Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all who have sacrificed so that we may live in freedom. Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Gateway Pundit Discovery Date : 22/05/2009 03:01 Number of articles : 33
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Italian voters set to reject the prime minister’s mayoral candidates both in his home city and in Naples An exit poll and early projections show Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, heading for a humiliating and politically ominous defeat in his home city of Milan. The polls suggested his party’s choice for mayor, Letizia Moratti, would be ousted in a runoff with a local leftwing lawyer, Giuliano Pisapia. An exit poll conducted for Sky Italia gave the challenger an advantage of seven percentage points; and an early projection pointed to an even bigger victory for Pisapia, of almost eight points. Projections also indicated that the left was storming towards a big victory in Italy’s third-biggest city, Naples. There, the opposition candidate was estimated to have picked up over 60% of the vote. Balloting in local and provincial elections ended at 3pm local time after a second, two-day round of voting. Milan, Italy’s business capital, was one of 90 towns and cities where a clear winner failed to emerge in the first round, on 15 and 16 May. The contest there was by far the most important. Milan is the city from which Italy’s flamboyant prime minister launched his political adventure, 17 years ago. It is also the one in which he is on trial for a range of alleged financial and sex-related offences. And, not least, it is the stronghold of his key allies in the populist, Islamophobic Northern League. Federico Manda, a tram maintenance technician, was one of a steady stream of last-minute voters at an electoral college around the corner from the courthouse where Berlusconi is a defendant in three concurrent trials. He had voted for “a change in Milan”, he said. “Berlusconi has monopolised this municipality, putting his men in everywhere, often in the wrong places.” Berlusconi tried to turn the ballot into a vote of confidence on his private life and his government’s performance. All the signs are that that was a disastrous error of judgment. After the first round, Moratti came in six percentage points behind her main rival. In the subsequent campaign, the prime minister and his Freedom People movement tried to make up lost ground with an overtly racist campaign directed at Pisapia’s sympathy for Roma and Muslims. Professor James Walston of the American University of Rome said he feared Berlusconi’s tactics could have a lasting impact on inter-racial and inter-faith relations in Italy. “This type of language has been used by the prime minister, not some neo-fascist maniac on the fringes,” he said. “It will be difficult to bring Italian political language back to acceptable European levels.” A victory for the left would be all the more remarkable, since its candidate was not the choice of the mainstream Democratic party (PD) but was one whose past is tinged with radicalism. Pisapia, a lawyer who once defended the Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan, was elected to parliament in the 1990s as an independent on the slate of the hardline Communist Refoundation party. The predicted outcome in Naples would also be as much of an embarrassment to the PD as for Berlusconi. The opposition’s challenge there was mounted by a former prosecutor, Luigi De Magistris, who fought and defeated the PD’s candidate in the first round. Much will now depend on the reaction of the Northern League, which keeps Berlusconi’s government in power. Italy Silvio Berlusconi Europe Race issues John Hooper guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Italian voters set to reject the prime minister’s mayoral candidates both in his home city and in Naples An exit poll and early projections show Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, heading for a humiliating and politically ominous defeat in his home city of Milan. The polls suggested his party’s choice for mayor, Letizia Moratti, would be ousted in a runoff with a local leftwing lawyer, Giuliano Pisapia. An exit poll conducted for Sky Italia gave the challenger an advantage of seven percentage points; and an early projection pointed to an even bigger victory for Pisapia, of almost eight points. Projections also indicated that the left was storming towards a big victory in Italy’s third-biggest city, Naples. There, the opposition candidate was estimated to have picked up over 60% of the vote. Balloting in local and provincial elections ended at 3pm local time after a second, two-day round of voting. Milan, Italy’s business capital, was one of 90 towns and cities where a clear winner failed to emerge in the first round, on 15 and 16 May. The contest there was by far the most important. Milan is the city from which Italy’s flamboyant prime minister launched his political adventure, 17 years ago. It is also the one in which he is on trial for a range of alleged financial and sex-related offences. And, not least, it is the stronghold of his key allies in the populist, Islamophobic Northern League. Federico Manda, a tram maintenance technician, was one of a steady stream of last-minute voters at an electoral college around the corner from the courthouse where Berlusconi is a defendant in three concurrent trials. He had