Cantate Domino

It’s almost certain that, in the Catholic world, December 30, 2010 will be remembered as the day Benedict XVI issued an executive order, called “Motu proprio,” committing the Vatican to the fight against illegal activities in the financial and monetary sector.

Yet this was not the only significant event of the day. In fact, this was also the day 5 thousand “little singers,” namely the boys and

The Heritage Foundation's Top Tens

Time to take stock of the year! I guess all of you know The Heritage Foundation, a think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. Well, here are three lists you might be interested in. From The Heritage Foundation’s blog

“Keynesian Government Spending Multipliers and Spillovers in the Euro Area”

Proponents of discretionary fiscal stimulus—most prominent among them Paul Krugman of Princeton University and The New York Times—emphasize the Keynesian multiplier effect that implies that additional government spending would induce an increase in private spending and therefore a greater than one-for-one effect on aggregate GDP. Yet, as shown in a recent ECB (European Central Bank) working paper

Whether Literature Is A Waste of Time

“Suppose someone says that from reading Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary, he or she learned something useful which they then applied to their own marriage(s), […] whereas someone else professes to have had no help at all from reading assorted novels by Anne Tyler, George Eliot, William Maxwell and Anita Brookner […]. Supposing all this, or some variant of it—are we then to say that the second

Merry Christmas!

Just about two years ago I referred to the wonderful story of Silent Night in a short post, which in the meanwhile has become one of the most visited on this blog—this makes me very, very happy... you have no idea how much i love that song! So this year same song, different singer and video (they are both wonderful), but above all, Merry Christmas!

In Memoriam: Enzo Bearzot

Enzo Bearzot, the legendary coach who led the Italian soccer team to its third World Cup victory in 1982, died yesterday at 83. I guess you don’t need to be a soccer fanatic or even a fan to mourn him, being a normal Italian, or otherwise a non-Italian who loves soccer, would do just fine. He has certainly been one of the most beloved Italians of his time, and this, at least in my eyes, not

Beauty

Fra Angelico, Nativity, Convento di San Marco, Florence

It’s really true that, as Pablo Picasso once said, with age, art and life become one and the same. I mean, as you grow older you learn to understand life a little better, but since art and life are inseparable, then if you understand one you understand the other, and therefore you become aware of how much of your life is … art! Ars

Fewer Than Half of American Children Growing Up In Intact Families

The Family Research Council’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute (MARRI) defines an intact family as “a biological mother and father who remain legally married to one another from the time of their child’s birth.” Well, according to a survey—the first annual Index of Belonging and Rejection—produced by the above mentioned institute and advocacy group, only 45 percent of American children

Not The Worst Nightmare

So yesterday Berlusconi narrowly won a confidence vote in the lower house of Parliament—his government received only three votes more than its opponents—soon after rather easily winning the vote in the Senate. To me (and many others) it was no great surprise, though. Of course, it’s true that there was much uncertainty about the outcome of the vote in the Chamber of Deputies, unlike that in the

It's the Political Correctness, Stupid!

Heidi Harris’ version of the “12 Days of Christmas” (outstanding!) from The Heidi Harris Show, Las Vegas :



[Thanks: Rich Hilts]

Italy And The Euro Crisis

Giulio Tremonti and Mario Draghi
Olli Rehn, EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner, speaking at a press conference in Rome alongside Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti: Italy is “coping well” with the eurozone crisis and its financial position has deteriorated less than others thanks to its prudent fiscal policy and despite high levels of public sector debt. So sorry for the many

The Murderers of Christianity

In Baghdad and in other places in Iraq the killing of Christians continues: the last two, a married couple attacked in their home on the night of Sunday, December 5. What is worse—as the October 31 massacre in the Syriac Catholic cathedral in Baghdad demonstrates (the terrorists opened fire and threw grenades shouting, “You will all go to hell, but we to paradise. Allah is most great” …)—is that

Ron Paul: “What We Need Is More WikiLeaks On The Federal Reserve”

One may not agree with Ron Paul on certain points (or many). Likewise, one may not disagree more with Julian Assange and what he stands for. But this is worth mentioning …

[Via Tea Party -- One Lump or Two?]

Please Help Free Liu Xiaob

Not that, to be honest, I am overly confident that this Call to Action will be crowned by success (and this for at least two quite obvious reasons I won’t mention here), but I can’t help doing my own little part to help support Tibetan and Chinese political prisoners in China, including Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, who has been awarded the

A Couple of Questions About WikiLeaks and The New York Times

Is Wikileaks motivated by stopping deciet, lies, fraud and abuse of the power, or just the United States? Why did the New York Times ignore other things against the left?


When a newspaper allows its personal beliefs and agenda to color not only the news, but what it selects as the news, it becomes no better than the newsstand rag used to attract the illiterate and stupid at the supermarket

Let’s Be Inspired By Beauty!

The Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child, by Sandro Botticelli, Edinburgh National Gallery of Scotland 

Tired of bleak political news? Here is a more optimistic view of the world, made up of beauty and true joy of life : just put together Sandro Botticelli and J.S. Bach—The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1: Prelude And Fugue No. 1 In C Major, BWV 846—and you’re done… [Thanks: Riflessi d'acqua

“Serious Questions about the Obama Administration's Incompetence in the Wikileaks Fiasco”

From Sarah Palin’s Facebook page:

We all applaud the successful thwarting of the Christmas-Tree Bomber and hope our government continues to do all it can to keep us safe. However, the latest round of publications of leaked classified U.S. documents through the shady organization called Wikileaks raises serious questions about the Obama administration’s incompetent handling of this whole fiasco.

The True Source of Our Thanksgiving Holiday

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~
Each year, on the forth Thursday of November, we celebrate and give thanks for all the good things we have. It’s a truly pure holiday in that it's an expression of its original intent. No costumes to dress up in, no gifts to give, no Easter egg hunts and all the rest. Family and friends get together for one reason only, to participate in

“The Plumber is Clearly Smarter Than The Ben Bernank” (Quantitative Easing Explained)

“So has the Fed ever been right about anything?”

“Let me see if I can think of anything....(long pause)....no, nothing.”

“Who runs the Fed?”

“The Fed is run by the Ben Bernank.”

“Does the Ben Bernank have a lot of business experience?”

“No. The Ben Bernank has no business experience.”

“Does the Ben Bernank have a lot of policy experience?”

“No. The Ben Bernank has no policy experience.”

Has the Fed Been a Failure?

In a working paper from the Cato Institute three American scholars assess whether the U.S. experiment with the Federal Reserve has been a success or a failure. In the light of a wide range of recent empirical research they found that

The Fed's full history (1914 to present) has been characterized by more rather than fewer symptoms of monetary and macroeconomic instability than the decades

Kali Yuga

“ And when the end of the Yuga comes, the right hand will deceive the left; and the left, the right. And men with false reputation of learning will contract Truth and the old will betray the senselessness of the young, and the young will betray the dotage of the old. And cowards will have the reputation of bravery and the brave will be cheerless like cowards. (…) And the inhabited regions of the

“I Want To Listen To The People”

Aung San Suu Kyi’s first interview (BBC) since being released.

A New Era For Franco-British Military Relations

Yeah, once upon a time such a title might have been astonishing. Right now, it's just a way (among others) to describe what happened in London a few days ago...

Read the article in the Financial Times online.

