Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Cynthia Millar, Andrew Davis and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, play Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphonie, 5th Movt "Joy of the Blood of the Stars", at the 2001 Proms.
2008/11/28
O banqueiro pedagogo
Estão a ver quem é João Rendeiro? O presidente do Banco Privado Português, aquele banco que tem 3000 clientes e que gere apenas grandes fortunas? O tal banco que está em processo de quase falência e que o Governo de Sócrates se prepara para salvar? Pois o banqueiro, para além de afirmar que vota habitualmente no PS, é ainda funcionário do Ministério da Economia, em licença sem vencimento. Não é que o banqueiro anda a ensinar às escolas públicas as técnicas de gestão que levaram o BPP ao estado que todos conhecemos? É verdade! Criou e dirige uma organização (EPIS), com o apoio do ME e de grandes empresas públicas e privadas que dá formação aos PCEs e conselhos executivos sobre as técnicas e formas de gestão e de organização "modernaças". Custa a acreditar, não é verdade?
Estão a ver quem é João Rendeiro? O presidente do Banco Privado Português, aquele banco que tem 3000 clientes e que gere apenas grandes fortunas? O tal banco que está em processo de quase falência e que o Governo de Sócrates se prepara para salvar? Pois o banqueiro, para além de afirmar que vota habitualmente no PS, é ainda funcionário do Ministério da Economia, em licença sem vencimento. Não é que o banqueiro anda a ensinar às escolas públicas as técnicas de gestão que levaram o BPP ao estado que todos conhecemos? É verdade! Criou e dirige uma organização (EPIS), com o apoio do ME e de grandes empresas públicas e privadas que dá formação aos PCEs e conselhos executivos sobre as técnicas e formas de gestão e de organização "modernaças". Custa a acreditar, não é verdade?
2008/11/27
Big Bailouts, Bigger Bucks
Whenever I discussed the current bailout situation with people, I find they have a hard time comprehending the actual numbers involved. That became a problem while doing the research for the Bailout Nation book. I needed some way to put this into proper historical perspective.
If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars. People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.
Jim Bianco of Bianco Research crunched the inflation adjusted numbers. The bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:
• Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion
TOTAL: $3.92 trillion
(data courtesy of Bianco Research)
That is $686 billion less than the cost of the credit crisis thus far.
The only single American event in history that even comes close to matching the cost of the credit crisis is World War II: Original Cost: $288 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $3.6 trillion
...
Bloomberg calculates the total amount the taxpayer is on the hook for is $7.76 trillion, or $24,000 for every man woman and child in the country.
By Barry Ritholtz
Whenever I discussed the current bailout situation with people, I find they have a hard time comprehending the actual numbers involved. That became a problem while doing the research for the Bailout Nation book. I needed some way to put this into proper historical perspective.
If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars. People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.
Jim Bianco of Bianco Research crunched the inflation adjusted numbers. The bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:
• Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion
TOTAL: $3.92 trillion
(data courtesy of Bianco Research)
That is $686 billion less than the cost of the credit crisis thus far.
The only single American event in history that even comes close to matching the cost of the credit crisis is World War II: Original Cost: $288 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $3.6 trillion
...
Bloomberg calculates the total amount the taxpayer is on the hook for is $7.76 trillion, or $24,000 for every man woman and child in the country.
By Barry Ritholtz
Insanity
Traditionally, insanity or madness is the behaviour whereby a person flouts societal norms and may become a danger to themself and others. Greek tragedies and Shakespeare often refer to madness in this sense. Psychologically, it is a general, popular and legal term defining behaviour influenced by mental instability. In modern usage, it is most commonly encountered as an informal, unscientific term, or in the narrow legal context of the insanity defense. In the medical profession the term is now avoided in favour of more specific diagnoses of mental illness such as schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. When discussing mental illness in general terms, "psychopathology" is also considered a preferred descriptor.
Traditionally, insanity or madness is the behaviour whereby a person flouts societal norms and may become a danger to themself and others. Greek tragedies and Shakespeare often refer to madness in this sense. Psychologically, it is a general, popular and legal term defining behaviour influenced by mental instability. In modern usage, it is most commonly encountered as an informal, unscientific term, or in the narrow legal context of the insanity defense. In the medical profession the term is now avoided in favour of more specific diagnoses of mental illness such as schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. When discussing mental illness in general terms, "psychopathology" is also considered a preferred descriptor.
Casa Pia: festa de São João
23 de Novembro de 2007
Três anos após o início do maior julgamento de sempre em Portugal, no Departamento de Investigação e Acção Penal (DIAP) de Lisboa está já em curso um novo processo de inquérito, na sequência da existência de novos índicios de abusos sexuais, denunciados por jovens de pelo menos um dos lares de acolhimento da Casa Pia.
Porém, o caso não está a merecer qualquer tratamento especial, revela hoje o Público.
Numa polémica entrevista ao semanário Sol, a ex-Provedora da instituição, Catalina Pestana, afirmava existir uma rede interna de angariadores de crianças na Casa Pia. Suspeitas que, dias depois, acabaram por ser corroboradas pelo advogado ex-casapiano, Pedro Namora.
Fortes indícios de abusos sexuais recaem sobre um educador do lar Cruz Filipe, Paulo R., que acabou suspenso por “violação grave dos deveres gerais e do especial dever de protecção das crianças”.
Vários jovens acusam-no de transportar habitualmente alunos a casas particulares, em Lisboa, onde alegadamente decorrem os abusos.
Um deles, actualmente com 14 anos, garante ter sido abusado sexualmente em Julho, numa festa de São João, que habitualmente é organizada no ateliê do escultor Carlos Amador, em Belém. Na casa terão estado figuras conhecidas e artistas (ver caixa). *
Várias pessoas já foram ouvidas no âmbito do novo inquérito, incluindo a actual presidente da instituição, Joaquina Madeira. No passado dia 15, numa entrevista à RTP, a responsável admitiu que, face à recente suspensão do educador, existiam indícios de abusos sexuais envolvendo alunos da instituição, mas referia que nada se passou dentro da instituição.
Certo é que o novo escândalo suscitou a reacção do ministro do Trabalho e da Solidariedade Social, José Vieira da Silva, que acabou por garantir que todas as medidas administrativas tinham sido tomadas para que a situação fosse esclarecida.
* Quem estava na festa?
Rui Vieira Nery esteve na festa de São João onde jovens casapianos dizem ter sido abusados sexualmente, noticia o CM.
"Não vi nada. Nem sabia que lá estavam alunos da Casa Pia. O que vi foi um ateliê apinhado de gente. Com muitos amigos da casa, a maioria pessoas de muita idade e muita gente do bairro de diferentes gerações. Desde crianças de colo até aos avós".
O procurador-geral da República, Pinto Monteiro, deverá ainda hoje anunciar a criação de uma equipa multidisciplinar dedicada à investigação dos abusos sexuais. O CM adianta que a equipa poderá ter uma estrutura idêntica à do Apito Dourado.
23 de Novembro de 2007
Três anos após o início do maior julgamento de sempre em Portugal, no Departamento de Investigação e Acção Penal (DIAP) de Lisboa está já em curso um novo processo de inquérito, na sequência da existência de novos índicios de abusos sexuais, denunciados por jovens de pelo menos um dos lares de acolhimento da Casa Pia.
Porém, o caso não está a merecer qualquer tratamento especial, revela hoje o Público.
Numa polémica entrevista ao semanário Sol, a ex-Provedora da instituição, Catalina Pestana, afirmava existir uma rede interna de angariadores de crianças na Casa Pia. Suspeitas que, dias depois, acabaram por ser corroboradas pelo advogado ex-casapiano, Pedro Namora.
Fortes indícios de abusos sexuais recaem sobre um educador do lar Cruz Filipe, Paulo R., que acabou suspenso por “violação grave dos deveres gerais e do especial dever de protecção das crianças”.
Vários jovens acusam-no de transportar habitualmente alunos a casas particulares, em Lisboa, onde alegadamente decorrem os abusos.
Um deles, actualmente com 14 anos, garante ter sido abusado sexualmente em Julho, numa festa de São João, que habitualmente é organizada no ateliê do escultor Carlos Amador, em Belém. Na casa terão estado figuras conhecidas e artistas (ver caixa). *
Várias pessoas já foram ouvidas no âmbito do novo inquérito, incluindo a actual presidente da instituição, Joaquina Madeira. No passado dia 15, numa entrevista à RTP, a responsável admitiu que, face à recente suspensão do educador, existiam indícios de abusos sexuais envolvendo alunos da instituição, mas referia que nada se passou dentro da instituição.
Certo é que o novo escândalo suscitou a reacção do ministro do Trabalho e da Solidariedade Social, José Vieira da Silva, que acabou por garantir que todas as medidas administrativas tinham sido tomadas para que a situação fosse esclarecida.
* Quem estava na festa?
Rui Vieira Nery esteve na festa de São João onde jovens casapianos dizem ter sido abusados sexualmente, noticia o CM.
"Não vi nada. Nem sabia que lá estavam alunos da Casa Pia. O que vi foi um ateliê apinhado de gente. Com muitos amigos da casa, a maioria pessoas de muita idade e muita gente do bairro de diferentes gerações. Desde crianças de colo até aos avós".
O procurador-geral da República, Pinto Monteiro, deverá ainda hoje anunciar a criação de uma equipa multidisciplinar dedicada à investigação dos abusos sexuais. O CM adianta que a equipa poderá ter uma estrutura idêntica à do Apito Dourado.
2008/11/26
Casa Pia: ex-secretária de Estado viu fotografias
11.01.2007 - 14h43 Lusa
A ex-secretária de Estado da Família Teresa Costa Macedo reafirmou hoje, em tribunal, que viu algumas fotografias que comprovavam a existência de abuso sexual de menores na Casa Pia, apreendidas em 1982 em casa do embaixador Jorge Ritto, em Cascais, mas não identificou nenhum adulto ou menor.
Teresa Costa Macedo disse que recebeu uma caixa amarela com fotografias, apreendida em casa de Jorge Ritto, onde foram encontrados três menores que tinham desaparecido da instituição em 1982.
A ex-governante contou que só viu a primeira e a segunda fotografia porque ficou "chocada" com o seu conteúdo.
Numa dessas fotografias, Teresa Costa Macedo disse que viu um adulto do sexo masculino em práticas sexuais com uma criança, mas não identificou os protagonistas.
Apercebendo-se de que as restantes fotografias "eram do mesmo género", e confessando-se "chocada com a situação", referiu ter enviado no mesmo dia a caixa para a Polícia Judiciária, que já estava a investigar outras denúncias e queixas apresentadas sobre alegados abusos sexuais.
Jaime Gama questionou "perseguição" a Jorge Ritto
Ainda sobre Jorge Ritto, a ex-secretária de Estado relatou que no início de 1984 — já no Governo do Bloco Central (PS/CDS) — recebeu um telefonema do então ministro dos Negócios Estrangeiros, Jaime Gama, actual presidente da Assembleia da República, que a questionou sobre a razão de estar "a perseguir o diplomata Jorge Ritto".
