Cheetah Birthday Cakes

SHEL SHAPIRO e la bella società


Back by popular demand at the Teatro Ciak Fabbrica del Steam until November 2, will be a great company, a show set to music by Shel Shapiro , the unforgettable beanpole of Rokes , band London in the 60s that had thrilled the young and young at the time. He wrote Edmund drink it, a political scientist and writer, author of stories, dreams and rock’n’roll . Con una curatissima regia diretta da Ruggero Cara , Shel appare sul palco con la sua bella presenza, alto e aitante, capelli ancora lunghi e folti benché grigi, un po’ di pancetta rispetto al fisico magrissimo della sua gioventù ma ancora carismatico. Racconta con grande pathos gran parte della sua vita partendo dai tempi in cui, da ragazzino, Londra soffocava per la nebbia, umida e lattiginosa, che rendeva spettrali interi quartieri e attutiva suoni e voci.

I ragazzi come lui che amavano la musica scoprivano il primo swing dei Platters e poi l’esplosione del rythm’n’blues e del rock’n’roll, passando dalla voce di Elvis Presley . Shel ricorda il folk di Bob Dylan che avrebbe suggestionato tutta una generazione di ribelli, fino ai tempi dei Pink Floyd e intanto ci fa ascoltare, con lo spettacolo che sembra un film vivente, il meglio dei brani più celebri e il sound che tutti sembrano aver interiorizzato nel proprio dna. Si parla di trasformazione culturale e sociale, di innocenza e di come, a suo avviso, tutto abbia cominciato a perdere senso con un certo cambiamento di mentalità.

Nel 1970 i Rokes si sciolgono e Shel Shapiro , che vive da anni in Italia e si è formato una famiglia, preferisce scendere underground: lascia le luci della ribalta ma continua a scrivere musica e testi, solo che lo fa for others, which often produces. From Cocciante to Mia Martina from Rino Gaetano Gianni Morandi to from Mina to Patty Pravo, until today, again in an extraordinary scene with a band to be mentioned: Alexander Giulini keyboards, guitars Daniel Ivaldi, Belluscio Mario on bass, Luigi Mitola guitars, dobro and mandolin, Ramon Rossi drums and percussion. Even after so many years here, always speaks Italian with an English accent. Delicious.


Why the dreams of the youth of the '60s are gone?

And 'our fault, somehow our fault. We try to be realistic among people of my generation there are differences. Who was my age was much more hopeful, but who was only ten years younger has become more cynical, because '68 has seen this fail. It went much more quickly to a much less ideological and sentimental life.
This is not a rule but each had his own personal tastes, which are not necessarily shared with the world. But in the end is the generation of those who fell in love with some ideals, while others may not.

's why the Rokes closed the chapter music?

Immediately after the experience of Rokes , I made a solo single while the drummer had another group, perhaps more metalhead. I was writing many songs, as I entered the soul of the singer. Then I began to have other singers, such as Mina, Patty Pravo , Riccardo Cocciante . I spent much time behind the scenes as a writer and I have only sold twenty million records by Noise Carrà the songs of Eurovision songs for a Ornella Vanoni. We have not left the music, only that group.

Do you think it useful to start messages with the songs?

Absolutely not. It makes no sense to send messages to the past, we are in 2008 and if there is not a nostalgic person, that's me. My show is not one to cry, is an analysis of who we were and even false things we have experienced, perhaps in good faith.

Like what?

Woodstock was a really commercial exploitation of a fact, but young people were not aware because there was no real analysis of what was going on.

But young people who participated were convinced that they are the creators of a movement of peace, love and music, remember?

There is no doubt, but years later you can a bit 'easier to get away from things and say' Yes, you can 'be that is what happened. We were innocent. Innocence is a sign of purity and if someone tells you something, you get only after a long time the truth that had been manipulated.

The fact that young people are more cynical you feel good or not?

I believe that the lack of innocence is the most important problem. It 'hard to find something that excites you, not for the guys because they have built new fashions and do not have our experience. When they see new things dicono “Cazzo che bello”, ma per noi è più complicato. Siamo più disincantati, tutti noi, specialmente chi ha una certa età e chi in qualche modo cerca di fare i conti col proprio passato e la voglia di procedere o tornare indietro.

