Itinera mundi mentisque

BBC NEWS | Europe | Finland makes Latin the King:

BBC News has turned its interst to Latin in Finalnd. Along from other phenomena such as Dr Ammonds Elvis in Latin recordings, the news article discusses the EU Precidency news service broadly. Here are some quotes.

The opening paragraph sets the tone:

Finland is one of the quieter members of the EU. But now its turn at the EU presidency has thrust it into the spotlight - and exposed an unusual passion.

After the precidency website editor has told the site is available in English and French:

But they have their secret language: Conspectus rerum Latinus, or "Latin News in Brief".

The British cannot help picking on the French, can they?

Lurking within the world of EU Latin, which is only marginally more difficult to comprehend than EU English, is one delightful statistic - more people subscribe to the newsletter in Latin than to the one in French.

The article then concludes:

Perhaps Finland wants to dominate the global news agenda in the same way Elvis once dominated the music scene.

Labels: English, Finland, Latin, Lingua latina, Nuntii latini

Posted by Janne at 19:12 | Permalink | Comments

It is the 24 October again, which means we are celebrating the UN Day.

I wish courage and strenght to my former colleagues and all other people working with the Organisation in quest for making the World a better place for everyone!

Labels: English

Posted by Janne at 12:44 | Permalink | Comments

I meant to post this earlier, but forgot to publish. Anyway, the official report of the 'Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor Leste' is finally out.

Read here

Labels: Dili, East Timor, English, Timor-Leste

Posted by Janne at 12:56 | Permalink | Comments

Vaikkei Suomen Euroviisuvoittohuuma saanutkaan jatkoa Nobel-hypestä, Norjan Nobel-komiteaa ei ole syytä mennä heittelemään mädillä tomaateilla. Minusta Muhammad Yunus on todella erinomainen valinta palkinnon saajaksi. Tällä tavoin Nobel-komitea tuo näkyvästi esiin sosiaalisen ja taloudellisen hyvinvoinnin tärkeyden konfliktien estämisessä. Sen sijaan että palkinto olisi perinteiseen tapaan mennyt konfliktien ratkaisijoille, tällä kertaa tunnustuksen sai henkilö ja instituutio, jotka toiminnallaan edistävät rauhaa puuttumalla niihin perussyihin, jotka synnyttävät ja ruokkivat tyytymättömyyttä ja konflikteja.

Labels: Suomeksi

Posted by Janne at 00:23 | Permalink | Comments

I finally managed to read through the whole report. Definitely an interesting read, but I somehow feel it's credibility is compromised by the selectivity of sources used. It mainly draws from CAVR report and a couple of interviews, but many other possible lines of investigation are cut short, resulting in a rather simplistic analysis. The report basically implies that the conflict is a direct result of the rivalties inside the resistance movement.

There is probably a lot of truth in what the report says, but by being selective with the use of available sources, including people who were interviewed, it leaves a lot of room for dispute. Apparently Alkatiri has already done exactly that - he issued a statement completely undermining the whole report. The report also completely ignores the socio-economic conditions that are conducive to such petty rivalries to escalate into a large-scale open conflict.

Labels: Dili, East Timor, English, Timor-Leste

Posted by Janne at 15:10 | Permalink | Comments

This is certainly an interesting read! I skimmed through it very quickly, and it seems to be using very direct language. I'll comment the contents later when I have managed to read it properly.

International Crisis Group - Resolving Timor-Leste’s Crisis

Labels: Dili, East Timor, English, Timor-Leste

Posted by Janne at 07:48 | Permalink | Comments