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aving built this new museum for the Elgin Marbles, the Greeks have managed to rustle up one or

two British journalists credulous or nave enough to write articles calling for their return. But if
anyone thinks the building is ever going to house anything other than the plaster casts that are on
display there now, they are hopelessly out of touch with reality. There is virtually no chance that the
director or trustees of the British Museum, now or in the future, will comply with this outlandish
demand.
H

Lets review the facts. Lord Elgin paid the enormous sum of 39,000 to acquire the marbles, and
was careful to obtain documents from the Turkish Government approving their removal from
Greece, which had then been part of the Ottoman Empire for 350 years. Since Parliament legally
purchased the marbles from Lord Elgin in 1816, the British Museums title to them is unassailable.
The Greeks know this perfectly well otherwise, instead of pulling this PR stunt, they would be
suing Britain in the European courts.
What those calling for the return of the marbles cant seem to get through their heads is that, even if
it wished to, the British Government cannot simply transfer their ownership to another European
state. Objects in our national museums belong in law not to parliament but to their trustees. This
ensures that no government can sell works from our museums to raise revenue (as happened in
Russia in the 1920s), or give them away for short- term political advantage. Were the trustees of the
British Museum to comply with the Greek proposal, they would be in breach of their obligation to
use the objects in their care for maximum public benefit, and could therefore expect a lawsuit of
their own from members of the public, such as me, compelling them to fulfil the trust that was
placed in them when they were appointed.
So here are a few ideas for the Greeks: first, why not erect a statue of Lord Elgin near the Parthenon
to express their nations gratitude to him for saving the marbles? After the Ottoman conquest of
Athens in 1458, the Turks used the Parthenon as a mosque and then as a powder magazine. In 1687,
when the building took a direct hit from a Venetian cannon, most of its interior walls were
destroyed, bringing much of the frieze down with them. By the time Lord Elgin became ambassador
to Istanbul in 1798, the Parthenon was a ruin. Turkish soldiers used the marbles for target practice,
and the locals burned statues to make lime for the mortar to build their houses. His purchase of the
marbles was motivated by the real risk to their survival.
Second, instead of whining about events that happened more than two centuries ago, perhaps the
Greek ambassador should formally thank Britain for displaying the marbles in those beautiful
galleries at the British Museum, where 4.6 million visitors a year from all over the world can view
them free of charge.
Of course that wont happen, because the controversy over the marbles is largely a matter of
Greek politics. Remember that until very recently, it had not seriously occurred to anyone that they
should be given back to Greece. For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, the defining element in
Greek identity was membership in the Greek Orthodox Church. When in the 1980s the socialist
minister of culture Melina Mercouri noisily campaigned for the return of the marbles, the actress
skilfully turned them into a symbol of Greek identity. Since her time, no Greek politician has ever
lost a vote echoing her demand. But the marbles no more belong to Greece than do the plays of
Euripides.
Let the new museum stand as a monument to the futility of cultural nationalism in this case
trying to claim back something that by now belongs to the whole world.

A compulsive gambler is suing William Hill for 2 million of losses he racked up after allegedly
asking to be barred.
Have Your Say: Do bookmakers have a duty of care?
Graham Calvert, a greyhound trainer, claims that the bookmaker failed in its duty of care by
allowing him to continue betting despite his requests to be excluded.
The 28-year-old from Tyneside gambled more than 7.5 million on football, golf and horse racing
in an 18-month spree beginning in August 2005.
He once lost 347,000 - at that time the biggest bet in golf history - after backing United States to
win the 2006 Ryder Cup. On occasions he would drag bin bags stuffed with notes into the
bookmakers.
Aware that his problem was spiralling out of control, and with his marriage on the rocks, Mr Calvert
telephoned William Hill in June 2006 to ask them to close his account.
He claims they offered him what is known as "self-exclusion", under which the bookmaker agrees
not to accept any bets from a customer for a set period - in his case six months.
But within two months Mr Calvert claims that he was able to set up a new account in his own name
and start gambling again.
Since then he has placed more than 3.5 million of bets, losing more than 2 million.
Mr Calvert is now attempting to make legal history by getting a judge to rule that William Hill was
negligent in allowing him to continue betting.
"If I'd known I had the problem and didn't do anything about it, I would see myself as being 100 per
cent responsible," Mr Calvert, who is now 1.5 million in debt, told the BBC.
"The fact is that I did try to go through the right procedures and I was let down."
Tiejha Smyth, Mr Calvert's solicitor, said: "He was allowed to continue gambling after Hill's agreed
he should be self excluded. They should be held legally responsible."
William Hill contests the allegations, arguing that customers place bets of their own choice.
The case is due to begin at the High Court next week.

