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Many years ago, when the wars of former Yugoslavia were at their peak, an Italian newspaper ran a crossword puzzle that had "il capo di barbari" (the head of the Barbarians) as one of its entries. The solution to this question was Slobodan Milošević, the head of Serbia/rump Yugoslavia at the time. It was just one of many unkindly epithets that this evil man acquired during his infamous reign, the Butcher of the Balkans being another one that comes immediately to mind. It is hard to underestimate the sheer extent of evil that was released under him, and he is directly responsible for the worst incidents of genocide in Europe since the World War II. For the last few years he was detained at The Haage where he was undergoing a trial at the International War Crimes Tribunal. Unfortunately, he passed away yesterday and he will not be around for the conclusion of that trial. His death brings to a close an era, but he had done will be felt for at least another generation.

My brother reminded me of a joke that seems particularly relevant today:

When Milošević died he went to the Pearly Gates. There he was met by Sain Peter who asked him: "what are you doing here?" "So where am I supposed to go?", replied Milošević. "To Hell, of course." said St. Peter. A few days later a column of demons and devils, carrying their belongings in backpacks, shows up at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter also asks them what were they doing there, to which they reply "We are refugees".