cathedral square. The first rails are to be laid next week as part of a €700m (£500m) scheme that would give Florence three lines, running for a total of about 12 miles. The second line would run from the airport through the cathedral square, the Piazza del Duomo. Paolo Bonaiuti, a Florentine and Silvio Berlusconi's spokesman, who is to run for mayor, said it was "madness to think of putting up poles and overhead cables in one of the world's most beautiful squares". Fears have also been expressed over the vibration that would be caused by the 32 metre-long super-trams as they trundled past Renaissance palazzi and museums housing fragile art works.But the city council insists every possible step has been taken to limit the effects by "equipping the project with state-of-the-art technology".
Paolo Bonaiuti, a Florentine and Silvio Berlusconi's spokesman, who is to run for mayor, said it was "madness to think of putting up poles and overhead cables in one of the world's most beautiful squares". Fears have also been expressed over the vibration that would be caused by the 32 metre-long super-trams as they trundled past Renaissance palazzi and museums housing fragile art works.
But the city council insists every possible step has been taken to limit the effects by "equipping the project with state-of-the-art technology".
ONE in five Germans would like to have the Berlin Wall back, according to a poll released ahead of the 17th anniversary of German reunification. Nineteen percent of respondents surveyed said the country was better off while it was divided, while 75 percent said they were glad the Wall that kept easterners captives of the communist bloc for 28 years had fallen. Remarkably, a full 21 percent of the country's 16.7 million easterners felt nostalgic about the concrete, barbed wire and armed guards that separated them from the west. The poll conducted by independent opinion research firm Emnid found 74 percent of easterners had felt like second-class citizens since Germany reunited on October 3, 1990. About the same share of westerners - 73 percent - said they did not believe easterners were at a disadvantage.
ONE in five Germans would like to have the Berlin Wall back, according to a poll released ahead of the 17th anniversary of German reunification.
Nineteen percent of respondents surveyed said the country was better off while it was divided, while 75 percent said they were glad the Wall that kept easterners captives of the communist bloc for 28 years had fallen.
Remarkably, a full 21 percent of the country's 16.7 million easterners felt nostalgic about the concrete, barbed wire and armed guards that separated them from the west.
The poll conducted by independent opinion research firm Emnid found 74 percent of easterners had felt like second-class citizens since Germany reunited on October 3, 1990.
About the same share of westerners - 73 percent - said they did not believe easterners were at a disadvantage.
The near doubling of the cost of a college degree over the past decade has produced an explosion in high-priced student loans that could haunt the U.S. economy for years. While scholarship, grant money and government-backed student loans -- whose interest rates are capped -- have taken up some of the slack, many families and individual students have turned to private loans, which carry fees and interest rates that are often variable and up to 20 percent. (...)Parents are still the primary source of funds for many students, but the dynamics were radically altered in recent years as tuition costs soared and sources of readily available and more costly private financing made higher education seemingly available to anyone willing to sign a loan application. Students with no credit history and no relatives to co-sign loans (or co-signing parents with tarnished credit) were willing to bet that high-priced loans were a trade-off for a shot at the American dream. But high-paying jobs are proving elusive for many graduates. "This is literally a new form of indenture ... something that every American parent should be scared of," said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
While scholarship, grant money and government-backed student loans -- whose interest rates are capped -- have taken up some of the slack, many families and individual students have turned to private loans, which carry fees and interest rates that are often variable and up to 20 percent.
(...)Parents are still the primary source of funds for many students, but the dynamics were radically altered in recent years as tuition costs soared and sources of readily available and more costly private financing made higher education seemingly available to anyone willing to sign a loan application.
Students with no credit history and no relatives to co-sign loans (or co-signing parents with tarnished credit) were willing to bet that high-priced loans were a trade-off for a shot at the American dream. But high-paying jobs are proving elusive for many graduates.
"This is literally a new form of indenture ... something that every American parent should be scared of," said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
"This is literally a new form of indenture ... something that every American parent should be scared of,"
A DeAnanderesque word making it into the MSM. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Now that the chickens are coming home to roost, not a word.
Not that one in entitled to expect people to remember what they were all riled up about three years ago. We have met the enemy, and it is us — Pogo
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/9/27/205457/289
Overall the Bankruptcy Bill does deserve more attention, as it is going to be the thing that turns the coming recession into something much uglier. And the world will live as one
It also could be called "modern slavery". I'm leaning towards adopting neo-slavery - it's legal, we've the forms to prove it, so we can do it. Much like the hidden creep of neo-colonialism in Africa.
If it's the former, it's apples and pears. You can choose Polytechnique, aware of the pricetag. If you desire freedom in job choice, you can settle for education less grand.
There's no choice for the poor in SA. It's either indentureship, or no tertiary education at all.
