Proof, if it were needed, that police forces in Western Europe and America are not heavy-handed when it comes to policing the ‘war on terror’. On the 13th of August a 34 year old Italian businessman sent an email, from the computer of his cousin, to the F.B.I. The email was a threat against George […]
&ldquoIn northern industrialised countries – and increasingly all over the world – our culture of birth is heavily medicalised. On TV, birth is presented as a medical event that is safe only in the hands of doctors, and if women obey the doctors, everything turns out all right. Those who ask questions or opt for […]
'Leadership' was the issue of the last month in Australian politics. Peter Costello, the treasurer and heir apparent in the ten-year old conservative government finally publicized the leadership tensions that had long been a part of government politics behind the scenes. Seizing on the third party confirmation of a leadership handover 'undertaking' made over a […]
Prefacing his latest book, The War for Children's Minds, with quotes from both Stalin and Ignatius Loyola, Dr. Stephen Law questions what type of education system is best suited to making moral citizens. The book is a strident defense of the englightenment, arguing that a liberal education should be favoured over a 'traditional' or 'authoritarian' […]
In the early evening of the 26th of January, the streets of bologna erupted in a noisy celebration. Cars and mopeds sped up and down the main thoroughfares for a couple of hours hooting and flag waving. The reason? Not, as this proud new father ambitiously expected, to celebrate the birth of my daughter, but […]
‘Sweet Sufferin Jayzus!’ as this Monkey is prone to utter at moments of wide-eyed disbelief. A tense Quiz show studio holds its breath. The question is asked – “What rite would one use to expel demons?”. Furrowed brows from the two contestants, chemicals firing blindly across brain synapses, until Fr. Giorgio* surges for the buzzer […]
The Court of Appeals has over-ruled a judgement that meted out a fine of 500 euros to Piero Ricca for allegedly insulting Silvio Berlusconi back in May of 2003. The occasion was one of Berlusconi’s rare appearances in court – rare not because Italy’s ex-Prime Minister has rarely fallen foul of the law, but because […]
“Another attack in Nassiriya has refocussed the attention of the media, of politicians, and thus of public opinion on our military missions abroad. In these sad and difficult occasions there are set patterns of communication and reaction that have become rituals: bombastic, emotional and participatory, but in the end self-serving. Arid and sterile, from which […]
“There’s a fact that until now has been rarely considered. The Da Vinci Code came out in 2000, but had its greatest success in 2002 at a time of strong friction between the White House and the Vatican, opposed to the impending attack on Iraq. […] In those days, in the US, the scandal of […]
One aged man, grey and anonymous, stands watching pomp and ceremony as he is conferred with the title of head of State. Change the soundtrack and uniforms and it could be either the Kremlin or the Vatican. Instead it’s the Quirinale, the Italian Presidential palace, and the greyish figure is Italy’s newly inaugurated 11th President. […]
