Fascism Lite in Italy

Censorship of the media by Silvio Berlusconi and the political establishment in Italy has not only been limited to removing popular comedians from the air like Beppe Grillo, Daniele Luttazzi, and Sabina Guzzanti , but Berlusconi has also gone to great lengths to control how the news is reported. The tactics the government has used to alter the reality of the news and slant the coverage to Berlusconi’s favor have ranged from giving his political party more coverage during a news report to installing news directors who are political allies or employees from Berlusconi’s private media outlets. The more someone understands the power of the media and the impact it has on shaping public opinion, it is no surprise Berlusconi and his allies have stayed in power for as long as they have.

Since coming into power in 2001, Silvio Berlusconi has replaced the news directors at the public television stations with people who used to work for one of his own private television stations to ensure he and his political allies are portrayed in a favorable manner. Along with controlling how the news is reported, many critics of Berlusconi have labeled his time in power as “Fascism Lite”. While the Mussolini thugs of the fascist period would beat people up and intimidate them into silence, the label is not so far fetched with Berlusconi and his post fascist allies of the Alliance National doing the same with silencing critics of Berlusconi on television.

The control of the media by Silvio Berlusconi and the censorship he and his political allies have done in Italy should be a clear example as why more Americans need to recognize the dangers of relying on the medium of television to get their information and news. Although many of the incidents of press censorship like the removal of Daniele Luttazzi and Sabina Guzzanti from the airwaves, which would be the equivalent of John Stewart’s The Daily Show being canceled, would never happen in America, some recent developments in the United States has raised the specter of a similar figure like Berlusconi emerging in America.

The recent news report of members of the Republican Party encouraging the president of Fox News to run for President should not be taken for granted or dismissed. Although highly unlikely Roger Ailes would ever make a serious challenge to the charismatic and business friendly Mitt Romney or the attractive base friendly Sarah Palin, the same mistake was made with Berlusconi before he entered the playing field. The precedent that Silvio Berlusconi has set in a western European country for a political leader to control the media is not lost on political strategists from both ends of the political spectrum. Although members of the ideological left end of the spectrum recognize the dangers of a political leader controlling the media, most right wing western democracy politicians envy and wish they could have the access and control of the media like Silvio Berlusconi.

Although Silvio Berlusconi is looked up to and admired by some Italians, most Europeans have a very low opinion of Don Berlusconi because they see how much he resembles a petty dictator from a banana republic. Even the respected Economist magazine declared in 2003 that Silvio Berlusconi was not fit to lead Italy. Although Italians may have had an excuse before the age of the Internet of why they voted for him, the excuses for Italians to justify why they have a man like Berlusconi as a Prime Minister are becoming as scarce as a summer time glacier in the Artic.

In Italy It is Up to Comedians to Say Serious Things.

Just imagine if an inner circle advisor of a presidential candidate like Barack Obama or President Bush had close ties with the mafia in America and that relationship helped to win key states in the election for the President. Then after getting into power, the President made that person with the close links to the mafia the head of the Department of Defense, who also ran the Justice Department from behind the scenes, influencing judicial legislation that would help the President avoid criminal prosecution he was facing. In America that would sure have generated interest from the media and numerous programs would undoubtedly be dedicated to examining the links. In Italy however, when that occurred with one of Silvio Berlusconi’s inner circle advisors, Marcello Dell’Utri, not a single television station or news program in Italy examined the mafia allegations Silvio Berlusconi had with the Cosa Nostra mafia in Sicily. However, when an Italian comedian and talk show host, Daniele Luttazzi discussed the taboo subject on his comedy talk show, just like Sabina Guzzanti, he was forced off the air and his show was cancelled. The failure of the Italian media to report on the link between Berlusconi and his suspected ties to Cosa Nostra is one of the greatest examples of the danger of allowing a political leader to also be a media owner.

While the topic of discussing Berlusconi’s links to the mafia in Sicily may be a taboo subject in the Italian media, the public court hearings of his friend and business partner Marcello Dell’Utri were well documented. However, with nearly all of Italy’s 60 million people watching TV and an estimated 80 to 85 percent of the population getting their information from television, the facts from the trial were never fully reported on in the media. This failure of the media in Italy to report on the questionable business and political connections Silvio Berlusconi has to the mafia is no accident. Silvio Berlusconi has long recognized the power of television when he once said to Marcello Dell’Utri, “Don’t you understand? If something is not on television, it doesn’t exist.”

So when Daniele Luttazzi interviewed Marco Travaglio on his program Satyricon, a raunchy late night comedy show, Luttazzi was seen as stepping over the lines from comedy to journalism. While the interview with Marco Travaglio, a frequent contributor to Beppe Grillo’s blog, was not well balanced and did not put some of the allegations against Berlusconi in context, the political reaction against Luttazzi was extreme.



While the book L’ Odore dei Soldi, (The Smell of Money) by Marco Travaglio was far more damaging to Berlusconi, because it was not being talked about in the media, it was perceived as a threat. However, when a late night talk show host began talking about the book with its author and the ratings soon began to climb as the host questioned the origins of Berlusconi’s fortune, Berlusconi’s employment of a mafiaioso stable hand Vittorio Mangano, and his links to a suspected friend of the mafia Marcello Dell’Utri, Luttazzi was treated as if he had carried out a political assassination. Within hours of the broadcast, the head of the public television station RAI2 that is a moderate public station, along with the news director of the station were called on to resign by Berlusconi’s political allies.

Although the timing of the incident occurring so close during an election contributed to the political uproar, further highlighting why Italy is considered a partial free country for the press were the statements by the leader of the Order of Journalists, Mario Petrina, who denounced the program by Luttazzi in the strongest possible terms. A group, which is supposed to protect and represent the interests of journalists, Petrina, declared that Luttazzi had killed the rules of journalism that require a chance for rebuttal. Even the journalists union tried to file charges against Luttazzi for acting like a journalist, even though he was not certified as one. However, as Sabina Guzzanti and Beppe Grillo have proved, in Italy It is Up to Comedians to say serious things.

Satire in Italy is not allowed to be funny

Can you imagine if a television show like Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show or The Late Show with David Letterman was cancelled by the government and the comedian was blacklisted from American television because they told a joke about a politician like Steve Forbes or President Obama? Alternatively, if PBS aired a program where Robin Williams or another well-known stand up comedian made jokes about Obama and then was sued and the program was forced off the air by the government? If that kind of censorship and repressive government response sounds like it would come from a country like Saudi Arabia or Iran, than you do not know the story of Beppe Grillo or the comedian Sabina Guzzanti in Italy. These Italian comedians are concrete examples as why Italian is listed as a partial free country by Freedom House and is another indication of the feeble level of democracy in Italy. While most people familiar with Opinione have learned about the story of Beppe Grillo and his black listing from Italian television in 1987 after telling a joke about the former Prime Minister Benito Craxi, the story of Sabina Guzzanti being forced to cancel a show on the public television station RAI3 in 2003 is no less absurd and disturbing.

As Sabina Guzzanti explains in her documentary film, Viva Zapatero, which chronicled her censorship and removal from Italian public television and her 2003 program RiaOt, Silvio Berlusconi has abused his power as Prime Minister and has gone to great lengths to stifle any public criticism of him. Later, when the documentary film was played at the 2005 Venice International Film Festival, Viva Zapatero was given a standing ovation.

Although the program was a commercial success, the political satire making fun of Berlusconi and the political establishment was deemed offensive and Silvio Berlusconi immediately filed a multi billion dollar lawsuit against the public station, RAI3 that aired it. To protect itself from future lawsuits by Silvio Berlusconi and his Mediaset companies, the public television station RAI3, demanded that any future shows by Ms. Guzzanti be submitted prior to release so RAI3 executives cold review the program. This was in effect preventive censorship. The real reason however, was the political control Berlusconi had inside RAI3, and all of the parties wanted to protect its own interests first, at the expense of freedom of speech and democracy.

