Fiat-Chrysler alliance (according to GB Vico)

“We’re confident a deal will be struck but we have to wait until Thursday and respect any decision which is made. It’s always hard to weigh probability just ahead of a deadline, but in important negotiations a lot is accomplished at the very end,” said yesterday Fiat Deputy Chairman John Elkann. In turn, says Chrysler Chief Executive Bob Nardelli, the US carmaker continues to make progress in its

Tell that to the Pilgrims of Victimhood

Before those nearly lethal winter weeks in Ravensbrueck and some months spent “working”— “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Makes You Free), do you remember?—in Auschwitz, Esther, Sara’s grandmother, was a bright, active young woman with bad hay fever, living somewhere near the Czech border. A small town, a big house with an orchard and a vineyard. A large, warm family. All of which, says Sara, have since

Traditional prayers for today's Catholics

Father Philip Neri Powell, OP, is an American friar who teaches Theology at the Angelicum (Pontificia Università S. Tommaso d’ Aquino), in Rome, and a fellow blogger. I enjoy reading his blog, and love his humor almost as much as his homilies. That’s why I guess I might like the new book he has been working on in recent times: Treasures Old and New: Traditional Prayers for Today's Catholics. Yet

The 'superhero' in whose hands are the partnership negotiations between Fiat and Chrysler

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is the car industry outsider and the “superhero” who, against all expectations, pulled the Italian automotive group back from the brink collapse since taking over in 2004, and now it is also him in whose hands—according to the chairman of Fiat, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo—are the partnership negotiations between the Turin automaker and Chrysler.The two carmakers are

She dreamed a dream ... and fulfilled it!

It was clear since the first three or four notes that her performance on Britain’s Got Talent would be something amazing and even … absolutely incredible (she received nearly 20 million hits on YouTube after she became an overnight star in the United States). She started singing “I dreamed a dream in time gone by/When hope was high,/And life worth living,” and both the judges and the public were

There is a guardian angel in L’Aquila

Can you read French? If so, and if you are interested in the after-earthquake, please check out this article in today’s Le Monde. The subject is Guido Bertolaso, the head of Italian civil protection, l’homme qui fait l’ange gardien à L’Aquila:"On n'apprend pas à faire ce métier, dit-il. Il n'y a pas d'université pour cela. Il faut être un leader et en même temps savoir partager." Médecin

And Tax Day becomes Protest Day

Is it an American Revolution? Today American taxpayers in more than 300 locations in all 50 states are holding “tea parties” to protest higher taxes and increased government spending.Who's behind the Tax Day tea parties? Here is what Glenn Harland Reynolds has to say in the Wall Street Journal.P.S.: Check also the special edition Tea Party page on NetRight Nation.

Obama's economy speech: 'He spoke eloquently, but ...'

“Clarity in Need of Courage” is the title of an editorial in today’s Washington Post about yesterday’s speech on the economy by President Obama. A very good speech, according to the WP, on many fronts, but Obama “overstates” his case in one crucial area and “loses all candor and courage” in another. The overstating comesin linking his policy agenda to the economic recovery. The agenda focuses on

Obama's 'post-material economy'

Robert J. Samuelson wrote a very interesting piece in yesterday’s Washington Post—sorry for the delay, I was on vacation the past few days—about President Obama’s vision for America’s 21st-century economy:What Obama proposes is a “post-material economy.” He would de-emphasize the production of ever-more private goods and services, harnessing the economy to achieve broad social goals. In the

Happy Easter!

Happy EasterJoyeuses PâquesBuona Pasqua Frohe OsternFeliz PascuaBoa Pascoa

The Last Supper

Among the masterpieces representing the Passion of Jesus, the Last Supper frescoed by Leonardo da Vinci in the refectory of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in Milan, is perhaps the most famous in the world. Many people know it, but few know a) the precise moment of the last supper that it represents, b) how to interpret the meaning of Jesus’ actions, and those of the apostles,

Not even an earthquake

Up until a few hours ago I was kind of suspecting this might be the case, but now it’s a certainty: not even an earthquake can stop them. I mean, not even an earthquake can keep both Silvio Berlusconi from making embarrassing gaffes and my beloved British newspapers from reporting them to the public with great emphasis. Needless to say, it’s not a criticism, it’s an observation: we are facing

The Kinights Templar and the Shroud of Turin

Now we know the true story behind what was once a mystery and a field in which there have been all kinds of theories, conjectures and hypotheses. And this, thanks to L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, which on Sunday published a preview of the forthcoming book, I templari e la sindone di Cristo, by Barbara Frale, a researcher in the Vatican Secret Archives.The Knights Templar, as it is

Earthquake in central Italy (updated)

BREAKING NEWSA powerful earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck at 3:32 am (0132 GMT) near the medieval city of L’Aquila, in the mountainous region of Abruzzo, 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of Rome. At least 20 people, including five children, were killed and many buildings (3,000 to 10,000) in the city’s historic center were severely damaged or destroyed. The quake was the latest

What I dislike most ...

“ “What terrifies you most in purity,” I asked? “Haste,” William answered. ” 

—Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose


What I dislike most about the political attitudes and behaviors of a certain kind of “political activists” is the way some people tend to extremize their views, which often leads them, in the best cases, to a certain Manichaeism or, in the worst cases, to what I would call the

Trusting to the future

They seem to be quite happy with the end result (“a turning point in our pursuit of global economic recovery,” said President Barack Obama). Let’s all cross our fingers and pray that they are right.

The new neocon alliance with Obama

Is there a “neo-isolationist” tendency on both the left and right wings of the American political spectrum? As Foreign Policy’s Laura Rozen has reported, the founders of Foreign Policy Initiative, a new advocacy group, think so—and it would be naïve, as far as we presently know, to think differently. So some prominent neocons such as former Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman Dan