tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post2250692876609935762..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Sicily '48Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-38145165233180098522015-06-08T07:52:15.659+01:002015-06-08T07:52:15.659+01:00So rich when Harper is on the attack re Putin (not...So rich when Harper is on the attack re Putin (not that I think he's wrong in anything he says there, but pot and kettle do come to mind). <br /><br />You'll find Sciascia amazing. I'm nearly through his very different book on the Moro affair/tragedy, far more discursive and full of savage indignation at the Christian Democrats.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-65328712084554491772015-06-08T03:50:26.239+01:002015-06-08T03:50:26.239+01:00I see why Mr Cameron is such a good friend of our ...I see why Mr Cameron is such a good friend of our Mr Harper. We have a similar bill in the Senate now C-51 which would create a Secret State Police with powers to ignore the Constitution and the Charter of Rights in the course of their duty, all of it quite legal under this bill. Furthermore this Secret Police would be under the PM's supervision and control. Shades of Romania pre-89 in Canada. Sad day but it appears that the extreme right is making a come back 70 years later. As for Immigration and refugees, Canada is no stranger to it. Helping genuine refugees is a duty. However economic migrants is another matter and needs more careful consideration. I am going to look up this author sounds very interesting and I love your book recommendations, always spot on.Laurenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297393116796129135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-11538726581146334212015-05-22T10:48:04.930+01:002015-05-22T10:48:04.930+01:00On numbers you're no doubt right. But you'...On numbers you're no doubt right. But you're on very dodgy ground deciding who 'fits in' best.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-24764074200649851062015-05-22T10:42:28.473+01:002015-05-22T10:42:28.473+01:00I did exclude comment on the EU immigration questi...I did exclude comment on the EU immigration question in my text above. On a cultural level ( which matters) and in my kind of life, the Roumanians, Baltic people eic - I came across an Albanian the other day - fit in very well. Maybe they are to an extent and like us heirs of the Greeks and Christianity. But from outside the EU my point is based on numbers - millions and millions and millions. That is where the EU should start the discussion, not talking about letting in a few which will only increase the crowd who see a greater hopeDavid Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-57956095947470473282015-05-22T10:27:01.176+01:002015-05-22T10:27:01.176+01:00Sue, surely you can order the Granta books over th...Sue, surely you can order the Granta books over the internet - I've stopped using Amazon direct, but there are other sellers on there.<br /><br />David, surely the work needs to be done on the European Human Rights Act, not tailoring it to suit the UK (which is in no different a situation to the rest of Europe, so-called - remember this includes Russia and Turkey, which will take Cameron's initiative as a precedent to dismantle what's so badly needed in those countries).<br /><br />Some of what you say is undoubtedly true, but we CAN afford to take more. And the right of free movement within the EU is non-negotiable. The other member states will not agree to modification there. Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-84485854487761868352015-05-22T10:20:45.987+01:002015-05-22T10:20:45.987+01:00The reason why the Human Rights Act( and the Genev...The reason why the Human Rights Act( and the Geneva Convention) need fundamental review ( which may mean change) is that there are now individuals, groups and large organisations (IS) which set out to kill cruelly in a civilian environment and to sacrifice themselves in hitting at others. This sort of "human" was not envisaged when the existing rules were drawn up. We now need to investigate, arrest, sometimes deport, people before they have committed any crime under existing laws. And this is going to go on for ever as a result of the web which is really world wide. As for immigration ( from outside the EU) the fundamental point is that millions and millions now live is tragic situations ( and, is a refugee from a starving country to be sent back to see his family die since he is only an economic migrant ?) Because of the web they think that happiness is available in Western Europe or Australia. Discussing letting in a few is not the way to start. Merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.We have to stop the traffic - police the seas - since if we do not any acceptance will lead to another million wanting to take advantage of the facility that they perceive. More even shakier boats. We should try to alleviate their terrible condition at home, though if there is violence we can assist with troops only at the risk that all over the Muslim world ( and elsewhere) we are seen as Western imperialists attempting to force our values on them - so our soldiers will again be cut to pieces in revenge in the English streets. This problem is never going to end and requires tough management from point to point in situations that only a few decades no one could envisage. Australia seems to have got it as right as is possible, though in that case geography helpsDavid Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-14047814275412041142015-05-21T00:01:34.152+01:002015-05-21T00:01:34.152+01:00David: Very pleased to be alerted that Granta is e...David: Very pleased to be alerted that Granta is embarked on reprints--I think they're not yet available over here, and now I know to keep my eye out. By then, perhaps, I'll have finished Birds Without Wings, and perhaps some of those others sitting my my stack! Yes, you're right, BWW gets pretty "boggy" at times. I think I got far enough along before I bogged down to want to get to the finish line. On Minnesota, forgive me for a couple links (hoping I've done them correctly!), but I was so very moved by this. Some touching photos:<a href="http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/05/18/photos-a-look-back-at-the-orchestras-trip-to-cuba" rel="nofollow">here</a> and I thought a very nice article in the NY Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/arts/music/fire-and-ice-minnesotans-join-orquesta-aragon-in-havana.html" rel="nofollow">here</a><br /><br />What's so apparent from this, it seems to me, is the importance of cultural exchange like that the Diplo-Mate and Anneli do so well.Susan Scheidhttps://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-28993490296038306382015-05-20T08:39:26.929+01:002015-05-20T08:39:26.929+01:00Sciascia's not widely published in English, bu...Sciascia's not widely published in English, but Granta have taken up the reprint gauntlet for some of these books. The other thing that put me off was how slim they were - too close to my own ridiculous wariness of short stories to buy at first. Sicilian Uncles, being four in one, is fatter, and now I won't stop until I've read what I can of the oeuvre. They're also books full enough of philosophical wisdom to want to keep.<br /><br />I did try Birds Without Wings but, having loved Captain Corelli's Mandolin, got bogged down with the (IMO) rather heavy style. <br /><br />Hadn't heard about the Minnesotans in Cuba (nor followed up the results of the lockout). Must go dig out reports. Here there are moving reports of how the adoption of the Sistema in Scotland is working, and how the audiences for the kids' concerts are packed out.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-70960115016888134972015-05-20T02:45:33.568+01:002015-05-20T02:45:33.568+01:00What I'm wondering is why I've never even ...What I'm wondering is why I've never even heard of Sciascia, as these books seem right up my alley. Two have gone on the ever-growing wish list. (In my determination not to buy another book until I've read or otherwise disposed of the ones I have, I plucked from my bookshelf and have been reading Louis de Bernieres' Birds Without Wings. It has its longueurs, but overall it's fascinating--and disturbing.) It's appalling what's afoot politically over your way--I guess I was naive enough to think that the UK wouldn't stoop to what seems so commonplace here. The bright spot for me right now is the Minnesota Orchestra's sojourn to Cuba. The reports are incredibly moving. Why, why, why, can't we see our way to do more of this? Boggles the mind.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com