fantapolitica

2011-03-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

Wisconsin continues to outdo Italy in fantapolitica.The Republican Majority of the Wisconsin Senate has deprived the Democratic Senators of their votes. Can they do that ?

2011-03-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

Politico outdoes itselfJonathan Chait quotes and gently criticizes. Edited down his post is much less diplomatic.Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen argue that the Tea Party redefined the purpose of the GOP as opposition to spending:The Republican Party is undergoing a messy but unmistakable 20-month transformation from fanatically anti-Obama to fanatically anti-spending ...[skip]Here's is the one part

2011-03-14T13:17:00.000-07:00

I can't top this. Also I'm pleased that my native country is following in the glorious political tradition of my country of residence (although 25 is a bit old by Papi's standards).Jim Newell reportsWisconsin Senator’s Wife, Maid Support His Recall Jim Newell — Wisconsin State Sen. Randy Hopper, a close Republican ally of Gov. Scott Walker, is among the eight senators that activists will try to

2011-02-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

Belusconi nei Guai con donneNo not the million or so who protested Sunday and not the one's he invited to his bunba bunga. The ones who will judge him.Turns out that various women have been making all sorts of trouble for Sivio.There is the juvenile court magistrate who ordered the police to send Karmai Al Mahroug to a community making her release to the care of a dental hygenist regional

2010-11-29T15:49:00.000-08:00

Stolen from the Associated PressStaffAP NewsNov 29, 2010 12:08 ESTItalian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has insisted he only throws elegant, dignified soirees at his villas and not wild parties described by a Rome-based U.S. diplomat in a cable contained in the Wikileaks trove.[skip to avoid violating the law too obviously]According to the cable, the diplomat said of Berlusconi that "frequent late

2010-09-30T09:07:00.001-07:00

Readers (if any) will have noticed that this blog has been quiet for a while. I just can't compete with Berlusconi

2010-09-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

Permanent Extension of the R&D Tax CreditThis is an unusually pointless post, since I am arguing that a dead on arrival proposal shouldn't have been made. The Obama administration proposed (or maybe just leaked that they might propose) a permanent extension of the research and development tax credit. This is (or would have been) an odd proposal, since it is very high minded and far forward

2010-09-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Extraordinarily hard working and productive blogger Marcy Wheeler who shows what other journalists could accomplish if they were able to concentrate on deadly boring legal documents hundreds of pages long without getting distracted wroteFirst They Came for Women Enjoying Sex, Then They Came for Men Jacking OffReferring to Christine O'Donnell's opposition to masturbation. I thought of sending her

2010-09-20T08:35:00.001-07:00

Tbogg has an idea "Someone should float a rumor to Andrew Sullivan that Christine O'Donnell is Trig's mom. Best week of posts ever"Well that's OK. Certainly one doesn't get pregnant masturbating, so there is a link, but it has nothing to do with dabling in witchcraft, so it's like totally so last week.I'd say the really good rumor is that Christing O'Donnell performed a voodoo ritual in which

2010-09-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

Atrios at 12:38 and 16:42The Dangers Of Not Checking Article Dates [skip]-Atrios 12:38The Obvious Course Is To Do The Opposite I haven't figured out of the Blue Dogs and assorted fellow travelers really think supporting tax cuts for rich people is the way to keep their jobs or the way to audition for their next job... Because, you know, it isn't popular.-Atrios 16:42Which links to April 6, 2009 6

2010-09-16T04:36:00.000-07:00

humanity is a Glenn Reynolds testicles weed-whacker

2010-03-06T01:29:00.000-08:00

Il Dominio Terra NeoTrovatoName that country the electors in many cases preferred to vote for a candidate who was known to possess an aptitude for promoting his own interests at the public expense rather than for a man who disdained to adopt such a course. They argued that, if a man had proved himself capable of using his political opportunities to his personal advantage, he would be the better

2010-02-17T23:07:00.000-08:00

Notizie OdiernoThe Iraqi official in charge of a commission that blocked more than 300 politicians from running in next month's elections is working closely with Iran's Quds Force, prompting the top U.S. general in Iraq to voice concerns about Tehran's meddling in Iraq's fragile democracy. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, in a speech, accused Ali Faisal al-Lami, the executive director of the