Making the lawsuit by Silvio Berlusconi even more disquieting was the fact that Silvio Berlusconi was also the head of the government at the time, which owns and controls the public television stations like RAI3. To put the censorship and subsequent lawsuit by Berlusconi in an American perspective, it would be like if Barack Obama owned a majority of the cable stations like TBS, USA, Bravo, and Fox News and then sued PBS for airing a program like Frontline in which it criticized Obama’s close personal relationship to the financial industry or his handling of the war in Afghanistan.

The lawsuit that Berlusconi filed was dismissed after the Italian court ruling declared that the jokes by Sabina Guzzanti were a legitimate form of satire. In addition, the court wrote, “They are not only socially relevant” the jokes by Ms. Guzzanti were “objectively true in their essential elements”. The lawsuit and subsequent cancellation of the program by Sabina Guzzanti however set a precedent in Italian public opinion that it is disrespectful to criticize their elected leaders.

The more someone understands contemporary Italian culture and the actions of Silvio Berlusconi, the more people will agree that after nearly 20 years of cultural influence in Italy, Silvio Berlusconi has indeed turned Italy into the Stinking Boot of Europe.

Silvio Berlusconi- An Enemy of Democracy

One of the basic principals of a democracy is that it is a system of government that is based on laws and not individuals. Attributes of a healthy democracy include free and fair elections, legislative representation, civilian control of the military, multiple political parties, transparency, minority rights, an unbiased media, and equality before the law. The rule of law and the equality of all citizens is one of the most important aspects of a democracy and acts as a check on the abuse of power of a President or other executive branch leader of a government. Although the Italian Constitution Court recently rejected a law known as the Lodo-Alfano law created by Silvio Berlusconi and his allies, which elevated him and three other members of the government above the law, this latest episode is a clear example of why a leading academic scholar on Italian politics, Paul Ginsborg, has branded Silvio Berlusconi as an enemy of democracy. A successful democracy depends on a culture of tolerance, negotiation, compromise, and restraint. The actions of Berlusconi demonstrate he is lacking in several of these important categories.

This latest attempt by Silvio Berlusconi and his allies to elevate himself above the law was the latest attempt by Silvio Berlusconi to avoid criminal prosecution. Since coming to power in 1994, he has continued to pursue his own interests first before the needs of the people that elected him. In addition to trying to avoid criminal prosecution, Silvio Berlusconi has also had a long history of attacking the judiciary, which has resulted in a weakened independent Italian judiciary to check the abuse of power and corruption in Italy. Still living in the days of the Cold War era and using the political rhetoric that first got him elected to power in 1994, Silvio Berlusconi further weakens the rule of law and the independent role of the judiciary in a healthy democracy by calling judges communists and red toga-wearing tools of the left.

Ironically, Beppe Grillo who is a comedian in Italy, has written over a dozen times that the Lodo-Alfano law was a copy of the previous Lodo Schifani law, which was also thrown out by the Italian Constitution Court. In addition to pointing out this fact, Beppe Grillo posted five questions on his blog to the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, as to why as President of the Republic and someone not under any kind of criminal investigation, signed the law.

Shortly after the law was signed, Beppe Grillo also gave a public speech in Rome where he was subsequently attacked by even the left leaning media and the newspaper La Repubblica as disrespecting the Institution of the Italian President. In two editorials, Massimo Giannini, deputy director of the left leaning La Repubblica degraded the actions of Grillo along with another long time (once) respected Italian intellectual from the left, Eugenio Scalfari. These attacks by even the left leaning newspaper La Repubblica further demonstrate the poor quality of democracy in Italy due to the principals of tolerance and an unbiased media being in short supply. As Grillo has long pointed out, the newspapers on Italy receive funding from the government so their neutrality and unbiased reporting is questionable.

Since the end of the Italian First Republic in Italy in 1992 and the dissolution of the five main political parties during the post World War II era, the moral and ethical bar has continued to drop in Italian politics and now the rule of law is further being weakened.

While there has always been a long history of corruption and politicians escaping criminal persecution in Italian politics, since Silvio Berlusconi came to power in 1994, he and has political allies have drastically lowered the moral bar and the political establishment in Italy will soon need a shovel to lower it any further.

An analysis of the recent primary election of the Partico Democratico in Italy

Reacting to the personification of the political parties and the big man affect Silvio Berlusconi’s 15 years in politics has had in Italian politics, the main center left political party in Italy, The Partico Democratico (PD) recently held a primary election for a new political leader. Conducted on street corners in open-air tents, the recent primary election for a new leader was another example of why the main center left political party in Italy is more inclusive than their right wing counterparts and is a relative bright spot in a rather dismal political environment in one of the founding members of the European Union.

The recent primary election for a new center left political leader is further evidence that the political left in Italy is more intellectually advanced than the knuckle dragging, xenophobic, and male chauvinistic center right political parties in Italy. However, the center left and Italy in general still has a long way to go to meet European averages for female participation in both the political and work environments. The political opposition in Italy must also be cautious not to put too much hope in the new leader of the Partico Democratico, Pierluigi Bersani, due to the continuing fragmentation of the center left political parties, the political stranglehold Berlusconi has on the mafia influenced Mezzogiorno, and the continued influence and outright control of the media by Berlusconi and his political allies of the center right.

The political importance of the Mezzogiorno was underscored by the fact that the recent primary victory of Pierluigi Bersani was helped by his strong showing in the south of Italy. Like the other two main candidates, Dario Franceschini and Ignazio Marino, the new leader of the Partico Democratico comes from the northern part of the country. Further contributing to the success of PierLuigi Bersani was his long time rise in the center left political establishment in Italian politics and his previous leadership position in the Partico Democratico where he often seen as a successor to Romani Prodi the former leader of the party.

Starting off in local politics in the ex-communist stronghold of Emilia Romagna, PierLuigi Bersani worked his way up the left wing political establishment and was a member of the first Prodi government in 1996 as the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism from 1996 to 1999. Later he would continue his time in government when the center left political coalition, the Olive Tree coalition, was in power when he served as the Minister for Transports from 1999 to 2001. Like most political figures in Italy, after the defeat of the center left coalition in 2001, Bersani was recycled into a patronage position in the Chamber of Deputies and sponsored by the Democrats of the Left for a position in the European Parliament.

Although the recent center left primary election victory of Pierluigi Bersani is a cause for hope and celebration for democracy in Italy, this primary election should be taken in the larger political context. Until fundamental problems plaguing Italy are addressed like the influence of the mafia in the political process, and a conflict of interest law is passed against ownership of media by political leaders, the recent victory by Bersani will only be the latest example of the left’s continual failure in Italian politics and the continuation of the patronage style politics Italy is known for.

The new Littoral Combat Ships of the US Navy

As other countries develop, build, and have high-speed rail networks, creating tens of thousands of jobs in the manufacturing sectors and increasing their country’s industrial output, the United States continues to waste hundreds of billions of dollars and developing technology for military products no country will ever buy or any American citizen will ever benefit from. Highlighting the growing disparity between other industrial countries and the United States was the press coverage a new class of combat ship in the United States Navy known as the Littoral Combat Ship, which can travel over 50 mph. While other economic competitors in the global economy like China, Brazil, and several European countries are investing billions of dollars in high-speed rail systems, the United States is continuing to waste billions of dollars on ships and other military items it does not need or will ever use. The projected fleet of 55 Littoral Combat Ships will only someday just rust away along some pier or be sunk for some of the most expensive artificial coral reefs mankind will ever see. Until more American people begin to question their congressional leaders on the hundreds of billions of dollars a year wasted on useless weapons systems like the Littoral Combat Ship being built by Lockheed Martin or General Dynamics, and the constellation of military bases spanning the globe, the economic and social demise will only continue unabated in America.

