dilluns, 29 de juny del 2009

Miravet (divendres passat)

Segons com encara és mes perillos portar el tatuatge a l'anima (VAST)

tant perillós és tatuarse com destatuarse (del San Francisco Chronicle)


Bank-robbery suspect ID'd by tattoo

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, June 27, 2009


(06-26) 08:14 PDT CONCORD -- A serial bank-robbery suspect was identified with the help of the mother of his children after she recognized his distinctive tattoo - a dark blotch that covered her name at the request of another woman, authorities said.

Terrol Alan Casborn, 32, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Oakland on Wednesday on charges that he robbed the Mechanics Bank on Concord Avenue in Concord of $19,242 on Aug. 8 and ECC Bank on Sun Valley Boulevard in Concord of $4,508 on Jan. 22.

Casborn pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Oakland on Thursday.

The Mechanics Bank surveillance video showed that the robber had a large, irregularly-shaped "blotch or spot close to the wrist, with what appears to be cursive writing below the blotch, closer to the knuckles," FBI Special Agent Todd Dorman wrote in an affidavit.

A ski mask was found near the scene of both bank robberies, authorities said.

The mask found after the January robbery was analyzed by the San Mateo County sheriff's office crime lab, where criminalists matched the DNA to Casborn, who has previous convictions for resisting arrest, car theft, forgery and passing fictitious checks, authorities said.

On April 14, the FBI interviewed Jolene Allen, the mother of Casborn's four children, Dorman wrote. At one point, Casborn had the name, "Jolene," tattooed on the back of his left hand and the name of their daughter tattooed immediately below it, Allen told investigators.

"Allen knows that Casborn subsequently had the name 'Jolene' covered by a dark tattoo at the request of another woman," Dorman wrote.

Allen recognized Casborn on the two surveillance videos, the FBI said.

Authorities said he is also suspected of robbing two banks in Fairfield and one in Benicia from June to August 2008.

In all five hold-ups, the robber wore a ski mask and was armed with a gun, the FBI said.

Casborn was arrested June 17 .He is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.

Hi havia la versió catalana, però m'he hagut de passar a la espanyola (de El Periódico)


Políticos colombianos proponen una ley de la infidelidad, vetar a los perros en parques y un toque de queda para niños

  1. Mientras, el narcotráfico y la pobreza castigan el país
Rebelión Decenas de personas protestan, junto a sus perros, contra el proyecto municipal de Bogotá. Foto: EFE / LEONARDO MUÑOZ" width="250" height="163">
Rebelión Decenas de personas protestan, junto a sus perros, contra el proyecto municipal de Bogotá. Foto: EFE / LEONARDO MUÑOZ
MAURICIO BERNAL
BOGOTÁ

Se conoció popularmente como la ley de la infidelidad: un proyecto legislativo que pretendía multar con 20 salarios mínimos al colombiano adúltero. Hubo tormenta cuando el senador que tuvo la brillante idea anunció que estaba trabajando en ella, que no era broma y que estaba dispuesto a sacarla adelante, y un pequeño huracán cuando meses más tarde, en abril del 2008, presentó el proyecto ante el Congreso. El fiscal general declaró que no veía a sus hombres «persiguiendo a presuntos infieles», y en la calle la gente empezó a preguntarse si tal vez iban a crear una brigada de funcionarios dedicados a pescar a los amantes con las manos en la masa. Los juristas expertos dijeron que difícilmente pasaría el filtro del Tribunal Constitucional, pero no fue necesario llegar hasta allá: el proyecto fue desechado en la primera votación.
Aquí hay guerrilla, narcotráfico, hay paramilitares desmovilizados y vueltos a movilizar; hay millones de desplazados, violencia en el campo, altos índices de pobreza y un presidente deseoso de perpetuarse en el poder; es Colombia y hay todo eso, y políticos que más o menos se preocupan y hacen leyes para tratar de arreglarlo, o al menos para atenuarlo, y a su lado hay otros, no se sabe por qué, con unas extrañas ganas de trepar a los anales de lo raro, lo exótico o lo directamente absurdo. ¿El inefable espíritu de Macondo? ¿Cosas del país de la banana? Un ejemplo fresco: el proyecto de un concejal de Bogotá para prohibir la entrada de perros y gatos en los parques públicos de la capital. Hace algunos días, centenares de mascotas se manifestaron con sus dueños para lamentarse, reírse y pedir la marcha atrás de ese exabrupto.
Esto no es Noruega
El genio de la segunda brillante idea argumenta que los excrementos de los animales son un peligro para los niños, y afirma que su proyecto no veta la entrada en los parques, solo en las zonas de juego. Y lo dice como si legislara en Noruega, como si lo más natural al salir a la calle fuera encontrar zonas de juego perfectamente delimitadas. No; esto es Bogotá, Colombia, y aquí no hay de eso. Así que los que tienen mascota salieron a quejarse, y al día siguiente el diario El Tiempo –el de mayor circulación– publicó en portada la foto de un labrador negro con un cartel atado al cuello: «¡Amo a los niños! Quiero ir al parque. Por favor. Soy el mejor amigo del hombre». No hay que culpar al dueño. Ni al perro. Las propuestas ridículas generan respuestas ridículas.
En la misma línea absurda está la tercera brillante idea: un proyecto de ley que está en trámite en el Congreso (de momento, sin obstáculos) con el fin de instaurar un toque de queda permanente para los niños colombianos. De salir adelante, los menores de 16 años no podrán estar en la calle entre las diez de la noche y las seis de la mañana, se supone que para evitar la proliferación de pandillas juveniles y poner algo de freno al consumo de alcohol y drogas. El proyecto, por supuesto, ha sido mil veces criticado: columnistas de prensa y militantes de la izquierda han puesto el grito en el cielo y han dicho que es el acabóse, que no se puede prohibir por prohibir. La realidad es que está a punto de ser aprobado.
«Regreso a las cavernas»
Adúlteros, perros, gatos, niños… y también hay un proyecto para vetar la venta de licores alrededor de las universidades (con lo cual cientos de pequeños comercios probablemente quebrarán). Todas son iniciativas que caben bajo el paraguas de lo absurdo, pero hay otro rasgo que las emparenta: son ideas de la derecha. Al país le pesa cada vez más la diestra y por eso el diario El Espectador ha sugerido, con alarma, una especie de «regreso a las cavernas», el surgimiento de «un Estado sobreprotector y ultraconservador» y, sobre todo, de alguna manera, «un simple reflejo del autoritarismo y personalismo que existe en el poder». Y el poder es Álvaro Uribe.
Uribe: el presidente que cita a Dios y a la Virgen más que cualquier pastor estadounidense; el que lleva seis años intentando, en vano, volver a prohibir la dosis personal de droga –despenalizada por el progresista Tribunal Constitucional de los años 90–; el que sorprendió a propios y extraños cuando un día le preguntaron por las relaciones prematrimoniales y contestó: «Hay que aplazar el gustico». No solo es el presidente, sino, parece, una fuente de inspiración. Entre aplazar el gustico y acechar infieles hay poco trecho.

diumenge, 28 de juny del 2009

per menys de 5 dolarots, dents blancs (pintats) el que fà la crisi...