2009-12-18T13:57:00.000-08:00

Brazil's climate change ambassador, Sergio Serra

2009-10-13T03:08:00.000-07:00

For some reason it is very hard to find what fraction of Italians approve of Silvio Berslusconi by reading Italian newspapers. I wish someone would provide raw polling data. It's a dirty rotten job, but someone has to do itSWG says 37 % on September 5 2009 Luigi Crespi says 59% Crespi also claims that Italian public opinion is split on the rejection of the "lodo Alfani" by the constitutional

2009-10-07T16:39:00.001-07:00

Oh Happy Day. Equality under the law wins one.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/world/europe/08italy.html?hp

2009-08-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

Denounce Me Too1. Quando, signor presidente, ha avuto modo di conoscere Noemi Letizia? Quante volte ha avuto modo d' incontrarla e dove? Ha frequentato e frequenta altre minorenni? 2. Qual è la ragione che l' ha costretta a non dire la verità per due mesi fornendo quattro versioni diverse per la conoscenza di Noemi prima di fare due tardive ammissioni? 3. Non trova grave, per la democrazia

2009-06-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

Now *This* is a Washington Post Headline I Can Believe InTopless Women, Headless Prime MinisterMouthpiece Theater | Silvio Berlusconi's signiorinas, dreams of grandeur and a secret.OK so technically it is a caption to one the rotating videos on the front page of www.washingtonpost.com (after Juarez and before Tehran).I can only infer that this post objecting to the reflexive Ballance of

2009-04-05T10:52:00.000-07:00

John Ward reports from Prague"a large sign in the crowd reads: "Obama sorry 4 Berlusconi""

2009-04-02T17:41:00.001-07:00

Dear ItalyThey're laughing at you not laughing with you http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/gallery/2009/04/world-leaders-at-the-g20-part-ii.php?img=1

2009-03-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

Why Doesn't the Italian Parliament Do This ?Undercover Investigation Reveals Labor Department Fails Workers: Listen to the Calls HereBy Elana Schor - March 25, 2009, 11:00AMThe House Education and Labor Committee is holding a hearing this morning on the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division -- which has utterly failed in its mission to protect workers from discrimination and exploitation,

2009-03-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

Does His Holiness Benedetto XVI have a Permesso di Soggiorno ?I assume not as he is legally resident in the Vatican not in Italy. Now the Vatican has an impressive art collection, a very large church and an unusually large pharmacy (the Vatican approves some pharmaceuticals before Italy does so people seeking miraculous cures go to the pharmacy not the basilica). However, as far as I know, it

2009-03-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

La Carica Del 101 !I'm finally blogging about the best news I've read from Italy in years. 101 members of the majority in parliament wrote a letter to prime minister Sivlio Berlusconi asking him not to make the vote on a bill a vote of confidence (which means no amendments allowed). The issue was that the bill contains the proposizione 738 provision that Doctors have to inform on undocumented

2009-03-09T04:51:00.000-07:00

My Morning at the QuesturaI was summoned today the questura (police station) to have my finger prints taken so I can get a new "permesso di soggiorno" (Italian green card). Lo Stato Italiano is getting modern and efficient so I was summoned via an SMS.Now this is all very embarrassing, because I need a new permesso because I lost the old one. I applied for a new one less than 2 years ago. I

2009-02-20T14:49:00.000-08:00

Grazie GianfraFini: "Immigrato non vuol dire criminale"[snip]Il presidente della Camera: "Mantenere la lucidita' per respingere l'odiosa associazione mentale tra criminalità e immigrazione". Look I'm glad that the egregio president of the chamber of deputies confidently asserts that I might not be a criminal, but I think that some other native born Italians ought to be wondering how an

2008-09-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

Oh My John McCain celebrated his 70th birthday in Montenegro with Anne Hathaway (star of the princess diaries) and Raffale Follieri a man who is going to jail for claiming that he was, get this, the Chief Financial Officer of the Vatican.McCain boarded Follieri's pamfilo with the top lobbyist who is now his campaign manager.This is on US TV on prime time

2008-09-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Ho cercato Italian football training su youtube. Primo video.