Terá sido nessa ocasião — em que o Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros preparava a candidatura de Teresa Costa Macedo a um cargo directivo na União Internacional dos Organismos da Família — que Jaime Gama terá trocado impressões sobre o que se estava a passar na Casa Pia.
Macedo disse ter ficado com o pressentimento de que Jaime Gama lhe tinha falado de Jorge Ritto porque o diplomata se teria queixado de si numa altura em que decorriam as investigações da PJ sobre os menores encontrados na sua casa de Cascais.
Abusos eram conhecidos por todos
A ex-governante disse também que quando assumiu funções, em 1980, era do conhecimento geral da instituição (provedoria, directores, educadores e outros funcionários) que havia alunos da Casa Pia que se prostituíam no jardins de Belém.
A antiga secretária de Estado disse que quando tomou posse foi confrontada com uma carta enviada para o gabinete do então ministro Morais Leitão a dar conta das situações em que alunos mais velhos abusavam dos mais novos.
Tais factos chegaram a ser relatados à actual testemunha e ao antigo Presidente da República Ramalho Eanes aquando das comemorações dos 200 anos da instituição, quando quatro jovens da Casa Pia comunicaram uma série de abusos, carências e indisciplina.
A antiga governante explicou ainda as razões que levaram à exoneração do então provedor da Casa Pia Peixeiro Simões e à sua substituição por Batista Comprido, alegando que o primeiro "não tinha força e não estava a cumprir as suas orientações".
Papel de Carlos Silvino é conhecido desde a década de 80
Durante o seu depoimento, Teresa Costa Macedo, referiu ainda que no início da década de 80 era do conhecimento geral na instituição que um dos funcionários que aliciava os menores para práticas sexuais era Carlos Silvino ("Bibi"), que é hoje, passados mais de 20 anos, o principal arguido deste julgamento.
Confrontada com o teor das notícias no jornal semanário "Expresso", em Novembro de 2002, quando o escândalo rebentou, Teresa Costa Macedo disse que foram os provedores da instituição, nomeadamente Batista Comprido, que lhe falaram do envolvimento de personalidades da vida pública portuguesa no abuso de menores, mas sem revelar as suas identidades.
11.01.2007 - 14h43 Lusa
A ex-secretária de Estado da Família Teresa Costa Macedo reafirmou hoje, em tribunal, que viu algumas fotografias que comprovavam a existência de abuso sexual de menores na Casa Pia, apreendidas em 1982 em casa do embaixador Jorge Ritto, em Cascais, mas não identificou nenhum adulto ou menor.
Teresa Costa Macedo disse que recebeu uma caixa amarela com fotografias, apreendida em casa de Jorge Ritto, onde foram encontrados três menores que tinham desaparecido da instituição em 1982.
A ex-governante contou que só viu a primeira e a segunda fotografia porque ficou "chocada" com o seu conteúdo.
Numa dessas fotografias, Teresa Costa Macedo disse que viu um adulto do sexo masculino em práticas sexuais com uma criança, mas não identificou os protagonistas.
Apercebendo-se de que as restantes fotografias "eram do mesmo género", e confessando-se "chocada com a situação", referiu ter enviado no mesmo dia a caixa para a Polícia Judiciária, que já estava a investigar outras denúncias e queixas apresentadas sobre alegados abusos sexuais.
Jaime Gama questionou "perseguição" a Jorge Ritto
Ainda sobre Jorge Ritto, a ex-secretária de Estado relatou que no início de 1984 — já no Governo do Bloco Central (PS/CDS) — recebeu um telefonema do então ministro dos Negócios Estrangeiros, Jaime Gama, actual presidente da Assembleia da República, que a questionou sobre a razão de estar "a perseguir o diplomata Jorge Ritto".
Terá sido nessa ocasião — em que o Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros preparava a candidatura de Teresa Costa Macedo a um cargo directivo na União Internacional dos Organismos da Família — que Jaime Gama terá trocado impressões sobre o que se estava a passar na Casa Pia.
Macedo disse ter ficado com o pressentimento de que Jaime Gama lhe tinha falado de Jorge Ritto porque o diplomata se teria queixado de si numa altura em que decorriam as investigações da PJ sobre os menores encontrados na sua casa de Cascais.
Abusos eram conhecidos por todos
A ex-governante disse também que quando assumiu funções, em 1980, era do conhecimento geral da instituição (provedoria, directores, educadores e outros funcionários) que havia alunos da Casa Pia que se prostituíam no jardins de Belém.
A antiga secretária de Estado disse que quando tomou posse foi confrontada com uma carta enviada para o gabinete do então ministro Morais Leitão a dar conta das situações em que alunos mais velhos abusavam dos mais novos.
Tais factos chegaram a ser relatados à actual testemunha e ao antigo Presidente da República Ramalho Eanes aquando das comemorações dos 200 anos da instituição, quando quatro jovens da Casa Pia comunicaram uma série de abusos, carências e indisciplina.
A antiga governante explicou ainda as razões que levaram à exoneração do então provedor da Casa Pia Peixeiro Simões e à sua substituição por Batista Comprido, alegando que o primeiro "não tinha força e não estava a cumprir as suas orientações".
Papel de Carlos Silvino é conhecido desde a década de 80
Durante o seu depoimento, Teresa Costa Macedo, referiu ainda que no início da década de 80 era do conhecimento geral na instituição que um dos funcionários que aliciava os menores para práticas sexuais era Carlos Silvino ("Bibi"), que é hoje, passados mais de 20 anos, o principal arguido deste julgamento.
Confrontada com o teor das notícias no jornal semanário "Expresso", em Novembro de 2002, quando o escândalo rebentou, Teresa Costa Macedo disse que foram os provedores da instituição, nomeadamente Batista Comprido, que lhe falaram do envolvimento de personalidades da vida pública portuguesa no abuso de menores, mas sem revelar as suas identidades.
2008/11/25
Casa Pia acusada de ignorar abusos sexuais durante décadas
No segundo dia das alegações finais do processo de pedofilia, o procurador João Aibéo leu dezenas de excertos da prova testemunhal prestada em julgamento por alunos, educadores e dirigentes da instituição que atestam uma «falta de controlo total» do paradeiro das crianças quando saíam da Casa Pia de Lisboa.
Relativamente a relatos de abusos feitos por alunos, João Aibéo referiu que eram desvalorizados pelos responsáveis, ou pior: «Batiam-lhes, diziam-lhes para se calar e que eram mentirosos. Foi isso que aconteceu durante décadas».
...
Catalina Pestana terá dito que havia «uma Casa Pia até às seis da tarde e outra depois das seis da tarde, bem como uma Casa Pia ao dia de semana e outra aos fins-de-semana». in diariodigital.sapo.pt (25 de Novembro de 2008, 14:18)
No segundo dia das alegações finais do processo de pedofilia, o procurador João Aibéo leu dezenas de excertos da prova testemunhal prestada em julgamento por alunos, educadores e dirigentes da instituição que atestam uma «falta de controlo total» do paradeiro das crianças quando saíam da Casa Pia de Lisboa.
Relativamente a relatos de abusos feitos por alunos, João Aibéo referiu que eram desvalorizados pelos responsáveis, ou pior: «Batiam-lhes, diziam-lhes para se calar e que eram mentirosos. Foi isso que aconteceu durante décadas».
...
Catalina Pestana terá dito que havia «uma Casa Pia até às seis da tarde e outra depois das seis da tarde, bem como uma Casa Pia ao dia de semana e outra aos fins-de-semana». in diariodigital.sapo.pt (25 de Novembro de 2008, 14:18)
The Casa Pia child sexual abuse scandal
The Casa Pia child sexual abuse scandal refers to child abuses involving a number of children and employees at Casa Pia, a Portuguese state-run institution for the education and support of poor children and under-age orphans. Portuguese Judiciary Police (Polícia Judiciária) officials estimate that more than 100 boys and girls of the 4,600 pupils enrolled in Casa Pia at the time, including some deaf and mute, may have been sexually abused.
...
The scandal of alleged sexual abuse at the state-run Casa Pia orphanages resurfaced when several former orphanage children came forward with accusations of abuse. The accusations linked some politicians, diplomats, and media celebrities — all of whom were alleged to have conspired in a pedophilia ring that had operated for decades. The scandal broke in September 2002 when the mother of one alleged victim, known as Joel, complained of abuse by staff at a Casa Pia house.
Former Casa Pia children came forward to publicly accuse several personalities of sexual abuse. The weekly magazine Visão reported that a Portuguese diplomat, Jorge Ritto, was removed from his post as consul in Stuttgart (1969-1971) after German authorities complained to Lisbon about his involvement with an under-age boy in a public park.
Accused were diplomat Jorge Ritto, Carlos Cruz (a famous Portuguese television presenter), Carlos Silvino (a.k.a. Bibi, an employee of Casa Pia and a former pupil in the institution) Ferreira Diniz (a physician from Lisbon), Hugo Marçal (a lawyer who was a defendant of Carlos Silvino in the early stages of the process) ...
Secretary of State for Labor and Training from 1999 to 2001, Paulo Pedroso, who was responsible for the Casa Pia homes, which care for some 4,600 children at 10 centers around Portugal, was suspected of 15 cases of sexual violence against minors, which allegedly took place between 1999 and 2000. His case was also subsequently dropped. In September 2008, a Portuguese court ordered the state to pay 100,000 euros ($140,000) to the ex-minister Paulo Pedroso, on the grounds that he was wrongly detained on paedophilia charges.
The Socialist Party leader at the time, Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, who was a close personal friend of Paulo Pedroso, offered to undergo police questioning after “he had learned of plans to implicate him in the [Casa Pia] scandal”. The weekly paper Expresso published a report on May 25, 2003 from four children who said they saw Ferro Rodrigues at locations where sexual abuse was taking place. The paper said there was no evidence he was personally involved and the Attorney General José Souto de Moura insisted he was not a suspect. Ferro Rodrigues took legal action against those who said they saw him at locations where sexual abuse was taking place. Rodrigues has said, “I want it to be clear: our fight will be serene but determined and it is and will only be directed at those who are responsible for this defamation, whatever their objective is.”
The Prime Minister at the time, José Manuel Durão Barroso, whose Social Democratic Party ousted the Socialists in March 2002, promised to bring life and honor back into the Casa Pia child's homes and allow new director Catalina Pestana to reform the institution. As a result, several senior staff of Casa Pia were fired after the 2002 revelations. However, Pestana, told parliament and the media, as late as 2007, that there may still be pedophiles in the Casa Pia system. She also criticised the legal changes made after the start of the trial, which she claims were made in order to help those who were present to court.
The Casa Pia child sexual abuse scandal refers to child abuses involving a number of children and employees at Casa Pia, a Portuguese state-run institution for the education and support of poor children and under-age orphans. Portuguese Judiciary Police (Polícia Judiciária) officials estimate that more than 100 boys and girls of the 4,600 pupils enrolled in Casa Pia at the time, including some deaf and mute, may have been sexually abused.
