Obama: "I never understood that line"

"The point was to inhale. That was the point."

Le speranze terrene fallite viste dal piu' famoso etilista anonimo

Come lancio del Natale, il Papa ci regala, anche lui, un paio di perle di saggezza. Spero che la perpetua gli tolga il fiasco perche' senno'... Leggete qui

«la ragione ha bisogno della fede per arrivare ad essere totalmente se stessa. Ragione e fede - prosegue nel documento - hanno bisogno l’uno dell’altra per realizzare la loro vera natura e la loro missione». Il legame fra ragione e fede si collega anche al concetto di libertà, «il progresso è il superamento di tutte le dipendenze, è progresso verso la libertà perfetta. In ambedue i concetti libertà e ragione - prosegue il Papa - è presente un aspetto politico. Il regno della ragione, infatti, è atteso come la nuova condizione dell’umanità diventata totalmente libera». Sul concetto di libertà il Pontefice torna in un passaggio più avanti dell’Enciclica: «Se la libertà, a causa delle condizioni e delle strutture, fosse tolta agli uomini il mondo, in fin dei conti, non sarebbe buono, perchè un mondo senza libertà non è per nulla buono».

abBondin le liriche!

Grazie a Malvino ho scoperto questa perla. E' da conservare in uno scrigno tanto prezioso quanto spazioso. Esperti e critici letterari ne prevedo una lunga serie (anche a ritroso giacché Capezzone quando vede una perla non sa resistere).

Godetevela, è toccante.

Sandro Bondi, Vanity Fair, 29.11.2007:

“Sono intimamente toccato dall’attestato di stima di cui l’On. Daniele Capezzone ha voluto pubblicamente onorarmi. Avverto nelle sue parole un vibratile moto di simpatia che desidererei restituirgli nella eco di questa mia breve poesia, che gli dedico:

Ardore generoso.

Cortesia schietta.

Giovane slancio.

Cornucopia di talenti,

o nuovo amico,

l’animo accoglieda te,

o Daniele”.

Pentole e coperchi radicali

Su Notizie Radicali del 26 Novembre, il Professor PierVincenzo Uleri imputa numerose responsabilità del fallimento delle tornate referendarie del '99 e 2000 a Pannella. Secondo me fa l'economia di un paio di cosucce.

«Israele e palestinesi, pace entro il 2008»

et voilà!

Il Training Autogeno di Annapolis

Possibile che poche ore di riunione con una 50ina di persone provenienti da mezzo mondo possa essere considerata un successo? Possibile.

Possibile che ci si feliciti del coinvolgimento di regimi dove vige la Sharia? Possibile.

Possibile che sia dia per acquisito che tutto avvenga entro un anno? Possibile.

Mi domando come mai ci abbiano messo così tanto a mettere insieme tutte queste belle notizie.

Solo Kakà è peggio di Capezzone...

... per ora.

Capezzone: "Sì, ma senza la preziosa esperienza di uomini come Sandro Bondi non si va da nessuna parte"

Il Condottiero delle Libertà

FT's Comments and Analysis on Cyprus

Not to be missed.

Cyprus seeks divine intervention to end drought

Cyprus's ancient Orthodox Church called on Monday for prayers to end a crippling drought threatening to sap reservoirs dry of water by the end of the year. Cyprus, which is heavily reliant on rainfall for water supplies, is suffering one of the worst droughts of the past 100 years. The Mediterranean island's reservoirs are only 8.1 percent full, according to the most recent data. Authorities say Cyprus's largest dam will run dry in the next 30 days, and they will soon start emergency drilling to tap underground water deposits. Prayers for rain are rare, and the last occurred in 1998, when there was a comparably critical water shortage. "We are sure that if we all pray with deep faith the Almighty will heed our prayers; 'Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full'," Church leader Archbishop Chrysostomos said in a circular on Monday, quoting from the Gospel of John. The liturgy will be held on December 2 in churches across Cyprus.

E dopo Capezzone anche Giovanardi è del "Popolo"

In effetti se si chiama Partito del Popolo è giusto che di popolani e popolari ce ne siano diversi e di tutti i colori, oltre che fino all'altro ieri in singolar tenzone.

