In 1985, while Pakistani dictator General Zia-ul-Haq was still in power, the BBC drama department commissioned dramatist Tariq Ali to write a three part drama on the circumstances behind Zia’s coup in 1977. The resulting three part series, The Leopard and the Fox dramatised the conflict between elected prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Zia […]
Europe has started to reflect seriously about such issues as knowledge migration and the demographic challenge of a greying population. A number of OECD reports show that in order to maintain its current welfare level, the European Union will soon have to attract a highly educated labour force from elsewhere. For example, OECD Secretary-General Angel […]
It’s hard to choose just one song from Loudon Wainwright’s skeletal, bruised, shocking – and yes, at times extremely funny – 1979 live album a live one. Wainwright is a far more versaitile songwriter than he’s often given credit for, and this collection, perhaps more than any other, shows off his talent in a raw […]
The American official responded tersely to his interviewer regarding opposition to the ‘star wars’ missile defence scheme in the Czech Republic: “Democracy isn’t about popular decisions. That’s why we have elected officials, who take decisions on complicated matters that may be unpopular”. This week, in an extraordinary lesson on Democracy – one best delivered to […]
A welcome on board to Three Monkeys’ newest blogger – Brendan Coffey – whose Between Boston and Berlin blog is now online. One of Coffey’s first pieces is a thumbs up for the new Christopher Nolan Batman Film – The Dark Knight. The film, though, has a radically different context here in Italy, under the […]
I had reservations about picking a tune so newly-lodged in my mind for the Monkeys Tunes (great idea, by the way – reviewing single songs). Ever-mindful of the ‘o.k computer fallacy’ (where Q readers voted radiohead’s then latest album as the greatest album of all time), I was more inclined to pick something sure to […]
The artist Robert Luxemburg, in the thought-provoking Steal this film II (freely available through bit-torrent – download it, watch it, pass it on), talks about the absolute fear that record companies and the film industry have that the average consumer will, with the aid of cheap technology, morph themselves into producers. With the aid of […]
Berlusconi has repeatedly stated his aim to ‘modernise’ Italian democracy, bringing it closer to the American presidential system. In the best tradition of recent American politics then, it was almost inevitable that oral sex would make an appearance.
Berlusconi has repeatedly stated his aim to ‘modernise’ Italian democracy, bringing it closer to the American presidential system. In the best tradition of recent American politics then, it was almost inevitable that oral sex would make an appearance. While Clinton’s presidency was hampered by his non-sex sex with Lewinsky, allegations surfacing regarding a similar oral […]