NEVADA EN ITALIA
El país vive un invierno más frío a los que está acostumbrado; varias góndolas se pueden ver cubiertas por la nieve en uno de los canales de Venecia | Ver nota | Ver fotogalería
Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Beckham Chiquito
Comprueba lo que pensaba
Manosean a Beckham en "partes nobles"
La conductora italiana Elena Di Cioccio se mostró muy decepcionada con la experiencia que vivió tras tocar los atributos del mediocampista inglés, al asegurar que el jugador del Milán lo tenía chiquito
La conductora italiana Elena Di Cioccio se burló de los atributos de David Beckham después de que tocó en un evento público (Foto: Imagen tomada del video)
Redacción
El Universal
Ciudad de México
Jueves 21 de enero de 2010 | 10:48
El mediocampista inglés David Beckham, quien en la actualidad milita en el Milan de Italia, se topó con una de las escenas más bochornosas de su vida, cuando de la nada la presentadora italiana Elena Di Cioccio decidió tocarle sus partes nobles durante un evento público.
Tras la curiosa escena, el cuerpo de seguridad que resguardaba al futbolista buscó someter a la controversial presentadora, sin embargo no se dejó reprimir e incluso se dio el lujo de seguir al esposo de Victoria Adams hasta su automóvil.
Al ser cuestionada del por qué de su accionar, la mujer argumentó que lo hizo porque quería comprobar que las imágenes que realizaba el ex Galaxy para Armani tenían retoque y que sus atributos no eran de la magnitud que todo el mundo creía, por lo que la única forma de desmentir al astro era tocando sus "partes nobles" y una vez que lo hizo, la conductora tuvo la facultad de confirmar lo que pensaba: David Beckham lo tiene chiquito.
Manosean a Beckham en "partes nobles"
La conductora italiana Elena Di Cioccio se mostró muy decepcionada con la experiencia que vivió tras tocar los atributos del mediocampista inglés, al asegurar que el jugador del Milán lo tenía chiquito
La conductora italiana Elena Di Cioccio se burló de los atributos de David Beckham después de que tocó en un evento público (Foto: Imagen tomada del video)
Redacción
El Universal
Ciudad de México
Jueves 21 de enero de 2010 | 10:48
El mediocampista inglés David Beckham, quien en la actualidad milita en el Milan de Italia, se topó con una de las escenas más bochornosas de su vida, cuando de la nada la presentadora italiana Elena Di Cioccio decidió tocarle sus partes nobles durante un evento público.
Tras la curiosa escena, el cuerpo de seguridad que resguardaba al futbolista buscó someter a la controversial presentadora, sin embargo no se dejó reprimir e incluso se dio el lujo de seguir al esposo de Victoria Adams hasta su automóvil.
Al ser cuestionada del por qué de su accionar, la mujer argumentó que lo hizo porque quería comprobar que las imágenes que realizaba el ex Galaxy para Armani tenían retoque y que sus atributos no eran de la magnitud que todo el mundo creía, por lo que la única forma de desmentir al astro era tocando sus "partes nobles" y una vez que lo hizo, la conductora tuvo la facultad de confirmar lo que pensaba: David Beckham lo tiene chiquito.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Agent 00-something
Benito Mussolini was paid £100 a week by MI5 to keep Italy in the first world war. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis
This is a good one.
Recruited by MI5: the name's Mussolini. Benito Mussolini
Documents reveal Italian dictator got start in politics in 1917 with help of £100 weekly wage from MI5
History remembers Benito Mussolini as a founder member of the original Axis of Evil, the Italian dictator who ruled his country with fear and forged a disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany. But a previously unknown area of Il Duce's CV has come to light: his brief career as a British agent.
Archived documents have revealed that Mussolini got his start in politics in 1917 with the help of a £100 weekly wage from MI5.
For the British intelligence agency, it must have seemed like a good investment. Mussolini, then a 34-year-old journalist, was not just willing to ensure Italy continued to fight alongside the allies in the first world war by publishing propaganda in his paper. He was also willing to send in the boys to "persuade'' peace protesters to stay at home.
Mussolini's payments were authorised by Sir Samuel Hoare, an MP and MI5's man in Rome, who ran a staff of 100 British intelligence officers in Italy at the time.
Cambridge historian Peter Martland, who discovered details of the deal struck with the future dictator, said: "Britain's least reliable ally in the war at the time was Italy after revolutionary Russia's pullout from the conflict. Mussolini was paid £100 a week from the autumn of 1917 for at least a year to keep up the pro-war campaigning – equivalent to about £6,000 a week today."
Hoare, later to become Lord Templewood, mentioned the recruitment in memoirs in 1954, but Martland stumbled on details of the payments for the first time while scouring Hoare's papers.
As well as keeping the presses rolling at Il Popolo d'Italia, the newspaper he edited, Mussolini also told Hoare he would send Italian army veterans to beat up peace protesters in Milan, a dry run for his fascist blackshirt units.
"The last thing Britain wanted were pro-peace strikes bringing the factories in Milan to a halt. It was a lot of money to pay a man who was a journalist at the time, but compared to the £4m Britain was spending on the war every day, it was petty cash," said Martland.
"I have no evidence to prove it, but I suspect that Mussolini, who was a noted womaniser, also spent a good deal of the money on his mistresses."
After the armistice, Mussolini began his rise to power, assisted by electoral fraud and blackshirt violence, establishing a fascist dictorship by the mid-1920s.
His colonial ambitions in Africa brought him into contact with his old paymaster again in 1935. Now the British foreign secretary, Hoare signed the Hoare-Laval pact, which gave Italy control over Abyssinia.
"There is no reason to believe the two men were friends, although Hoare did have an enduring love affair with Italy," said Martland, whose research is included in Christopher Andrew's history of MI5, Defence of the Realm, which was published last week.