Capezzone dice oggi al Foglio, tra le tante altre cose contrarie a quelle che diceva fino a qualche mese fa, che non vede l'ora di lavorare con la Michela Vittoria Brambilla. Primo compitino: la scelta dell'inno del PdPdL. Visti tali auspici, e in onore della nostra amicizia che fu, gli suggerisco di utilizzare questo motivetto qui sotto che fa molto squadra. Certo, almeno in questa congiuntura, Capezzone è il paladino del diritto d'autore, ma in questo caso, ammesso che esistano, mi sa che glieli cedono volentieri i diritti, per farlo un divo da hit parade (cosa che in effetti gli manca).

La Costituente Televisionista

Non passa notte che il buon Boselli non sieda sui divanetti della terza camera di Bruno Vespa. Gran cesto natalizio all'addetto stampa dello SDI. Auguroni!

Royal banalities on Annapolis

Courtesy of openDemocracy.

Altri tempi

Negli anni '60 il pianista Van Cliburn raggiungeva livelli di popolarità da "star", erano tempi migliori?

Ride bene chi ride ultimo

Su Capezzone giran voci

che lo piazzerebbero piuttosto in alto nel nascitura partito del popolo delle libertà, altro che i suoi ex radicalucci, robba seria, seria davvero.

Intermezzi musicali

Qualche passante dal Perdukistan ha avuto da eccepire sulle scelte musicali del fine settimana. Visto che è in partenza per la Francia eccogliene servite un paio.

I prossimi passi del PD

Veltroni vede Fini, ma anche il presidente del gruppo dell'Alleanza dei Liberal-Democratici per l'Europa, Graham Watson, per discutere della prossima collocazione degli eurodeputati del PD.

la Madonna dei Rom

Ma come si chiama la Conferenza di Annapolis

nessuno lo sa. o chi lo sa non lo vuole dire.

Commonwealth Communiqué on Cyprus

a bit bureaucratic...

[...]

Cyprus

16. Reaffirming their previous Communiqués on Cyprus, Heads of Government expressed their support for the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and unity of the Republic of Cyprus. They expressed their support for a lasting, just and functional settlement based on the principles of the United Nations Charter, the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the principles of the Commonwealth.

17. Heads of Government called for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions on Cyprus, in particular Security Council Resolutions 365 (1974), 541 (1983), 550 (1984), 1250 (1999) and all subsequent resolutions. They reiterated their support for the respect for the human rights of all Cypriots, including the right to property, the implementation of the relevant decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and for the accounting for all missing persons.

18. Heads of Government further agreed on the importance of supporting the efforts of the UN Secretary-General to bring about a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem in line with relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.

19. Heads of Government welcomed the principles and decisions enshrined in the 8 July 2006 Agreement and stressed the need to start the process as described in UN Under-Secretary General Gambari’s letter of 15 November 2006, without delay and without preconditions, in order to prepare the ground for full-fledged negotiations, leading to a comprehensive and durable settlement.

[...]

Why so many flags in Northern Cyprus?

Much like the south, north Cyprus, has never suffered from a shortage of flags. They are everywhere: on mountain sides, draped over schools, hospitals and other official buildings....