Aung San Suu Kyi Set For Release

Breaking News — Reports are coming out of Burma saying the military authorities—after the election farce—have signed an order authorizing the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. But the Nobel laureate pro-democracy leader is not expected to accept a conditional release if it excludes her from political activity. (BBC)

Bjørn Lomborg's Movie. Alternative Ways To Protecting The Environment

Bjørn Lomborg
Before becoming the “Skeptical Environmentalist” by antonomasia, Danish author Bjørn Lomborg was a pro-environmentalist and a Greenpeace supporter who began his research as an attempt to counter some of the most common anti-ecological arguments. But he was bound to change his mind very soon after starting to analyze the data. And that’s how The Skeptical Environmentalist:

The Aftermath of the Electoral Tsunami and Why It Happened

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~
The elections last week reflected where US citizens are socio-politically, more than expressing any great sea change. Before and after the election, polls showed 22% of Americans consider themselves liberal, 34% consider themselves conservative, and 44% consider themselves moderate. That 44%, the “swing vote”, when the internals are

Why China May Not Matter Quite As Much As You Think

Ok, it’s true that in China growth of 9.6%—recorded in the year to the third quarter—represents a slowdown and that, according to the IMF, China will account for almost a fifth of world growth this year (just over a quarter at purchasing-power parity).

Yet, when the Bank Credit Analyst, an independent research firm, asked what would happen if China suffered a “hard landing,” its answer was far

The Sagrada Família. A Powerful Lesson For Today's World

While celebrating the Mass for the first time there, Benedict XVI consecrated a few hours ago in Barcelona the basilica of the Sagrada Família, the stunning masterpiece—that has been under construction since 1882 and is not expected to be complete until at least 2026—of Christian art designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. As Vaticanist Sandro Magister puts it,

It is impossible not to

The Day After

Some insightful (and common sense) comments.

1) The real loser


The real loser is Keynesianism: the idea that when businesses and individuals stop spending, government must. That idea will not rebound; it's over for this period in economic history. First Britain, and now the United States, are responding to the worst economic contraction in 75 years by contracting government, despite the fact

What, If Not A Tsunami?

If not a tsunami, then what metaphor should we use to describe it? A hurricane? Yes, but a “meaningful” one.

What The Catholic Church Has Brought To The World

Here is a video which shows and explains the beautiful, historical and miraculous aspects of the Catholic Church. From Catholics Come Home, an independent, non-profit Catholic apostolate that creates effective and compassionate media messages and broadcasts them nationally and internationally, in order to inspire, educate and evangelize inactive Catholics and others, and invite them to live a

A Tsunami Of An Election

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~
Three things stand out in our Election coming up this Tuesday; Democrat voter fraud, possibly the largest turnover of politicians in US history, and the leadership of women in the Conservative movement.
In my own state of Nevada, early voters reported that some voting machines already had incumbent Senator Harry Reid selected. It turns

Who’s Afraid of Google?

A camera used for Google street view is pictured at the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover March 2, 2010.Credit: Reuters/Christian Charisius

The Law of Karma strikes again: just while U.S. regulators looking at Google’s data grab by “Street View” cars were deciding to end their inquiry, noting improvements that the search giant has made to build consumer privacy into its corporate structure, in

The Emperor is Dead

Britain’s largest wild animal, a 9 feet tall 300 pounds deer which came to be nicknamed the “Exmoor Emperor,” has been found shot dead. The gigantic stag was shot by trophy hunters last week and his head and antlers are destined for the wall of a hotel or country home…

As British deer management expert Peter Donnelly told The Telegraph,

It's a disgrace that this magnificent animal has been

The Bad Italy, The Good Italy

How many times have we seen scenes like this on TV? What a damned country this is to live in where things like this can happen! But then again, one might ask, ‘Isn’t this why Italy is Italy, or—as many of us Northern Italians prefer to think—Isn’t this why Southern Italians are Southern Italians?’ As a matter of fact, there is not one Italy but, at least, two, the north and the south. That’s

The Strange Case of Dr. Naik and Mr. Farr

Zakir Naik
Yes, it’s quite a strange case. Charles Farr is Britain’s counter-terrorism chief, while Zakir Naik is a well known hate preacher who was expelled from the United Kingdom in June. Today, the latter will bring a legal challenge against the Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, for excluding him from the country. As for the director of the

“Look At Us”

A yearning and poetic song to express “how true love should [and might] be,” or how it sometimes is in real life.

Beautifully performed by Vince Gill, “Look At Us” was written by Max D. Barnes and Gill himself in 1991. An American neotraditional country singer-songwriter, Vince Gill earned 20 Grammy Awards, more than any other male Country music artist. In 2007, he was inducted into the

Obama Vs The U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Just a few lines and a couple of links to ...say hello and let you know that I am Ok ...

Only a few days ago President Obama, echoing his January State of the Union address (in which he warned that the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision “will open the floodgates for special interests— including foreign corporations—to spend without limit in our election”), reproached the U.S. Chamber of

Why Die For Kabul?

They say there was a somber atmosphere at Rome’s military airport yesterday morning as the Italian air force C130 carrying the coffins, draped in Italian flags, of the four Alpine soldiers of the Julia brigade killed in the Gullistan valley in Afghanistan on Saturday touched down. The same atmosphere greeted them during the state funeral that was held in the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli

Raphael in London

Raphael, The Sacrifice at Lystra 

Four tapestries by Raphael have been reunited with the Urbinate’s original cartoons for the first time in nearly 500 years for a major exhibition in London (Victoria and Albert Museum, September 8 through October 24, 2010), made possible by a collaboration between the V&A and the Vatican Museums. Even Raphael himself never saw them together, nor is this a

Hal Lewis’ Resignation—Global Warming Is a Scam

A letter—first published here and re-published in yesterday's Telegraph—to the American Physical Society by Professor Emeritus of physics Hal Lewis of the University of California at Santa Barbara shows once more that (man-made) global warming is a scam.

“Please accept my resignation,” writes Hal Lewis, “APS no longer represents me.” It is at once a historical document and a passionate and

Vargas Llosa’s Nobel Prize

An unyielding intellectual and a former leftist turned conservative—which was seen as a betrayal in certain quarters—wins the Nobel Prize for literature.

Emily Parker in The Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Vargas Llosa's Nobel Prize is a great victory—and not just for a talented and prolific author. His work is perhaps the greatest rebuttal to those who believe that literature exists on the

The Most Beautiful Work Of Art

The Luteplayer (det.), Caravaggio, c. 1596
“ The word of faith has need of great inner silence in order to listen and obey a voice which lies beyond the visible and tangible world. This voice speaks through natural phenomena, because it is the power that created and governs the universe. But to recognize it we need a humble and obedient heart, something also taught us by the saint whose feast

What Is Wrong With Italian Politics

“Can you write a little more about what is happening in Italy? I would greatly value your opinion.” It was about a couple of weeks ago when Alex, a British blogger living in Milan, sent me this kind appeal not to overlook Italian politics—actually this is not the first time I get asked why I don’t write more about this subject, and I must admit that there is some fairness to the implicit meaning

Glenn Beck Revealed

Interesting piece in yesterday’s New York Times, a long profile-interview with American conservative broadcaster and political pundit Glenn Beck. Tom, at Opinion Forum, is definitely right: “Whether you view Beck with respect or disdain, you’ll learn things in the article that will help you understand where he’s coming from and maybe where he’s going.” A good read and well worth your time.

Why Did Islam Become What It Is?

I have always thought that nobody who has an ounce of common sense—not to speak of sensibility and culture—cannot help but respect other people’s religious beliefs, except for those which are manifestly contrary to universal human right principles. Such is, of course, my attitude toward Islam. Hence my deep appreciation for thinkers such as G.K. Chesteron, whose respect for Islam is as strong as

Mount Athos - The Holy Mountain

A World Heritage Site, The Holy Mountain, on the peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, in northern Greece, is a self-governed part of the Greek state, subject to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But first and foremost it is the centre of Eastern Christian Orthodox Monasticism.

Having never been there, I cannot help but dream of the day … How about you? If you feel the same way as me, you

A Time for Choosing

“ It’s time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers. James Madison said, “We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self government.”

