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Foxes and Hogs

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    Beasts, Plants, and Mountains in the Bible by Fr. Claudio Doglio   The Fox and the Hog Since it was impossible that a prophet died outside Jerusalem, Jesus told the Pharisees to go tell Herod that He meant to continue his ministry for all the necessary time, even though the tetrarch didn’t want Him to. "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.' ” (Luke 13,32) In that phrase Jesus used an animal metaphor to depict the character of Herod Antipas negatively. In this case, the image of the fox did not call to mind shrewdness but filth. Because the fox was an unclean and impure animal that unearthed dead bodies and lived in tainted places. In our language, we instead employ the pig as the animal symbol of dirtiness, therefore Jesus’s expression should be translated as “Go tell that pig….” Linking an animal to a person means to highlight a trait of that animal t...
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All against Mussolini

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                After July 1943, when Benito Mussolini had been deposed, most people in Italy discovered to be antifascist. Mussolini embodied Italian Fascism, so it was only "natural" that his dead body was going to be mauled, like all the monuments and portraits of him were destroyed after his fall. But many artists who had participated in art contests sponsored by the Fascist government, and received awards, were presented in a recent art show by the Estorick Collection of London as opponents of the regime, mostly for what they did after 1943! That is, after Mussolini had been deposed.               Historical errors and dubious interpretations in an art exhibit of Italian anti-fascist works.     By Sandro Barbagallo (Translated by L. Pavese)      "The Opposition to the Regime on Display” was the subtitle of a London exhibition entitled “Against Mussolin...
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Librarsi come un Dakota

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XCG-17 di James E. Mrazek Lo XCG-17 rappresenta uno degli sviluppi, indubbiamente fra i più creativi, dell'aliante da trasporto del tardo secondo conflitto mondiale. Nell’autunno del 1944, l’Aviazione dell’Esercito degli Stati Uniti (USAAF) si trovò di fronte al problema di dover trasportare una gran quantità di materiale dall’India al teatro di guerra cinese. Ciò significava dover sorvolare quella che gli americani chiamavano la “hump”, la gobba; cioè la parte orientale della catena della Himalaya, fra la Birmania, Burma (che oggi si chiama Myanmar) e la Cina. Le rotte di aero-rifornimento sopra la "Gobba". Siccome non c’erano aeroplani a sufficienza, fu proposto che forse si sarebbero potuti impiegare degli alianti da trasporto, per supplire alla carenza di equipaggiamento; e così lo sviluppo dell’aliante prese una piega davvero singolare. L’USAAF decise di investigare se non sarebbe stato possibile far sobbarcare un onere in più al Douglas C-4...
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