Beauty And The Recession:A Mom's Teeth Whitening Trick

As part of a new series: "Beauty and the Recession" we examine consumer tips for cosmetics

logos

stock photography
Alicia's discovery works wonders for consumers wanting whiter teeth without breaking the bank.

With the recession in full swing, many consumers are turning to the internet to take advantage of special trial offers allowing them to save hundreds of dollars. Alicia, an ordinary, modest mother of two, living near Gilroy, CA is one such consumer. Alicia recently discovered a clever way of combining two different teeth whitening product trials, -- a teeth whitening pen and a teeth whitening kit -- to get one full "super" whitening, comparable to what you might attain at a local dentist for $400 or more. Even more surprising, she used nothing but trial offers where she paid just a few dollars in shipping charges to try these products.

Alicia's story of how she wound up with yellow teeth sounds all too familiar to some:

Well, honestly, I did quite a few things that probably contributed to my dingy teeth. I can't start my day without a tall Latte from Starbucks. And I love a glass of red wine with dinner. I can't claim to have brushed my teeth twice a day every single day, but I honestly think I was pretty good. I never floss even though I know it's important. Finally, I'm embarrassed to say that I missed my dentist appointments for 7 years in a row. I'm sure if I got my teeth cleaned at the dentist regularly it would help. With 2 kids and a such a hectic schedule, who has time to go to the dentist?

About 6 months ago, I looked in the mirror one day and was just shocked at how bad my teeth had gotten. I brushed morning and night using the whitening tooth pastes. I also tried using whitening strips, but nothing worked. I called my dentist to get a quote on a teeth whitening and he said $750! That wasn't even covered by dental insurance.

I'm no doctor or medical expert, but I heard that the quality of the at home kits were improving to the point where they were the same as what dentists used. So I did some research online. I discovered that there were 2 types of at home kits: teeth whitening pens and teeth whitening kits. My idea was that I'd use the teeth whitening pen and the teeth whitening kit together. After all two is usually better than one. After looking around online, my husband helped me find a few special offers (and coupon codes) where you could try these products by only paying a few dollars for shipping. I was able to try both products for less than $5 in shipping charges.

Alicia found products that produced results which were as good as, if not better than what she expected from the dentist. Even better, because these teeth whitening companies are desperate for new customers in this recession, she was able to take advantage of trial offers.

But Alicia didn't stop there - after finding the special trial offers, Alicia made use of the kind of ingenuity many consumers have turned to during this recession, and also looked for special discount codes that reduced the total shipping to under $5 for both products.

Most clever, perhaps, is the fact that combining two different trial products, and using them one after another, allowed Alicia to get what could effectively be described as a "super whitening" without breaking the bank.

I was surprised by the results after the first 3 days – but once I saw my teeth after a week, I was totally blown away ... I knew I was onto something.

The trick is to use TWO trial products that compliment each other TOGETHER to give yourself a whitening that's better than you ever could have expected.

Thank you to Alicia for this week's consumer tip. Alicia has shared her discovery with thousands of people over the internet. If you're interested in using Alicia's trick, we've provided links and coupon code information below. Remember, to get results like Alicia's, you will want to use BOTH products together. The coupon codes reduce shipping costs to under $5 (as of June 27, 2009):

Step 1: Click here for Brite Teeth Pro (Only $2.49 s&h)

Step 2: Click here for Easy White (Only $1.83 s&h)

Would you like to share a consumer tip for next week? If so, please send us an email.

dilluns, 22 de juny del 2009

Anzar (hay que prestar a quien pueda devolver), (si se pagan 40 se pueden pagar 96)

CREE QUE EL REAL MADRID HA HECHO BIEN

Aznar: "Es demagogia las críticas por el precio de Ronaldo"

22/06/09 - 14:16.

El ex presidente del Gobierno José María Aznar ha calificado de "demagogia" las críticas que se están dirigiendo contra el Real Madrid por el precio que está dispuesto a pagar por el fichaje de Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Si hay dinero para pagarlos, me parece bien los fichajes"

Aznar, quien se ha referido a este asunto en una entrevista en Telecinco ha subrayado que se está en un mercado libre y, por tanto, le parece bien que se fiche a los jugadores que se consideren oportunos si hay dinero para pagarlos. "Me parece un poquito de demagogia", ha señalado ante las críticas por el precio y por el hecho de que se haya concedido un crédito al Real Madrid para poder afrontar una operación de estas características.

Sí ha reconocido que puede llamar la atención pagar 96 millones de euros, pero "como se pagan cuarenta por otras cosas", ha señalado. Aznar ha insistido en que lo más importante de la banca es que pueda prestar dinero a quien lo puede devolver, ya que los problemas surgen cuando se presta a quien no puede hacerlo, como ha subrayado que se está demostrando en la actual crisis económica y financiera.

La bomba atòmica que es và perdre abans que la de Almeria (a Savannah, Georgia)

E-mail this to a friend Printable version

Missing for 50 years - US nuclear bomb

By Gerry Northam
BBC Radio 4

Colonel Howard Richardson
Colonel Howard Richardson ditched the bomb off Tybee Island

More than 50 years after a 7,600lb (3,500kg) nuclear bomb was dropped in US waters following a mid-air military collision, the question of whether the missing weapon still poses a threat remains.

In his own mind, retired 87-year-old Colonel Howard Richardson is a hero responsible for one of the most extraordinary displays of aeronautic skill in the history of the US Air Force.

His view carries a lot of weight and he has a large number of supporters - including the Air Force itself which honoured his feat with a Distinguished Flying Cross.

But to others, he is little short of a villain: the man who 50 years ago dropped a nuclear bomb in US waters, a bomb nobody has been able to find and make safe.

'Top-secret flight'

Shortly after midnight on 5 February 1958, Howard Richardson was on a top-secret training flight for the US Strategic Air Command.

It was the height of the Cold War and the young Major Richardson's mission was to practise long-distance flights in his B-47 bomber in case he was ordered to fly from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida to any one of the targets the US had identified in Russia.

