TALES HAVE A REASON TO BE...

THANK YOU, MR. COHEN !

Gone, but never will you be forgotten. 

You were Sole's favourite singer, poet and story-teller.

Thank you also for the joy you gave Her.

13TH OF OCTOBER AD.54

Emperor Claudius died.
His was certainly an extraordinary and interesting life, from all points of view.
You can find more information HERE

There's an excellent TV Series .
I think, historically, one of the best I've watched.

THE GATES OF HELL..ETC..ETC...

Nixon: Watergate
Reagan: Irangate
Weiner: Weinergate
Trump: Pussygate

La décadence !!!

ISLAM VS THE WESTERN WORLD (OR OCCIDENT)

Interesting reading here
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/

MORE NEWS FROM THE EASTERN FRONT!

There seems to be a general discomfort from Daech troops.

Among the many news generated by a large disarray, our confidential informant says that:

- Al Khurt had his feet blown out and cannot walk now (Daech supporters are required to send money for a little cart - possibly motorized - so he can continue his activity)

- Abu Ben Barka has unfortunately been blowed whilst trying to cross the Mediterranean on his luxury cruiser.

Ahmed Abu D'Soufl decided he preferred to defect as his love for movies was not acceptable for his bosses.

More news as soon as our informants forward them to our Head-Quarters!

UNITED WE WIN !

Poland's women seem to have won their battle against a ban of abortion.
I must say"seem" as I'm sure the machos and clerics will start anew a campaign within the Paliament to overrule what the majority of women want.
This hypocritically catholic country finds in the Catholic Church all the excuses to counter what women want and need and deserve.
Church is male; all male; absolutely male. Except for some nuns who abide by Catholic rules. At least in the open. But behind doors..that is another question.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/world/europe/poland-abortion-law-protests.html

SOME POSITIVE NEWS FROM THE EASTERN FRONT

From my reliable source, I've received news of some defectors leaving the Jihadist Galaxy

Ibn Al Panzh : previously driving suicide tanks but being unable now to get inside them due too large a girdle
                     (too many cheeseburgers, french fries and beers...)

Abu La Boulle: Voice is that he preferred playing la Pétanque in the south of France. Said to have been
                        located in Ramatuelle but no confirmation up to this moment.

Mortahd-El Kader: Sources say he is now nearby Bologna (Italy) feasting on one of their regional                                               delicatessen: the Mortadella and planning to taste this specialty all over the various food
                              festivals opening in the Summer...

Ali Al Nurse: either he has a crisis of conscience or he has become a gerontophile. He's now a nurse in a
                     Third-Age Nursing Home. Very suspicious, if you ask me.

Arrashi Rurgien: Tchetchen fighter now turned into a surgeon specializing in mending victims of bomb                                       damages

Abu Al Khurt: was a great asset to IS but since he lost both legs in a suicide bomb attempt, he's now too                               short to be fully operative

Ibn Al Grill: expelled from IS when caught grilling some juicy pork chops. Now in some seaside resort happy                          to cook and getting money.

More news from our super-hyper secret source asap.

LATEST HOT NEWS FROM THE JIHAIDIST FRONT

New recruits:

Ahmed Ben Kanif: His favourite weapon is his Swiss Wenger Multipurpose Knife. Particularly the bottle opener! He's not very happy about the length of the blade tool though. Nothing is perfect!

Abu Sayed Al Kafè: enrolled some months ago but not yet found for next embarkment to Syria although all brasseries and coffee shops in his area have been extensively seached.

Mohammed Al Kalin: This recruit seems to have lost his way to the Jihad as he loves being pampered and spoiled. Daech Headquarters are still confident they can reform him to become one of their best fighters but...

More news in coming messages.

MORE NEWS ABOUT THE GALAXY OF JIHAIDISTS...

Sayed Al Depressif (has been for some time under psychiatric care and is now obviously ripe for next suicide           action)
Abu Al Brillantin: missed his foreseen last attempt as he was looking at how cute he seemed in his                           hairdresser's mirror.
Abu Dsufle: lost his rendez-vous with terror as he was enjoying Godard's masterpiece in a cine-club theatre.
Bilal El Chanel: bling bling jihaidist
Omar Abu Tir: posing as an International transporter
Ibn Khalif Ourmi: he has an alias as Teacher of Entomology (particularly with ants)

Further news will be released as they come in!

MORE NEWS ABOUT THE GALAXY OF JIHAIDISTS...

Sayed Al Depressif (has been for some time under psychiatric care and is now obviously ripe for next suicide           action)
Abu Al Brillantin: missed his foreseen last attempt as he was looking at how cute he looked in his                           hairdresser's mirror.
Abu Dsufle: lost his rendez-vous with terror as he was enjoying Godard's masterpiece in a cine-club theatre.

Further news will be released as they come in!

