• AMERICA IS NOT A DEMOCRACY, Noam Chomsky
  .
  — Este vídeo é uma bengala... para quem precisar.

• MY NOVEMBER GUEST, Robert Frost

My Sorrow, when she's here with me,
Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
Are beautiful as days can be;
She loves the bare, the withered tree;
She walks the sodden pasture lane.

Her pleasure will not let me stay.
She talks and I am fain to list:
She's glad the birds are gone away,
She's glad her simple worsted grey
Is silver now with clinging mist.

The desolate, deserted trees,
The faded earth, the heavy sky,
The beauties she so truly sees,
She thinks I have no eye for these,
And vexes me for reason why.

Not yesterday I learned to know
The love of bare November days
Before the coming of the snow,
But it were vain to tell her so,
And they are better for her praise.

Estou a escrever, levado por uma história com alma própria. De repente resolvi fazer o contrário - ler. Bebo um whisky, fumo um cigarro negro e sigo as palavras. Paro o cansaço do ser neste poema de Wang Wei, dou-lhe de beber e, saciado, resolvi partilhá-lo.

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• AT PARTING, Wang Wei

«I dismount from my horse and I offer you wine,

And I ask you where you are going and why.

And you answer: "I am discontent

And would rest at the foot of the southern mountain.

So give me leave and ask me no questions.

White clouds pass there without end.»

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Imagem: O Partenon, Atenas, Grécia

• ALONE IN HER BEAUTY

Who is lovelier than she?

Yet she lives alone in an empty valley.

She tells me she came from a good family

Which is humbled now into the dust. ...

When trouble arose in the Kuan district,

Her brothers and close kin were killed.

What use were their high offices,

Not even shielding their own lives?

The world has but scorn for adversity;

Hope goes out, like the light of a candle.

Her husband, with a vagrant heart,

Seeks a new face like a new piece of jade;

And when morning-glories furl at night

And mandarin-ducks lie side by side,

All he can see is the smile of the new love,

While the old love weeps unheard.

The brook was pure in its mountain source,

But away from the mountain its waters darken.

...Waiting for her maid to come from selling pearls

For straw to cover the roof again,

She picks a few flowers, no longer for her hair,

And lets pine-needles fall through her fingers,

And, forgetting her thin silk sleeve and the cold,

She leans in the sunset by a tall bamboo.

Du Fu

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• Imagem: Edgar Degas, Woman at her toilette

«[…] And it seemed to me, too, that the violence which rose all about us as my father left the world had been devised as a corrective for the pride of his eldest son. I had declined to believe in that apocalypse which had been central to my father's vision; very well, life seemed to be saying, here is something that will certainly pass for an apocalypse until the real thing comes along.

I had inclined to be contemptuous of my father for the conditions of his life, for the conditions of our lives. When his life had ended I began to wonder about that life and also, in a new way, to be apprehensive about my own."

in James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son, 1955

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• Knights of Death, 1937, Salvador Dali

"Insani sapiens nomen ferat, aequus iniqui, ultra quam satis est, virtutem si perat ipsam" (Horácio, Epistolas, I.6.15).

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"O sábio já não é sábio, e o justo já não é justo se o amor que professam pela virtude for exagerado."

"The wise man is no longer wise, the just is no longer just, if they seek to carry their love for wisdom or virtue beyond that which is necessary."

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• Foto: Adriana Lima

«No social or economic order is secure if it fails to benefit the majority of those who live under it. From this perspective, we all should have serious concerns about a system whose wealthiest 400 citizens command, as a group, more resources than its bottom billion. Yet we also need to beware of the risks of a severe backlash against globalization, which could significantly curtail the opportunities and benefits of a more closely integrated world.»
Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations

• Foto: Salamis parhassus, Central Africa

• VOZES DO PARLAMENTO EUROPEU

«We really have a very serious problem with the re-entry amendment. We have to conclude that this directive is less than civilised for us in the EU.» Kathalijne Buitenweg, Dutch deputy at European Parlamient

«Some people said it might be beneficial for certain member states in helping to deal with immigration issues, but is there any country here that is not party to international agreements on human rights? Is there any country here that is not party to international conventions against torture?» [...]

«The ECJ could be called upon to give an interpretation of this directive and how it is applicable to community law.» Hélène Flautre, French chairwoman of Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, said during an yesterday´s (Tuesday, 17.06.2008) press conference.