...
The scandal of alleged sexual abuse at the state-run Casa Pia orphanages resurfaced when several former orphanage children came forward with accusations of abuse. The accusations linked some politicians, diplomats, and media celebrities — all of whom were alleged to have conspired in a pedophilia ring that had operated for decades. The scandal broke in September 2002 when the mother of one alleged victim, known as Joel, complained of abuse by staff at a Casa Pia house.
Former Casa Pia children came forward to publicly accuse several personalities of sexual abuse. The weekly magazine Visão reported that a Portuguese diplomat, Jorge Ritto, was removed from his post as consul in Stuttgart (1969-1971) after German authorities complained to Lisbon about his involvement with an under-age boy in a public park.
Accused were diplomat Jorge Ritto, Carlos Cruz (a famous Portuguese television presenter), Carlos Silvino (a.k.a. Bibi, an employee of Casa Pia and a former pupil in the institution) Ferreira Diniz (a physician from Lisbon), Hugo Marçal (a lawyer who was a defendant of Carlos Silvino in the early stages of the process) ...
Secretary of State for Labor and Training from 1999 to 2001, Paulo Pedroso, who was responsible for the Casa Pia homes, which care for some 4,600 children at 10 centers around Portugal, was suspected of 15 cases of sexual violence against minors, which allegedly took place between 1999 and 2000. His case was also subsequently dropped. In September 2008, a Portuguese court ordered the state to pay 100,000 euros ($140,000) to the ex-minister Paulo Pedroso, on the grounds that he was wrongly detained on paedophilia charges.
The Socialist Party leader at the time, Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, who was a close personal friend of Paulo Pedroso, offered to undergo police questioning after “he had learned of plans to implicate him in the [Casa Pia] scandal”. The weekly paper Expresso published a report on May 25, 2003 from four children who said they saw Ferro Rodrigues at locations where sexual abuse was taking place. The paper said there was no evidence he was personally involved and the Attorney General José Souto de Moura insisted he was not a suspect. Ferro Rodrigues took legal action against those who said they saw him at locations where sexual abuse was taking place. Rodrigues has said, “I want it to be clear: our fight will be serene but determined and it is and will only be directed at those who are responsible for this defamation, whatever their objective is.”
The Prime Minister at the time, José Manuel Durão Barroso, whose Social Democratic Party ousted the Socialists in March 2002, promised to bring life and honor back into the Casa Pia child's homes and allow new director Catalina Pestana to reform the institution. As a result, several senior staff of Casa Pia were fired after the 2002 revelations. However, Pestana, told parliament and the media, as late as 2007, that there may still be pedophiles in the Casa Pia system. She also criticised the legal changes made after the start of the trial, which she claims were made in order to help those who were present to court.
2008/11/21
2008/11/19
União Ibérica
Escritor Arturo Pérez-Reverte defende união de Portugal e Espanha
O escritor espanhol Arturo Pérez-Reverte defendeu a existência de uma Ibéria, um país único, sem fronteiras que separem Espanha e Portugal, porque é "um absurdo" que os dois países vivam "tão desconhecidos um do outro".
"Há uma Ibéria indiscutível que está entre os Pirinéus e o estreito de Gibraltar, com comida, raça, costumes, história em comum e as fronteiras são completamente artificiais", disse o escritor à agência Lusa, de passagem por Portugal a propósito do lançamento do romance "Um dia de cólera". in jn.sapo.pt (19 Novembro, 11h53m)
Escritor Arturo Pérez-Reverte defende união de Portugal e Espanha
O escritor espanhol Arturo Pérez-Reverte defendeu a existência de uma Ibéria, um país único, sem fronteiras que separem Espanha e Portugal, porque é "um absurdo" que os dois países vivam "tão desconhecidos um do outro".
"Há uma Ibéria indiscutível que está entre os Pirinéus e o estreito de Gibraltar, com comida, raça, costumes, história em comum e as fronteiras são completamente artificiais", disse o escritor à agência Lusa, de passagem por Portugal a propósito do lançamento do romance "Um dia de cólera". in jn.sapo.pt (19 Novembro, 11h53m)
2008/11/18
Freeport Case
Some of the relevant information in the Freeport investigation was obtained in England through administrative wiretaps, that is, allegedly made without the authorizations of a judge or of the British Secret Service.
This will be one of the issues addressed in tomorrow's meeting in Haia, the headquarters for Eurojust (EU Judiciary Cooperation), between the British and Portuguese police delegations and between British and Portuguese magistrates.
In Portugal, administrative wiretaps are not authorized. From Portugal, the attendees will be Cândida Almeida, from the Public Ministry, and Pedro Carmo and Moreira da Silva, both from PJ. The meeting was promoted by Eurojust after the English found money from the business in offshore companies based in that country.
The objective now is to formally exchange the available information, in order to understand if there was, or not, a payoff - estimated at €4 million - for the construction license for Freeport, in Alcochete, approved by the prior Council of Ministers for António Guterres when José Sócrates (current PM) was the secretary of state of the Environment. 16 November 2008 in the3arguidos.net
Now, police authorities in London have requested that a team be set up to investigate the case. However, the Procurator-General, Pinto Monteiro, has already refuted this idea, according to TSF radio.
So far, the British investigation into Freeport has detected accounts in British offshore banks as well as securities held by companies which have either been traced back to, or have links with, Portugal.
As a consequence, financial information has been collected that points to high sums of money being sent to a Lisbon lawyers office destined to various Portuguese personalities acting as business intermediaries. 09 October 2008 in portugalresident.com
Some of the relevant information in the Freeport investigation was obtained in England through administrative wiretaps, that is, allegedly made without the authorizations of a judge or of the British Secret Service.
This will be one of the issues addressed in tomorrow's meeting in Haia, the headquarters for Eurojust (EU Judiciary Cooperation), between the British and Portuguese police delegations and between British and Portuguese magistrates.
In Portugal, administrative wiretaps are not authorized. From Portugal, the attendees will be Cândida Almeida, from the Public Ministry, and Pedro Carmo and Moreira da Silva, both from PJ. The meeting was promoted by Eurojust after the English found money from the business in offshore companies based in that country.
The objective now is to formally exchange the available information, in order to understand if there was, or not, a payoff - estimated at €4 million - for the construction license for Freeport, in Alcochete, approved by the prior Council of Ministers for António Guterres when José Sócrates (current PM) was the secretary of state of the Environment. 16 November 2008 in the3arguidos.net
Now, police authorities in London have requested that a team be set up to investigate the case. However, the Procurator-General, Pinto Monteiro, has already refuted this idea, according to TSF radio.
So far, the British investigation into Freeport has detected accounts in British offshore banks as well as securities held by companies which have either been traced back to, or have links with, Portugal.
As a consequence, financial information has been collected that points to high sums of money being sent to a Lisbon lawyers office destined to various Portuguese personalities acting as business intermediaries. 09 October 2008 in portugalresident.com
Bottom of the pile
Europe's finance ministers have been put through their paces - not just by economic turmoil but also in this latest Financial Times guide to the guardians of the continent's public purses.
...
There was, however, one last man standing: Finland's Jyrki Katainen emerges as winner. Finland is a sudden rarity in Europe - stable financially and still expected next year to run a healthy budget surplus.
Mr Katainen is not (yet) a household name much beyond Helsinki but, aged just 37, cuts a slick figure. In October last year - before concerted action to save the world was all the rage - he called at the International Monetary Fund for the world to demonstrate that multilateral institutions and cooperation were "indeed relevant in an increasingly integrated global economy". He was also not afraid to take on Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, criticising him last month for consulting initially just with leaders of other big European countries. "We're all in the same boat," Mr Katainen insisted.
Chance probably played a role. "Maybe Finland has been lucky in not being in the middle of all these problems," says Robert Bergqvist, chief economist at SEB in Stockholm and a member of the judging panel. As a eurozone member, Finland was not at risk of a local foreign exchange crisis. Like other Nordic countries, Finns were seared by a banking crisis in the 1990s, an episode few want repeated.
Those who fared less well might also complain about the rules of our competition, which extends this year to some non-eurozone economies, including the UK and Sweden, covering 19 of the European Union's 28 member states. Economic performance, for example, is judged over five-year periods - longer than many ministers survive. There is an emphasis on reducing deficits and cutting taxes - not always best for economic stability. Then again, past prudence creates more scope for fiscal stimulus packages now. Countries that started off in a strong position also had a harder time showing improvements.
Yet the guide - though not to be taken completely seriously - does show how the job of a finance minister has become more exacting, demanding a broader range of skills. "There are people like Steinbrück and some others who are instinctively conservative fiscally, so they had their houses in order," observes Erik Nielsen, European economist at Goldman Sachs and another jury member. "But when the depth of the crisis became apparent, they remained rather conservative.
"On the other hand, those who came out swinging in terms of policy response had been rather looser on the fiscal side during the good times." Maybe, Mr Nielsen concludes, "nobody has the complete wisdom".
Still, there was room for others besides Mr Katainen to excel. Sweden's Anders Borg has earned respect across Europe for his grasp of economics and the lessons his country offered from its 1990s experiences. Wouter Bos of the Netherlands proved adept at crisis management and the Dutch economy is not faring too badly either.
Elsewhere, Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs meetings of eurozone finance ministers, won praise for his commitment to European economic integration - but fell below the radar when it came last month to co-ordinating the continent's bank rescue plans, allowing the French and the British to steal the political show.
Others have disappointed more deeply. Spain's Pedro Solbes, a former EU monetary affairs commissioner, has left the European stage largely to others, at a time when Spain's fortunes are fast deteriorating. Ireland's Brian Lenihan was rated for his lucidity in the crisis - but a unilateral pledge in September to guarantee the debts and deposits of the largest Irish lenders raised hackles across the continent.
Bottom of the pile came Portugal's Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, dragged down by a poor national economic performance and his low European profile. in ft.com
Europe's finance ministers have been put through their paces - not just by economic turmoil but also in this latest Financial Times guide to the guardians of the continent's public purses.
...
There was, however, one last man standing: Finland's Jyrki Katainen emerges as winner. Finland is a sudden rarity in Europe - stable financially and still expected next year to run a healthy budget surplus.
Mr Katainen is not (yet) a household name much beyond Helsinki but, aged just 37, cuts a slick figure. In October last year - before concerted action to save the world was all the rage - he called at the International Monetary Fund for the world to demonstrate that multilateral institutions and cooperation were "indeed relevant in an increasingly integrated global economy". He was also not afraid to take on Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, criticising him last month for consulting initially just with leaders of other big European countries. "We're all in the same boat," Mr Katainen insisted.
Chance probably played a role. "Maybe Finland has been lucky in not being in the middle of all these problems," says Robert Bergqvist, chief economist at SEB in Stockholm and a member of the judging panel. As a eurozone member, Finland was not at risk of a local foreign exchange crisis. Like other Nordic countries, Finns were seared by a banking crisis in the 1990s, an episode few want repeated.