Beh, io ti faccio i complimenti per il magnifico concerto che hai realizzato, anche senza messaggi… A me è piaciuto enormemente!

Questo non è un concerto ma un’opera teatrale con musica e ha un significato. Poi la musica prende il sopravvento, forse più di quello che noi stessi ci siamo mai resi conto, io credo.

What Is Pockets In The Colon

Talvolta bisogna riferire


Ecco una notizia che sento di dover publish, so that more people know at least that from time to time you should ask the questions and question the status quo. It is not only the survival of humanity but of the civilization that we want to build in this millennium * III. Of course, I cite the source.


Head: Fixed
Information Date: October 5, 2008
Author: Menachem Gantz

Yediot Aharonot 10/03/2008 p.B10

The Prime Minister had signed the secret agreement, the Secret Service would obey implicitly, and Jews were killed in terrorist attacks. The shameful history of Italy

We have sold

Lo chiamavano "L'Accordo Moro", e la formula era semplice: l'Italia non si intromette negli affari dei palestinesi, che in cambio non toccano obiettivi italiani. Tuttavia, ora si scopre che gli ebrei erano esclusi dall'equazione. In un'intervista speciale, l'ex Presidente Francesco Cossiga rivela come le Autorità di Roma avrebbero collaborato con le organizzazioni terroristiche negli Anni Ottanta, ed ammonisce: "Oggi c'è un accordo analogo con Hizbullah in Libano"


di Menachem Gantz

In casa di Francesco Cossiga, nel cuore del quartiere Prati di Roma, sventolano – l'una accanto all'altra – tre bandiere eleganti: quella dell'Italia, quella della Regione Sardegna e quella di Israele. Non sempre l'ex Presidente della Repubblica italiana – uno dei politici più noti e di buona fama del Bel Paese – era un tale amante di Sion. Una volta, negli Anni Cinquanta, fu lui ad inaugurare l'Associazione d'amicizia Italia- Palestina. Poi, quando era Presidente del Senato, ha persino dato, nel suo Gabinetto, asilo ad Arafat quando era stato emesso un mandato di cattura nei suoi confronti.

Ma oggi, a ottant'anni, Cossiga ama Israele. Questo è forse il motivo per il quale accetta quasi immediatamente, senza condizioni, di concedere un'intervista ad un giornale israeliano. Questo è forse anche il motivo per cui è disposto ad aprire, con raro candore, a Pandora's box of the most amazing and horrifying Italy, [he knew] in the long years of public service. Maybe the embarrassment, the desire to repair the harm caused by that Italy would actually allowed to steal the life of a jew as such - it may be that this led him to open the whole story.

It all started last August, when most Italians flooded the beaches for summer vacations. In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Bassam Abu Sharif, considered the foreign minister of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the seventies and eighties, has revealed that in those years the governments of Rome allowed Palestinian terrorist organizations to operate freely in the Italian territory, in exchange for [a commitment] not to hit national targets in Italy and worldwide. The agreement, according to Abu Sharif, had been referred to as "The Agreement Moro," taking the name of Aldo Moro, former prime minister assassinated in 1978, who was responsible.

Cossiga was quick [in August] to confirm the allegations of Abu Sharif. "I have always known - although not on the basis of official documents or information, always kept hidden for me - the existence of an agreement based on the formula" you do not hit me, I do not hit "between the Italian state and organization as the PLO and the Frente Popolare per la Liberazione della Palestina", ha ammesso in un articolo pubblicato dal Corriere.

Ma quella pubblicazione aveva lasciato dei buchi, degli interrogativi troppo grandi. Se l'Italia aveva ottenuto l'immunità dal terrorismo palestinese, come mai ebbero luogo nel Paese attentati sanguinosi contro obiettivi ebraici? Se c'era un accordo, come mai vi erano stati uccisi ebrei innocenti?

Ora Cossiga rivela tutta la verità. “In cambio di una “mano libera” in Italia”, ammette in un'intervista speciale, “i palestinesi hanno assicurato la sicurezza del nostro Stato e [l’immunità] di obiettivi italiani al di fuori del Paese da attentati terroristici – fin so that these objectives do not cooperate with Zionism and the State of Israel. " In other words: the Italians do not touch, but if you are Jewish - this is already another story.