• Dragon´s meal, Boris Vallejo

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

• DADA v. MUKASEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Argued January 7, 2008—Decided June 16, No. 06–1181. 2008

Petitioner, a native and citizen of Nigeria, alleges that he married an American citizen in 1999. His wife filed an I–130 Petition for Alien Relative on his behalf that was denied in 2003. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) charged Dada with being removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act for overstaying his temporary nonimmigrant visa. The Immigration Judge (IJ) denied the request for a continuance pending adjudication of a second I–130 petition, found Dada eligible for removal, and granted his request for voluntary departure under 8 U. S. C. §1229c(b).

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed and ordered Dada to depart within 30 days or suffer statutory penalties. Two days before the end of the 30-day period, Dada sought to withdraw his voluntary departure request and filed a motion to reopen removal proceedings under 8 U. S. C. §1229a(c)(7), contending that new and material evidence demonstrated a bona fide marriage and that his case should be continued until resolution of the second I–130 petition.

After the voluntary departure period had expired, the BIA denied the request, reasoning that an alien who has been granted voluntary departure but does not depart in a timely fashion is statutorily barred from receiving adjustment of status. It did not consider Dada’s request to withdraw his voluntary departure request. The Fifth Circuit affirmed.

Held: An alien must be permitted an opportunity to withdraw a motion for voluntary departure, provided the request is made before expiration of the departure period. Pp. 5–20.

(a) Resolution of this case turns on the interaction of two aspects of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996—the alien’s right to file a motion to reopen in removal proceedings and the rules governing voluntary departure. Pp. 5–12.

(1) Voluntary departure is discretionary relief that allows certain favored aliens to leave the country willingly. It benefits the Government by, e.g., expediting the departure process and avoiding deportation expenses, and benefits the alien by, e.g., facilitating readmission. To receive these benefits, the alien must depart timely. As relevant here, when voluntary departure is requested at the conclusion of removal proceedings, the departure period may not exceed 60 days. 8 U. S. C. §1229c(b)(2). Pp. 5–9.

(2) An alien is permitted to file one motion to reopen, §1229a(c)(7)(A), asking the BIA to change its decision because of newly discovered evidence or changed circumstances. The motion generally must be filed within 90 days of a final administrative removal order, §1229a(c)(7)(C) (1). Although neither the text of §1229c or §1229a(c)(7) nor the applicable legislative history indicates whether Congress intended for an alien granted voluntary departure to be permitted to pursue a motion to reopen, the statutory text plainly guarantees to each alien the right to file “one motion to reopen proceedings under this section,” §1229a(c)(7)(A). Pp. 9–12.

(b) Section 1229c(b)(2) unambiguously states that the voluntary departure period “shall not be valid” for more than “60 days,” but says nothing about the motion to reopen; and nothing in the statutes or past usage indicates that voluntary departure or motions to reopen cannot coexist. In reading a statute, the Court must not “look merely to a particular clause,” but consider “in connection with it the whole statute.” Kokoszka v. Belford, 417 U. S. 642 .

Reading the Act as a whole, and considering the statutory scheme governing voluntary departure alongside §1229a(c)(7)(A)’s right to pursue “one motion to reopen,” the Government’s position that an alien who has agreed to voluntarily depart is not entitled to pursue a motion to reopen is unsustainable. It would render the statutory reopening right a nullity in most voluntary departure cases since it is foreseeable, and quite likely, that the voluntary departure time will expire long before the BIA decides a timely-filed motion to reopen.

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Absent tolling or some other remedial action by this Court, then, the alien who is granted voluntary departure but whose circumstances have changed in a manner cognizable by a motion to reopen is between Scylla and Charybdis: The alien either may leave the United States in accordance with the voluntary departure order, with the effect that the motion to reopen is deemed withdrawn, or may stay in the United States to pursue the case’s reopening, risking expiration of the departure period and ineligibility for adjustment of status, the underlying relief sought.

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Because a motion to reopen is meant to ensure a proper and lawful disposition, this Court is reluctant to assume that the voluntary departure statute is designed to make reopening unavailable for the distinct class of deportable aliens most favored by the same law, when the statute’s plain text reveals no such limitation. Pp. 12–16.

