(March 12, 2012)
[Please include your first and last names, and your city and state of residence. Thank you.] Following the Orders of her Superiors: Gilles d'Aymery's The Gray Lady And Copyright Insanities (March 2010) To Whom It May Concern, I am the Lorna Henry referenced in this rant by Gilles d'Aymery. I have spent a long time ignoring this post, but it was just brought to my attention again. What I would like to say is simple: I had no control over the rates. I never did, I never will, and neither will any other assistant working there. I do not defend the rates but the rates offered were the non-profit rates. I imagine Gilles would have balked even greater had he been provided our commercial rates. In any case, please take this down. I find it unjust to be persecuted for doing my job and as I do not go to Gilles's place of employment and insist he do things my way, I would appreciate some semblance of consideration for others. This comes up when you search my name, and I don't think I deserve to have a stain on my reputation because I was following the orders of my superiors. I apologize for any inconvenience it may have caused Gilles. Thank you for listening. Best, Lorna Henry New York, NY, USA - March 2, 2012 [ed. Another unhappy person asking us to remove a piece from Swans. Certainly, The New York Times would oblige. Right?] ********** The World of Music has once again lost one of its own -- Lucio Dalla Dear readers of Swans, The music world mourns the death of Lucio Dalla, singer and musician from Bologna, Italy -- his home town -- who died on March 1, 2012. This Italian artist was able to capture for 40 years the imperceptible in everything. We can see the sea and soft murmurs of wind with his melodies. He felt the music of everyday life, of simpleness; one verse of a song of his: l'impresa eccezionale, dammi retta, è essere normale, which means: "but hear me, the real heroism is to be like the common people." How can we recover the cultural world if everything falls into cultural relativism, and even the "sacred cows" into oblivion end of life or death? Thanks, Alessandro Fricano Palermo, Sicily, Italy - March 5, 2012 ********** Italian Conundrum Dear friends, Valley of Susa, an Italian paradise near Turin for more than 20 years, is in big danger. In fact it was decided to build a railway line "TAV" (High Speed Trains -- Treni ad Alta Velocità) from Turin to Lyons, although there was already a normal working connection. Immediately, the valley's residents with other Italian people formed a protest movement that has been fighting since 1995, organizing events to make the Italian people and the government aware of the problems. TAV would create a very high rate of pollution in the valley, both for construction and for harmful gases of the trains, a huge cost (7.5billion euros, at the expense of the Italian state), and the ruin of the beautiful Piedmont landscape. The most worrying thing: in the mountains surrounding the valley there is a hidden accumulation of uranium and asbestos -- extremely radioactive materials -- which, with work for the new railway, would be released, compromising the valley's biological system. Unfortunately, in recent times the activists of the movement "NO TAV" started to act violently and were brutally repressed by the police, who did not hesitate to hit the people, sometimes for no reason -- for example, after peaceful demonstrations. The news are often distorted by the media and the Italian public begins to be against the movement because they believe violence has no reason. The Italian government, without attention to people's danger, decided to approve the new railway system and rejected the request for a referendum. Here, in Italy, you can see how the causes of strong economic powers do not give way to a real democracy. All the best, Elena Belvedere Palermo, Sicily, Italy - March 5, 2012 ********** Young Italians Reacting to Syria's Created Mayhem Dear friends, We wish to express the indignation of Italian students about the tragic Syrian situation. Every day civilians die. A civil war is developing and taking a heavy toll. Bashar el Assad's totalitarian regime crushes every hope of peace, and the international community is not able to find a solution, thinking only to avoid incurring heavy costs. Here's the inhumanity of our "civilized" West... Regards, Serena Caprì and Alessio Salitore Palermo, Sicily, Italy - March 4, 2012 ********** We appreciate and welcome your comments. Please, enter in the subject line of your e-mail "letter to the editor," and specify the article or the subject you are commenting on at the beginning of your e-mail. Also, ***PLEASE,*** sign your e-mail with your name ***AND*** add your city, state, country, address, and phone number. If we publish your opinion we will only include your name, city, state, and country. Send your comments to the Editor. (Letters may be shortened and edited.) |