Inside Assad’s Presidential Palace

“You can learn a lot about a dictator from their domestic decor. Saddam Hussein had a thing for gold loos and erotic fantasy murals. … Colonel Gaddafi, meanwhile, preferred the simple life. He opted to live in a luxury Bedouin-style tent … So what about monster of the moment, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad? We know he’s a bit of a tech geek …”

Dancers’ Union To San Francisco Ballet: We’re The Product, So Pay Us Like It

Alan Gordon, national executive director of AGMA: “Orchestras have always been paid better than opera singers or ballet dancers, and we think that’s wrong. People don’t go to the ballet to hear the orchestra. They go to the ballet to see the dancers. … We don’t want you to give less to anybody, but we don’t care what you give them because we want more.”