FURTHER HOT NEWS ABOUT THE ABOMINABLE CENTRE OF TERRORISTS RECRUITS

We've come to learn about more of these aweful individuals:

Abu Makaron : foreign fighter coming from Italian inland exactly as
Ali Sayef El Spaghetti (probably from same village)
Abu Allah Fayette: keen on high-range shopping
Abu Fluor: he seems to be posing as a dentist
Abu Yabess: said to live in Marseille

Further news later on.

A FRENCH FRIEND OF MINE TOLD ME THAT...

..he succeeded in infiltrating a muslim terrorist group.
He even named some of the components and told me he would give me more details in the future.
The components of such group (that is not really very effective as they realized they quite prefer to spend their afternoons in café terraces or body gyms rather than pursuing the virtual virgins in some kind of future paradise) have now a name.
Here they are:

Abu Sayef Al Moron (he's not really such a bright guy)
Ali Ridikul (spends most of his time in front of his mirror)
Ibn Submersif (tries to dive but can't swim..most unfortunate for him)
Ibn Al Pastis (loves the French Riviera cafés)
Hussein Bin Kretin (one of the less intelligent brothers in his family and - for this reason - ready to blow    
      himself up)
Abu Lik (not very sharp or active: the Brotherhood must work hard on him)

That's all for the moment but as soon as we'll have more information, we shall release it on this same channel.

IT'S TRUE! YOUR NEIGHBOUR COULD BE A JIHADIST...HOWEVER...

Although I despise any kind of religious fanaticism, I find that Daech (self-calling IS) is less  murderous than other causes:
Ask yourselves about the yearly victims of :

Death toll due to Muslim terrorism
Death toll due to Road Accidents
Death toll due to Air-carrier Accidents
Death toll due to Family feuds
Death toll due to Friendly Fire

You might be surprised by the results of your on-line investigation.

HOW CAN A MAN, A CREATOR KILL HIS BEST CHILD?

That's what Bill Gates is doing when he's closing down his XP programme.
I can but view this move as Ridley Scott's scene from Blade Runner with Rutger Hauer.

ARE SCOTTISH BETTER THAN ENGLISH?

I can't say.
What I understand, from statistics, is that Scottish people and the younger generations of the English territories, not to speak of Northern Ireland, wish to stay with us, Europeans.
As to me, they're all welcome. I couldn't imagine a Europe without Scots or, come to that, without Irishmen.
Also, I can't imagine a Europe deprived of its best English young brains!
So, once in a while, I agree with European leaders (when they're saying that there's no need to hurry in implementing the breach between the Continent and the UK).

As usual Mr. Hollande understood nothing (because - poor man - global events are too much to take in for his brain) and Mr. Juncker made himself to APPEAR  as the strong man (because he's just a functionary asset concerned about his salary) and Mr. Martin Schultz made himself notorious as he has nothing else to give value to his person  but it's just APPEARANCE and PROTAGONISM, let's call it ADVERTISING for next elections. They count as much as a 3 of spades.

Brexit has been useful as it made each one of us wonder.
Even People who voted 'Leave' are having second thoughts.

Rightfully so.

THE PROUD REDHEAD

June 26th, 2012
Never forgotten

BILL EVANS - CHET BAKER

These are guys (sometimes naughty) who created beauty.
Compared to the one who just died and was celebrated for punching, knocking and hurting adversaries, I'd say these two are rather more worthy of praise.

BOXING ..A NOBLE ART?

Never understood why two people punching each other and knocking each other out (and often hurting adversaries to death or even worse, to cerebral death) can be seen as exercising a 'noble art'.

Boxing is just a lingering memory of cavemen. The worst possible activity that I would never call a sport.

This said, I also can't understand the level of grieving and apotheosis surrounding Muhammad Ali's death.
He was someone punching his adversaries harder that they.

Does this make him a hero?
I think not.

His sentences concerning 'niggers' and 'vietcong', moreover, were just prompted by his press-agents, according to the years of his activity and the trends of those times. Does anyone remember how Jane Fonda was called at that time thanks to the same slogans? Hanoi Jane!

Politics as a means to call for sympathy at a certain time.

I have no sympathy for such kind of people.
And I find boxing to be a most damaging, savage and  absolutely stupid activity.

SELFIES OR THE TRIUMPH OF RIDICULE

Interesting reading today in The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/29/posting-photos-online-obituary-images

and, some time ago in Time magazine
http://time.com/40254/selfies-science/

Any comment is superfluous!

WE THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE THE END?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-36299692

That, seen in a millenium-long history of the human species, is just a a moment.
Evolution is a never-ending progress. What was right yesterday is becoming a mistake tomorrow.
Never forget that your present is also your past and your future

AMERIGO VESPUCCI TRAINING BOAT

A Beauty!
With a special thought for Sole's Captain Zaphod
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_training_ship_Amerigo_Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci is celebrating Her 85th anniversary and will be resting in Venice for the coming 4 days.

CATS RULE !

