By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
Killing influential Russians overseas is nothing new for Russian leaders. It is almost like a tradition.
There was a moment this past December in Paris when playwright David Ives achieved what he calls "a moment of maximum fabulosity."
To readers of Ian Fleming's wildly popular James Bond spy thrillers, SMERSH was an omnipotent - and murderous - arm of Soviet intelligence, part of the network later known as the KGB. Fleming introduced SMERSH in his inaugural work, "Casino Royale," published in 1953, and over the years credited the organization with such exploits as the murder of Leon Trotsky in Mexico in 1940.
As Papa Smurf and friends re-enter the cultural atmosphere, there's no dodging the question: Are the Smurfs now, or they have ever been ... communist?
American politics can be vicious and un-principled, but they are not deadly. Defeated politicians join think tanks, give big-dollar speeches and plot campaign comebacks.
America's leading atheist is dying. Christopher Hitchens, a prominent public intellectual, has been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. The deadly disease has spread to his lungs and lymph nodes.
Fridamania lives. The popularity of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), which peaked with the 2002 movie starring Salma Hayek, is cresting once again as museums mark the centennial of her birth. In Mexico City, the Palace of Fine Arts has just opened an extensive Kahlo exhibition, and the Casa Azul (Blue House), the artist's family home-turned-museum, is now displaying some of the thousands of artifacts recently unearthed from a long-locked bathroom in the house. The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis has announced a show of 50 Kahlo paintings that will go on display in October and travel to Philadelphia in mid-February and to San Francisco next summer.
Fridamania lives. The popularity of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), which peaked with the 2002 movie starring Salma Hayek, is cresting once again as museums mark the centennial of her birth. In Mexico City, the Palace of Fine Arts has just opened an extensive Kahlo exhibition, and the Casa Azul (Blue House), the artist's family home-turned-museum, is now displaying some of the thousands of artifacts recently unearthed from a long-locked bathroom in the house. The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis has announced a show of 50 Kahlo paintings that will go on display in October and travel to Philadelphia in mid-February and to San Francisco next summer.