2008-08-25T16:02:00.000-07:00

Atrios.blogspot.com is one of the most visited blogs in the USA. That's why it is such a serious problem that his Italian is a bit shaky. A post quoted in fullDuro Not CuloApparently lyrics site had wrong lyrics for "gasolina," and the word is "duro" (hard) not "culo" (ass) as listed below.-Atrios 14:47

2008-07-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

Italia non è più un stato di diritto.Ormai Italia è un stato di rovescio.(idea due to Elisabetta Addis. All remaining grammatical errors are mine).

2008-06-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

Andrew Northrup catches Fred Hiatt making an inaccurate quotation in the Washington PostI clicked the links. He's right. My *s. Hiatt: On Iraq’s nuclear weapons program? The president’s statements “were generally substantiated by intelligence community estimates.*”The actual report (pg. 15): (U) Conclusion 1: Statements by the President, Vice-President, Secretary of State and the National

2008-06-06T19:21:00.001-07:00

Fantapolitica IndeedIf the US election were decided by Italians, Barack Obama would win. He leads John McCain 70 % to 15 % in the latest Daily Telegraph poll of people who can't vote in the USA.Also in very notable contrast to people in France, Germany, Russia and even the UK, many more Italians consider the USA a force for good (49%) than a force for evil (27%). I live in Italy and, believe me

2008-04-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

OK Now* the US Class War has Begunor rather the non rich are fighting back. The spot heard round the world. The Bosses tea party. The storming of the pastille* I have been known to jump the gun on this one, but this time it's for real. Via Kevin Drumupdate: I posted here by mistake. Now I have to try to explain the ad to Italians.First, most Italians know that the US doesn't have a national

2008-04-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

What the f* did they put in Jonathan FBD Weisman's coffee ?Read what he and Michael D Sheer wrote"In my administration, there will be no more subsidies for special pleaders, no more corporate welfare," McCain said.But much of what he detailed was a corporate special pleader's dream:I'm not surprised that no one told me that today is blind Squirrel day, but why didn't anyone tell Atrios ?

2008-04-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

Oh WellAs happened in 2006, the exit polls appear to have under-predicted the vote for Berlusconi et al.

2008-04-14T07:26:00.000-07:00

Exit Polls !!!!Blacked out in Italy. Easily available on the web. Lo stato Italiano protegge il pubblico dal informazione but who will watch the watchers and guard The Guardian In the vote for the senate, for which only voters over the age of 25 are eligible, Berlusconi's Freedom Folk party had a lead of around 4%, according to revised figures.In the ballot for the lower house of the Italian

2008-04-13T12:07:00.001-07:00

Italian Election Half Time ReportThe first day of voting in the Italian general election has finished. It has been illegal to public polls for 14 days now (ouch). Noo exit polls (I think).Betfair has implied probabilities of leading politicians becoming the next prime minister. They give the inverse of the probability of winning.Currently betfair has Berlusconi at 1.21 or 83% change of being

2007-09-14T04:53:00.000-07:00

Obesity and Global warming catturando 2 piccioni con una favaItaly gets some attentionNO PASTA FOR YOU! Italians are on spaghetti strike today, refusing to buy all pasta in protest of a 20 percent increase in consumer prices, caused in part by demand for wheat as a biofuel. The average Italian eats pasta once a day, or 61 pounds of the starchy goodness annually.While Italians might be incensed

2007-09-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

Come Sonno Ingenui sti statunitensiHistory's First Resignation Flip-flop09.05.07 -- 2:38PMBy Ben CrawWe thought it was all over when Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) announced his resignation Saturday following the eruption of his airport bathroom sex scandal. But stop right there - was it a resignation, or just the statement of an intent to resign? Now Senator Craig is saying he might not resign after

2007-08-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

Italian Arms smugglers supplying the Iraqi interior ministryIf this isn't fantapolitica, what is ?Operation Parabellum, the investigation led by Dario Razzi, anti-Mafia prosecutor in this central Italian city, began in 2005 as a routine investigation into drug trafficking by organized-crime figures, branched out into an inquiry into arms dealing with Libya, and then widened to Iraq.Court

2007-07-24T21:19:00.001-07:00

Joe Frank tells meA study showed that people all over the world sleep 2 hours longer whena sleeping pill is colored blue. The exception is Italians but only themen. The blue color reminds them of soccer.he cites radiolab