Colonel Howard Richardson
We thought maybe it was something from outer space, but it could only be another plane
Colonel Howard Richardson

The training was to be as realistic as possible, so on board was a single massive H-bomb - the nuclear weapon he might one day be instructed to drop to start World War III.

As he cruised at 38,000 feet over North Carolina and Georgia, his plane was hit by another military aircraft, gouging a huge hole in the wing and knocking an engine almost off its mountings, leaving it hanging at a perilous angle.

At his home in Mississippi, Colonel Richardson said: "All of a sudden we felt a heavy jolt and a burst of flame out to the right.

"We didn't know what it was.

"We thought maybe it was something from outer space, but it could only be another plane."

The colonel thought his number was up. His bomber started plummeting to earth and he struggled with the flight deck to get any kind of response.

"We had ejection seats - I told 'em: 'Don't hit the ejection seats just yet. I'm gonna see if we can fly.'"

As he dropped to 20,000 feet, he somehow got the damaged craft under control and levelled out.

He and his co-pilot then made a fateful decision which probably saved both their lives and the lives of countless people on the ground.

B-47 bomber wing
The B-47's engine was left hanging from the plane

Colonel Richardson told me that the decision was instantaneous - and he still has no doubt it was the right thing to do.

They would ditch their nuclear payload as soon as possible in order to lighten the aircraft for an emergency landing and also to eliminate the danger of an enormous explosion when they made their unsteady arrival at the nearest available runway.

"The tactical doctrine for Strategic Air Command gave me the authority to get rid of it (the bomb) for the safety of the crew - that was the number one priority," Colonel Richardson said.

He managed to direct the B-47 a mile or two off the coast of Savannah and opened the bomb doors, dropping the bomb somewhere into the shallow waters and light sand near Tybee Island.

He then managed a perfectly executed descent from which he and his crew walked away unscathed.

The pilot of the other aircraft, an F-86 fighter jet, also survived, after his ejector seat shot him clear of his aircraft.

I've been living with it now for 51 years
Colonel Howard Richardson

Immediately after the crash, a search was set up to find the unexploded nuclear weapon, buried somewhere too close for comfort to the US's second-largest seaport and one of its most beautiful cities.

Numerous other searches have followed, both official and unofficial, and each of them has also proved unsuccessful.

So the bomb remains tucked away on the sea-bed, in an area which is frequently dredged by shrimp fishermen, any one of whom could suddenly find that they have netted something a touch larger and scarier than a crustacean.

How dangerous the bomb is after all these years is a matter of hot debate.

The US Air Force insists it is safest to leave it wherever it is, and Colonel Richardson is adamant that it is incapable of a nuclear explosion because it lacks the vital plutonium trigger.

'Practice mission'

He said these were routinely left out of the bombs used on training flights.

"This was just a practice mission. We were continually working out any problems, that's why we had to practise - we wanted to be perfect," he said.

But his case has been vigorously contested by opponents who raise apocalyptic fears of a thermonuclear explosion which could destroy much of the US eastern seaboard.

Fears have also been expressed that the bomb could be located and recovered by a terrorist group, and are even some who believe that may already have happened.

For Colonel Richardson, the event which shaped his life has not ended quite the way he thought it would.

"I've been living with it now for 51 years.

"We had an accident and I landed the aircraft safely... I did get a Distinguished Flying Cross from a general for that.

"I thought that would be the story. That's not the story - everything's about the nuclear weapon."

Hear more from Gerry Northam on Broken Arrow, broadcast on Radio 4 at 2000 BST, Monday 22 June.

diumenge, 21 de juny del 2009

Vicente Ferrer


He seguit les noticies sobre la mort d'aquest venerable home, he de dir que no n'havia sentit a parlar mai, fins fà un parell d'anys en que vaig fer un viatge a la India, i em vaig trobar amb diverses alternatives per fer un viatge amb un "toc" de turisme solidari.
Desde aleshores m'he anat trobant amb diferents vaitgers que van fer el "tour" de la India amb parada a la Fundació.
Entenc que un occidental que arriba fà 40 anys a la India, amb la missió d'evangelitzar els nadius d'aquelles terres, rebi un "shock" colossal (de fet el mateix que et passa avui anant-hi sols per motius turístics). La feina que els media ens expliquen sobre el que ha aconseguit la Fundació Vicente Ferrer a Anantapuhr em sembla encomiable.
El que trobo curiós és que totes les noticies sobre la seva mort sols les tenim en la premsa espanyola, ni el New York Times, ni la Repubblica, ni Le Monde, ni el Times of India, en fan la mínima menció. Si hi cerqueu Ferrer o Vicente Ferrer, trobareu referencies a futbolistes i tenistes... Res més.
Una cerca "global" a Google no et dona gaire més resultats "internacionals"
Entenc que la India és un continent tan gran com perqué passin desapercebudes vides com aquestes. Sols m'estranya el contrast del eco local.

Jà tocava una bona noticia (de La Vanguardia)

21 DE JUNIO DE 2009

Barcelona
Barcelona recupera el mític Bar Velódromo
overlay

El Bar Velódromo tornarà a obrir les seves portes el proper 6 de juliol. Aquest diumenge l'alcalde de Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, ha fet una obertura simbòlica d'aquest local que data de 1933 - Albert Domènech


per cert (ara que em miro el video) , la Violeta la Burra s'ens fà vella

dissabte, 20 de juny del 2009

Enfonsament demogràfic a l'est.

IL MANIFESTO BLOG
notizie dall'ex impero del male a cura di Astrit Dakli
Crollo demografico in Russia e Ucraina
  • I più recenti dati statistici diffusi dalle autorità ucraine in materia di demografia sono estremamente allarmanti. Nel solo 2008 la popolazione ucraina è diminuita di ben 229.000 unità per eccesso dei morti e degli emigrati sui nati vivi, ed è scesa per la prima volta dal 1970 sotto i 46 milioni di abitanti. Nel 1992, anno di massimo sviluppo demografico nella storia del paese, l’Ucraina aveva 52 milioni di abitanti, dunque la perdita è stata di oltre sei milioni in 16 anni. Quel che è peggio, la tendenza al calo demografico sta accelerando e se non interverranno fattori nuovi in controtendenza gli esperti prevedono che per la metà del secolo (2050) la popolazione ucraina non supererà i 30 milioni di abitanti. Negli ultimi due-tre anni il relativo boom economico aveva fatto sperare in una inversione di tendenza anche in campo demografico, ma la crisi piombata sul paese come nel resto del mondo a metà 2008 ha dato un severissimo colpo a queste speranze – anzi, fa ritenere che il trend potrebbe a questo punto perfino peggiorare, anche perché legato alla perdurante incertezza politica e all’altalenare della collocazione internazionale del paese. Con tutto ciò che questo significa in termini di aspettative concrete degli abitanti circa il proprio futuro e il contesto della propria vita: già l’indipendenza e la fine dell’inserimento dell’Ucraina nel contesto dell’Unione sovietica hanno prodotto, a distanza di neppur due anni, l’avvio di una spirale discendente nella natalità che non si è ancora fermata a tutt’oggi.