The unpopularity of the Hoare-Laval pact in Britain forced Hoare to resign. Mussolini, meanwhile, built on his new colonial clout to ally with Hitler, entering the second world war in 1940, this time to fight against the allies.
Deposed following the allied invasion of Italy in 1943, Mussolini was killed with his mistress, Clara Petacci, by Italian partisans while fleeing Italy in an attempt to reach Switzerland two years later.
Martland said: "Mussolini ended his life hung upside down in Milan, but history has not been kind to Hoare either, condemned as an appeaser of fascism alongside Neville Chamberlain."
This is a good one.
Recruited by MI5: the name's Mussolini. Benito Mussolini
Documents reveal Italian dictator got start in politics in 1917 with help of £100 weekly wage from MI5
History remembers Benito Mussolini as a founder member of the original Axis of Evil, the Italian dictator who ruled his country with fear and forged a disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany. But a previously unknown area of Il Duce's CV has come to light: his brief career as a British agent.
Archived documents have revealed that Mussolini got his start in politics in 1917 with the help of a £100 weekly wage from MI5.
For the British intelligence agency, it must have seemed like a good investment. Mussolini, then a 34-year-old journalist, was not just willing to ensure Italy continued to fight alongside the allies in the first world war by publishing propaganda in his paper. He was also willing to send in the boys to "persuade'' peace protesters to stay at home.
Mussolini's payments were authorised by Sir Samuel Hoare, an MP and MI5's man in Rome, who ran a staff of 100 British intelligence officers in Italy at the time.
Cambridge historian Peter Martland, who discovered details of the deal struck with the future dictator, said: "Britain's least reliable ally in the war at the time was Italy after revolutionary Russia's pullout from the conflict. Mussolini was paid £100 a week from the autumn of 1917 for at least a year to keep up the pro-war campaigning – equivalent to about £6,000 a week today."
Hoare, later to become Lord Templewood, mentioned the recruitment in memoirs in 1954, but Martland stumbled on details of the payments for the first time while scouring Hoare's papers.
As well as keeping the presses rolling at Il Popolo d'Italia, the newspaper he edited, Mussolini also told Hoare he would send Italian army veterans to beat up peace protesters in Milan, a dry run for his fascist blackshirt units.
"The last thing Britain wanted were pro-peace strikes bringing the factories in Milan to a halt. It was a lot of money to pay a man who was a journalist at the time, but compared to the £4m Britain was spending on the war every day, it was petty cash," said Martland.
"I have no evidence to prove it, but I suspect that Mussolini, who was a noted womaniser, also spent a good deal of the money on his mistresses."
After the armistice, Mussolini began his rise to power, assisted by electoral fraud and blackshirt violence, establishing a fascist dictorship by the mid-1920s.
His colonial ambitions in Africa brought him into contact with his old paymaster again in 1935. Now the British foreign secretary, Hoare signed the Hoare-Laval pact, which gave Italy control over Abyssinia.
"There is no reason to believe the two men were friends, although Hoare did have an enduring love affair with Italy," said Martland, whose research is included in Christopher Andrew's history of MI5, Defence of the Realm, which was published last week.
The unpopularity of the Hoare-Laval pact in Britain forced Hoare to resign. Mussolini, meanwhile, built on his new colonial clout to ally with Hitler, entering the second world war in 1940, this time to fight against the allies.
Deposed following the allied invasion of Italy in 1943, Mussolini was killed with his mistress, Clara Petacci, by Italian partisans while fleeing Italy in an attempt to reach Switzerland two years later.
Martland said: "Mussolini ended his life hung upside down in Milan, but history has not been kind to Hoare either, condemned as an appeaser of fascism alongside Neville Chamberlain."
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Today's fashion
In an article in today's Journal about the Milan fashion show, there was a picture that included Anna Piaggi in a magnificent look. Alas, it is not online, so I got this one to substitute. What could I possibly add?
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Stalking Silvio
When Italian Prime Minister Silvio throws a party at his villa here on the island of Sardinia, Antonello Zappadu is usually hiding in the bushes, dressed in military fatigues and snapping photos with a high-power zoom.
Over the years, Mr. Zappadu has taken thousands of pictures of Mr. Berlusconi at Villa Certosa, including some of the prime minister strolling hand-in-hand with an array of women and aboard a raft on the villa's artificial lake.
Whether those hand-holdings were spicy or not, well, who really knows?
Mr. Zappadu's latest photos have trained a telephoto lens onto Mr. Berlusconi's private life. Published in El Pais, a Spanish newspaper, they include shots of topless women and a former Czech prime minister sunbathing naked at the villa. The photos were followed by statements by women who claimed they were paid to attend parties hosted by the prime minister, which Mr. Berlusconi denied.
A little spicy, at least, no?
Mr. Berlusconi isn't hurting politically; he is still Italy's most popular politician. But he is under pressure to provide serious answers.
Pressure from other politicians and the media, one supposes, for Silvio remains quite popular, amazingly.
Mr. Berlusconi attended a recording of an Italian television program on May 5 while a portrait of Ms. Lario was displayed behind him
Mr. Berlusconi has charged the foreign media with fanning his troubles. In one episode, he accused News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal, of orchestrating personal attacks on him through the media in retaliation for the Italian government's decision in late November to raise the value-added tax on satellite TV subscriptions, a market dominated in Italy by News Corp.'s Italian pay-TV unit Sky Italia. Rupert Murdoch, CEO and chairman of News Corp., called the allegations "nonsense" in an interview on Fox Business Network earlier this month.
Blaming foreign media is a proven way of reducing pressure and shifting focus. Ahmadinejad is doing it, Silvio too. In fact, Murdoch and Berlusconi are quite similar, except that Rupert runs a media empire and Silvio runs a country as well as a media empire.
After months of scrutiny, Mr. Berlusconi struck a defiant note on Thursday. "This is how I'm made, and this is how Italians want me," Mr. Berlusconi told a news conference, adding: "I won't change."
