Tender and beautiful fronds ,of my beloved plane tree, let Fate smile upon you. May thunder, lightning, and storms never bother your dear peace, nor may you by blowing winds be profaned.

A shade there never was, of any plant, dearer and more lovely, or more sweet.

Zarte und schöne Zweige meiner geliebten Platane,durch euch glänzt das Schicksal.
Donner und Blitz sollen nie euren Frieden verletzen, noch möge es dem wilden Südwind gelingen,
euch zu entweihen. Nie war der Schatten eines geliebten Baumes lieblicher.

Det er svært at vælge, alle de største har sunget den: Jussi Björling, Kathleen Ferrier, Fritz Wunderlich, Beniamino Gigli og Enrico Caruso, men jeg valgte udødelige Kirsten Flagstad. Hvis man vil høre en nyere optagelse, er Cecilia Bartolis og Andreas Scholls gode.

Muslims take Charlie Hebdo magazine to court for “blasphemy”

A Muslim defence association (Ligue de Défense Judiciaire des Musulmans)in France has launched a legal attack on the satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo in Strasbourg for “blasphemy”, the magazine’s lawyer, Richard Malka, declared on Friday.

Made public several weeks ago, this summons to appear in front of Strasbourg Criminal Court was only received this week by the magazine. “Blasphemy” is not a crime in France except in the Alsace-Moselle region, on the border with Germany. Like another action, initiated recently in Paris for Incitement to Racial Hatred, these charges are based on Charlie Hebdo’s front page on 10 July last, whose title was: “The Koran is crap, it doesn’t stop bullets”. Le Figaro og Lexpress via Islam versus Europe

Paul Weston, Jack Buckby and George Whale

Weston er glad for et portræt, jeg tog for syv år siden, kan man se på videoen. Weston taler om et nyligt besøg af den gamle Sovjet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky. Man kan høre ham her Eurosceptic speech by Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky og her The European Union – the New Soviet Union?