Countless visitors have asked, “Why so many flags?” The answer to which has usually been, “Because we want the Greeks to know that we are here, and that we are here to stay.” Today, however, many are asking, “Why are there even more flags than before?” Wednesday’s 24th anniversary of the founding of the TRNC goes only part way to answering the question. It can explain why all official buildings were draped in flags and traffic junctions were decked out in bunting; it might also be an explanation as to why two more enormous flags were erected on the hillside overlooking Kyrenia this week. But it does not explain away the relatively newfound need of ordinary people to express their Turkishness by placing flags in just about every free space. “There is a kind of flag fetishism,” says Dr Erol Kaymak of the International Relations Department at the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) in Famagusta. “Every time a car passes me I see a flag and a sticker saying ‘How happy I am to be a Turk’.” Kaymak sees this increasing need to outwardly express national identity as a trend that has its roots in many causes, some of which stem from Turkey, and some from Cyprus. In Turkey, Kaymak says, nationalism has been on the rise for several years, fuelled mainly by growing disillusionment with the EU. Many Turks, he says, now believe the EU will never accept Turkey as a full member and therefore feel little need for their country to continue the project of transforming itself from a military strongman to a liberal democracy. Adding to this, nationalism has been further boosted by the military’s recent stepping up of a campaign to wipe out the Kurdish separatist Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which it says is seeking to establish a Kurdish nation within Turkey’s borders. With 100,000 Turkish troops currently poised on the Iraqi border to launch an incursion into northern Iraq in pursuit of the PKK, nationalism is at an all-time high. Naturally, the rise of nationalist fervour in Turkey has had a spin-off effect on the north of Cyprus. The mere fact that tens of thousands of mainland Turks live there is enough to account for that, plus, of course, the fact that the Turkish state, government and military are the sole sponsors of the breakaway state make it unthinkable that it would be any other way. But in northern Cyprus the mood is a different from the one currently felt in Turkey, because although Turkish Cypriots to some extent sympathise with Turkey’s problems with the PKK, it is not a burning issue for them. Kaymak’s colleague at the EMU, International Relations professor Ahmet Sozen, says, however, that there are links between the nationalist phenomenon in Turkey and the smaller, but by no means less tangible, nationalist resurgence in north Cyprus – and these links stem from the political alliance that exists between the Turkish civilian government and presidency, and the administration in northern Cyprus. Both the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot leaders, he says, have scored major political victories against the military – primarily by winning elections and introducing reforms that chip away at its hegemony – and the military is not pleased. The upshot now is that the military wants to reassert itself as the true ruler of Turkey and northern Cyprus. “Some people are trying to prove something. The army is not pleased, and is trying to show who’s boss,” Sozen says. “The army is trying to find every loophole to punish the AK party [Turkey’s ruling party], and by slapping the CTP [the ruling party in the north], it is indirectly hitting the AK party,” he says. What is happening in northern Cyprus is ultimately a microcosm of what is happening in Turkey. How then is the military “slapping” the Turkish Cypriot administration and its leader Mehmet Ali Talat, and what is the link between the military’s pique and the preponderance of flags and increase in nationalistic zeal in the north. Kaymak says flags and nationalistic symbols can and are being used to undermine Talat, and that he believes Talat was probably opposed to the erection of the two new giant flags over Kyrenia. “When they [the flags] were first proposed about eight months ago, he probably persuaded the military to put the idea on the back burner, thinking such a move would have a negative effect on negotiations [with Greek Cypriots]. But this time there was no discussion”. Ultimately, he says, Talat’s hand is being forced. He can’t openly oppose. Kaymak also believes that Talat’s inability to oppose the overt nationalism of the military is causing splits within the leadership’s ranks and traditionally pro-solution Republican Turkish Party (CTP) from which Talat hails. Just two weeks ago, Talat’s chief adviser and right-hand man in negotiations with the Greek Cypriots resigned, citing disillusionment with the pace of reforms as his reason. Increasingly large cracks are also appearing within the CTP, dividing those who believe the party has shifted too far to the right in order to ride out the nationalist storm, and those who still believe that the party’s overriding philosophy should be centred on uniting Cyprus. Kaymak believes Turkey and the north is now heading for “round two of an old fight”, between those who wish to see liberal reforms taking place in both Turkey and northern Cyprus, and those who want power to remain firmly in the hands of the military. The first round of the “old fight” saw the mergence of the reformist AK party in Turkey, while in northern Cyprus it saw Denktash and his supporting parties removed from power. Both developments dented the military’s hegemony, and now it and the right-wing parties that lost at the ballot boxes are fighting back. “The right is emboldened and trying to back into the driver’s seat,” Kaymak says. Who will ultimately win the fight remains to be seen, but in an atmosphere, both in Turkey and north Cyprus, where unwillingness to join in the nationalist carnival is seen as heresy, something will undoubtedly give.”

Yellow Magic Orchestra