I'm sorry for Bunnies. I love Bunnies as much as Sole did.
But I must admit Cats are ruling the world! (psst...it's still not common knowledge but they are holding worldwide conventions for a world takeover!)
See and read here: https://twitter.com/TheFuckingCat
Meanwhile they are skillfully infiltrating diplomatic channels as it's clearly demonstrated here:
https://twitter.com/EmbassyCat
All above information is purrfectly secret!
Well...unless some human can be purrsuaded to join the Cats Liberation Army, of course!

SOME DAYS CAN BRING GOOD NEWS...

...for men and not only !
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36250416

Wikileaks' Julian Assange gets kitten at Ecuador embassy

DESPITE CENTURIES AND CENTURIES...VATICAN STILL COMMANDS!

http://tribunatreviso.gelocal.it/treviso/cronaca/2016/05/09/news/interruzione-di-gravidanza-diritto-negato-1.13441624?ref=hftttrer-2

A fundamental right for women who want to terminate unwanted pregnancy (whatever the reason: rape, health, etc) is denied due to a so-called conscience-dictated decision.

Doctors, who should put their patient's well being before anything else, decide they can't perform abortion due to their religious beliefs.

On the other hand, there have been many cases of illegal abortions performed in some private clinics where those same physicians were doing - privately - what they denied publicly.

As always, Italy is still a country ruled by Church's powers.
Let's not forget that in this country, Church has acknowledged privileges:
- in terms of taxes, real estate, etc
- in terms of immunities
    and other, less known and non-officiel privileges:
- a special 'ear' in justice by magistrates who built their careers thanks to the little 'word' to a special friend
    connected to the Vatican
- a special way to careers - such as those so-called doctors who deny abortion and oblige women to abort
    under less than safe conditions, doctors that are rewarded with advancements of career and money
    earnings thanks to special recommendations, although they renege the basic Hippocratic Oath

My poor country. How true was the thought of my History Professor, Monsieur Cox, who said more than 50 years ago, that Italy would never be a modern country till it had inside itself that other State, the Vatican!

WE, THE PEOPLE...

...understand the Reason of State.
However, when the Reason of State collides against the reason of few who are greedy for power and money
We, the People, object!
It is our right and we mean to stand by it.

VENEZIA, MY LOVE - THE PEARL OF THE ADRIATIC SEA...

...daily defaced
- by ignorant 'tourists' who just come here for a selfie
- by those who think it's 'cute' to eat a piece of foreign-made pizza (if one can still call it pizza), sitting on the          historical steps of Le Procuratie and insult centuries of history by littering those grounds. Would you    
       ever conceive the same happening  in Place Vendôme?
- by imported 'merchants' who sell chinese glass under the false label of Murano
- by unlawful immigrants who sell counterfeit goods in all places
- by criminals from Eastern Europe who organize drug rackets, with Africans  in some areas where people
        are now afraid to live in?
My poor Serenissima.
You're sinking under the weight of ignorance and mass tourism.
You deserved better.
You, Pearl of the Adriatic where artists and connoisseurs chose to live, create and die.
You, Venice, who stood up against the Popes and the Inquisition
You, Venice, are you now giving up completely the values that made you so powerful?
You, Venice, do you really want to become a kind of discredited  Disneyworld?

LET'S NOT BE SURPRISED...

...if the People react against decisions made in high place that deny the People's Will .
http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2016/04/24/01003-20160424ARTFIG00136-autriche-l-extreme-droite-en-tete-au-premier-tour-de-la-presidentielle.php

YEHUDI MENUHIN ... A GIANT AND A GENTLEMAN

EARTH DAY

Somehow, I can't help to associate this day with this Pink Floyd's song

Hey You!

BETTER ONE DAY LATER THAN NEVER !

Sinopoli: a giant !
..and so elegantly always self-effacing.

Sole loved the Adagietto (Adagietto from SYMPHONY NO.5 by Gustav Mahler)..she played it over and over, sometimes for hours
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BUtzb63yMM&feature=em-subs_digest

8TH OF APRIL - JACQUES BREL

On this day,  year 1929, a legend was born.
He's still in our hearts, in our minds, in our souls and will never be forgotten.
The strength in his voice, in his words, in his songs is unique.
If songs could be (as they should) be compared to other artworks, I'd say he was no lesser than Rodin, Monet, Titian and so many other Masters.

Here is his most acclaimed song..but not the lesser

...and the one I love most

and one that is not often recognized as one of his masterpieces but I think it is

and the most powerful, descriptive and poetic about that wonderful town of Amsterdam

and the funniest and most ferocious against the 'Bourgeois', the people who think they have reached a status...but we know better, don't we?

and the lightest and amusing reminder of old Brussels' times. 

With my deepest feelings and sadness for all those who were recently  killed and injured through Islamic Terrorists who were welcomed in this small country of liberty and made a terrorists' nest of it.

It's also noteworthy to remember that Brel was not only a great chansonnier but also a fine actor/director. Some of the movies he directed or played in were amongst the finest of cinematography's history, although not the best-known or best-rated. But, then, so is the life of many geniuses.
And
Sole loved him.

