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Post by jeffolie on Feb 9, 2013 13:23:03 GMT -6
Fascism Big Time: Italy & Greece again The human & political organzing promoting Fascism again in the EU now rhymes with the historic Italian 1919 styled Fascism. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_FascismThe huge following for Fascism communicates via internet blogs and significantly large marchs in Greece. " ... That great new EUnion is crumbling, and people all along the Mediterranean coast are looking for scapegoats. " ... Paranoid thinking is important to understand. We see a fair amount of it in America today, and it's an old, old European specialty. " ... "According to Technorati, (Beppe Grillo's) the blog is ranked among the 10 most visited blogs in the world. In 2008, The Guardian ranked Grillo's blog among the world's most powerful blogs." ... Beppe's Wikipedia entry has no criticism of his hate speech. Odd. " ... Beppe's Italian audiences lap it up. .... Curiously enough, Beppe Grillois married to a lady born in Iran, where children soak up Death to Israel! Death to America! slogans ... every single day of the week. So do all the soldiers, bureaucrats, Revolutionary Guards, and the Basiji -- the regimes imported thugs from the countryside. .... Beppe tells the world that "Everything I know about the Middle East I learned from my father-in-law!" ... After marrying his Iranian wife, by some miracle, Beppe suddenly got a lot richer. His public career took off, and from being a comedian he became a politician. Or maybe just an idealistic truth-teller to a corrupt Italian state. ... Beppe bought his motor yacht and his Ferrari, then purchased three separate villas. ... Dad-in-law runs a giant construction business in Iran, where he has to lie in bed with the mullahs and the Revolutionary Guards every day of his life. ... So Beppe learns everything about the Middle East from his dad-in-law, who maybe gets it straight from the Ayatollah himself. (Who heard it directly from Allah.)======================================== February 9, 2013 Dangerous Times: Italy stares Into the Abyss Italy lost 700,000 Italians in World War I, and then immediately voted in Mussolini's fascists, which militarized the whole of Italian society. If you wonder why Italians cheat on their taxes today, it's because they have 25 centuries of experience with nasty tyrants like Mussolini. Well, Mussolini gambled and went to war on Hitler's side, and Italy lost another half million people in WW II. Make it a round 1.3 million Italians dead from very, very bad gambles -- not to mention all the non-Italians they killed. What is astonishing is that Italy, having been punished twice in the 20th century by losing 1.3 million Italians -- and killing a lot more foreigners -- is staring into same bottomless abyss again. There must be something hypnotic about that dark Road to Hell. They can't stop looking, like a deer staring into the headlights of an oncoming truck. Today a politician named Beppe Grillo is rising to fame and fortune. His Italian audiences are laughing themselves silly at Beppe's neo-fascist schtick. Tomorrow... maybe they won't laugh. Like the rest of the Europe, Italy today is noisily shouting how peace-loving it is. Just like the old Soviet Union. The problem is that the Euro Union fantasy world is now breaking down all over, and southern Europe is suffering from all those promises peddled by Tony Blair's Third Way Socialism; they can't afford to keep the euro anymore, because it makes Italian exports way too expensive. Many customers can't afford to buy Italian any more. So the four Little PIIGS of southern Europe are in terrible economic straits. (PIIGS = Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain.) Normal people are suffering and scared. Europe has been living high on welfare propaganda for a couple of decades, and now reality is breaking in. That great new EUnion is crumbling, and people all along the Mediterranean coast are looking for scapegoats. To make things worse, European politicians in very bad trouble always look for scapegoats. It's in the Demagogue's Manual. Europe's post-Communist radicals have scapegoated Israel scapegoated for decades, just like American radicals. Today it's the turn of Jews all over the world, plus Gypsies, Albanians, Balkan and African immigrants, and the Rockefellers. And of course, the Illuminati. The international banks. Any scapegoat in a storm. This must be neo-neo-fascism, or maybe neo to the fourth power. Who's counting? Enter one Beppe Grillo, one of the neo-neo stars of the day. Remember that name, just in case you have to read it again. Some people say Beppe Grillo is just a comedian, which is how he has made his living most of his life. Some people say gruesome Grillo is paving the way for neo-neo-neo of the murdering kind. Says Beppe Grillo on his blog and YouTube performances: "Yes, the Jews were sent to Auschwitz! The problem is that two kilometers from Auschwitz there was an IG Farben factory. Farben is called BAYER today." While Jewish men, women and children were being killed in Auschwitz, some were forced into slave labor at IG Farben or wherever else the Nazis wanted labor. That's the smidgen of truth in Beppe's barrel of lies. "IG Farben: ''but they weren't killed by the Nazis, they were killed by Jews, so Jews killed their Jews ..., it is so strange that there were killed 6 million of Jews, more than their whole population, maybe they were only 600.000, I mean that those 6 million Jews are today in America..." It is important to understand Beppe's paranoid thinking here. Around six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis, with the help of other European regimes. There are more than six million Jews in the United States today, so with typical paranoid logic, Beppe jumps from six million murder victims in 1945 to six million living American Jews in 2013. Six million Jews murdered in places like Auschwitz "equals" six million living American Jews today. Get it? I don't either. It's paranoid thinking. Paranoid thinking is important to understand. We see a fair amount of it in America today, and it's an old, old European specialty. Beppe's Italian audiences lap it up. Curiously enough, Beppe Grillois married to a lady born in Iran, where children soak up Death to Israel! Death to America! slogans ... every single day of the week. So do all the soldiers, bureaucrats, Revolutionary Guards, and the Basiji -- the regimes imported thugs from the countryside. Beppe tells the world that "Everything I know about the Middle East I learned from my father-in-law!" After marrying his Iranian wife, by some miracle, Beppe suddenly got a lot richer. His public career took off, and from being a comedian he became a politician. Or maybe just an idealistic truth-teller to a corrupt Italian state. Beppe bought his motor yacht and his Ferrari, then purchased three separate villas. Dad-in-law runs a giant construction business in Iran, where he has to lie in bed with the mullahs and the Revolutionary Guards every day of his life. So Beppe learns everything about the Middle East from his dad-in-law, who maybe gets it straight from the Ayatollah himself. (Who heard it directly from Allah.) This week the Pentagon reported that Iran employs 30,000 spies and agents around the world. They are controlled by the biggest fanatics in Mullahville, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Dictatorships like to scatter their spies among their own refugees living abroad. Lenin did it. Stalin did it. Hitler probably did it. The ayatollahs drove out millions of Iranians who are now living in the West. Beppe's