Viva Italia!

[noddy]

. . .

So it seems that the more "Germanic" northern Italians are not only more productive but also more racist. As one would expect from a "superior" Germanic tribe...

The ongoing fallacy of applying mathematical induction outside of mathematics.

Reassuring to see that Italians politicians are just as capable of being dumb and offensive as Japanese ones.

crude and offensive politicians are a rare treat when the majority of them are populist slimy two faces spouting garbage they barely understand, let alone believe.

so glad the tolerant latino types never descend into crude group smearing and denigration of entire peoples by plucking isolated events and declaring them evidence for the entire population - that kind of thing is a one way trip to fascism i hear.

[Endovelico]

so glad the tolerant latino types never descend into crude group smearing and denigration of entire peoples by plucking isolated events and declaring them evidence for the entire population - that kind of thing is a one way trip to fascism i hear.

Hmm!... Do I detect an antipodal attempt at irony?... Been in contact with latinos lately?...

[By the way, I very much doubt we are dealing here with an isolated event.]

[noddy]

so glad the tolerant latino types never descend into crude group smearing and denigration of entire peoples by plucking isolated events and declaring them evidence for the entire population - that kind of thing is a one way trip to fascism i hear.

Hmm!... Do I detect an antipodal attempt at irony?... Been in contact with latinos lately?...

nope, i dont do irony, everything i type is deadly serious.

[By the way, I very much doubt we are dealing here with an isolated event.]

i never doubted that for a second.

[YMix]

Italy ex-PM Berlusconi in angry tirade at jail ruling

Italy's former PM Silvio Berlusconi has broadcast an angry video message after his prison sentence for tax fraud was upheld by the country's highest court.

Berlusconi said he was the innocent victim of "an incredible series of accusations and trials that had nothing to do with reality".

The court also ordered a further judicial review on whether he should be banned from holding public office.

Berlusconi, 76, is unlikely to go to jail because of his age.

While he is expected to serve out his sentence as house arrest, he has the option of asking to do community service instead, with the deadline for the application not expected to fall until mid-October.

'Judicial harassment'

The ruling by Rome's Court of Cassation, against which he cannot appeal, came after a three-day hearing. Berlusconi was not in court.

In an emotional nine-minute video, Berlusconi denounced the decision as "based on nothing, and which deprives me of my freedom and political rights".

"No-one can understand the onslaught of real violence that has been directed against me following an incredible series of accusations and trials that don't have any foundation in reality," he said.

He described the more that 50 court cases he has faced as "genuine judicial harassment that is unmatched in the civilised world".

"In exchange for the commitments I have made over almost 20 years in favour of my country and coming almost at the end of my public life, I have been rewarded with accusations and a verdict that is founded on absolutely nothing, that takes away my personal freedom and my political rights."

He criticised the country's judicial record, saying: "Is this the Italy that we want? Is this the Italy that we love? Absolutely not."

It is the billionaire businessman's first definitive conviction after decades of criminal prosecutions.

The case concerns deals that his firm Mediaset made to purchase TV rights to US films.

[Torchwood]

. . .

So it seems that the more "Germanic" northern Italians are not only more productive but also more racist. As one would expect from a "superior" Germanic tribe...

The ongoing fallacy of applying mathematical induction outside of mathematics.

Reassuring to see that Italians politicians are just as capable of being dumb and offensive as Japanese ones.

It's not by accident that the racist statements have come from Northern League circles. This is not just a case of a dumb politician being offensive, it is an ideological statement by people who feel superior not only to Africans but also to all other Italians. The German disease is here very much apparent.

Or quite possibly being fed up that a productive, prosperous, relatively honest part of mainstream Europe is being milked to death by a corrupt part of the third world, where most of the Italian politicians come from. While the level of political ethics is on a par with Greece, I won't insult the Greeks: Athens is fifty times more civilised than Naples.

It is possible to reform the South, but it needs local will, not "development funds" from the centre which just end up in Mafiosi pockets. Puglia has done it, Sicily is getting there; Campania and Calabria are hell holes.

[Endovelico]

. . .