RICHES AND POVERTY

In case anyone still have some doubts
http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2016/04/07/panama-papers-comment-le-petrole-congolais-s-evapore-dans-les-paradis-fiscaux_4898082_3212.html

It all sums up with a memorable movie by Luchino Visconti
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Leopard_(1963_film)

"Everything must change so that nothing changes"

That's not only Mafia. That's the mantra for all of the financial, banking and business lobbies.
Today's international dealings are none other than business agreements between lobbies and conglomerates. Small people are not taken into account but as pawns.

MARCOS, CEAUSESCU, ERDOGAN...

... men who could have been great but were just grabbers.
Nobodies who - through corruption and harsh domination - succeeded in reaching power and became a ridiculous image of it.
Huge buildings where the void is of essence are just the image of such men.
Some made use of army.
Some of ideology and brain-washing.
Some of religion...as is the case for Erdogan who keeps his power thanks to the illiterate masses of people in the poorest regions of Turkey.
Where women are just there to give birth to so many little muslims as they can.

FIFTH COLUMN

Fifth Column
We're welcoming men (there are so very few women in the boats ..expendable goods aren't they?) all in their full youth.
One has to wonder.
Why are they not fighting in their own country for their own freedom?
Why are they finding our ways of living indecent?
Why are they feeling like they can rape our women just because they feel our women are free ?

We're inviting our own enemies into our houses.
Fifth Column has a name:
Help your enemy into your home and
Bow to his wishes

Let's not be surprised if right-wing parties will sail on these shores.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE DECLARES...

that Daech (so-called IS) committed genocide.
http://in.reuters.com/article/mideast-crisis-usa-genocide-idINKCN0WJ1TN
What surprises me is not the news. We all were aware of the atrocities of Daech.
What surprises me is the length of time it took to a high-level politician to state what everybody else knew.
Compliments, Mr. Kerry! You voiced the obvious.....with a great deal of delay!
If this is your rythm in solving worldwide problems, we're far from solving them !

KEITH EMERSON

I found a post from the old Sole's website in which Keith Emerson and Oscar Peterson play together.

I think it's a nice way to remember both of them ...What a tempo !
And Canario, a very old recording of Keith when he still was one of three (Emerson, Lake and Palmer)

FOR YOU, SOLE, MY BEST FRIEND EVER

Some little simple flowers, the colour of springtime.
I know you loved them.
This picture was shot - thinking of you - not far from where you lived, in Treviso.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

A sensitive subject.
I usually quote, or copy for this blog,  music or texts I legally bought and wish to share with same-minded persons.
There's no doubt that any creator, composer, writer is entitled to have his efforts rewarded by Author's rights.
Let's not forget that, before Author's Rights Laws, geniuses such as Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart and Antonio Vivaldi (who are still among the best selling composers) died in poverty and were buried in Paupers'Fields.

Let's never forget that artists live on royalties.
Each single pirated copy is a step back for them.
And life is often so short.
Even for geniuses.

AMAZING NATURE

Are these hills from some far away landscape of China's inlands?

More simply, they're the moss covering of a tree

LEONARD COHEN - DID I EVER LOVE YOU

I think there are few songs so fierce about love.
I loved all tracks but this one is special to me.

A GREAT AUTHOR, UMBERTO ECO

and not only a great author  for his novel 'Il Nome della Rosa' but a great novelist (in all his other works) newsman  and a fine person.
I bought and read all of his novels and publications and never found him boring or repetitive.
His newspaper notes were so clear-minded and up to the point for all of today's facts.
His death is certainly a loss for anyone who cares about truth and analysis.
So sorry, so truly sorry!

TODAY I WONDER

Today is the anniversary of one of the greatest minds in history.
And yet so very few spoke of him.
He was a free thinker
A great scientist
And he was obliged under Church's duress to renounce his beliefs unless he were to burn on the stake.
His name was Galileo Galilei
Let's never forget his name
He was one of our forefathers.

THE JAZZ MAN

Peter Cincotti: Sole loved so much this artist.
I also do.
I think he's under rated.
Great tempo!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLUas2ypb8M

TALKING ABOUT HONG KONG...

... I remember when Sole and I were talking about when, as girls who didn't yet know each other, we were flying from and to the old airport, Kai Tak, just in the middle of skyscrapers, close to the hills.
She loved flying and always found the Hong Kong approach and departure such an exhilarating experience. She always said that the new airport was OK under a rational point of view but not as thrilling as the old one. I'm not sure I totally agreed :-)
For anyone who would like to see how it was in the past to arrive at and leave from Hong Kong, here are links
Night Landing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X6HNOKSQUs
Concorde Landing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JKkJqNOFEY
Night takeoff from cockpit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c20wIRaOU8

THE PARADISE THAT WAS HONG KONG

Sole loved Hong Kong.
She told me so many times about her feelings, her happy memories of what was a lovely place. I agreed, having myself lived there for some time.
How not to remember Sundays at Stanley's market? (I mean the original one where you could still find antiques); Causeway Bay swimming; drinks in the evening at the then-called Regent ?
As long as the United Kingdom administered it, Hong Kong was (almost) perfect.
Of course, there were illegal sellers, particularly at night, selling counterfeit good to tourists.
But it was all part of an act.
Sellers knew they had to knot their selling floor-blankets in a hurry.
Police knew that the disbanded sellers would be back after some minutes.
Tourists knew they were buying counterfeit goods but didn't care.
However, roaming around Hong Kong at that time was a joyous, carefree and - above all - safe experience.
Now...the heavy hand of China:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35529587
Progress doesn't always mean improvement, does it?