wife is herself a mullah expat, and dad-in-law lives in Tehran. The Revolutionary Guards could make life impossible if dad-in-law doesn't get his famous son-in-law to run a pro-Iran line in Italy. Or maybe Beppe's wife is a True Believer in Ahmadinejad and the return of the Twelfth Mahdi after nuclear Armageddon? Who knows? These people are less than sane. There's no doubting Beppe's sudden success, however. From Wikipedia's sympathetic article on Beppe: "According to Technorati, (Beppe Grillo's) the blog is ranked among the 10 most visitedblogs in the world. In 2008, The Guardian ranked Grillo's blog among the world's most powerful blogs." Beppe's Wikipedia entry has no criticism of his hate speech. Odd. Nobody knows, except the mullahs and the CIA. The internet is a big spying and propaganda field for the Islamic fascists in Iran. Now maybe this is all pure accident. Ya think? We don't know where Beppe is going, now that he's turned into a neo-neo-neo. Nobody knows where he is going to end up, because nobody can predict how bad things will get, when the newest EU Worker's Paradise starts to crumble. If it gets bad enough Beppe and all his copycats are ready to pick up the pieces. In the 1920s and 30s normal people thought that Il Duce was a fat clown. And Tojo, Hitler, and all the lesser-known grand criminals of WWII. Sane people thought they were funny. Sometimes murderous clowns rise to power. Here's another little gem: "Any Israeli knows, without a shadow of a doubt that the Jewish people existed when (Moses) received the Torah in the Sinai. (Any Israeli knows) and that he is the direct and exclusive descendant of the chosen people..." But the Bible is full of lies, says Beppe. In fact, "The Hebrews were a small Arab minority that invaded original Palestine. Those wandering people just got there by accident, they took criminal possession of Arab land, against violent opposition of the local population." See how easy it is to flip the Bible? This comes straight from dad-in-law, according to Beppe, and now it's selling like hotcakes in the crazier parts of Italy. The bad news is that a lot of Italy is going into a spin. Says Beppe: 'I would never trust somebody with a hooked nose and I will send him to make a long walk to Gaza with a Jew skullcap on his head...'' That always gets a big laugh. Italy is staring in the abyss, and the darkness is beckoning. www.americanthinker.com/2013/02/dangerous_times_italy_stares_into_the_abyss.html
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Post by jeffolie on Feb 10, 2013 12:37:28 GMT -6
Italy differs a lot from Greece: 1. financially, Italy remains a significant and large economy compared to small Greece 2. bailout, Italy combined with Spain make a package that most likely total too much debt for Germany to save 3. military and revolution, Italy's military could ally signficantly with other potential fascist revolutionaries while Greece's small population remains too geographically further and small too matter.
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Post by jeffolie on Feb 10, 2013 12:57:22 GMT -6
Fascist, Beppe Grillo leads the 5 Stars Movement and now polls 3rd with 18 percent" ... Monti’s coalition languishing in fourth place, with 14.2 percent support. A Feb. 1 survey by SWG Institute showed that Berlusconi trails by only 5 points the front-runner, Pier Luigi Bersani, whose coalition has 32.8 percent support. The 5 Stars Movement, headed by comedian Beppe Grillo, came in third, with 18 percent.my jeffolie view: Italian Fascist Beppe Grillo lacks big support with now polling 3rd at 18%. ===================================== Italy's Election: Berlusconi vs. Austerity February 07, 2013 Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti got a hero’s welcome last month in Davos, Switzerland, where bankers thanked him for saving Italy. At home, the gray-haired technocrat is widely maligned as he campaigns for elections to be held at the end of February. Monti’s regimen of belt-tightening has rendered him unpopular with voters and created an opening for the return of Italy’s most flamboyant politician: Silvio Berlusconi. The 79-year-old three-time prime minister is attempting a comeback even while he’s standing trial on charges that he paid a minor for sex—which he has denied—and appealing a four-year prison sentence for tax fraud. The Feb. 24-25 election will be a referendum on austerity. In the 14 months his caretaker government has been in office, Monti has enacted a combination of spending cuts and tax increases that have reassured investors. Italy’s borrowing costs fell to their lowest point in more than two years at a Jan. 30 auction of treasury bills in Rome. Yet Monti’s belt-tightening has exacted a toll on the euro area’s third-largest economy. Unemployment has been at 11.2 percent since October—a 13-year high. The Bank of Italy expects the economy to contract 1 percent this year, extending a recession that began at the end of 2011. It’s hardly surprising that the latest polls showed Monti’s coalition languishing in fourth place, with 14.2 percent support. A Feb. 1 survey by SWG Institute showed that Berlusconi trails by only 5 points the front-runner, Pier Luigi Bersani, whose coalition has 32.8 percent support. The 5 Stars Movement, headed by comedian Beppe Grillo, came in third, with 18 percent.Berlusconi isn’t coy about running as the anti-Monti. At a Feb. 3 press conference in Milan, the center-right candidate promised to give Italian taxpayers a cash rebate of €4 billion ($5.4 billion). The refund would cover tax payments on first residences made by Italians last year following the introduction of a property levy, known as IMU. Monti immediately attacked his rival’s plan during a Feb. 4 radio interview: “Berlusconi wants to buy the votes of Italians with the money that Italians had to turn over to cover up the shortfall left in the public accounts by Berlusconi, who governed for eight of the past 10 years.” Besides calling for the property tax rebate, Berlusconi has pledged support for an amnesty for Italians who owe back taxes. He also has promised to suspend a regional corporate levy known as IRAP in five years. Berlusconi’s surge in the polls threatens to deprive Bersani’s center-left coalition of the majority it would need to form a government—even if it were to form an alliance with Monti’s forces. That’s a scenario investors find unnerving. Italy’s benchmark stock index suffered its biggest drop in six months on Feb. 4, falling 4.5 percent the day after Berlusconi announced his tax-rebate plan. “It is increasingly likely that the shape of the government will be decided as a consequence of post-election alliances,” Silvio Peruzzo, an economist at Nomura Holdings (NMR), wrote in a note to clients. “This is a recipe for instability and could be a catalyst for uncertainty in the market.” The bottom line: As they enter a second year of recession, Italian voters are ready to cast off the bonds of austerity. www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-07/italys-election-berlusconi-vs-dot-austerity
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Post by jeffolie on Feb 14, 2013 18:03:07 GMT -6