Those who fared less well might also complain about the rules of our competition, which extends this year to some non-eurozone economies, including the UK and Sweden, covering 19 of the European Union's 28 member states. Economic performance, for example, is judged over five-year periods - longer than many ministers survive. There is an emphasis on reducing deficits and cutting taxes - not always best for economic stability. Then again, past prudence creates more scope for fiscal stimulus packages now. Countries that started off in a strong position also had a harder time showing improvements.
Yet the guide - though not to be taken completely seriously - does show how the job of a finance minister has become more exacting, demanding a broader range of skills. "There are people like Steinbrück and some others who are instinctively conservative fiscally, so they had their houses in order," observes Erik Nielsen, European economist at Goldman Sachs and another jury member. "But when the depth of the crisis became apparent, they remained rather conservative.
"On the other hand, those who came out swinging in terms of policy response had been rather looser on the fiscal side during the good times." Maybe, Mr Nielsen concludes, "nobody has the complete wisdom".
Still, there was room for others besides Mr Katainen to excel. Sweden's Anders Borg has earned respect across Europe for his grasp of economics and the lessons his country offered from its 1990s experiences. Wouter Bos of the Netherlands proved adept at crisis management and the Dutch economy is not faring too badly either.
Elsewhere, Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs meetings of eurozone finance ministers, won praise for his commitment to European economic integration - but fell below the radar when it came last month to co-ordinating the continent's bank rescue plans, allowing the French and the British to steal the political show.
Others have disappointed more deeply. Spain's Pedro Solbes, a former EU monetary affairs commissioner, has left the European stage largely to others, at a time when Spain's fortunes are fast deteriorating. Ireland's Brian Lenihan was rated for his lucidity in the crisis - but a unilateral pledge in September to guarantee the debts and deposits of the largest Irish lenders raised hackles across the continent.
Bottom of the pile came Portugal's Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, dragged down by a poor national economic performance and his low European profile. in ft.com
2008/11/11
György Sándor Ligeti - Lux Aeterna
Lux Aeterna for 16 solo voices
Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine,
cum sanctis tui in aeternum quia pius es.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Chor des Norddeutschen Rundfunks Hamburg, Dir. Helmut Franz, Recording: 1968 in youtube.com/user/musicaergosum
Lux Aeterna for 16 solo voices
Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine,
cum sanctis tui in aeternum quia pius es.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Chor des Norddeutschen Rundfunks Hamburg, Dir. Helmut Franz, Recording: 1968 in youtube.com/user/musicaergosum
120.000
Tens of thousands of teachers took to the streets of Lisbon Saturday to protest against education reforms implemented by the Socialist government, among them a new system for assessing their competence.
Unions said that the demonstration, backed by both left wing and right wing opposition parties, drew 120,000 people, or about 80 percent of the teaching profession, according to local press estimates.
A protest in Lisbon in March was attended by 100,000 people.
The teachers were demonstrating against reforms that took effect with the current school year, in particular new procedures for assessments required for promotion.
These take into account results obtained by teachers' pupils and according to the teachers increase their workload.
They are also unhappy about new timetables. Unions say there will be protests in regional capitals at the end of the month and a national day-long strike in January. in france24.com/en (Saturday, November 8, 2008 - 23:00)
LISBON (Reuters) - More than 100,000 teachers from all over Portugal marched in Lisbon Saturday in one of the country's biggest rallies in a decade to protest against the government's attempts to measure their performance.
Portugal has some of the lowest school achievement levels in western Europe and the Socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Socrates has made boosting education a priority. That includes performance evaluation for teachers.
Protesters, carrying banners reading "Respect for Teaching," demanded that the government cancel the program. They say the appraisals and excessive bureaucracy involved in the process all but paralysed schools, causing stress and lack of motivation among teachers and students.
Unions said as many as 120,000 people took part in the demonstration that clogged Lisbon's main Liberdade avenue and the vast Palace Square facing the Tagus river.
Police officials could not confirm the number, saying it was difficult to calculate "given the size of the protest," but witnesses said the crowd was in excess of 100,000 people.
Some of the banners called for the resignation of Education Minister Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues.
The minister said the evaluation model would continue despite the promise of further protests and a nationwide teachers' strike on January 19.
"We have to guarantee to the country the quality of schooling, which will allow us to distinguish and reward those who are better teachers," Lusa news agency quoted Rodrigues as saying. "Giving up is not a solution ... The improvement of teaching is absolutely essential." in uk.reuters.com (Sat Nov 8, 2008 9:14pm GMT)
Portugal’s teachers have descended on Lisbon en masse. More than 100,000 staff from all over the country gathered for a rally in the centre of the Portuguese capital.
They are furious at the socialist government’s education policies in general, and a new method of assessing teachers’ performance in particular – introduced for the first time this year.
Although they do not question the need for evaluation, they argue that the system as it stands is too bureaucratic, and difficult to operate fairly. But that is not the only issue which sparked such a huge turnout.
They are also unhappy with their work timetable, the way jobs are distributed, and the status of teachers in Portugal. in euronews.net (08/11/08, 19:22 CET)
Tens of thousands of teachers took to the streets of Lisbon Saturday to protest against education reforms implemented by the Socialist government, among them a new system for assessing their competence.
Unions said that the demonstration, backed by both left wing and right wing opposition parties, drew 120,000 people, or about 80 percent of the teaching profession, according to local press estimates.
A protest in Lisbon in March was attended by 100,000 people.
The teachers were demonstrating against reforms that took effect with the current school year, in particular new procedures for assessments required for promotion.
These take into account results obtained by teachers' pupils and according to the teachers increase their workload.
They are also unhappy about new timetables. Unions say there will be protests in regional capitals at the end of the month and a national day-long strike in January. in france24.com/en (Saturday, November 8, 2008 - 23:00)
LISBON (Reuters) - More than 100,000 teachers from all over Portugal marched in Lisbon Saturday in one of the country's biggest rallies in a decade to protest against the government's attempts to measure their performance.
Portugal has some of the lowest school achievement levels in western Europe and the Socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Socrates has made boosting education a priority. That includes performance evaluation for teachers.
Protesters, carrying banners reading "Respect for Teaching," demanded that the government cancel the program. They say the appraisals and excessive bureaucracy involved in the process all but paralysed schools, causing stress and lack of motivation among teachers and students.
Unions said as many as 120,000 people took part in the demonstration that clogged Lisbon's main Liberdade avenue and the vast Palace Square facing the Tagus river.
Police officials could not confirm the number, saying it was difficult to calculate "given the size of the protest," but witnesses said the crowd was in excess of 100,000 people.
Some of the banners called for the resignation of Education Minister Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues.
The minister said the evaluation model would continue despite the promise of further protests and a nationwide teachers' strike on January 19.
"We have to guarantee to the country the quality of schooling, which will allow us to distinguish and reward those who are better teachers," Lusa news agency quoted Rodrigues as saying. "Giving up is not a solution ... The improvement of teaching is absolutely essential." in uk.reuters.com (Sat Nov 8, 2008 9:14pm GMT)
Portugal’s teachers have descended on Lisbon en masse. More than 100,000 staff from all over the country gathered for a rally in the centre of the Portuguese capital.
They are furious at the socialist government’s education policies in general, and a new method of assessing teachers’ performance in particular – introduced for the first time this year.
Although they do not question the need for evaluation, they argue that the system as it stands is too bureaucratic, and difficult to operate fairly. But that is not the only issue which sparked such a huge turnout.
They are also unhappy with their work timetable, the way jobs are distributed, and the status of teachers in Portugal. in euronews.net (08/11/08, 19:22 CET)
2008/11/07
An unimaginable situation
An estimated 5.4 million people dead since 1998
Around 1 million people made homeless
Rape used as a systematic weapon of war
Until recently, a fragile peace had seen some people begin to return to their homes, though many more continued to remain in camps.
But renewed violence has forced some 200,000 people to flee their homes since August 2008. Reports indicate that another 20,000 men, women and children have been displaced in recent weeks (October 2008).
The five-year conflict
The 1998-2003 conflict in the DR Congo saw huge loss of life. Four million people died, some as a direct result of the violence, but many more from starvation and disease.
The war was between government forces, backed by Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia, and rebel factions, supported by Rwanda and Uganda.
Fighting was fuelled by the DR Congo’s vast mineral resources and by the flow of small arms into the country.
Continued instability
Despite the signing of a peace deal in 2002, and democratic elections in 2006, there is still instability in the east of the country.
Since the end of August 2008, intense fighting has resumed between government forces (FARDC) and the rebel CNDP, leaving the peace process that began in Goma in January 2008 in tatters. This fresh wave of violence, culminating in an armed standoff outside the town on 29 October, has forced hundreds of thousands more people from their homes in a region where over a million were already displaced, and has hampered access to very many of those affected. in oxfam.org.uk
An estimated 5.4 million people dead since 1998
Around 1 million people made homeless
Rape used as a systematic weapon of war
Until recently, a fragile peace had seen some people begin to return to their homes, though many more continued to remain in camps.
But renewed violence has forced some 200,000 people to flee their homes since August 2008. Reports indicate that another 20,000 men, women and children have been displaced in recent weeks (October 2008).
The five-year conflict
The 1998-2003 conflict in the DR Congo saw huge loss of life. Four million people died, some as a direct result of the violence, but many more from starvation and disease.
The war was between government forces, backed by Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia, and rebel factions, supported by Rwanda and Uganda.
Fighting was fuelled by the DR Congo’s vast mineral resources and by the flow of small arms into the country.
Continued instability
Despite the signing of a peace deal in 2002, and democratic elections in 2006, there is still instability in the east of the country.
Since the end of August 2008, intense fighting has resumed between government forces (FARDC) and the rebel CNDP, leaving the peace process that began in Goma in January 2008 in tatters. This fresh wave of violence, culminating in an armed standoff outside the town on 29 October, has forced hundreds of thousands more people from their homes in a region where over a million were already displaced, and has hampered access to very many of those affected. in oxfam.org.uk
2008/11/04
The longest presidential campaign in US history ended this morning with long voting queues developing before breakfast in a precursor of what officials expect to be record turnout.Barack Obama made his final appeal last night to a Virginia crowd estimated at 90,000, while John McCain ended his election-eve sprint in his home state of Arizona at 3am. Conscious of likely polling delays, voters in several US states began queuing up to make their choice before the sun rose. Voters in some areas of Virginia were forming lines from 4am, two hours before the polls opened.
...
Most national and state polls show the Democrat poised for a decisive victory in the race to capture 270 of the 538 electoral votes required to take the White House.
...
