The Crazy, Crazy World of Silvio Berlusconi, Romano Prodi & Chinese Communism

Berlusconi baby gaffe riles China

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has landed himself in hot water with comments that the Chinese under Mao Zedong "boiled babies".

The PM, who is running for election in April, refused to withdraw his remarks when pressed by reporters, saying it was "an historical fact".

But the gaffe has angered China, which is marking the Year of Italy in 2006.

The Chinese foreign ministry has said it is "dissatisfied with such groundless words".

"Italian leaders should use words and actions that are beneficial to stable and developing friendly relations between China and Italy," the ministry said in a statement.

The Chinese embassy in Rome has also expressed its dismay.

'Questionable'

Mr Berlusconi is renowned for making outspoken comments. At the launch of his 2006 election campaign, he told his audience: "I am the Jesus Christ of politics. I am a patient victim, I put up with everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone."

His comments on Maoist China were first made at a rally on Sunday.

"I am accused of having said that the [Chinese] Communists used to eat children," he said.

"But read The Black Book of Communism and you will discover that in the China of Mao, they did not eat children, but had them boiled to fertilise the fields."

He tried to calm the furore on Wednesday, telling Italian TV: "It was questionable irony, I admit it, because this joke is questionable. But I did not know how to restrain myself."

Romano Prodi, his main opponent in the elections being held on 9 April, said his comments were "unthinkable".

"The damage caused to Italy by an insult to 1.3bn people is by all means a considerable one," he told Italian radio.

While I am not as yet able to make an informed opinion about Berlusconi's baby claims, he is right to raise questions over the record of China's Communist regime and Prodi is an idiot if he thinks that Berlusconi's comments were aimed at the wider population of China. It is just a pity that such an issue was raised by a man that is just as crooked as those in Beijing. Someone also needs to tell Berlusconi that "The Black Book of Communism" Mao wrote is actually better known as the little red book.

Berlusconi Warns Against Multiculturalism

ROME - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he does not want Italy to become a multiethnic, multicultural country, drawing plaudits from a right-wing ally and criticism from center-left opponents.

Berlusconi, a conservative, faces a stiff challenge in next month's national election, with opinion polls putting him behind his opponent, former premier Romano Prodi.

The poor economy, a main worry for voters in this election, has fed concerns about immigration by right-wing parties in Berlusconi's coalition, although the kind of work usually done by immigrants is shunned by many Italians. Surveys show that some Italians also perceive immigrants as being linked to crime.

"We don't want Italy to become a multiethnic, multicultural country. We are proud of our traditions," Berlusconi said Monday on state-run radio.

Berlusconi's government has put in place a tough immigration policy, including legislation cracking down on illegal immigration. The 2002 law allows only immigrants with job contracts to obtain residency permit.

"We want to open (our borders) to foreigners who flee countries where their lives or liberties are at risk," said Berlusconi, adding those who come to Italy to work also are welcome. "We don't want to welcome all those who come here to bring about damage and danger to Italian citizens."

Thousands of illegal immigrants come to Italy every year, mostly crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa on rickety boats. The latest group of more than 200 landed Monday on Lampedusa, a tiny island off Sicily.

Most immigrants, if they elude police, move on to other European countries.

The Northern League, a right-wing anti-immigrant party, welcomed Berlusconi's remarks.

"Here's the Berlusconi we want," said Roberto Calderoli, a Northern League leader who was forced to quit as reforms minister last month after he wore a T-shirt on state TV decorated with caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. "Our values, our identity, our history, our traditions" must be defended against immigration, the Italian news agency ANSA quoted him as saying.

Paolo Cento of the opposition Greens party criticized Berlusconi, saying "the multiethnic society is a reality and an asset that must be handled," ANSA said.

As much as I dislike Prodi's pro-European Union stance, it is about time that crook Berlusconi was kicked out of office and into jail.

Quote of the Day 28.3.2006

"Respect's latest campaign is to liken Condoleezza Rice, who is visiting the UK this week, to - get this - the wartime fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley. There is, I suppose, the merest tangential and chronological connection between the two. When Mosley was conducting a demagogic racist campaign in West London in 1958 against the background of the Notting Hill riots, Ms Rice was experiencing racism at first hand as a small child in segregated Alabama. It would be easy to say that Respect lacks a sense of history and decency, but that would be too kind. Look closely at the organisation, its methods and propaganda, and you find what is, alongside the British National Party, the most prominent racist and fascist organisation in Britain today." - Oliver Kamm

Quote of the Day 26.3.2006

"The spread of the black death can be linked to the early expansion of pre-bourgeois trading routes." - see previous post

It seems that if there is any doubt over attributing blame for something, always play safe and blame capitalism!

A Liberal Crybaby's Rant

I had a very interesting email yesterday from one the Students' Union's paper tigers. I hope those of you with a Conservative mind will enjoy this ignorant rant as much as I have?