Photographer Antonello Zappadu, above, met Berlusconi shortly after he was first elected prime minister in 1994. Mr. Zappadu's professional pursuit intensified in 2007 after the prime minister's wife publicly chastised her husband for flirting with another woman.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
In the Comfort Zone in Milan
EASY FIT From 2010 spring men’s wear collections in Milan: from left, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Calvin Klein.
More Photos >
DSquared 2 Spring/Summer 2010 men's collection during Milan Fashion Week.
Yes, what the well-dressed man can do to look good in a public library or a corporate office on casual Friday.
More Photos >
DSquared 2 Spring/Summer 2010 men's collection during Milan Fashion Week.
Yes, what the well-dressed man can do to look good in a public library or a corporate office on casual Friday.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Silvio yet again
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he did not pay a woman to stay overnight at his residence.
Check the facts; the first paragraph of the story is a mite different than the photo's caption.
Facing a growing wave of criticism about his personal life, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi went on the defensive this week, saying that he did not recall meeting a woman who claims he paid her to spend the night at his Rome residence.
Silvio being Silvio.
In an exclusive interview to be published Wednesday in Chi magazine, which Mr. Berlusconi owns and which is Italy’s equivalent of People, he was asked if he had ever paid a woman “so she would be with him.”
He owns the magazine, and is PM. Speak of controlling the spin cycle.
“Naturally, no,” he responded. “I have never understood what satisfaction there is if not in the pleasure of conquest.”
A, conquest.
Although Mr. Berlusconi governs virtually unopposed, because of the collapse of the country’s left and his popular support among Italians, some analysts say they believe that the questions about his personal life could start depleting his political capital.
The more he is depicted as morally compromised, the harder it will be for him to govern, they say. “He could face a war of attrition,” said Stefano Folli, a columnist for the financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. The simmering scandal is “a point of political weakness,” he said, adding, “It poses greater difficulty for governing even his allies.”
Members of Mr. Berlusconi’s center-right coalition have not leapt to his defense. And the Catholic Church has been more insistent in its criticism.
Even the Church is distancing itself from Silvio; that is not good for Silvio.
L’Avvenire, a newspaper published by the Italian Bishops Conference, said Friday that given the “growing unease” about Mr. Berlusconi’s personal life, it was necessary “to arrive as quickly as possible at a sufficient clarification.”
American bishops are a lot more righteous in their opinions.
One of the women who said they were paid to attend parties at the prime minister’s residence, Patrizia D’Addario, told the newspaper Corriere della Sera last week that she had visited the residence several times, and that Mr. Berlusconi asked her to spend the night once. She said she tape-recorded her visits and also took some photographs.
Taped and photographed her visits? Seems rather premeditated. Silvio should have read his Nixon history a lot better than he obviously did.
Check the facts; the first paragraph of the story is a mite different than the photo's caption.
Facing a growing wave of criticism about his personal life, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi went on the defensive this week, saying that he did not recall meeting a woman who claims he paid her to spend the night at his Rome residence.
Silvio being Silvio.
In an exclusive interview to be published Wednesday in Chi magazine, which Mr. Berlusconi owns and which is Italy’s equivalent of People, he was asked if he had ever paid a woman “so she would be with him.”
He owns the magazine, and is PM. Speak of controlling the spin cycle.
“Naturally, no,” he responded. “I have never understood what satisfaction there is if not in the pleasure of conquest.”
A, conquest.
Although Mr. Berlusconi governs virtually unopposed, because of the collapse of the country’s left and his popular support among Italians, some analysts say they believe that the questions about his personal life could start depleting his political capital.
The more he is depicted as morally compromised, the harder it will be for him to govern, they say. “He could face a war of attrition,” said Stefano Folli, a columnist for the financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. The simmering scandal is “a point of political weakness,” he said, adding, “It poses greater difficulty for governing even his allies.”
Members of Mr. Berlusconi’s center-right coalition have not leapt to his defense. And the Catholic Church has been more insistent in its criticism.
Even the Church is distancing itself from Silvio; that is not good for Silvio.
L’Avvenire, a newspaper published by the Italian Bishops Conference, said Friday that given the “growing unease” about Mr. Berlusconi’s personal life, it was necessary “to arrive as quickly as possible at a sufficient clarification.”
American bishops are a lot more righteous in their opinions.
One of the women who said they were paid to attend parties at the prime minister’s residence, Patrizia D’Addario, told the newspaper Corriere della Sera last week that she had visited the residence several times, and that Mr. Berlusconi asked her to spend the night once. She said she tape-recorded her visits and also took some photographs.
Taped and photographed her visits? Seems rather premeditated. Silvio should have read his Nixon history a lot better than he obviously did.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Italy: Tepid Applause for Qaddafi
The Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, on Thursday urged the world to understand what motivates terrorists, and likened the 1986 strikes by the United States on Libya to Osama bin Laden’s terrorist attacks. Colonel Qaddafi, left, who was long accused of sponsoring terrorism, got tepid applause from the Italian lawmakers he addressed on the second day of a trip to Italy, Libya’s former colonial ruler. “It is not very intelligent to chase terrorists down the Afghan mountains or Central Asia,” he said. “That’s impossible. We must look at their reasons.”
Weird reasoning, but par for Muammar.
Weird reasoning, but par for Muammar.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
What a pair
Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the Libyan leader, with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, right, in Rome on Wednesday.
Where'd Muammar get those shades?
Italy came to terms with its colonial past on Wednesday in a somewhat surreal news conference with two of the world’s most colorful politicians, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
Surreal and colorful are perfect adjectives for this pair.
The Colonel's visit comes just months after Italy agreed to pay Libya $5 billion in reparations as part of a treaty nominally about healing colonial wounds but in practice more about helping business and stemming illegal immigration.
