Charles Dickens

Learn more about Charles Dickens. Click on his portrait.

Whitney Houston

Reports of Whitney Houston's Death Denied

Whitney Houston's rep issued a shocked denial today to counter reports that the singer/actress has died

In a statement, her publicist, Nancy Seltzer, said, "I've just spoken to Whitney. She is perfectly fine and does not understand why, with everything going on in the world right now, they have to find new rumors to dig up. She is home in New Jersey with her family." Seltzer said people were calling the singer at home and sobbing, after apparently having heard reports of her death over the radio. According to the rumors, Houston had died of a drug overdose.Fans and the media have speculated about Houston's health after her performance at Friday's Michael Jackson tribute concert at Madison Square Garden, where she appeared shockingly thin, even skeletal. The singer then bowed out of the second night of the concert without explanation, prompting heightened speculation about her health. Houston has long been rumored to have drug problems, and in Tuesday's edition of the New York Daily News — which was evidently published before horrific terrorist attacks brought the city to a standstill — Seltzer denied fresh reports that her celebrity client was on drugs.

"Whitney has been under stress due to family matters, and when she is under stress, she doesn't eat," Seltzer told the New York tab at the time.

Houston and her husband, singer Bobby Brown, have had a history of drug- and alcohol-related issues, including possession of marijuana charges for Houston in January 2000, which were later dismissed, and a 75-day stint in jail for Brown in 2000, after he violated his probation (stemming from 1996 drunken driving charges).

St Valentine's day

ST VALENTINE’S DAY

Valentine's Day is celebrated on 14th February, the feast day of St. Valentine. It is a traditional celebration in which lovers, partners and married couples express their love and affection for each other. In some countries it is known as The Day of Lovers or The Day of Love and Friendship.

These days it is celebrated with the exchanging of cards known as valentines, with patterns on of hearts or Cupid; but with the rise of the Internet the custom of exchanging virtual cards has also increased. Common as well is the tradition of giving roses or tokens of love.

Since the nineteenth century, people have exchanged cards and gifts like roses and chocolates. The gift of roses is common between couples, friends and family, and the colour of the roses determines the message expressed. For example, the red rose symbolizes love, white represents peace and yellow represents friendship.

However, like most holiday celebrations, Valentine's Day has been commercialized and now many think it seems more like a celebration organized by the shops and department stores as any hint of romanticism has been lost.

Why do we celebrate Valentine's Day and how did it start?

Pope Gelasius declared 14th February St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. Various theories exist regarding how Valentine's Day started and one of those describes a story that mixes drama with romanticism, whereas others claim that the celebration came about due to a pagan festival that was christianized.

Who is St Valentine?

The Catholic Church recognizes 11 Saint Valentines and 14th February celebrates at least three of them:

1) Valentine of Rome: a roman priest who was martyred around the year 269 and was buried on Via Flaminia. His relics can be found in the Church of Saint Práxedes in Rome and in the Carmelite church of Whitefriar Street in Dublin (Ireland).

2) Valentine of Terni: around the year 197 he was named bishop of Interamna (now called Terni). He is also buried on Via Flaminia, but in a different place to Saint Valentine of Rome. His relics can be found in the Basilica of Saint Valentine of Terni.

3) A third saint called Valentine (according to the Catholic Encyclopedia) was mentioned in the early martyrologies under the same date (14th February). It only states that he was martyrized in Africa with some companions.

What is the history of St Valentine?

There are various legends regarding the history of St Valentine; the only thing that can be said for sure is that there is lots of mystery and his exact story is not very clear.

One of the most well-known legends dates back to Rome in the 3rd century. In this period, soldiers were not allowed to get married because it was believed that single men were better soldiers in battle than those that were married, because they were emotionally attached to their families. Faced with this situation, the figure of the Christian priest Valentine appeared, who considered the obligation on soliders not to marry to be injust. He therefore decided to unite partners in matrimony with the Christian blessing. Through his actions, he emerged as the protector of those in love, because he carried out secret marriages all over Rome, until he was summoned by the Emperor Claudius II.

Asterius, a deputy of Rome, was responsible for the condemned Valentine. He made fun of Christianity and put Valentine to the test, asking him to return the sight of his daughter who was born blind. The priest accepted and performed the miracle. Asterius and his family became Christian, but they could not save Valentine from death, and he was executed on 14th February. Two centuries afterwards, the Catholic church revived the story and shortly afterwards, Valentine was canonized.

Another legend claims that St Valentine wrote the very first 'Valentine' himself, when he fell in love with a young girl (possibly the daughter of Asterius) who visited him in prison. Before his death, it is said that he wrote a card to her which he signed 'From your Valentine', an expression which is used a lot in current day Valentine messages.

Because of these stories, without even asking for it, St Valentine became a patron saint for all people in love and in friendships.

Why is it celebrated on the 14th February?

Some think that Valentine's Day is on 14th February because this is the date when Saint Valentine died or was buried. Others believe that it is celebrated mid-February because it was an attempt by the Catholic church to christianize the celebrations of the pagan festival of fertility 'Lupercalia' which started on 15th February.

How did Valentine's Day become the widespread and commercialized celebration that it is today?

In the United Kingdom during the 17th century, the celebration of Valentine's Day became widespread. In the 18th century, it was common for friends and lovers to exchange love notes written by hand. At the end of this century, printed cards started to replace these letters. In this period, Americans also adopted the tradition and in the 1840s, Esther A. Howland started to sell the first mass-produced Valentine's day cards.

