COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, February 19, 2018

The Italians are beginning to get it



Italy election eurosceptic RISE: Regional vote predicts anti-EU Lega Nord to win



ITALY’S anti-European Union Lega Nord has surged ahead in the polls in the Lombardy region and is predicted to take 41 percent of the vote in local elections despite a recent race storm, according to a recent poll.





Italy's Lega Nord leader Matteo Salvini vows to fight EU


ITALY’S anti-European Union Lega Nord has surged ahead in the polls in the Lombardy region and is predicted to take 41 percent of the vote in local elections despite a recent race storm, according to a recent poll.
According to the latest Ipsos poll for influential daily Corriere della Sera, Lega Nord's controversial candidate Attilio Fontana is leading his nearest rival Giorgio Gori by 6 points.
Mr Fontana sparked outrage last month when he called on the “white race” to be defended when he talked about Italy being confronted with a stark choice to make over immigration.
Attilio Fontana and Matteo SalviniGETTY
Attilio Fontana with Lega Nord leader Matteo Salvini
Italians will be the ones deciding in the elections 
Matteo Salvini





He later defended his comments, saying it was "not a question of being xenophobic or racist, but a question of being logical or rational”.

The Ipsos poll suggests Lega Nord will be the strongest party of the centre-right coalition, unlike in 2013 when Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia achieved a better result.

There are seven candidates for the Presidency of Lombardy: Mr Fontana, Mr Gori, Dario Violi, Giulio Arrighini, Massimo Gatti, Angela de Rosa and Osorio Rosati.
Lega Nord leader Matteo SalviniGETTY
Lega Nord leader Matteo Salvini

Analysts are keeping a careful eye on Lombardy which could be regarded as a bellweather region as Italy prepares to go to the polls in national elections on March 4.

The latest national opinion polls have put Luigi Di Maio’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement (MS5) on top for the sixth week running but without the support to win an outright majority and take power, the party could be outmanoeuvred by the Forza Italia/Lega coalition.

Lega Nord leader Mateo Salvini remains convinced the centre-right coalition will win the elections with his party being the dominant force.

Silvio BerlusconiGETTY
Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia has formed a centre-right alliance with Lega Nord


Mr Salvini’s support is especially strong in Italy’s northern regions such as Lombardy. In an interview with Italy’s Radio 24 network he said: ”I believe Lega will get more votes than Forza Italia. Italians will be the ones deciding in the elections.

"The centre-right coalition will surpass 40 per cent and we will not need to ask for help in parliament, but if there is no majority, it is absolutely necessary to vote again.

“Within the centre-right coalition, Lega only needs 0.1 per cent more than Forza Italia, which means that our consistency has been rewarded.”
(Additional reporting by Maria Ortega.)

58 comments:

  1. MATTEO Salvini has warned any increase in the influence of the European Union would be like giving “whisky to an alcoholic” as the Italian eurosceptic of the anti-migrant, anti-EU Lega Nord today hit out at Brussels in a stinging attack.

    ReplyDelete
  2. With the clock ticking before Italy’s general election on March 4, Mr Salvini outlined his biggest priorities as opposing “budgetary constraints or European regulations that harm Italian companies and families”.

    Mr Salvini said he wanted “fewer constraints from Europe, no to austerity policies, revision of the European treaties and prevalence of the Italian Constitution over the Community law”.

    Lega Nord, he said, is “willing to do anything to defend national interest” - including going against the EU’s deficit-and-GDP rule.

    He said: "European bonds are a cage, we want to open it and if we succeed with everyone's agreement, we will be very happy.

    “For us the national interest will come first. To defend Italians we are willing to disregard the rules of the euro.”

    He slated the euro as a “failed experiment” and said a country which “does not control its currency is not a free country”.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. wow, I guess the good ole US of A isn't the only country to have a failed experiment. Unfortunately, ours lasted 8 years. RIP January 20,2009 - January 20, 2017.

      Delete
  3. Go wops !

    I'm remembering President Jefferson today for his wonderful language, and President Quirk, President, Quirk Enterprises, for his excellent advertising copy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. .

    NRA, Bagman to the Pols

    In the 2016 election, the NRA spent $11,438,118 to support Donald Trump—and another $19,756,346 to oppose Hillary Clinton. That’s over $31 million spent on one presidential race."

    Just saying.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The NRA has about 14 million members.

      Everyone pitched in a beer.

      Delete
    2. Glad my dues are being put to good use.

      Delete


    3. .

      The NRA colludes with the Russians.

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      Oh, you heard that rumor too, Doug?

      .

      Delete
  5. .

    No golf for you.

    Trump went on a 9 hour tweetstorm over the weekend. Speculation is that it was caused by pique over advisors warnings to him that it wouldn't have been good optics for him to be seen out on the golf course so soon after the Florida shootings.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Word is the speculation is wrong.

      Delete
    2. speculation, word on the street, it has been said, some would say, an unknown source, I imagine, some would think, maybe, could be, might........Fake News is still alive and well at the ole EB.

      Delete
    3. Many are saying Quirk runs and advertises on The Fake News Channel.

