Mara Carfagna, 32 (who has a law degree) as Equal Opportunities Minister.European politics is taking a turn to the right and they are bringing with them some rather fine looking woman.
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Berlusconi imposes his authority with cabinet of cronies and beautiful womenBy Peter Popham in Rome Independent
Friday, 9 May 2008
Silvio Berlusconi's new government was sworn in yesterday afternoon, completing a changing of the guard from the government of Romano Prodi transacted at blinding speed by Italian standards.
Mr Berlusconi left opponents, allies and media observers gasping as he breezed into the head of state's office on Wednesday with a full list of ministers already prepared. Such a thing has never happened before in messy, snail-pace, fudge-happy post-war Italy, where allocating portfolios among a baffling variety of parties often takes weeks.
And over three weeks of talks, Mr Berlusconi has left his coalition allies, the post-Fascist National Alliance and the secessionist Northern League, in no doubt that this time around he will be the boss. The top jobs go to Berlusconi loyalists. Another sure sign of the Forza Italia leader's deciding vote is the fact that all four women in the cabinet are strikingly good looking, and include the former show girl Mara Carfagna, 32 (who has a law degree) as Equal Opportunities Minister.
The average age of the new cabinet is 50, remarkably low for Italy; but the average age of the women ministers – Mr Berlusconi calls them le bambine, "the kids" – is 34.Mara Carfagna
Mr Berlusconi has been aided in his efforts to speed things up by the fact that the last election, at which he won a handsome majority, saw the number of parties represented in parliament shrink dramatically from 26 to six. He is also aided by Italy's desperate financial situation: with growth close to zero, there is an awareness that tough decisions must be taken.
Neither of the immediate crises awaiting Mr Berlusconi's attention – the imminent bankruptcy of Alitalia, and the rubbish disaster in Naples – offer easy or comfortable solutions. Mr Berlusconi wasted months of parliamentary time between 2001 and 2006 forcing through laws to extract himself from legal difficulties, but this time he must do things differently.
A commanding prime minister is a novelty in post-war Italy. Not any more, says the media billionaire. He can count on loyal cronies in key jobs: Giulio Tremonti is once again his Finance Minister, the multi-millionaire lawyer who in a previous incarnation helped Mr Berlusconi minimise his tax burden now taking on the task of pulling the Italian economy out of recession. Franco Frattini returns from Brussels where he was EU Justice Commissioner to being Foreign Minister as he was for two years in the last Berlusconi government. In the other key job of Justice Minister is Angelino Alfano, equally loyal to Mr Berlusconi, a 38-year-old Sicilian with clean hands and a taste for hard rock. And Roberto Calderoli, the Muslim-baiting League politician who wore a T-shirt illustrated with one of the Danish cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohamed was named Minister for Simplification, with the task of eliminating defunct laws.
"I have five years to change the country," Mr Berlusconi said. The outside world may have to adjust to the novelty of a Berlusconi bereft of gags.
A lady of the left.
And Roberto Calderoli, the Muslim-baiting League politician who wore a T-shirt illustrated with one of the Danish cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohamed was named Minister for Simplification, with the task of eliminating defunct laws.
ReplyDeleteI like. Where's the American Berlusconi?
Rudy was as close as we were going to get.
ReplyDeleteEx-talk show host Bernie Ward admits to distributing child pornography
ReplyDeleteBye, bye, Bernie!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWake up, Bernie!
ReplyDelete"The transcripts quote Ward as fantasizing about naked children, with no apparent reference to any subject he was researching. Police said he had sent photos to the woman that showed children engaged in sexual activity.
Weinberg said outside court Thursday that his client had been "playing roles" in the message exchange. "
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Bernie:
"I wasn't dreaming,
I was "doing research"
Damn, those pics were HOT, T!
ReplyDeleteBernie's Babes were as young as four. Bye, Bernie.
ReplyDeleteWhy'd you delete them?
ReplyDeleteHope he doesn't starve to death in prison.
ReplyDeleteCA's got a budget crisis.
Michelle: Just what we need, A first lady that can't keep her pre-adolescent mouth shut.
ReplyDeleteABOUT POLICY.
(I'll take 8 more years of the librarian, thanks)
From B.C. Information Dissemination Speculation on an attack on Iran.
ReplyDeleteSavage is speculating he may get a suspended sentence, and is threatening a big protest, but I don't know what the law is, except it says 5 years minimum. Can you have a suspended sentence on that?
ReplyDeleteYoung Bernie was accused twice of sexual abuse when he was a priest. Scooted out from under both times.
The LAUSD will hire him when he gets out.
ReplyDeleteThey pulled the old Catholic Switcheroo trick with a Perv when the whole School Board, and Superintendent had been notified!
So the Perv Perped again.