    Manifesto pro-natalità in Russia

    Manifesto pro-natalità in Russia

    Un discorso simile si potrebbe fare anche per la Russia, che nel 1992 aveva poco meno di 149 milioni di abitanti e nel 2008 è scesa a poco meno di 142 milioni, con una perdita di sette milioni in sedici anni: ma nel caso russo i fattori in gioco sono piuttosto diversi, e anche i numeri hanno un significato diverso: tanto per cominciare, in questi sedici anni l’emigrazione dalla Russia è stata proporzionalmente molto minore che in Ucraina (e concentrata soprattutto nei primi tre-quattro anni), mentre la differenza negativa tra morti e nati vivi è stata più forte; in secondo luogo, negli ultimi anni soprattutto c’è stato un certo aumento delle nascite (nel 2008 c’è stato il dato più alto di tutto il periodo) grazie anche a una politica di forti incentivi per le madri che mettono al mondo il secondo figlio, ma non si è per nulla invertito il drammatico trend della mortalità che colpisce la popolazione maschile adulta per via dello “stile di vita” (alcol, fumo, violenza, stress lavorativo) oltre che per le condizioni economiche in cui una parte consistente del paese si trova ancora; e infine in Russia, a differenza che in Ucraina, è presente un forte afflusso di immigrati da altri paesi che però vengono solo in piccola parte registrati e contati tra la popolazione. Le previsioni degli esperti per gli anni a venire sono catastrofiche: il paese potrebbe ancora, di qui al 2050, ben 34 milioni di abitanti, scendendo sotto i 108 milioni per la metà del secolo: a meno che le politiche complessive del governo – in materia sanitaria e di welfare – non incomincino ad agire sulla mortalità, oltre che sulla natalità, facendo tornare a livelli “normali” l’attuale aspettativa di vita dei russi (73 anni per le donne e solamente 59 per gli uomini). E a meno che non si incomincino a considerare “cittadini” a pieno titolo anche gli immigrati.

di a. d.
pubblicato il 18 giugno 2009
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Penjar les botes?


MODA URBANA

Tarragona recupera 34 pares de zapatos colgados en cables eléctricos

Esta moda urbana importada de Estados Unidos está causando furor en las calles

SARA SANS | Tarragona | 20/06/2009 | Actualizada a las 03:40h | Ciudadanos

Atar por los cordones un par de zapatos y lanzarlos al aire hasta lograr engancharlos en loscables eléctricos o telefónicos de las calles está causando furor en Tarragona. Esta moda, que al parecer, nació en Estados Unidos hace años y se ha extendido por numerosas ciudades de todo el mundo, lleva de cabeza a la brigada municipal. Sólo durante la semana pasada se retiraron 34 pares de zapatos de calles y avenidas de toda Tarragona. Hasta hace unos meses, los zapatos recuperados iban directamente a la basura. Ahora, el Ayuntamiento se plantea donar las que están en buen estado a una entidad benéfica, como Càritas.

Zapatillas deportivas, calzado de montaña, botas de hombres y de mujeres, botines… hay calzado de todo tipo. Algunos gastados, otros prácticamente nuevos. “Entre las llamadas de los vecinos y la lista que va elaborando la empresa de limpieza, vamos haciendo barridos y retirando zapatos”, explica Antonio Rodríguez, concejal de mantenimiento y espacios públicos. El fenómeno se remonta a un año atrás, “pero entonces había un par o dos de zapatos al mes, sin embargo, desde hace unas semanas, se ha disparado”, reconoce Rodríguez. Hasta tal punto ha proliferado, que ahora, en las dependencias de las brigadas municipales se guardan los zapatos. “Nos sabe mal tirarlos y queremos donar los que están en buen estado”, añade Rodríguez.

A falta de una explicación oficial y sin pistas sobre quién o quienes se dedican a lanzar los zapatos al aire hasta engancharlos en los cables, el fenómeno se ha convertido en tema habitual de tertulia en la ciudad. La acción se produce de noche cuando no hay tráfico y en todo tipo de vías: desde peatonales, hasta calles tan comerciales como la intersección de Unió con la Rambla Nova, la plaza Imperial Tarraco o incluso en la N-340. “Se trata de una acción simbólica para dejar una huella, marcar territorio y se ha producido un efecto de mimetismo”, mantiene Estanis Pastor, catedrático de Psicología de la URV. Desde hace unos días, incluso cuelgan de la calle Girona, junto a la Rambla Nova, dos revistas atadas con un hilo de nailon. Interpretaciones para este fenómeno global bautizado como shoe flinging no faltan: desde indicar que en la zona no hay vigilancia policial, una gamberrada o una simple moda juvenil.

divendres, 19 de juny del 2009

Del Lusaka Times (sembla que passa sovint, però tenen "healers" que ho arreglen en un periquete).

Home » Rural News »
Girl with miraculous male genitals recovering

* Friday, August 1, 2008, 3:00
* Rural News
* 358 views
* 109 comments

A GRADE nine female pupil of a named school in Ntantumbila area of Nakonde district in Northern Province who woke up to a rude shock last week when she discovered that her private parts had turned into those of a male person, is responding well to treatment.

Mulalo MMD ward councilor Luka Simusamba told Zambia News and information Services [ZANIS] in Nakonde today that the named girl was responding well to treatment and her condition was slowly reversing.

Mr Simusamba said the girl, who had difficulties in walking, was now slowly beginning to walk normally.

“I want to confirm to you that the condition of the girl who woke up to a rude shock last week on Monday when she discovered that her private parts had turned into those of a man, is steadily responding well to treatment,” Said Simusamba.

He added that the girl is now able to walk and the pain she had is slowly diminishing.

Mr Simusamba said the girl, who is still receiving treatment from a local traditional healer in the area, would soon be going back to her parents.

He said the male organs, which the girl developed were slowly disappearing, adding that it was hoped that immediately the male organs had fully disappeared, the original female organs which miraculously disappeared would re-appear.

The civic leader also disclosed that a similar thing occurred in Ntantumbila last year, saying the victim is now normal, married and has a child.

And the victim told ZANIS at the traditional healer’s house today that she was responding well to treatment.

She said the male organs were slowly disappearing, adding that she was optimistic that her condition would fully change for the better by the week-end.

The girl discovered that her sexual organs had changed to those of a male person when she went to have a bath before going to school.