Highlighting the growing technological and industrial gap the United States is facing in the area of rail transport technology is the fact that other global economic competitors can build trains that reach speeds over 200 mph and cruising speeds of over 150 mph, while America’s fastest high speed train can only reach 100 mph, and only for a limited distance. The political importance the United States is placing on developing technology used in military applications and weapons systems such as a combat ship that can travel over 50 mph will not be exported or sold to other countries. In addition to rail technology, the United States is also slipping behind other advanced economies like France in the area of civilian nuclear energy. As the era of peak oil approaches, France and other countries such as England may be well positioned to weather out the economic and political conflicts that the era of peak oil will produce.

Although the Obama administration showed some knowledge at the importance at building high-speed rail systems in the United States by including $13 billion dollars in the $787 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009., this number is immeasurable low for the needed economic benefits of mass rail to begin to start to take effect. One of the reasons why the Euro Zone countries of France and Germany are beginning to come out of their economic recessions sooner than the United States is because most of the money pumped into the economy in those countries went to shovel ready projects like renovating a train station.

Like every weapons system in the military industrial complex, the cost of the new Littoral Combat Ships has more than doubled from the original estimated price of $220 million apiece, and is estimated to cost $460 million apiece starting in the new fiscal year. Although the report by the Associated Press wrote that was due in part to the Navy’s desire to have the ships sooner for missions in the Gulf of Aden fighting Somali pirates, the more factual reason is defense industry companies know the US government will be soon forced to default on its 12 trillion debt. Better to get what you can now, because in a few years the US will not be able to buy as many toys for its war machine.

As future historians perform a forensic analysis on how the American Empire collapsed, the massive military expenditures will most likely be one of the greatest reasons.

An excellent primary source account of the August 20 election in Afghanistan

The recent dismissal of Peter W. Galbraith, who served as the deputy special representative of the Secretary-General of the U.N. in Afghanistan from June to October 2009, is the latest evidence that the United States has lost the political battle in Afghanistan for the people’s hearts and minds. As Peter Galbraith bluntly explains in a recent Council on Foreign Relations publication, the fraud in the August 20 election has handed the Taliban its greatest strategic victory in eight years of fighting the United States and its Afghan partners. The remarks by Galbraith underscore the corruption in the Karzai government and other political factors that are undermining all the work the United States military and NATO’s ISAF military force is doing to bring political stability to the people of Afghanistan. The disgraceful public treatment of an experienced career diplomat like Peter Galbraith and his public firing by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proves that the United Nations and the United States will often lower the moral bar to pursue their own agendas. The removal of Peter Galbraith is also further evidence that the United States along with the United Nations has lost credibility with the Afghani people and is another reason why Barack Obama needs to make the courageous decision to withdraw American forces out of Afghanistan.

As part of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Peter Galbraith was responsible for overseeing how $300 million from the United States and other western countries was managed. Although the government agency in Afghanistan responsible for the election was called the Independent Election Commission (IEC), as Galbraith bluntly explains, this Afghanistan government was merely a government department subservient to Karzai. As Galbraith writes in his Washington Post article, unlike the 2004 United Nations run election, the August 20 election was a foreseeable train wreck.

In addition to his truthful portray of the Independent Election Commission, Galbraith explains that Hamid Karzai also stacked the deck in his favor in the August 20 election by putting local people loyal (bought out) to Karzai in charge of polling centers. Along with the corrupt local election staff and a partisan commission, the Karzai government was also able to benefit from ghost polling stations that were located in unsecured areas of the country. These “ghost polling” centers were in areas that the IEC, the Afghan National Army or the Afghan National Police had ever visited. Part of the reason why the UN fired Galbraith was his ethical and responsible action of bringing attention to the IEC of these ghost polling stations would be ideal vehicles for election fraud. With the IEC being run by Karzai followers, Galbraith was then perceived as a threat to their power and hold on government and calls were made by the Karzai government to remove Pater Galbraith from his position.

The real losers in the inability of the UN to support Peter Galbraith and work to ensure a free and open election are the people of Afghanistan. As Peter Galbraith explains in his public comments published by the Washington Post and Time Magazine, Afghanistan is a deeply divided ethnically and geographically. Galbraith writes:

Both Karzai and the Taliban are Pashtun, Afghanistan's dominant ethnic group, which makes up about 45 percent of the country's population. Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai's main challenger, is half Pashtun and half Tajik but is politically identified with the Tajiks, who dominate the north and are Afghanistan's second largest ethnic group. If the Tajiks believe that fraud denied their candidate the chance to compete in a second round, they may respond by simply not recognizing the authority of the central government. The north already has de facto autonomy; these elections could add an ethnic fault line to a conflict between the Taliban and the government that to date has largely been a civil war among Pashtuns.

Retired from the government and not a politician, the truthful portray of the political situation in Afghanistan by Peter Galbraith is an excellent primary source account of the situation in Afghanistan and is one of the most persuasive agreements why the United States needs to remove its troops from Afghanistan.

Empire and Communication

Harold Innis
November 5, 1894 – November 8, 1952

As America continues to decline as the prominent world power and a realignment of wealth and power within the international system shifts to Asia, scholars in the field of political science are beginning to investigate what contributed to this decline. Although there are many theories that can be applied to explain America’s decline such as Immanuel Wallenstein’s World System Theory and the Idiosyncratic Energy Regime Theory of Kevin Phillips, perhaps one of the more intriguing theories to help explain the continual demise of the United States (Empire) is a communication theory by Harold Innis. This intriguing theory by the Canadian researcher in the mid 20th century believed that a balance between oral and written forms of communication is needed for a civilization to flourish. Applying this theory to the American Empire, there are some interesting aspects such as the monopolies of knowledge aspect of the theory and how the 24/7 cable news outlets in America hinder people from understanding complex issues and endanger societies by contributing to "present-mindedness". A recent example of this present mindedness is the recent story by the 24-hour cable news coverage of a boy floating away in a homemade balloon, only to be discovered he was never in the balloon. This is a classic example of the weapons of mass distraction media in America living up to its motto and contributing to the cultural, economic, and political demise of the United States.

In researching his communication theory Harold Innis divided media into time-biased media that consisted of hand written and oral communication and space biased media, which consists of most of the modern era communication devices such as television, radio, and newspapers. In his communication theory Innis believed that time biased media such as hand written and oral communication favored stability, community, tradition and religion while and space biased media such as television, newspapers, and radio favored materialism, secularism and empire. Although the Internet was not around when he developed his theory, there could be a strong argument that the Internet due to its ability to be a two way medium of communication like an oral conversation be classified as a time based or a binding media.

Innis put forth the idea that the inflexibility of the Egyptian monarchy to share the knowledge of the specialized art of writing, along with papyrus replacing stone as the dominant medium of communication, contributed to the eventual downfall of the Egyptian Empire. The imbalance rose in the Egyptian Empire because the priests in the Empire had a monopoly over writing and knowledge which supported an emphasis on time and religion, but neglected the political problems inherent in ruling over an empire extended in (the medium of) space. Innis later applied this theory to the ability of the Roman Empire to usurp the Greeks and then control Egypt with the use of parchment paper allowing for better administration of the Roman Empire.

Just as the energy regime theory of Kevin Phillips tries to link the dominant control and use of an energy the previous three world powers used in their rise to becoming a global economic and military power, the communication theory links the monopolistic control of a type of media to an empire. Starting with the Egyptian then Greek and finally the Roman Empire, the communication theory by Innis could also be applied to the monopolistic control of television in America by the political establishment.