Curiously, the Colonel has never promoted himself to General.
In rambling remarks, Colonel Qaddafi praised Italy as the “only colonial state” that had “cleaned up its past from expansionist and colonialist policies.” Mr. Berlusconi, at turns weary and ebullient, declared “a new era of peace and friendship and collaboration” between the countries.
A good point.
In one of the least notable colonial histories in Europe, Italy ruled Libya from 1911 to 1943.
32 years as colonial master.
Earlier, Mr. Berlusconi greeted Colonel Qaddafi at Rome’s Ciampino airport, where the North African leader was flanked by his trademark cadre of female bodyguards, whom the Italian news media referred to as “Amazons.”
What can anyone add? Well, leave it to the Colonel to come up with something.
Colonel Qaddafi arrived with a provocation pinned to one lapel of his baggy military uniform: a black-and-white photograph of a Libyan resistance leader, Omar al-Mukhtar, who was hanged by the Italians in 1931. “This hanging is like the crucifixion of Christ for Christians,” Colonel Qaddafi said at the news conference. “For us, this image is a bit like the cross that some of you wear.”
So, Muammar is claiming al-Mukhtar was the son of Allah?
Italy had practical goals in mind. The financial crisis has led Italian blue-chip companies like the bank Unicredit and the energy utility ENI to rely more on Libyan investment. So in exchange for the $5 billion in reparations it is due to receive over 20 years, Libya will provide Italy with more oil, make it easier for Italian companies to conduct business there and place Italian companies “in first place” to win infrastructure contracts, Mr. Berlusconi said.
Reparations to one person, perhaps a bribe to another.
Colonel Qaddafi, meanwhile, offered ruminative remarks on colonialism and migration. He said that Italians should understand “the appeal of Europe” to many Africans. “They have no identity,” he said. “They come out of the forest, they say, ‘In the North there’s money, I’ll go to Libya and then to Europe.’ ”
Out of the forest? What a choice of words.
Students have protested his planned speech at La Sapienza University, and the Jewish community has also grumbled about the colonel’s visit. Many Jews fled to Italy after being expelled from Libya in 1967, and many of them are asking for restitution for their confiscated property.
Perhaps the Colonel can dip into the 5 billion, or, perhaps, ask his friend Silvio for a few Euros.
In Rome, Colonel Qaddafi has pitched his Bedouin tent in a public park, the Villa Doria Pamphili.
That is spin par excellence.
At his request, on Friday he is expected to meet with 700 Italian women from the business and cultural sectors, an encounter organized by the equal opportunities minister.
The Colonel gets the final word.
Where'd Muammar get those shades?
Italy came to terms with its colonial past on Wednesday in a somewhat surreal news conference with two of the world’s most colorful politicians, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
Surreal and colorful are perfect adjectives for this pair.
The Colonel's visit comes just months after Italy agreed to pay Libya $5 billion in reparations as part of a treaty nominally about healing colonial wounds but in practice more about helping business and stemming illegal immigration.
Curiously, the Colonel has never promoted himself to General.
In rambling remarks, Colonel Qaddafi praised Italy as the “only colonial state” that had “cleaned up its past from expansionist and colonialist policies.” Mr. Berlusconi, at turns weary and ebullient, declared “a new era of peace and friendship and collaboration” between the countries.
A good point.
In one of the least notable colonial histories in Europe, Italy ruled Libya from 1911 to 1943.
32 years as colonial master.
Earlier, Mr. Berlusconi greeted Colonel Qaddafi at Rome’s Ciampino airport, where the North African leader was flanked by his trademark cadre of female bodyguards, whom the Italian news media referred to as “Amazons.”
What can anyone add? Well, leave it to the Colonel to come up with something.
Colonel Qaddafi arrived with a provocation pinned to one lapel of his baggy military uniform: a black-and-white photograph of a Libyan resistance leader, Omar al-Mukhtar, who was hanged by the Italians in 1931. “This hanging is like the crucifixion of Christ for Christians,” Colonel Qaddafi said at the news conference. “For us, this image is a bit like the cross that some of you wear.”
So, Muammar is claiming al-Mukhtar was the son of Allah?
Italy had practical goals in mind. The financial crisis has led Italian blue-chip companies like the bank Unicredit and the energy utility ENI to rely more on Libyan investment. So in exchange for the $5 billion in reparations it is due to receive over 20 years, Libya will provide Italy with more oil, make it easier for Italian companies to conduct business there and place Italian companies “in first place” to win infrastructure contracts, Mr. Berlusconi said.
Reparations to one person, perhaps a bribe to another.
Colonel Qaddafi, meanwhile, offered ruminative remarks on colonialism and migration. He said that Italians should understand “the appeal of Europe” to many Africans. “They have no identity,” he said. “They come out of the forest, they say, ‘In the North there’s money, I’ll go to Libya and then to Europe.’ ”
Out of the forest? What a choice of words.
Students have protested his planned speech at La Sapienza University, and the Jewish community has also grumbled about the colonel’s visit. Many Jews fled to Italy after being expelled from Libya in 1967, and many of them are asking for restitution for their confiscated property.
Perhaps the Colonel can dip into the 5 billion, or, perhaps, ask his friend Silvio for a few Euros.
In Rome, Colonel Qaddafi has pitched his Bedouin tent in a public park, the Villa Doria Pamphili.
That is spin par excellence.
At his request, on Friday he is expected to meet with 700 Italian women from the business and cultural sectors, an encounter organized by the equal opportunities minister.
The Colonel gets the final word.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Again, Silvio
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday that he had used a state plane to ferry personal guests to his private villa -- but that there was nothing improper as he and other government officials were flying on the jet.That's splitting hairs, or fudging it, which is Silvio's style. And it works, or has worked, for him.
