Become a Consumer to Save the World

That's right, think about it.  If we only buy what we need most of the world's population will be out of work, because the amount of labor required to produce our basic needs is very little.  It's all that stuff we don't really need that provides work and creates thriving economies.  So get rid of the old and buy the new.  But this does not mean we can ignore the environmental impact from our activities.  Recycling and developing low carbon sources of energy for example can all be part of the cycle.  Increased government income from taxes in a growing economy can be used to clean up the environment whereas in a stagnant economy the money for this is not there.

Cook Book Italian

Well I have mentioned this a few times but I have to keep trying.  If you are willing to help us out a little go to the book site blog - http://booksbyhelmmelacini.blogspot.it/ then click on one of the Amazon sites.  If you are a registered Amazon client you can just click like to give us a little boost in the ratings.  But of course you could also buy one.

John Wayne "The Alamo"

Here are a few fun pictures taken during the making of the movie "The Alamo".  My grandfather was a cameraman who started way back as a stunt man and driver.  He later became a director of photography.  He worked most of his working life for Warner Brothers but he was friends with and often invited by Wayne to work independently on his films.

Little Italy

Check out this video of Belluno.  They call it Little Italy, but what they mean to say is Italy off the beaten path, the cities most tourists don't know about.
http://vimeo.com/54659308

Julia's Next School

We had a little visit to the school Julia will probably attend next.  It is the scientific high school in Belluno.  The first two of the five years is at another school and the last three at this one.  I was favorably impressed with the program, the teachers and the president of the school, but the facilities, the building, were something out of a third world country.  Really sad to see.