Even Kitchenmaids Get the Blues
Downton Abbey is the best show on television this year, is it not? Or at least, it has the best frocks and hats on television at the moment (sorry Mad Men, you’re so whatever year it was that...
Category: Europe
The Bloody London Olympics: The Social Cost of Benefit Cuts
The UK has entered a lethal age of austerity, right in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics. As elite athletes from all over the world to descend upon London to compete in the most-watched sporting...
BBC’s Sherlock, Asperger’s Syndrome, and Sociopathy
As awareness of autism spectrum disorders, such as Asperger’s syndrome, in adults increases, characters with autistic traits are becoming increasingly common in television and other media....
A Study in Pink: Sherlock and Steven Moffat’s Woman Problem
BBC’s Sherlock has just started running its second season in the US on PBS, and viewers are flocking to watch, particularly after last week’s somewhat controversial Irene Adler storyline. Created...
What’s behind the rise of Golden Dawn in Greece?
The biggest story to come out of this month’s Greek elections has been the 21 seats won by the neonazi party Golden Dawn (Chrysi Avgi.) Golden Dawn secured seven percent of the vote, with 750,000...
Occupy the Boardroom? Shareholder Activism Putting Pressure on Corporations
Companies often use shareholders as an excuse to justify their abuses of workers, the environment, and the general public. Boards and executives can hide behind the shareholder, deflecting the...
“Vague Crimes”: Dominique Strauss Kahn and Protecting Predators in France
Two days ago on May 6th, Francois Hollande won the French Presidential election for the Socialist Party. Once a Presidential hopeful for the very same party, Dominique Strauss Kahn watched the...
Director J-P Passi Diagnoses “The Punk Syndrome”
The word “punk,” like the word “independent,” has been so oversold and misused it’s practically meaningless. So when a film bills itself as “the saga of the last true punk rock band in...
The Threat of Women’s Autonomy: The Vatican’s Crackdown on Nuns
Working to eradicate poverty! Promoting better healthcare! The Catholic Church has been responsible for some atrocious things over the centuries, but working towards economic justice and helping sick...
A class masterpiece: Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion
In May 1910 the funeral of King Edward VII drew together such a parade of European royalty that even the powerful Republican envoys of France and the United States had to suffer the indignity of...