I am surprised that nobody has mentioned Marlene Dietrich's death last week on this list. Perhaps this went unnoticed in the States. It certainly did not in Europe, particularly in France and Germany. Her funeral in Berlin brought all those discourses back that the cult stud in me finds worth to take note of: The discourse of Marlene as a "traitor", re-awakened by new right wingers at her funeral (because she left Nazi Germany and came back in the uniform of a US soldier) versus subcultural communities, especially gays and lesbians who paid tribute to her by waiting in line for hours to be able to pass by at her grave. All of this was spiced up by the Berlin Senate's decision to cancel (in the very last minute) a gala to her honor - suspicion is that the established parties were afraid that such an event could possibly result in further losses of followers among those groups of the population who resort to nationalism and xenophobia in the present situation. This is for real ... gaby