(c) It is thus necessary to read the Act to preserve the alien’s right to pursue reopening while respecting the Government’s interest in the voluntary departure arrangement’s quid pro quo. There is no statutory authority for petitioner’s proposal to automatically toll the voluntary departure period during the motion to reopen’s pendency. Voluntary departure is an agreed-upon exchange of benefits, much like a settlement agreement.

An alien who is permitted to stay past the departure date to wait out the motion to reopen’s adjudication cannot then demand the full benefits of voluntary departure, for the Government’s benefit—a prompt and costless departure—would be lost. It would also invite abuse by aliens who wish to stay in the country but whose cases are unlikely to be reopened. Absent a valid regulation otherwise, the appropriate way to reconcile the voluntary departure and motion to reopen provisions is to allow an alien to withdraw from the voluntary departure agreement.

The Department of Justice, which has authority to adopt the relevant regulations, has made a preliminary determination that the Act permits an alien to withdraw a voluntary departure application before expiration of the departure period. Although not binding in the present case, this proposed interpretation “warrants respectful consideration.” Wisconsin Dept. of Health and Family Servs. v. Blumer, 534 U. S. 473.

To safeguard the right to pursue a motion to reopen for voluntary departure recipients, the alien must be permitted to withdraw, unilaterally, a voluntary departure request before the departure period expires, without regard to the motion to reopen’s underlying merits. The alien has the option either to abide by the voluntary departure’s terms, and receive its agreed-upon benefits; or, alternatively, to forgo those benefits and remain in the country to pursue an administrative motion. An alien selecting the latter option gives up the possibility of readmission and becomes subject to the IJ’s alternative order of removal.

The alien may be removed by the DHS within 90 days, even if the motion to reopen has yet to be adjudicated. But the alien may request a stay of the removal order, and, though the BIA has discretion to deny a motion for a stay based on the merits of the motion to reopen, it may constitute an abuse of discretion for the BIA to deny a motion for stay where the motion states nonfrivolous grounds for reopening. Though this interpretation still confronts the alien with a hard choice, it avoids both the quixotic results of the Government’s proposal and the elimination of benefits to the Government that would follow from petitioner’s tolling rule. Pp. 16–20.

Kennedy, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, JJ., joined. Scalia, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Roberts, C. J., and Thomas, J., joined. Alito, J., filed a dissenting opinion.

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The dissenting opinions can be found here: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/06-1181.ZS.html

• Para os meus patrícios aí nos States atentarem...

• MARTIN LUTHER KING IS AN 'UNSURPASSED ADVOCATE' OF UNITED NATIONS VALUES

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited, last Thursday (8.05.2008), the Atlanta University Center and paid tribute to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Viewing the original papers written by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Atlanta – the city which he called home – Ban Ki-moon said that the values he lived and died for are shared by the United Nations.

“Dr. King remains an unsurpassed advocate of all the United Nations stands for: peace, economic and social justice, and human rights” – Mr. Ban told an audience of dignitaries, students, faculty and members of the UN Association of the United States in the exhibition hall of the Robert W. Woodruff Library, part of the Atlanta University Center.

The Secretary-General said he was especially inspired by the enduring bravery of Rev. King and added that “I will leave here forever impressed by Dr. King’s courage” because “he could see the bridge between the terrible injustices in our world and the noble rightness that humanity can achieve. He spent his life building that bridge and marching across it, from despair to hope, from suffering to salvation, from war to peace and from hate to love”.

With Martin Luther King III and Rev. Bernice King – Rev. Luther King´s sons – in the audience, Ban Ki-moon praised the civil rights leader saying that it´s principles resonates at the United Nations and stands as a path to be followed: “As the United Nations strives to tackle the problems raging our world and to realize the principles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we carry in our hearts Dr. King’s unending courage and his unbending conviction”.

The Robert W. Woodruff Library, at the Atlanta University Center, is the repository of Rev. King´s papers and a Meca for those who are interested in Martin Luther King´s thoughts. Viewing those papers, Ban Ki-moom remembered the link and friendship between Martin Luther King and Ralph Bunche, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs who, in 1950, became the first African-American man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Martin Luther King´s legacy is to be remembered every day, not only is marking days; as much as we must not forgot man like Ralph Bunche – of extraordinary importance on the process of decolonization of African countries and the implementation of a system of peacekeeping in the World – and others who, unfortunately, has been forgotten…

• Video: Franz Schubert´s Avé Maria, Bono (U2) and Luciano Pavarotti

• AT PARTING, Wang Wei
  
  I dismount from my horse and I offer you wine,
  And I ask you where you are going and why.
  And you answer: "I am discontent
  And would rest at the foot of the southern mountain.
  So give me leave and ask me no questions.
  White clouds pass there without end."