An investigation has been started into whether the premier allegedly abused his powers by arranging for partygoers -- including a dancer and singer -- to use government aircraft and for official security escorts to travel to his villa on the island of Sardinia.
The man has so much money, but he chose a government craft because, well, because he wanted to.
Mr. Berlusconi said "all of these people were hosted at Certosa without a euro of cost to the state." He was speaking on a morning talk show on Italy's Canale 5 channel, which is part of the Berlusconi family's media company Mediaset SpA.
Rather incestuous, to be interviewed on a channel he owns.
Silvio has always maintained his innocence. This week, polls show Mr. Berlusconi's right-wing political coalition with a strong lead in the weeks leading up to elections for the European Parliament, which end Sunday.
They love Silvio, and he knows it.
In the U.K. a scandal involving widespread abuse of parliamentary expenses is expected to help send the ruling Labour Party to defeat in the European elections.
The British are different than Italians, and Gordon Brown is different than Silvio.
Last year, Mr. Berlusconi pushed a new law through Parliament that grants immunity from criminal prosecutions to Italy's top officials -- himself included.
Gordon could never do that. The press would skewer him, and he doesn't own any media.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Silvio being Silvio
Remo Casilli/Reuters - Much of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s success stems from his uncanny ability to read the national mood of Italians.
The Times (above) and the Journal (below) have stories about Silvio:
Prime Minister’s Escapades Finally Raise Eyebrows and No 'Spice' in Berlusconi Ties
His smile and gestures are ever-present, but an 18 year-old?
AFP/Getty Images -Noemi Letizia, a young aspiring model, posing in her parents' home in April with a photo signed by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and wearing the gold and diamond necklace offered by Mr. Berlusconi for her 18th birthday.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday denied having a "spicy" relationship with an 18-year-old aspiring model, as he stepped in to quell a political and personal storm that has tested the media mogul's public-relations savvy.
A spicy relationship. Or a steamy one.
The prime minister has repeatedly denied anything untoward in his rapport with Ms. Letizia, who has posed in her underwear and said in a recent interview that she was a virgin. On Thursday, Mr. Berlusconi said he had “absolutely not” had “a relationship, let’s say steamy or more than steamy, with an under-age girl.”
When the wife of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi took to the front pages this month to announce that she wanted a divorce and accused him of dallying with very young women, it seemed like yet another storm that Italy’s most powerful man would easily weather. For years, Italy has winked at Mr. Berlusconi, where other nations might have glared.
But then things took a turn for the surreal.
First came a rare and inescapable torrent of speculation — in blogs, on television and radio, at dinner tables across Italy — about the nature and origins of his relationship with Noemi Letizia, a pretty blond aspiring model whose 18th birthday party he attended in Naples last month, and who has said she calls him Daddy. This was the party that caused Mr. Berlusconi’s wife to declare their marriage, one year older than Ms. Letizia, over.
Nice turn of a phrase: the marriage one year older than the pretty blond in question.
More recent are allegations, potentially more damaging, that Mr. Berlusconi, 72, invited Ms. Letizia and about 40 other girls, some like her at the time younger than 18, to spend New Year’s Eve at one of his villas in Sardinia.
40 all at once? Silvio is ambitious. What else he is, is the question.
On Thursday, Mr. Berlusconi raised the subject before a battery of photographers and a television camera that had gathered to follow a meeting in his office. "I've responded to the only question that everyone has a right to ask me: 'Mr. President, did you have relations, let's say spicy or more than spicy, with a minor?' The response is, 'Absolutely not,'" Mr. Berlusconi said. "On top of that, I swore on the heads of my children."
“I have sworn it on the life of my children,” he added. “If this were perjury, I would have to resign a minute later.”
Are those the children whose birthday parties he did not attend? There are different translations of the Italian word, as there were with steamy/spicy.
Mr. Berlusconi's response to questions surrounding Ms. Letizia hasn't been as nimble, some analysts say. "I've never seen him like this," says Alessandro Campi, a political scientist at the University of Perugia and director of right-wing think tank FareFuturo. "He hasn't been able to keep the situation under control."
In an interview with CNN, which was taped Saturday and aired Monday, Mr. Berlusconi pledged to publicly clear the air.
Also Monday, Naples daily Il Mattino published an interview with Mr. Letizia, recounting how he first shook hands with Mr. Berlusconi at a public event in 1990. Mr. Letizia said his relationship with Mr. Berlusconi deepened in 2001, when the prime minister sent a handwritten letter to the family consoling them over the death of their son in a car accident. Mr. Letizia, reached by phone, confirmed the contents of the interview but declined to elaborate.
1990? Nineteen years ago? She's 18. Even Silvio can't manage that.
And yet, Mr. Berlusconi still governs virtually unopposed. “The problem is simply that the Italians can’t imagine who could replace Berlusconi at the moment,” said Tim Parks, a novelist and commentator on Italy. “It’s too dangerous and too much effort to replace him. So it hardly matters how bad the scandal is.”
Or, as the right-wing politician Francesco Storace said in a recent radio interview, “People don’t vote for Berlusconi because he tells the truth; they vote for him because they like him.”
Pity poor Italy.
In what many see as a sign of Mr. Berlusconi’s grip on the levers of power in Italy and the Vatican, the Italian Bishops Conference this week essentially gave him a pass, or at least a no comment, calling for “adult behavior,” but saying that each person’s conduct was a matter “of individual conscience.”
Now, that is quite an interesting comment, coming from the Vatican. I wonder how the US Catholic church would react?
“Things are completely turned upside down,” said Gianluca Nicoletti, a commentator for Il Sole 24 Ore radio. “Those who always represented the family and faithful couples are happy to justify hanky-panky,” he said. While some on the left, “which always professed a belief in total sexual freedom, are now like inquisitors with their fingers wagging.”
This is better than fiction.