2007-06-09T17:16:00.000-07:00

From president bush's press conference this morning in Rome with Prime Minister Prodi: Q: And the deadline for the Kosovo independence -- BUSH: What? Say that again? Q Deadline for the Kosovo independence? BUSH: A decline? Q Deadline, deadline. BUSH: Deadline. Beg your pardon. My English isn't very good. (emphasis added)Via Talking Points MemoHeyyyy maybe he's honest when he's

2007-05-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

UnAmerican Pizza Cazzo what will they think of next ?Mark Krikorian Warns of the Hispanic Pizza Menace!Now remind Brad again how to distinguish National Review from the Onion? National Review's anti-immigration crusader Mark Krikorian warns us of the Histpanic pizza menace: New York Times: Mr. Swad, who is Italian-Lebanese and was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, did not speak Spanish when

2007-05-09T06:15:00.000-07:00

Forse Fa RaggioneI am trying to make senses of the English sentence "Might makes right." It has one clear meaning "Forza fa raggione," but it can also be interpreted in a way so that it is actually true by interpreting might as the word used to indicate that the following statment is subjunctive. The word makes false statements true "there are WMD in Iraq" is false. "There might be WMD in Iraq"

2007-03-30T06:28:00.000-07:00

Reader(s) of this blog will have noticed that posting has been light in the past few years.I have an excuse. I more or less gave up on posting here, when I realised that I am totally outclassed, incompetent and pathetic. There is no way I could invent fantapolitica as bizarre weird and mind bogling as thisBerlusconi: «Udc estremista, non la Lega»I know when I'm beaten.

2007-02-12T12:46:00.000-08:00

Il Voice of America (radio internazionale degli USA che non è per niente il BBC) referisce che il capo dei stati maggiore ha detto che l'ultima intelligence dall'administrazione Bush è falso.Strano si ma più strano il suo cognome. L'ufficiale più alto in divisa Statunitenze si chiama General Pace.

2006-04-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

Still Thinking of what I should have said during my 15 seconds on the Air in Piazza SS Apostoli at 2 AM Tuesday morning. Actually my daughter Marina explained it to me.I wish I had said I don't fear NEXUS (as I did) then sungAvanti Pieopoli alla riscossaCravatta Rossa, Cravatta RossaCravatta Rossa va triomferà Cravatta Rossa va triomferàI coulda been a star. In fact maybe my daughter two

2006-04-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

Compagni dissi che per cento mila perigli siete giunti all'occidentea questa tanto picciola vigilia dello spoglio che è nel rimanentenon vogliate negare l'esperienza di retro del sole e di Schifani senza sorrisonon dimenticate le vostre frequenze fatti non foste a viver come bruti ma per votare come veri coglioni.

2006-04-09T06:20:00.000-07:00

24 hours until polls close updateProdi 0.25/1 Berlusconi 3.52/1That is Prodi wins "probability" 80% Berlusconi 28.4% betfair is not so fair taking 8.4% of money betProdi/(prodi+berlusconi) = 73.8%

2006-04-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

Scomettiamo cheOdds on the election. Odds as quoted by online betting sites and corresponding probablity of winning. The probabilities add up to more than one, because the sites are profit making and don't offer actuarily fair odds.Oddschecker Romano Prodi (2/9), Silvio Berlusconi (11/4)that is Prodi wins with "probability" 81.8% and Berlusconi wins with "probability" 26.7 % So betting suckers

2006-03-25T18:20:00.000-08:00

This seems to be a decent site for Italian polls. That ishttp://brunik.altervista.org/barometro.htmlBottom line seems to be that the fairly narrow lead for the current opposition seems to be holding. Obviously Berlusconi is claiming otherwise. He always thinks he can say it and make it so just like his buddies further west.