This idea—that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power—is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man. This is the issue

The philosophical habit of mind

In his Conservative Mind, Russell Kirk located the importance of John Henry Newman as a great “philosopher of tradition” in his skill in articulating the value of knowledge, the limits of reason and science, the danger of utilitarianism and rationalism, the nature of intellectual virtue, and the necessity of such virtue for the grasp of first principles. But perhaps the fundamental feature of

Fall

The leaves are falling, falling as from far,from wilting in the heavens' farthest gardens:They're falling to negate the summer's mirth.
And in the nights the heavy Earthfalls into solitude from star to star.
We all are falling. This my hand here bends.And look at others: Fall's in all their calling.
And yet there's One, who's holding all this fallingforever tender in His upturned hands...

What the Profumo affair is all about

First off let me start by saying that I am no expert in finance and economics, and that, therefore, I myself am just trying to understand what happened. And this just because of the obvious importance—not only from a financial point of view, but also from a political (and social) one—of what actually happened.

That being said, let’s face it. UniCredit SpA Chief Executive Alessandro Profumo

Madam President?

It could happen, no doubt. As a matter of fact, speculation that Sarah Palin, former Alaska Governor and Republican candidate for Vice President in 2008, will run for President in 2012 is reaching fever pitch. Yet, they say the ambition doesn’t always sit well with Alaskans, who have a saying: “We don’t care how they do it on the Outside.” At least, until the Outside suddenly lands on their

The New York Times: More papist than the Pope?

It might well be the case. Things change, my friends …


All in all, the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain over the weekend must have been a disappointment to his legions of detractors. Their bold promises notwithstanding, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens didn’t manage to clap the pope in irons and haul him off to jail. The protests against Benedict’s presence proved a sideshow to

Benedict XVI's call for religious reciprocity

During his UK visit, Benedict XVI said many things on many topics. Most of these things went unreported or underreported, sometimes with a certain degree of inaccuracy (to say the least), by the mainstream media. One of them is the following statement, made during His Holiness meeting with representatives of Britain’s other major religions, namely Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs (read the full

Stopping the Socialist Express

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~

Americans are practical people. If something doesn’t work, it’s tossed aside. What the Democrats and President Obama are doing to the country doesn’t work. Socialism has a one hundred percent failure rate; it only appears to work if there’s enough money generated from capitalism to support it.

As a result of legislation that can’t be

Benedict XVI: What is owed to Caesar and what is owed to God

Addressing British politicians, businessmen and cultural leaders a few hours ago in Westminister Hall, where in 1535 the great English scholar and statesman Saint Thomas More was tried for treason and condemned to death, Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to “the perennial question of the relationship between what is owed to Caesar and what is owed to God,” and defended the legitimate role of

Happy Constitution Day!

The members of the Constitutional Convention signed the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Happy Constitution Day!

The Guardian, the Pope and the “notables”

While crowds were gathering to welcome Benedict XVI to Edinburgh, first stop on the Pope’s UK visit, I must confess that I was still fairly confused about this letter, published by the Guardian and signed by some British notables, against the Pope and his state visit. What on earth? After all Britain is not so much anti-Catholic as quite rude, and unusually secular, and the Guardian, I was

Honoring John Henry Newman

In early life he was a major figure in the Oxford Movement to bring the Church of England back to its Catholic roots. Eventually his studies in history persuaded him to become a Roman Catholic (October 1845). As it was not enough, at the end of the process of canonization, Venerable John Henry Newman—the status of “venerable” is the step before beatification on the road to sainthood in the

Mormonism, stereotypes, and popular culture

I must confess my ignorance on this subject, but thought those interested in Mormonism might find it interesting and/or thought-provoking to read this paper, presented at the CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) 2010 conference in Turin by prominent Italian sociologist of religion Massimo Introvigne.

“Lead Kindly Light”

This is the choir of Wells Cathedral performing the hymn “Lead Kindly Light,” the lyrics of which were written by John Henry Newman in 1833. “Lead Kindly Light” is usually sung to the tune “Lux Benigna,” composed by John Bacchus Dykes in 1865, but there is an alternative tune: “Sandon,” by Charles Henry Purday, written in 1857. While traveling in Italy as a young priest, the future Cardinal

Somewhere in Venice

Somewhere has won the top Golden Lion prize at the Venice film festival (and I think I'll go and see it as soon as I can). Written and directed by Academy Award Winner Sofia Coppola, the daughter of The Godfather (1972) director Francis Ford Coppola, Somewhere tells the story of a movie star, played by Stephen Dorff, who comes to see the emptiness of his existence through the eyes of his 11-

9 Years Ago Today - We Will Never Forget

George W. Bush: Bullhorn Speech to Emergency Rescue Workers at 9/11 Ground Zero, New York, delivered September 14 2001. Read the complete transcript here.
Via Gateway Pundit. See also Remembrance 9/11 at The Metaphysical Peregrine.

The New York Hamasque and the Bigoted Media

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~
The Mosque at “Ground Zero” is the big controversy in the US. It’s 600 feet from where the Twin Towers used to stand. The building it was to replace had part of a landing gear lodged in it, so one could say it also was part of “ground zero”.


Muslims build mosques to make statements of triumph over their enemies. If you’re not a Muslim,

G. K. Chesterton Vs the “black legend” of the Crusades

Every now and then I feel like paying tribute to the Crusades (click here to read all my posts about this subject), one of the most controversial and misinterpreted issues—mostly because of the shadow cast on them by the Enlightenment circles to use them as a weapon in their anti-religious campaigns—in Western intellectual, religious, and political history. So here is yet another blow to the “

In defense of the new Missal

The Roman Missal
And so the long-awaited new English translation of the Roman Missal was approved by the Vatican and will be implemented throughout the United States starting Advent 2011 (here is the new web site prepared to help the faithful prepare for the transition). However, while the order and structure of the Mass will not change, there will be some changes in the wording of prayers and

The burning of charity, the cry of the heart

“ Let your desire be before Him; and the Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you. (Matthew 6:6) For it is your heart's desire that is your prayer; and if your desire continues uninterrupted, your prayer continues also. For not without a meaning did the Apostle say, Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Are we to be without ceasing bending the knee, prostrating the body, or lifting

The last of the Romans

Valerio M. Manfredi 
Time for another post about books. But this time the subject is more an author and his work in general than a specific book. And this just because I can’t think of one of this author’s books without thinking of the others too. Not that I have read them all …, actually only four : Empire of Dragons, Ides of March, Akropolis. La grande epopea di Atene (which is not translated

In Memoriam: Francesco Cossiga

Former Italian president Francesco Cossiga has died. A man with sharp intelligence and a biting sense of humor, he was a veteran politician and a leading figure in the Christian Democrat party that ruled Italy for most of the post-war period before collapsing in disgrace in the early 1990s. He was also a staunch backer of the US during the Cold War, and remained such until his death.

He once

The Seven Storey Mountain

A few notes on one of my summer reads, The Seven Storey Mountain, by Thomas Merton. I had read some other books by the same author in the past, i.e., New Seeds of Contemplation and The Silent Life, but had never taken the time to read Thomas Merton’s breakthrough autobiography. It has been an unexpected discovery under many points of view—both positive and negative, if I may say so. What is

No real news here...

A quick update on the recent developments in Italian politics. Well, nothing has really happened (so far), don’t let you fool by appearances. In fact, as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung puts it, “Sie [Die Italiener] haben sich, Staatspräsident Napolitano vorneweg, in die Ferien verabschiedet” (The Italians have gone on holiday, with President Napolitano at the top of the list) … An

Sorry for the long silence

Sorry for the long silence from me. I‘m still on vacation—ah the long holidays of teachers …—and I had been having unexpected problems with accessing the Internet in the past two weeks, in the mountain valleys of Tuscany (as far as compensation I had been reading a lot). Where I am now it’s much better, and I plan to be more regular with posting. See you soon!