voted for “a change in Milan”, he said. “Berlusconi has monopolised this municipality, putting his men in everywhere, often in the wrong places.” Berlusconi tried to turn the ballot into a vote of confidence on his private life and his government’s performance. All the signs are that that was a disastrous error of judgment. After the first round, Moratti came in six percentage points behind her main rival. In the subsequent campaign, the prime minister and his Freedom People movement tried to make up lost ground with an overtly racist campaign directed at Pisapia’s sympathy for Roma and Muslims. Professor James Walston of the American University of Rome said he feared Berlusconi’s tactics could have a lasting impact on inter-racial and inter-faith relations in Italy. “This type of language has been used by the prime minister, not some neo-fascist maniac on the fringes,” he said. “It will be difficult to bring Italian political language back to acceptable European levels.” A victory for the left would be all the more remarkable, since its candidate was not the choice of the mainstream Democratic party (PD) but was one whose past is tinged with radicalism. Pisapia, a lawyer who once defended the Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan, was elected to parliament in the 1990s as an independent on the slate of the hardline Communist Refoundation party. The predicted outcome in Naples would also be as much of an embarrassment to the PD as for Berlusconi. The opposition’s challenge there was mounted by a former prosecutor, Luigi De Magistris, who fought and defeated the PD’s candidate in the first round. Much will now depend on the reaction of the Northern League, which keeps Berlusconi’s government in power. Italy Silvio Berlusconi Europe Race issues John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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Report claims soldiers may be British, possibly SAS – which would break UN resolution over any ‘occupation force’ Armed western men have been filmed on the ground with rebels in central Libya in the first apparent confirmation that Nato has sent military advisers to train anti-government forces. A group of six westerners were clearly visible, according to a report by al-Jazeera from Dafniya, described as the westernmost point of the rebel lines west of the town of Misrata. Five of them were armed and wearing informal sand-coloured clothes, peaked caps, and cotton Arab scarves. The sixth, apparently most senior of the group, was carrying no visible weapon and wore a pink, short-sleeve shirt. He may be an intelligence officer. The group is seen talking to rebels and then quickly leaving on being spotted by the television crew. The footage emerged as South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, arrived in Tripoli in an attempt to broker a ceasefire. He described reports that he would ask Gaddafi to step down as “misleading”, and said he would instead focus on humanitarian measures and ways to implement a plan concocted by the African Union, which would see Libya undertake a process of transition to democratic rule but not seek Muammar Gaddafi’s exile. The western men seen by Al Jazeera were present on rebel lines late last week, days before British and French attack helicopters are to join the Nato campaign. They are expected to be active over Libya this week and likely to be deployed on the outskirts of Misrata, from where forces loyal to Gaddafi continue to shell rebel positions to the east. There have been numerous reports in the British press that SAS soldiers are acting as spotters in Libya to help Nato warplanes target pro-Gaddafi forces. In March, six special forces soldiers and two MI6 officers were detained by rebel fighters when they landed on an abortive mission to meet rebel leaders in Benghazi, in an embarrassing episode for the SAS. The group was withdrawn soon afterwards and a new “liaison team” sent in its place. Asked for comment yesterday, a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: “We don’t have any forces out there.” The subject is sensitive as the UN security council resolution in March authorising the use of force in Libya specifically excludes “a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory”. Despite more than two months of bombing by Nato jets, rebels have remained unable to advance west of Misrata, or west of Brega, 300 miles to the east. The capital, Tripoli, also remains in the grip of Gaddafi, who has defied all attempts to force him to leave. The Benghazi-based Transitional National Council, which is positioning itself as a democratic alternative to the four decade strongman rule of the four-decade rule of Gaddafi, claimed that eight senior military officers, among them four generals, had defected to its side and would announce their new loyalties at a meeting soon to take place in Rome. There was no immediate confirmation from the Italian government. However, air force pilots have landed in Italy and defected earlier in the rebellion. Undertrained and under-manned rebel forces have been encouraging defections, which they see as a way to whittle down support for Gaddafi in the absence of a ground army sent to assist them In April, William Hague announced that an expanded military liaison team would be dispatched to work with the Transitional National Council. The foreign secretary said the team would help the rebels improve “organisational structures, communications and logistics” but stressed: “Our officers will not be involved in training or arming the opposition’s fighting forces, nor will they be involved in the planning or execution of the NTC’s military operations or in the provision of any other form of operational military advice.” There were unconfirmed reports at the time that Britain was planning to send former SAS members and other experienced soldiers to Libya under the cover of private security companies, paid for by Arab states, to train the anti-government forces. Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Africa Al-Jazeera TV news Military Julian Borger guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Report claims soldiers may be British, possibly SAS – which would break UN resolution over any ‘occupation force’ Armed western men have been filmed on the ground with rebels in central Libya in the first apparent confirmation that Nato has sent military advisers to train anti-government forces. A group of six westerners were clearly visible, according to a report by al-Jazeera from Dafniya, described as the westernmost point of the rebel lines west of the town of Misrata. Five of them were armed and wearing informal sand-coloured clothes, peaked caps, and cotton Arab scarves. The sixth, apparently most senior of the group, was carrying no visible weapon and wore a pink, short-sleeve shirt. He may be an intelligence officer. The group is seen talking to rebels and then quickly leaving on being spotted by the television crew. The footage emerged as South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, arrived in Tripoli in an attempt to broker a ceasefire. He described reports that he would ask Gaddafi to step down as “misleading”, and said he would instead focus on humanitarian measures and ways to implement a plan concocted by the African Union, which would see Libya undertake a process of transition to democratic rule but not seek Muammar Gaddafi’s exile. The western men seen by Al Jazeera were present on rebel lines late last week, days before British and French attack helicopters are to join the Nato campaign. They are expected to be active over Libya this week and likely to be deployed on the outskirts of Misrata, from where forces loyal to Gaddafi continue to shell rebel positions to the east. There have been numerous reports in the British press that SAS soldiers are acting as spotters in Libya to help Nato warplanes target pro-Gaddafi forces. In March, six special forces soldiers and two MI6 officers were detained by rebel fighters when they landed on an abortive mission to meet rebel leaders in Benghazi, in an embarrassing episode for the SAS. The group was withdrawn soon afterwards and a new “liaison team” sent in its place. Asked for comment yesterday, a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: “We don’t have any forces out there.” The subject is sensitive as the UN security council resolution in March authorising the use of force in Libya specifically excludes “a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory”. Despite more than two months of bombing by Nato jets, rebels have remained unable to advance west of Misrata, or west of Brega, 300 miles to the east. The capital, Tripoli, also remains in the grip of Gaddafi, who has defied all attempts to force him to leave. The Benghazi-based Transitional National Council, which is positioning itself as a democratic alternative to the four decade strongman rule of the four-decade rule of Gaddafi, claimed that eight senior military officers, among them four generals, had defected to its side and would announce their new loyalties at a meeting soon to take place in Rome. There was no immediate confirmation from the Italian government. However, air force pilots have landed in Italy and defected earlier in the rebellion. Undertrained and under-manned rebel forces have been encouraging defections, which they see as a way to whittle down support for Gaddafi in the absence of a ground army sent to assist them In April, William Hague announced that an expanded military liaison team would be dispatched to work with the Transitional National Council. The foreign secretary said the team would help the rebels improve “organisational structures, communications and logistics” but stressed: “Our officers will not be involved in training or arming the opposition’s fighting forces, nor will they be involved in the planning or execution of the NTC’s military operations or in the provision of any other form of operational military advice.” There were unconfirmed reports at the time that Britain was planning to send former SAS members and other experienced soldiers to Libya under the cover of private security companies, paid for by Arab states, to train the anti-government forces. Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Africa Al-Jazeera TV news Military Julian Borger guardian.co.uk
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Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel stepped down Monday in the wake of an NCAA investigation into his knowledge of violations in the program. (May 30)
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Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel stepped down Monday in the wake of an NCAA investigation into his knowledge of violations in the program. (May 30)
