28 shkurt 2010

«Cloths of Heaven»

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

William Butler YEATS


[«Pëlhura qiejsh»

Të paskësha pëlhurat e qëndisura të qiejve,
Punuar me dritë ari dhe argjendi,
Të kaltrat të zbehtat të errëtat pëlhura
Të natës të ditës e të mugëtirës,
Do t'i shtroja pëlhurat nën këmbët e tua:
Por, i varfër siç jam, kam vetëm ëndrrat e mia;
I kam shtruar ëndrrat e mia nën këmbët e tua;
Shkel me ngadalë se shkel mbi ëndrrat e mia.]

Balkanic Parallels and Paradoxes

I posted a shorter youtube version of this video a year or so ago on facebook, but I was reminded of it today and was able to find the full-length documentary on this song that people from Turkey and the Balkans claim as their own.

I don't think the answer will ever be found and there's the rub and the beauty of it. These are all countries with very rich and distinct musical and cultural traditions and therefore justified in claiming it as their own. From an objective point of view, however, and relying on their common historical point, the Ottoman invasion, I'm inclined to say that the melody is most likely Turkish.

27 shkurt 2010

«Albania: il paese di fronte»

If you understand Italian and/or have some time, this Italian documentary on Albania is an impressive work of research and a much-needed voice of objectivity on certain parts of Albanian history that have become prey of historico-political revisionism. It highlights its modern history from Independence to the fall of Communism in 1991, including the Albanian-Italian conflicts in the early 1920s, the invasion in the period between 1939 and 1943, as well as their joint collaboration against the Nazi invasion until 1944.

The documentary has seven parts (due to youtube limits on time). I am posting the first one here; follow the links for the subsequent parts.

25 shkurt 2010

«Cri du cœur»

C'est pas seulement ma voix qui chante
C'est l'autre voix, une foule de voix
Voix d'aujourd'hui ou d'autrefois
Des voix marrantes, ensoleillées
Désespérées, émerveillées
Voix déchirantes et brisées
Voix souriantes et affolées
Folles de douleur et de gaieté

C'est la voix d'un chagrin tout neuf
La voix de l'amour mort ou vif
La voix d'un pauvre fugitif
La voix d'un noyé qui fait plouf
C'est la voix d'une enfant qu'on giffle
C'est la voix d'un oiseau craintif
La voix d'un moineau mort de froid
Sur le pavé de la rue de la joie...

Et toujours, toujours quand je chante
Cet oiseau-là chante avec moi
Toujours, toujours, encore vivante
Sa pauvre voix tremble pour moi
Si je disais tout ce qu'il chante
Tout ce que j'ai vu et tout ce que je sais
J'en dirais trop et pas assez
Et tout ça je veux l'oublier

D'autres voix chantent un vieux refrain
C'est leur souvenir, c'est plus le mien
Je n'ai plus qu'un seul cri du cœur:
«J'aime pas le malheur! j'aime pas le malheur!»
Et le malheur me le rend bien
Mais je le connais, il me fait plus peur
Il dit qu'on est marié ensemble
Même si c'est vrai, je n'en crois rien

Sans pitié j'écrase mes larmes
Je leur fais pas de publicité
Si on tirait le signal d'alarme
Pour des chagrins particuliers
Jamais les trains ne pourraient rouler
Et je regarde le paysage
Si par hasard il est trop laid
J'attends qu'il se refasse une beauté

Et les douaniers du désespoir
Peuvent bien éventrer mes bagages
Me palper et me questionner
J'ai jamais rien à déclarer
L'amour comme moi part en voyage
Un jour je le rencontrerai
A peine j'aurai vu son visage
Tout de suite je le reconnaîtrai...

Jacques PRÉVERT

Republican Disingenuousness

As always, Rachel Maddow is on top of the latest chicanery from Republicans. And, as always, Republicans do not disappoint in showing that they are masters of flagrant prevarication and have the audacity to repeatedly iterate the lie that they collectively agree upon. The lies they propagate, including those statements made today by no one other than McCain, besmirch the whole principle of a democracy. Suddenly, to them, fifty-one votes in the senate do not count as a majority. The normal is now sixty. What's next, Republicans? A two-thirds majority to pass everything? We have never been at war with Eastasia? 2 + 2 = 5?

Stop rewriting history and stop lying to the American people. Sure, a lot of them are misinformed and misled by you and your Fox News propaganda machine, but still... have you no decency, at long last?! Accept that you are in the minority and get to work on trying to regain your majority. Until then, let the majority that has been democratically elected do its work. Let them pass bills through a simple majority, as normal senatorial rules and political, legislative decency dictate. Stop naming things 'nuclear.' The cold war is over.

Just watch. I'm too exhausted to get into the technicalities of it. I said my piece.

Golden Girls for Girly Boys

According to this nitwit, The Golden Girls made a whole generation of American boys gay....