She was immediately rushed to the traditional healer where she has been receiving treatment since Monday morning last week.

The girl has maintained that she has not been seeing any married person who could be the cause of her unusual experience as some people have been speculating, adding that she still cannot understand why such a thing was happening to her.

The traditional healer treating the school girl promised to talk to the press when the girl fully recovers.

The school girl sent shocking waves in the area last week when she discovered that her private parts had miraculously turned into those of a male person.

Mr Simusamba said people of Ntantumbila and the surrounding areas were shocked with this development which he suspected to be the acts of evil spirits.

Some elderly people talked to in the area, however, said such occurrences were common, especially among people who were in the habit of having affairs with married men or women.

ZANIS/JM/ENDS/EB
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dijous, 18 de juny del 2009

signalèctica (diría que es diu així)

General Motors = Government Motors

Ficcionario del español

A 2 dies del tancament del plaç de presentar (i votar) paraules inventades, segueixo a O vots
ZOOSOBRA: Posición definidamente clara respecto a los museos de animales vivientes.

Enviado por Pratinsky, de Blogosfera el Sábado, 6/6/2009 11:22.

Tendopoli (les "vacances" al camping de la costa dels afectats de L'Aquila encara duren.)


LA LETTERA / Un residente dell'Aquila, sfollato sulla costa va a trovare un cugino
ospite di un camping a Tortoreto. E gli chiedono 5 euro per l'ingresso
"Io, terremotato, devo pagare
per entrare nel campeggio"
La struttura che ospita, ovviamente, è rimborsata dallo Stato
Episodi analoghi denunciati da diverse altre persone

"Io, terremotato, devo pagare per entrare nel campeggio"

Il camping Salinello di Tortoreto
"Scrivo alla Vs redazione sperando che almeno voi possiate dare voce a chi sta diventando sempre più invisibile, a dispetto delle belle notizie che vogliono far trapelare. L'episodio che sto per raccontare è ovviamente accaduto in presenza di testimoni.

14 giugno 2009. Ore 15 circa. Insieme alla mia ragazza, mi reco al campeggio Salinello di Tortoreto per andare al compleanno di suo cugino. Siamo tutti residenti a L'Aquila e domiciliati sulla costa a seguito del terremoto del 6 aprile scorso.

Come le volte precedenti, entro alla reception pronto a dare il documento, per ricevere in cambio il bracciale di riconoscimento per poter circolare liberamente all'interno dell'impianto.

Questa volta, però, la signorina chiede gentilmente di "pagare l'ingresso". Al mio primo stupore, segue la domanda: "Ingresso? Non sono venuto a fare le vacanze. Siamo tutti sfollati e noi vogliamo solo entrare per visitare un vostro ospite, un nostro parente, sfollato come noi. Altre volte non avete chiesto che i documenti. Cosa è cambiato? E perché?".

La signorina si impappina e mi guarda stralunata. Non voglio litigare, quindi chiamo la madre della mia ragazza che è domiciliata al Salinello. Arriva la signora ma non c'è verso di fare capire alla signorina della reception che se siamo lì non è per una gita di piacere, né per la tintarella. C'è addirittura un padre (sempre sfollato, ovviamente) che dovrà pagare per andare a trovare il figlio per il suo compleanno. Niente.

Cominciano ad alzarsi i toni e alle nostre proteste nel sentirci dire che i domiciliati sono liberi di uscire per incontrarsi con chi vogliono, seguono sconcertanti frasi dal tono vagamente umiliante: "Ma vi ci trovate tanto bene nella parte?". Personalmente trovo schifoso il comportamento della direzione, lo concretizzo con un "dovreste solo vergognarvi!" ed esco. Morale della favola: 10 euro per una visita di due persone (che, per la cronaca, può durare anche un'ora, ma sempre quello è il prezzo).

Mi chiedo quante volte alcune strutture vogliono fare cassa, per l'"ospitalità" che "offrono". Una volta dallo Stato e una volta dagli stessi terremotati. Mi chiedo chi sono i veri sciacalli. Mi chiedo persino se non siamo troppo fessi noi che ci facciamo trattare così.

Mi chiedo chi dovrebbe tutelare delle persone che oltre alla casa, agli affetti, al lavoro, stanno perdendo persino il rispetto degli altri.

Mi chiedo: se a soli due mesi dalla tragedia la cosidetta solidarietà è scesa a livelli così infimi, cosa succederà questo inverno?

Mi chiedo tante cose ma la sola cosa che riesco a sentire è solo la voce di una signorina che chiede se mi piace così tanto calarmi in questa parte e vorrei che lei e tutti quelli come lei potessero per un solo secondo ascoltare quello che abbiamo sentito una notte di poco più di due mesi fa. Vorrei farle piovere addosso di colpo giornate passate davanti a un sito internet.

Giornate, settimane, mesi... ad aspettare che venisse pubblicata la propria casa come agibile perché, a noi, come a migliaia come noi, il sole e il mare possono scaldare la pelle, ma non il cuore. Vorrei farle vedere i nostri luoghi. Diventati posti sfigurati e irriconoscibili, brulicanti di gente venuta da fuori, che non conosce e non ci conosce. Vorrei farle provare per un attimo quello che siamo stati, quello che siamo e quello che saremo, per chissà quanto altro tempo.

Non so quanto dovrà fare L'Aquila per rinascere, ma senz'altro dovrà volare molto più in alto di certe meschinità.

Grazie infinite per il Vs prezioso aiuto e per il lavoro che svolgete".

Stefano Falone
Ricercatore precario

(18 giugno 2009) Tutti gli articoli di cronaca

A 100 Km de casa, desde abril, segons Berlusclown seríen unes "curtes" vacances de camping.

dimecres, 17 de juny del 2009

dimarts, 16 de juny del 2009

Sacha Baron Cohen desembarca a Paris

Transliteració o transcripció?

Iran, folla al corteo vietato
Sparatorie, c'è un morto
Moussavi chiede "nuove elezioni". Centinaia di migliaia di persone (FOTO) sfilano a Teheran, c'è anche il leader (foto). Colpi di arma da fuoco in tre distretti della capitale. Usa "preoccupati" / Commenta
SPECIALE REP TV / LIMES / VIDEO AMATORIALE
FOTO SCONTRI / FESTA AHMADINEJAD / MONDO
Twitter, video, blog anti-censura di F. FESTUCCIA / BLOG

dilluns, 15 de juny del 2009

Forbes (reduint despeses) del New York Times


Even Forbes Is Pinching Pennies


By DAVID CARR
Published: June 14, 2009
With its yearly list of the most fabulously wealthy and legion of articles lionizing business leaders, Forbes magazine has long been a synonym for riches, success and a belief that business, left to its own devices, will create a better world.