It is interesting to apply the theory of Harold Innis and how a political power has monopolized types of medium like newspaper, radio, and then later television. Theodore Roosevelt mastered the newspaper as a communications device, just as his fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt mastered radio and John F. Kennedy benefited from the first Presidential debate on the medium of television. The continual use of television by the political establishment to control the agenda and dictate norms in society is evident by the reign of Silvio Berlusconi in Italy and the recent spat between the Obama administration and Fox News.

The communications theory of Innis was insightful in how he was able to identify the downward spiral of the American Empire due to the perpetual war footing it was on during the Cold War. In an essay entitled "Technology and Public Opinion in U.S.A," Innis concluded that the United States depended on a foreign policy shaped by military power. While long time blog followers will know this was also due to people like Paul Nitze and George Kennan and the National Security Council 68 directive, Innis was one of the first intellectuals to suggest that the U.S. had lost the balance between power and knowledge essential to its long-term survival. It is truly impressive that he made those observations almost 60 years ago.

In another future essay before his death in 1952 , Innis suggested that more personal communication within universities could produce the critical thinking necessary to restore the balance between power and knowledge. Innis believed this was essential and the universities could then muster the courage to attack the monopolies that always imperil civilization. One could only imagine what Innis would think of the modern universities with their 300 plus size classrooms and ever-escalating cost.

Since the political establishment in America relies on the monopolistic control of television to proclaim the best years lie ahead for the United States and the American people, it is up to individuals on the Internet to push back and share informaiton of the Internet that can create a balance between the between oral and written forms of communication.

The institution of the Papacy and its own persuit to hold onto power

In a recent ceremony welcoming the new European Union Commission envoy at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Alois Ratzinger, had the audacity to use the public meeting as a pulpit to lecture about the dangers of secularism and the important role Christianity has played in Europe. While Ratzinger recognized the violent and bloody role Christianity has played in Europe, his remarks exposed how even the institution of the Papacy will pursue its own interests at the expense of retarding the advancement of civic institutions like the European Union and the American Republic. Secularism and the neutral role of a sovereign power like the European Union and the American Republic is perhaps one of the most important political developments in the field of politics and government in the last 500 years. It is the defining element that illustrates a liberal democracy and the promotion of a pluralistic social cohesion of members from several different religions.

The comments by Joseph Ratzinger come as no surprise as he has a long history of protecting the interests of the Catholic Church and hence his own power and position within that institution. During his move up the Vatican hierarchy, Ratzinger undermined the political and religious work of liberation theology. Seen as a threat to the authority and ultimate power of the Vatican and due to his appointment as a Cardinal by Pope Paul II from communist controlled Poland, Ratzinger declared that liberation theology was the "fusing of the Bible's view of history with Marxist dialectics."

One of the main reasons why the conservative and orthodox members of the Roman Catholic Church like Ratzinger attacked liberation theology is because the theology challenges the meaning of resurrection. The conservative forces of the Church believe that the resurrection of Christ serves the purpose of showing that a better life is possible in the afterlife. Liberal theologians, however, believe that God became man in Christ and he was a person of the oppressed and persecuted classes. In his actions as Christ, God showed that man could liberate himself, enjoy salvation in life, and not have to wait until an afterlife. This is the greatest source of contention and criticism of the conservative wing of the Roman Catholic Church.

Ratzinger’s long time hostility towards any institution that challenges the power of the Vatican came through in his recent speech when he said, that “anarchic and random grouping” rather than a “coherent” body based on a historically “precise anthropological vision” could threaten the European Union. Although he was voicing his displeasure over the European Union’s exclusion of mentioning God or Christianity in the former European Union Constitution and subsequent Lisbon Treaty, the remark by Ratzinger is also voicing his concern of the growing Muslim and non-Christian segments of the European Union’s population.

Just as he worked to discredit the theological movement of liberation theology and the traditional (anthropological vision) it challenged of the meaning of resurrection, Ratzinger’s recent comment indicates the Vatican is aware of the growing power of the European Union, which could ultimately undermine the Vatican’s position in Europe and Italy. The recent remarks by the leader of the Catholic Church, whose institution treats women as inferior beings, highlight that the institution of the Papacy needs to first take the plank out of its own eye, before it can take the speck of dust out of the European Union's eye.

The continued incursion of militarism in the American republic.

Like an albatross hanging around his neck, President Obama has to deal with inheriting a mismanaged war by the previous Bush administration. Although dubbed as the right war at the time in response to the terrorist attack in New York and Washington D.C., and largely accepted by the American public, the initial goodwill and gains the United States accomplished in Afghanistan have suffered from the subsequent decision by the Bush Administration to invade and occupy Iraq. This diversion from Afghanistan realigned the military and civilian leadership’s focus and has resulted in a deteriorating political and military situation in Afghanistan. Compounding the problem for Obama are recent inappropriate comments by the commanding general in Afghanistan who has over overstepped his position by challenging the long-standing principal of civilian control of the military by almost demanding that Obama follow his advice. The long standing principal of civilian leadership of the military and the authority of civilian leaders to dictate military policy is being threatened by the actions of General McChrystal and is another indication of the growing influence of militarism in America.

Many prominent military and international relations experts like Andrew Bacevich believe that the recent public remarks by General McChrystal about the need for more than 40,000 more troops in Afghanistan was inappropriate. In addition to respected members of the military institution like Andrew Bacevich, the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates who is a Bush administration appointee also publicly admonished General McChrystal in a public speech at conference in Washington D.C. As Bacevich points out on a National Public Radio program, the general like all members of the military are not supposed to dictate policy but rather offer the best advice to the President and civilian leaders. Like most organizations, the general should also follow the rule, praise in public and criticize in private.

Living up to its motto, the weapons of mass distraction media has portrayed the issue of the leak of the McChrystal report and the subsequent speech McChrystal gave at a International Institute for Strategic Studies in London as a way to pressure the President to follow his recommendations on how to conduct the military operations in Afghanistan. The media is failing to recognize and address the more important issue of the implications of the consequences that escalating military operations in Afghanistan would have and to question how the report was leaked to the press. This failure of the press to question the general on how the confidential report was released is an indication of the growing influence of militarism in the American political discourse. The media in America should be asking if a commanding general who cannot even secure confidential information in his possession, is the right person to lead the military in Afghanistan.

The failure of the press to question the motives of General McChrystal and the level of now questionable prestige given to General McChrystal is contributed to the precedent that General Petraeus set in Iraq. General Petraeus gained a lot of praise and recognition for his recommendation to increase the amount of troops in Iraq that has commonly known as “The Surge”, which implemented previous military plans by General Shinseki. Although SecDef Rumsfeld threw out these plans and members of the Bush administration who wanted the smallest size force possible to defeat Hussein, Shinseki said that it would be necessary to “size the postwar force bigger than the wartime force”. General Petraeus is some way, merely implemented the military plan known as Phase IV.

The press in America is failing in its responsibility to be a free and independent force against the government as the fore founders of the US Constitution had imagined. Failing to bring General McChrystal to task for allowing the report to be leaked and allowing him to be elevated to a position of prominence in public opinion like Petraeus was given, is allowing the continued incursion of militarism in the American republic.