Officials are prepared for a record voter turnout, expecting as many as 140 million Americans to come out for Obama and McCain. The previous turnout high was 121 million voters, reached four years ago. in guardian.co.uk (November 04 2008 14.01 GMT)
Might Afghanistan be the point at which Europe calls an end to fighting wars declared in Washington? Do we risk defeat in Afghanistan only because the terrain is tough, or because Nato, without the cold war enemy, is unsustainable? This question, lurking since the collapse of communism, will be posed with some urgency, whether Europe finds itself dealing with Obamaland or McCainia. The paradox is that a more congenial and communicative partner could foster straighter talking – and with it mutual recognition that it may be time for our two destinies to move apart. Mary Dejevsky in independent.co.uk, 4 November 2008 (Photo: REUTERS/JASON REED. Obama speaks during his final campaign rally before the US presidential election in Manassas, Virginia, 3 November / November 5 photo's from independent.co.uk )
2008/11/03
Stoned to Death
KISMAYU, Somalia - Somali Islamists have stoned to death a woman accused of adultery in the first such public killing by the militants for about two years, witnesses said.
The 23-year-old woman was placed in a hole up to her neck for the execution late on Monday in front of hundreds of people in a square of the southern port of Kismayu, which the Islamist insurgents captured in August.
Stones were hurled at her head, and she was brought out of the hole three times to see if she had died.
When a relative and others surged forward, guards opened fire, killing a child, the witnesses said.
"A woman in green veil and black mask was brought in a car as we waited to watch the merciless act of stoning," one local resident, Abdullahi Aden, told Reuters.
"We were told she submitted herself to be punished, yet we could see her screaming as she was forcefully bound, legs and hands. A relative of hers ran towards her, but the Islamists opened fire and killed a child." in uk.reuters.com (Oct 28, 2008 10:49am GMT)
KISMAYU, Somalia - Somali Islamists have stoned to death a woman accused of adultery in the first such public killing by the militants for about two years, witnesses said.
The 23-year-old woman was placed in a hole up to her neck for the execution late on Monday in front of hundreds of people in a square of the southern port of Kismayu, which the Islamist insurgents captured in August.
Stones were hurled at her head, and she was brought out of the hole three times to see if she had died.
When a relative and others surged forward, guards opened fire, killing a child, the witnesses said.
"A woman in green veil and black mask was brought in a car as we waited to watch the merciless act of stoning," one local resident, Abdullahi Aden, told Reuters.
"We were told she submitted herself to be punished, yet we could see her screaming as she was forcefully bound, legs and hands. A relative of hers ran towards her, but the Islamists opened fire and killed a child." in uk.reuters.com (Oct 28, 2008 10:49am GMT)
2008/11/01
Ban
Corinne Diserens, the Swiss head of the Museion museum of contemporary art at Bolzano in the Italian Alps, was “released from her duties with immediate effect” by the new provincial government in Alto Adige after local elections.
The decision was a result of “the difficult financial situation” caused in part by “unauthorised spending”, officials said. Reports indicated that the museum was running a budget deficit of €500,000 (£390,000).
Supporters of Ms Diserens, including Hans Heiss, the head of the local Green Party, said that the real reason was “the row over the frog”.
The wooden sculpture by the late German artist Martin Kippenberger depicts a 4ft frog wearing a green loin cloth. It is nailed to a brown cross with a beer mug in one outstretched hand and an egg in the other. Its tongue hangs out of its mouth. in Times Online
It's sad to see the Catholic church lose the appetite for modern art that has served it so well since it commissioned a young, untried painter to create that masterpiece of wilful self-expression and rampant nudity, the Sistine ceiling.
The Pope's call for an Italian museum to take German artist Martin Kippenberger's crucified frog off display is not just stupid - how can Catholicism really be menaced by one work of art? And are Italians really to be denied free thought? - but a betrayal of the Vatican's excellent record of appreciating modernism.
Unlike Protestantism, which began as an attack on "idolatrous" images, Catholicism believes in and trusts the power of the image. Its own traditions are experimental. Caravaggio created his great art of the street and the body as propaganda for the counter-reformation: since the sixteenth century, the church has always been ready to dare to portray the Christian narrative in more outrageous ways to keep it vital. In the twentieth century, it bought paintings by Francis Bacon and Salvador Dalí for the Vatican museum and got Matisse and Le Corbusier to design Catholic chapels.
A few days ago I stood astounded by bizarre popular art in churches in Sicily that included an altar decorated with human shin bones. When Damien Hirst makes religious art in the same vein, he's simply paying homage to existing, everyday Catholic images.
So what's so shocking about a frog? Perhaps the German Pope has a secret Lutheran impulse. But, in fact, Kippenberger is a totally subversive artist who believed in nothing, insulted everything. Most modern art that takes on religious subject matter - even Bacon's paintings, though he was an atheist - has a respect for its human seriousness.
The church can appropriate any modern art that has the least hint of gravitas. What it can't deal with so easily is blatant irreverence. No one is going to be drawn to the faith by a crucified frog. (Photograph: Museion Museum/Reuters) in JJ's blog
Corinne Diserens, the Swiss head of the Museion museum of contemporary art at Bolzano in the Italian Alps, was “released from her duties with immediate effect” by the new provincial government in Alto Adige after local elections.
The decision was a result of “the difficult financial situation” caused in part by “unauthorised spending”, officials said. Reports indicated that the museum was running a budget deficit of €500,000 (£390,000).
Supporters of Ms Diserens, including Hans Heiss, the head of the local Green Party, said that the real reason was “the row over the frog”.
The wooden sculpture by the late German artist Martin Kippenberger depicts a 4ft frog wearing a green loin cloth. It is nailed to a brown cross with a beer mug in one outstretched hand and an egg in the other. Its tongue hangs out of its mouth. in Times Online
It's sad to see the Catholic church lose the appetite for modern art that has served it so well since it commissioned a young, untried painter to create that masterpiece of wilful self-expression and rampant nudity, the Sistine ceiling.
The Pope's call for an Italian museum to take German artist Martin Kippenberger's crucified frog off display is not just stupid - how can Catholicism really be menaced by one work of art? And are Italians really to be denied free thought? - but a betrayal of the Vatican's excellent record of appreciating modernism.
Unlike Protestantism, which began as an attack on "idolatrous" images, Catholicism believes in and trusts the power of the image. Its own traditions are experimental. Caravaggio created his great art of the street and the body as propaganda for the counter-reformation: since the sixteenth century, the church has always been ready to dare to portray the Christian narrative in more outrageous ways to keep it vital. In the twentieth century, it bought paintings by Francis Bacon and Salvador Dalí for the Vatican museum and got Matisse and Le Corbusier to design Catholic chapels.
A few days ago I stood astounded by bizarre popular art in churches in Sicily that included an altar decorated with human shin bones. When Damien Hirst makes religious art in the same vein, he's simply paying homage to existing, everyday Catholic images.
So what's so shocking about a frog? Perhaps the German Pope has a secret Lutheran impulse. But, in fact, Kippenberger is a totally subversive artist who believed in nothing, insulted everything. Most modern art that takes on religious subject matter - even Bacon's paintings, though he was an atheist - has a respect for its human seriousness.
The church can appropriate any modern art that has the least hint of gravitas. What it can't deal with so easily is blatant irreverence. No one is going to be drawn to the faith by a crucified frog. (Photograph: Museion Museum/Reuters) in JJ's blog
2008/10/21
Because we Were Born
The Way of a Warrior, de Andreas Pichler, é um documentário que faz luz sobre o envolvimento dos movimentos católicos na luta contra as ex-ditaduras sanguinárias latino-americanas e sobre a radicalização de um desses católicos: um missionário de origem austríaca que decidiu pegar em armas contra a ditadura que naquela época dominava a Bolívia. É um trabalho importante para se compreender o dito "terrorismo" latino-americano que, na verdade, foi uma reacção, legítima, de pessoas maioritariamente pacíficas contra as atrocidades de Estado que por lá diariamente aconteciam. The Way of a Warrior é também um trabalho relevante para que não nos esqueçamos dos apoios exteriores, que foram essenciais para a manutenção daqueles regimes, com que os ditadores latino-americanos contaram. Trata-se em nosso entender de um dos filmes mais cativantes que passaram no doclisboa 2008.
We (Wo Men), de Huang Wenhai, relata-nos uma série de episódios em que a oposição ao actual regime chinês se mostra particularmente desorganizada face a uma máquina poderosa habituada a utilizar técnicas ancestrais de desinformação e controle. O mais interessante é vermos ex-membros do Comité Central do Partido Comunista Chinês, e até o próprio ex-secretário de Mao Tsé-Tung, criticarem a falta de democracia do actual governo... Um trabalho interessante e indispensável para se compreender o actual estado de coisas na China.
Because we Were Born, de Jean-Pierre Duret e Andrea Santana, retrata a vida de duas "crianças de rua" brasileiras, do estado de Pernambuco, uma das quais vive num camião abandonado e sonha ser camionista, fala-nos dos seus sonhos e do seu dia a dia na luta pela sobrevivência. Trata-se de um acutilante documento que referindo-se a duas vidas particulares de alguma maneira nos dá notícia dos milhões de crianças às quais é negada a condição de criança. Um belíssimo documentário ao qual a objectividade não impediu uma elevada carga poética.
Frederick Wiseman, ele mesmo, andou pelo doclisboa 2008. Conversou com os espectadores, respondeu a perguntas inteligentes e a perguntas idiotas, talvez a maioria (...), e até dinamizou uma "master-class". A retrospectiva da obra de Wiseman foi o grande acontecimento do doclisboa 2008. Não é demais lembrar que o primeiro trabalho de Wiseman, Titicut Folies, impô-lo quase instantaneamente como uma referência no cinema documental. Em nosso entender Titicut Folies e Welfare são as obras mais interessantes daquele que nos foi apresentado como sendo o "mais importante documentarista em actividade". Quem não aproveitou para as ver perdeu uma boa oportunidade para tentar compreender o que pode ser a "essência" do trabalho de um(a) realizador(a) documentarista. No entanto até ao final do doclisboa ainda as poderá visualizar na videoteca do festival.
The Way of a Warrior, de Andreas Pichler, é um documentário que faz luz sobre o envolvimento dos movimentos católicos na luta contra as ex-ditaduras sanguinárias latino-americanas e sobre a radicalização de um desses católicos: um missionário de origem austríaca que decidiu pegar em armas contra a ditadura que naquela época dominava a Bolívia. É um trabalho importante para se compreender o dito "terrorismo" latino-americano que, na verdade, foi uma reacção, legítima, de pessoas maioritariamente pacíficas contra as atrocidades de Estado que por lá diariamente aconteciam. The Way of a Warrior é também um trabalho relevante para que não nos esqueçamos dos apoios exteriores, que foram essenciais para a manutenção daqueles regimes, com que os ditadores latino-americanos contaram. Trata-se em nosso entender de um dos filmes mais cativantes que passaram no doclisboa 2008.
We (Wo Men), de Huang Wenhai, relata-nos uma série de episódios em que a oposição ao actual regime chinês se mostra particularmente desorganizada face a uma máquina poderosa habituada a utilizar técnicas ancestrais de desinformação e controle. O mais interessante é vermos ex-membros do Comité Central do Partido Comunista Chinês, e até o próprio ex-secretário de Mao Tsé-Tung, criticarem a falta de democracia do actual governo... Um trabalho interessante e indispensável para se compreender o actual estado de coisas na China.