Steve Forbes appeared on the November 2008 cover with a defense of capitalism.



If there ever was a bad time to be named Forbes — and there probably is not — now might qualify. Their signature magazine, founded on the words of Bertie Charles Forbes, “Business was originated to produce happiness,” is struggling in an age of financial misery.

Although circulation has been basically stable at about 920,000, the average price per issue on subscriptions has been dropping steadily, which means Forbes — like a lot of magazines — is fighting to hang on to its subscribers.

Ad pages are down 15 percent in the first quarter, compared with the period a year earlier. Forbes.com, one of the top five financial sites by traffic, throws off an estimated $70 million to $80 million a year in revenue, but never yielded the hoped-for public offering.

The company, historically benevolent to employees, has ceased matching contributions to its 401(k) program. Out of its 1,000 employees, it has laid off about 100 since November, including 20 people in January, and has announced an unpaid five-day furlough for employees.

In 2006, 40 percent of the enterprise was sold to Elevation Partners, a private equity firm, for a reported $300 million, setting the value of the enterprise at $750 million. According to Mark M. Edmiston of AdMedia Partners, “it’s probably not worth half of that now.”

Forbes’s misery certainly has plenty of company among its competitors. Ad pages have declined even more at Fortune and BusinessWeek. Revenue figures from the Publishers Information Bureau, a generally inflated index, listed revenue of over $338 million for Forbes, $276 million for Fortune and $236 million for BusinessWeek.

Forbes’s competitors have had significant layoffs as well. Many magazine industry experts expect that Portfolio, Condé Nast’s costly and abortive effort to gain a foothold in the category, will not be the last business magazine felled by the current recession.

Dennis Kneale, a former managing editor at Forbes who now works at CNBC, suggests that the magazine will be tested as it never before has been.

The brothers Steve and Tim Forbes, the third generation to run the magazine, “have never been through anything like this, and they will find out if they have the management talent on hand to publish a magazine in this environment,” Mr. Kneale said.

In a conference room in their Manhattan headquarters, Tim and Steve Forbes conceded that the last year had been a difficult one for a magazine marketed as the “Capitalist Tool.” But, sitting side by side in room dappled with all the iconography of wealth — pictures of a yacht, several estates and the men who acquired them — they also said that, while the economy may cycle, what it means to be a Forbes does not.

“On many occasions, we’ve been materially out of sync with the prevailing wisdom of the moment and where the world was,” said Tim Forbes, the president and chief operating officer of the company, which is privately held. “The tide seemed to be going the other way, but we don’t change our fundamental view.”

But the downturn — both in the economy and in the Forbes philosophy — is felt particularly sharply here. Often thought of as a wealthy family that happens to own a magazine, the family is actually wealthy precisely because it owns a magazine, and the business decline of the magazine comes right out of the family’s pockets. And there is another generation that expects to inherit more than a once-gilded family name.

So while the Forbeses’ view on making money may not have changed, their view on spending has.

Until his death in 1990, the brothers’ father, Malcolm S. Forbes, embodied living large. There were hot-air balloons, a palace in Tangiers, an island in the Pacific, Fabergé eggs, an extensive art collection, a Boeing 727 (also christened the “Capitalist Tool”) and a 151-foot yacht named “The Highlander” as homage to the family’s Scottish roots. As young men, his four sons would play the bagpipes to welcome guests — mainly prospective advertisers — aboard.

In the last few years, the palace and island have been sold. A collection of tin soldiers was put on a forced march, $27 million worth of Victorian art was peddled, the eggs were bought by a Russian oligarch, and the jet is gone. They still have the yacht, but the crew has been let go and it has been docked in Miami.

“We thought it would be inappropriate in this environment to run around in the boat,” said Tim Forbes. “So it seemed like a natural thing to put it on hiatus.”

In 2007, the family even tried to sell the company’s ornate headquarters on Fifth Avenue and move to a less fancy address, but the souring real estate market stopped them.

Malcolm Forbes made working at the magazine seem like a kind of mad caper. His sons share the congenital optimism, but the magazine was deeply invested the dot-com boom. After that burst and now the credit crisis, working at Forbes could seem more like a grind.

“Everyone here likes the magazine, the people who run it, and most of us believe in the mission,” said one editorial employee who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak with a reporter. “But that sense of mission is sort of hard to sustain when most of the news is bad. Capitalism is a less sexy topic for everyone, including us.”

Leonard Lauder, chairman of Estée Lauder Companies, has known the family for some time and said that the Forbeses are a reflection of a shift in the culture. “Malcolm Forbes lived life to the fullest and took obvious pleasure in his wealth and influence, but the sons are living in very different times,” he said.

And they are very different men. While his father swanned about in the company of Elizabeth Taylor, Steve Forbes has a lifelong crush on federal fiscal policy. Even after two failed single-issue presidential bids, he will embark on long soliloquies about the flat tax. In November last year, he appeared on the cover of the magazine over a headline, “How Capitalism Will Save Us.”

“When things go your way, it’s easy to think you’re a genius,” said Steve Forbes.

Tim Forbes is Steve’s opposite in many ways — chatty and personable with a soft spot for the latest in rock music. Since his brother became involved in politics, he has run the day-to-day operations of the magazine.

“Look, at times like these, you might wish you’d done something else,” he said. “But the trick is to get through it and put yourself in a position so that as things recover, which they will, you can take advantage of it.”

It should be remembered that while Forbes magazine epitomizes self-made success, it does not like to show the sweat on anyone’s brow. B. C. Forbes began the magazine in 1917 by using most of his $25-a-week salary as a financial columnist to rent a suite at the Waldorf-Astoria to bump knees with the captains of industry and begin publishing a magazine.

The gambit worked, but during the Depression, the magazine suffered along with the rest of the economy, leaving the founder to pay employees out of his earnings as a newspaper columnist.

But the magazine eventually prospered and the family along with it. In 1954, B. C. Forbes died, and his first son, Bruce, became president while the second, Malcolm, took over as editor in chief. Under Malcolm Forbes’s hand, the magazine flourished almost as a religious tract. It still is ferociously free market, unapologetic and given to outré displays of the spoils of success — traits that seem acutely out of step in 2009.

Fran Lebowitz, the author who was friendly with the father and continues that friendship with the sons, says that the Forbeses still believe in their own message.

“Rich people always have to believe that government is the problem and that they have the answer,” she said. “The boys are much less playful than the father. They have less fun, but they certainly share his view of business.”

It is not as if the family’s back is against the wall financially, even after having divested many of the assets. The company is expanding aggressively abroad through licensing agreements that export the Forbes way.