PROGRESSION BUT NOT PROGRESS

ian bremmer ‏@ianbremmer  1d1 day ago

Europe refugee arrivals by sea January 2015: 5,000 2016 to date: 67,000

I'M THE DAUGHTER, GRAND-DAUGHTER AND GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER

of immigrants who were obliged for political or economic reasons to go and live in their place of choice.
They gave their reasons: freedom, legality, peace.
They were accepted and for that acceptance, they, we, shall be forever grateful.
We wanted to be part of their community
and finally we were: by respecting their views and their way of living
We, children, became friends with their children
Our parents were friends with other citizens.
We felt we were a part of that community.
We were careful to abide by local laws and rules.
Sometimes, we were treated as 'different'
We never complained
We certainely never thought about harming anyone
Our gratitude always overcame any tiny hostile gesture from others.
I still feel grateful to the country - Belgium - who gave me so much
and I'm so angry at those who received so much
and are trying to destroy it.
People who are only willing to grab and who give nothing in return but pain

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

"On tue un homme, on est un assassin. 
On tue des millions d'hommes, on est un conquérant. 
On les tue tous, on est un dieu."
Jean Rostand

you kill one person, you're a killer
you kill multitudes, you're a conqueror
you kill all people, you're God

GOOGLE GOOD-BYE?

Looks like we finally shall have (obtorto collo) to abandon our precious, stable, simple, reliable XP. Not without a fight, mind you! We already resisted Microsoft subtle (and not so subtle) prompts and XP-updates stops.
Now Google announced they will stop updates and already I find lots of flaws and glitches in navigation.
Progress..really ?
I've got Windows 10 on my notebook and it's not really as good as XP. It has lots of useless junk and shortcuts.
XP was so essentially suited for down-to-earth daily jobs.
Maybe too reliable as related to profits of Producers' balance sheet ?

WHY THERE IS NO GOD, ALLAH, YAVEH, DIO, ETC

If truly God (any god, name it as you wish) were omnipotent, how can you conceive It made men (his children) to fight against each other ?
If God is truly an omnipotent being, how does it come that he has to send thousands of his own children to fight and blow themselves up in order to bring him power?
If God is so absolutely omnipotent, couldn't He (maybe She) just snap a finger and make all infidels disappear?
Why should He need thousands of deaths?
Why make it so difficult and painful when it could be so easy and painless?
The truth of it is that...there's no such God.
God was created by people who wanted to dominate other people.
God is nothing but the image of human domination: as is politics.

AND THE AWARD FOR THE UTMOST RIDICULOUSNESS GOES TO...

... Italy.
In the recent journey of the Iranian delegation, statues of nude sculpted by our most celebrated artists were 'veiled' in order not to ehm ehm disturb Mr. Rouhani.
It's interesting to notice that the visit to the Vatican's Galleries did not prompt any such measure.
How do we say?: we're more Papist than the Pope...
I suppose that the next moves will be to veil the Davide by Michelangelo in Florence

(which has the aggravating guilt of having a Jewish name); and of course any kind of Titian

Caravaggio

Botticelli

How could we not veil the Paolina Bonaparte by Canova?

or so many others that show some kind of nudity.

Actually, I think that Mr. Rouhani would have loved to see our art. He's not an ignorant cleric.

Let's not forget that, for those who believe in God, that same God is perfect. So, how do we think that he created a sinful creature such as man and woman? ah yes...I know the excuse...
I suggest a tour pinned on Turner and Canaletto views of Venice or of modern abstract Artists..But then, isn't sin in the eye of the sinner? Who knows what sensual and sinful implications ans innuendos can be found in the soft brushpaints of the Venetian lagoon? of the sinful Tiber?

FLYING ABOVE...

...clouds and everyday's miseries is always an exhilarating experience. I especially like the moment of takeoff.
No matter how often.

POOR LITTLE PAWNS...

...who think they're fighting for a credo
...who think they're freedom fighters
...who think they'll meet Allah after bombing themselves.

They remind me of other fighters, in other ages:
... early christiandom martyrs
... pastoureaux
... many others who thought they were dying for their god
and more recently
...sects of various kinds such as the Order of the Solar Temple.
There's a movie (not a masterpiece but interesting in many ways) coming from Scandinavia
    under the title of  Solstorm showing how people can take advantage of others in their Community.
As Ecclesiastes quotes: There's nothing new under the Sun.
Money rules.
Power rules.
History shows that some people take advantage of it.
History also shows that leaders' children almost never go bomb themselves.
Leaders just send lesser people's children to death (that's how they consider them: expendable!)

and they are so careful to hide their shameless (that should be shameful) faces

LOVE STORY

 1. Reconnaissance

 2. Speeding Explorations

3. Joining Efforts

4. Till Dusk

 5. The Right Place

6. The Love's Nest

7. Some Time Later...The Last Duckling to Leave His Parents...

GENESIS OF A DANDELION OR..