So it seems that the more "Germanic" northern Italians are not only more productive but also more racist. As one would expect from a "superior" Germanic tribe...

The ongoing fallacy of applying mathematical induction outside of mathematics.

Reassuring to see that Italians politicians are just as capable of being dumb and offensive as Japanese ones.

It's not by accident that the racist statements have come from Northern League circles. This is not just a case of a dumb politician being offensive, it is an ideological statement by people who feel superior not only to Africans but also to all other Italians. The German disease is here very much apparent.

Or quite possibly being fed up that a productive, prosperous, relatively honest part of mainstream Europe is being milked to death by a corrupt part of the third world, where most of the Italian politicians come from. While the level of political ethics is on a par with Greece, I won't insult the Greeks: Athens is fifty times more civilised than Naples.

It is possible to reform the South, but it needs local will, not "development funds" from the centre which just end up in Mafiosi pockets. Puglia has done it, Sicily is getting there; Campania and Calabria are hell holes.

This may help to put the problem under a less radical perspective:

Starting with the unification of Italy in 1861, a wide and increasing economic divide has been noticeably growing between the northern provinces and the southern half of the Italian state. In the early decades of the new kingdom, the lack of an effective land reform, heavy taxes and other economic measures imposed on the South, together with the removal of protectionist tariffs on agricultural goods, made the situation virtually impossible for many tenant farmers, and small business and land owners. Multitudes chose to emigrate rather than try to eke out a meager living, especially from 1892 to 1921.

In addition, the surge of brigandage and the mafia provoked widespread violence, corruption and illegality. After the rise of Benito Mussolini, the "Iron Prefect" Cesare Mori tried to defeat the already powerful criminal organizations flourishing in the South with some degree of success. Fascist policy aimed at the creation of an Italian empire and Southern Italian ports were strategic for all commerce towards the colonies. Naples enjoyed a demographic and economic rebirth, mainly thanks to the interest of King Victor Emmanuel III who was born there. With the invasion of Southern Italy, the Allies restored the authority of the mafia families lost during the Fascist period and used their influence to maintain public order.

[NOTE: My bold and underlining.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of ... uth_divide

I'm not saying that southern Italians are not responsible for much of their troubles, but there were other factors at play.

[Azrael]

I agree with Endo. The unification of Italy under the House of Savoy was a ripoff for just about everyone: the North, the South, Rome, etc.

Some elites may have gained; but at the expense of holding back the development of society and the economy.

It may have also contributed to pushing Europe towards two World Wars.

[Azrael]

The end of the Berlusconi era

PM Letta wins vote after Berlusconi U-turn

Berlusconi had initially promised to topple the government by withdrawing his party's support - a move which prompted the Senate vote.

But he backed down when it became clear that several of his senators would back the government.

Mr Letta had earlier said that if he were defeated in the vote, it might prove a "fatal risk" for Italy.

In the event he won easily: the Senate voted 235 to 70 in favour of the government.

Some of Berlusconi's most hardline followers left the chamber and did not vote at all.

The result of the vote increases the possibility of Berlusconi being thrown out of the Senate on the grounds he is a convicted criminal.

On Friday a Senate committee is due to vote on whether to strip him of his seat following his conviction for tax fraud.

As he left the Senate building on Wednesday, people outside greeted him with catcalls, whistles and cries of "go away".

[Alexis]

Former president of the EU commission, and former president of Italy's ministers - "Mr Euro" himself - urges Latin nations (Spain, Italy, France) to impose their will on Germany.
Italy's Mr Euro urges Latin Front, warns Germany won't sell another Mercedes in Europe

I remember a book around year 2000 "Europe against Franco-German friendship", predicting that the not-yet fully installed Euro currency would lead to misalignment of interests, then to discord between France and Germany. That was true, and is in fact general: between all nations of Europe political discord is growing.

Italians seem much farther down this path than we are, though.

For a former Europhile-in-chief, for the man who was leading the EU commission when the Euro was introduced, to argue openly and strongly for an anti-German policy!!!

[Azrael]

Thanks for the article, Alexis. Prodi is right and Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes very interesting stuff.