Best of TED: Charlie Todd - The Shared Experience

Charlie Todd causes bizarre, hilarious, and unexpected public scenes: Seventy synchronized dancers in storefront windows, "ghostbusters" running through the New York Public Library, and the annual no-pants subway ride. He shows how his group, Improv Everywhere, uses these scenes to bring people together.

Italy to cut 300,000 public sector jobs

This piece of news has not been reported yet on the Italian press clearly to avoid major uphevals both in Parliament and on the streets:


Bloomberg: Italy Letter to EU Pledges Public-Sector Job Cuts, Tax Overhaul

Italy plans to cut public-sector jobs, overhaul the tax system and introduce incentives for venture-capital investments, the Finance Ministry said in a letter to the European Commission.

Italy plans to raise its retirement age faster than other European Union countries and to cut 300,000 public-sector jobs by 2014, according to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News.

The nation will also reduce income-tax brackets from five to three of 20 percent, 30 percent and 40 percent, according to the letter, which provided clarifications sought by the commission to a document delivered to the EU by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi last month.

Italy will provide incentives to venture-capital investments in small- and medium-sized companies, while a reintroducton of a property tax called ICI could bring in an additional 3.5 billion euros in revenue, according to the letter.

Berlusconi resigned on Nov. 12, leaving the fate of Italy’s pledges to the EU unclear.

Here is the full statement to the EC:
MEF_ITA_EC