Attempts to get more transparency and accountability in the Federal government defeated

With the Pentagon getting annual four percent increases and the national security state apparatus continuing to get stronger and more influential in Washington D.C., the available pool of discretionary federal spending is being continually squeezed. So what does a senator who campaigns against wasteful spending in Washington go after? The annual $9 million grant funding the political science program from the National Science Foundation. While this program was the wrong battle for the senator from Oklahoma to fight with the majority of democrats in power, the more important story however is the protest Senator Coburn recently held in the Senate demanding more transparency and accountability in the Federal government. The attack against the American political scientists who were bound to notice the amendment by Mr. Coburn was perhaps a brilliant Machiavellian move on the Senator’s part to bring awareness of his fight to bring greater transparency to the federal government.

As long time blog followers will recall, there is a desperate need for more transparency and accountability in the federal procurement process. It is unfortunate that the press in America has forgotten about the $ 35 million contract awarded to KBR in Iraq after their negligent work electrocuted several members of the U.S. military in Iraq. Instead of a debate between Paul Krugman, the press should have sought out Larraine McGee whose son, Staff Sgt. Christopher Everett, was electrocuted on a base in Iraq from work performed by KBR.

In what should have been ordinary Senate business on 14 October, Mr. Coburn added a provision to the energy and water bills the Senate was in the process of passing that requires Federal agencies that submit reports to the powerful Appropriations Committee, to also submit and make those reports online for congressional members as well as the public. The Senator from Oklahoma along with former 2008 Presidential candidate John McCain was trying to check the power of the members of the Appropriations Committee who have the ability to add earmarks and other pork barrel spending items into the budget with little or no review and add more transparency in the legislation process. Although the amendment that Coburn inserted in the water and energy bills was approved over the summer, the amendment was removed during House-Senate negotiations. These negotiations are back room deals that attributes to the lower ranking of transparency that the United States and impacts the quality of American democracy. These backroom deals and congressional earmarks is legalized bribery and is one of the most important issues why American ranks so low it does in corruption in government.

As the blog previously discussed in the article, A de facto one party state in American Politics, the two political parties often act together and protect their own interests, and get re-elected 93 percent of the time. The backroom deal in the House-Senate negotiations and the killing of the transparency requirement put up by Senator Coburn is an example of how the two parties often work together to protect their own interests at the expense of democracy and the interests of the American public.

While politics is understandably a subject and topic most Americans tend to shy away from at dinner parties and other social events, the academic discipline of political science is an important field that needs to be supported by the public. While it was good to learn that the funding for the political science program from the National Science Foundation was not cut, this political scientist would encourage Mr. Coburn to continue his fight for greater transparency.

Guns on Trains in America

The Blog fully endorses the following legislation that has recently been introduced in the House of Representatives.

Bipartisan legislation was recently introduced in the House of Representatives that would allow permit law-abiding gun owners to legally transport firearms on Amtrak trains. The bill’s original cosponsors include Congressman Heath Shuler (D-NC), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Denny Rehberg (R-MT) and Spencer Bachus (R-AL).

Currently, sportsmen who choose to travel by rail for a hunting trip are left in an impossible situation because of Amtrak prohibitions against checking an unloaded gun with their luggage. Conversely, these same gun owners are legally allowed to check guns in their luggage on our nation’s airlines. Why should federally-subsidized passenger rail lines be different from U.S. airlines? The Amtrak Secure Transportation of Firearms Act would require Amtrak to enact regulations similar to those the U.S. airline industry uses to regulate firearm transport on airplanes. The requirements would apply for any year that Amtrak receives a federal subsidy.

The Amtrak Secure Transportation of Firearms Act of 2009 has been endorsed by the Gun Owners of America.

“Gun Owners of America strongly supports legislation introduced by Rep. John Fleming that will allow law-abiding gun owners to safely and legally transport firearms when they travel on Amtrak trains,” said John Velleco, Gun Owners of America Director of Federal Affairs. “Under Rep. Fleming’s legislation, travelers would be able to transport a firearm at Amtrak stations that accept checked baggage as long as the firearm is declared and carried in a hard-sided, locked container.”

The National Rifle Association has also offered its support for the bill.

In order to get the needed political support for high speed rail and light rail systems in the United States, the blog is supporting and endorsing this legislation.

The Chronic Influence of the Mafia in Italian Politics

Just as military leaders study previous battles and wars to see where mistakes were made and how to avoid them in the present day, the same is done in the art of politics. Reviewing some of the recent actions of the Italian government, it appears Mr. Berlusconi is doing all he can to avoid repeating the mistakes of Giulio Andreotti and maintain the balance of power in the south of Italy between the State and the mafia. Having the benefit of possessing an in depth and factual explanation of the final years of the Italian First Republic, the blog will explain how seemingly unconnected recent events are in fact connected to the power and influence of the mafia in Italy. The blog will link recent legislation passed by the Italian government and explain how Silvio Berlusconi is trying to avoid the same mistakes that brought down the powerful Christian Democratic Party that ruled Italy for over 40 years.

To help understand the present we need to briefly look back at the past. It was in those final years of the Italian First Republic, that the balance of power was thrown into question in the Mezzogiorno after the Mafia Maxi trial prosecuted by Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. In that unprecedented trail, 344 mafia members out of the 475 defendants were convicted in December 1987. However, during the appeal process, dozens of these convicted mafia members were being sent free for various technical and sometimes questionable reasons. It would later be discovered that with the help of powerful Christian Democratic leaders like Giulio Andreotti and Salvatore Lima, one judge, Corrado Carnevale, also known as l’ammazza-sentenze, “the sentence killer”, was hearing all the mafia appeal cases. In addition to Andreotti and Lima, most of the political establishment during the late 1980s when the appeals were taking place provided Carnevale with political cover by calling him a judicial purist in his interpretation of Italian law.

In the early 1990s however with the help of a supportive Minister of Justice Claudio Martelli from the Socialist Party, the tide began to turn back in the favor of justice and less convicted mafia members were being released. Along with the Italian Supreme Court not reversing as many cases in the early 1990s, Martelli began to implement many of the suggestions Falcone made to help the judiciary fight the mafia. Doing things like creating an Italian FBI to creating district offices to handle complex mafia cases, the tide was turning against the power and influence of the mafia. In response, in March 1992, the mafia killed Salvatore Lima, the Christian Democrats leading political figure in Sicily and a close friend of Andreotti. This killing has long since been seen as a warning to then Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti who was perceived as not protecting the interests of the mafia like he had done while the Christian Democrats were in power.

Recent political scandals of hookers from the Bari region, where the Sacra Corona Unita mafia is active, and the news of a movement to start a political party in the Sicily known, as the Southern Party should not looked at as separate events. While most of the media reported the formation of a new political party in the Mezzogiorno as a reaction to the successful emergence of Umberto Bossi’s Lega Nord in Northern Italy, the move to create a new political party in the south is most likely a publicly veiled threat to Silvio Berlusconi and his allies from the mafia to remind him who has the real power in Italy and to continue making laws that benefit their interests.

It appears Silvio Berlusconi and his allies in his coalition have gotten the message. Recently the treasury minister Giulio Tremonti, announced plans to create a new national bank with the sole purpose of distributing funds to the southern region. The Bank of the Mezzogiorno, as it will be known, will most likely accomplish the same dismal results, as is the case with all the projects and policies the national government undertakes to try and develop southern Italy. Creating a new government institution like the Bank of the Mezzogiorno will only further institutionalize the economic and social malaise in the Mezzogiorno. It is hard to believe that creating a new institution like the Bank of the Mezzogiorno will accomplish what has not happened since the end of the Risorgimento process and the reunification of Italy in 1861. The south accounts for a third of Italy’s population, half its unemployment and an immeasurable share of organized crime.