India is to have its first museum celebrating the writer Rudyard Kipling, after decades in which the

country he loved consigned him to obscurity as a prophet of British imperialism.


A dilapidated bungalow in the grounds of an art school in Bombay, where Kipling was born and
lived until he was nearly six, is being restored to house a hoped-for collection of associated
memorabilia. The move may be the first sign of his rehabilitation by a people who inspired some his
most memorable poetry and prose. Long after they gained independence from Britain in 1947,
Indians found it difficult to discuss Kipling - a proponent of the Empire, whose poems included The
White Man's Burden - without rancour.
The jingoistic and apparently racist tone of some of his work has kept him largely off the literature
syllabus of Indian schools and universities, and nowhere apart from the bungalow is a single
monument, statue or plaque dedicated to his memory.
But now part of the 150-year-old stone and wood bungalow on the campus of the J. J. School of Art,
where he spent his happiest childhood days following his birth in 1865, is being devoted to the
creator of Mowgli and the other characters of The Jungle Book. "It's part of the process of India
finally pardoning Kipling," said Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Professor of English at the Indian Institute of
Technology in New Delhi.
Kipling's father, John Lockwood Kipling, was the first principal of the school - now India's leading
university for art and architecture. The bungalow where, according to his biographers, the young
Kipling was loved and pampered by the Indians in his parents' household, is set in an overgrown
tropical garden in the heart of Bombay. The only sign that he lived there is a bust at the entrance.
Inside the decaying building, dust, debris, cobwebs and piles of yellowing examination papers
disfigure the once elegant rooms. Despite its location far from the tourist trail, Kipling lovers
regularly arrive to pay homage at the house from which he was eventually sent back to England.
The Jindal Foundation, a charity, has donated funds for restoration and Bombay city authorities
have given their approval. But because nothing of the Kipling household has survived, the museum
is scouring the world for possible donors of photographs, letters, manuscripts and former
possessions.
"Kipling left India as a child but he never forgot Bombay. He called it the best city in the world and
I am pleased to pay him this tribute," said Sangeeta Jindal, chairman of the foundation.
Despite official indifference to his work, Kipling's popularity among educated Indian society has
survived. An estimated 20,000 copies of his books sell each year. When the museum opens next
year, it is certain to attract Indian admirers as well as visitors from overseas.
Swapan Dasgupta, a columnist with The Times of India, is pleased with the project because it
marks, for him, India's belated recognition of Kipling as "probably the greatest chronicler of India
at the turn of the 20th century, who captured the flavour of India to a point where it became
folklore".
Dasgupta wants to see not only a Kipling revival but a wider reappraisal of the Empire. "It's time
for a wholesale re-examination of the legacy of the British Raj, and Kipling is a very important part
of that legacy," he said.

Audio

-tortura lavoro fisici


importante per le generazioni future
importante per capire conseguenze malattia
non hanno abbastanza strumenti
tortura psicologica peggiore di quella
governo mina sforzi di abolire tortura
give to hoot-->non importa un fico senso tanto non conta per la giustizia
tortura psicologica non lascia segni
usata da chi non vuole essere portato davanti alla giustizia
governo lo fa per interesse pubblico maggiore su quello individuale
chi parla si dice non contento
-donne in Parlamento Nambia
vestito trasparente minaccia nuda
coinvolgimento nel fare leggi
legame con i bambini
passato per unione delle donne
stuprate per il modo in cui vestite
TO PAMPER-->
TO GIVE A HOOT-->
BUST-->
OVERGROWN-->
TO BE HELD RESPONSIBLE-->
TO FAIL IN THE DUTY OF CARE-->
OUTLANDISH-->
TO DWELL-->
DWELLING-->
KNOWN AS-->
MARKED VARIATION-->
TO LIVE A HEALTHY LIFE-->
GOVERNMENT NOTICE
TO WATER DOWN-->
TO MAKE A LEGAL HISTORY-->
AMONG ALL AGES
TO PRAISE MEDITERRANEAN DIET-->elogiare
RELEVANT VARIATION
TO SET AGAINST-->compare

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