Berlusconi's character questioned

This blog is in response to Berlusconi's behavior with other world leaders in front of the press. While talking with group members today, one of them mentioned seeing him leave German Chancellor Angela Merkel standing when he arrived at the second day of the Nato summit on April 4th. He was there to take a photo with her, but arrived on the phone and left her standing for close to 15 minutes. While looking for something to blog about I came across the video, but not before also finding many other examples of him acting out in front of world leaders.

For instance, I found an article about him shouting to get President Obama's attention at a reception with world leaders at the G20 summit. It was rumored that his behavior offended the Queen of England. The article also mentioned that he was criticized for referring to Obama as "young, handsome and tanned" in November. Berlusconi defended his remark about Obama being "tan," saying that he ment it as a compliment, referring to a song about having to be tan to be attractive.

And also at last year's summit, he was filmed playing "hide and seek" with Chancellor Merkel, as he hid behind a large column when she walked past.

I think these are prime examples of the ways in which Berlusconi may be a powerful leader in Italy, but acts like a child in in front of the rest of the world. His character is definitely something to be questioned, as it seems many world leaders are not amused by his antics. How can anyone respect a leader when he proves his immaturity over and over again.

-Jessica Perry
Italy

Italy: Day of Grief

After April 10th Thursday evening’s after shock of the earthquake, rescue workers discovered 2 more victims, a mother of 53 yrs. and her daughter of 18 yrs. In Corriere della Sera, Berlusconi announced his sorrow for those who lost loved ones during the earthquake. “I want to thank the residents of Abruzzo for their composure and their demonstration of public spirit. It is a lesson for all Italians. Today, their dead are the dead of the entire nation”. Berlusconi expects to ask the European Commission for funds between 400 to 500 million euros over three years. The Prime Minister said, “I want to thank the residents of Abruzzo for their composure and their demonstration of public spirit. It is a lesson for all Italians. Today, their dead are the dead of the entire nation”. He wants to restore Italy back from its ruins.

Italy- Sun Kim

A "Camping Weekend" for Italian Earthquake Victims

After an earthquake occurred in central Italy leaving over 250 dead, Prime Minister Berlusconi informed the thousands of citizens left homeless that they should view this as a "weekend of camping."

The natural disaster destroyed the town of L'Aquila. The 17,000 people left homeless were forced to "camp" outside in freezing cold temperatures and endure hail storms. However, Berlusconi told reporters for the channel on which the interview aired that those left homeless "lacked nothing" and were provided with medications, hot meals and shelter.

Of course, as could be expected, the interview did not air on the Italian television stations, but rather a German television station not correlated with the Berlusconi media empire. He made the comments as rescue workers searched for survivors from the powerful aftershocks.

-Jamie Bezozo
Italy

Berlusconi's Lawyer has a History of Mistakes

It seems that this isn't the first time that British lawyer, David Mills, has landed himself in hot water with the law. Although currently convicted of accepting a bribe from Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, to falsely testify in court, he has a history of lapses in judgment in other law-related cases.

He was forbidden to practice law in Dubai, after trying to work on a deal to sell jets to Iran, because he never admitted that he had been the subject of an official investigation. Furthermore, he is also under investigation for a case involving Berlusconi and tax evasion on television film rights. He is also being prosecuted for possibly making money transfers to himself from a client's offshore account, without permission.

-Jamie Bezozo
Italy

Berlusconi puts NATO on hold

This article about Berlusconi's arrival at the NATO meeting where he is to meet German leader Angela Merkel on the red carpet and incredibly rudely took a phone call right as the car door opens. Lucky for all news audience members who want to see this rude entrance there is a video of this occurrance along with the audio of him giggling and pacing along a waterfront. Though it was later revealed that this phone call was with Turkey's prime minister regarding a the Danish Prime minister as new NATO chief. Though it was not a casual call to a friend, the act itself was rude, the uncomfortable public wait of Merkel was painful to watch.

This week Berlusconi has insulted the Queen of England with his loud voice and greetings, as well as complimenting Obama on his "tan". This is yet another example of the high status Berlusconi holds, he can get away with rude behavior and no one reprimands him. This will certainly not be the last story of his poor manners.