The Times (above) and the Journal (below) have stories about Silvio:
Prime Minister’s Escapades Finally Raise Eyebrows and No 'Spice' in Berlusconi Ties His smile and gestures are ever-present, but an 18 year-old?
AFP/Getty Images -Noemi Letizia, a young aspiring model, posing in her parents' home in April with a photo signed by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and wearing the gold and diamond necklace offered by Mr. Berlusconi for her 18th birthday.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday denied having a "spicy" relationship with an 18-year-old aspiring model, as he stepped in to quell a political and personal storm that has tested the media mogul's public-relations savvy.A spicy relationship. Or a steamy one.
The prime minister has repeatedly denied anything untoward in his rapport with Ms. Letizia, who has posed in her underwear and said in a recent interview that she was a virgin. On Thursday, Mr. Berlusconi said he had “absolutely not” had “a relationship, let’s say steamy or more than steamy, with an under-age girl.”
When the wife of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi took to the front pages this month to announce that she wanted a divorce and accused him of dallying with very young women, it seemed like yet another storm that Italy’s most powerful man would easily weather. For years, Italy has winked at Mr. Berlusconi, where other nations might have glared.
But then things took a turn for the surreal.
First came a rare and inescapable torrent of speculation — in blogs, on television and radio, at dinner tables across Italy — about the nature and origins of his relationship with Noemi Letizia, a pretty blond aspiring model whose 18th birthday party he attended in Naples last month, and who has said she calls him Daddy. This was the party that caused Mr. Berlusconi’s wife to declare their marriage, one year older than Ms. Letizia, over.
Nice turn of a phrase: the marriage one year older than the pretty blond in question.
More recent are allegations, potentially more damaging, that Mr. Berlusconi, 72, invited Ms. Letizia and about 40 other girls, some like her at the time younger than 18, to spend New Year’s Eve at one of his villas in Sardinia.
40 all at once? Silvio is ambitious. What else he is, is the question.
On Thursday, Mr. Berlusconi raised the subject before a battery of photographers and a television camera that had gathered to follow a meeting in his office. "I've responded to the only question that everyone has a right to ask me: 'Mr. President, did you have relations, let's say spicy or more than spicy, with a minor?' The response is, 'Absolutely not,'" Mr. Berlusconi said. "On top of that, I swore on the heads of my children."
“I have sworn it on the life of my children,” he added. “If this were perjury, I would have to resign a minute later.”
Are those the children whose birthday parties he did not attend? There are different translations of the Italian word, as there were with steamy/spicy.
Mr. Berlusconi's response to questions surrounding Ms. Letizia hasn't been as nimble, some analysts say. "I've never seen him like this," says Alessandro Campi, a political scientist at the University of Perugia and director of right-wing think tank FareFuturo. "He hasn't been able to keep the situation under control."
In an interview with CNN, which was taped Saturday and aired Monday, Mr. Berlusconi pledged to publicly clear the air.
Also Monday, Naples daily Il Mattino published an interview with Mr. Letizia, recounting how he first shook hands with Mr. Berlusconi at a public event in 1990. Mr. Letizia said his relationship with Mr. Berlusconi deepened in 2001, when the prime minister sent a handwritten letter to the family consoling them over the death of their son in a car accident. Mr. Letizia, reached by phone, confirmed the contents of the interview but declined to elaborate.
1990? Nineteen years ago? She's 18. Even Silvio can't manage that.
And yet, Mr. Berlusconi still governs virtually unopposed. “The problem is simply that the Italians can’t imagine who could replace Berlusconi at the moment,” said Tim Parks, a novelist and commentator on Italy. “It’s too dangerous and too much effort to replace him. So it hardly matters how bad the scandal is.”
Or, as the right-wing politician Francesco Storace said in a recent radio interview, “People don’t vote for Berlusconi because he tells the truth; they vote for him because they like him.”
Pity poor Italy.
In what many see as a sign of Mr. Berlusconi’s grip on the levers of power in Italy and the Vatican, the Italian Bishops Conference this week essentially gave him a pass, or at least a no comment, calling for “adult behavior,” but saying that each person’s conduct was a matter “of individual conscience.”
Now, that is quite an interesting comment, coming from the Vatican. I wonder how the US Catholic church would react?
“Things are completely turned upside down,” said Gianluca Nicoletti, a commentator for Il Sole 24 Ore radio. “Those who always represented the family and faithful couples are happy to justify hanky-panky,” he said. While some on the left, “which always professed a belief in total sexual freedom, are now like inquisitors with their fingers wagging.”
This is better than fiction.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Cosa succede, Donatella?
An article in today's Journal, Bucked by Designer, Versace CEO Eyes Exit, had an accompanying picture that caught my interest.
That woman is only 54, though the botox in her lips is quite a bit younger. And young is what she strives to be, folling whom, exactly? Other than herself?
On 19 September 2007 the UK's Daily Mail had an article entitled: Donatella's face is beginning to crack, but is the sun or cosmetic surgery to blame?
Demi Moore, who herself is younger than she used to be, at least looked good, even great. But Donatella? The Daily Mail said: A healthier looking Donatella pictured in February this year with actress Demi Moore. (That was 2007) Miss Versace, a former cocaine addict, took over Versace after her brother Gianni was murdered in 1997.
That woman is only 54, though the botox in her lips is quite a bit younger. And young is what she strives to be, folling whom, exactly? Other than herself?
On 19 September 2007 the UK's Daily Mail had an article entitled: Donatella's face is beginning to crack, but is the sun or cosmetic surgery to blame?
Demi Moore, who herself is younger than she used to be, at least looked good, even great. But Donatella? The Daily Mail said: A healthier looking Donatella pictured in February this year with actress Demi Moore. (That was 2007) Miss Versace, a former cocaine addict, took over Versace after her brother Gianni was murdered in 1997.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Silvio's roving eye
Silvio Berlusconi and his wife, Veronica Lario, in 2004. She publicly rebuked him this week.