Because we Were Born, de Jean-Pierre Duret e Andrea Santana, retrata a vida de duas "crianças de rua" brasileiras, do estado de Pernambuco, uma das quais vive num camião abandonado e sonha ser camionista, fala-nos dos seus sonhos e do seu dia a dia na luta pela sobrevivência. Trata-se de um acutilante documento que referindo-se a duas vidas particulares de alguma maneira nos dá notícia dos milhões de crianças às quais é negada a condição de criança. Um belíssimo documentário ao qual a objectividade não impediu uma elevada carga poética.
Frederick Wiseman, ele mesmo, andou pelo doclisboa 2008. Conversou com os espectadores, respondeu a perguntas inteligentes e a perguntas idiotas, talvez a maioria (...), e até dinamizou uma "master-class". A retrospectiva da obra de Wiseman foi o grande acontecimento do doclisboa 2008. Não é demais lembrar que o primeiro trabalho de Wiseman, Titicut Folies, impô-lo quase instantaneamente como uma referência no cinema documental. Em nosso entender Titicut Folies e Welfare são as obras mais interessantes daquele que nos foi apresentado como sendo o "mais importante documentarista em actividade". Quem não aproveitou para as ver perdeu uma boa oportunidade para tentar compreender o que pode ser a "essência" do trabalho de um(a) realizador(a) documentarista. No entanto até ao final do doclisboa ainda as poderá visualizar na videoteca do festival.
2008/10/15
Imagine
Imagine a country where nobody can identify who owns what, [title to] property cannot be easily verified, people cannot be made to pay their debts, resources cannot conveniently be turned into money, ownership cannot be divided into shares, descriptions of assets are not standardized and cannot be easily compared, and the rules that govern property vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, or even from street to street. You have just put yourself into the life of a developing country or former communist nation…
These words are from the classic book on third-world economics, The Mystery of Capital by Professor Hernando de Soto.
Frighteningly, these words describe not only a third-world economy, they precisely describe the jumbled-up financial instruments called “credit derivative securities” (including the now-infamous “credit default swaps”) that are now identified as the toxic assets of the global banking system. Daniel Hass
Nixonland
There are all sorts of connections between the Nixon administration and the Bush administration. But here’s one I didn’t know about: Hank Paulson was John Ehrlichman’s assistant in 1972 and 1973. Maybe you have to have lived through Watergate to know what that means. Paul Krugman
Imagine a country where nobody can identify who owns what, [title to] property cannot be easily verified, people cannot be made to pay their debts, resources cannot conveniently be turned into money, ownership cannot be divided into shares, descriptions of assets are not standardized and cannot be easily compared, and the rules that govern property vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, or even from street to street. You have just put yourself into the life of a developing country or former communist nation…
These words are from the classic book on third-world economics, The Mystery of Capital by Professor Hernando de Soto.
Frighteningly, these words describe not only a third-world economy, they precisely describe the jumbled-up financial instruments called “credit derivative securities” (including the now-infamous “credit default swaps”) that are now identified as the toxic assets of the global banking system. Daniel Hass
Nixonland
There are all sorts of connections between the Nixon administration and the Bush administration. But here’s one I didn’t know about: Hank Paulson was John Ehrlichman’s assistant in 1972 and 1973. Maybe you have to have lived through Watergate to know what that means. Paul Krugman
2008/10/14
The problem this time may not be “too big to fail” but, more accurately, “too big to save”. Only time will tell. But, seriously, do you REALLY THINK that Paulson's $700 billion (yeah, it's really larger than that…) bailout plan will do anything considering the size of the problem?
In conclusion, I think you can see that we've been living in a world that is standing on its head; a topsy turvy world turned upside down. The forces of gravity pull equally hard on all Earthly structures and economic structures are no different. In the domain of today's digitized wealth, it's become all too easy to forget that the basis for all monetary and financial systems is TRUST , not financial ingenuity and computer programming skill. As in any relationship, trust - once lost - is not easily regained. David Haas in The Crushing Potential of Financial Derivatives
In conclusion, I think you can see that we've been living in a world that is standing on its head; a topsy turvy world turned upside down. The forces of gravity pull equally hard on all Earthly structures and economic structures are no different. In the domain of today's digitized wealth, it's become all too easy to forget that the basis for all monetary and financial systems is TRUST , not financial ingenuity and computer programming skill. As in any relationship, trust - once lost - is not easily regained. David Haas in The Crushing Potential of Financial Derivatives
Reputable business leaders and economists had been warning for years that our financial institutions were excessively leveraged. In mid-August of this year the New York Times Magazine published an article foolishly entitled "Dr. Doom" about a perfectly reputable academic economist, a professor at New York University named Nouriel Roubini, who for years had been predicting with uncanny accuracy what has happened. In September of 2006--two years ago--he had "announced that a crisis was brewing. In the coming months and years, he warned, the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence and, ultimately, a deep recession. He laid out a bleak sequence of events: homeowners defaulting on mortgages, trillions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities unraveling worldwide and the global financial system shuddering to a halt. These developments, he went on, could cripple or destroy hedge funds, investment banks and other major financial institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac." By August of this year, when the Times article was published, Roubini's predictions had come true, yet he continued to be ignored. Until mid-September, the magnitude of the crisis was greatly underestimated by government, the business community, and the economics profession, including specialists in financial economics. Bernanke had repeatedly stated that it was unlikely that the mortgage defaults that accelerated after the housing bubble burst in mid-2006 would spill over to the financial system or the broader, nonfinancial economy. In May of 2007, for example, he said: "Importantly, we see no serious broader spillover to banks or thrift institutions from the problems in the subprime market." It has been more than two years since the housing bubble burst. One might have thought that that was enough time to enable the experts to discover that our financial system was in serious trouble. Richard Posner
Traditionally, commodities futures were used by companies like Kellogg's Cereal as a form of “insurance” to help them manage the risk of major price fluctuations in the grains they use to make breakfast cereal. By purchasing a futures contract to guarantee the future delivery price of the grains they needed to make cereal for the consumer marketplace, they could be certain that they could maintain relative price stability at the retail level (benefiting consumers) and still operate with the profit they would need to stay in business and serve the market.In the early 1980's, derivatives began to appear that were of a strictly financial nature. The reasoning behind their regulatory approval was that producers of financial “products” and services also needed to have similar types of “insurance” to protect them against future risks and uncertainties - just like the non-financial operators had. The main selling point was, of course, that these financial futures contracts would help financial companies to stabilize their operations and provide powerful tools to manage their risks from fluctuating markets and future uncertainties, as well. Unfortunately, these sophisticated tools that were originally intended to help firms manage risk grew into potent vehicles for leveraged speculation… and this is where the systemic problems we're facing today originated.
During the 1990's, more and more firms (financial and non-financial alike) began realizing they could make tremendous profits trading in financial vehicles. Many firms made more money trading than they did in their core manufacturing businesses. Word spread and firms of all kinds across all industries began bringing in experienced traders and setting them up with computerized trading operations or they employed the services of outside money managers and hedge funds to do the job for them. Either way, with the seemingly endless expansion of financial opportunity brought about by the rapidly globalizing markets, companies feared they would look foolish to shareholders if they weren't participating in this leveraged gamesmanship. And why not? Everyone else seemed to be doing it, so they should too.
The first major threat to the global “casino” came in 1998 with the collapse of Long Term Capital Management (LTCM). LTCM was a highly-leveraged, computer-based trading firm whose ingenious program authors had not fully considered the possibility that a “statistically unlikely” series of events could occur in a short span of time and wipe them out. A series of such events (East Asian collapse, Russian financial crisis, etc.) did occur, bringing down LTCM and the failure of LTCM was, singlehandedly, large enough to destabilize the entire global financial system. At that time, governments banded together to stabilize the financial system and in doing so created the world's first example of a firm being “too big to fail”.
Once the “too big to fail” precedent had been firmly established, the structured finance and derivatives industry was off and running, emboldened by the fact that they'd proven governments could be relied upon for bailouts of massive, yet risky ventures pursued by financial firms in the future. The bigger the venture, the bigger the risk, the more likely it would be insulated from ultimate failure by government bailout or intervention with taxpayer money. This is what's commonly known as MORAL HAZARD in industry parlance.
This new philosophy was a speculator's dream and it rocketed around the globe at the speed of light gathering eager new participants and “hot” capital wherever it went. According to my understanding, here's what it did to the global financial structure - mainly between 1996 and 2007 - leading us to the “edge of the abyss” that we are peering into today. David Haas in The Crushing Potential of Financial Derivatives
We are brilliant! 25 billion for me, 10 billion for you...
Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase were told they would each get $25 billion; Bank of America and Wells Fargo, $20 billion; Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, $10 billion each, with Bank of New York and State Street each receiving $2 to 3 billion. Wells Fargo will get an additional $5 billion, reflecting its acquisition of Wachovia, and Bank of America receives the same for amount for its purchase of Merrill Lynch. MARK LANDLER, October 13, 2008 in nytimes.com (Photo by Susan Etheridge for The New York Times: John J. Mack, Morgan Stanley's chief executive, left, and Vikram S. Pandit, chief executive of Citigroup, after a meeting at the Treasury Department on Monday)
The Voices of Paul Bowles
«Curated by Claudia Gould and Stephen Frailey, ‘The Voices of Paul Bowles’ [1910-1999] is an audio portrait combining some of the composer’s music with readings from his own texts, morrocan traditional music and location recordings from Tangier and Morroco where he lived from 1947. The most striking device is the handsome and warm voice of Bowles reading through his writings. Also notable are the lively field recordings of folk local music Bowles made himself in 1959 (tracks #01, 03, 06 & 09). The simoon (my conjecture) heard at the end of ‘The Garden’, track #08, is a short but evocative recording of a North Africa typical wind. Bowles own compositions are exquisite vignettes full of humour and wit. A microcosm in itself, a day in the life of Paul Bowles, the tape starts with the muezzin’s morning call to prayer and ends with dogs barking at sunset, an amazing barking chorale recorded amid the rising desert wind. A poignant conclusion to an utterly beautiful tape». UbuWeb Sound in Jazz e Arredores
2008/10/12
Gianni Coscia in Portugallo
Foi um concerto agradável, este promovido pelo Instituto Italiano de Cultura de Lisboa, em que Gianni Coscia tocou e falou numa sala pequena para uma dúzia (duas dúzias...) de convidados. Sem necessidade da amplificação a que os grandes espaços obrigam, podemos escutar a sonoridade "autêntica" do acordeonista-compositor.
Nas sonoridades jazzísticas Costia trouxe-nos nomeadamente as suas interessantes recriações do tango, mas foi pena que nas suas prelecções inter-musicais omitisse o nome do grande Piazzolla, porque é incontornável. Mesmo para os acordeonistas...
O "tango moderno", como o designou Coscia numa tonalidade depreciativa, tem um nome: Astor Piazzolla, um grande músico, um grande artista que tive o privilégio de escutar ao vivo em dois concertos no Teatro Rivoli do Porto.
