HELLO MILANO: The wooden leg//El Gamba de legn

El Gamba de Legn’: ‘the wooden leg’ is an unusual name for a means of transport. It was the nickname that the people of Milan gave to the first steam-powered tram which started running on 9 September 1878, connecting Milan and Magenta over a distance of about 23 kilometres. They applied the same name to all the other lines that were later built between Milan and the surrounding towns.

Why wooden leg? Apparently the tram, running slowly along the tracks on Milan’s cobbled streets, made a syncopated To-Toc To-Toc sound, like a person walking with a wooden leg.

The 17 trams had from 10 to 12 carriages, without doors or heating, and there were wooden benches for the passengers who got very cold in winter. But even so, in those days the Gamba de Legn’ was advanced technology, far more efficient than the horse-drawn trams that could carry only a dozen people and that operated from Milan to Monza right up until 1900.

The 17 locomotives were manufactured by Lokomotivenfabrik Krauß in Munich, and they had a structure totally different from railway locos. For safety, the boiler and engine were completely enclosed by a steel screening structure, and the driver’s cabin was at the front for better visibility.

The maximum speed of the steam tram was specified by Milan’s provincial administration: 15 kilometres per hour in the countryside, along roads lined by mulberries used for silkworm raising, and 10 km/h in the city. When it was foggy, speed was reduced to 5 km/h. In this case, at every village and in Milan, an employee wrapped in a cloak and equipped with a lantern, bell and whistle waited for the tram and then walked in front of it to warn pedestrians of the oncoming danger. Before the First War, the tram ran five times a day. During the Second World War, many people were forced to live outside the city because of air-raid damage, and so all the goods trucks available were pressed into service, and even so, many passengers were forced to ride on the roofs of the normal carriages.

After the War, things returned to normal, and the last tram every day left Milan at 0.40 a.m., taking people back home after their evening out at the cinema or theatre.

The Gamba de Leg’ ran until 1954, and even though the residents of the villages and towns through which the slow and shuddering tram ran would have preferred to have kept the steam-powered version rather than the new electric trams, it finally went out of service in 1957. The last journey of the Gamba de Legn’ was accompanied by huge crowds of people, who put flowers on the locomotive.

https://www.hellomilano.it/hm/

 

Presented by Romano Pisciotti

GREAT BUSINESS IN NIGERIA

Why should you invest in Nigeria?

There are many reasons why you should consider investing in Nigeria. Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa ahead of South Africa, Egypt and the rest. With so many opportunities for growth, PwC has projected Nigeria among the top world economies in 2050 ahead of Italy, Canada, South Korea, Spain, Netherlands, Australia and others.

With over 200 million people….the best deal is to provide the food!!

Agriculture accounts for 33 percent of GDP and provides employment, both formal and informal, to more than 60% of the population.

However crop production dominates the agricultural sector and accounts for about 85 percent of agricultural activities; livestock and poultry accounting for 10 percent, fisheries and forestry, less than one percent…

…but rapidly growing.

There is a growing demand for animal protein in Nigeria!

Poultry production has not kept pace with the rapid increase in domestic consumption.

There is enormous potential for the poultry industry in Nigeria to enhance food and nutritional security, while contributing to household and economic growth.

There is no more efficient place to invest than in pullets. Pullets are the future of an integrated company. Successful pullet rearing is simply attention to detail, management, serology, biosecurity, vaccination, and worming.

 

https://youtu.be/Y65GVfGtsjo?t=84

 

Presented by Romano Pisciotti

The importance of proper and frequent cleaning of the rooms

Both at home and in the workplace, cleanliness and hygiene are an indispensable and fundamental condition.

Especially in this period, with the spread of the Coronavirus unfortunately still in progress, it is more than necessary to pay extreme attention to the cleaning and sanitation of the home and office, using suitable tools and products and providing daily thorough cleansing. of floors, surfaces and objects of common use.

Certainly cleaning and sanitizing in the time of Coronavirus is very important, but it is equally true that proper hygiene is an inevitable element to increase the level of well-being and comfort at home and in the workplace and to protect yourself from infections and allergies.

Choosing a powerful and high quality vacuum cleaner is the first rule to proceed with the total and thorough cleaning of an environment:

Presented by Romano Pisciotti

we like Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps

https://m.facebook.com/LAGESCOfficial?_rdr&refsrc=deprecated

The bat is served….unsafe proteins!

Five million tons of bushmeat is consumed annually in Central Africa. In the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, a million prey are captured and killed, while in Ghana over 100,000 bats are cooked. In large regions of the continent, the population sees the forest as the most convenient place to get food. For those who live in poor and isolated villages, game is the only source of protein; for some, hunting and selling meat serves to supplement their meager earnings.

