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