The New Yorker, 2008-02-04
Jul. 26th, 2008 11:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fiefoe"Caught On Video Dept.: Real Naked Ladies" / Lauren Collins
__ (There was only one slot Roth had trouble filling: "heavyset Asian.")
"Beppe's Inferno" / Tom Mueller
__ In 1981, Italian magistrates had discovered the existence of a Masonic lodge called P2—the “P” was for “propaganda”—whose members included prominent politicians, judges, industrialists, and secret-service officers. Several were later implicated in financial frauds, Mafia-related murders, or right-wing terrorist bombings. The discovery of P2 was one of the greatest scandals of postwar Italy, {... backed by CIA.}
__ In January of 2004, a colonel in the Guardia di Finanza interrogated Grillo about the collapse of Parmalat, the dairy conglomerate, which had declared bankruptcy the previous month. The company’s downfall surprised journalists, politicians, and Standard & Poors, yet Grillo had been mocking its fragile finances in his comedy routines for two years.
"The Boxing Rebellion" / Evan Osnos
"A Better Place: What if the Muslim armies hadn’t been stopped at the French border?" / Joan Acocella
__ Another reason the Iberian Arabs had to go back to war was that the conversions to Islam, in freeing people from the jizya, were depleting the treasury. The emirs had to find more infidels to tax.
__ The Franks were fond of incest? Endogamy keeps societies small, prevents the growth of rapacious nation-states. The same goes for the Franks’ largely barter economy. Trade such as the Muslims practiced—far-flung and transacted with money—leads to consolidation. That’s how we got global corporations. {Niiice snark.}
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__ (There was only one slot Roth had trouble filling: "heavyset Asian.")
"Beppe's Inferno" / Tom Mueller
__ In 1981, Italian magistrates had discovered the existence of a Masonic lodge called P2—the “P” was for “propaganda”—whose members included prominent politicians, judges, industrialists, and secret-service officers. Several were later implicated in financial frauds, Mafia-related murders, or right-wing terrorist bombings. The discovery of P2 was one of the greatest scandals of postwar Italy, {... backed by CIA.}
__ In January of 2004, a colonel in the Guardia di Finanza interrogated Grillo about the collapse of Parmalat, the dairy conglomerate, which had declared bankruptcy the previous month. The company’s downfall surprised journalists, politicians, and Standard & Poors, yet Grillo had been mocking its fragile finances in his comedy routines for two years.
"The Boxing Rebellion" / Evan Osnos
"A Better Place: What if the Muslim armies hadn’t been stopped at the French border?" / Joan Acocella
__ Another reason the Iberian Arabs had to go back to war was that the conversions to Islam, in freeing people from the jizya, were depleting the treasury. The emirs had to find more infidels to tax.
__ The Franks were fond of incest? Endogamy keeps societies small, prevents the growth of rapacious nation-states. The same goes for the Franks’ largely barter economy. Trade such as the Muslims practiced—far-flung and transacted with money—leads to consolidation. That’s how we got global corporations. {Niiice snark.}
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