"To avoid problems, Italy took a course of action [which enabled her] not to be disturbed or annoyed," Cossiga explained, "Since the Arabs were able to disturb Italy more than the Americans, Italy surrendered to the former. I can say with certainty that there is now such a policy. Italy has an agreement with Hizbullah that UNIFIL forces turn a blind eye on the process of re-armament, provided they carry out attacks against the men of his quota " .

Cossiga admits he was surprised by the indifference with which Italy was greeted in his revelation. "I was convinced that the news published in August would have awakened the media, that judges have started to investigate, that would start the questions involved. But there was absolute silence. Apparently, no one cares here. She is the 'one asked me to the subject. "

However, digging into the depths of this issue may reveal a lot about Italians and their regime on its conduct. And there seems to be most qualified, experienced and informed of the details of this environment that Cossiga. He has held numerous positions: General Manager del Ministero della Difesa, Ministro dell'Interno, Presidente del Consiglio, Presidente della Repubblica. Le riforme che portò a termine nei servizi segreti italiani gli hanno guadagnato il soprannome "Spy Master". Oggi non ha più un ruolo ufficiale, a parte quello di Senatore a Vita, ma le telefonate di Ministri ed alti ufficiali della Polizia, che interrompono continuamente l'intervista, dimostrano che la sua posizione è inalienabile. Cossiga continua a muovere i fili.

I rapporti complessi con il meccanismo del terrorismo palestinese, li ha conosciuti per la prima volta alla sua nomina a Ministro dell'Interno nel 1976. "Già allora mi fecero sapere che gli uomini dell'OLP tenevano armi nei propri appartamenti ed erano protetti by diplomatic immunity, "he recalls," They told me not to worry, but I managed to convince them to give up heavy artillery and make do with small arms. "

Later, when he was Prime Minister in 1979-1980, became the more evident that there was a clear agreement between the parties. "During my tenure, a police patrol had stopped a truck near Orte to a normal control," he says, "The police were astonished to find a surface-to- air, which had reached the Italian territory by sea. "Within a few days, Cossiga said, his personal source within SISMI - he calls him" Deep Throat "- passed Secretary to the Government's information according to which the missile was returned to the Palestinians. "In a telegram arrived from Beirut that it was written according to the agreement, the missile was not intended for an attack in Italy, and I was asked to return and release the detainees."

Cossiga himself, it should be noted, was never officially informed of the existence of this telegram. If it were not for its source in the earthquake, it was not aware of this whole story. "At ten o'clock at night I called the head of the earthquake and chided," You're hiding information. Why did not you aware of the telegram addressed to me? ". But he apparently was participant agreement with the Palestinians."

The Prime Minister began to suspect that behind the event is of little importance concealed something bigger. "Over time I began to wonder what could be the agreement which was mentioned in the telegram," he says. "All my attempts to investigate at the Services and at diplomats have always run into a thundering silence. The fact is that Aldo Moro was a legend in the Secret Service. Since the founding of the Republic in my time until I met at the Quirinale three politicians who knew how to use the Secret Service: the founder, me, and Aldo Moro. The people's pledge membership, and continued even after the job finished. "

But the real proof of the existence of "The Agreement Moro, and above all its gruesome detail, could only be found in reality. Twenty-six years have passed by the attack at the Jewish ghetto in Rome, but the wound is still open. It was October 9, 1982. The first Lebanon War was course, and the Jewish community was exposed to an unprecedented wave of hate. "We felt the atmosphere," says one of the leaders of the community of those days, "we felt that something terrible was coming."

that day, just before noon, a commando of six terrorists hurled against the synagogue, shooting and throwing grenades on the faithful who had just finished the prayer. Dozens of people were injured. Stefano Tache ', a child two years, was killed at the hands of terrorists.

official statements of condemnation from politicians at the summit were quickly released, but the Jews of Rome were not convinced. The feeling of abandonment was serious: that morning, suddenly disappeared without explanation that the two police cars during Jewish holidays provided protection at the entrance of the synagogue. Even after the attack continued the strange attitude. To date there have been published the names of the terrorists. Over the years, gaining increasing ground the hypothesis that activists from Germany and elements of the Red Brigades had espoused the cause to murder Jews, but in Rome there was still a government I have found it necessary to bring the culprits to court.

