By Patrick Clark 10/08/12 7:05pm

uncharted waters

libertad

New York Hedge Fund Awaits Decision From Ghanaian Court on Argentinean Naval Vessel

A lot of people will be watching Ghana’s Supreme Court tomorrow, which is not something that can be said everyday. Then again, it’s neither a common occurrence for a hedge fund to impound a sailing vessel used for training by a sovereign navy.

That’s what happened last week when an affiliate of Paul Singer’s hedge fund Elliott Associates asked the Ghanaian government to prevent the ARA Libertad, a tall ship owned by Argentina,from leaving the port of Tema. The cause of that bizarre action? NML Capital, the Elliott affiliate, wants the South American nation to make good on bonds issued before its $95 billion default in 2001. Read More

By Rex Reed 4/10/12 7:50pm

theater

Martin in Evita. (Richard Termine)

Requiem for Evita: Broadway Revives Delusive Documentary Depicting Radio Actress-Turned-Spiritual Leader of the Nation

Can nothing be done, once and for all, to get rid of Evita? Here it is again, worse than ever and revived on Broadway for no logical reason except to cash in on Ricky Martin’s fame as a pop star, just as the 1996 movie cashed in (without much success) on Madonna’s celebrity as a prehistoric Lady Gaga. Haven’t we outgrown this bloated extravaganza? Evita is not much of a show, and Eva Duarte Peron, in retrospect, isn’t exactly an original one-woman success story. Today the press sells Evitas for a dime a dozen. They keep the New York Post in business.

But, ah, the spicy meat-pie sturm und drang surrounding the rise and fall of the one from Argentina—an ambitious slut who slept her way up from lower-class country roots through a minor career as a third-rate radio actress to the loftier ranks of society, the military and politics, and became, at 26, the wife (and power behind the throne) of South American dictator Juan Peron. Ruthless and aggressive, she saw what she wanted and wasted no time taking it, emptying the coffers of the country she pretended to love and raping the peasants who adored her while they looked the other way. Today, they’d yell “You go, girl!” and give her a reality show. Read More

By Staff 6/30/06 2:42pm

Why I Hate Soccer

Germany-Argentina. Two great teams, playing a great competition. And what does it come down to in the end, the farce of penalty kicks! And one of the best players in the stadium, Lionel Messif, has never taken the field. I hate this game.

In a great sport, the ending is marked by the greatest achievement—Maxi Read More

By Staff 6/24/06 10:21am

Black Athletes and American Soccer

A reader, John, has nailed me on a recent soccer post, where I echoed Kissinger’s statement that U.S. soccer needs “minorities.”

Not sure if you’re agreeing fully with Kissinger here — I hope not, because his comment is effectively racist. K’s saying “minorities,” i.e., the dark people, are better at sports, regardless of Read More

By Alex Daye 12/06/04 12:00am

Beggars’ Purses? The New $80 Accessory

Nina Watkins, one half of the fledgling accessories company Miel, keeps a stash of inventory under the desk in her office at the International Debate Education Association, a nonprofit organization meant to foster democracy among high-school students from developing countries. After 5 o’clock, though, she’s busy faxing designs for a new clutch to Miel’s factory Read More

By Michael M. Thomas 1/21/02 12:00am

Deep in Heart of Enron Live Best Bush Buddies

So far, 2002 is turning out to be a bust. We haven’t found bin Laden yet. Argentina has collapsed and Latin America seems poised to follow. The President of Harvard University has been forced to capitulate to his Department of Racial Opportunism d.b.a. the Afro-American Studies Department.

And then there’s Enron–where most of the focus Read More

By Moira Hodgson 5/31/99 12:00am

No More Tangoing, But Loads of Dulce de Leche

“It’s Charles Rennie Mackintosh meets the Clash!” said my companion, looking around the bar at Vandam where we were waiting for our table.

The décor of this corner restaurant is nothing if not dramatic. The backlit bar has dark wooden shelves excavated from an old library in Maine, eggplant mohair banquettes and old leather-seated chairs Read More