Steve Forbes recently returned from opening up a Forbes magazine in India, bringing the number of foreign editions to 10. In addition, this year the company began publishing ForbesWoman, a quarterly magazine with a companion Web site.

Mortimer B. Zuckerman, the owner of The Daily News in New York, thinks the franchise and the aspiration that drives it will survive, as long as the market rebounds. “There is still a lot of aspiration out there, which the Forbeses have tapped into. The question for them, for a lot of people in publishing, is can we last until things turn around?”

Fewer Americans may share the Forbeses’ aspirations now, although Ms. Lebowitz certainly disagrees.

“Oh, please, Americans do not hate the rich; they want to be them,” she said. “Every American believes that they are the impending rich, and that will never change.”

dissabte, 13 de juny del 2009

i aquest és de France Football

Manchester United a-t-il raison de vendre Cristiano Ronaldo au Real Madrid pour 93 millions d'euros ?
Oui
75%
Non
23%
Ne se prononce pas
2%

Opinió dels italians, també van encertar el guanyador de la Champions (del Corriere )

Ronaldo è il più costoso, ma chi è il più forte?

*

Messi
45.4%

*

Kakà
20.5%

*

Ibrahimovic
19.5%

*

Ronaldo
14.7%


Numero votanti: 6533
I sondaggi online di Corriere.it non hanno un valore statistico, si tratta di rilevazioni non basate su un campione elaborato scientificamente. Hanno l'unico scopo di permettere ai lettori di esprimere la propria opinione sui temi di attualità. Le percentuali non tengono conto dei valori decimali. In alcuni casi, quindi, la somma può risultare superiore a

Montjuic i les banderes del castell




Aquest matí passejant en bici per Montjuic (quina sort tenir-lo tant a prop), m'he fixat en un tema que recordo haver-ne sentit parlar en els darrers anys. Penso que el exercit cedía el castell a la ciutat, i es desmilitaritzava. Si no em falla la memòria el alehores ministre Bono es negava a que es retirés la bandera espanyola, o potser a que es situes en termes d'equitat amb el reste de banderes que s'hi poguessin afegir... (Catalana, la de la ciutat ((urbana?)), europea, etc). Donç be, tot i que la façana principal mostra els quatre pals en igualtat, cap a la zona del Morrot, just a sobre del antic far i en un espai que sembla com un conglomerat d'antenes, em trobo aquesta "rojigualda" solitaria... (s'ha de dir que el vent no acompanyava, i que tot i ser gran, no té res a veure amb la de la Plaza de Colón de Madrit. (Clicar les imatge per guanyat ressolució).

divendres, 12 de juny del 2009

Florentino (del Guardian)


*

Money no object as Pérez fast-tracks his rebuilding of Real

Florentino Pérez is wasting no time in piecing together his second team of galácticos as he tries to revive the Real 'brand'



Four days, two world records and €150m spent. Crisis, what crisis? Recession is something that happens to other people, not Real Madrid. On Monday, they signed the 2007 Ballon d'Or and Fifa World Player winner Kaka for €67.5m. Today they had an £80m (€93m) bid accepted for Cristiano Ronaldo, the 2008 Ballon d'Or and Fifa World Player winner. Florentino Pérez's second coming at Real Madrid looks much like the first, only on fast-forward.

We have been here before. During Pérez's first spell as president at the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid boasted – and boasted is the word – four winners of the Ballon d'Or: Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and Michael Owen. None of them won the award for what they achieved in a Madrid shirt; they pulled on a Madrid shirt because they had won the award. It was as if France Football was doing Madrid's scouting for them.

Pérez has now paid the four highest transfer fees of all time. He used to buy a star a summer. Now, he has bought two at once and this is likely to be just the start. The model has not changed but the urgency has. This is a kind of galácticos-express; a drive-thru version of what went before. Pérez insists that Madrid must "do in one year what we would normally do in three".

On the face of it that means at least another superstar. With Ronaldo secured, Franck Ribéry seems to have taken a step away from the Bernabéu, Perez last night admitting that "as Bayern Munich do not want to sell, we will respect that". But Madrid do want another big name signing and, although he only bought one Spaniard during his last mandate – Sergio Ramos from Sevilla for €27m – Perez has talked of providing a national spine to the side. David Villa fits both categories.

Pérez has intimated that Madrid need to buy as many as six or seven players and is prepared to spend around €300m – €50m more than Chelsea spent in 2003, the most lavish of summers under Roman Abramovich. Last time, there was an evolution; this time there will be a revolution.

When Pérez took over in 2000, Madrid had just won the European Cup. Signing by signing, departure by departure, with each passing year the team became more his own. When Pérez took over this time, Madrid had just finished nine points behind Barcelona and been eliminated from the Champions League at the first knockout stage for the fifth successive season. This time he wants it to be his team immediately. There is certainly work to be done. And quickly.

But it is less about building a team, more about building an identity, a brand. Pérez has talked rather less about Madrid's football than he has about recovering "their place in the world". Today there is no doubt that they are the centre of attention all over the planet.

He has talked less about the footballing model as an economic one. His vision now is the same one as underpinned the galácticos project – a vision so graphically demonstrated by the signing of David Beckham. The Englishman was always deeply uncomfortable with suggestions that he was only there to sell shirts, but it was his iconic status, not his crossing ability, that truly seduced Pérez.

Lessons must surely have been learnt from the failure of the original galácticos, even if the only mistake Pérez has admitted to publicly was walking away. But the framework is non-negotiable. Even the director-general Jorge Valdano, so often portrayed as a paragon of football purity, has spoken of the game as an entertainment industry. Having gone on about the strategic value of Kaka in one recent interview, Valdano hastily added: "He has an important footballing value too."

That model explains why Pérez believes Madrid can afford to spend €300m. In fact it helps to explain why he believes Madrid cannot afford not to spend €300m. As they were when Pérez last came into power, Madrid are in debt. In 2000, the figure was €278m; now, according to research by José María Gay at Barcelona University, the figure could be as high as €500m. Last time Pérez sold the club's training ground for €447.7m (around £298 at the time), using the money to clear the debt and finance transfers. This time he has secured a deal with the Catalan bank La Caixa.

Short-term credit provides cash flow to buy players, just as Madrid hope that player sales will do. Long-term stability comes, or so the theory goes, from buying star players who increase the club's value as a brand. After all, over 40% of the club's income comes from marketing. "The cheapest player I ever signed was Zidane," Perez says. "Signing stars is not spending money, it is investing it."