...the beauty of simple flowers

Opening Up In the Morning Sun

In Full Bloom

Perfect Geometry

A Field of Lighness and Delicacy

Autumn Shadows

The Last Dandelion

40 YEARS AGO...

...the first flight of Concorde.
The most beautiful airplane ever designed.

CANOVA: THE VENUS OF LEEDS

I visited more than once this wonderful show, as I live nearby.
I'm so sorry there's no official picture of the showcase of the central sculpture.
Snapshots are not allowed.
What I can say is that the showcase is one in a thousand.
So beautiful.
Why wasn't it made as THE OFFICIAL picture of the show?
Mirrors (in the right century's style) on all four walls as well as floor and ceiling, reflecting The Venus in the infinite...
White flowers plants giving life to the scene
I've seldom seen so much beauty

LET'S HAVE A GOOD FEW MINUTES AND LAUGH...

...although the REAL scientific minds of pre-muslim era Arabic world would scream in disbelief (but maybe would also laugh at this ridicule theatricals).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9Jp_XCvVto&feature=youtu.be

MEMORIES - GLENN FREY

Magic fingers and great voice.

                                         

ARE WE A BETTER WORLD THAN TWENTY YEARS AGO?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ

I think not.
I think dark powers (fanaticisms and religions) have taken new energy from masses
 of people who are kept ignorant on purpose.
Power has no race and no religion.
Power is all about owning as much as you can grab.
Be it by persuasion (media and religions/sects)
Be it by strength (business)
Be it by weapons (gangs or warlords)
Be it by any other means...
Dark ages are not yet over.
Will out children see a new dawn ?

O TEMPORA O MORES

Cicero (106-43 BC): 
Nemo congressu, nemo aditu, nemo suffragio, nemo civitate, nemo luce dignum putet.
No one thinks you're worth his attention, his time, a vote, a place in society, or even the light of day.

I'M SORRY...SO SORRY...

...that Italian is not an international language.
Otherwise, people all over the world could read and appreciate editorials from two fine journalists /editorialists at Corriere della Sera (the most important newspaper in Italy) have published about New-Years's Night Cologne events.

     http://www.corriere.it/digital-edition/CORRIEREFC_NAZIONALE_WEB/2016/01/07/23/quelle-donne-libere-umiliate-a-colonia-dal-fanatismo_U43140781254653gv.shtml
     http://www.corriere.it/esteri/16_gennaio_09/quegli-uomini-che-negano-violenze-contro-donne-7a5964a6-b6a1-11e5-9dd6-8570df72b203.shtml

Pierluigi Battisti and Aldo Cazzulli wrote editorials that should be engraved in stone.
They define how thin is the frontier between war and individual violence.
They have no doubt that this thin line has been crossed.
I'd advise many so-called feminist groups (especially Italy-based) to read well and re-read.

PEOPLE WHO THINK...

...that the whole world is a vast expanse of 'let's love each other...we're all equals'
just understood nothing.
If his assumptions had been true, there would have been no progress on human race.
We're not all equals.
Some are more intelligent
Some are more tolerant
Some are more business-centered
Some are dreamers
Some are geniuses..but often under-estimated
etc...etc...
What we can say is that each of us is a person
Men
Women
Children
Whomever wants to make of us, individuals, a whole lot:
is a dictator, if he wants to impose on us but somehow gets his way somehow
is a Democrat if he asks us how we want to live
is a terrorist if he kills us, and his friends, and our children, and makes them (not his own, mind you!)  to   make his power acknowledged by bombing themselves.

WOMEN ARE - AS ALWAYS - VICTIMS

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/

They were raped, married against their will and sold into slavery
(and still are in many countries and even in Europe)
Women, who are the better half of the world
Have been
Sold
Tortured
Burnt
Killed
How can men still look at themselves and say 'I'm a Man' ?
How can a man feel like a man when he's taking a woman against her will?
What kind of man is a man who rapes a woman?

JOAN OF ARC

Don't we need a new Joan of Arc against the barbaric hordes that want to overthrow our world?
Unfortunately, I don't see one new Joan of Arc.
Certainly not the LePen sisters who have been wise and politically cunning, in front of a left-rightist government more prone to public relations than to real political actions and guidelines.

Hollande must navigate amongst the political diktats of his mistresses (current and former).

Valls is just a puppet who wants to make believe he's the strong man.

Quelle déchéance, mes amis !

EACH WOMAN, EACH GIRL...

