Aeroplane to Aeroplano

Ovvero, più storte di cosí... Di Jon Cadd (Tradotto e adattato da L. Pavese) Il telefono squillò, e all’altro capo c’era il mio amico Simon Rodger che mi chiamava dal Sudafrica. Aveva avuto qualche guaio con il suo Cessna 185 e, siccome io mi ero specializzato a lavorare su di essi, e avevo insegnato a Simon a pilotare il suo, lui aveva pensato che forse io avrei potuto aiutarlo. Aveva acquistato quel particolare 185 dalla Mission Aviation Fellowship , grazie a uno dei nostri programmi di rinnovamento della flotta. L’aereo era appena uscito da un’officina commerciale, dopo un cambio di registrazione e la sostituzione degli elementi strutturali incrinati del carrello d’atterraggio. Sarebbe stato uno dei primi voli dell’aereo, dopo le riparazioni. C’era una vibrazione nel ruotino di coda, ma l’aereo, secondo Simon, era molto più difficile da pilotare di quanto si ricordasse, e aveva pensato che forse sarebbe stato meglio se avessimo volato un po’ insieme di nuovo, per un ripasso.

    The Libyan War: the absurdity of it is in the numbers.     By Gianandrea Gaiani  (Translated by Leonardo Pavese).                There really wasn’t a need for new revelations to remind us of the absurdity of the Libyan war that, in 2011, led to the killing of Muammar Gaddafi and the fall of his regime. Fomented by the Emirates of the Gulf, headed by Qatar with the support of France, the United States and Great Britain, the war created chaos in Libya - a country that by now has been thoroughly rendered like Somalia, and has fallen in the hands of tribal militias, Islamic terrorists and criminal gangs, exactly like the African Union had warned us. The same war has seriously damaged Italy, forced by her NATO “allies” to intervene against a government with which she had made a Friendship Treaty, and against a country that was her main supplier of oil. In the history of war, this is probably a unique case. As we all remember, the Libyan war also ma

Robert McCall Green of Fear at 0 g. By Roberto Dal Bosco  (Translated from Italian by L. Pavese)   There is a great motion picture in the theaters: Gravity . Just for once, at the top of the box office there is a work of absolute great quality. Gravity is one of the most emotionally stirring movies of recent times. The story tells of the feats of two astronauts who, shipwrecked in orbital space, try in some way to get back to Earth. We should not reveal anything more, to avoid spoiling a movie that deserves to be seen. Although this is a motion picture with a budget of US$ 100 million, the movie --- which is a sort of cosmic chamber play --- features only two actors, George Clooney (very well cast in the role of the gung-ho self sacrificing American) and Sandra Bullock, who, these days, is a little marred by plastic surgery and too much physical exercise but is still able to move the audience as only great actresses can do. The director is Alfonso Cuarón, who is a

THE AFRICAN JIHAD RELIES ON POACHING by Anna Bono (Translated by Leonardo Pavese). In Africa an elephant dies every fifteen minutes. It is a slaughter without precedent. Many of the elephants killed every day are shot down in Kenya’s national parks and natural reserves. Moreover, most of the elephant tusks poached in the other East-African countries flow to the Kenyan port of Mombasa to be loaded clandestinely on ships headed to the Far East. As a result, Kenya is included in the so-called “Gang of Eight,” which comprises the countries deemed to be the main culprits of the extermination: Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya as suppliers of tusks; China and Thailand as buyers (it is estimated that China alone imports 70% of the illegally traded ivory); Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines because they are among the principal smuggling countries. Kenya already pays a dear price for not being able and determined to fight the poaching of the elephants. The price is paid in the form

Per la collana italiana di Segretissimo (che esiste dai primi anni sessanta) è finalmente uscito un libro che ho tradotto dall'inglese. Si tratta della traduzione del romanzo Morning Spy, Evening Spy  di  Colin MacKinnon . A parte la brutta copertina (finiti i bei tempi delle copertine illustrate da Ferenc Pintér ) e vagamente pornografica (che non c'entra niente con la storia) è un bel libro giallo che offre una versione "dietrologica" della mancata cattura di Osama Bin Laden, prima dell'attacco dell' 11 settembre 2001. Il libro è disponibile, in versione elettronica, sul blog di Segretissimo , sul quale potrete anche lasciare un commento. Grazie, L. Pavese.  

If you want to understand the Islamist drift, follow women's soccer. By Gianandrea Gaiani. (Translated and adapted by L. Pavese.)                     There is news that is to remain in the shadow and suffer from low visibility, because it concerns themes that are considered marginal or secondary, though in many cases they reveal much wider trends.     Just to get an idea of how Libya is sinking into the darkness of Islamism, it could be useful to follow...soccer. Tripoli’s sports authorities have forbidden their national women’s team to take part in a tournament that is currently being played in Germany. The Libyan football federation’s reason for its decision was Ramadan.  The team had been forced to practice in secret locations  protected by armed guards due to the threats they had received from Muslim extremists. “The Federation told us that we could not play in Germany because of the fasting,” said  midfielder Hadhoum el-Alabed to the British newspaper The Gu

Neither the Afghan nor the Syrian front create as many problems, in foreign policy, to President Obama's Administration, as the Libyan civil conflict. So, now that the situation in the former Italian colony seems to get out of control, it looks like the U.S. government remembered the special role that Italy has always played in that land: Italy's fourth shore; as someone had called it at time of the Empire. The following article originally appeared, as an editorial, on the Italian on-line magazine Analisi Difesa , and was published here with permission. (Thanks to J.J.P for reviewing the English text). Your comments, as usual. will be greatly appreciated. Now they have the gall to ask for our help. by Gianandrea Gaiani. (Translated from Italian by L. Pavese). “Italy, thanks to the privileged relationship that she has with Libya, could have a crucial role in the stability of that country, and we want to work with Rome.” These were the words of U.S. Sec