Since Berlusconi came back to power in 2008, he has passed legislation to protect his own interests and the interests of his friends. One of the first pieces of legislation his new government coalition passed was legislation making it harder to conduct wiretaps and collect information. This law greatly benefits all criminals as it weakens the power of the state and puts the advantage to the side of the criminal. In addition to the wiretap law last year, the Berlusconi government also recently passed a tax amnesty law that allows people who have sent their money out of the country, to bring it back into the country with only a 5 percent tax. This law greatly favors the mafia who send vast sums of money out of the country to reinvest it and to launder their money.

With the long history of corruption and mafia influence in the southern region, the recent decision to create another government institution to disperse funds in the south, is like an open checkbook for the various mafia clans in the Mezzogiorno. It also indicates that the balance of power in Italy still lies in the power of the mafia.

The continuing global realignment of wealth

As it was accurately predicted last year when the “global financial crisis” began, investors and other risk managers who were buying dollars in the months following the near implosion of the world financial system, have now begun to sell those dollars. In turn, the dollar is reverting to the decline it was experiencing prior to the near financial meltdown in the fall of 2008. Although most news reports try to stay balanced and sometimes downplay the decline of the US dollar in their reporting like a recent Bloomberg News story, the quicker more Americas realize the decline of the dollar and US economy will only continue, the quicker American political support can build for the needed changes to occur for Americans to accept their new standing in the international system.

The blog first started to report on the decline of the US dollar after reading the book, Bad Money The Global Crisis of American Capitalism by Kevin Phillips. Like most of the books related to the international affairs, this book provides an excellent source of material and allows the reader to step back and view the information from a more academic viewpoint. Mr. Phillips other book, American Theocracy, also spoke about the linkage of oil to the US dollar and the challenges American leaders will have in the next decade to remain the dominant global economy. These warnings were before the elite members in American society influenced political leaders to bail out their private financial institutions by increasing the already astronomical Federal Budget account deficit. Compounding the already precarious financial situation in America, the massive federal bailout by the U.S. Congress along with record low tax revenues have now helped to destabilize the dollar and increase the wealth transfer to commodity based economies such as China and India.

One of the reasons why more Americans do not realize the shift of wealth is occurring is the way the information about the global economy is presented to them in news reports. It is misleading for commentators to talk about a global recession when the Asian economies of China and India have continued to grow at an annual rate of over 7 percent annually through the financial crisis in America. A report by the English financial institution HSBC predicts that in 2010, China’s economy will grow by 9.5 and India’s economy will grow by 7.2 percent. This is in contrast to the 2.8 percent increase predicted for the United States, the 1.2 percent in Japan and 0.7 percent in the 16-nation Euro zone.

Just as in domestic American politics, the old saying holds true for the international system, Follow the Money. The news report that HSBC is relocating its group chief executive officer from London to Hong Kong further signals where the global financial institutions predict where the axis of global financial power will lie in the coming decades. It also signals that the renowned global financial institution predicts that the Chinese Yuan will become more of a more valuable currency in the international banking system gradually replacing the British pound and US dollar as global reserve currencies.

Literary Review- Into the Heart of the Mafia

David Lane’s latest book, Into the Heart of the Mafia, is an investigative account of the financial and political impact of the four main mafia groups in southern Italy. With the mafia controlling over 130 billion dollars of the economy or over 8 percent of the entire gross domestic product of the country, the book by Mr. Lane is a good starting point for readers who want to begin to understand the influence and power of the mafia in Italy. A long time financial correspondent for the Guardian and the Financial Times, since 1994, David Lane has been The Economist’s business and financial correspondent for Italy. Into the Heart of the Mafia follows David Lane’s well-received Berlusconi’s Shadow written in 2004.

Into the Heart of the Mafia investigates all the major mafias in Italy: Sicily’s Cosa Nostra, Calabria’s ‘Ndrangheta, Naples Camorra and the Sacra Corona Unita in the Apulian heel area of Italy. As opposed to breaking the book into chapters covering each mafia, Into the Heart of the Mafia follows the authors own personal journey through the south of Italy. The book is broken into chapters on cities and regions the author visited and explains which business the mafia has infiltrated or controls in that city or region. While most people may know of the involvement of the mafia in construction and garbage removal, readers may find it interesting to learn that the mafias in Italy have infiltrated academic institutions like the University of Messina in Sicily, corrupted dozens of town governments resulting in their dissolvent, and even bombed churches and killed priests when the Vatican and John Paul II tried to challenge its power shortly after the killings of Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone in 1993.

Scattered among the stories of mafia infiltration and intimidation in the Mezzogiorno, (southern Italy) Lane does a good job of including some stories about the long rich history the Italian peninsula has experienced over the millenniums as well as the describing the beautiful scenery the country is famous for. For any long term ex patriot like Lane who has lived in Italy for an extended period, the comparison/contrast technique is very effective in highlighting how such a beautiful country has a dark and sinister side, destroying it from within.

Although the book gives a detailed account into the financial impact the mafia has in Italy, the book does not expand enough on the various stories of mafia corruption and control of local and state politicians. Since the book was written in the last few years, readers who may not know the earlier history of the two magistrate’s Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone who were killed by the mafia and betrayed by politicians such as Giulio Andreotti may not appreciate the significance of the resurgence of the mafia in Italy.

The book by David Lane is however an excellent source for readers who want to learn more about the mafia and its inner workings. Due to his in depth knowledge of the Italian language and the contacts he has made over the last three decades while living in Italy, David Lane was able to interview people ranging from average Italians to some of the highest and most influential members of the Italian judiciary and law enforcement agencies battling the mafia in Italy. Into the Heart of the Mafia is a fine addition to the growing list of English language books on the mafia in Italy such as Alexander Stille’s Excellent Cadavers, Paul Ginborg’s Contemporary History of Italy, and John Dixie’s Cosa Nostra.

Unfortunately, due to the recent quick passage of a tax amnesty law in Italy by the Berlusconi coalition and the lack of opposition by the center left political parties, it appears the power of the mafia will only grow more powerful, giving more authors like Lane ample material for future books on the mafia in Italy.

The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize went to WHO and for WHAT?

The old saying about how a politician campaigns in black and white but when elected, governs in the grey, came true again recently when President Barack Obama decided to block the release of more prisoner abuse photos by the U.S. military. Although a federal appeals court ruled the prisoner abuse photos should be released, when candidate Barack Obama campaigned on the release of more photos associated with prisoner abuse by the U.S. military, he indicated he would not fight the release of the photographs sought for by the American Civil Liberties Union. In May of this year, he reversed that opinion and authorized the Department of Defense to begin an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court after a Federal Court of Appeal authorized the photos release under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The reversal by President Obama to authorize the release of prisoner abuse photos is a clear example of how Presidents, who derives their power from the national security state apparatus, will not challenge or try to reduce its power. The reversal and failure of President Obama to uphold his campaign promise to authorize the release of the prisoner abuse photos is just one more example why President Obama does not deserve the recent award for the Nobel Laureate for Peace and the continual influence of militarism in American foreign policy.

When the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded Mr. Obama the Peace Prize, it declared that Mr. Obama earned the award “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples". Giving the Nobel Committee the benefit of the doubt, as they may not know domestic American politics as well as some political analysts, Mr. Obama has strengthened international diplomacy and rolled back some of the damage George W. Bush and his boss Dick Cheney did over the last eight years. However, even the most superficial review of American foreign policy over the last eight months under the Obama administration will show that the United States is still following a foreign and domestic American policy based on militarism, supported by ever-growing military industrial complex and a national security state apparatus.

An example of the continued influence of militarism in American foreign affairs was the recent Obama administration decision to increase the size of American military forces in the South American country of Columbia. Although American troop deployments to Columbia will be relatively insignificant compared to Iraq and a most likely troop increase in Afghanistan, the increase indicates a continuing reliance on American leaders of using military force to pursue policy objectives.