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President Barack Obama travels to the Arlington burial grounds in Virginia, saying the country must not forget the service of its war dead. (May 30)
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President Barack Obama travels to the Arlington burial grounds in Virginia, saying the country must not forget the service of its war dead. (May 30)
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Click here to view this media Those of you on twitter this weekend can’t help but have been drawn into Andrew Breitbart’s latest smear festival. The details are sordid and involved , as is usual with anything Breitbart touches. Given that his latest victim is Rep. Anthony Weiner, it’s important to remember what of Weiner’s activities might be drawing the right wing fake video impresario’s ire. Weiner discussed one of his current concerns with Rachel Maddow last Friday night. Weiner is pushing hard for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself on any decisions involving The Healthcare Reform Act. From the link: Clarence Thomas’ wife earned $700,000 from half the radical right-wing ideologues in Washington. Opposing health care reform was her specialty. For 13 years, Thomas didn’t disclose a penny of that income. He’s trying to conceal a blatant conflict of interest. His family is getting rich off an issue that’s very likely to come before the Supreme Court. I don’t expect Breitbart is getting paid for this directly. Smearing Weiner is an end in itself, and I doubt it was specifically in order to distract attention from Weiner’s efforts to shame Thomas into recusing himself. Weiner is an unapologetic liberal, which draws the hate of Breitbart and his drinking buddies no matter what issues Weiner promotes. But it is essential that we as progressives don’t get distracted by Breitbart’s lies. The issue is Thomas and what a complete conflict of interest it is for him to vote on anything to do with the constitutionality of the Healthcare Reform bill. Given that conflict of interest didn’t stop him from voting in favor of Bush in Bush v. Gore (when Thomas’s wife was on the Bush transition team) I doubt Thomas has any shame but Weiner’s efforts are still commendable. I refuse to get distracted by Breitbart’s promotion of lies. It is immoral for Thomas to vote on an issue for which his WIFE is a LOBBYIST. He should be shamed into recusing himself, and if he doesn’t, he should be publicly reviled and ultimately impeached. H/T Heather for the transcript below the fold. MADDOW: You have been in the news today because you have been pressuring Supreme Court Justices to release their financial disclosure forms. Clarence Thomas’ form shows that his wife Ginni earned salary and benefits from an anti-health reform group called Liberty Central as well as another group Liberty Consulting. And his wife… I was reading the forms after you posted them and I felt like there was also some sort of reference, maybe Clarence Thomas himself receiving some sort of funding from Liberty Consulting? How did you interpret those disclosures? What do you think they mean? WEINER: Well just so everyone understands, it’s required that every year that members of the Supreme Court disclose anything that might be a conflict in their background. Well, as it turned out for almost twenty years Clarence Thomas’ spouse was getting money from not only think tanks, but think tanks that were actively trying to persuade the court to do something, things like the Heritage Foundation and others. And so now when that became public, we’ve been paying extra attention to when these filings were reported and here’s the conflict. It is clear under the law that if any member of your household is going to benefit one way or the other from the outcome of a case, you’ve got to recuse yourself. Well, Ginni Thomas is actively raising money, taking money from organizations that would benefit if the health care reform act was struck down. It’s clear that Clarence Thomas should recuse himself. And let me just say this and make it very clear; Clarence Thomas’ spouse can earn money any way she wants and be free to speak (inaudible), but the question becomes, does that income to that household present a conflict for Clarence Thomas. And so yeah, we started a website ConflictedClarenceThomas.com and we put all of these documents up. And it’s pretty clear that Justice Thomas should recuse himself from the healthcare reform debate at least, because it’s clear his household is benefiting from one side of that debate. MADDOW: Benefiting financially because she would not be getting the income that she’s getting from these ideological groups if it were not for her perceived influence on her husband? WEINER: Exactly. As a matter of fact, she goes as far to advertise that and talk about the idea. You know, she makes fun of the idea. She says oh yes, I’ve got a great deal of influence over these proceedings. And remember something, she’s basically, her organizations are raising money by saying if you give money to me, we’re going to try to stop the healthcare reform from being implemented. Well she returns home to Justice Thomas who has to make that decision and probably in the next… less than a year. So we’re pressuring him to recuse himself. To me it’s a pretty clear case of the law that he should. MADDOW: And of course, there’s no way to force him to do it except by shame. WEINER: That’s right.
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