... who was touched against her will in Koeln-Cologne is a sister to Joan of Arc. Each woman and girl who was dirtied by the hands of government-paid imported bastards -who claim to be refugees and are nothing else but criminals - musr be compensated . Money that should go to cover for the expenses of those so-called refugees should go to the victims. Qhy should perpetrators enjoy a comfortable stay in our country when victims are still suffering from the shock of an unexpected and unexplicable(*) violence ? * unexplicable unless you take into account that rape is a weapon for IS fighters.

U.S. ALLIES....

...allies? Really?
Sorry I cancelled previous post on the same subject but I thought it was ambiguous in some points.
I'll agree to the fact that US Forces (most of them were true warriors convinced of the fact they were bringing freedom to Europe against the Reich Armies) helped us getting rid of Hitler's Armies.
I'll agree to the fact that we shall be forever grateful to all those young men and women who helped us - Europeans - to regain our freedom while the so-called chiefs were safely hidden (and giving orders) from a safe place (I mean De Gaulle and his minions).
However.
US didn't do it without a return on their investment.
Naval and Air-bases could be set all over the European countries they had been helping.
Fair enough!
Debts must be paid.
But for how long and to what extent?
And if a debt is being paid, does the debtor still feel indebted?
Aren't 60 years of servitude long enough?
...allies? Really?
We've been drawn into the Gulf Wars based on unsubstianted accusations against Saddam Hussein.
The victims of those wars are well over the victims Saddam's rule generated.
On the other hand, US Companies dealing with the supply of weapons, armaments, security etc, many of which are directly or indirectly linked to the then-in-force Vice President Cheney (the Eminence Grise of Bush's Government) through the Halliburton Company and the many satellite Companies dealing with Security and connected Contractors have earned astronomical quantities of money.
Europeans have been drawn into those insane  fights calling upon their gratitude feelings for the 40-45 War Freedom contribution by US.
Well.,I (and many as I) consider we have already paid and repaid a thousand-fold our debt to the US.
The result of their insane politics are that we are now being invaded by the populations they have been bombing, disrupting, etc.
Their absurd claim that they wanted to export democracy into Middle East countries was just a scam.
Democracy can't be exported. It has to be won.
The problems US have been generating in Africa and Mediterranean Areas are in the eyes of everybody.
Anarchy: bands and groups seizing their opportunity for power in the absence of a stronger hand.
Anarchy invading Europe through IS
THANK YOU USA: you did a splendid job!
THANK YOU AMERICA !

Figures can be found here
http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/

MINIMIZE !

That's the usual advice we get from our trembling, fearful leaders.
Well...I'll certainly won't minimize the number (the real number is not known as many victims are advised to avoid filing suits by the very Police Forces that should advise them to the contrary) of victims of rape and aggressions - generally young women but not only. Among the victims by African Countries nationals, are many women in advanced age and even men who do not - apparently - fall into the category of muscle-men.
The chase is on.
Anyone looking kind, available, open to talk, understanding, sympathetic...
If you're in one of these categories
You're a prey.
Do you think your assailants will be tried for it?
Oh no....they're just poor little ignorant youngsters taken by a sudden hormonal tempest.
They are so much more important than you.
You who paid a life-long amount of taxes to be protected by your government.
You who pay for the cost of these perpretators who live a quiet life in your country and can attack and rape you at any time and are still finding people who find that they have reasons for what they do.
My taxes are paying for the well-being of my rapers.
Isn't that CIVILIZATION?
I SAY NO
NO
NO.
SEND THEM BACK.
ALL OF THEM TILL IT'S STILL TIME.

WHEN THE ARABIC WORLD WAS AHEAD OF EUROPEAN'S WAY OF LIVING

Before Mahomet, there was a glorious Arabic world.
A world of science
A world of research
They taught us a lot.
Mathematics,
Medicine,
Geometry.. want to know more, go to this site
https://cosmosmagazine.com/society/top-10-ancient-arabic-scientists

What I say is that I have nothing against people of Arabian regions. Only against those who have cancelled a whole, illuminated, scientifically advanced, glorious arabic civilization to gain power over a harsh, mind-obliterating new credo that cancelled all that the arabian brilliant minds created.

They are like the Inquisition at the time of European's darkest ages.
They strive on fear
They enjoy torture
They don't give a damn of human life.

Except their own. Of course.
They never go themselves to blow up as human bombs
They don't send their own sons or daughters.
They are so coward they do not even akcnowledge that !

YOUNG HOPES....

unless...
Syrians who arrived into Germany are mainly male youths (women, babies and elderly people were  left there, in the battlefields as of no value). At home, they treated women as possessions. What do you expect they do in Germany and in Europe?