~ Luciano Pavarotti & Edita Gruberova, «Rigoletto» - Verdi ~

• LOVE AND DICTATORS
  
  Following Zimbabwe’s elections I remembered of some words in a history book lost somewhere. I looked and found it, just as the Master says. But the book has something else to say than my Master’s advice and I was looking for it.
  
  «[…] “Worshipping a dictator is such a pain in the ass,” complains Ikem Osadi, editor of the National Gazette in Chinua Achebe’s novel, Anthills of the Savannah, published in 1987. His outburst was prompted by the fickle conduct of a president who has grown from false messiah to monster» in The State of Africa, Martin Meredith, London/New York, 2006, p.378.
  
  A dictator thinks he loves his people, but what he really love is the power to look at the mirror and says silently to himself that he loves his people and his people loves him. He never looked at people’s eyes – he doesn’t need it, for he always thinks that there is a bind between him and the people, just as two lovers in an affair in witch one thinks that he is the other’s master.
  
  To love a master lover or worship a dictator is, must be for sure, a big, huge pain in the ass. And nobody wants pain – people need bread and love. Less than that is not enough, never. – Ask me no more to tell you I love you, says the people.

• DISCURSO DO SECRETÁRIO GERAL DA ONU SOBRE O COMÉRCIO DE ESCRAVOS E AS SUAS VÍTIMAS

Secretary-General's remarks to the Commemoration of the «International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade»

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ambassador Mahiga, Chairman of the African Union,

Ambassador Hackett, Chairman of the CARICOM Ambassadors' Caucus, Distinguished Congressman Payne, Mr. Belafonte, Excellencies, colleagues and friends,

I am deeply moved to be with you for this solemn remembrance of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade, one of the greatest atrocities in history. This unparalleled global tragedy claimed untold millions of lives over four centuries, and left a terrible legacy that continues to dehumanize and oppress people around the world to this day.

The forced movement of West Africans across the Atlantic happened on an unprecedented scale of brutality and inhumanity, killings and massive abuses. Millions died without a burial, without a trace.

This chapter in human history is all the more reprehensible because the trade yielded significant prosperity in countries where slavery was perpetrated under colour of law. These States paid no monetary price for their progress, but they incurred a terrible cost in the form of the entrenched racism that we still battle today. The slave trade left an indelible mark, not only because it offended the human conscience, but also because it was a result of a shocking complicity of nations that participated in the name of “commerce” for 400 years.

Considering the enormous historic proportions and impact, it is a cruel irony that little is known about the slave trade. That is why today is so important. We must remember and honour those who spent their lives as slaves, who were defined under laws as nothing more than chattel, property and real estate, who were essentially treated not as humans but as “things”.

The question of how to atone for this crime is difficult to answer. We must acknowledge the great lapse in moral judgment that allowed it to happen. We must urge present and future generations to avoid repeating history. We must acknowledge the contributions that enslaved Africans made to civilization. And countries that prospered from the slave trade must examine the origins of present-day social inequality and work to unravel mistrust between communities.

Above all, even as we mourn the atrocities committed against the countless victims, we take heart from the courage of slaves who rose up to overcome the system which oppressed them. These brave individuals, and the abolitionist movements they inspired, should serve as an example to us all as we continue to battle the contemporary forms of slavery that stain our world today.

In our time, forced labour, sexual exploitation and human trafficking afflict millions of people worldwide, including children toiling under unspeakably abusive conditions. Racism and racial discrimination still take a serious and sometimes deadly toll. We are all shamed by these repugnant crimes. And we are all challenged to respond.

How fitting, therefore, that this historic first International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade falls in the year of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article four of the Declaration tells us, and I quote: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” End quote.

Let us give life to those words. Let us honour the victims of the slave trade by remembering their struggle. Let us carry it forward until no person is deprived of liberty, dignity and human rights.

Thank you very much
New York, March 25, 2008

• 
  
  
  In addition to March 25´s ceremony, the UN is hosting a series of events to mark the Day of Remembrance, including an exhibit entitled “The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo” and a student videoconference on 28 March with students in Sierra Leone, Norway, St. Lucia, Canada, Cape Verde, United Kingdom and UN Headquarters in New York.

