I don't know if this is more troubling than any of the other anti-immigrant movements that have been cropping up in Europe, or whether it's just that Italy has Silvio Berlusconi (
previously on MeFi), but with the
fingerprinting of Roma, including their children,
the destruction of Roma camps and the blase attitude towards two Roma girls
found dead on an Italian beach, one wonders whether comparisons to the 1930's may become justified. Now, in an act that, while not violent, is perhaps even more indicative of the country's views on race the city of
Lucca and the region of
Lombardy have banned the opening of new "foreign" restaurants, as, one newspaper put it "a new Lombard Crusade against the Saracens."
[more inside]
posted by Hactar
on Feb 3, 2009 -
48 comments
The Mehterhane or
Mehter, as they are often known, are thought to be the oldest military marching band in the world. Starting around the 13th century, the
band accompanied the Ottoman empire troops (
Janissaries, or
yeniçeri, roughly meaning "new troops" and were comprised mostly of young men from the Balkans) into battle, spreading their music along the way and influencing western classical composers like
Mozart and
Beethoven.
[more inside]
posted by sleepy pete
on Jul 19, 2008 -
14 comments
The Roma Journeys - contemporary photographs of Roma life in Hungary, India, Greece, Romania, France, Russia, and
Finland by Joakim Eskildsen. For more photo essays and info on the Roma, see two superb prior posts by
plep and
taz.
posted by madamjujujive
on Nov 15, 2007 -
26 comments
Every audience seems to be niche audience these days but
this guy (not forgetting
this guy) were the goods.
I was reminded of them when a friends sent me
this link from Germany. Made my day, it should at least raise a smile. (Guitar players may want to weep)
And there seems to be a lot more of it out there than I had suspected, predictably in
France and
Holland, but even places like
Argentina,
Finland, and
Japan .
America does her part, and count on
Britain to be encyclopaedic on the subject
Okay, some are better than others, but they all have heart. Just now I could almost wish to live in Southern California just for
this
posted by IndigoJones
on Feb 11, 2005 -
16 comments