The size and scope of the military industrial complex is one of the most important factors as why America, unlike the Norwegian citizens who awarded him the prize along with most every other advanced industrial nation, does not provide health care for its citizens. Instead of the federal government paying for doctors, building hospitals, and helping Americans have access to health care, it is spending nearly one trillion dollars a year on a military who’s sole purpose is to conduct war and keep America as the dominate superpower in the world. For every dollar spent on a foreign military base or a weapons system, the U.S. military does not want or need, is less money for a child in poverty or a person seeking health care. If Obama and his administration was truly deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize, than he would propose cutting the military budget by a third and reduce the amount of military bases around the world. The power projection of the United States and its continual pursuit of the Bush Doctrine will only cause other countries like China, Russia, and Iran to increase the size of their own militaries and build more weapons to match those pointed at them. All of these expenditures on arms and soldiers are less money available to fight diseases like cancer, malaria, and other preventable diseases.

While it is impossible to know the real reason why the five-member committee (4 female, 1 male) gave the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama, most world public opinion seems to be questioning the decision of the committee. In the coming weeks, these critics will either be justified or silenced when Nobel Peace Laureate Barack Obama makes on the conflict in Afghanistan. Will Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Obama seek diplomacy with the Taliban and in the process challenge the internal political power of the national security state, or will he bow to this pressure and escalate the war further with more loss of American lives and innocent Afghani civilians.

The protest against Berlusconi's influence and control of the media in Italy

The first week in October has not been a good week for Silvio Berlusconi. Starting with a mass demonstration in Rome against the legal lawsuits Silvio Berlusconi has launched against two newspapers that are critical of him and one of the few publications he does not own or have friends that control, two critical court hearings did not go in his favor. While one of the court rulings dealt with his financial empire, the second ruling dealt a serious blow to his political capital and standing as the leader of his political party. Always relishing the opportunity to practice the art of photojournalism and political analysis, the blog is posting its own photos of the recent political happenings in Rome, Italy.

Held in Piazza del Popolo (Piazza of the People), the protest against the freedom of the press in Italy was hijacked by the opposition political party and turned into a center left demonstration. It was disappointing to see all the PD (Partico Democratica) banners and some CGIL (labor union) banners, as the protest should have been free of all political parties. Although I had a small poster made up that listed where Italy ranks for democracy and press freedom and how it is the only western European country that is considered a partial free country when it comes to press freedom, with the piazza over flowing with people and unable to walk around, I ditched my poster and stuck to photographing the event.

Some Italians who are fed up with Berlusconi.

Another view of the piazza.

Protestor wearing a mask with his lips wired shut.

Just after the picture was taken, the photographer got a face load of that red smoke when the wind changed direction.

Mark your calendars- 2016 is going to be a year to remember

Recently a well respected journalist from the British newspaper, The Independent, reported that a meeting was held by members of several oil producing countries along with China and Japan to begin the process of ending dollar dealings for oil. Although the report was most likely under reported in the American 24 hour news media and downplayed by American officials, the report embodies the biggest threat to the American economy and a threat to the standard of living for most Americans. In addition to the domestic strife the devaluation of the dollar will cause such as high interest rates and difficulty financing the debt, international agencies such as the United Nations World Food Program and other UN agencies that operate on the US dollar would be greatly undermined in their already pathetic attempts to try and mitigate poverty and famine in developing countries. For such a short word, oil appears to contain some of the worst challenges the United States will face in its quest to maintain the hegemony of the dollar as the dominant global reserve currency and its standing as the sole global superpower.

The report by Robert Fisk, of The Independent, has some legitimacy with recent reports in the international press of the resurgence of the value of gold. One recent report in Bloomberg News, estimated that gold could be valued as mush as $1,500 to $ 2,000 an ounce over the next decade. Considering that gold has increased over 25 percent since the start of the “global Financial Crisis” which is also considered as the end of the 25 year cycle of financialization period in the U.S. economy, the role gold will play in a post dollar global currency world is significant.

It should be remembered that the global post World War II international financial system was based on the Bretton Woods system where nations could only enforce gold convertibility on the anchor currency—the United States’ dollar. When the Nixon administration took the U.S. dollar off the convertibility from gold, also known as the gold standard, it entered into an agreement with the largest oil exporting country of Saudi Arabia to price and sell its oil in dollars. This agreement put the United States on a de facto oil standard and was a mutual benefit to both countries. The United States would provide military protection to Saudi Arabia in return for that country and other Gulf producing countries to recycle their profits from oil by investing in U.S. government bonds and other assets.

Although some media outlets like the politics centered Politico followed up on the story by asking who would try and undermine the dollar, the story by Politico did not connect the relationship of the price of oil to the dollar. As Kevin Phillips pointed out in his book Bad Money, there is a continuing move away from the dollar from oil exporting countries. Iran recently demanded its oil be paid for in euros while Kuwaiti officials de-pegged their currency from the dollar, and Venezuela is aggressively do the same.

At the same time, Robert Fisk was reporting on a move away from the dollar, another story related to the future trouble the U.S. dollar will have as the global reserve currency was a report by the UK Energy Research Center. In this report, the British government funded think tank declared that by the year 2020 the demand for oil would surpass the supply of oil. Although the issue of peak oil is a contentious issue, the report, a review of over 500 studies, analysis of industry databases and comparison of global supply forecasts, had a goal to bring some clarity to the debate. As Kevin Phillips explained in his book, a country that is an oil exporting country will want to get the most for its resource and if oil is still priced in a devalued dollar, the oil exporting country will face domestic pressure to get more for their valuable natural resource.

The report by the UK Energy Research Center wrote that the issue of peak oil is difficult to accurately report due to the "inconsistent definitions" some countries use in classifying the available supply of energy in the world. The chapter Peak Oil in Bad Money also described this and how the United States Department of Energy now uses the term liquids in describing the amount of energy in the future. The Department of Energy now includes liquids from tar sands, oil shale, biofuels,coal to liquids, and gas to liquids in their future energy forecasts. Until more cars and airplanes run off of liquefied natural gas, it probably is not a good idea to take too much comfort in those forecasts.

While the problem of peak oil seemed like something in the distant future to the leaders like Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Dick Cheney and other Nixon and Ford administration officials to worry about, one future political leader did identify the risk in 1979. As Jimmy Carter in his now well-known malaise speech tried to warn the American people of the risk of relying on imported oil, Ronnie Reagan told the American people they would not have to sacrifice or diminish their lifestyles. Seems like America is now going to have to take the medicine it has been avoiding for the last thirty years. Let us hope there are some more intelligent and honest leaders like Jimmy Carter in America in the next few years. America is going to need them.

With the Internet, anyone can be a writer, editor, and publisher in little as five minutes.

No other time in history since the era of the spoken word can information be shared so easily and quickly. Moreover, unlike the older, one way mediums of communication like television, radio, and newspapers, bloggers do not have to wait for or ask for permission before they can publish their ideas and practice their right of free speech. The Internet and the power of bloggers however has become known to the status quo forces who have successfully managed and controlled information since the creation of the printing press. From secular rulers like the King and Queen in England in 1557 to Charles IX in France in 1563, and the Catholic Church and its Index Librorum Prohibitorum, which identified a list of books to be banned due to their heretical or ideologically dangerous content, the status quo has a long history of censorship and trying to control the sharing of information and opinions. While political leaders and governments in the modern era know that can’t banish people from speaking to one other, or creating a list of banned books, the status quo is still trying limit the sharing of information and ideas with any legislation that tries to limit access to the Internet. Although the government may try to justify legislation it may pass regulating the Internet in a number of ways, any legislation that attempts to ban or limit people from accessing and publishing on the Internet is censorship.