• JUST A LITTLE MORE
  
  Justa a little more
  And we shall see the almond threes in blossom
  The marbles shinning in the sun
  The sea, the curling waves.
  Just a little more
  Let us rise a little more higher.
  George Seferis

• THE THOUSANDTH MEN

One man in a thousand, Solomon says.

Will stick more close than a brother.

And it's worth while seeking him half your days

If you find him before the other.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine depend

On what the world sees in you,

But the Thousandth Man will stand your friend

With the whole round world agin you.

'Tis neither promise nor prayer nor show

Will settle the finding for 'ee.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em go

By your looks, or your acts, or your glory.
But if he finds you and you find him,

The rest of the world don't matter;

For the Thousandth Man will sink or swim

With you in any water.

You can use his purse with no more talk

Than he uses yours for his spendings,

And laugh and meet in your daily walk

As though there had been no lendings.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em call

For silver and gold in their dealings;

But the Thousandth Man he's worth 'em all

Because you can show him your feelings.

His wrong's your wrong, and his right's your right,

In season or out of season.

Stand up and back it in all men's sight

With that for your only reason!
Nine hundred and ninety-nine can't bide

The shame or mocking or laughter,

But the Thousandth Man will stand by your side

To the gallows-foot - and after!
Rudyard Kipling

Um homem entre milhão – precisam todos. Aquele que está ao nosso lado em qualquer circunstância. Rudyard Kipling faz referência às palavras de Salomão de «O homem de muitos amigos deve mostrar-se amigável, mas há amigo mais chegado do que um irmão» (Provérbios, XVIII.24).

Mas Salomão não era – como Rudyard Kipling (basta ler O Livro da Selva ou O Homem que Queria ser Rei para perceber isso) –, um optimista; pois tinha tido irmãos como Amon e Abasalão. Com o fardo do poder, cedo aprendeu que o verdadeiro amigo era a sabedoria e não o homem. Como gostaria(mos) que Rudyard Kipling tivesse razão – e que até os lobos pudessem ser amigos do homem!

Salomão não encontrou o seu amigo (e muito menos amiga, a avaliar pelo que diz - já na velhice - no Eclesiastes). Há quem o encontre e o perca por coisas menores – como em «O Homem que Queria ser Rei» de Kipling. E acontece todos os dias. Eram, sem dúvida, homens de outras eras (a alma humana terá piorado com o passar dos tempos?).

Dá saudades destes tempos não não vividos; não dá?

~ O Castigo da Ingratidão Filial, Jean Baptiste Greuze ~

• ITHACA
  
  When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
  pray that the road is long,
  full of adventure, full of knowledge.
  The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
  the angry Poseidon - do not fear them:
  You will never find such as these on your path,
  if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
  emotion touches your spirit and your body.
  The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
  the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
  if you do not carry them within your soul,
  if your soul does not set them up before you.
  
  Pray that the road is long.
  That the summer mornings are many, when,
  with such pleasure, with such joy
  you will enter ports seen for the first time;
  stop at Phoenician markets,
  and purchase fine merchandise,
  mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
  and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
  as many sensual perfumes as you can;
  visit many Egyptian cities,
  to learn and learn from scholars.
  
  Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
  To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
  But do not hurry the voyage at all.
  It is better to let it last for many years;
  and to anchor at the island when you are old,
  rich with all you have gained on the way,
  not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
  
  Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
  Without her you would have never set out on the road.
  She has nothing more to give you.
  
  And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
  Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
  you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.
  Constantinos Cavafys
• Para escutar/listen to: mms://radioterralonge.homeftp.net/radio terra-longe

~ Aires Zíngaros, de Pablo de Sarasate, Sarah Chang (violino) & Berliner Philharmoniker ~

• Porque as coisas belas devem ser compartilhadas.
  

Wang Wei
TO QIWU QIAN BOUND HOME AFTER FAILING IN AN EXAMINATION

In a happy reign there should be no hermits;

The wise and able should consult together...

So you, a man of the eastern mountains,

Gave up your life of picking herbs

And came all the way to the Gate of Gold --

But you found your devotion unavailing.

...To spend the Day of No Fire on one of the southern rivers,

You have mended your spring clothes here in these northern cities.