The Sacrifice for Liberty, The Threat of Tyranny

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~
Today, July 4th, we celebrate the birth of our nation, now 234 years old. We face the same issue now, as we did then. Do we want to live under tyranny or with liberty? We now have in power in this country people that believe in tyranny, and have the power to enforce it, and are. At the founding of our county, many sacrificed their wealth,

Obama's war on the traditional family

I know I am contradicting myself here—only two posts ago I was talking about “light blogging” and “vacation time” … But this Washington Times editorial is a must read :

President Obama has wasted little time in using his executive branch power to give the country a leftward shove. In just the past few weeks, the administration has ramped up programs intended to reshape conceptions of the family.

Expats in Florence

Perhaps not everyone knows that for a long time Florence has been, and remains, home to many expats: those who have longed to live there, those who have found love and moved there, and those who have gone to Florence and felt immediately at home there. “Many people,” says Melinda Gallo, a writer and blogger who has been living in Florence for seven years, “arrive here at a point in their lives

Blogging will be light – Vacation time!

Hello dear readers, I always appreciate your time and comments, but blogging will be light over the next few weeks. Until then, you might want to check out some of my favorite blogs (look on the right side of this page). Have a great summer!

See you soon, Italy!

Poor lads, don't go too hard on them, after all they did what they could do... Arrivederci Italia!

Immoral moralists?

There is a quote I came across some time ago that says, “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, X, 16, AD 167). It fits well to a lot of people, except, at least to a certain extent, moralist philosophers—but Marcus Aurelius was one of them …—and theologians, but it certainly fits perfectly with politicians who play the moralist, such as,

Habermas and secularisation (part I)

By Angelo

Many thanks to Rob who has invited me to contribute to this blog.


Last week Jürgen Habermas visited Ireland and received a prize from University College Dublin, where I teach philosophy to adult classes.
Habermas is considered the most important European living philosopher and belongs to the second generation of the 'Frankfurt School'. This is a group of philosophers and sociologist

I am glad to inform you ...

I am pleased to welcome a new contributor to this blog, Angelo Bottone. Angelo is an associate lecturer at the School of Arts of the Dublin Business School, where he teaches Introduction to Philosophy, Critical Thinking, Theories of Knowledge and Philosophy of Science. He holds a PhD in philosophy at University College Dublin. He has published three books on John Henry Newman and several

Good News / Bad News (from Italy)

The good news for Italy, today, is that British bank Barclays is not worried about Italy’s public finances and will continue to invest in the euro zone country. Barclays chief executive John Varley told Il Sole-24 Ore newspaper,


We had strong growth in Italy in the last 10 years. We continue to consider it a strategic country in which to invest following our guidelines: in retail and wealth,

Turkey is rethinking its place in the world

Some fear the West has “lost” Turkey. The Mavi Marmara incident is seen as further proof of such a Turkish shift (The Economist).

Berlusconi's attack on a free press?

As all the word knows (we live in a global village, after all), Silvio Berlusconi is a controversial figure. There are those who love him and those who hate him, those who appreciate him and those who don’t. I’ve always tried to be as “objective” as possible regarding to him, but I don’t pretend to have succeeded, because—whether I like it or not—I agree with him on most issues. Let’s say that I

The Year of the (Conservative) Woman

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~We had several primary elections this last Tuesday. Most notable was that Conservative women dominated.In California former eBay CEO Meg Whitman won her primary against a strong Republican field. She’s wasn’t the most conservative of the candidates, yet the Democrats are already painting her as a ‘right wing extremist’. Of course, to them

An Alien in the White House?

The distance between the president and the people is beginning to be revealed. Dorothy Rabinowitz in the Wall Street Journal:


There should have been nothing puzzling about his response to anyone who has paid even modest critical attention to Mr. Obama's pronouncements. For it was clear from the first that this president—single-minded, ever-visible, confident in his program for a reformed

Flotilla inquiry? (Updated)

The flotilla affair: does the Israeli government owe anyone an inquiry over what went wrong in what looks to have been a seriously-botched operation? If the answer is Yes, then to whom does Israel owe an inquiry (and why), and to whom it doesn’t? Here is what Norman Geras has to say about this whole issue (an enlightening read).

UPDATE 7:30 pm
This is what may be written without a blush in the

It’s all Bush’s fault

It’s George Bush’s fault. Everything is George Bush’s fault. Why? Well, because it’s always someone else’s fault. “This is reaching the level of hilarity. Except it’s so sad,” says Steven at The Metaphysical Peregrine. And I think he is right. One might also say, yes, it would be funny, except it is happening to me, to us Americans. You have all my European solidarity—after all every country

'I killed Mgr. Padovese! Allah Akbar!'

Bishop Luigi Padovese, the apostolic vicar of Anatolia—that is the Vatican’s representative in Turkey—who was stabbed by his Turkish driver Thursday, besides being a high-level scholar and among the major experts on St. Paul, was a good and wise man. Just like another Italian priest, Father Andrea Santoro, who was killed in Turkey in 2006. And the man arrested in that case was also described as

Francesca, or When Nothing is Impossible

Her nose smudged with the red crushed-brick powder that tops the courts at Roland Garros, Francesca Schiavone, the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles event, “clambered into the stands. She immersed herself into a section of Italian family and friends, some of whom drove to Paris overnight, wearing black T-shirts that read ‘Nothing is Impossible.’”

What I like most about this

Afghan MP calls for execution of Christians

The “Religion of Peace” strikes again. International Christian Concern (ICC)—a Washington-DC based human rights organization aimed to help persecuted Christians worldwide—has told the ASSIST News Service (ANS) that Abdul Sattar Khawasi, deputy secretary of the Afghan lower house in parliament, has called for the public execution of Christian converts. What occasioned Khawasi’s “irritation” was a

Hey, not to forget the Florentine secretary

Do you remember the famous Machiavellian “eulogy” of mankind in the seventeenth chapter of The Prince, entitled “Concerning cruelty and clemency, and whether it is better to be loved than feared?” If you don’t, here is how it goes—brace yourselves, it’s not exactly what we could call an optimistic perspective on human nature, nonetheless please read carefully the following passage (I’ll explain

Silence

“ Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as Time. ”

~ Thomas Carlyle

Memorial Day

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~

"With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers, which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness

All gave some, some gave all

Memorial Day Weekend 2010.In honor of the Fallen Heroes of the US Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Reserves.
Let us remember where our freedom has come from and honor those who have given their lives for it.

If Cameron is so much more than Blair reincarnated

Simon Jenkins in yesterday's Guardian:

The bond formed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg on May 11 produced an almost surreal moment in British politics, not so much a coalition as a fusion. Two lookalikes have become feelalikes, and it is hard to see how they can ever part. A cynic can add: fine so far … wait and see. But something remarkable has happened. It is time to take stock.
[…]
The

'How Great Thou Art'

I love this one! Especially in Spring ...






O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,How great Thou art, How great Thou art.Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
When

So spoke Tremonti, and Brunetta answered...

As two of Berlusconi’s most-trusted aides, Paolo Bonaiuti and Gianni Letta, had announced it a couple of days ago, “The time has come for sacrifices,” and they will be “very heavy, very hard and let’s hope temporary.” And yesterday, in an effort to comply with the International Monetary Fund calling on Italy not to relax fiscal discipline, to reduce the public debt and boost its long-term growth

Ahmadinejad was in Khorramshahr to commemorate a victory, but ...

And to think that it was meant to be a rousing speech of national pride, a speech to commemorate the liberation of the south-western city of Khorramshahr after an 18-month occupation, at the time of the Iraq-Iran war. But the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, experienced a very different atmosphere: instead of the usual government-approved cries of God is Great, and Death to America, he

Why Rome is not Athens

National debt. Pourquoi Rome n’est pas Athènes? And at what price will the comparison between Rome and Athens remain a subject of debate for lovers of ancient history?

Le Monde answers as follow …

'The Face of God'

Roger Scruton’s series of Gifford lectures on “The Face of God” are available for listening online. Five of the six lectures have been presented so far. Listeners may leave comments and a recording session is planned in which Scruton can respond to some of them.