2006-03-23T10:52:00.000-08:00

The Republicans are having a little trouble finding a candidate to oppose Hillary Clinton in the New York Senate race. They are down to one who will never be a candidate for public office in ItalyNEW YORK: It looks like the GOP’s latest senate hopeful in New York exaggerated her resume. Kathleen Troia McFarland claimed that she had worked on Ronald Reagan’s Star War’s speech and was the

2006-03-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

Omigod. Blogging the post debate discussion with journalists.Emelio Fede said that the debate was just a rehersal for the second debate and that being objective he wouldn't say Prodi won. This is huge given who Fede is*. Berlusconi was so aweful that his most abject worshipper can't deny it. I can't quite blog in front of the TV so I left to report this. I heard Fede shouting at another

2006-03-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

Blogging The Big Italian DebiteSilvio Berlusconi and Romani Prodi are debating on Italian TVThe “moderator” is Clement Mimum (read <)First topic: Romani Prodi wants to cut payroll taxes (this is a very important issue). He claims that electing the center left will make this possible largely because of a reduction in tax evasion. This might not sound plausible, but he is supported by the data

2006-03-11T15:19:00.000-08:00

I haven't been blogging here much, but really, how can I hope that my political fantasies reach the level of the real thing ?Today La Repubblica reports on the Italian political spying scandal (acquacancello ?).Agents trying to assist the reelection of the then President of Lazio Francesco Storace (ex neo fascist) broke into the electoral office of the right wing splinter candidate Alessandra

2006-03-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

Arwen ha dato il meglio di se stesso

2006-02-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

link to my other blog (just testing) here

2006-01-15T15:26:00.000-08:00

Jesus Christ on Trial in Viterbo Read about it on CNN or The Volokh conspiracy or The Times of London or even The Washington Times but what happens when you search for the story in Italy's leading daliesLa Repubblica and Il Corriere della Sera. Zip zero nada. Jesus Christ is under judicial challenge right here in Italy and they don't see fit to mention it.In fact, the top two Italian web

2005-11-13T13:58:00.000-08:00

Esame di Economia e Politica del Lavoro 11/11/05 Carrozzi 25 Casali 23 Cavallaro 27 Ceccarelli 27 Cencioni 21 Chiarello 21 Cirulli 25 Coletti 23 Coppcchioli 20 Costanza 25 Coto Cabaliero 23 D'Aguano 25 De Angelis 25

2005-06-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

ha ha made you look

2005-04-22T06:19:00.000-07:00

Ciampi, has to try to find a candidate prime minister who can win the support of parliament. Since the current majority has all declared their continued confidence in Berlusconi, it would take willful blindness not to see that Berlusconi is the one.Hmmm willful blindness. There has been a lot of that around here in the past 4 years. The majority has refused to see the clearly proven guilt of

2005-04-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

I am reading Neither Dismal nor a ScienceI teach economics for a living, so I had better try to learn how. I consider Angelica's suggestions1. Economics is not like the other sciences. Acknowledge that.There is no giant econ lab where we can hold all other variables constant and vary the money supply or tax rate and see what happens. This is very troubling for students whose previous paradigm in

2005-03-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

My daughter Kathy working on her web page

2005-02-26T10:49:00.000-08:00

Rai televido page 121.2"Berlusconi ha auspicato nuovamente una modifica dei regolamenti parlamentari. "Ci sono tempi infiniti in commissione, tanti emendamenti,estenuanti bracci di ferro sul loro arrivo in Aula. Quando una legge esce fuori è diversa da quel- la inizialmente progettata"." My translation"Burlusconi again advocates a modification of parliamentary rules'things take for ever in

2005-02-18T18:03:00.000-08:00

Birds of a FeatherA Small victory for US chutzpa (faccia di bronzo)Via Kevin Drum Via Sam Heldman Kevin Small argues that his punishment for violating the endangered species act should be to lobby congress to "reform" the endangered species act so that his actions would be legal. My countryman has more nerve than Marcello dell'Utri who argued that his punishment for false accounting (and thus

2005-02-11T15:21:00.000-08:00

Un'inchiesta del Sole-24 ore e del Financial Times svelala "pista italiana" seguita dagli ispettori delle Nazioni Unite Lo scandalo 'Oil for food' in Iraq: l'Onu indaga su FormigoniIt is suspected that Roberto Formigoni, the conservative and extremely catholic governor of Lombardi, received large

2004-06-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

Who would you prefer Reagan or Nixon ? asked conservatives to tease liberals back in the good old 80's. Right now I'd take 8 years of Nixon followed by 8 years of Reagan rather than 4 more years of Bush. I'm amazed to appreciate Reagan's intellectual vision and Nixon's integrity. A uniter not a divider indeed.