      Delete
    4. Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.
      The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, or vice versa.

      Delete


    5. .

      Word from the back-alley is that all Trump's top advisors recommended an epic Tweetstorm.

      .

      Delete
    6. Word is, there is no difference between "advisor" and "adviser."

      Delete
    7. .

      :o)

      Good lord, it is really heartening to see how easy it is to stir the pot with you guys.

      One has to smile.

      .

      Delete
    8. .

      Six comments, three different bloggers, not bad.

      .

      Delete


  6. .

    Mueller and Comey hate each other.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      How do you know that, Doug.

      A different puff piece in the WaPo?

      .

      Delete
    2. Mueller's lawyer told me.

      Delete
    3. .

      Well, hard to argue with that.

      :o)

      .

      Delete
  7. Word is Trump was scared shitless to be seen on the golfcourse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A security scare with the motorcade for President Donald Trump prompted the abrupt replacement of every press van driver Monday morning at Mar-a-Lago after a gun was found in a bag of one of the drivers. The gun was found outside Mar-a-Lago as the driver was being screened by the Secret Service.

      Delete
    2. .

      Don't tell Trump that he was scared anything or you will be kicked off the team developing and supporting his fake news production.

      Trump's not afraid of anything you little pipsqueak.

      .

      Delete
    3. ...of anything of anything...

      Delete
    4. .

      Well, there were a couple of what could be considered correct or acceptable answers (it refers to the first sentence in the comment above or it was a point of emphasis regarding Trump's not being scared of 'anything') but unfortunately you come up short again.

      .

      Delete
    5. I was terrified that you had mistakenly corrected yourself, and stared intently at "of anything"

      Then I increased the font size and stared some more.

      Then I felt compelled to try to help out.

      Delete
    6. .

      Massive fail.

      :0)

      But I appreciate the thought.

      .

      Delete
  8. If Trump is not afraid of anything why has he had bodyguards all his life ?

    Answer me that.

    Out here in my little hut I live fear free.

    Who is the freer man, Bobbo or The Donald ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trump motorcade driver stopped after gun found in his possession....

      In my motorcade of one pickup I'm the driver and I've got the gun.

      In the back window it says "Don't tread on me" and no one ever has.

      Delete
    2. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/feb/19/trump-motorcade-driver-stopped-after-gun-found-bag/

      Delete
  9. "All American literature comes from one book by Mr. Samuel Clemens called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"

    Ernest Hemingway

    February 19, 2018
    What would Mark Twain say of this PC culture?
    By Silvio Canto, Jr.

    It was 133 years ago that Mark Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I remember reading the Spanish version in Cuba and imagining all the stories about the Mississippi River. In 1967, our family took a trip to Minneapolis to watch the Twins play, and we drove a portion of the river. My brother started talking about Huck's river, as we called it in Cuba.

    Many years later, and in the university, I read it again and saw the book as more than just a kid's adventure. It was rather a look at many of the things going on, including the issue of slavery.


    Just recently, a school district banned the book and the movie as well:

    In general, the debate over Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has centered around the language of the book, which has been objected to on social grounds. Huck Finn, Jim and many other characters in the book speak in regional dialects of the South. It is a far cry from the queen's English. More specifically, the use of the word "nigger" in reference to Jim and other African-American characters in the book, along with the portrayal of those characters, has offended some readers, who consider the book racist.

    Although many critics have argued that Twain's ultimate effect is to humanize Jim and attack the brutal racism of slavery, the book frequently flagged and protested by students and parents alike. It was the fifth most-frequently-challenged book in the United States during the 1990s, according to the American Library Association.

    Yielding to public pressure, some publishers have substituted "slave" or "servant" for the term that Mark Twain uses in the book, which is derogatory to African Americans.

    In 2015, an ebook version published by the company CleanReader offered a version of the book with three different filter levels – clean, cleaner, and squeaky clean – a strange edition for an author known to enjoy swearing.

    Well, put me down as "negative" on all of this.

    First, it is true that the book uses the "n-word," but that's how people spoke at that time. I'm defending not the word, but rather the reality of the book. Are we going to shut down West Side Story because of language offensive to Puerto Ricans? I hope not!

    Second, this whole debate once more highlights the intolerance of the people who preach tolerance. Are they going to burn all of their Che T-shirts because of all those nasty quotes about blacks and Mexicans? Are they going to stop naming streets after Cesar Chávez because of how he opposed illegal immigration?

    Many years ago, my mother said something about the past. It loosely translated to "leaving the past in its grave." I think we should leave all books alone, learn from them, and move on.

    Let some kid in the future enjoy this book as much as I did many years ago.


    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/02/what_would_mark_twain_say_of_this_pc_culture.html#ixzz57bPMAxry

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer were gracious enough to allow me to be photographed with them at their monument in Hannibal, Missouri.

      It was a tough climb for old fat 'n bones to get up there, but I did it.

      Delete
    2. Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer statue, Hannibal, Missouri

      https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/20764

      Delete
    3. Macool, Macool, orra whyi deed ye diie? of a trying thirstay mournin? Sobs they sighdid at Fillagain's chrissormiss wake, all the hoolivans of the nation, prostrated in their consternation and their duodisimally profusive plethora of ululation. There was plumbs and grumes and cheriffs and citherers and raiders and cinemen.