Science has a unique authority among thinking people today, and its popularizers have presented a picture of the human condition from

Yvonne Loriod

Paul Griffitths in the May 18, 2010, New York Times:


Yvonne Loriod, the French pianist whose musical exactitude and intensity inspired numerous masterpieces by her husband, the composer Olivier Messiaen, died on Monday at a retirement home in Saint-Denis, on the edge of Paris. She was 86.
[…]
In Ms. Loriod he [Messianen] found a musician who could provide avian qualities of agility and

American Heart

They say that we need changin’
As if all the Founding Fathersseem to get it wrongBut I say I still believe inThe greatest Liberator, Innovator, CultivatorFreedom knows



Sarah Palin called the tune “an amazing love song for America.” Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton recommends it to foreigners “who want to know how the real America feels.” And after hearing the song one woman said,

The Polanski case: prosecution vs. persecution

Several film directors attending the Cannes film festival have signed a petition in support of their colleague Roman Polanski, currently under house arrest  in his Alpine Swiss chalet, asking the Swiss government to refuse an extradition request from California, just a few days after a California judge denied Polanski’s request to unseal testimony in the 33-year-old case (but Hollywood star

Climategate - How the science of global warming was compromised

It was James Delingpole who, on his Telegraph blog, coined the term “Climategate” to describe the scandal revealed by the leaked emails from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, namely, the conspiracy behind the Anthropogenic Global Warming myth, and the greatest scientific scandal of our age. “The reason why even the Guardian's George Monbiot has expressed total shock and

Meanwhile, gold is rising ...

Will the euro bailout work? No, the bailout has slowed the euro’s slip, but it hasn’t solved the problem. That’s what the gold market seems to think, in fact the price of gold is rising against every major currency, not just the embattled euro. This, according to Royal Bank of Scotland foreign exchange strategist Greg Gibbs, is because the market sees the true scale of the sovereign risk

'Scandals were part of the Third Mystery of Fatima'

It has become more and more clear in the past few weeks, to all fair-minded observers, that the attempts to pin dirt on Pope Benedict have failed, and that Benedict’s tougher stance against abusers started in the latter years of his tenure at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It has also become clear that then Cardinal Ratzinger had been thwarted in his efforts to pursue a church

The Austrian School of economics: its Italian roots

Several early Italian economists influenced the development of continental European economic thought in the centuries before Carl Menger, the founder of the Austrian School of economics: Gian Francesco Lottini (1512–1572), Bernardo Davanzati (1529–1606), Geminiano Montanari (1633–1687), and Ferdinando Galiani (1728–1787). Galiani, in particular, with his contributions to value theory, interest

One can't solve a crisis of debt by increasing the debt

A postcard from France              By Mirino

In view of the last post, this interview from Le Monde seems suitable.

Thorsten Polleit is the head economist of Barclays Capital in Germany. He is very critical of the massive rescue loan of the euro zone States.

'How do you judge the rescue plan of 750 billion euros for the euro zone?

'One cannot solve the problem by additional debt. To

Why the West’s economic prosperity can no longer be taken for granted

As the Times of London put it, Stephen King writes scary stories, but Stephen D. King writes scarier ones. He is the chief economist of the London-based HSBC, one of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world, and Losing Control: The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity is his first book. And a scary book indeed, according to the reviews I’ve read so far (I’ve never

Re-readings

“ “For this reason,” the abbot continued, “I consider that any case involving the error of a shepherd can be entrusted only to men like you, who can distinguish not only good from evil, but also what is expedient from what is not. I like to think you pronounced a sentence of guilty only when ...”
“... the accused were guilty of criminal acts, of poisoning, of the corruption of innocent youths, or

UK set for hung Parliament

The BBC predicts a hung Parliament with David Cameron's Conservatives as the largest party (with more than 500 general election results in out of 650). And who will move into the famous address on the right may not be obvious.





PS: Britain Wakes Up Speaking Italian (Best Wishes!)

A postcard from France

By Mirino
Maybe the idea of  'A postcard from France', will encourage a flagging contributor to send the odd one, based on selected news items from the French press, to Wind Rose Hotel more regularly. Hopefully it will also incite readers to make constructive comments.
To begin with, and as the Polanski case was alluded to here before, it might be  appropriate to refer to a recent article on him

Athens burns

Many feared this would happen, and it has. Three people were killed and four were seriously injured when an Athens bank went up in flames as an estimated 100,000 people took to the streets to protest against harsh austerity measures aimed at saving the country from bankruptcy. Here is a video of the protests (see other videos  here):



And here is a france24english TV report:

Forget about soccer for a moment...

Italy’s national soccer coach Marcello Lippi, speaking at the start of a two-day training camp on Tuesday:

Italy is never the favorite for the World Cup and that helps. But look at our history. We’ve won four times and lost once to Brazil on penalties. If we had won that shootout we would have five World Cups now and Brazil would have four. […] They say a lot of things in the rest of the world,

But the Greek bailout won’t work, says Cassandra

Perhaps it’s because of our fond memories of childhood school days, when we learned about Homer’s Iliad and the beloved heroes and legends of the Trojan War, that, in the present days of economic turmoil, when you say Greece you say Cassandra, the prophetess of doom. It’s almost inevitable, or that’s what seems to be the case. However, if you are an incurable optimist, just keep away from

'The Sun Behind the Clouds'

“The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet’s Struggle for Freedom,” the documentary film by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam (check out the trailer below), has been greeted by some critics as “a potent update” on Tibetans‘ 50-year struggle for justice and recognition, and “an essential viewing” for anyone who cares about the fate of Tibet and the legacy of the Dalai Lama, while others (this one, for instance)

America's Illegal Immigration Fight

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~

Illegal immigration. The President and his political party, and their propaganda section, the Main Stream Media, would have everyone believe that the legislation passed in Arizona is blatantly racist legislation and against the Constitution. The hard cold fact is that all it does is enforce Federal law that’s already on the books, but

The religion of the New York Times

We all know, I suppose, that the New York Times isn’t fair. In his latest column in Commonweal, Kenneth Woodward provides an enlightening example in this respect:


In its all-hands-on-deck drive to implicate the pope in diocesan cover-ups of abusive priests, the Times has relied on a steady stream of documents unearthed or supplied by Jeff Anderson, the nation’s most aggressive litigator on

Common sense

Tim James, the Republican candidate for governor of Alabama, believes “common sense” will win out over “political correctness.” Hence, his new ad, in which he argues that Alabama’s driver’s license exam should be given only in English. “Why do our politicians make use give our drivers license test in 12 languages,” he says. “This is Alabama. We speak English. If you want to live here, learn it.”

Ten-man Inter knocks out Barcelona

... With 10 men for more than an hour. Yes, it will be Inter Milan vs Bayern Munich in Madrid on May 22!

And Germany made the Greek crisis much, much worse

“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” This piece of wisdom is known as Murphy’s Law, and I absolutely hate it, but Prof. Gustav A. Horn, the director of the Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) at Germany’s Hans-Böckler Foundation, says it currently applies extraordinarily well to economic policy in the euro zone. He gets angry with “the German government’s submissiveness to the financial

Invictus

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find,

Nine reasons to be alarmed about Biden's stance on Iran

According to Vice President Biden Iran has never been more isolated and the international community never more united against it. He also thinks proposed (tougher) UN sanctions against Iran—the US said yesterday it wants to see a sanctions resolution submitted “as soon as possible” within the UN Security Council—will stop Tehran’s nuclear weapons program. Wishful thinking? Realistic hope? Well,

A Big Nasty Financial Mess

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~President Obama continued his attacks on America this week, focusing on Wall Street. He and his political party take millions from the financial industry and then attacks them, which isn't as crazy as it sounds.For decades the Democrats and their propagandists in the Main Stream Media, have repeated the lie that the Republicans are the

A Party is born

Someone says this is the announcement of a political divorce, someone else says that Gianfranco Fini, the head of the Chamber of Deputies, has just committed a political suicide. But I think neither of the two hypotheses is correct. In my opinion—and that of many others—a “true” party was born yesterday, instead: the People of Freedom (PdL), which until yesterday was little more than a

UK: Is Nick Clegg anti-American and anti-Israel?

