Archive for April 26th, 2006

Swedish Meatballs

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Italy, the Swedes are acting positively French. The Swedish government has pulled out of an international military exercise in Italy at short notice, after discovering that the Israeli air force was due to take part, local media reported on Wednesday. The F17 Blekinge Wing, which was to have taken part in the [...]

Outrage in Italy

In Italy, nothing quite commemorates the victory against fascism like….trampling and burning Israeli flags. The Vatican newspaper on Wednesday called the trampling and burning of Israeli flags during a march in Milan a “disgusting” offense to all Jews. In a news article about the march, the L’Osservatore Romano newspaper called the anti-Israel protests a “serious [...]

Ziggy Stardust in Reverse

Introducing Gadafy: the Opera. Can an opera about the Libyan dictator Muammar Gadafy really be a good idea? There are precedents: in John Adams’ Nixon in China, for instance, Mao duets with the American president. Evita’s husband was a despot. Hitler is name-checked in Mel Brooks’s The Producers. And let’s not forget Trey Parker’s film [...]

Magic and the Muggers

Who said being a magician was a useless profession? He made 13 people disappear into thin air during his Kravis Center show Sunday night, but magician David Copperfield couldn’t duplicate the feat with armed teens who robbed him and two women near the venue two hours later.   No one was injured in the incident. [...]