I pour you the farewell wine as you set out from the capital --

Soon I shall be left behind here by my bosomfriend.

In your sail-boat of sweet cinnamon-wood

You will float again toward your own thatch door,

Led along by distant trees

To a sunset shining on a far-away town. .

...What though your purpose happened to fail,

Doubt not that some of us can hear high music.

DIREITOS HUMANOS EM CUBA

• A ONU, através de Srgjan Kerim, Presidente da Assembleia Geral, anunciou ontem que Cuba assinou dois dos documentos fundamentais da estrutura da ONU de defesa dos Direitos humanos: O Pacto Internacional sobre Direitos Civis e Políticos (PIDCP) e a Convenção Internacional sobre Direitos Económicos, Sociais e Culturais (CIDESC).
  
  Esta decisão deverá ser vista como o primeiro sinal da abertura de Cuba ao sistema Internacional de protecção de Direitos humanos, particularmente dos direitos políticos.
  
• UN General Assembly President, Srgjan Kerim, yesterday welcomed Cuba’s signing of two key United Nations human rights documents: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICPPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
  
  This must be seen as the first sign of political opening of Cuba to International system of Human rights protection, especially of political rights.
• Para escutar: mms://radioterralonge.homeftp.net/radio terralonge classica
  

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF LANGUAGES

THOUSANDS OF LANGUAGES FACE EXTINCTION, UNITED NATIONS WARNS

«The International Year of Languages» kicked off yesterday with a warning from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that more than half the world’s 6,700 spoken languages are threatened with extinction and every two weeks on average one language disappears somewhere around the world.

That’s because, in spite of “being vital carrier of the identity of groups and individuals, languages are not all treated as equals”, UNESCO says. So, according to experts, 96% of languages are spoken by only 4% of the population and globalization does not help language diversity. It may even become a killer of languages.

In a message marking International Mother Language Day, which was also celebrated yesterday, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura stressed the importance of all languages to everyday life.

“Far from being a field reserved for analysis by specialists, languages lie at the heart of all social, economic and cultural life,” he said, explaining that ‘Languages matter!’ is the UNESCO slogan for the International Year of Languages.

The agency held a series of events – v.g., a round table, a seminar, several presentations and an information workshop – at its headquarters in Paris to mark the International Mother Language Day and launch the International Year of Languages.

International Mother Language Day has been celebrated on 21 February each year since 2000, and this year UNESCO said it had placed special emphasis on international instruments and standards that encourage multilingualism. The agency warned that when a language fades, so does a part of the world’s cultural tapestry, adding that globalization is placing many languages under ever greater threat.

“Opportunities, traditions, memory, unique modes of thinking and expression – valuable resources for ensuring a better future are also lost,” UNESCO said in a statement.

Legal instruments such as the «European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages» and the 2003 «Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage» were examined. Linguistic policies put into effect on the African continent, Europe and South America were on the agenda.

People who lives in immigration countries – such as capeverdeans in United States, France or Portugal, should try to promote their mother languages as a right of cultural identity, especially between the new generation of «afro-americans» and «Afro-Portuguese». In the same way, small countries, as Cape Verde, should promote its mother language at schools, institutions and abroad, empathizing its value as a vehicle of culture and identity.

Languages are the basic expression of cultural diversity and it must be preserved as mankinds heritage and memory. It is a duty of every living man and all governments.

~ Magical Maestro (1952), Tex Avery ~

Salvador Dali, O Sonho, 1931

DREAM ANGUISH

My thought of thee is tortured in my sleep--
Sometimes thou art near beside me, but a cloud
Doth grudge me thy pale face, and rise to creep
Slowly about thee, to lap thee in a shroud;
And I, as standing by my dead, to weep
Desirous, cannot weep, nor cry aloud.
Or we must face the clamouring of a crowd
Hissing our shame; and I who ought to keep
Thine honour safe and my betrayed heart proud,
Knowing thee true, must watch a chill doubt leap
The tired faith of thee, and thy head bow'd,
Nor budge while the gross world holdeth thee cheap!

Or there are frost-bound meetings, and reproach
At parting, furtive snatches full of fear;
Love grown a pain; we bleed to kiss, and kiss
Because we bleed for love; the time doth broach
Shame, and shame teareth at us till we tear
Our hearts to shreds--yet wilder love for this!

Maurice Hewlett, Helen Redeemed and Other Poems