A new survey by ICM Research for the left-wing Guardian, released Monday, put Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats at 30%, just three points behind the Tories (30%) and ahead of Labour back on 28%.

Asked if he truly believed he could become Prime Minister, Nick Clegg said he was “acutely aware” of the volatility of the polls but implied anything was possible: “I want to be the next Prime Minister,”

Female promiscuity causes earthquakes

An intriguing piece in The Weekly Standard, the American neoconservative opinion magazine, about a leading Iranian cleric who told worshippers in Tehran that he blames earthquakes on female promiscuity: “Many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray and spread adultery in society which increases earthquakes.” This may sound wacky, says the magazine, but it can teach us a valuable

Distrust, discontent, anger (or, the American people and their Government)

According to a new series of Pew Research Center surveys, nearly 80 percent of Americans are more sceptical of Washington than ever, and a desire for smaller government is especially evident since Barack Obama took office. Public confidence in the federal government is at one of the lowest points in a half-century. There is a perfect storm of conditions associated with distrust of government—a

The liberal Axis of Evil

Google convicted: it was the profit's fault

“Judge Magi’s full judgment will make for interesting reading once it’s published,” someone said after (at the end of last February) three Google executives were convicted by the court of Milan for failing to prevent publication on the search engine of a video—posted in 2006 on Google Video, a now-defunct service that Google ran before it bought YouTube—that showed an autistic boy being bullied

Alice in Wonderland

I didn’t see the film, but my wife and daughter did, and told me they enjoyed it a lot. Almost as much, I might say, as Mirino did—and he is a good judge of such matters…

“All this may read like a review. Be as it may. But it comes from yet another visual interpreter of the classic, therefore it might have a shade more significance. It's also written as a homage by a proud father who has had the

The Vatican's new blog

It's official: the Vatican Information Service—a news service, founded in the Holy See Press Office, that provides information about the Magisterium and the pastoral activities of the Holy Father—has now its own blog.

At the moment, the posts are simply a recapitulation of the service’s daily email digests (sent to subscribers every day at 3 p.m.). Latest post:
Guide to Understanding Basic CDF

What the New York Times does not translate

I have already said what I think about the whole thing: nothing can ever excuse the sexual abuse of a minor, as much as nothing can justify covering these abuses up, but claims against Pope Benedict’s handling of sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, in particular those according to which he declined to defrock a Milwaukee priest who molested deaf students, are groundless and brought in

Plastic gondolas? No thank you, say Venetians

A shipyard in southern Italy has offered a low-cost version of the traditional Venetian boat, an exact replica of the wooden original but with some significant advantages. But according to authorities even the idea of a plastic gondola is unthinkable … Read the rest.

Fed up with Media bias

A new Rasmussen Report survey finds that 55% of U.S. voters think Media bias is a bigger problem in politics today than big campaign contributions:

Voters ages 30 to 49 are the most wary of the media’s influence on politics today.Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Republicans and 62% of unaffiliated voters say media bias is the bigger problem in politics, a view shared by just 37% of Democrats. The

Why I stand for the Pope

The Pope, as everybody can see, has been under attack by the Press since just before Holy Week. This may have a very simple explanation. But first let me say this as a preamble: nothing excuses the sexual abuse of a minor, as much as nothing excuses covering these abuses up. With this being said, here is a plausible explanation: “This latest onslaught of hyperventilating media self-righteousness

The Abbey of Piona

It’s always the same story when I have to deal with monks—a question I should not ask (but which I regularly ask), and an answer I would not like to hear: “How many of you are there in the Abbey?” to which the answer is, “Not many, as you can see, but this is not the problem… the problem is the future, there are few vocations!” This always fills me with sadness...

This time, however, the old

Happy Easter!

Happy EasterJoyeuses PâquesBuona PasquaFrohe OsternFeliz PascuaBoa Pascoa

Waiting for the Resurrection

Erbarme dich, mein Gott,
um meiner Zähren willen!
Schaue hier, Herz und Auge
weint vor dir bitterlich.

(Have mercy, my God,
for the sake of my tears!
See here, before you
heart and eyes weep bitterly.)

From the St Matthew Passion (Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244) by Johann Sebastian Bach. In Mixto Genere ensemble. Jerusalem views in video.

Easter Triduum

Attending Easter Triduum services (here). See you later.

The loudest complainers

“ It is a general popular error to imagine the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare. ”

—Edmund Burke, OBSERVATIONS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE NATION (1769).

Returning to Tuscany

            Intro by Mirino 
The following interview between CNN and Frances Mayes, professor, poet, novelist and author of the best seller 'Under the Tuscan Sun', is a very pleasant reminder as well as confirmation of my own warm impression of the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance (Italian souvenirs). 

In the interview Frances Mayes also alludes to the vegetable gardens, and one's 'memory

The 'Right Nation'

Mid-term elections, in the US, are generally unfavorable to the party in control of the White House. Well, here in Italy these regional elections, not unlike the regional elections which took place in France one week ago, were the closest thing to the US mid-terms elections. But while in France the results were a disaster for Sarkozy and his ruling party (UMP), in Italy the center-right ruling

The Shroud, again

This spring marks a major milestone for those interested in the Shroud of Turin, in fact the ancient linen cloth—which, as everybody knows, is believed by many to be the winding cloth that covered the body of Jesus of Nazareth after his crucifixion—will be exhibited to the public for the first time in ten years from April 10th through May 23rd. This is an exceptional opportunity, since

The Vote Down the Throats

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~

Due to illness and now going on vacation until next week, The Metaphysical Peregrine has been unable to create a fresh blog for the Wind Rose Hotel. I felt the need to post this because of Rob's last post on ObamaCare. I agree with Giannino from that post. I posted this regarding the health care battle going on here in the U S. on my

ObamaCare. A view from over here

ObamaCare: to be honest, I think I do not yet have a sufficient understanding of the whole matter, nor do I think most Europeans do, since everything, in this important and vital field, is—or seems to be—very different over here. Thus, what has been going on in the US in the past few months is perhaps a bit “too American” for us. Hence my silence on this issue … until now. What made me change my

Whether blogging is a waste of time or not

Is blogging a waste of time? Yaacov’s answer is,

All of which is to say that I ought to blog less. Blogging is so intensely a matter of the moment, so irrelevant two days later, that it has to be a waste of time. I’m not saying I’ll stop, but I ought to.
As for me, I think you can guess what my answer to this question is. First of all I blog a lot less than many hyperactive bloggers—well, I

Can you smell the wood of the cross?

Homily by Fr. Philip N. Powell, OP.

Can you smell the wood of the cross? There are many more steps between here and now and the foot of the tree. The hot sand blows stinging hard and everything and everyone you’ve left behind calls to you out of friendship to come back. What’s ahead after all? Blood, bits of flesh, spit, gall, deception, cruelty, violence…your betrayal of a friend. You can turn

'You must answer for it before God and before properly constituted tribunals'

“Dear brothers and sisters of the Church in Ireland, it is with great concern that I write to you as Pastor of the universal Church…”

The pope’s pastoral letter to the Catholics of Ireland, on the scandal of sexual abuse against minors on the part of priests.

Anwar al-Awlaki's call to arms

Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemeni-American Muslim lecturer and preacher, called on American Muslims to turn against their government because of its actions against Muslims around the world. Believed to be a senior talent recruiter and motivator for al-Qaeda and described as “the bin Laden of the Internet,” Anwar al-Awlaki described his own radicalization after U.S. operations against Muslims in his

Tom Hanks strikes again

In an interview with CNSNews.com, Tom Hanks further explained–but stood by his statement–that the Pacific theater of World War II was a war of “racism and terror.”

