Messiah

YOU CAN set your watch by it. As soon as it becomes evident that President Obama is moving so fast to the left that he's tripping over Karl Marx, here come the paid apologists for the Democratic Party. You can see the desperation of Karl Frisch's argument (op-ed, "The Attack of the 'Isms,' " April 15) right off the bat when he has to reach for Michael Savage to attempt a pathetic justification of his shopworn argument. Savage is the right's answer to Keith Olbermann and Ed Schultz, a fringe character with little or no morals who blurts out whatever is rattling around his head and is marginalized because his opinions carry little or no intellectual heft because they are paired with his bizarre behavior.

"Three Thousand Variations Symbolic of the Resurrection" will be the topic when Winston Mergott, former curator of the Delaware County Museum of Natural History, speaks at Thursday's meeting of the Men's Breakfast Group of the Paoli Presbyterian Church, 225 S. Valley Rd., Paoli. Mergott is a lepidopterist, or expert on butterflies and certain other insects which, as larvae, are caterpillars. The Breakfast Group meets every Thursday at 6:15 a.m. at the church. For information, call 610-644-8250.

Operatic history is replete with stories of rival sopranos, but it would be difficult to match the early 18th-century Italian prima donnas, Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni, for sheer venom. This was made hilariously clear on Friday when Karl Middleman, artistic director of the Philadelphia Classical Symphony, conducted a concert adorned with sketches and built around the operatic arias written for the dueling divas by George Frideric Handel. It was performed at Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square.

Henry McAdoo Jr., 92, of Lower Gwynedd, a retired company president and decorated World War II veteran, died Aug. 13 at home. Mr. McAdoo grew up in Fort Washington and graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H. After earning a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, he joined the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, an Army National Guard unit. When the First Troop was activated during World War II, he served as an artillery forward observer in planes over North Africa, participated in the battles for Monte Cassino and Anzio in Italy and the invasion of southern France, and then fought in Germany.

Super concerts, vital femmes, fresh-faced rockers and a tribute vie for position in this week's new-music parade. GOING, GOING, HERE: Been mourning the postponement of U2 's local stadium show until 2011, the aftermath to Bono's recent emergency back surgery? A video version of the same show, "360 Degrees at the Rose Bowl," is just out on Blu-ray and DVD (Interscope, A-) . With a good home theater setup, it's as exciting as being there - and a lot cheaper! The show is U2's first in the round, landing with an amazing, space-ship-style set with motorized video screens, moving bridges and more.

Kevin Sareyka is a hard hat who possesses the shooting touch of a concert pianist. The Christian Academy senior forward will skid along the hardwood of the court at least once during a game. He also has a deft scoring touch from distance. As of last week, the 5-foot, 11-inch Sareyka had hit 54 three- pointers this season to lead the Delaware County area. Sareyka, who averages 17 points a game, eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in his career Friday night, scoring 14 points in the first quarter on his way to a 20-point performance in the Crusaders' 66-53 victory over Phil-Mont Christian in the Keystone Conference Tournament semifinal game.

More than three centuries ago, in a time when ordinary people felt as desperate as many do today, lived a man of magnetic personality who told his fellow Jews that he was the Messiah. His claim was championed by people of good will and soon the man, known as Shabbatai Zvi, became the center of a massive, devout longing for an appearance of the Kingdom of God on Earth. Followers gave him expensive gifts. Some abandoned their houses and property to join him. After his arrest by Turkish authorities, Shabbatai Zvi's adherents were not discouraged by his imprisonment, believing that suffering was a prelude to redemption.

The hottest junior college women's basketball team in the region is Mercer County Community College, and a pair of South Jersey residents are playing the part of unsung heroes in the Vikings' 12-game winning streak. Sophomore Christie Ingling from Bordentown High has become a key reserve for the Vikings, who were 19-3 going into last night's game against Gloucester County College. Freshman Tara Brunker of Northern Burlington also has been quietly effective after injuries forced her into a starting role.

Antiwar preachers must continue to speak out even as American bombs fall on Baghdad, a conference of like-minded Protestant clergy agreed this week. Called a workshop on "Prophetic Biblical Preaching," the daylong session was a kind of theological pep rally for pastors convinced they must denounce a U.S. invasion of Iraq on moral grounds. "This is a crisis of theology. You need to speak it that way," the Rev. Robert Robinson advised the 30 Protestant ministers gathered Tuesday at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Germantown.

The first Christmas card arrived in the mail yesterday morning, and by evening one of the first of the city's I'm-not-counting-how-many holiday Messiahs was being sung. The season is upon us, for good or ill . . . If the early holiday Handel is an indicator - the oratorio was sung by the Philadelphia Singers at the Academy of Music - the season is going to be about as jolly musically as it is fiscally. For certainly this performance was not up to the Singers' highest standards; if late director Michael Korn was listening in, he was probably scowling at the cloud of ennui covering the vocalists and accompanying Concerto Soloists' Chamber Orchestra, led by guest conductor Richard Westenburg.