He once claimed Madrid's annual income had doubled in three years from 2000 to 2003. And while some question the figures, not least the Barcelona director and economist Xavier Sala i Martin, one study suggests that Ronaldo and Kaka could bring an additional £107m a season to Madrid in revenue. "You buy big players because they pay you back," Valdano says. And he doesn't mean in goals.

dijous, 11 de juny del 2009

Robert Crumb i la creació


Dios como guionista de cómic
Robert Crumb, leyenda de la historieta, reaparece con una ácida versión del 'Libro del Génesis' - El creador de Mr. Natural ha invertido cuatro años en la obra

IKER SEISDEDOS - Madrid - 11/06/2009



En el principio dibujó Robert Crumb los cielos y la tierra. La última obra del padre del cómic underground estadounidense consiste en una plasmación literal del Libro del Génesis del Antiguo Testamento. Un trabajo minucioso, casi maniático, en el que ha empleado cuatro años. El resultado es la obra más sorprendente de esta leyenda de la contracultura, autor de trazo polémico y sumo sacerdote del tebeo como exorcismo de los bajos instintos.

La noticia en otros webs

* webs en español
* en otros idiomas

El álbum saldrá a la venta en todo el mundo el próximo otoño

Crumb: "Quizá sirva para enseñar en los colegios el Antiguo Testamento"

La obra ya está lista para su publicación en otoño en todo el mundo (en España será trabajo de La Cúpula, su editorial de toda la vida). EL PAÍS adelanta las viñetas de uno de los álbumes más esperados de los últimos años. "Me ofrecieron 200.000 dólares de anticipo, que parecía un pastón", explicaba recientemente el dibujante. "Después de tanto tiempo de trabajos forzados después, he llegado a la conclusión de que no resulta tanto dinero".

Lucrativo o no, a buen seguro, éste no es el paso que el seguidor medio esperaría del hombre que se elevó a la categoría de arquetipo universal de la historieta a golpe de cómic autobiográfico. Por esta vez, el protagonista no es el mequetrefe perplejo de Crumb, asediado por la culpabilidad y una moderada perversión sexual. El tipo ha dejado paso a Sodoma y Gomorra, los famosos seis días de la creación, a Adán y a Eva o al abnegado Abraham.

Desde la portada y en esa grafía inequívocamente crumbiana se advierte con modos de cómic sensacionalista: "El primer libro de la Biblia, explícitamente dibujado. ¡No se ha dejado nada fuera!".

Es cierto. El guión del cómic es fiel hasta en las comas al texto sagrado. Y por esa razón en sus páginas hay lugar para el incesto, los asesinatos, los adulterios y el resto de lo que siempre ha hecho del libro una lectura apasionante también para los no creyentes.

El aroma de la controversia se deja sentir en un simple vistazo al dibujo que adorna la cobertura. Hay algo que se desvía burlonamente del espíritu bíblico en el trazo de Dios, que expulsa del Paraíso a una Eva de generoso escote y esas formas femeninas torneadas, que si bien hicieron famoso a Crumb también lo convirtieron en bestia negra del feminismo.

Durante el proceso de creación del cómic, el autor recibió a EL PAÍS en el castillo del sur de Francia al que se mudó a principios de los noventa con su mujer Aline, la hija, los gatos, y las deliciosas anacronías que ocupan su vida. El dibujante acababa de terminar el capítulo 19 y mostraba orgulloso el episodio correspondiente a las hijas de Lot. En el bocadillo de la viñeta se podía leer. "La mayor dijo a la pequeña: 'Nuestro padre es viejo y no hay ningún hombre en el país que se una a nosotras, como se hace en todo el mundo. Ven, vamos a propinarle vino a nuestro padre, nos acostaremos con él y así engendraremos descendencia". Lo que seguía no se diferencia mucho de la clásica escena de sexo rijoso con la que Crumb escandalizó hasta a los héroes de la liberación hippie de los sesenta. Los mismos que tuvieron en el dibujante a uno de sus más ácidos cronistas. "Bucear en el texto me ha servido para darme cuenta de que mis burradas estaban allí al principio del principio", explicaba Crumb, con esa media sonrisa suya de travieso sociópata.

Escenas como las de Lot fueron las que convencieron al creador de Fritz el Gato o Mr. Natural (por cierto, sádico trasunto de un profeta del Antiguo Testamento) para colocar otra advertencia en la portada. "Se requiere supervisión adulta para lectores menores". Por razones obvias, no se podía correr el riesgo de que el volumen se confundiese con uno de esos inocentes cómics que ayudan a comprender a los niños el mensaje de la Biblia.

Pese a todo, Crumb no supo decidirse aquel día en su casa sobre si el cómic le traerá o no problemas. "Quizá lo compren en los colegios para enseñar el Antiguo Testamento", dijo con ironía. Aunque no religioso, el dibujante se reconoce obsesionado con la Antigüedad y se considera "espiritual". "¿De qué otro modo se iba a meter si no en un trabajo como ése?", se preguntó Aline Crumb, su compañera en la vida y en la viñeta desde mediados de los 70.

Como un empeño hercúleo con horario de oficina, se planteó el dibujante la tarea de plasmar en viñetas el Génesis. Se documentó a base de películas bíblicas proporcionadas por Peter Poplaski, su cobiógrafo y vecino de Sauve, el pueblito de expatriados de la región de Languedoc-Roussillon en el que habita la familia.

Pronto quedó claro que no sería fácil. Crumb decidió que los pasatiempos de la casa que siempre le han dejado trabajar (sus 5.000 discos de pizarra, los muñequitos extraterrestres que acumula, "el gato que se alimenta de tinta"), esta vez iban a distraerle demasiado. Así comenzó la búsqueda de un apartamento de la zona en el que recluirse durante el proceso. Un lugar cuya dirección sólo conociese Aline. "Costó encontrarlo, hasta que sucedió algo casi mágico", explicó ésta.

La familia recibía por equivocación la correspondencia de una tal A. Crumb. La A no correspondía a Aline, sino a Arabella Crumb. Una inglesa, vecina de la región que, casualmente, tenía un piso en alquiler a un precio razonable. Por si fuera poco, la señora se había doctorado en Oxford... ¡Con una tesis sobre el Génesis! A la luz de esta coincidencia, Robert decidió alquilar el apartamento sin dudarlo. Cada día durante cuatro años, su mujer lo ha llevado al trabajo en coche por la mañana y lo ha recogido por la tarde. Así, hasta completar las 200 páginas que ocupan los 50 sagrados capítulos.

¿Y al séptimo día? Al séptimo día es de esperar que Crumb descanse. A la vuelta del verano le espera la promoción de la obra. Tímido patológico y rematado solipsista, la tarea se le presenta, ésta sí, como una empresa de proporciones bíblicas.