He also said,

“I’d like to think that as our time has gone by and as Americans have found themselves in 2010, ignorance is being replaced by a certain amount of enlightenment and racism is going to be replaced eventually by an

Catholic troubles

'The Catholic Church is “imploding” over child sex abuse.' That, according to Ruth Gledhill, is the view of “a senior journalist in Rome.” Accused of continuing “to act as apologist for the Roman Catholic Church as further cases of paedophilia by priests come to light, The Times religion correspondent apologizes to readers and to victims, pledges to reform forthwith, and takes stock of the

'We wanted to annihilate the Japanese because they were different'

Did you think that, back in World War II, the United States fought Japan because of Pearl Harbor, or because the Empire of the Rising Sun was trying to conquer the entire continent of Asia? Nah, if you think so, in the best case you are stupid and ignorant. The Truth is that the US “wanted to annihilate” the Japanese “because they were different,” and (as it was not enough) if that doesn’t sound

How to spend a day nobly

“ How to spend a day nobly is the problem to be solved, beside which all the great reforms which are preached seem to me trivial. If any day has not the privilege of a great action, then, at least, raise it by a wise passion. If thou canst not do, at least abstain. Now the memory of the few past little days so works in me that I hardly dare front a new day when I leave my bed. When shall I come

News from Italy

In search for news from Italy? Well, here are two for you to ponder, but not actually “good” news, just news—I have got to warn you, if you ever loved this country… The first one is that once upon a time there was Milan, I mean AC Milan. The second one is about the elections on March 28 and 29 in 13 of Italy’s 20 regions. Follow the links and you will find out “almost” everything you need to know

Chinese 'security' forces in Tibet

“There will be a time when truth will prevail. Therefore, it is important that everyone be patient and not give up,” said the Dalai Lama in a speech delivered yesterday in India on the 51st anniversary of his flight from Lhasa.

Meanwhile, we learn from a New York Times report that

[f]or a second straight year, the Chinese government has increased security across parts of the vast Tibetan

Help free Dhondup Wangchen

Dhondup Wangchen is a Tibetan film-maker who was arrested in March 2008. He had just completed filming an extensive series of interviews with ordinary Tibetans, giving a voice to Tibetans under China’s rule. The interviews were smuggled out of Tibet at great risk and have been made into a remarkable 25-minute documentary, Leaving Fear Behind, which was secretly shown to a small group of foreign

Let them marry ...

“But if they have not continency, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.”
(1 Cor. 7:9)

Swiss theologian Hans Küng has linked clerical sex abuse with priestly celibacy, as reported yesterday by Ruth Gledhill in the London Times. It’s a well-timed provocation, which comes a few days after the Regensburg Diocese in Germany revealed that a former chorister claimed he was abused

Night Song Of A Wandering Shepherd In Asia (Canto notturno di un pastore errante dell'Asia)

Yet another poetic, philosophical and aesthetic interlude between one political post and another—a sort of “ecology of political blogging” is needed, in my opinion!

In a previous post on the great 19th century Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi I drew attention to what seems to be a fascinating intellectual paradox, but it isn’t: I mean, the “phenomenon” may well be fascinating, but on closer

Italy vs Google - 2 (Is it still Berlusconi's fault?)

Seattle Times editorial page editor Ryan Blethen on “the already puzzling case” of Google versus Italy (see my previous post for details):

The cynic in me wonders if Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi left fingerprints on the case. He owns nearly all of the country’s private media and as prime minister influences Italy’s public media. Berlusconi’s critics worry that he is pushing for

America, A Big Historical Perspective

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~

We’re often caught up in our own little corner of time, our own historical corner, cultural corner and geographic corner. Sometimes it’s good to step back and see the larger picture.

Often here in America, we beat ourselves up; think we’re at the end of our influence, that our destiny was a flash in the historical pan. Wars and rumors

Italy vs Google

Bad news, as you probably already know, from the front line of Italy’s contemporary fight for freedom: three Google executives, charged with defamation and invasion of privacy, were convicted by the court of Milan for failing to prevent publication on the search engine of a video that showed a boy with Down’s syndrome being bullied by four students at a Turin school. The video was posted in 2006

This Iranian regime is worse than the Shah’s

Don’t miss this interview with the 73-year-old Iranian cleric and politician Mehdi Karroubi (Chairman of the parliament from 1989 to 1992 and 2000 to 2004, and a presidential candidate in the 2005 and 2009 presidential elections).

A disciple of Khomeini—since the age of 24 he fought at his side against the Shah—and one of Iran’s opposition Green Movement leaders, he now says that


[t]he Shah’

Beyond chauvinism

Let’s talk once again about soccer, ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League match at San Siro between Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan and Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea. First of all I have got to confess that I don’t like Mourinho at all. In my very personal experience, he is a most singular man, because, though I am not a huge soccer fan, he sometimes has the power to make me almost a hooligan … against

Nothing less than the Infinite

Hold tight, folks, what this post is all about is nothing less than “the Infinite.” Which is also the title of a famous poem by Giacomo Leopardi, one of the greatest Italian poets ever. A poet which, for mysterious reasons, is not as well known in the English speaking world as it ought to be, in my humble opinion, but this is a secondary issue—what matters most is a fundamental philosophical/

To be free or not to be free, that is the question (for Tibetans)

To be free or not to be free, that is the question for Tibetans. Well, no, actually: perhaps the real question, for them, is “How to enjoy the freedom of being not free?” At least, that’s what I think one has to look at the whole Tibetan thing after reading this. Or, better still, just don’t free Tibet (great post!). To free or not to free, that’s the real question! Sometimes you have to laugh

The fall of the Dutch government--but what have they lost?

So the Dutch government collapsed—after more than 15 hours of talks that lasted until early this morning, and acrimonious exchanges throughout the week—over disagreements on whether or not to extend troop deployment in Afghanistan. The (former) ruling coalition was made up of Christian Democrats (center-right), Labour and the small Christian Union party.

To make it short, Jan Peter Balkenende,

See you Wednesday

I'll be off until Wednesday. Have a good time until then ...;-)

Cars, Appliances and Cell Phones

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~

What happens when the government buys car companies? For one, they are in competition, and in this case our government has borrowed taxpayer money (on credit since we don't have the money) to buy GM (aka 'government motors') and Chrysler, and they're losing money. The fix? Something only the power of government can do, destroy its very

Philosophy of Freedom

Perhaps unexpectedly, some ten days ago, during his visit in Israel, Silvio Berlusconi said he hopes to bring the Jewish State into the European Union. “I have been hoping that for a long time now,” he also said. Yet, it’s an undeniable fact that under Berlusconi’s leadership, Italy has become one of Israel’s strongest allies in Europe. And this after decades of a pro-Arab tilt by previous

The real history of the Crusades (repetita juvant)

The Crusades are one the central and most important aspects of medieval history. But, as I have already pointed out here (and here), they are also one of the most mischaracterized aspects of the entire history of Western civilization. Often misunderstood by historians and, consequently, by media and public opinion, Crusades and Crusaders—even before September 11, when they became a topical

La Montanara (The Song of The Mountains)

With this I complete my trilogy of non-political posts of middle winter—it’s a good thing to every now and then get political toxins out of your life…

This time I am pleased to pay tribute to a traditional choir song from the Alpine valleys of Northern Italy: La Montanara (The Song of the Mountains), which celebrates the mountains and the “sweet little dwelling-place / Of Soreghina, the

The Roman Centurion’s Song

Once a Brit, always a Brit? This may be true—at least for a certain kind of people, I guess, and even if one was previously from elsewhere. I mean, some time ago a Brit friend of mine was amazed at my being a lover of Britain. He couldn’t understand why on earth I liked Britain so much, after having grown up in Rome, studied in Venice and San Francisco, California, and traveled a lot around

Paolo Maldini's new adventure

This blog is almost certainly a bit too “serious,” I know, at least insofar as politics is (still) a serious matter and not (yet) an entertainment show, as someone might suspect… That’s why this time I want to talk about …fashion—which may not be the most important issue in the world, but nonetheless, apart from its intrinsically ephemeral nature, it’s an important sector of the economy and a

In defence of Guido Bertolaso (updated)

A couple of days ago La Stampa newspaper ran an interesting piece by Lucia Annunziata, whose interview with Guido Bertolaso, Italy’s top disaster official, caused a furious reaction on the part of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Now I am pleased to re-publish it in English—translated by Mirino, who is a regular contributor to this blog (thank you!). I really appreciated the article, and

Obama and his once-in-a-generation opportunity

US President Barack Obama should realize that he ‘has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help make the world a dramatically safer place,’ and that ‘this is his “tear down this wall” moment.’ It’s a fleeting moment, though...