As said, the problem for SA is that there practically is no alternative, the wages the indentured students get after completion are abhorrent (probably another difference with Polytechnique graduates) and the motivation of those students to study is moderate to poor.
Although CIDA's focus seems to be on business and practical skills - not science research. In the Netherlands, it would be a form of the non-academic university (hogeschool).
Apparently Mrs. Mbeki is now chancellor...?
Now that's interesting.
See:
Decades of Darkness
Decades of Darkness Blog
Great reading.
Half workforce wants part-time job 02-10-2007 More than half the Dutch workforce (57%) would like to work part-time and some 25% actually do so, according to new research from temp agency Randstad. Some 42% of men would like to work less, but only 13% officially have part-time jobs. Four out of 10 people in managerial positions would also like to cut their hours. Randstad defines part-time jobs as those which consist of between 24 and 34 working hours a week.
02-10-2007
More than half the Dutch workforce (57%) would like to work part-time and some 25% actually do so, according to new research from temp agency Randstad.
Some 42% of men would like to work less, but only 13% officially have part-time jobs. Four out of 10 people in managerial positions would also like to cut their hours.
Randstad defines part-time jobs as those which consist of between 24 and 34 working hours a week.
DutchNews.nl - Hirsi Ali leaves US, returns to Holland
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the controversial former MP and outspoken critic of Islam, returned to the Netherlands on Monday, according to media reports. The news comes just a week after Hirsi Ali was presented with her American green card in Washington. According to the NRC, Hirsi Ali has been forced to leave her new home in the US because the Dutch state is no longer prepared to pay for her protection abroad. The GroenLinks party has demanded an emergency debate into the problems around the Hirsi Ali's security. Last year the justice ministry said that according to international practice, each country is responsible for the safety and protection of people on their territory. According to GroenLinks the question now is whether the Dutch government should make an exception to this rule similar to that made by the British government in the case of writer Salman Rushdie. The ruling Christian Democrats feel it is `going somewhat far' to expect the Dutch government to pay for long term protection of Dutch people abroad. They are supported by the opposition Liberal VVD part while the government coalition Labour Party sides with GroenLinks in calling for a parliamentary debate on the issue.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the controversial former MP and outspoken critic of Islam, returned to the Netherlands on Monday, according to media reports. The news comes just a week after Hirsi Ali was presented with her American green card in Washington.
According to the NRC, Hirsi Ali has been forced to leave her new home in the US because the Dutch state is no longer prepared to pay for her protection abroad.
The GroenLinks party has demanded an emergency debate into the problems around the Hirsi Ali's security.
Last year the justice ministry said that according to international practice, each country is responsible for the safety and protection of people on their territory. According to GroenLinks the question now is whether the Dutch government should make an exception to this rule similar to that made by the British government in the case of writer Salman Rushdie.
The ruling Christian Democrats feel it is `going somewhat far' to expect the Dutch government to pay for long term protection of Dutch people abroad. They are supported by the opposition Liberal VVD part while the government coalition Labour Party sides with GroenLinks in calling for a parliamentary debate on the issue.
But still. The protection of Hirsi Ali while she was a Dutch MP was a complete farce for crying out loud. The Netherlands has already had two high profile political murders (Fortuyn and Van Gogh) in the past 5 years - and the lax and amateurish implementation of Hirsi Ali's security was despicable.
I suspect it's all about money again: primitive haggling who will pay for the protection of people. The one who should've coughed up, in my opinion, is the AEI. Clearly they don't want to foot the bill either - tells us something (unsurprising) about them, too.
You've lived in the USA - please tell me the bureaucratic administration and legalese for immigrations is not a nightmare. If the American state doesn't want to pay, any convolutions in American immigration law provide ample excuses to blame exclusions on that. Yet in the end she remains a Dutch citizen, and a mere resident within the USA.
I'm a strong believer in noblesse oblige within a democratic society. Not only Hirsi Ali should expect this, I expect this of my country. Femke Halsema of GroenLinks (whose party BTW is in constant disagreement with Hirsi Ali's viewpoints) has won me over once again. What must Hirsi Ali think of her former party the VVD, that party crowing constantly about the right of freedom of speech, now? If this continues, it will drive her into the arms of Geert Wilders.
I wouldn't be surprised if Halsema also sees an ulterior motive. The Dutch government should get their collective asses into gear or it risks facing a further degradation of the left - coupled to increased hard-core right wing populism. Geert Wilders is topping popularity polls. Verdonk is out there, breeding a new party. Anything that Ayaan touches, becomes political firework. There is a reason I keep track on her... She's a catalyst.
(Ps. I just read that Verdonk (!!!) thinks state protection of Hirsi Ali should be provided.)