Becca Hallac
Italy Group

Italians protest over economic crisis

Hundreds of thousands of Italians marched in Rome, Italy today, shouting anti-government slogans, protesting against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's handling of the economic crisis.

The story was reported in the British newspaper Herald Sun and described Italians varying from students, to workers, to leftist politicians took to the streets in Rome with red banners and balloons, blocking off traffic to much of central Rome. One of the banners at the scene read "Enough! It's time Italy fires Berlusconi!"

A protester was quoted in the newspaper saying how the government keeps making announcements, when instead they should give checks to people who lose their jobs. He made a statement saying "Berlusconi talks and talks but the money never shows up."

Its estimated up to 500,000 Italians can lose their job within a two-year span, up to mid 2010.The amount of Italians unemployed can be much higher than in 2007 when the economic crisis began.

More of this story can be read on the Herald Sun's website.


Eva Bruce (Italy)

The Queen gets turned off by Berlusconi

This week was an important week for leaders across the world with the G-20 summit that happened in London. While our President Obama was present at the summit to try and get other nations on board with trying to recover the global economy, our dear Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi also attended and took a few photos with our history-making president.

Attached is a link of the Queen being annoyed with Berlusconi for shouting out Mr. Obama's name to attract his attention. As you will see in the clip, all the G-20 leaders, including the Queen were brought together for an official photo to mark the summit. After the pictures are taken, you can hear Berlusconi in the background saying "Mr. Obama!" and the Queen turns around and shrugs at Berlusconi saying "what is it?" in a tone of annoyance.

Not only is the Italian prime minister the owner of 90 percent of Italy's media, he apparently seems to have a big mouth also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSUn_J__MUk

Eva Bruce (Italy)

Response to "Party Leaders Merge, Berlusconi's Position Strengthened" post

This blog entry is in response to the entry Andrew posted earlier this week. After searching BBC.com for news articles on Berlusconi I came across this article from 2007 . The article was written after Berlusconi originally announced his plans to create the new party. He described the Italian People's Party for Freedom as a "protagonist of freedom and democracy for decades," and told supporters that the party would unite Italians "against the old fogeys of politics." He hoped that his coalition partners would join the party despite tension between them at the time.
Although Gianfranco Fini, leader of the National Alliance, has merged with Berlusconi, he was originally critical of the idea saying that Berlusconi's center-right coallition would collapse unless he changed his strategy.
A year and a half later Berlusconi's plans came together and the National Alliance Party and the Forza Italia party have officially merged to form the People of Freedom party, and as Andrew mentioned Berlusconi's position has been strengthened yet again.

Jessica Perry
Italy

Party Leaders Merge, Berlusconi's Position Strengthened

The National Alliance party, founded by the political heirs of Benito Mussolini, has united with Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party. This move comes as Gianfranco Fini, 57, the former of the NA party has tried to legitimize the former NA party and rid them of their fascist ties. Analysts also believe that Fini is putting himself in a position to try and succeed Berlusconi, who is 72.
There has said to be tension amongst Fini and Berlsuconi, as Fini has said he wants a strong voice in the party. He also hopes the unification will strengthen the country as a whole.
"Berlusconi knows that his strong and recognised leadership can in no way become a personality cult. We must guarantee that People of Freedom is not the party of one person, but of one country," said Fini.
As of this week Berlusconi has an approval rating in the country around 58%. The opposition party has fallen apart in the last month and pose no soon threat to Berlusconi's power.

Italy (Andrew Johnson)

Italy: Canal Plus could be wrong about Berlusconi

Berlusconi is in trouble again. Corriere della Sera reports that there may have been miscommunication during a media conference of Italy-France summit with the President Sarkozy and Prime Minister Berlusconi. The press, Canal Plus reported that Prime Minister whispered in President Sarkozy “C’est moi che t’ai donné ta femme” (I gave you your wife), which could have been interpreted as “Tu sais que j’ai etudié à la Sorbonne” (You know that I studied at the Sorbonne). The Prime Minister’s office is trying to interpret the exact phrase to clear the misunderstanding with the President. Because French is not Berlusconi’s first language, he might have just said the incorrect phrase. But for now no one is taking back what they said, until they have clear and solid proof of the recording.