POLITICALLY CORRECT...WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

If I define a non-seeing person as blind...
If I define a non-hearing person as deaf...
If I define a youngster convicted of a line of misdeanours, thefts etc as a criminal
If I define people who applaud to the slaughtering of hundreds, thousands others - even if they themselves      have (till now) killed nobody -  as Terrorists
If I define as terrorists those who disrupted a joyous gathering, using violence on women in Koeln in a well-planned attack
If I define as cowards all politicians who try to minimize what is clearly a strategy meant to make us change our way of living, our sense of safety
Am I politically incorrect?
WELL. SO BE IT.
I'd  rather be politically incorrect than to close my eyes and mind to what's happening.
Centuries of struggles of our fathers, forefathers, mothers and grandmothers to reach a minimum of equality, a minimum of peace among European nations, a minimum of understanding among all those who do not think like us...
All this is being jeopardized
By people we welcomed as refugees
Most of them are only a Fifth Column
All youngsters
All well-fed
All without family ties (more or less..unless they succeed in marrying our daughters to get a passport to the Western World)
Politically correct?
No.No and again NO!
Not if means changing our way of life.
Not if it means condoning acts of terrorism
Not if means feeding the vipers who grow in our womb and at our cost.
At the cost of our own children and grand-children's well-being.
Not at the cost of what we've been fighting for for decades, for centuries.

THERE'S GREAT WISDOM IN POETRY

I never forgot these lines by lord Byron

Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods]

George Gordon Byron, 1788 - 1824

   There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
   There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
   There is society where none intrudes,
   By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
   I love not Man the less, but Nature more,
   From these our interviews, in which I steal
   From all I may be, or have been before,
   To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne’er express, yet cannot all conceal.

   Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean--roll!
   Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain;
   Man marks the earth with ruin--his control
   Stops with the shore;--upon the watery plain
   The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain
   A shadow of man’s ravage, save his own,
   When for a moment, like a drop of rain,
   He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan,
Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.

   His steps are not upon thy paths,--thy fields
   Are not a spoil for him,--thou dost arise
   And shake him from thee; the vile strength he wields
   For earth’s destruction thou dost all despise,
   Spurning him from thy bosom to the skies,
   And send’st him, shivering in thy playful spray
   And howling, to his gods, where haply lies
   His petty hope in some near port or bay,
And dashest him again to earth: —there let him lay.

EUROPE ! AWAKEN...

We're being invaded in so many ways and media make us feel sorry for the so-called refugees.
How comes that the so-called refugees are of the same mind as their 'enemies' ?
Occident (the Western World) is their enemy.
How comes they flee here instead of going to closer and friendlier countries such as Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi etc where's a high demand for manpower and where people are recruited in India or efen further away?
There's clearly a project.
And I do not like the outcome of it.

KOELN'S (COLOGNE) MAYOR, A WOMAN...

...despite having been aggressed, says that women must be aware of aggressions and that they must be kept at arms' length.
Can one think that all the women who were aggressed on New Year's Day by North-African men are still going to vote for her?
The politically correctness has turned into politically incorrectness.
So, the victim is now the cause of bring attacked?
So, if I'm enjoying myself in any event, I can be raped ?
An nobody, among the thousand aggressors are being arrested and detained for it?
Don't be surprised if Front National in France and other similar organisations and parties all over Europe are gaining ground.
We do not want foreigners to pillage our countries.
We do not want foreigners to come and aggress our wives and daughters
We give asylum to anyone who abides by our laws.
We can't accept anyone who destroys what we've been building - often painfully - over centuries.

HUGE TITLES ABOUT NORTH KOREA BUT...

...don't we know that China could - if only they wanted - erase North Korea in 24 hours?
The fact is that China loves the role of Big Brother keeping a restaining hand on North Korea. Just to say that the international community needs China and to bargain whatever they have to bargain for, with a stronger hand.

DESPITE...

...famine, ailments, etc, just check where's the higher population growth in the world and think about the future of your children, grand-children...

I can't avoid thinking that if all able men who so 'valiantly' try to reach our shores, were instead using that same energy to overthrow their national warlords, they'd probably win. But then, the winner would become the next warlord, wouldn't he? That's what happened ever since African Nations 'won' their freedom.

THE FUTURE OF OUR DAUGHTERS AND WIVES?

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/01/04/revealed-1000-migrants-brawl-rape-sexually-assault-steal-one-german-train-station-new-years-eve/
What does Frau Merkel say?
It's easy to appear noble and generous when you're protected by bodyguards...

A SMALL TOWN BUT SO IMPORTANT...

...since it was Sole's place. The first snow of this 2015 Winter. How she would have loved it.

WEST AGAINST EAST?

Certainly not.
Western countries have a lot to be grateful for what came to them from Eastern countries: Medical Sciences; Mathematics;  Geometry; Anatomy...and so much else. Of Course, that was before a man called Maometh said he was God's prophet.
The same things happened (minus the scientific knowledge) with the christians who happened to have their own prophet called Jesus.
I can accept that people need to believe in something, in somebody.
What I cannot accept is that they feel entitled to slain whole populations in the name of that same entity they think created it all.
Christians slaying and erasing whole populations in the Americas...just for gold
Catholics of various faiths slaying whole villages in the name of their god: Cathares, Pastureaux...
Catholics slapying Protestants for decades...just for power (Ireland still hurts)
Shii's and Sunni's slaying each other just for a different interpretatrion of Q'ran

If really there were only one god, would he allow his children to kill each other in his name?
What father would allow his children to kill each other?