Oh no!

I wish I had a quick Sophia- or Dorothy-like comeback to this, but I'm dry....

23 shkurt 2010

Democracy Inaction

If democracy means having the Senate in a Republican chokehold and therefore not being able to pass 290 bills that have already passed the House, Democrats had better rethink things and grow some testicular glands....

(Found through Think Progress)

22 shkurt 2010

Machiavellian Machinations

Paul Krugman had an editorial in today's New York Times that, in a few words, summarized and articulated what I have always known about post-Reagan Republicans and their willingness to bring the country to the verge of total collapse. Not to mention their hypocrisy of speaking against government expansion and expanding it since Reagan.

17 shkurt 2010

«Avis»

La nuit qui précéda sa mort
Fut la plus courte de sa vie
L'idée qu'il existait encore
Lui brûlait le sang aux poignets
Le poids de son corps l'écœurait
Sa force le faisait gémir
C'est tout au fond de cette horreur
Qu'il a commencé à sourire
Il n'avait pas UN camarade
Mais des millions et des millions
Pour le venger Il le savait
Et le jour se leva pour lui.

1942

Paul ÉLUARD

15 shkurt 2010

Society and Homosexuals: A 1967 Perspective

How far has our society come with regard to its views on homosexuality?

Not far enough, if you ask me, and if you watch the video below from 1967. That goes for the bigots, heterosexuals, and homosexuals alike in this video and in society today.


Found in The Daily Dish.

Resounding Words from 1861

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

Abraham LINCOLN

13 shkurt 2010

Child Molestation in the Catholic Church

We don't need to do any soul-searching or any philosophical analyses to realize why this was (and perhaps is and always will be) a rampant phenomenon in the Catholic church. It is a church that demands celibacy of its priests, thus isolating them from the get-go in an unnatural world where they have to suppress their natural feelings and impulses. At the same time, it is indicative of the empty promises it makes and its failure to deliver on those promises.

The fact that most of the abuse was carried out on boys is no surprise and it should not be attributed to homosexuality, for it is the direct result of the church's promise to 'cure the gay' through whatever means it proposes, one of which is dedicating one's life entirely to the church. These individuals may have initially been confused and conflicted themselves about their sexuality and hoped to find answers and solace in the church that 'supported' and welcomed them with open arms, only to later find themselves still conflicted and confused and, what's worse, even abusive, after a few years in the clergy.

This heinous scandal also highlights the hypocrisy that has always existed in organized religion. All its representatives preach to us about punishment in hell and redemption in heaven, yet they fail to fear the same hell for actions as depraved as child abuse. These are not isolated lapses in judgment or self-control; these are repeated actions of recidivistic, deluded sexual maniacs.

«Dua më shumë Shqipërinë»

Kënduar nga grupi «Lira».

Teksti dhe videoja më poshtë. Pamjet e videos i kam marrë vetë në Drenovë. Ndonëse jo krejt të përshtatshme për këngën, përsëri nuk janë keq për të kullotur sytë.

Dua mëngjezë e majit
kur këndon bilbili i bukur,
kur fryn erëza e malit
edhe qarku është i skuqur.

Dua lulet e fushës
në mëngjes kur janë plot me vesë;
doçkat e bardha të çupës
vete me vrap që t'i pres.

Po nga gjith' ato më parë
dua më shumë Shqipërinë
që të vejë puna mbarë
edhe përjetë të ketë lirinë.

Dua natën në verë
kur të ndritin yjt' e artë,
kur fryn Zefiri me erë
veç dëfren kët' zemrën e zjarrtë.

Zogjtë që ëmbël ligjërojnë
nëpër lisat mbushur me fletë
o sa gas që mua më bëjnë
për natyrën e vërtetë....

Po nga gjith' ato më parë
dua më shumë Shqipërinë
që të vejë puna mbarë
edhe përjetë të ketë lirinë!


12 shkurt 2010

The Sanctity of Marriage

Marriage is not genuine love, a shared life, commitment, family, children, grandchildren, or any of those silly, sappy, little things; it's a question of anatomical composition—you don't have to use them to have children, but you do need a penis on one person and a vagina on the other. Just that and nothing else.


10 shkurt 2010

Republican Hypocrisy

I wish I had kept count of all posts related to Republican hypocrisy, but alas! I haven't.... I would have lost count long ago, anyway....

Here's the latest from one of the few genuinely journalistic voices on television, Rachel Maddow:

05 shkurt 2010

What Republicans are All About

I'm not a Democrat and I hope those of you who don't know me will take my word for it. I am, however, much more in line with their way of thinking and their actions than I am with those of Republicans. Why?

Well, look at the video below and see what they're standing up for. And then skip below the video and see what self-identified Republicans around the country are thinking nowadays.

No, siree, Bob, I ain't no Republican....


A portrait of Republicans across the nation.