This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Bawdy Silvio Berlusconi may return as Italy’s Prime Minister
- U.N. claims immunity in Haiti cholera compensation case
- U.S. deploys 100 troops to Niger to operate drone base
- Al-Qaeda ‘tip sheet’ for avoiding drones found in Mali
Bawdy Silvio Berlusconi may return as Italy’s Prime Minister
Underage Karima el Mahroug, known by her stage name ‘Ruby,’ has been linked to Berlusconi (AP)
Italy’s outgoing Premier Mario Monti, who took the helm of anemergency government of unelected technocrats in November 2011 whenSilvio Berlusconi resigned as premier with Italy’s debt crisisthreatening to spiral out of control, is expected to lose his jobafter Sunday’s and Monday’s general election.
The most likely outcomeis a stalemate, with no party having enough seats to controlparliament. Monti has help stabilize Italy’s economy through a seriesof austerity measures that have cost him a lot of political support.
Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right alliance has been rapidly closing adouble-digit polling gap and may win, thanks to a media campaignwhere Berlusconi has called Monti’s austerity measures “cruel andinhuman,” and promised to reverse them, even promising to refund tax moneythat Monti’s government had collected.
The possibility that 76-year-old Berlusconi might return to office is appalling to politicians in other European countries, many ofwhom consider him to be a clown. He’s also notorious for hisinvolvement in multiple sex and corruption scandals that created pressure on him to step down as prime minister in November 2011.
Germany’s Der Spiegel has been publishing numerous articles raisingalarms about a Berlusconi comeback. Friday’s article provides a listof “Berlusconi’s most revealing gaffes,” in an effort to dissuadeItalians from voting for him. Some of the gaffes are:
- One of Berlusconi’s most legendary quips came in February 2006 when he said: “I am the Jesus Christ of politics. I am a patient victim, I put up with everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone.”
- In the summer of 2011, Berlusconi reportedly said in a telephone conversation with a journalist that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was a “culona inscopabile,” which was widely translated as “unfuckable fatass.”
- After the deadly earthquake in the central Italian city of L’Aquila left tens of thousands homeless in April 2009, Berlusconi described their living conditions this way: “Of course, their current lodgings are a bit temporary. But they should see it like a weekend of camping.”
- In 2006, Berlusconi reportedly said: “Only Napoleon did more. But I’m definitely taller.”
- Berlusconi has been involved in multiple sex scandals for which he is entirely unapologetic. In April 2011, he said, “When asked if they would like to have sex with me, 30 percent of women answered, ‘Yes’, while the other 70 percent responded, ‘What, again?'”
- When US President Barack Obama was elected, Berlusconi welcomed him into office by praising him as “handsome, young and suntanned.”
- Berlusconi has rarely shown remorse for his sexcapades. In November 2010 he said, “It’s better to like beautiful girls than to be gay.”
- In July 2003, Berlusconi told Martin Schulz, a German member of the European Parliament: “I know that in Italy there is a man producing a film on Nazi concentration camps. I’ll suggest you for the role of Kapo. You’re perfect.”
U.N. claims immunity in Haiti cholera compensation case
United Nations officials, who usually express moral outrage and bringa holier-than-thou tone to almost any issue, are now claiming immunityfor a catastrophe that United Nations peacekeepers inflicted upon theHaitian people after the 2010 earthquake.
Haiti hadn’t had a case ofcholera in over a century, but a cholera epidemic started spreadingrapidly in 2010 after the U.N. peacekeepers arrived. It turned out, via DNA tests, that the strain of cholera was identical to the strainof cholera that’s endemic in Nepal. So the Nepalese peacekeepers cameto Haiti and infected the water supply, causing the epidemic.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon never accepted the conclusion thatthe U.N. was to blame, but promised to help Haiti’s cholera victims.But on Thursday, the United Nations rejected a claim for compensationfor thousands of Haitian victims of cholera, saying that the UnitedNations is protected by immunity. Global Post
U.S. deploys 100 troops to Niger to operate drone base
The Pentagon has deployed about 100 troops to the West African nationof Niger to conduct unmanned reconnaissance flights over Mali andshare intelligence with French forces fighting Islamist jihadists inthe neighboring country of Mali.
The United States already has dronesand surveillance aircraft stationed at several points aroundAfrica. Its only permanent military base is in the small country ofDjibouti in the Horn of Africa, more than 3,000 miles from Mali.Reuters
Al-Qaeda ‘tip sheet’ for avoiding drones found in Mali
Associated Press staff in Timbuktu, Mali, have stumbled on an al-Qaedastrikes.
- Intercepting drone frequencies using the Russian-made “sky grabber.”
- Jamming drone signals using a “Racal,” also made in Russia.
- Spreading glass or reflective material over vehicles or buildings.
- Deploying skilled snipers to shoot down low-flying drones.
- Using “general confusion methods,” and avoiding permanent headquarters.
- Placing dolls or statues “outside false ditches.”
- Hiding, especially in trees or caves.
- All passengers run in different directions from a car pursued by drones.
- Occupy buildings with multiple exits.
The tip sheet was created several years ago by al-Qaeda in Yemen.Global Post and AP (PDF)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, Mario Monti,United Nations, Haiti, Ban Ki-moon, cholera,Niger, al-Qaeda, Timbuktu, Mali