Who has had more work done?
Yet again, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s wife has written a public letter rebuking her 72-year-old husband for consorting with young and chesty women who are not her. Among them is a business associate’s daughter who has posed in underwear revealing most of her bottom and whose 18th birthday party Mr. Berlusconi recently attended in Naples.
18, and a business associate's daughter? Well, one thing is sure: Silvio does not discriminate.
“This surprised me,” Veronica Lario, 52, Mr. Berlusconi’s wife, told the ANSA news agency in a communiqué released late Tuesday. “Because he never attended the 18th birthday parties of his children, even if he was invited.”
Must have been busy with affairs of state.
“As always, it’s one of those crises that will work in his favor,” said Giuliano Ferrara, the editor of Il Foglio, a center-right newspaper, who is a sometime adviser to Mr. Berlusconi.
Newspaper editor an adviser to the Premier? Si.
Who has had more work done?
Yet again, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s wife has written a public letter rebuking her 72-year-old husband for consorting with young and chesty women who are not her. Among them is a business associate’s daughter who has posed in underwear revealing most of her bottom and whose 18th birthday party Mr. Berlusconi recently attended in Naples.
18, and a business associate's daughter? Well, one thing is sure: Silvio does not discriminate.
“This surprised me,” Veronica Lario, 52, Mr. Berlusconi’s wife, told the ANSA news agency in a communiqué released late Tuesday. “Because he never attended the 18th birthday parties of his children, even if he was invited.”
Must have been busy with affairs of state.
“As always, it’s one of those crises that will work in his favor,” said Giuliano Ferrara, the editor of Il Foglio, a center-right newspaper, who is a sometime adviser to Mr. Berlusconi.
Newspaper editor an adviser to the Premier? Si.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Berlusconi: Italy earthquake victims should view experience as camping weekend
You can't make this stuff up, and don't need to: Silvio to the rescue. This article appeared in the Guardian.
The Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, today sparked controversy when he said the 17,000 people made homeless by Monday's earthquake should think of themselves as being on a "camping weekend".
Berlusconi made the remark during an interview with a German television channel as he visited one of the emergency camps set up to cater for people who have lost their homes in the disaster.
The quake, which devastated the city of L'Aquila and surrounding towns and villages, has now claimed 260 lives.
Berlusconi told the reporter for the N-TV channel that the homeless quake victims "lacked nothing".
"They have medicaments. They have hot food. They have shelter for the night," he said.
"Of course, their current lodgings are a bit temporary. But they should see it like a weekend of camping."
His remarks – which seem to have been intended to reassure the public – scarcely correspond to the experiences of the homeless.
Between Monday and Tuesday, they had to endure a night of driving rain and hail during which temperatures fell to 4C (39F).
Yesterday, Berlusconi told a press conference in L'Aquila that 14,500 tents had been made ready and another 2,000 were available on standby.
However, tents were still lacking for 200 people by the time night fell.
Twenty "tent cities" have been set up to take the homeless, while other people driven out of their houses by the earthquake have been lodged in hotels and elsewhere.
Berlusconi's comments came as rescuers continued searching for survivors after a powerful aftershock brought two apartment blocks crashing down in L'Aquila today, causing panic among rescue workers and survivors.
The aftershocks caused chunks of masonry to fall from damaged buildings, including parts of the basilica in L'Aquila. The tremor – measured by the US Geological Survey at magnitude 5.6 – was felt as far away as Rome.
A 76-year-old Roman man was reported to have died of a heart attack following the tremor, according to Reuters.
Berlusconi said 260 people including 16 children, had died, while nine bodies remained to be identified. He said about 100 of the injured were in serious condition.
The Ansa news agency reported today that four students trapped in the rubble of a dormitory of the University of L'Aquila had died.
The first funeral of a victim was due to take place in the town of Loreto Aprutino today, led by the archbishop of Pescara.
Pope Benedict XVI said he would visit the shocked and injured people of the area as soon as possible.
The pontiff praised the relief operations as an example of how solidarity could help overcome "even the most painful trials".
The Vatican said he would visit the stricken area after Easter Sunday.
Berlusconi has said he will appeal for special European Union funding to deal with the consequences of the disaster, which came as his debt-laden government was struggling to respond to the global economic crisis.
He suggested that some of the cash earmarked for infrastructure projects designed to revive the economy could be spent in the L'Aquila area.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Say formaggio
Silvio likes to clown around, and Dmitri called Barack "my new comrade."In Russian, сыр (cheese) C
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Humble? Silvio?
The best political leader in Europe and the world 
Silvio Berlusconi, on himself
First he complimented Barack Obama's "tan", then he played hide and seek with the German leader. He has even annoyed the Queen by being too loud.
Now Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has held up the start of a key Nato summit - by talking for too long on his mobile phone.
In his defence, Mr Berlusconi was talking to Turkey's prime minister in a bid to resolve a row at the summit.
But Germany's leader was kept waiting on the red carpet for several minutes.
Angela Merkel had just led Nato leaders from Germany across a bridge straddling the River Rhine to meet President Nicolas Sarkozy coming from Strasbourg on the French side.
Mr Berlusconi joined the group shortly afterwards.
Mrs Merkel looked bemused as the Italian's call dragged on and finally opted to start the event's opening ceremony without the Italian.
It emerged later that Mr Berlusconi had been speaking to his Turkish counterpart in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in an attempt to persuade Turkey to drop its opposition to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Nato's new chief.
In the event, Turkey did concede, with Mr Erdogan saying it had been swayed by US President Barack Obama's assurances.
What can possibly be added? SIlvio takes care of it all.
Mr Berlusconi's previous practical jokes at formal gatherings include making the Italian horned cuckold gesture behind a Spanish minister during a group photo of EU leaders in 2002.The billionaire media mogul then sparked a minor diplomatic incident in 2005 by suggesting he had used "playboy tactics" to woo Finnish President Tarja Halonen in order to ensure her backing for Italy to host the European Food Safety Authority.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Invade Israel a Gaza
A story in Mexico's El Universal's website: Israeli ground forces enter the Gaza Strip.