-Sun Kim (Italy)

National Alliance Merges with Berlusconi's Party

The National Alliance (AN) has agreed to fold their party into Berlusconi's 'People of Freedom.' The group consists of center-right conservatives. The National Alliance is the second largest force in the governing coalition.

The National Alliance has been an ally of the the Forza party (Berlusconi's) since the 1990s and ran with him under his winning election last year.

AN leader Gianfranco Fini has not always agreed with Berlusconi's views, however as for the merging of the parties, he seems agreeable as long as the AN continues to have their say in views. The AN consists of post-fascists which came together as the successor of the Italian Social Movement created by supporters of Mussolini after his death in 1945 and the fascist movement was outlawed.

-Jamie Bezozo
Italy

Berlusconi Sued

Premier Silvo Berlusconi is being sued by Francesco Tto, a small Alitalia shareholder for allegedly torpedoing the sale of the Italian carrier to Air France-KLM last spring.
According to a news report on lifeinitaly.com, Toto claims he suffered moral and biological damages when during last spring's election campaign Berlusconi said Air France's offer was unacceptable. Air France later withdrew its offer, but when Berlusconi became premier, he changed Italy's bankruptcy laws, allowing Alitalia's flight operations to be spun off and sold, while the airline assets and debts were left to be sold or liquidated.
Toto had a package of Alitalia shares worth 384,000 euros before the stock was suspended from trading in March 2008, and then canceled when the airline was declared bankrupt. Berlusconi willfully interfered with the sale of the airline to Air France, which was already approved under the previous government.

Eva Bruce (Italy)

Opposition leader resigns strengthing Berlusconi's power

Silvio Berlusconi has gained an even stronger hand in Italy this week, following the resignation of the leader of opposition party. Walter Veltroni stepped down as leader of the Democratic party after he was defeated in local election for a government position. The victory was unexpected for Berlusconi, who hand picked the candidate that defeated Veltroni. Berlusconi defeated Veltroni in last years national election to win back his Prime Minister seat.

With no apparent leader of the opposition party, Berlusconi is unopposed. Local political analysts believe his reign will only get stronger with no one in his way to stop him. Berlusconi holds so much political power and holds large stakes in media corporations, giving him unparalleled control.

It may be a long time before there will be anyone to rise up and overthrow the power of Berlusconi.

Andrew Johnson
Italy

Italy: Berlusconi bribe case

David Mills, a British corporate lawyer has been found guilty of accepting bribes from Prime Minister Berlusconi in return for giving false evidence in two court cases in 1997 and 1998.

The article on BBC.com states that Mills, an expert witness in tax affairs, accepted $600,000 (U.S. dollars) to not mention Berlusconi's offshore companies in the court case so that Berlusconi could avoid paying tax. This was believed to have helped clear Berlusconi in the case.

Mills has been sentenced to four years and six months of prison, but has said he will appeal the sentencing. He will most likely avoid going to prison because an appeal could take up to 3 years, forcing the prosecution to run into problems with Italy's statute of limitations.

Berlusconi will also avoid prison time as his administration passed an immunity to prosecution law (a "get-out-of-jail-free card") last year. He cannot be prosecuted while in office, but the charges are suspended and there is a possibilty of prosecuting him once his term is over. There is also a movement to get rid of the new immunity laws which could lead to problems for Berlusconi.

-Jessica Perry
country: Italy

Italy: Prime Minister Berlusconi plans to restrict phone wiretaps

Skype has become the new form of communication for drug traffickers, organized crime, and prostitution rings. In the BBC news there was a report that investigators overheard suspects telling each other to switch over to Skype for further details of the plan.

It is difficult for investigators to get a hold of criminals these days because the police usually relied on wiretapping of home and mobile phones to catch their criminals. Police say they are not able to get any help from Skype because Skype is unwilling to reveal its encryption code with the police.