Robert Kagan in today’s Washington Post:

Imagine an Iran whose educated, inventive and highly cultured people were allowed to flourish, fully enmeshed in the global

On-the-job training

“Why does everybody hate me?” Well, he didn’t say exactly this… what “thin Skinned Obama” actually said, according to Mark Halperin (a card carrying member of the liberal media elite), is “The Press is against me.” After all “He hasn’t been in public life very long. . . . He’s experiencing it for the very first time. It’s on-the-job training…”

Never Again

“So I was hiding out in the heap of dead bodies because in the last week when the crematoria didn’t function at all, the bodies were just building up higher and higher. So there I was at nighttime, in the daytime I was roaming around in the camp, and this is where I actually survived, January 27, I was one of the very first, Birkenau was one of the very first camps being liberated. This was my,

Mrs. Clinton's rage

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is very angry. “I deeply resent,” she said at a town-hall meeting with State Department employees, “those who attack our country, the generosity of our people and the leadership of our president in trying to respond to historically disastrous conditions after the earthquake.” However, Mrs. Clinton was not surprised by criticism from countries such as

The choice target

   Translated and commented on by Mirino

I came across the following article in Le Figaro by Isabelle Lassere. Accordingly it would seem that the 11 September complot myth is still surviving despite the seriousness of the disease. Indeed it seems to have cancerously grown into an institutional enterprise in itself. Considering the accumulation of events that since should have negated the

Obama's failure in Haiti?

Perhaps it’s just because I am slightly biased in favor of him—and this because I have learned to trust him—that I can’t help but think that Guido Bertolaso is right and his critics are wrong. Or perhaps not, who knows? However, this is how I feel about the whole matter.

Bertolaso, head of Italy’s civil protection service, was personally sent to Haiti by Silvio Berlusconi because of his

'White surge to the GOP'

There seems to have been a white surge to the GOP in Massachusetts. In the 2008 election, no less than 79 percent of Massachusetts voters were white, and Obama carried them by 20 points, winning the state 62 to 36. How did Scott Brown turn that 26-point deficit into a six-point victory? Most likely by winning the white vote as massively as did Obama, says Pat Buchanan.
But, if that’s what really

Obama, One Year In

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~

This is the one year mark of the Obama Presidency, with his political party controlling the House of Representatives, Senate, Executive Branch, and the Jurassic Press, AKA the State controlled media. Used to be known as the free press. So what could go wrong? Well, everything did. We have the least experienced, ideologically driven

And the Climate Change Authority admitted mistake

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) admitted that one of its most alarming conclusions—that glaciers in the Himalayas could be gone 25 years from now—was wrong and largely unsubstantiated, as based on news reports rather than published, peer-reviewed scientific studies (and to think that they have always been saying that it was all about the

St Francis, or How to be meek without being a pacifist

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” What does this verse from the Beatitudes mean? As Steven rightly recalls in a recent post at his blog The Metaphysical Peregrine, most people think this beatitude means that Christians are, or should be, “weak and submissive.” On the contrary, he notes, “it takes a lot of strength and discipline to be meek.” Then he goes on to explain why

Benedict at the Synagogue

And to think that even the day chosen for the visit, was not that smooth. In fact, first of all, for Roman Jews January 17 is the day in which they commemorate the fire that, back in 1793, was ignited in their ghetto out of hatred—the so-called “Moed di piombo,” with the fire timely extinguished by a violent rainstorm that fell out of a “lead” (“piombo”) colored sky.

In the second place,

Is a US default inevitable?

Imagine four hurricanes hitting the East Coast in a single season. Well, according to Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, that’s what the financial crisis of 2008 was all about. And that’s how “they” happened to be blindsided. Yeah, they never saw it coming, and somehow they “just missed … that home prices don’t go up forever,” in Jamie Dimon’s (JP Morgan) words. Ok, there were also those birds of

The growing threat

              by Mirino

Following Rob's article about the sailor and survivor, Harold B. Estes.  This would also be pertinent. It's been around for some time but deserves to be widely read simply because it's true.
Almost every day we are reminded of this without even having to look for such reminders. For example yesterday I read that the Algerian actrice 'Rayhana' was attacked in Paris,

Beyond comprehension

Most of us really can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to lose everything in a natural disaster. The sheer weight of loss and the accompanying despair is overwhelming. Looking through the pics of the devastation wrought in Haiti by yesterday’s earthquake, every good soul must feel kinship with those suffering in grief.

It is truly beyond comprehension.

Father Philip is right, and

The WWII vet and the Holocaust survivor: a telephone conversation about President Obama

Harold and Esther are both in their 90s, and they are amazed, angry, and determined not to see the US die before they do. And they both are not fans of Obama’s apologetic attitude towards nations classically hostile to both America and Israel. Sara K. Eisen—Esther’s granddaughter—got the crazy idea that they should meet...

'The Pillage Idiot Guide to Offensive Statements by Public Officials'

It’s one thing for Barack Obama to grant absolution for an ally's dubious racial remark, but when Al Sharpton absolves the offender, you just know there are different standards at work.
Here is a flow chart mapping out the politics of offensive statements. Via Instapundit.

Burma: a culture lost in translation

“We Are Because They Are: A Culture Lost In Translation” (part 1/part 2) is an interesting documentary film about Burmese living abroad (in this case in Norway). Once home away from home, Burma is destined to become a foreign land to them. It’s worth looking at and thinking about.

How Tibet was sold out for a fistful of pounds and a few dollars more

Last week, Christopher Booker, columnist at the Sunday Times, reported on “the strange eagerness” of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office “to appease the murderous regime in Tehran.” But now we have learned that David Milliband’s appeasement of Tehran has a strong precedent,

Another example of the FCO's willingness to kowtow to nasty regimes has been flagged up in another newspaper, where a

St Paul's Cathedral

“ St Paul’s is, as I remembered it, a very handsome noble architectural exploit, but singularly unaffecting. When I formerly came to it from the Italian cathedrals, I said, “Well, here is New York.” It seems the best of show-buildings, a fine British vaunt, but there is no moral interest attached to it. ”


~ Ralph Waldo Emerson [from his journals, April? 1848], in EMERSON IN HIS JOURNALS,

The thousand faces of the real Islam

Her name is Anna Mahjar-Barducci, she is a young journalist and writer living in Italy, born to a Moroccan mother and Italian father, and married to an Israeli Jew. In the eyes of orthodox Islam, as well as of her fellow Muslim immigrants, her marriage and that of her mother are an apostasy. “When I see a Maghrebi on the street,” she says, “I have to change direction. He starts to greet me in

International complicity

And now there is also a defence of the Islamic Republic of Iran posted at Socialist Unity today. As an eloquent example of how far certain sections of the British (and European) Left have sunk. Hat tip: Harry's Place (the “other” Left).

The 'Religion of Peace' strikes again

He is a 28-year-old Somali with a regular residence permit in Denmark, but with close links with Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab and possibly al-Qaida militants in East Africa. He broke into Kurt Westergaard’s home armed with an ax and knife, shouting threats of “blood” and “revenge.” Yet, fortunately Westergaard and his granddaughter, who was in the home on a sleepover, succeeded in fleeing

Happy New Year!!!

“ The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has