"I did not have an official role at that time," explains Cossiga, who was terminated as President of the Council and had not yet been appointed Chairman of the Senate. "I remember arriving first on the scene of the attack. I saw the pool of blood on the child of two years."

Only one of the bombers was captured, and even by the Italians. It happened one month after the attack, when Osama A Abd El-Zumaher was arrested in Greece with explosives in his car. The Greeks freed after six years, and he fled to Libya. The Italian authorities asked him not to extradite. "Today," Cossiga admits, "we can no longer discover the truth about what happened there. Italy will never seek his extradition, and the Libyans did not deliver him. "

Cossiga knows the meaning of what is proving to be here, I know the severity. Or seek to justify those who took the decisions. However, even now back to explain the logic of this thought: Italy is not than it meddles in the respective fields. To prove this, presents the other side. "The action of the Mossad against the killers of Israeli athletes at the Olympics in Monaco 1972 also went to Rome, "he says. As you know, Adel Wahid Zuaitar, the symbol of cunning organization of Black September, was killed in Rome." I believe Italy could not, at the time, arrested the two officers who had it out? One day, he returned home, two young men beat him entry and sent him out with two pistols fitted with silencers. He believes that the Italians did not know who they were? It is obvious that they knew, but in such matters it is better to keep your hands, and this is the line that was driving the behavior of Italy. "

She compares the elimination of a terrorist assassination of a child two years the output of the synagogue?

"No, absolutely not. If I had known that the police cars had been instructed to leave that morning, as part of that agreement that I have always denied l'esistenza, forse tutto sarebbe andato diversamente". La colpa, tuttavia, la attribuisce solo ed esclusivamente ad Aldo Moro.

Tuttavia, basta un ulteriore singolo sguardo sull'Italia degli ultimi trent'anni per scoprire che l'influenza dell'Accordo Moro non è finita lì. Nel dicembre 1985, quando Cossiga era già Presidente della Repubblica, avvenne l'attentato sanguinoso al banco della El Al all'aeroporto di Fiumicino. Fu un attacco combinato, a Roma e a Vienna, a firma delle unità di Abu Nidal, in cui morirono 17 persone, di cui 10 in Italia. Le Autorità di Roma, superfluo anche dirlo, non si sono considerate parte in causa.

Come si concilia l'attentato all'aeroporto con l'accordo Italians not to hit targets? "It was not hit targets Italians," Cossiga explained, "was the Israeli airline at the airport to be attacked."

But the area was Italian.

"The dead were all Israelis, Jews and Americans, not Italians. The exchanges of fire have not included our men, only the Palestinians and the security personnel of El Al and the Shabak [Israel's internal security services - translator ].

Cossiga knows the meaning of this. From the point of view of Italy, after all, the attack was not something that concerned her. As long as no non-Jewish Italians were killed, all right. "I've never seen cards, but I think so. So things work, "she admits. The head of SISMI at the time, Fulvio Martini, admits in a book he wrote that he had been given a proper warning of the attack." Something went wrong with the Italian security forces who knew in advance of the attack, "he says.

Cossiga is mindful that it is known that he was not personally involved in the agreement." When I was Chairman of the Board and President of the Republic did not know anything, "he insisted firmly, "I kept him hidden. I only speculated that such an agreement existed, because of that telegram from Beirut, but all were silent. Bassem Abu Sharif said the agreement was signed in Rome Moro e a Beirut e che gli italiani erano rappresentati dal capo dei servizi segreti dell'Italia che era in servizio in Libano, ma io non ne sapevo niente".

Tuttavia, Cossiga mostra un certo bisogno, forse incontrollabile, di difendere quell'Italia che avrebbe firmato l'accordo. Quella politica, egli spiega, era comune anche in altri Paesi. "La Germania ha liberato il commando dei terroristi che uccisero gli atleti a Monaco di Baviera, e anche la Francia si è comportata analogamente. Questa era la politica europea. Tranne gli inglesi, ovviamente. I palestinesi sapevano quel che facevano. Non ho mai incontrato un capo di un'organizzazione terroristica che fosse stupido. Arafat non era stupido.