      Delete
    4. If only there was a Finnegans Fake News Channel.

      Delete
    5. The Pole Quirksterski went to the wake but drank too much and fell asleep and woke two days later.

      Delete
    6. *Spelling error corrected:

      QuirkSTARski

      'The Shining One'

      Delete
    7. ...and his Polish partner Quirkhutch.

      Delete
  10. "This is a president who claims vindication anytime someone sneezes," Schiff said on CNN.

    The California Democrat also said the Trump White House is making the same mistake Obama made in not aggressively countering Russian disinformation campaigns.

    "They can’t point the finger back when they’re sitting on sanctions that the Congress on a very bipartisan basis has said need to be imposed," Schiff said.

    ReplyDelete
  11. They're out there -


    You Need To Hear These FAA Tapes From That Oregon UFO Incident That Sent F-15s Scrambling
    New evidence offers great detail of the bizarre event and provides unprecedented insight into how such a unique incident is dealt with in real time.
    BY TYLER ROGOWAYFEBRUARY 15, 2018


    http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/18473/faa-recordings-deepen-mystery-surrounding-ufo-over-oregon-that-sent-f-15s-scrambling

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nah, just the new stealthy toy being tested out of Area 51. Area 51 not very far at all from Oakland as the stealthy crow flies.

      Delete
    2. Could have been Quirk in his new flying machine The QuirkStar One.

      Delete
    3. Painted red with a giant white racing stripe down the sides.

      Delete
    4. That's it !

      Has a flaming star painted on the nose.

      Delete
    5. Quirkstarski built The QuirkStar II after The QuirkStar One had been in service for 3 years. The QuirkStar II is a minor upgrade from The QuirkStar One sporting the following advancements:

      1. AI
      2. Self-aware
      3. Indestructible shell

      Delete
  12. Unlike most UFO stories, this one appears to have substance.

    On October 25, a strange craft was seen — in broad daylight — flying amid the heavy traffic of the United States’ air corridors above the state of Oregon.

    ...

    The unidentified flying object was first detected tearing through the air above Northern California by radar stations in Oakland. It was 4:30 p.m.

    It was unexpected. It was traveling “very fast at 37,000”.

    ...

    The radar and audio recordings reveal the F-15 interceptor fighters took to the air out of Portland. Dubbed “Rock” flight, these fighter aircraft are just some of those kept at a high alert status around the United States for incidents such as these after 9/11.

    ReplyDelete
  13. LOCK OF GEORGE WASHINGTON'S HAIR FOUND IN OLD BOOK !

    Sent by the Mrs. to some other Mrs. as a gift, with note attacked.

    No DNA tests planned at this time.

    Finding a Lock of George Washington's Hair, and a Link to American ...
    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/.../president-washington-hair-discovered.html
    1 day ago - A librarian going through a book at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., found a thin envelope that may add to the odd history of a founding father's hair.

    N.Y. College Says Forgotten Book Reveals Lock Of George ... - NPR
    https://www.npr.org/.../n-y-college-says-forgotten-book-reveals-lock-of-george-washing...
    3 days ago - And yet Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., says it has made an incredible and, experts believe, real find: a lock of George Washington's hair inside a "long-forgotten book." (The notion that he wore a wig is another myth, the onetime redhead actually powdered his long hair.) Archivist John Reznikoff, who ...
    College says it found lock of George Washington's hair in old book ...

    6abc.com/education/college-says-it...lock-of-george-washingtons-hair...-/3109145/
    9 hours ago - Washington snipped here? New York college says it has discovered a lock of George Washington's hair pressed in the pages of an old book.

    College finds lock of George Washington's hair, fears ... - ABC News
    abcnews.go.com/US/college-claims-discovery-george-washingtons-hair-fears.../story?...
    6 hours ago - A lock of George Washington's hair discovered in an old book at Union College's archives lays on a folded piece of paper at the college's Schenectady, N.Y. campus, Feb. 14, 2018. John Myers, the college's catalog and metadata librarian, discovered the hair strands in a yellowed envelope he'd found in a ...

    ReplyDelete
  14. I possess the last known lock of Quirk's hair, gotten in Vegas during a drinking week before he went permanently bald.

    Price hasn't risen yet but I'm holding onto it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Quirkhutch has a lock of Quirkstarski's hair. Which is more valuable than Quirk's hair. Quirkhutch keeps Quirkstarski's hair in the glove box of The QuirkStar II. Pretty darned safe place.

      Delete
    2. :)

      Damn, the value of my mere lock of Quirkhair is sinking even as I read :(

      Delete
    3. You know what I just found out? Quirkhutch is not Polish after all. He's Belarusion. My bad. I had some bad intel there.

      Delete
    4. :)

      Glad, I think, to know.

      Are you certain it's not Belalugossian ?

      Delete
  15. Britain
    Hungary
    Poland
    Italy

    Things are looking up.

    ReplyDelete