Sem querer minimizar Coscia, que foi a vedeta deste dia (sábado) e que é um grande acordeonista, não poderia omitir o meu espanto pela sua omissão, desastrosamente investida de alguma arrogância. Porque uma coisa é dizer que não gosta da música de Piazzolla, outra é falar de Carlos Gardel (que disse apreciar muito) e referir-se ao "tango moderno" com um encolher de ombros, sem dizer quem criou o tal "tango moderno".
Foi um concerto agradável, este promovido pelo Instituto Italiano de Cultura de Lisboa, em que Gianni Coscia tocou e falou numa sala pequena para uma dúzia (duas dúzias...) de convidados. Sem necessidade da amplificação a que os grandes espaços obrigam, podemos escutar a sonoridade "autêntica" do acordeonista-compositor.
Nas sonoridades jazzísticas Costia trouxe-nos nomeadamente as suas interessantes recriações do tango, mas foi pena que nas suas prelecções inter-musicais omitisse o nome do grande Piazzolla, porque é incontornável. Mesmo para os acordeonistas...
O "tango moderno", como o designou Coscia numa tonalidade depreciativa, tem um nome: Astor Piazzolla, um grande músico, um grande artista que tive o privilégio de escutar ao vivo em dois concertos no Teatro Rivoli do Porto.
Sem querer minimizar Coscia, que foi a vedeta deste dia (sábado) e que é um grande acordeonista, não poderia omitir o meu espanto pela sua omissão, desastrosamente investida de alguma arrogância. Porque uma coisa é dizer que não gosta da música de Piazzolla, outra é falar de Carlos Gardel (que disse apreciar muito) e referir-se ao "tango moderno" com um encolher de ombros, sem dizer quem criou o tal "tango moderno".
2008/10/10
Portuguese traditions
Six weeks ago I arrived in Évora for the first time. It was on the advice of a friend who knew that I was looking for a spiritual centre in Portugal, a place of peace and tranquillity. These qualities unfortunately seem more and more difficult to find in this modern world, and one has to look hard to find such an oasis.
I quickly fell in love with Évora, a beautiful city with its longstanding traditions reflecting the variety of cultures from its history. I found myself accommodation in the historical centre, and settled down to continue my work.
Around mid September, I was rather surprised and disappointed when this peaceful and ancient city was suddenly transformed into a placed of noise and chaos. What appeared to me as gangs of uneducated youths wandered aimlessly up and down the streets from morning until night for three whole weeks. The noise level from their shouting, and their behaviour in general, gave the impression that they were half drunk. My surprise then turned to shock as I was informed that these mobs were in fact students from the famous University of Évora! This, I was told, is their tradition.
During these disturbing weeks, I witnessed many things and I would like to mention three of them:
1. Students being forced to kneel on the ground in full view of passers-by and tourists, whilst their "lectures" (?) shouted or even screamed at them. Several tourists I spoke to, said this reminded them of a dictatorship country.
2. Long lines of students forced to walk one behind the other, holding the person in front and chanting/shouting. These scenes reminded me of a documentary I once saw on chain gangs in America in the 1920's - lines of prisoners.
3. One evening just as it was getting dark, I came upon an incident that I found hard to believe. One young female student was kneeling on the pavement surrounded by three of her "lectures". All the other students had gone and she was alone. I heard the "lectures" shouting and speaking harshly to her, and as I approached I could see that she was crying. She was clearly being humiliated and, despite the fact that several passers-by stopped, the treatment continued for about a further 5 minutes. I remember wondering whether or not they knew of the possible damage they could be doing to this young girl. After a while, one of the "lectures" produced the student's mobile phone from an inside pocket, gave it to her and, as if speaking to a criminal, told her harshly to go. She ran off, still crying as she passed me. The whole scene was difficult to believe. It was just like seeing something from Nazi Germany in the late 30's.
The ironical part of all this last incident was that, as I was leaving the scene, I realised it had taken place right outside the Church of the Holy Spirit. I wondered what God might be thinking.
So, if this is a tradition of the University in Évora, is it perhaps time to re-look at it to see whether it still has any value in a modern society? When the Colégio do Espírito Santo was founded in 1559, the Jesuits would have placed the teachings of Jesus Christ as the foundation for their learning. His message was one of love, compassion, friendship and respect for one another - all of these are matters of the heart, and exactly what the world needs now. What I have witnessed recently in Évora can hardly be described as "matters of the heart", but rather an old-fashioned, out-dated behaviour based on bullying and fear. In the 21st century, the world needs new young leaders who listen to their hearts and not their heads.
Michael Telfer
Évora, 9th October, 2008
Six weeks ago I arrived in Évora for the first time. It was on the advice of a friend who knew that I was looking for a spiritual centre in Portugal, a place of peace and tranquillity. These qualities unfortunately seem more and more difficult to find in this modern world, and one has to look hard to find such an oasis.
I quickly fell in love with Évora, a beautiful city with its longstanding traditions reflecting the variety of cultures from its history. I found myself accommodation in the historical centre, and settled down to continue my work.
Around mid September, I was rather surprised and disappointed when this peaceful and ancient city was suddenly transformed into a placed of noise and chaos. What appeared to me as gangs of uneducated youths wandered aimlessly up and down the streets from morning until night for three whole weeks. The noise level from their shouting, and their behaviour in general, gave the impression that they were half drunk. My surprise then turned to shock as I was informed that these mobs were in fact students from the famous University of Évora! This, I was told, is their tradition.
During these disturbing weeks, I witnessed many things and I would like to mention three of them:
1. Students being forced to kneel on the ground in full view of passers-by and tourists, whilst their "lectures" (?) shouted or even screamed at them. Several tourists I spoke to, said this reminded them of a dictatorship country.
2. Long lines of students forced to walk one behind the other, holding the person in front and chanting/shouting. These scenes reminded me of a documentary I once saw on chain gangs in America in the 1920's - lines of prisoners.
3. One evening just as it was getting dark, I came upon an incident that I found hard to believe. One young female student was kneeling on the pavement surrounded by three of her "lectures". All the other students had gone and she was alone. I heard the "lectures" shouting and speaking harshly to her, and as I approached I could see that she was crying. She was clearly being humiliated and, despite the fact that several passers-by stopped, the treatment continued for about a further 5 minutes. I remember wondering whether or not they knew of the possible damage they could be doing to this young girl. After a while, one of the "lectures" produced the student's mobile phone from an inside pocket, gave it to her and, as if speaking to a criminal, told her harshly to go. She ran off, still crying as she passed me. The whole scene was difficult to believe. It was just like seeing something from Nazi Germany in the late 30's.
The ironical part of all this last incident was that, as I was leaving the scene, I realised it had taken place right outside the Church of the Holy Spirit. I wondered what God might be thinking.
So, if this is a tradition of the University in Évora, is it perhaps time to re-look at it to see whether it still has any value in a modern society? When the Colégio do Espírito Santo was founded in 1559, the Jesuits would have placed the teachings of Jesus Christ as the foundation for their learning. His message was one of love, compassion, friendship and respect for one another - all of these are matters of the heart, and exactly what the world needs now. What I have witnessed recently in Évora can hardly be described as "matters of the heart", but rather an old-fashioned, out-dated behaviour based on bullying and fear. In the 21st century, the world needs new young leaders who listen to their hearts and not their heads.
Michael Telfer
Évora, 9th October, 2008
2008/10/05
Kaija Saariaho - Lonh
Extracts of a performance of a piece for soprano and electronics by Kaija Saariaho, performed by Valérie Gabail, visual part conceived by Jean-Baptiste Barrière & realized by Pierre-Jean Bouyer, video by Isabelle Barrière. in youtube.com/user/jbbarriere
2008/10/04
2008/10/03
Андре́й Арсе́ньевич Тарко́вский
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (Russian: Андре́й Арсе́ньевич Тарко́вский) (April 4, 1932 - December 29, 1986) was a Soviet film director, writer and opera director. Tarkovksy is listed among the 100 most critically acclaimed filmmakers[1]; director Ingmar Bergman was famously quoted as saying "Tarkovsky for me is the greatest [director], the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream".[2] Tarkovsky attained critical acclaim for directing such films as Andrei Rublev, Solaris and Stalker.
Tarkovsky also worked extensively as a screenwriter, film editor, film theorist and theater director. He directed most of his films in the Soviet Union, with the exception of his last two films which were produced in Italy and Sweden. His films are characterized by Christian spirituality and metaphysical themes, extremely long takes, lack of conventional dramatic structure and plot, and memorable images of exceptional beauty.
...
Tarkovsky's first feature film was Ivan's Childhood in 1962. He had inherited the film from director Eduard Abalov, who had to abort the project. The film earned Tarkovksy international acclaim and won him the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1962. In the same year, on September 30, his first son Arseny (called Senka in Tarkovsky's diaries) Tarkovsky was born.
In 1965, he directed the film Andrei Rublev about the life of Andrei Rublev, the 15th century Russian icon painter. Andrei Rublev was not immediately released after completion due to problems with Soviet authorities. Tarkovsky had to cut the film several times, resulting in several different versions of varying lengths. A version of the film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 1969 and won the FIPRESCI prize. The film was officially released in the Soviet Union in a cut version in 1971.
...
Tarkovsky returned to Italy in 1982 to start shooting Nostalghia. He never went back to his home country. As Mosfilm withdrew from the project, he had to complete the film with financial support provided by the Italian RAI. Tarkovsky completed the film in 1983. Nostalghia was presented at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury, the FIPRESCI prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. Soviet authorities prevented the film from winning the Palme d'Or, a fact that hardened Tarkovsky's resolve to never work in the Soviet Union again. In the same year, he also arranged the opera Boris Godunov at the Royal Opera House in London under the musical direction of Claudio Abbado.
He spend most of 1984 preparing the film The Sacrifice. At a press conference in Milan on July 10, 1984 he announced that he would never return to the Soviet Union and would remain in the West. At that time, his son Andrei Jr. was still in the Soviet Union and not allowed to leave the country.
During 1985, he shot the film The Sacrifice in Sweden. At the end of the year he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. In January 1986, he began treatment in Paris, and was joined there by his wife and his son, who were finally allowed to leave the Soviet Union. The Sacrifice was presented at the Cannes Film Festival and received the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury, the FIPRESCI prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. As Tarkovsky was unable to attend due to his illness, the prizes were collected by his son, Andrei Jr.
...
Tarkovsky died on December 29, 1986 in Paris at age 54. He was buried on January 3, 1987 in the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois in France. The inscription on his grave stone, which was created by the Russian sculptor Ernst Neizvestny, reads To the man who saw the Angel. in en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (Russian: Андре́й Арсе́ньевич Тарко́вский) (April 4, 1932 - December 29, 1986) was a Soviet film director, writer and opera director. Tarkovksy is listed among the 100 most critically acclaimed filmmakers[1]; director Ingmar Bergman was famously quoted as saying "Tarkovsky for me is the greatest [director], the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream".[2] Tarkovsky attained critical acclaim for directing such films as Andrei Rublev, Solaris and Stalker.