In African metropolises, eating habits have not changed much and the demand for bushmeat, bushmeat, is growing, in parallel with the demographic boom. On the outskirts of Nairobi, Kampala or Abidjan the streets are teeming with street vendors selling roasted antelope legs or monkeys. For the new middle class, buying crocodile or hippo meat is a status symbol. In Kinshasa and Lagos there is no shortage of markets specialized in the sale of game. Even in Western cities like London and New York, the demand for African game is on the rise. There are even restaurants that have made the “wild menu” the key to their success: in refined locations they serve steamed snakes, anteater stews, roast chimpanzees, caterpillar skewers and birds.

The game trade has become a multi-million dollar business that worries scientists and conservationists. The reasons are well known: researchers have now ascertained that African game is a powerful vehicle for the transmission of deadly viruses (Ebola, for example) to humans. It is no coincidence that hunters and their families are the first victims of the epidemics that periodically break out in the middle of the forest.

Then there is an environmental emergency: man is literally emptying the forests

Romano Pisciotti:“The problem of providing protein to the ever-growing population in developing countries is obvious!We have to look for the solution in animal husbandry … in hygienically controlled environments, with healthy food.

Helping developing countries to increase the volumes of meat and milk produced by farms makes the entire planet safer, without forgetting to fight against fairy tales and stupid traditions (even in rich countries) that are counterproductive to development.

Centenario del Milite Ignoto

SILENZIO

(di Romano Pisciotti)

Forse il silenzio

di una sommessa preghiera

cristiana o pagana

potrebbe meglio celebrare

il ricordo

di giovani dispersi

nella gelida nebbia

delle nostre montagne.

Spolverare bandiere

dopo cent’anni

è un insulto

alla memoria storica

e umana.

Un paese che abdica

alla propria sovranità

sostenendo imperi globali

è un paese

di morti viventi

in cerca di felicità

sul ceppo del boia.

 

Romano

Countries without words (English and Italian version)

A country that does not know the words of the mother tongue will not have peace: good leaders, jobs and growth will be lacking. If ignorance wins, poverty wins.

Rich and technologically advanced countries are losing the beauty of dialogue and writing: the world of work seeks dumb workers and increasingly specialized engineers like horses with blinders; the school is a pool of students who study less and less … and words are lost! Developing countries are moving fast towards industrial and financial goals, while the study of history, art and grammar seems to have become an option.

The thesis of many, silenced by most, highlights the impoverishment of the world’s cultural baggage, followed by the decrease in intelligence. We are listening to great speeches, increasingly devoid of content, but with flirtatious objectives created to attract the consent of the masses: more than on the importance of words, the focus is on the ease and repetitiveness of the same as in an advertisement.

The students press the keys of the cell phone, which suggests the words; slowly the logic of the expression will be guided by smartphones; we will soon confuse every expression of thought with pre-installed catalogs and dictionaries. Quick acronyms will replace the words, tone and colors of the dialogue, slowly extinguishing human consciousness and intelligence.

A cave language will unite peoples: men will be equal, globalized and… slaves!

Un Paese che non conosce le parole della madrelingua non avrà pace: mancheranno buoni dirigenti, lavoro e crescita. Se vince l’ignoranza, vince la povertà. Paesi ricchi e tecnologicamente avanzati stanno perdendo la bellezza del dialogo e della scrittura: il mondo del lavoro cerca operai muti e ingegneri sempre più specializzati come cavalli con i paraocchi; la scuola è un bacino di studenti che studiano sempre meno… e le parole si perdono! I paesi in via di sviluppo si stanno muovendo velocemente verso obiettivi industriali e finanziari, mentre lo studio della storia, dell’arte e della grammatica sembra essere diventato un’opzione. La tesi di molti, messa a tacere dai più, mette in luce l’impoverimento del bagaglio culturale mondiale, seguito dalla diminuzione dell’intelligenza. Stiamo ascoltando grandi discorsi, sempre più privi di contenuti, ma con obiettivi civettuoli creati per attirare il consenso delle masse: più che sull’importanza delle parole, l’attenzione è posta sulla facilità e ripetitività delle stesse come in uno spot pubblicitario. Gli studenti premono i tasti del cellulare, che suggerisce le parole; piano piano la logica dell’espressione sarà guidata dagli smartphone; confonderemo presto ogni espressione di pensiero con cataloghi e dizionari preinstallati. Acronimi veloci sostituiranno le parole, il tono e i colori del dialogo, spegnendo lentamente la coscienza e l’intelligenza umana. Una lingua cavernicola unirà i popoli: gli uomini saranno uguali, globalizzati e… schiavi!

by Romano Pisciotti

Teaching history is a loaded weapon

Teaching history is a loaded weapon: the influence that the teacher can give on the social and political development of students could be the beginning of a revolution or the civil path of social development. 

Knowing the past, without judging it with today’s canons, and framing it well in its time and environmental situation, serves to understand the current geopolitics;  perhaps many students will never delve into the meaning of geopolitics, but everyone will be able to have a clearer thought about modern events… this, too often, scares politicians and the industrial world itself. 

One thing we know for sure is the influence that the ideas pre-chewed by politics have on the sheep people or on the ignorant people (ignorance, indifference and servility are not always present simultaneously). 