On your weblog you have the following entry:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"The global capitalist system has killed more people than Adolf Hitler"- Swansea University RESPECT Students

So have the Black Death, Uncle Joe Stalin and Mao Zedong, therefore what is the point being made?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is a very silly thing to purposefully misattribute quotes. The quote above seems to be an approximation of a quote made by George Galloway. Whilst the quote is factually true, I fail to see why you have lied about its source in order to make ... well, I'd say a point but your statement fails to make one.

Lesson one, never call me a liar! That quote was made in an official piece of RESPECT Students' literature, so please do not try to pass the buck onto Galloway. Galloway may be a lot of things and he may share your sentiments, but he did not make that quote.

You seem to have developed some kind of delusion surrounding the Swansea Respect group. Given your abrasive, rude and unalanced behaviour towards many students in the past, your obsession is somewhat concerning.

Unlike you and the rest of RESPECT Students, others and I have no illusions about your little rabble. Nor am I obsessed with RESPECT considering how your Sith Lord in Bethnal Green & Bow embarrasses himself at every available opportunity. You are also a fine one to talk about me being abrasive, rude and "unalanced" considering the same could be said about Darth (or should that be Daft) Galloway and his hero Uncle Joe. Pot, kettle, black!

While it is true that I can be abrasive at times, it is only because I have to be in pursuit of the greater good. Far too many students are living in a dream world and need a reality check. As Bart Simpson once said "you don't win friends with salad".

I hope you will respond to this email soon.

Yours,

(name withheld to protect the ignorant),

PS. In response to your question, the point being made is that capitalism is a brutal economic system that presides over the deaths of even more deaths than Adolf Hitler. Given that Hitler was himself a forceful supporter of capialist interests and was supported by big business not only in Germany but also abroad - your hero Gerorge Bush's grandfatrher was a sympathiser and war profiteer. The spread of the black death can be linked to the early expansion of pre-bourgeois trading routes. The various dictators you mention all presided over a non-free market, bureaucratic state capitalism [I suggest the writings of Tony Cliff on the economic and class relations of Stalinist states]. Global capitalism, of which you are a rabid proponent, has killed thousands of times more people than all those on your list combined.

The point I was making (which seems to have totally escaped you) is that both capitalism and communism are as bad as each other, the difference being that the "capialist" system is has been proven by the course of history so far to be more practical than socialism, thus making it the lesser of two evils. "Gerorge" W. Bush is not my hero and I do not always agree with his decisions, but he does have my respect (an ironically alien concept to RESPECT) even my admiration because he has the courage to do what is necessary on the areas of common agreement I have with him. I am well aware of what Bush's "grandfatrher" (please use your spell checker) is accused of, but that does not mean we should tar Dubya with the same brush. Your last statement also flies in the face of the facts and figures available.

If supporters of abortion are morally equivalent to Myra Hindley, how does it feel to be the equivalent of a mass-murdering genocidal lunatic responsible for tens of thousands of unneccesary deaths every day?

[sarc] Why it feels great! [/sarc] It may interest you to know that the abortion issue is one of the few areas of common ground Gallas and I share with one and other.

If any other liberals wish to send me any "love-mail", you can do so at c4_dick@yahoo.co.uk

The Moral Politics Test

Your Score

Your scored 0 on the Moral Order axis and -1.5 on the Moral Rules axis.

Matches

The following items best match your score:

System: Conservatism, Liberalism
Variation: Moderate Conservatism, Moderate Liberalism
Ideologies: Capital Republicanism, Capital Democratism
US Parties: Republican Party, Democratic Party Presidents: Gerald Ford (93.37%)
2004 Election Candidates: John Kerry (86.56%), George W. Bush (73.03%), Ralph Nader (71.27%)

Statistics

Of the 169920 people who took the test:

1.4% had the same score as you.
46.3% were above you on the chart.
46.6% were below you on the chart.
28.2% were to your right on the chart.
60.2% were to your left on the chart.

This test can be taken at http://www.moral-politics.com/

Judge Refuses Request to End Baby Boy's Treatment

LONDON (Reuters) - A High Court judge on Wednesday refused a request from doctors to turn off a ventilator keeping alive an 18-month-old boy with incurable spinal muscular atrophy.

The boy's parents had opposed their request, arguing that although he was severely physically disabled, the boy could still enjoy spending time with his family.

"I am not persuaded that it is currently in the best interests of (the boy) to discontinue ventilation, with the inevitable result that he would immediately die," Justice James Holman said.

Doctors had told the court that the boy cannot breathe for himself, has to be fed through a tube and can only move his eyebrows, feet and his fingers very slightly.

While they acknowledge that the baby, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is not mentally impaired they say his condition will inevitably get worse and end in his total paralysis.

But the parents want their son to be allowed to return home with them.

The case was believed to be the first in which doctors had asked to allow a patient who is not in a persistent vegative state to die.

Instead of condemning children with disabilities to death, doctors should be trying to save and prolong their lives. No one has the right to play God with a human life.

Quote of the Day 15.3.2006

"Communism = Slaughter of the Masses" - The Popcorn King, GameFAQs

Quote of the Day 4.3.2006

"The path of least resistance is not living, it is dieing!" - (Ultimate) Warrior