2004-06-13T19:56:00.000-07:00

Nexus and the Olive Tree I would have thought that spin stops while votes are being counted (except in Florida in 2000). Given the vague powers of the European parliament, I assume that spinmeisters (masters maitres maestri) will work overtime interpreting the results, but I would have guessed that exit polls and projections were done honestly. It is not clear how one would want to distort

2004-06-02T04:48:00.000-07:00

Atrios and Traffic Sitemeter says total visits 11,653 visits this week 5,879 (almost all referred by atrios). It's official more people have visited this site because Atrios linked than had visited in its previous history. Weird. My big hit as a blogger was pointing out an error so obvious that no one else bothered to mention it which I found in the obscure New York Times in an article on

2004-05-31T08:38:00.001-07:00

Google has an interesting point 1) Someone was referred to my other blog by yahoo after searching for Frimigoni. 2) This very blog came out first in a google search for Frimigoni. According to www.google.it this is the number 1 site for learning about Roberto Frimigoni in all cyberspace rating above sites in Japan, Russia and Vietnam, and this in spite of the fact that I don't know who he is

2004-05-31T08:38:00.000-07:00

Dio Denaro C'e ' Chi è Roberto Frimigoni? FreeRepublic.com " A Conservative News Forum" ha tradotto il rapporto del 25 gennaio 2004 nel giornale iracheno “al Mada” che contiene una lista di quelli a cui il regime di Saddam Hussein ha dato buoni per l'acquisto del petrolio. I buoni hanno dato ai portatori il diritto di comprare il petrolio iracheno come previsto dal programma "oil for food".

2004-05-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

Dan Froomkin's EMD commission game Dazzle your friends with your intimate knowledge of the commission and the answers to these questions: • Which commission member's current job -- as a vice president for Northrop Grumman -- was left out of the White House press release? I have no idea • Which commissioner chairs a human-rights organization funded by a billionaire who is also funding the

2004-05-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

Three things. 1) Someone was referred to my other blog by yahoo after searching for Frimigoni. 2) This very blog came out first in a google search for Frimigoni. According to www.google.it this is the number 1 site for learning about Roberto Frimigoni in all cyberspace rating above sites in Japan, Russia and Vietnam, and this in spite of the fact that I don't know who he is. 3) google.it

2004-05-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

Dio Denaro C'e 'Chi è Roberto Frimigoni?FreeRepublic.com " A Conservative News Forum" ha tradotto il rapporto del 25 gennaio 2004 nel giornale iracheno “al Mada” che contiene una lista di quelli a cui il regime di Saddam Hussein ha dato buoni per l'acquisto del petrolio. I buoni hanno dato ai portatori il diritto di comprare il petrolio iracheno come previsto dal programma "oil for food". Hanno

2004-03-25T02:05:00.000-08:00

Reading the transcript of Richard Clarke's 9/11 commission testimony I wonder about the state of the presidential jockey shorts. I was inspired by Dave Barry's column "Red Shorts Over Panama" (http:// google it yourself) in which he inquired about the nature of President George H.W. Bush's underpants. I am pretty sure that The President pissed his pants when Clarke apologised for his

2004-03-24T23:07:00.000-08:00

I think that the notorious August 2002 background briefing tells us nothing about Clarke's true opinions or about his honesty and integrity. Delivering the talking points to the press is part of the job. he says he kept doing it because he was really interested in fighting cyberterrorism. That means the virus jerks temporarily kept Richard Clarke on Bush admin message. One more reason to

2004-03-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

Just the same old link ha ha made you look

2004-01-12T00:02:00.000-08:00

I know this is very late. I am amazed at the reaction of Italian politicians and the Corriere Della Sera to the “motivazione” of the sentence of the appeals court of Palermo which absolved Giulio Andreotti of “associazione mafiosa”. According to an article in the July 25 2003 La Repubblica, the appeals court made it very clear that they concluded that Andreotti had been an ally of the mafia

2004-01-11T17:41:00.000-08:00

The following English passage presented between square brackets (which are definitely not to be confused with quotation marks) is presented as is with no guarantees or warrantees whatsoever. Caveat Lector. Neither Curio Pintus nor any other Italian is in any way responsible for any errors or false statements in the passage in square brackets. I do not in any way assert that Curio Pintus ever