Who will provide the money and POLITIC MATTERS ideology to drive the large population of jobless Spainish young adults into revolt? " ... Greece (61.7% to be exact) would beg to differ with that view of the world (as their economy grinds to a halt) - and with Spain reaching new highs at 55.6% (as well as the Euro-zone over 24%), all the bureaucratic lip-service in the world won't stop the revolt my jeffolie view: Spain's breaking point will not happen until most likely in 2014 ... Mish has guessed 2013, I disagree because Merkel needs an intact EU to win in September 2013's German national elections. ================================ Greek Youth Unemployment Tops 60% 02/14/2013 www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2013/02/20130214_Greece.jpgOptimism it seems is all that matters (or is all that is allowed) as we are battered by dismal data left, right, and center. Of course, a reflection on the markets tells any 'smart' person that it all must get better - or why would stocks or sovereigns, or EURUSD be where it is? However, the 6 out of 10 15-24 year olds in Greece (61.7% to be exact) would beg to differ with that view of the world (as their economy grinds to a halt) - and with Spain reaching new highs at 55.6% (as well as the Euro-zone over 24%), all the bureaucratic lip-service in the world won't stop the revolt that is coming we fear. www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-14/greek-youth-unemployment-tops-60
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Post by jeffolie on Feb 20, 2013 7:36:31 GMT -6
next Italian general election will be held on 24 and 25 February 2013my jeffolie view: Italian voters may be swayed by the Bulgarian government resigning to move towards the surprising strength of Berlusconi return to leadership while Fascist 3rd place remains in anti-politics slate organized by a comedian, Beppe Grillo " ... Borisov's rightist GERB party is the dominant faction in parliament ... the protests had boosted the Socialists' chances. ... violent nationwide protests against high power prices, joining a long list of European administrations felled by austerity during Europe's debt crisis. =============== Italy Votes on Its Future February 18, 2013 Silvio Berlusconi, who resigned as Italy’s prime minister 15 months ago, is staging an appalling comeback. With less than a week to go before national elections this weekend, polls show that Mr. Berlusconi’s coalition has surged into second place, trailing the center-left coalition by single digits. While Mr. Berlusconi is unlikely to ever win a fourth term, a strong showing by his forces could make it impossible for any party to form a working parliamentary majority. That would be disastrous for Italy, which needs to push through overdue reforms, like stronger anticorruption laws, a fairer tax code and more competition. These are not the issues Mr. Berlusconi can credibly run on. Instead, the centerpiece of his campaign has been a populist promise to end the unpopular homeownership tax introduced in 2012 and refund last year’s payments. The housing tax is made necessary by Italy’s poor record in collecting other taxes and the European Union’s perverse insistence on balanced budgets in a recession. But refunding it would punch a huge hole in Italy’s finances and set off an increase in interest rates for Italian bonds, wiping out all the painful sacrifices last year. This reckless pandering has boosted Mr. Berlusconi in the polls, largely because his rivals have failed to inspire voters. Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the center-left Democratic Party, is a moderate ex-Communist and former industry minister in the 1990s. To many, he symbolizes Italy’s old political class, out of ideas and out of touch. He is also seen as too beholden to the unions to press labor market reforms. Running third is an anti-politics slate organized by a comedian, Beppe Grillo. Centrist supporters of Prime Minister Mario Monti are in fourth place. Mr. Monti, a technocrat chosen to lead the government after Mr. Berlusconi resigned, has failed to connect with voters and is blamed for unpopular austerity measures like the homeowners tax, which have not produced clear signs of economic revival. The austerity obsessions of European Union leaders and Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, condemned Italy to recession. That has made it easier for Mr. Berlusconi to pose as a champion of ordinary Italians against the demands of Europe. The scary thing is that Mr. Berlusconi could emerge as a kingmaker, ready to trade his support to protect his business and personal interests. More likely, Mr. Bersani and Mr. Monti could end up forming a postelection coalition, which would be far better than a return to the Berlusconi era. But if Italy is to move from recession to growth, it needs real change rather than tepid policy compromises. Mr. Berlusconi, of course, is doing all he can to make that path harder. www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/opinion/italy-votes-on-its-future.html?_r=0======================== Bulgarian government resigns amid growing protests Bulgarian ruling party opens way for early election Bulgarian opposition calls for early election Feb 20, 2013 SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's government resigned on Wednesday after violent nationwide protests against high power prices, joining a long list of European administrations felled by austerity during Europe's debt crisis. Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, a former bodyguard who swept to power in 2009 on pledges to root out corruption and raise living standards in the European Union's poorest member, now faces a tough task to prop up eroding support ahead of a probable early election. Wage and pension freezes and tax hikes have bitten deep in a country where living standards are less than half the EU average and tens of thousands of Bulgarians have rallied in protests that have turned violent, chanting "Mafia" and "Resign". On Tuesday, 11 people were hospitalized - including one man bleeding heavily from the head - and 11 arrested after protesters threw flares at police, who fought demonstrators with shields and truncheons. "I will not participate in a government under which police are beating people," Borisov, who began his career guarding the Black Sea state's communist dictator Todor Zhivkov, said as he announced his resignation on Wednesday. Parliament is expected to accept the resignation later in the day. The spark for the protests was high electricity bills, after the government raised prices by 13 percent last July. But it quickly spilled over into wider frustration with Borisov's domineering manner and unpredictable decision making. The prime minister made sacrifices in an attempt to cling on, sacking his finance minister, cutting power prices and risking a diplomatic row with the Czech Republic by punishing foreign-owned companies, a move that conflicted with EU norms on protection of investors and due process. Borisov's rightist GERB party is the dominant faction in parliament but will not take part in talks to form a new government, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said, indicating that an election planned for July will now be held early. "He made my day," student Borislav Hadzhiev, 21, in central Sofia said, commenting on Borisov's resignation. "The truth is that we're living in an extremely poor country." IRE GERB's popularity has held up well and it still leads, just, in the polls, largely because budget cutbacks have been relatively mild compared with those in many other European countries. Salaries and pensions were frozen rather than cut. But the last opinion poll, taken before protests grew last weekend already showed the opposition Socialists were nearly tied with the ruling party and analysts said the protests had boosted the Socialists' chances. Unemployment in the country of 7.3 million is far from the highs hit in the decade after the end of communism but remains at 11.9 percent and average salaries are stuck at around 800 levs ($550) a month. Millions have emigrated in search of a better life, leaving swathes of the country depopulated and little hope for those who remain. The measures announced this week has also put the country on a collision course with the EU and financial investors without easing the tension at home. Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas demanded an explanation from Bulgaria and accused it of "politicizing" the power sector by threatening to revoke the electricity distribution license of central Europe's largest listed company CEZ, 70 percent of which is owned by the Czech state. There have also been fines for another Czech company, Energo-Pro and Austria's EVN. The precedent is unlikely to encourage other foreign investors, who already have to navigate complicated bureaucracy and widespread corruption and organized crime if they want to take advantage of Bulgaria's 16-percent flat tax rate. "The resignation is the only responsible move," said Kantcho Stoychev, an analyst with pollster Gallup International. "It also gives Borisov some legitimacy to stay in political life in the future, despite the violent police actions last night." www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/20/us-bulgaria-government-idUSBRE91J09J20130220
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Post by jeffolie on Feb 23, 2013 7:18:47 GMT -6
Beppe Grillo Surges in Last Minute Rush: Fascist Big Grillo Surge in searches Does the Fascist Big searching surge mean anything to the voter turnout ... time will very soon tell============================ February 23, 2013 Beppe Grillo Surges in Last Minute Rush; Is That a Good Thing? Reader "AC" who is from Italy but now lives in France informs me that the Italian elections this weekend are getting even more interesting. Specifically, "AC" writes "Grillo claims 800,000 assisted at his closure meeting in Rome with another 150,000 via streaming. My feeling is that there will be a huge turnout for Grillo in the election". Joe Weisenthal on the Business Insider writes "I Have Seen The Scariest Chart In Europe". The chart Weisenthal refers to is from Google Trends. It shows a surge in searches on Beppe Grillo. Weisenthal says ... www.google.com/trends/explore?hl=en-US#q=grillo,+Monti,+bersani,+berlusconi&geo=IT&date=today+12-m&cmpt=q Grillo is a comedian-turned-politician who is doing shockingly well the Italian elections (coming up this Sunday and Monday) by running on an aggressive anti-bank, euro-skeptic platform. He's capitalizing on the deep frustration that exists in Italy due to the weak economy, and the perception that the current government is too corrupt and cozy with banks. Were he to gain a sizable block in the upcoming parliament, he represents a pretty serious threat. A threat? A Threat to What? Grillo wants Italy to vote on whether or not to stay in the Eurozone. On that score I happen to agree. The sooner the eurozone splinters the better. Greece would be better off it it left four years ago and Spain would be better off if it left now. That does not mean I endorse all the policies of Grillo, and indeed I don't. My point is that huge change is desperately needed. As I have stated on many occasions "Eventually, there will come a time when a populist office-seeker will stand before the voters, hold up a copy of the EU treaty and (correctly) declare all the "bail out" debt foisted on their country to be null and void. That person will be elected." The scare should not be that a breakup happens, but rather that the inevitable is delayed with grave consequences. Scariest Chart Ever? www.google.com/trends/explore?hl=en-US#q=grillo,+Monti,+bersani,+berlusconi&geo=IT&date=today+12-m&cmpt=q[/img] www.google.com/trends/explore?hl=en-US#q=grillo,+Monti,+bersani,+berlusconi&geo=IT&date=today+12-m&cmpt=q Weisenthal calls that the scariest Europe chart ever. Assuming the chart does represent an increasing interest in Beppe Grillo, I call it a necessary trend on the path to rebalancing Europe. For more on the election in Italy, an explanation of Beppe Grillo's "5 Star Movement" and some election predictions, please see European Reader Offers Insights on Upcoming Italian Election globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/02/european-reader-offers-insights-on.htmlRead more at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/02/beppe-grillo-surges-in-last-minute-rush.html#ubfAM5d5GaSJ5gh1.99
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Post by jeffolie on Feb 26, 2013 8:08:36 GMT -6
Italy's 2013 Fascism"... The big difference between Italy and Portugal or Greece is size. Beppe Grillo's Five-Star Movement: Fascism single largest party in Italy's lower house " ... groundswell of support for former comedian Beppe Grillo's Five-Star Movement. His throw-the-rascals-out platform drew enough voters to give it nearly as many votes as Italy's mainstream coalitions— 25.6% in the lower house at the latest count, making it the single largest party in that house." ... The election surprise poses a challenge for euro-zone creditor nations such as Germany, which have demanded that peripheral countries overhaul their economies in exchange for supporting the European Central Bank's pledge to save the currency union if necessary. A public rejection of austerity policies could rapidly spread to Spain and beyond, forcing European authorities to accelerate their response to the regional crisis or risk another round of the kind of contagion that effectively closed a host of euro-zone credit markets. my jeffolie view: Italy death spiral started because POLITICS MATTERS will lead to financial and political choas undermining confidence in the German approach and funding of South EU countries such as Italy and Spain ... fascism now controlling Italy's lower house single largest party is a growing political ideology concentrating the POLITICS OF THE BACKLASH in Italy. ================================== Messy Italian Election Shakes World MarketsBy Alessandra Galloni The Wall Street Journal 2/26/2013 ROME—In a national election meant to push Italy further down a path of economic reform, voters delivered political gridlock that could once again rattle Europe's financial stability. Markets in Europe and the U.S. gyrated even in response to early returns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average swung nearly 300 points, ending with its worst day in five months, as the prospects of a stable government appeared to drop. A majority of voters endorsed parties that had promised to tone down or even reverse the financial sacrifices Italy has promised its European partners, giving surprise lifts to both the center-right coalition of former premier Silvio Berlusconi and a party of protest led by a former comedian. Late Monday, the left-wing coalition led by the Democratic Party's Pier Luigi Bersani appeared to have gained a razor-thin victory in the lower house of parliament over the center-right coalition headed by Mr. Berlusconi—29.6% to 29.2% with 99.9% of the ballots counted. By leading the vote count in the lower house, the Democratic Party will automatically get the majority of seats and, therefore, will likely receive the mandate to form a government. The Senate, however, appeared headed for political impasse. The Democratic Party was the leading vote-getter in the upper house as well, by less than one percentage point. But its 31.6% result fails to provide its coalition with a majority to pass legislation, setting up conditions for political impasse. If a new government isn't able to guarantee clear parliamentary support, Italians could return to the polls within months. Battle lines were already being drawn late Monday. The Democratic Party declared slim victories