Not too funny for the victims, OR soon, for the TAXPAYERS!
You hear Savage on KGO?
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard him in over a year, should find him on the net:
Any idears?
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ReplyDeletele bambine, "the kids"
ReplyDeleteFor Mr Berlusconi, it means women that are 34
For Bernie, just 4
Got to be more than just a difference of perspective.
Well, good old Dick Morris, an expert, on what I'm not exactly sure, told O'Rielly that he thought Bibi would be PM of Israel and attack Iran, before the US elections, in November.
ReplyDeleteThought that O'Rielly should ask McCain what he'd think of that.
The drip, drip, drip, of Iran as the primary evil in the world has been ongoing now, for what, seven years?
Savage I get on my local station. I can't get KGO till the sun's been down awhile. Bernie's going to spend time in the slammer, as I don't think there is a withheld judgement for it. Maybe I'm wrong. If I was Bernie, though, and I was going in for five years with that rap, at his age, I'd take the time till August, sell my assets, and FLEE. Being on the lam, being better than the receiving end of slam bam bam.
ReplyDeleteAs to the sectarian nature of Irans iinfluence, look to Lebannon, today.
ReplyDeleteFor 17 months, Lebanon has had a political crisis between the Hezbollah-led opposition supported by Iran and Syria and the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who is backed by the West and Saudi Arabia. The standoff has left the country without a president since November.
[…]
“God is with the Sunnis,” shouted government supporters. “The Shiite blood is boiling,” responded Hezbollah followers from across the street. Lebanese army troops in riot gear stood between them.
In other parts of the city, Lebanese troops in armored personnel carriers raced among neighborhoods trying to contain the fighting and shooting in the air to disperse crowds.
“This is the first day of the civil war,” said a government supporter who gave his name as Omar, in a Sunni neighborhood. “They are the aggressors, and they will be buried here.”
via westhawk.
The Iranians do influence the Shia of Lebannon, that's a fact.
Their military not much of an influence on the Sunni, there.
Bernie worked for one of those California politicians for awhile. Maybe he's hoping to get some help there someway.
ReplyDeleteFor Mr Berlusconi, it means women that are 34
ReplyDeleteFor Bernie, just 4
Got to be more than just a difference of perspective.
Just a culural difference, Rat. Be more tolerant. When Captain Cook was the South Seas, he was offered any daughter in the chief's family; the wife too, if he wanted. It's all relative, have any relative you want:)
I'd be lookin' to Brazil and a new wife, if I was Bernie.
ReplyDeleteIf it was Harvey Milk, or Mayor Moscone, he's shit outta luck.
ReplyDeleteWe gotta think of a Setting that that wisp of a guy, Bernie, will fit right in and not be noticed.
ReplyDeleteBrazil won't do the trick, unless it's Donna Brazil.
I think it was one of those female
ReplyDeleteSenators.
Some retirement condo complex in Florida maybe, but that's still stateside. We gotta get him away from the long arm of the law. One of those Caribbean islands, perhaps.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a life in international waters, on a gambling ship.
In Brazil, with a new Brazilian wife, he'd do just fine.
ReplyDeleteShe could parade him in his dog collar, right down the Copa Cabana in Rio. No extradition, if you marry a local. Or so it went with the Great Train Robber, from England.
Doug:Damn, those pics were HOT, T! Why'd you delete them?
ReplyDeleteDon't call the kiddie porn police, Doug, it was just research.
No extradition, if you marry a local.
ReplyDeleteThere's the ticket to freedom. A few bucks, you can find a Brazilian bride. Brazil it is, Donna it isn't.
She could parade him in his dog collar, right down the Copa Cabana in Rio.
ReplyDeleteLOL
woof woof
Here's the Savage web page, Doug, but I don't see it listing any radio stations.
ReplyDeleteGee, he doesn't LOOK like a Prevert
ReplyDelete...much.
What caused the Giant Bump in Savage.com?
ReplyDelete. michaelsavage.com - Traffic Details from Alexa
Looks like that global warming CO2 curve--the hockey stick. Looks a little suspicious, to me.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Al Gore blames the Burma disaster on you know what.
Stop CERN Now!
ReplyDeleteCERN may end our world.
C2C tonight
Thu 05.08 >>
Main guests, Ari Cohen & Fred Gutierrez of water4gas will talk about their technology for converting water into hydrogen, which can be used as a supplement for gasoline.
First Hour: Physicist Walter L. Wagner will discuss safety concerns over upcoming experiments at CERN.
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CERN Concerns
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a particle accelerator at CERN, soon to go on line. Built in a tunnel on the border between France and Switzerland (check out Peter McCready's 3D interactive view), some scientists such as Walter L. Wagner have concerns about the safety of the upcoming experiments. CERN, in an attempt to allay such concerns, offers this statement.