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Showing posts from March, 2022
A CONCISE GUIDE TO RUGBY UNION THIS IS RUGBY - HISTORY The name of the game is Rugby Football. Started in 1845 at the Rugby public school in England. The governing body is World Rugby. The greatest tournaments are the World Cup and the Six Nations. Twickenham is the Home of Rugby and has a magnificent museum dedicated to the history of the game. The Six Nations 2022 ended last Saturday 19 March. France won the tournament with a Grand Slam (five wins out of five matches). 1. France 2. Ireland 3. England 4. Scotland 5. Wales 6. Italy The current world ranking is: 1 SA 2 NZ 3 FRA 4 IRL 5 ENG 6 AUL 7 SCO 8 WAL 9 ARG 10 JAP THIS IS RUGBY - VALUES Camaraderie Discipline Enjoyment Integrity Passion Respect Solidarity Sportsmanship Teamwork And… Third half attended by both teams and match officials. Life-long friendship among team mates and opponents. Rugby is a gentlemen sport played by true gentlemen. THIS IS RUGBY - THE RULES The Laws of the Game are made by World Rugby. They are reviewed/m...
COULD THIS BE THE SOLUTION TO THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE? As I wrote elsewhere, in 1981 Maastricht hosted the first Euro Top meeting of the then European Community. The Queen’s Governor hosted a lunch at my Huize Eyll, attended by the President of France, the prime ministers of the other nine member states and all ten foreign ministers. I am tempted to host a dinner for the leaders of the 27 members of the EU, for the President of the European Parliament, for the President of the European Union and for the President of the European Commission. I shall also invite Boris Johnson and Joe Biden. I can picture the after dinner discussion. Kaja Kallas, Magdalena Andersson, Mette Frederiksen, Roberta Metsola, Sanna Marin and Ursula von der Leyen retire into the formal reception room. The boys lit their cigars and enjoy a 1957 Quinta do Noval Nacional port. Joe avidly sucks his Cohiba Esplendido. Boris is missing; he is a jolly good fellow, but he never passes the port. Very heated discussion abo...
POTREBBE ESSERE QUESTA LA SOLUZIONE AL CONFLITTO IN UCRAINA? Come ho scritto altrove, nel 1981 Maastricht ospitò il primo incontro Euro Top dell'allora Comunità Europea. Il governatore della regina ha ospitato un pranzo a casa mia, Huize Eyll, a cui hanno partecipato il presidente della Francia, i primi ministri degli altri nove stati membri e tutti e dieci i ministri degli esteri. Sono tentato di ospitare una cena per i leader dei 27 membri dell'UE, per la Presidente del Parlamento Europeo, per la Presidente della UE e per il presidente dell’UE. Inviterò anche Boris Johnson e Joe Biden. Posso immaginare la discussione dopo cena. Kaja Kallas, Magdalena Andersson, Mette Frederiksen, Roberta Metsola, Sanna Marin e Ursula von der Leyen si ritirano nel salone di ricevimento. I ragazzi si accendono i sigari e si godono un porto di Quinta do Noval Nacional del 1957. Joe succhia avidamente il suo Cohiba Esplendido. Boris è andato via; è un bravo ragazzo, ma non passa mai il porto. Dis...
Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator Speech Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator  
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  IN 2012, THE EU WAS AWARDED THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FOR ADVANCING THE CAUSES OF PEACE, RECONCILIATION, DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN EUROPE. THE AIMS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WITHIN ITS BORDERS ARE: Promote peace, its values and the well-being of its citizens Offer freedom, security and justice without internal borders, while also taking appropriate measures at its external borders to regulate asylum and immigration and prevent and combat crime Establish an internal market Achieve sustainable development based on balanced economic growth and price stability and a highly competitive market economy with full employment and social progress Protect and improve the quality of the environment Promote scientific and technological progress Combat social exclusion and discrimination Promote social justice and protection, equality between women and men, and protection of the rights of the child Enhance economic, social and territorial cohesion and solidarity among EU countries Respect its rich ...
Please forward this text, make sure it reaches Украина. All those walking to freedom, on trains, on buses, in shelters. SING! FROM ME TO UKRAINE. УКРАИНА Transposition of “Hosanna” JCS 1970, by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber © Paolo Bolzoni, 27 February 2022 Hosanna Hey Sanna Sanna Sanna Hosanna Hey Sanna Hosanna Hey Украина you’ll always be with me Sanna Hosanna Hey Украина Superstar Listen Putin get out now, we anticipate a riot Can’t you see the whole world is against you Your bullying acts are much too much The mob who follow you are fools and they are wrong They are a curse, they must disperse Hosanna Hey Sanna Sanna Sanna Hosanna Hey Sanna Hosanna Hey Украина you're alright by me Sanna Hosanna Hey Украина Superstar Украина is not yet dead, we’ll keep on fighting Nothing can be done to stop us shouting Украина glory hasn’t perished If every tongue were stilled The noise would still continue The rocks and stones themselves would start to sing Hosanna Hey ...
EPISTOLA AD FRANCISCUM PAPAM Paulus Francisco Ave. Obstrepit silentium tuum. Oratis privatim. Sile artibus uteris. Sed hoc non est satis. Clamorem doloris contra immanitatem belli huius belli, omnium bellorum, audiat mundus! Vicarium Christi te in terris esse credis. Fac ut tunc. Putasne eum cum rabbis egisse? Dicere nullam aliquam lacus? Pacem vocas, “bellum insania est”. Quis te audivit? Non, nolit. In montem ascendet, et clamabit iram suam, ut audiat omnis anima super terram. Et tu non es iustus vicarius Christi. Tu es caput civitatis, absolutus Sanctae Sedis monarcha. Civitas Vaticana habet statum Sodalis Permanentis Nationum Unitarum. Hoc est singulare privilegium. Nulla alia religio tuam dignitatem habet. Legatus tuus omnes conventus comitatur. Omnibus conventibus ius loquendi. Hoc jure utere. Sed melius est, ut New York, dic omnibus gentibus quid audiant. Mundus nec Ave Maria nec Benedictio paschalis est. Ibi moriuntur. Omit missa matutina, nuntium tuum Moscuae et Orbi para. Mun...

Cantus in memory Britten/Pärt, Stabat Mater Pergolesi

TO UKRAINE In early 2015, our Maastricht Chamber Orchestra gave two benefit concerts as fund-raising for the people of Ukraine, already then suffering for the atrocities of the war.   Many donated also on-line. We donated all proceedings to Doctors without Borders. Arvo Pärt: Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Stabat Mater Conductor: Federico Santi Soprano: Barbara Haveman Mezzo soprano: Mirouslava Yordanova 31 March 2015: OLV Basiliek, Maastricht, NL 1 April 2015: OLV Basiliek, Tongeren, BE This is the live recording of the concert in Maastricht. Maastricht Chamber Orchestra - Benefit concert for Ukraine.