Tarkovsky also worked extensively as a screenwriter, film editor, film theorist and theater director. He directed most of his films in the Soviet Union, with the exception of his last two films which were produced in Italy and Sweden. His films are characterized by Christian spirituality and metaphysical themes, extremely long takes, lack of conventional dramatic structure and plot, and memorable images of exceptional beauty.
...
Tarkovsky's first feature film was Ivan's Childhood in 1962. He had inherited the film from director Eduard Abalov, who had to abort the project. The film earned Tarkovksy international acclaim and won him the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1962. In the same year, on September 30, his first son Arseny (called Senka in Tarkovsky's diaries) Tarkovsky was born.
In 1965, he directed the film Andrei Rublev about the life of Andrei Rublev, the 15th century Russian icon painter. Andrei Rublev was not immediately released after completion due to problems with Soviet authorities. Tarkovsky had to cut the film several times, resulting in several different versions of varying lengths. A version of the film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 1969 and won the FIPRESCI prize. The film was officially released in the Soviet Union in a cut version in 1971.
...
Tarkovsky returned to Italy in 1982 to start shooting Nostalghia. He never went back to his home country. As Mosfilm withdrew from the project, he had to complete the film with financial support provided by the Italian RAI. Tarkovsky completed the film in 1983. Nostalghia was presented at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury, the FIPRESCI prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. Soviet authorities prevented the film from winning the Palme d'Or, a fact that hardened Tarkovsky's resolve to never work in the Soviet Union again. In the same year, he also arranged the opera Boris Godunov at the Royal Opera House in London under the musical direction of Claudio Abbado.
He spend most of 1984 preparing the film The Sacrifice. At a press conference in Milan on July 10, 1984 he announced that he would never return to the Soviet Union and would remain in the West. At that time, his son Andrei Jr. was still in the Soviet Union and not allowed to leave the country.
During 1985, he shot the film The Sacrifice in Sweden. At the end of the year he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. In January 1986, he began treatment in Paris, and was joined there by his wife and his son, who were finally allowed to leave the Soviet Union. The Sacrifice was presented at the Cannes Film Festival and received the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury, the FIPRESCI prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. As Tarkovsky was unable to attend due to his illness, the prizes were collected by his son, Andrei Jr.
...
Tarkovsky died on December 29, 1986 in Paris at age 54. He was buried on January 3, 1987 in the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois in France. The inscription on his grave stone, which was created by the Russian sculptor Ernst Neizvestny, reads To the man who saw the Angel. in en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Tarkovsky
2008/09/29
2008/09/25
The Grand Finale of musikfest berlin 08
musikfest berlin 08 came to a resounding close with a grand festival finale in Hangar 2 of Tempelhof Airport. On the program were Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gruppen für drei Orchester and Olivier Messiaen's Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum, performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Principal Conductor Sir Simon Rattle and co-conductors Daniel Harding and Michael Boder. Also receiving a performance in the 4200 m² and 18-meter-tall Hangar 2 by the Ensemble intercontemporain under the direction of Susanna Mälkki was Messiaen's two hour long work Des Canyons aux Étoiles.
Making guest appearances beginning on September 4 at musikfest berlin 08 at the invitation of the Berliner Festspiele and in cooperation with the Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker besides the five great symphony orchestras of the German capital were numerous top-flight orchestras from the international musical scene. Among the guests were the Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam with Mariss Jansons, the Göteborgs Symfoniker with Alexander Briger, the London Symphony Orchestra with Daniel Harding, the Orchestre de Paris with Christoph Eschenbach, the SWR-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden and Freiburg with Sylvain Cambreling, as well as the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées with Philippe Herreweghe. Also invited were renowned soloists such as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Akiko Suwanai, Michelle de Young, Angela Denoke, and Measha Brueggergosman.
At the center of the festival as a whole were the orchestral works of Olivier Messiaen - an homage to a great French composer, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year. Performed together with orchestral music by Messiaen were works by Anton Bruckner and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Speaking at the festival's conclusion, Joachim Sartorius, general manager of the Berliner Festspiele, remarked that "Stockhausen once referred to a piano piece by Messiaen as 'fantastic music of the stars.' Over the past 18 days, these two composers, with Anton Bruckner at their side, have guided us through glittering, emotionally powerful, and ecstatic sound worlds, allowing us to experience transcendence."
On the program of musikfest berlin 08 were altogether 44 works by 18 composers, among others Richard Wagner, Alexander Zemlinsky, Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel, Pierre Boulez, Arvo Pärt, Astor Piazolla, Francis Poulenc, Alexander Scriabin, Peter Eötvös, and Gérard Grisey. Wolfgang Rihm's Concerto "Séraphin" received its world premiere, performed at Radialsystem V by MusikFabrik under the direction of Emilio Pomárico. In honor of American composer Elliott Carter, who will turn 100 in December of this year, the Staatskapelle Berlin under the direction of Principal Conductor Daniel Barenboim performed a portrait concert featuring works from his most recent and highly productive decade.
musikfest berlin 09 took place between September 4 and 20. Detailed information on the upcoming season's program and on advanced sales will be announced in spring 2009. The press office, September 24.
musikfest berlin 08 came to a resounding close with a grand festival finale in Hangar 2 of Tempelhof Airport. On the program were Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gruppen für drei Orchester and Olivier Messiaen's Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum, performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Principal Conductor Sir Simon Rattle and co-conductors Daniel Harding and Michael Boder. Also receiving a performance in the 4200 m² and 18-meter-tall Hangar 2 by the Ensemble intercontemporain under the direction of Susanna Mälkki was Messiaen's two hour long work Des Canyons aux Étoiles.
Making guest appearances beginning on September 4 at musikfest berlin 08 at the invitation of the Berliner Festspiele and in cooperation with the Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker besides the five great symphony orchestras of the German capital were numerous top-flight orchestras from the international musical scene. Among the guests were the Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam with Mariss Jansons, the Göteborgs Symfoniker with Alexander Briger, the London Symphony Orchestra with Daniel Harding, the Orchestre de Paris with Christoph Eschenbach, the SWR-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden and Freiburg with Sylvain Cambreling, as well as the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées with Philippe Herreweghe. Also invited were renowned soloists such as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Akiko Suwanai, Michelle de Young, Angela Denoke, and Measha Brueggergosman.
At the center of the festival as a whole were the orchestral works of Olivier Messiaen - an homage to a great French composer, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year. Performed together with orchestral music by Messiaen were works by Anton Bruckner and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Speaking at the festival's conclusion, Joachim Sartorius, general manager of the Berliner Festspiele, remarked that "Stockhausen once referred to a piano piece by Messiaen as 'fantastic music of the stars.' Over the past 18 days, these two composers, with Anton Bruckner at their side, have guided us through glittering, emotionally powerful, and ecstatic sound worlds, allowing us to experience transcendence."
On the program of musikfest berlin 08 were altogether 44 works by 18 composers, among others Richard Wagner, Alexander Zemlinsky, Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel, Pierre Boulez, Arvo Pärt, Astor Piazolla, Francis Poulenc, Alexander Scriabin, Peter Eötvös, and Gérard Grisey. Wolfgang Rihm's Concerto "Séraphin" received its world premiere, performed at Radialsystem V by MusikFabrik under the direction of Emilio Pomárico. In honor of American composer Elliott Carter, who will turn 100 in December of this year, the Staatskapelle Berlin under the direction of Principal Conductor Daniel Barenboim performed a portrait concert featuring works from his most recent and highly productive decade.
musikfest berlin 09 took place between September 4 and 20. Detailed information on the upcoming season's program and on advanced sales will be announced in spring 2009. The press office, September 24.
2008/09/11
Elliott Carter celebrates his 100th birthday
In his honor, Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin will perform a jubilee concert in the framework of musikfest berlin 08. Scheduled for September 15th in the Philharmonic, the program will include Soundings, Of Rewaking, Horn Concerto, and Symphonia: sum fluxae pretium spei. The two last-named works will be receiving their German first performances. This event serves as an upbeat to a series of concerts in Elliott Carter’s honor presented by the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Staatskapelle Berlin.
Daniel Barenboim has been an admirer of Carter's compositional artistry for many years, and has performed many of his works. For musikfest berlin 08, he has assembled an all Carter program, one designed (according to Barenboim) to be “as variegated as possible.” Barenboim is fascinated in particular by the complexity of this music. “I have always held Elliott Carter in the highest esteem as a composer. He is an endless source of knowledge about music. Moreover, there exists a personal tie between us: both of us studied with the same composition teacher – Nadia Boulanger.” Barenboim will be the soloist in the performance of Carter's piano concerto Soundings. “I'm simply delighted to perform an entire evening of his works in Berlin! A hundred years from now, people will refer to Elliott Carter as one of the most important figures in the musical scene during the second half of the 20th century.” (Daniel Barenboim)
Elliott Carter – who was born in New York City in 1908 – will be 100 years old in December. He cultivated friendships with Charles Ives and Gustav Holst, and studied languages, philosophy, piano, and oboe. Again and again, the phenomena of his times have spurred him on toward new compositional possibilities - one powerful influence was the literary modernity exemplified by such writers as Marcel Proust and James Joyce. Carter is one of the most important 20th century composers. musikfest berlin 08 celebrates his birthday at the Berlin Philharmonic. in musikfest berlin 08' s Press Release - 11 September
In his honor, Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin will perform a jubilee concert in the framework of musikfest berlin 08. Scheduled for September 15th in the Philharmonic, the program will include Soundings, Of Rewaking, Horn Concerto, and Symphonia: sum fluxae pretium spei. The two last-named works will be receiving their German first performances. This event serves as an upbeat to a series of concerts in Elliott Carter’s honor presented by the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Staatskapelle Berlin.
Daniel Barenboim has been an admirer of Carter's compositional artistry for many years, and has performed many of his works. For musikfest berlin 08, he has assembled an all Carter program, one designed (according to Barenboim) to be “as variegated as possible.” Barenboim is fascinated in particular by the complexity of this music. “I have always held Elliott Carter in the highest esteem as a composer. He is an endless source of knowledge about music. Moreover, there exists a personal tie between us: both of us studied with the same composition teacher – Nadia Boulanger.” Barenboim will be the soloist in the performance of Carter's piano concerto Soundings. “I'm simply delighted to perform an entire evening of his works in Berlin! A hundred years from now, people will refer to Elliott Carter as one of the most important figures in the musical scene during the second half of the 20th century.” (Daniel Barenboim)
Elliott Carter – who was born in New York City in 1908 – will be 100 years old in December. He cultivated friendships with Charles Ives and Gustav Holst, and studied languages, philosophy, piano, and oboe. Again and again, the phenomena of his times have spurred him on toward new compositional possibilities - one powerful influence was the literary modernity exemplified by such writers as Marcel Proust and James Joyce. Carter is one of the most important 20th century composers. musikfest berlin 08 celebrates his birthday at the Berlin Philharmonic. in musikfest berlin 08' s Press Release - 11 September
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