First of all, it is necessary to know the historical facts well, then they must be framed in their context and, subsequently, get an idea of ​​them.  The teacher must not indulge in biased comments influenced by his own political ideas or religion, but can bring life experiences and testimonies drawn from writings, making sure to refer to documentation from heterogeneous sources, without creating a single account of the facts. and their historical consequences.  Therefore, a difficult task and subject to partisan criticism and varied interests. 

The celebration of heroes is always readable in two senses: the same character can be a hero or delinquent from different points of view … it is very likely that historical impartiality becomes impossible, after all we are not talking about physics or mathematics, but  It is important to offer correct and neutral teaching and to leave the related celebrations to politics and memory. 

The historian investigates the past without prosecution!  The fallout of history and future projections of facts and events are the tasks of geopolitics, while the instrumental use of history is the habit of politics.

Some fools have already thought of thinking about teaching history as a useless exercise …. this way of thinking is not just a loaded weapon, but a fatal blow to the civil development of a country.

By Romano Pisciotti

Nigeria – FDI: foreign direct investment

We all know that Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, and with a population of 200 million people, one with huge potential for growth. It is therefore a country of the significant potential for foreign direct investment and foreign investors. But, for several reasons including a weak macroeconomic environment, policy inconsistency and the absence of a well-defined strategy for FDI as a component of economic growth strategy, FDI into Nigeria has declined markedly in the past several years.

Nigeria’s strategy for FDI
1. First, have a strategy: the priority sectors for the governments at federal and state levels need to be clear. The quality of investment, the quality of the government structure that handles FDI and formulates investment policy, and measurable, long term objectives regarding FDI and performance management regarding the contribution of FDI to economic development, are essential. These should be woven into a single thread that becomes the basis for execution, communication and engagement with potential investors.

2. Develop factor endowment: with skilled human capital as a priority need, strategies for FDI must focus on this frequently neglected objective. The presence or absence of productive knowledge in a society is the most important foundation for economic transformation, which remains necessary for a country such as ours with an economy still in need of diversification.

3. Align FDI with a transformational paradigm shift, for example away from extractive industries or towards value-added derivatives of such industries.

4. Improve national coordination of FDI activities between national and sub-national units.

5. Offer strong investor protections: Legal regimes in Nigeria must be adapted to facilitate increased flows of high-quality investment, in particular in light of regional trade realities such as ECOWAS, and now the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Beyond this, Nigerian authorities – and foreign investors- should incorporate political risk guarantees into major FDI agreements. This includes making use of guarantees offered by the World Bank Group’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) for losses relating to currency inconvertibility and transfer restrictions, expropriation, terrorism, war and civil disturbances, breaches of contract, and failure to honour sovereign financial obligations.

6. Partial Risk Guarantees offered by the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), the arm of the Bank that leads to low income and lower-middle-income developing countries, cover an even more extensive range of situations than MIGA products. They can support participants in private projects such as Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and concession projects, public-private partnerships (PPP), and privatizations.

7. Improve the quality of governance and institutions: Assessments of governance and institutional capacity to create a sustainable investment environment play an important role in attracting quality investment.
The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) has done a good job in recent years despite a difficult macroeconomic environment, including in terms of revenues it has generated for the Federal Government from foreign investments into Nigeria. I know from personal experience that, despite the early stages of the security challenges from terrorism, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s far-reaching reforms in the banking and financial sector which stabilized the sector after the global financial crisis of 2008, contributed to marked increases in FDI into Nigeria from 2009-2014. These reforms led to improved ratings of Nigerian by agencies such as Standard and Poor’s, Fitch, as well as the inclusion of Nigeria in the JP Morgan Africa Emerging Market Bond base Index alongside South Africa, which was previously the only sub-Saharan African country on the index.

Address by Professor Moghalu, President & CEO, Sogato Strategies LLC, Former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria at the United States-Nigeria Investment Summit held in New York City, recently.

Presented By Romano Pisciotti

Un errore (stupido) ci sta portando verso la crisi economica

di Giovanni Cedaro

Siamo partiti sempre dalla rivoluzione industriale. Cioè abbiamo ideato, creato, e sviluppato qualcosa che potesse creare “benessere” per tanti. Tantissimi. All’inizio tutto questo ha generato l’inflazione positiva, aumento di reddito e stipendi. La gente andava in fabbrica, poteva permettersi di mandare i figli a studiare. Siamo passati dalla lambretta e vespa alla 500 poi 600 poi 1100 e via fino alle auto a batterie. Che bello, siamo tornati bambini!

Da decenni però il mondo è arrivato ad una capacità di produzione che la capacità di reddito sembra non possa sostenere. E allora che fare? Vai di credito al consumo. Poi non bastava per svuotare i magazzini sempre più pieni. Ed allora il tasso zero, poi il paga tra 12 mesi.
Ci riscopriamo con rate in conto senza più ricordarci quale oggetto spesava.

CONTINUA A LEGGERE

 

PRESENTATO DA ROMANO PISCIOTTI