Dalai Lama in Berlin

today there was a big demonstration for tibet and the dalai lama in front of brandenburger tor here in berlin. before there was a shameful discussion, questioning if the dalai lama should be received in audience by the german government - our chancellor gave him last autumn a private audience and the government of china reacted very angry. for this reason the german government show the white feather by this visit.









i never heard such a speaker during a demonstrations... with kindness, humor and a really relaxed manner. not loud and aggressive, screaming around. but his tenor is clear and strong.



















there were about 25.000 people standing around me, so I couldn´t really see him. the only thing i could see was a small little man -like an orange point. but thankfully there was a big video screen.














at the end the peoples greeted him and sent their wishes for dialogue for freedom, leaving their balloons with the colors of tibet, flying into the sky and as a message to the world.

amnesty international- signatures

In these dark ages of human rights infringements we have the duty to rise our voices and not to look away from uncomfortable realities. Amnesty International has always been an organization ready for intervention by any possible means. here is something that brings across the message...in order not to forget that our opinion makes a difference.

virtual may day on union island in secondlife

On May Day I went to the opening of Union Island, the brand new secondlife island for trade unions from all over the globe. I was greeted by John Wood from TUC (picture on the right), who also is the organizer of this international platform.
Here is a transcript of what happened over there:

john: hey Marcello!
john: happy may day!
You: Hi John how are you doing?
john: very good
Erdenesaikhan: Bro John, How much is the minimum wage for Germany?
john: ah Erdenes - here is PLATOON who is talking about that
You: hello everyone! Happy May Day!
You: Erdenes, unfortunately we don’t have a minimum wage in Germany…that’s why we are doing this campaign…and we are fighting to introduce a minimum-wage of 7.50euro per hour.
You: so, where are you guys writing from?
Erdenesaikhan: I'm from Mongolia, in Ulaanbaatar
You: oh wow
VarvaraUNI: i'm from russia
You: oh privet…
You: so you represent some of the russian and mongolian unions?
Erdenesaikhan: I represent Uni-lcm
VarvaraUNI: my union is trade union of managerial staff
You: hey Erdenes...nice flag
Erdenesaikhan: I did it, I'm very strong with my MAY DAY flag, Please give mongolian trade unionists some May day greeting...
You: We are all very glad to have this chance of being together on this important day… WORKERS DAY!...and hope we´ll make our voices heard in every corner of this planet… to represent all people who deserve a decent life and a fair pay for their work. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR EFFORTS!!!!
Erdenesaikhan: thank you so much!!!
john: Amen to that PLATOON!

john: So Marcello - how are things going in Mainz today, with the Real version of this exhibition??
You: im sure they are up and running with the puppets by now!
john: It must be hard to use the puppets all day! are they as big as the ones here in SL?
You: in proportion they are bigger but they arent very heavy.
Prometheus: what is "arm trotz arbeit?"
You: Arm Trotz Arbeit means WORKING POOR.
Prometheus: are there a lot of working poor in Germany, too? Are there hungry people in Germany? food pantries?
You: Uhmm...mostly ANGRY people..... but yes, in comparison to our society most of them are poorer.
but of course no one is really starving over here. Which is still not a reason to shut up and accept being paid a meagre wage. our campaign is in fact mostly about paying a fair wage for a good job, to good people.

You: hey john have you heard of Europe´s Workers Day in Slovenia? 35.000 unionist coming from all over europe gathered in Ljubljana at the beginning of april.
john: yes - a huge event. ETUC have some posters about it in our SL library.The size of the European demonstrations always embarasses us in the UK - we don't really have big demonstrations in our culture.
You: i went there to film the event and made this shortcut...you can watch it here.
john: thanks I will
john: did everyone see the ver.di film here yet? I think it's really impressive.. there aren't many unions in the world who think about campaigns on such a big scale, as ver.di…. very imaginative campaigning
You: well there will be many more RL events....and all the German unions are getting stronger these days.....
john: Do you think that such high profile campaigning is helping unions?
You: Well, it´s getting to the people!
john: The work with billboards and painted buildings must have been seen by millions in Germany
You: Yes, “genug gespart!” was a very successful nation wide campaign…. i think it´s good to find alternative ways to approach people...and also spend the money of our members wisely and in a constructive way.
john: It's interesting, as the campaigns cost a lot in Germany and many unions will not spend so much money but it seems to have been worth all the money.. for the campaign benefit and also for more members.
You: i think it is a duty of unions to reinvest the money given by their members to represent them better with effective campaigns.
john: Thanks for that PLATOON, and good luck with the ongoing campaign.

german finance minister

peer steinbrueck was a rapper. who has known that....


but it´s certanly pathetic...

ai's new video - waterboarding!

The italian newspaper "Corriere della Sera" has published a new video produced by amnesty international this week.

The video deals with the torture procedure called "waterboarding" - an interrogation method which got popular during examinations by the CIA, questioning Al Kaida suspects after 9/11.

Simulated drowning seems to be highly effective during such interrogations and mainly that's the reason, why president Bush has defended this method recently in the public.

Take a look at amnesty's perspective on this topic - an impression of how horrible this treatment may be.

mega-posters

the DBB in berlin friedrichstrasse hung this huge billboard over the frontside of their main building. we are very pleased, that our campaign, indeed, is having such a great success and resonance.

misconduct in police office....

the whole story you can read and see in
liveleak and in german der spiegel

streik.tv on zdf

on monday the 11th of february streik.tv has been featured on ZDF, a german wide television channel. it´s really exciting to see how established media are starting to show interest for our initiative.



a tidal wave of strikes is sweaping germany at the moment and we are somehow providing the backbone for the upcoming upheaval .... enough is enough, germans are tired of being exploited, it´s time to take on the streets!



some think we only want to promote strikes for the sake of it...but it isnt true, this is the last resource some people have in order to rise their voice and say what they really think. the established media are often influenced by political interests and seem to demonise our effort to establish a law for minimum wage and rise wages for civil servants, which unfortunately are unfairly paid despite their important role in our society. take for instance fire-brigades, they risk their lives for us, work tremendous shifts and still dont get paid what they deserve...but the list is endless, encompassing people working in transport, kitas, , hospitals, swimming pools, waste disposal, sewage facilities and many more....check out our past article about the initiative ENOUGH SAVED!.



we hope to present a fair picture of what is really happening by focusing exactly on this people. in fact, although the problems are mentioned very often both on news papers and broadcast news, the matters are rarely explored in depth. we are not using our topics to please some political party running for the elections, we are here to show what is really happening....from the perspective of workers and all those that don´t get the chance to talk extensively about their situation.



here is a chance for all of you living outside germany to make your own opinion about the state of affairs over here.



ah, and just for the records...we are working in shipping containers for a reason, not because we are in a precarious situation as it has been mentioned on ZDF. but this is another story.