2004-01-10T02:04:00.000-08:00

I have received a comment. It even seems possible that it is a comment on this blog. I am amazed since about 10 people have viewed it. For legal reasons (hah) I post the comment in full both here and in the one point in which I find a reference to Curio Pintus. I fear that this is a joke, but I would be delighted and honored if Mr Pintus deigned to sue me. Ritenendo chiarita la mia posizione

2003-12-15T09:05:00.000-08:00

poverty measurement in Yemen is interesting to Giovanni vecchi

2003-12-15T08:48:00.000-08:00

Giovanni Vecchi is interested in poverty in Yemen

2003-10-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

I have just read the libera audizione of Antonio (furbo come un) Volpe. That man really really needs his right to lie. He makes Giuseppe Consolo look consistant. One problem for Volpe and the issue before the commission is that he is being questioned by magistrates. The transcripts of his interrogation are available to the commission but not supposed to be available to the public. That

2003-10-29T15:49:00.000-08:00

Oh the issue is whether Antonio Volpe in front of the commission should be sentito come testimone (in English sworn in) or in libera audizione. That is whether Volpe should be allowed to lie. Since Giuseppe Consolo (as seen below) uses his right to lie very often, it is pleasant to note that, at least, he was coherent (on the 22nd of October anyway). He was defending Volpe's right to lie.

2003-10-29T15:43:00.000-08:00

There he goes again. I hope that after this post it will be unanimous that Giuseppe Consolo is a pathological liar incapable of avoiding lies which are totally obvious to his listeners. The issue again is his shameless use of the concept of unanimity in this case the word unanimità GIUSEPPE CONSOLO Presidente, quando io posi il problema per Pintus tutti, all'unanimità, ritennero che non

2003-10-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

do I have a site meter ?

2003-10-12T05:04:00.000-07:00

The original aim of the blog was to imagine politics even more absurd than current Italian (& US I hasten to add) politics. I am afraid that this is becoming impossible. In particular I admit that I am entirely incapable of imagining anything as absurd as the proceedings of the commissione Telekom Serbia. Instead I am only going to point out the most recent blatant lies coming from the

2003-10-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

Morale? "Bossi non è il custode della legislatura né tantomeno il lord protettore della maggioranza. Quanto a Castelli, capisco che è duramente provato dal corso Cepu in giurisprudenza, ma certe cose non si dicono neppure per paradosso". Marco Follini

2003-09-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

From Ansa http://www.ansa.it/fdg01/200309271550121147/200309271550121147.html Giovanni Kessler capogruppo of the DS in the commission Telekom Serbia notes that Trantino told the commission that the anonymous letter accusing Paoletti arrived 8 January 2003. The letter was mailed 5 December 2002 and the Italian mail is not as slow as it once was. In an interview with Il Foglio Trantino says that

2003-09-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

Today I said omigod it looks like La Repubblica has done something right for a change. I wasn't criticizing Italies largest circulation newspaper in particular. I should have said that I am amazed that 2 Italian journalists managed a good bit of investigative reporting. The best point is that their strong accusations against Enzo Trantino (president of the commissione Telekom Serbia) and

2003-05-26T15:42:00.000-07:00

Alla vigilia delle elezioni amministrative in Spagna e Italia mi sono chiesto se qualcuno potesse salvare la sinistra europea. Ora penso che se George Bush non può farla nessuno può.

2003-04-10T15:59:00.000-07:00

Speranze dal Iraq Come tanti, ho visto miglialia di iracheni che gridavano “Bush good” a Baghdad. Confesso di un meschino mescolo di emozioni. E glorioso vedere la loro felicità ma devo riconoscere che, visto che ero contrario al invasione, se dipendesse da me starebbero ancora sotto Saddam Hussein. Poi non mi piace affatto George W. Bush. Dovrei confessare anche che sono statunitense. Ma

2003-04-05T13:27:00.000-08:00

Fantapolitica archivio Berlusconi ha risolto il problema della FIAT chiamando le macchine FIAT, Ferrari. E questo si chiama un statista ? Beh vabeh, ha funzionato per lui, che e' uno statista come un FIAT Stilo e' una Ferrari. Pare che il limite dell’ attenzione dei giornalisti rimane limitato anche quando l’argomento e giornalismo. Non si legge molto del crisi del RAI. Penso che tutti