in both houses, saying it will keep Italy's interests in mind during this "very delicate situation for the country." But a top official in Mr. Berlusconi's center-right coalition said he is asking the country's interior minister to call the vote a draw. The apparent stalemate reflects the groundswell of support for former comedian Beppe Grillo's Five-Star Movement. His throw-the-rascals-out platform drew enough voters to give it nearly as many votes as Italy's mainstream coalitions— 25.6% in the lower house at the latest count, making it the single largest party in that house.Surprising, too, was the comeback of Mr. Berlusconi, whose party was in the doldrums as late as November. The 76-year-old billionaire politician's late surge is attributed largely to the media blitz in recent weeks. "Whoever thought Berlusconi was finished will have to think again," said Angelino Alfano, the head of People of Freedom, the conservative party founded by Mr. Berlusconi. Messrs. Grillo and Berlusconi both gave voice to Italian anger over tax increases and pension cuts introduced by the emergency government of Mario Monti, whose own Civic Choice coalition was expected to get only around 10% of the national vote in both houses, according to the incomplete ballot tallies. Mr. Grillo wants a referendum on whether Italy should stay in the euro. Mr. Berlusconi sent voters a letter promising to reimburse them for a controversial property tax. "The cost of austerity led to an electoral rebellion," said Enrico Letta, deputy head of the Democratic Party. "This is a complex situation to live and manage." The election surprise poses a challenge for euro-zone creditor nations such as Germany, which have demanded that peripheral countries overhaul their economies in exchange for supporting the European Central Bank's pledge to save the currency union if necessary. A public rejection of austerity policies could rapidly spread to Spain and beyond, forcing European authorities to accelerate their response to the regional crisis or risk another round of the kind of contagion that effectively closed a host of euro-zone credit markets. " The big difference between Italy and Portugal or Greece is size. Political instability or uncertainty in the euro-zone's third-largest economy will have negative systemic consequences for everyone else," said Sony Kapoor, a former banker who is the managing director of Re-Define, a London-based international think tank focused on European affairs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which rose as many as 81 points in intraday trading on expectations of a victory by the Democratic Party, quickly erased those gains, finishing the day down 216.40 points, or 1.5%. The euro dropped 1% against the dollar, for its worst day since the beginning of the year. In Milan, Italy's FTSE MIB index saw an intraday gain of 4% wiped out as the electoral results trickled in. The index finished with a slight gain of 0.7%. Italy's unclear election results are in large part due to the country's electoral law, which was introduced in 2005 and has been dubbed "porker" law because of all its critics. The law awards the majority of seats in the lower house of parliament to the party that wins the most votes at a national level, even if the victory is by one vote. Senate seats are awarded on a regional basis, with the largest regions gaining more seats. As a result, the difference between gaining a governing majority or not can be determined by a few votes in a few large regions. It will be difficult for any government to have the parliamentary backing it needs to govern effectively. The only way either of the mainstream parties can claim a majority in the Senate, according to the latest vote tallies, is by allying with each other or with Mr. Grillo. Those are both implausible scenarios. "The situation looks ungovernable, and that's the worst outcome you can imagine," said Guido Rosa, president of the Italian Foreign Bank Association. The result is that Italy may, over the next few weeks, try to form a temporary government backed by a grand coalition of left and right-wing forces with the sole aim of changing Italy's electoral law and then going to a vote again as early as summer. It isn't clear who would run such a short-lived government, however. Italy's elections close the door on a year of emergency government that was ushered in during the fall of 2011, when investors led a mass selloff of Italian bonds, threatening the country's solvency. Panic was widespread because Italy is considered too big to allow to default in the way that Greece did. At the time, political uncertainty was seen as part of the problem: Mr. Berlusconi's government was seen as not having the will and ability to fix Italy's ailing economy. Mr. Monti's government of technocrats took power and passed tax increases and spending cuts that pulled Italy back from the brink of the euro-zone debt crisis. But the austerity dragged Italy's already-ailing economy into a further slump, pushing up unemployment and forcing people to rely more and more on their families for homes and funds. Italy's debt, meanwhile, continues to be 127% of gross domestic product, meaning that more austerity is likely needed. Italians poured their disaffection into a bucket of votes for Mr. Grillo. The former comedian isn't himself actually planning to be a member of parliament, but has named a slew of candidates—including many 20-somethings who have never been in politics—to take his party's seats. Italians' disgruntlement was also reflected in the number of people voting. Italians have traditionally turned out at far higher levels than in other European countries and the U.S., but in this election 75% of the electorate cast ballots, the lowest level in the postwar period. finance.yahoo.com/news/messy-italian-election-shakes-world-023800195.html
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Post by jeffolie on Feb 26, 2013 13:32:39 GMT -6
YOUNG FASCISTSYoung adults created the FASCIST SWEEP INTO POWER .... those between 18 and 25 " ... Youth Vote Propels Five Star Movement Into First Place as Largest Political Party in Italy Young adults follow the fascist Five Star Movement leader Beppe Grillo's internet offerings far more than older voters making his the 4th most followed site in the EU. Neither the left nor status quo centralist captured the ideological focus of the young adult most likely to be violent and revolutionary. ======================================== February 26, 2013 Youth Vote Propels Five Star Movement Into First Place as Largest Political Party in Italy By a very slim margin Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement is the largest political party in Italy. Young voters and first-time voters are responsible for the surge (see comments from "AC" below). Here are the official election results. Chamber •GIUSEPPE PIERO GRILLO - MOVIMENTO 5 STELLE - 8,689.168 - 25.55% •PIER LUIGI BERSANI - PARTITO DEMOCRATICO - 8,644,187 Votes - 25.42% •SILVIO BERLUSCONI - IL POPOLO DELLA LIBERTA' - 7.332.667 Votes - 21.56% •MARIO MONTI - SCELTA CIVICA CON MONTI PER L'ITALIA - 2,824,001 Votes - 8.30% Bersani gets 55% of the Chamber seats because his center-left coalition barely beat Berlusconi's center-right coalition by a 29.54% to 29.18% margin otherwise Berlusconi would be courting Beppe Grillo (likely to no avail) to form a coalition. Senate •PIER LUIGI BERSANI - PARTITO DEMOCRATICO - 8,399,991 Votes - 27.43% •GIUSEPPE PIERO GRILLO - MOVIMENTO 5 STELLE - 7,285,648 - 23.79% •SILVIO BERLUSCONI - IL POPOLO DELLA LIBERTA' - 6,829,135 Votes - 22.30% •MARIO MONTI - SCELTA CIVICA CON MONTI PER L'ITALIA - 2,797,451 Votes - 9.13% The center-left received a higher percentage of votes than the center-right by a 31.63% to 30.72% margin. However, Senate seats are assigned based on regional totals and the result will be something like a 119 to 117 spit with the Five Star Movement picking up 54 Seats. A majority takes 158 so no coalition is likely. Comments From "AC" Reader "AC" who is from Italy but now lives in France writes ... Final result are now available: M5S is the first political party at the Chamber of representatives, by a mere 46k voters. The Center-Left coalition scored first as coalition and therefore received a 55% majority of seats in the Chamber. There is no majority in the Senate and no possible majority even combining Bersani with Monti, so the result is a hung Parliament, exactly the forecast I made months ago. In the Senate M5S is not the first party and scored a little bit less (23.79%). The main differences in the voters between Chamber and Senate is that to vote for the Chamber you must be eighteen, for the Senate you need to be 25 years old. This means that youngest part of the population and first-time voters voted massively for M5S. Regards AC Flashback June 29, 2012: Time-Lapse Interactive Graph Shows Stunning Rise in Anti-Euro Sentiment in Italy led by Beppe Grillo Five Star Movement. Flashback June 27, 2012: Reader from Italy Explains Why Early Elections Might Lead to "Deadlock" Explaining Italian Politics Reader "AC" who is from Italy but now lives in France, has some observations and comments on Italian politics in response to Monti Threatens to Resign if No Eurobonds; Specter of Early Elections Monti's days are indeed numbered because he will step down at the end of legislature (spring 2013) and he will not seek for renewal of his mandate in the new one. However, his term could be even shorter. There could be early elections before the natural term. ... the most likely outcome of the next election in Italy is a deadlock ... the Senate will most likely be fragmented with no majority at all. To govern, you need majority on both. Explaining the Surge for Grillo 1.Youth unemployment of 27% 2.People in general tired of austerity 3.People in general fed up with corruption in the major political parties There were early elections and the result was indeed a deadlock. Thanks to "AC" I have been following Beppe Grillo since early 2012. Mainstream media mostly ignored Beppe Grillo until after the election, shocked by a result we predicted long ago globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/02/youth-vote-propels-five-star-movement.html
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Post by jeffolie on Mar 4, 2013 12:41:33 GMT -6
Fascism Big Time: Italy 2013 Italian fascist Grillo can block what he wants because his party won the lower house of Italy's legislature. ... . Odds on is that a new election will have to be called and that Grillo gathers even more votes as his political positions do not rest upon being a comedian but upon a new order for Italy. 2013 Italian fascist " ... Grillo’s call is for a new order, a new way of doing business and a new spirit for the Italians. ... This is Italy. This is precisely the circumstances. This contest will be decided by the mob; thumbs up or thumbs down. Even if you wish to believe in the far flung view that Bersani could form a new government; it will not survive as Grillo can block what he wants and on his own which makes no mention of Berlusconi who is not exactly Bersani’s ally either in spirit or political leaning. ... Do not underestimate this man. Do not assume that Italy will go on as usual and that this is just a split between the Left and the Right because this is not the case.
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All Roads Lead To Rome 03/04/2013 by Mark J Grant, author of Out of the Box,
Carlo is lying in a hospital bed. He is sick and I don’t mean the flu; the guy is seriously ill. Uncle Mario has promised to pick up the hospital bill if necessary and so Carlo isn’t so worried about that. The problem is that Carlo is a member of the Roman Soccer League and he is unable to play in the matches. He promises that he will be out soon. He swears that he will be better any day now. The hospital costs build, the doctors’ charges soar and Carlo is no better. In the meantime Carlo borrows and borrows and borrows to pay his bills. The family doctors have all assured both Carlo and Uncle Mario that he will be better soon but it has not been the case. Then a new doctor is brought in; Dr. Beppe. He examines Carlo and he looks at the other doctors and tells them that they are out of their minds. The patient is really sick, the medicine that they have prescribed is not working and Carlo is in danger of dying if something isn’t done. The entire family is horrified with this pronouncement, Uncle Mario takes a hard look at the size of the bill and gags and the family’s cousins in France and Germany begin to panic as Carlo is an important family member. The family doctors insist their medicine is the correct but the patient is lingering and worsening and the priests are hovering in the hallway. “Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.” (Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.) -Cicero This is Italy. This is precisely the circumstances. This contest will be decided by the mob; thumbs up or thumbs down. Even if you wish to believe in the far flung view that Bersani could form a new government; it will not survive as Grillo can block what he wants and on his own which makes no mention of Berlusconi who is not exactly Bersani’s ally either in spirit or political leaning. Odds on is that a new election will have to be called and that Grillo gathers even more votes as his political positions do not rest upon being a comedian but upon a new order for Italy. You may recall Ronald Regan in our own country, a former cowboy star and the positive affect that he had on America. Grillo may be the Ronald Regan of Italy and it means the worst of scenarios for Europe as the old guard is thrown out, the deceptors by design, and the people, the mob, has the run of the Coliseum once again.
“The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it's the sand of the Coliseum. He'll bring them death and they will love him for it.” -Gladiator Grillo refers to Berlusconi as “the psycho dwarf.” Grillo’s vision of Bersani is a “dead man walking.” In an interview that Grillo had with the New York Times over the weekend he said he would support neither side and that doing so “would be like Napoleon making a deal with Wellington.” He went on to say that, “We can change everything in the hands of respectable people, but the existing political class must be expelled immediately.” He has called for a nationwide referendum on Italy’s participation in the European Union and indicated that while Italy will pay its debts; it might be done in Lira. Do not underestimate this man. Do not assume that Italy will go on as usual and that this is just a split between the Left and the Right because this is not the case. Grillo’s call is for a new order, a new way of doing business and a new spirit for the Italians. The day may yet come where he can echo Caesar’s famous words; “I came, I saw, I conquered.” In the meantime yields on Italian bonds are likely to go higher, the antagonism between Italy and the established order in Brussels and Berlin will foment and the European Union may be whacked at its bedrock during the process as Rehn and the rest fiddle while Rome burns. There is an old saying that, “All roads lead to Rome.” Soon, quite soon, the political leaders in Brussels and Berlin may be reminded of it.