12:54 Fuerzas terrestres de Israel comenzaron a cruzar la frontera con la Franja de Gaza el sábado, en una expansión de su ofensiva iniciada hace una semana contra los gobernantes milicianos de la región, informó el ejército israelí.
Israeli ground forces began crossing the frontier with the Gaza Strip on Saturday, in a widening of its offensive begun a week ago against the governing militia of the region, the Israeli Army announced.
I am unclear what the word milicianos means; militia is what Google translate gives me.
The New York Times website also has stories on the military invasion.
Israeli Ground Forces Push Into Gaza
New Stage Begins in 8-Day Offensive Against Hamas -
Markstyrkor inne i Gaza. Ground troops in Gaza
Israel trappade på lördagskvällen upp anfallen mot Gazaremsan med minst en en markoffensiv. On Saturday evening Israel steps up attacks on Gaza Strip with a land offensive.
Venezuela's El Universal: Ejército israelí inicia invasión terrestre en Gaza. Israeli army begins land invasion in Gaza.
La Nacion, Buenos Aires: Comenzó una nueva etapa militar de Israel sobre la Franja de Gaza. A new Israeli military stage began over Gaza Strip. (Sources: Reuters, AP and AFP)
Le Monde, Paris: L'armée israélienne est entrée dans la bande de Gaza. Israeli army enters the Gaza Strip
12:54 Fuerzas terrestres de Israel comenzaron a cruzar la frontera con la Franja de Gaza el sábado, en una expansión de su ofensiva iniciada hace una semana contra los gobernantes milicianos de la región, informó el ejército israelí.
Israeli ground forces began crossing the frontier with the Gaza Strip on Saturday, in a widening of its offensive begun a week ago against the governing militia of the region, the Israeli Army announced.
I am unclear what the word milicianos means; militia is what Google translate gives me.
The New York Times website also has stories on the military invasion.
Israeli Ground Forces Push Into Gaza
New Stage Begins in 8-Day Offensive Against Hamas -
Markstyrkor inne i Gaza. Ground troops in Gaza
Israel trappade på lördagskvällen upp anfallen mot Gazaremsan med minst en en markoffensiv. On Saturday evening Israel steps up attacks on Gaza Strip with a land offensive.Venezuela's El Universal: Ejército israelí inicia invasión terrestre en Gaza. Israeli army begins land invasion in Gaza.
La Nacion, Buenos Aires: Comenzó una nueva etapa militar de Israel sobre la Franja de Gaza. A new Israeli military stage began over Gaza Strip. (Sources: Reuters, AP and AFP)
Le Monde, Paris: L'armée israélienne est entrée dans la bande de Gaza. Israeli army enters the Gaza Strip
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Parmigiano bailout
Mark Twain said it best: “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”
And this is true.
And this is true.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Giorgio Morandi
His work is interesting, but I fail to understand the point about his paintings of bottles being so sublime. This 1919 work of his impresses me much more than latter works. A slideshow of his art.
After U.S. Breakthrough, Europe Looks in Mirror
From afar, Europeans and others are hailing Obama's election.
In the general European euphoria over the election of Barack Obama, there is the beginning of self-reflection about Europe’s own troubles with racial integration. Many are asking if there could be a French, British, German or Italian Obama, and everyone knows the answer is no, not anytime soon.
Europeans will no longer be able to lecture America on its failings with its own blacks. No one will be able to do it any longer.
“They always said, ‘You think race relations are bad here in France, check out the U.S.,’ ” said Mohamed Hamidi, former editor of the Bondy Blog, founded after the 2005 riots in the heavily immigrant suburbs of Paris.
No more. “But that argument can no longer stand,” he said.
For many immigrants to Europe, Mr. Obama’s victory is “a small revolution” toward better overall treatment of minorities, said Nadia Azieze, 31, an Algerian-born nurse who grew up here. “It will never be the same,” she said, over a meal of rice and lamb in the racially mixed Paris neighborhood of Barbès-Rochechouart. Her sister, Cherine, 29, is a computer engineer. Mr. Obama “really represents the dream of America — if you work, you can make it,” she said. “It’s a hope for the entire world.”
In a suburb of Paris, people watched election returns from the United States last week
In Rome, a poster from the Italian Democratic Party said, “The World Changes.” The only black member of the Italian Parliament saw the Obama victory as a “provocation” to Europeans
In the general European euphoria over the election of Barack Obama, there is the beginning of self-reflection about Europe’s own troubles with racial integration. Many are asking if there could be a French, British, German or Italian Obama, and everyone knows the answer is no, not anytime soon.
Europeans will no longer be able to lecture America on its failings with its own blacks. No one will be able to do it any longer.
“They always said, ‘You think race relations are bad here in France, check out the U.S.,’ ” said Mohamed Hamidi, former editor of the Bondy Blog, founded after the 2005 riots in the heavily immigrant suburbs of Paris.
No more. “But that argument can no longer stand,” he said.
For many immigrants to Europe, Mr. Obama’s victory is “a small revolution” toward better overall treatment of minorities, said Nadia Azieze, 31, an Algerian-born nurse who grew up here. “It will never be the same,” she said, over a meal of rice and lamb in the racially mixed Paris neighborhood of Barbès-Rochechouart. Her sister, Cherine, 29, is a computer engineer. Mr. Obama “really represents the dream of America — if you work, you can make it,” she said. “It’s a hope for the entire world.”
In a suburb of Paris, people watched election returns from the United States last week
In Rome, a poster from the Italian Democratic Party said, “The World Changes.” The only black member of the Italian Parliament saw the Obama victory as a “provocation” to Europeans
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