SPAIN

In Spain, they started to celebrate Valentine's day in the middle of the 20th century, to create an incentive to buy presents. Often it is claimed that the celebration was introduced by the department store, El Corte Inglés. In Valencia it is celebrated on 9th October, on the feast day of Saint Dionis and in Catalonia the 23rd April is celebrated, as it is the feast day of Saint George, the Catalan patron saint.

Sentencing Spain's 'Superjudge': Why Baltasar Garzón Is Being Punished

By Lisa Abend / Madrid Friday, Feb. 10, 2012

Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón attends the first day of his trial in Madrid on Jan. 17, 2012

Javier Soriano / AFP / Getty Images

Baltasar Garzón is one of the most renowned magistrates in the world, so tireless in his quest for justice that national boundaries and foreign jurisdictions failed to stop him. On Thursday, however, Garzón himself was found guilty of criminal behavior. Best known for arresting Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet for crimes against humanity, the Spanish judge was convicted by a Madrid court for ordering illegal eavesdropping; he was barred from practicing law for 11 years. Although many observers in and out of Spain understand why these particular charges were brought against the judge, both the extraordinary treatment he has received, and the fact that this case is one of three pending against him, have convinced many that Garzón is the victim of a witch hunt. For them, Thursday's verdict only confirms that sense.

Garzón has long been a divisive figure in Spain. From his seat on the National Court, he has gone after crime mobs, terrorists and, in the 1980s, his own government's dirty war against militant Basque separatists. As the world's foremost practitioner of universal jurisdiction, he has also investigated human-rights abuses in Guatemala and Guantánamo. In addition to famously ordering Pinochet's extradition, he also convicted Argentine naval officer Adolfo Scilingo for crimes against humanity in that country's dirty war.(See "Spain's Garzón Guilty of Misusing Authority.")

But his reputation as an unyielding defender of justice did not protect him from — and indeed may have contributed to — being prosecuted himself. Since 2010, he has been indicted for criminal abuse of power in three separate cases. One, which concluded hearings yesterday and is currently awaiting sentencing, questions the legality of his investigation into the disappearance of an estimated 114,000 people during Spain's 1936-39 civil war and the early years of the dictatorship that followed. Another centers on his alleged dismissal of charges against Emilio Botín, director of Banco Santander, after the bank sponsored a course at New York University for which the judge purportedly received an honorarium.

In the case decided Thursday, Garzón ordered police to record conversations between suspects held in prison and their attorneys. Because the suspects were indicted for high-level corruption, and because he suspected the lawyers of laundering their clients' money, Garzón argued, the eavesdropping was warranted. The prosecuting attorney didn't see it that way, characterizing the judge's actions as "monstrous" and accusing him of being "some kind of Big Brother who thinks he can listen to everything." Ever combative, Garzón declared after the verdict: "This sentence, lacking in juridical basis or supporting evidence, eliminates any possibility of investigating corruption and its associated crimes. Instead, it makes room for impunity and, in its fervor to impugn one particular judge, crushes the independence of the entire Spanish judiciary."

The Spanish constitution allows for breach of attorney-client privilege only in extremely grave cases, and only under judicial order. In the past, that exception has been applied to things like terrorism or international drug cartels, but even Garzón's supporters find corruption to be of a different order. "The law is very vague, and the line is very thin," says Spanish-born attorney Almudena Bernabéu, who, in her capacity as prosecutor at the San Francisco–based Center for Justice and Accountability, has twice presented cases in Garzón's courtroom. "It's hard to say that what he did was illegal per se, but it was certainly very questionable."

Still, Bernabéu, like other legal experts, isn't sure that the punishment fits this particular crime. "It wan't right for Garzón to order the eavesdropping," says Joan Queralt, criminal-law professor at the University of Barcelona. "But when other judges have done the same thing, their cases have been thrown out, or they've been sanctioned for misconduct. But to turn around and prosecute the judge? That's like throwing a doctor in jail because one of his patients dies."

Some critics of the decision believe that this case — and the two others still pending — stem from Garzón's high profile (he is commonly referred to as a "superjudge") and apparent love of the spotlight (before being indicted he was a frequent presence on Spanish front pages and television screens). "There's a lot of reasons why the court would want to punish him," says Bernabéu. "But more than anything, it sounds and looks like revenge. Garzón is very famous, and envy and rivalry are endemic in Spain."

It may not have helped that the case just decided involved some very powerful people. Garzón was investigating officials within the ruling Popular Party — including Francisco Camps, who until mid-2011 was president of the regional government of Valencia — for charges of tax evasion, bribery and money laundering. "He uncovered the Popular Party's shameful acts," says law professor Queralt. "Once he got involved with the finances of the Popular Party, he opened Pandora's box."

That box still holds two pending verdicts. But unless Garzón wins on appeal, the 56-year-old's career is effectively at an end. It's an ironic finale for a man who dedicated his professional life to the pursuit of justice. But no more so than the fate of all those involved in this corruption case. A jury exonerated Camps and his accomplices in January. Which means that of all those involved in the massive corruption scandal, only the judge who pursued its investigation has been condemned.

Queen Elizabeth Jubilee

This year Queen Elizabeth celebrates her diamondJubilee. (sixty years ruling Great Britain) Here is one of her "houses". Click and you'll know more about it and her: (listenings, readings and videos)

Last Christmas...

This is not a carol, but it is heard a lot.

George Michael / Last Christmas (with lyrics)

A different carol

Think about it.

John Lennon - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Here are the lyrics:

Happy Cristmas Yoko

Happy Christmas Julian

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

War is over over
If you want it
War is over
Now...