www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-04/all-roads-lead-rome
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Post by jeffolie on Apr 2, 2013 15:00:18 GMT -6
YOUNG FASCISTSYoung adults created the FASCIST SWEEP INTO POWER .... those between 18 and 25 "... There remained a simple fact too big to ignore: in 2009 the party was a political pariah, gaining a mere 0.29 % of the vote; today it had global ambitions. ... "Ten years ago, if you had said Golden Dawn would become the third biggest force in Greece, you'd be called crazy," ... Greece's third, and fastest growing, political force. First catapulted into parliament with 18 MPs last year, the ultra-nationalists captured 11.5% support in a recent survey conducted by polling company Public Issue.[/i] " ... Youth Vote Propels Five Star Movement Into First Place as Largest Political Party in Italy Young adults follow the fascist Five Star Movement leader Beppe Grillo's internet offerings far more than older voters making his the 4th most followed site in the EU. Neither the left nor status quo centralist captured the ideological focus of the young adult most likely to be violent and revolutionary. ======================================== Greece's neo-Nazi Golden Dawn goes global with political ambitionsBuoyed by its meteoric domestic success, the far right party is planning to expand 'wherever there are Greeks' 1 April 2013 Emboldened by its meteoric rise in Greece, the far-right Golden Dawn party is spreading its tentacles abroad, amid fears it is acting on its pledge to "create cells in every corner of the world". The extremist group, which forged links with British neo-Nazis when it was founded in the 1980s, has begun opening offices in Germany, Australia, Canada and the US. The international push follows successive polls that show Golden Dawn entrenching its position as Greece's third, and fastest growing, political force. First catapulted into parliament with 18 MPs last year, the ultra-nationalists captured 11.5% support in a recent survey conducted by polling company Public Issue.The group – whose logo resembles the swastika and whose members are prone to give Nazi salutes – has gone from strength to strength, promoting itself as the only force willing to take on the "rotten establishment". Amid rumours of backing from wealthy shipowners, it has succeeded in opening party offices across Greece. It is also concentrating on spreading internationally, with news last month that it had opened an office in Germany and planned to set up branches in Australia. The party's spokesman, Ilias Kasidiaris, said it had decided to establish cells "wherever there are Greeks". "People have understood that Chrysi Avgi [Golden Dawn] tells the truth," he told a Greek-language paper in Melbourne. "In our immediate sights and aims is the creation of an office and local organisation in Melbourne. In fact, very soon a visit of MPs to Australia is planned." Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris (centre) leaves an Athens court this month where he denied assisting in a 2007 assault and robbery. He has said the party will spread 'wherever there are Greeks'. But the campaign has met with disgust and derision by many prominent members of the Greek diaspora who represent communities in both the northern and southern hemispheres. "We don't see any gold in Golden Dawn," said Father Alex Karloutsos, one of America's leading Greek community figures, in Southampton, New York. "Nationalism, fascism, xenophobia are not part of our spiritual or cultural heritage." But Golden Dawn is hoping to tap into the deep well of disappointment and fury felt by Greeks living abroad, in the three years since the debt-stricken nation was plunged into crisis. "Golden Dawn is not like other parties in Greece. From its beginnings, in the early 80s, it always had one eye abroad," said Dimitris Psarras, whose book, Golden Dawn's Black Bible, chronicles the organisation since its creation by Nikos Michaloliakos, an overt supporter of the colonels who oversaw seven years of brutal anti-leftist dictatorship until the collapse of military rule in 1974. "Like-minded groups in Europe and Russia have given the party ideological, and sometimes financial, support to print books and magazines. After years of importing nazism, it now wants to export nazism," added Psarras. By infiltrating communities abroad, the far-rightists were attempting not only to shore up their credibility but also to find extra funding and perhaps even potential votes if Greeks abroad ever won the right to cast ballots in elections. "[Golden Dawn] not only wants to become the central pole of a pan-European alliance of neo-Nazis, even if in public it will hotly deny that," claimed Psarras, who said party members regularly met with neo-Nazis from Germany, Italy and Romania. "It wants to spread its influence worldwide." With its 300,000-strong community, Melbourne has pride of place in the constellation of Greek-populated metropolises that dot a diaspora officially estimated at around 7 million. A Golden Dawn election rally in Athens in April. As part of its international push, Golden Dawn has also focused on the US, a magnet for migrants for generations, and Canada, which attracted tens of thousands of Greeks after Greece's devastating 1946-49 civil war. "It's a well-studied campaign," said Anastasios Tamis, Australia's pre-eminent ethnic Greek historian. "There is a large stock of very conservative people here – former royalists, former loyalists to the junta, that sort of thing – who are very disappointed at what has been happening in Greece and are trying to find a means to express it. They are nationalists who feel betrayed by Greece over issues like Macedonia, Cyprus and [the Greek minority] in Voreio Epirus [southern Albania], who cannot see the fascistic part of this party. Golden Dawn is trying to exploit them." The younger generation — children of agrarian and unskilled immigrants – were also being targeted, he said. "They're the generation who were born here and grew up here and know next to nothing about Greece, its history and social and economic background. They're easy prey and Golden Dawn will capitalise on their ignorance." Tamis, who admits that some of his students support the organisation, does not think the group will gain traction even if Australia's far-right party has been quick to embrace it. But the prospect of Golden Dawn descending on the country has clearly sent tremors through the Greek community. "This is a multicultural society. They are not wanted or welcome here," said one prominent member, requesting anonymity when talk turned to the group. Greek Australian leftists have begun collecting protest signatures to bring pressure on the Australia immigration minister, Brendan O'Connor, to prohibit Golden Dawn MPs from entering the country. In a statement urging the government not to give the deputies visas, they said the extremists had to be stopped "from spreading their influence within the Greek community and threatening the multicultural society that Greek Australians and other migrants have fought to defend". The neo-Nazis have been given a similar reception in Canada, where the party opened a chapter last October. Despite getting the father of champion sprinter Nicolas Macrozonaris to front it, the group was quickly denounced by Greek Canadians as "a black mark". The culture of intolerance that has allowed racially motivated violence to flourish in Greece – with black-clad Golden Dawn members being blamed for a big rise in attacks on immigrants – had, they said, no place in a country that prides itself on liberal values. "Their philosophy and ideology does not appeal to Greeks living here," insisted Father Lambros Kamperidis, a Greek Orthodox priest in Montreal. "We all got scared when we saw they were giving a press conference. But it was a deplorable event and as soon as we heard their deplorable views they were condemned by community leaders and the church." "We are all immigrants in Canada," added Kamperidis, referring to Golden Dawn's tactic of tapping into anti-immigrant resentment. "The conditions that apply in Greece do not apply here, so there is no justification for the party to flourish. The really bad thing is that in opening here it gives the impression, to people who don't know the situation, that it is supported by a lot of Greeks, which is not the case. It has hurt Greece, the Greek cause, and Greeks' reputation more than anything else." Anti-racist activists outside the appeals court in Athens this month for the case involving Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris. Despite the resistance, the far-rightists have made concerted efforts to move elsewhere, with Golden Dawn supporters saying Toronto is next. But the biggest push by far to date has been in the US. As home to close to 3 million citizens of Greek heritage, America has the diaspora's largest community. At first, cadres worked undercover, organising clothes sales and other charitable events without stating their true affiliation. Stickers and posters then began to appear around the New York suburb of Astoria before the organisation opened a branch