Cossiga, per inciso, non è only. After the revelation of the Corriere della Sera, the famous magistrate Rosario Priore - responsible for the survey in those years of mystery as the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro and assassinate Pope John Paul II - has admitted the details. "The agreement Moro has existed for years," he said, "the PLO had men in the Italian territory, bases and weapons. Even autonomous factions like those of Abu Abbas, the Council of the Revolution and the PFLP of George Habash. It was a cold political decision, which had as its aim the immunity of our people and our interests in the Italian territory, in exchange for [acceptance] of storage and transport of explosives and terrorist commandos who were work elsewhere. "

Yes, the man who has been a member of the Court of Cassation in Rome, did not include the Jews of the city in defining" immunity of our people. "

The list does not end here. L 'Moro Agreement, it turns out, had a decisive influence on life - and death - of many.

The circumstances of the kidnapping of Italian ship Achille Lauro reveal a link between the Administration of Rome and terrorist organizations, and this time - surprise! - the targets were Jewish.

On October 7, 1985, while the ship was en route from Alexandria to Port Said, they seized four terrorists armati del Fronte per la Liberazione della Palestina di Ahmad Jibril. I sequestratori, entrati in azione prima del previsto poiché erano stati smascherati da un membro dell'equipaggio, hanno minacciato di uccidere ostaggi se non fossero stati liberati 50 prigionieri palestinesi che erano incarcerati in Israele. Si sono diretti verso la Siria, ma questa non ne ha permesso l'ingresso nelle sue acque territoriali.

La vittima di quel sequestro fu Leon Klinghoffer, un passeggero ebreo americano, paralitico in sedia a rotelle. I sequestratori non ebbero pietà di lui: gli spararono e poi lo gettarono in mare ancora vivo, con la sedia a rotelle. La nave ritornò in Egitto, e dopo due giorni di trattative i sequestratori acconsentirono a lasciarla. Furono trasferiti verso la Tunisia su un aereo civile egiziano, che fu però intercettato da caccia americani e costretto ad atterrare nella base NATO in Sicilia.

Questo evento è indelebilmente impresso nella memoria collettiva italiana. Forze italiane dei carabinieri da una parte, incursori delta americani dall'altra, in mezzo l'aereo con i sequestratori a bordo, e tutti che si minacciano a vicenda con le armi cariche, mentre si attende che i politici trovino una formula per uscire dalla crisi. L'evento è rimasto impresso nella coscienza italiana come un simbolo dell'indipendenza dell'Italia e dell'immobilità dell'allora Presidente del Consiglio, Bettino Craxi, di fronte agli americani.

Solo che ora Cossiga rivela che il motivo della fermezza di Craxi era ben altro. Spiega che Craxi ha scelto di riservare ad Arafat un atteggiamento ruffiano. "C'era stato un accordo chiaro tra l'Italia e Arafat, secondo cui la nave sarebbe stata liberata dal commando terroristico in cambio della libertà di Abu Abbas, e così fu", svela.

I sequestratori furono arrestati dalle forze della polizia italiana ed all'aereo fu permesso di continuare il viaggio malgrado la richiesta americana di fermarlo – poiché tra i passeggeri liberi c'era anche l'uomo che era alla guida dei sequestratori, Abu Abbas. I quattro sequestratori furono processati in Italia e trovati colpevoli. Abu Abbas, invece, fu liberato.

La spiegazione ufficiale di Craxi e del governo italiano fu che le asserzioni degli americani sul coinvolgimento diretto di Abu Abbas nel sequestro erano arrivate troppo tardi, solo dopo il suo decollo dall'Italia in direzione della Jugoslavia. Cossiga, comunque, chiarisce che non fu proprio così. "Non è assolutamente andata così", dice, "tutto era parte dell'accordo con Arafat. Fu lui a convincere Abu Abbas, malgrado non facesse parte dell'OLP, di liberare la nave al Cairo, in cambio della sua libertà e di una promessa di incolumità. La posizione italiana, secondo cui questo lo si venne a sapere solo dopo la sua liberazione, è una frottola. Lo abbiamo liberato dopo".

C'è chi asserisce che egli sia rimasto a Roma alcune ore ed have even met some personalities .