Phone wiretapping is necessary in order to catch criminals, but Prime Minister Berlusconi has come forth with a bill to restrict phone wire tapping to only serious crimes. The bill will not allow wiretap as evidence until the final verdict has been determined. Journalists are protesting this new bill because crime reporting comes from resources of wiretapping.

-Sun Kim (Italy)

Italy: Prime Minister Berlusconi Attempts to "Regulate Internet"

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants to push for an agreement to regulate the internet through the G8.

The G8 is actually the Group of Eight, which is a forum for governments of eight nations from the north hemisphere, including Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S.A. The group discusses issues of mutual or global concern, and it is through this that Berlusconi hopes to use his country's position in the G8 to push for international coercion on internet regulation.

The main issue at hand is that this is an inherent conflict of interest because Silvio Berlusconi is not only Italy's senior G8 leader, the Prime Minister and Italy's richest man, but also the main controller of Italy's media, owning (both directly and indirectly) 90% of Italian media.

According to La Stampa, attempts at internet regulation will be protested by bloggers who will display anti-Berlusconi banners on their blogs and websites. Berlusconi's attempts to get other countries to follow in internet regulation are a direct violation of the protection of freedom of speech, as well as various other press freedom indices.

- Jamie Bezozo
Country: Italy

Italy's PM seeks law to keep comatose woman alive

This current event article occurring in Italy addresses the law of Euthanasia as well as the power of the government and Berlusconi's rule. Eluana Englaro, 38, is an Italian citizen who has remained in a comatose state for the past 17 years after a car crash. The issue at hand is that her father reports that she had wished to never live artificially. He has been fighting a high court battle for the past ten years to allow her to die and cease the feeding tube. However, Prime Minister Silvo Berlusconi is fighting to change the high court law and continue her artificial feeding. Berlusconi has the support of the Vatican in viewing discontinue feeding as a form of euthanasia which is illegal in Italy.
The controversy and relevance of this article to the study of how Italy as a nation is influenced by various governmental forms is quite interesting. Italy's president Giorgio Napolitano is getting vetoed by the dictation of Berlusconi. Berlusconi claims that she technically "could have a baby" so she is to continue living against her parents and her known wishes. This is a direct example of the power that Berlusconi not only holds over the government, but the power he has over the citizens of Italy. Putting his veto of this long-running law has been put on the fast track. His influence is not only viewed as superior but when he wants something to get done, it gets done fast.
In America we all have our own opinion on the subject of euthanasia, and though my opinion may side with Berlusconi or the Englaro family, the fact is that my opinion simply causes discussion. While this article demonstrates that Berlusconi's opinion causes immediate action to his satisfaction. He literally has the power to choose life or death.

Becca Hallac
Italy Group

Italian Media Jacking Movement

This video explores the Italian Media Jacking Movement, Italy's Telestreet phenomena. It used a network of around 200 micro pirate TV transmitters to counter the media monopoly that Berlusconi held.
The documentary has activists from TeleAut and SpegnilaTV and famous media theorist Franco Berardi.

Mediaset back at it

Berlusconi's company wants more money. Mediaset is suing Youtube for copyright infringement of over 325 hours of clips. Although Youtube does not have the following in Italy that it does in America, it is fast getting there. The giant that is Youtube has many rules and stipulations in place that prohibit a user from posting copyrighted material. However, it is common for compyrighted videos to slip through. Mediaset, and therefore Berlusconi are trying to have more of a hold over the news they spew. Check it out!

Tricia Masturzo

Comic blogs about Mediaset

Although a very short article I found it very interesting and revealing about Italian media systems. Obviously I was attracted at first due to the title about Mediaset, the overpowering media system run by former prime minister Berulsconi. In this article is goes on to say that a Genovese comic goes on to mock Berlusconi"s position in office and the position he hold in the media business. He mentions that if the company was taken over then "real journalists" could take over. This is an obvious jab at the political programs in the country, the programs that feature "journalists" who are either so one-sided no real news get told or they are more like actors.

The other reason I found this article interesting was because the comic posted all of this on a BLOG. This blog post made front page news in the Corrierre della Sera, an English Italian newspaper. I Found this very interesting because with blogging being a relatively new phenomenon it is amazing that this story could generate that much interest.


Tricia Masturzo