there. But while Greek Americans have some of the strongest ties of any community to their homeland, senior figures have vehemently denounced the organisation for not only being incongruous with Greece's struggle against fascism, during one of Europe's most brutal Nazi occupations, but utterly alien to their own experience as immigrants. "These people and their principles will never be accepted in our community. Their beliefs are alien to our beliefs and way of life," said Nikos Mouyiaris, co-founder of the Chicago-based Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC), whose mission is to promote human rights and democratic values. The victims of often violent persecution at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan as well as wider discrimination (in Florida in the 1920s restaurant noticeboards declared "no dogs or Greeks allowed") Greek Americans proudly recount how, almost alone among ethnic minorities, they actively participated in the civil rights movement, their spiritual leader Archbishop Iakovos daring to march alongside Martin Luther King. "Our history as a diaspora in the US has been marked by our fight against racism," said Mouyiaris. Many in the diaspora believe, like Endy Zemenides who heads HALC, that Golden Dawn has deluded itself into believing it is a permanent force because of its soaring popularity on the back of the economic crisis. "The reality is that it is a fleeting by-product of failed austerity measures and the social disruption this austerity has caused," he said. In Greece, where Golden Dawn has begun to recruit in schools, there are fears of complacency. Drawing parallels with the 1930s Weimar period and the rise of Hitler's National Socialist German Workers' party, the historian Mark Mazower recently warned against underestimating the threat posed by a party whose use of violence was so disturbing. "Unfortunately, the Greek state does not seem to realise the urgency of the situation," he told an audience in Athens. After spending almost 30 years following Golden Dawn, Psarras agrees. Only weeks ago, he claimed, Michaloliakos held talks in the Greek parliament with two German neo-Nazis posing as journalists. Golden Dawn rejected the claim as "old mud". "It is an extremely dangerous phenomenon and do I think it will get worse? Yes I do," Psarras said, lamenting that, with living standards plummeting, the organisation was opening offices in traditional middle-class neighbourhoods. There remained a simple fact too big to ignore: in 2009 the party was a political pariah, gaining a mere 0.29 % of the vote; today it had global ambitions. "Ten years ago, if you had said Golden Dawn would become the third biggest force in Greece, you'd be called crazy," said Psarras. "Now look where it is." www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/01/greece-golden-dawn-global-ambitions
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Post by jeffolie on Apr 7, 2013 12:50:53 GMT -6
"Neo-Nazis have been once again legalized in Europe. They are openly sitting in parliaments," Kantor complained. Kantor, a Russian-Swiss businessman, said the EU should even consider expelling Hungary and Greece. "If they do not protect their own population against neo-Nazism, with all the lessons Europe had already, maybe there is no place for them in the European Union," he told The Associated Press after the presentation of the report." ... Europe's economic crisis was fueling the rise of extremist parties like Jobbik in Hungary, Golden Dawn in Greece and Svoboda in Ukraine. Italy's 2013 Fascism"... The big difference between Italy and Portugal or Greece is size. Beppe Grillo's Five-Star Movement: Fascism single largest party in Italy's lower house " ... groundswell of support for former comedian Beppe Grillo's Five-Star Movement. His throw-the-rascals-out platform drew enough voters to give it nearly as many votes as Italy's mainstream coalitions— 25.6% in the lower house at the latest count, making it the single largest party in that house." ... The election surprise poses a challenge for euro-zone creditor nations such as Germany, which have demanded that peripheral countries overhaul their economies in exchange for supporting the European Central Bank's pledge to save the currency union if necessary. A public rejection of austerity policies could rapidly spread to Spain and beyond, forcing European authorities to accelerate their response to the regional crisis or risk another round of the kind of contagion that effectively closed a host of euro-zone credit markets. my jeffolie view: Italy death spiral started because POLITICS MATTERS will lead to financial and political choas undermining confidence in the German approach and funding of South EU countries such as Italy and Spain ... fascism now controlling Italy's lower house single largest party is a growing political ideology concentrating the POLITICS OF THE BACKLASH in Italy. ================================== Apr 7, 2013 Report: Anti-Semitic incidents surged in 2012 Associated Press Israel begins annual Holocaust memorial day Israel's military chief to visit Auschwitz TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- Israeli researchers warned Sunday of a sudden upsurge in anti-Semitic attacks, topped by a deadly school shooting in France, noting a link to the rise of extremist parties in Europe. The warnings emerge from an annual report on anti-Semitism in the world, released on the eve of Israel's memorial day for the 6 million Jews killed by German Nazis and their collaborators in World War II. The report noted a 30 percent jump in anti-Semitic violence and vandalism last year, after a two-year decline. It was issued at Tel Aviv University, in cooperation with the European Jewish Congress, an umbrella group representing Jewish communities across Europe. The report recorded 686 attacks in 34 countries, ranging from physical violence to vandalism of synagogues and cemeteries, compared to 526 in 2011. It said 273 of the attacks last year, or 40 percent, involved violence against people. The report linked the March, 2012 shooting at a Jewish school in Toulouse, where an extremist Muslim gunman killed four people, to a series of attacks that followed - particularly in France, where physical assaults on Jews almost doubled. The report by the university's Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry found little correlation between the increase of anti-Semitic attacks and Israel's military operation in Gaza in November. While there was a spike in incidents at the time, it was much smaller in number and intensity than the one that followed the Toulouse school attack, said Roni Stauber, the chief researcher on the project. "This shows that the desire to harm Jews is deeply rooted among extremist Muslims and right-wingers, regardless of events in the Middle East," he said. An Israeli offensive in Gaza four years earlier led to a significant spike in attacks against Jews in Europe. This year, researchers pointed to a correlation between the strengthening of extreme right-wing parties in some European countries and high levels of anti-Semitic incidents, as well as attacks on other minorities and immigrants. They said Europe's economic crisis was fueling the rise of extremist parties like Jobbik in Hungary, Golden Dawn in Greece and Svoboda in Ukraine. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, called for strong action by the European Union, charging that governments - particularly in Hungary - were not doing enough to curb these parties' activities and protect minorities. "Neo-Nazis have been once again legalized in Europe. They are openly sitting in parliaments," Kantor complained. Kantor, a Russian-Swiss businessman, said the EU should even consider expelling Hungary and Greece. "If they do not protect their own population against neo-Nazism, with all the lessons Europe had already, maybe there is no place for them in the European Union," he told The Associated Press after the presentation of the report. First, he said, his group has asked the European Parliament to hold a special hearing on Hungary. The parliament is planning the hearings, said parliament spokesman Jaume Duch. The president of the parliament, Martin Schulz, has been openly critical of anti-Semitism in Europe. There was no immediate reaction from European officials, but the chances of punishing any country for the results of a democratic election are slim. The EU has never suspended a member state, much less tried to expel one. Golden Dawn swept into Greece's parliament for the first time in June on an anti-immigrant platform. The party rejects the neo-Nazi label but is fond of Nazi literature and references. In Hungary, a Jobbik lawmaker has called for Jews to be screened as potential security risks. The leader of Ukraine's Svoboda denies his party is anti-Semitic but has repeatedly used derogatory terms to refer to Jews. hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_ANTI_SEMITISM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-04-07-11-13-46
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Post by jeffolie on May 4, 2013 15:06:59 GMT -6
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