"I do not know anything. I was President of the Republic and I had been told that all the time inside the airport. I would remind you that the whole area was surrounded by CIA agents."

This episode, it should be emphasized, is far from disappearing from Italian public consciousness. Just this week, the court is in Rome to discuss the application of one of the hijackers, Ibrahim Abdel Atif, who spent twenty years in prison, to remain in Italy. "The will to stay here, no doubt," Cossiga says, "but the decision ultimately will be political, and the Minister of the Interior to decide."

If you were Minister of the Interior and now it was up to you, allow him to stay?

"I'd put on a military aircraft directly in Lebanon, landed there with the excuse to bring a diplomatic turn off the engines, would open the door, threw it back on track and take off." Despite

Cossiga today takes a lot to present itself as a staunch opponent of Palestinian terrorism, there are still people who does not forget its favorable position against Arafat when he was an arrest warrant was issued in Italy. Also from this matter, authorities and mechanisms of the law in Italy do not come out - how to say - brilliant. "Arafat," Cossiga explained, "Had arrived in Italy for the funeral of the leader of the Italian left, Secretary General of the Communist Party, Enrico Berlinguer, who was my cousin. Until now, there are many people who do not believe at all that we were related. Arafat's arrival here , I expected an arrest warrant issued by a totally crazy Italian court.

"I asked to receive it in the Palazzo Giustiniani, as President of the Senate, and allow to rest. We're talking about, I will remind you of 1984. Arafat attended the funeral and the whole ceremony, which was also attended by the Deputy Secretary General of the Communist Party in Moscow. He came to me accompanied by Italian secret services and his bodyguards. At the same time, a police force had gone to his research on the orders of a judge. Do you think [truly] who did not know his whereabouts? "

However, Francesco Cossiga now proudly identifies himself as next friend of Israel and enthusiastic supporter of the United States. Perhaps this is why you can now of saying things in all orthodox, regarding the conduct of the bands that matter.

And if anyone would seem that those dark days are gone, the picture he paints is alarming Cossiga: Italy, he believes, made today a similar agreement with Hizbullah. UNIFIL forces would be encouraged to move freely in southern Lebanon, without fearing for their safety, in exchange for a closed eye and the ability to rearm Hizbullah to date. "The agreement Moro I was never clearly set out, I only assumed to exist. In the case of Hizbullah, I can say with certainty that there is an agreement between the parties," Cossiga says with certainty, "If they come to question me, testify before the courts that issue of state secrets, and I am not obliged to reveal my sources. "

Cossiga said that it intends to submit a question to the Government as to the existence of such a secret agreement, act to protect the Italian contingent in Lebanon. As known, during the Eighties, the American and French forces in Lebanon have suffered severe losses, while no attempt is been made against the Italian forces. The court

Prior - back to him - he even dared to bring the idea of \u200b\u200bCossiga a step forward. "It's possible," he told Italian press agency, "that there is now even an agreement between Italy and Al Qaeda or another fundamentalist organization."

The majority of Italians were, as I said before, surprisingly indifferent to the revelation. But predictably, the Jewish community it has been shaken. Reacting to the new revelations exposed in these pages, the President of the Jewish Community of Rome, Riccardo Pacifici, appealed to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to open an investigation approfondita.

"È ovvio che non possiamo andare indietro nel tempo, e non si può cancellare questa vergognosa storia dell'Italia", ha detto a Yediot Aharonot, "ma bisogna esporre gli irresponsabili che hanno offerto gli ebrei d'Italia in sacrificio, trattandoli come stranieri, come immigrati di passaggio. Più di ogni altra cosa, esigiamo risolutamente la piena sicurezza per gli ebrei d'Italia e per le loro istituzioni".

È molto dubbio se Berlusconi darà ascolto ed inizierà l'intensa indagine che esige la comunità ebraica. È vero che il Presidente del Consiglio italiano ha modificato l'atteggiamento del suo Paese nei confronti di Israele, ma si possono ancora riconoscere incrinature in the understanding that the Jews of Italy were the root stock of Italian life. More than once, addressing the Jews, he said "your government" - meaning the Government of the State of Israel, and not the Italian one. Perhaps there is good will, but the road is still long to ensure that history is not repeated.