Speak softly and carry a big chainsaw

this is a real sobering article in the latest ECONOMIST about the political and social realities of the budget deficit in America

We may have avoided another "great depression" but the next 40-50 years may redefine that entirely. I dreamt about it all night long.

final opera of the fall season, Janacek's 'The Makropoulos Case'

Wednesday night the opera posse tackles Janacek's 'The Makropoulos Case'

Would you take an elixir that will keep you eternally young? In this gripping tale, a seductive diva discovers that the gift of everlasting life can be meaningless if all love is fleeting.

Janáček is renowned for writing rich, complex roles for women, and no contemporary singer embodies them more brilliantly than Karita Mattila. Praised by Gramophone for "her electric performances as Jenůfa and Kát'a Kabanová," Karita Mattila makes her role debut as the mysterious Emilia Marty in The Makropulos Case. "Beyond her vocal mastery, Mattila also penetrates the heart of these characters, suggesting that the few hours we spend with them are just the tips of much larger emotional icebergs."

The "charismatic and vocally gleaming Finnish soprano" (The New York Times) will reunite with Olivier Tambosi, director of her triumphant San Francisco Opera Manon Lescaut (2006). The outstanding cast will be conducted by the BBC Symphony's Jiři Bělohlávek, an "authoritative" interpreter of Janáček's music (The New York Times).