Rick Falkvinge, founder and leader of the Swedish political party, The Pirate Party, recently gave a video presentation to a gathering of Beppe Grillo supporters in Milan when Mr. Grill launched his National Liberation Movement. The purpose of the speech was to support the grass roots movement and social mobilization efforts of Beppe Grillo and to tell the audience that they do not need or have to wait for the permission of anyone to publish their ideas. Bloggers and social activists in the 21st century do not have to depend on the old mediums of television and newspapers to spread their ideas, information, and opinions. Mr. Falkvinge discussed how his party achieved their recent victory in the June European Union Parliamentary elections by not depending on the old medium, not needing the old medium, and did not use old mediums of television and newspapers. Now his political party has a seat in the European Parliament and is one of 27 members determining the outcome of a new telecommunications package for the EU.

Similar to the efforts of Beppe Grillo in Italy, the use of the Internet and the young segment of the population that uses the Internet for file sharing and communication is one of the largest demographic groups that will threaten the power of the status quo in the future. In recent national elections in Germany, the German Pirate Party increased its share from the European Union Parliament elections vote of 0.9 percent in June to just fewer than 3 percent of the total vote. In some German cities, it was estimated that over 13 percent of first time male voters voted for the German Pirate Party.

Over the centuries, the status quo has attempted to use various techniques to limit the access and sharing of information. Never before in history though has the sharing of information become a two way medium.The Internet has become the great equalizer in response to the status quo and one of the most powerful tools for the advancement of democracy.

Please post a comment and share your thoughts and opinions on this matter for a two way exchange of ideas and opinions.

The richest country in the world does not have the best living standards

Just think what 220 billion dollars could have done for the quality of life for average hard working Americans over the last 8 eight years instead of being wasted in Afghanistan.

If congressional leaders were not corrupted by the military industrial complex and more Americans were an engaged and aware citizenry as Dwight D Eisenhower urged Americans to be in his farewell speech to Congress in 1961, than perhaps the citizens living in the richest country in the world would also have the best standard of living in the world. In a recent United Nations report surveying all the countries in the world living standards, the perpetual war and the continuing four percent annual increases in military spending by the United States, has led the United States to continue to decline in the annual ranking and does not even list among the 10 best countries to live in. Since the war on terror began in 2001 and the subsequent war and military occupation of Iraq, America has slipped over ten percent in the annual human development index. It is frightening how ignorant most Americans are at the economic power and wealth their country has, but at the same time, at how lower their overall standard of living is compared to other countries.

Although most of the countries that rank higher in the Human Development Index have a much smaller population than the United States, the defense umbrella and other economics benefits the huge military expenditures by the United States is an important factor why America ranks only 13th in the ranking. Even the densely populated country and former World War II enemy Japan ranks higher in the human development rankings. This is in addition to the fact that the world’s second largest economy has been suffering through a decade of stagflation and slow economic growth.

According the ranking, the country with the best living conditions is the Scandinavian country of Norway. Helped by a relatively small population of only five million people, combined with an abundance of energy resources such as oil and natural gas, the people of Norway also live in one of the most democratic countries in the world. Further contributing to Norway holding the top ranking in the report has been the ability of the socialist government to continue to provide the generous social benefits the government provides due in large part from its massive sovereign wealth fund, which is the second largest in the world at approximately 330 billion dollars.

Just after the invasion of Iraq, American leaders under the influence of neoconservatives like Irving Kristol, Max Boot, and Richard Pearl, began to declare that America was indeed the New Rome. People like Irving Kristol asked what was the point of having the world’s most powerful military if it was not going to be used for imperial purposes. Although the analogy to Rome was correct in terms of military power during its zenith of power, American citizens, unlike Roman citizens at that time, do not have the best quality of life, nor is America’s infrastructure the most advanced in the world.

The National Liberation Movement- Energy

As an idealist, Mr. Grillo has many ideas for the efficient use of preexisting technologies and the development of future sources of energy such as biogas obtained from the anaerobic fermentation of organic waste. Don’t feel bad, before I wrote this blog entry, I did not know what biomass from anaerobic fermentation was either, but that is what is so great about the Internet and blogs like Beppe Grillo’s, you learn something.

Many of the proposals are pragmatic and in some cases only include applying existing regulations that the Italian government and European Union Commission has enacted in recent years. Other ideas are very radical such as the biomass from anaerobic fermentation, but most of the ideas are practical and very achievable. The problem in Italy, like the United States political system, is that the interests of the few usually get addressed before the needs of the many. But as Mr. Grillo always says when he finishes a blog entry, They (the establishment) may never give up, but neither will we.

Here are some of the ideas and platform issues Mr. Grillo and his supporters have on the very important issue of energy.

- the immediate application of the regulations as envisaged in Law 10/91 and stipulated in European Union Directive 76/93 regarding the energy consumption certification of buildings.

- a reduction of at least 10 percent in the energy consumption of all public buildings over a period of five years, with monetary fines being imposed for non-compliance

- the establishment of regulations regarding consumption-based payment for heating energy in apartment buildings, as envisaged in European Union Directive 76/93, which has already been applied in other European Countries.

- the upgrading of existing thermo-electric power stations while reducing their environmental impact;

- the provision of incentives for the widespread production of electricity by means of technologies that make the most efficient use of fossil fuels, such as the widespread co-generation of electricity and heating energy, beginning with the more energy guzzling buildings, such as hospitals, shopping malls, industries utilizing processes that make use of heat energy, sports complexes, etc;

- the expansion of the possibility for micro-generation plants with a total generating capacity of less than 20 kW to sell and to feed excess electricity back to the power grid;

- the provision of incentives for the widespread production of electricity and the extension of the energy account regulations to include electricity from renewable sources and other micro-generation facilities, limiting this to the kW fed into the grid at peak times and excluding the kW fed into the grid during off-peak periods;

- the strict application of the regulations contemplated in the decrees relating to energy efficiency certificates and also taking into account the incentives for the production of electricity from the applicable renewable sources;

- the elimination of the incentives linked to the burning of refuse as included in the CIP6 arrangements and including this amongst the renewable sources without and technical-scientific foundation;

- the legalization and encouragement of the production of biofuels, subject to the crops being grown for this purpose increasing the organic content of the soil;

- the encouragement of widespread production of heating energy from renewable sources, virgin biomass in particular, in small plants designed for self-sufficiency, including strict controls to ensure that the wood is obtained from differentiated refuse collection and excluding any incentives for long distance distribution of heating energy due to the inherent inefficiency and environmental impact;

- the provision of incentives to encourage the production of biogas obtained from the anaerobic fermentation of organic waste.

The National Liberation Movement – The State and the Citizens

When Beppe Grillo launched his first V Day in Bologna in 2007, he was protesting against the low ethical standards Italian politicians were dropping to and that any politician that was convicted of a crime, not to be allowed to serve in Parliament. Sounds like a reasonable cause for a protest, right?

Well if you did not know, here in Italy, many times a citizen in Italy will go into politics or in most times be “asked” by a leader of a political party to run on their ticket, and the party would then allocate a seat in Parliament to the person in question. Most of the time when this happens, the person being asked to run on the Party list, has some sort of legal trouble. While you would think that people being selected and asked to work in an institution that creates laws, would be of the highest moral and ethical standing, than you do not know Italian politics very well.

Contemporary Italian history is littered with the scores of examples of people who have avoided taxes, been convicted at the first level for a number of moderate offences, and even men known to be under investigation for ties to the mafia. This includes the most powerful figure in the Italian First Republic Onerevole Giulio Andreotti, who has fought charges of his involvement with the mafia and the murder of a journalist known to use extortion on political figures for financial gain.


Here is what Mr. Grillo has to say about his “elected” officials in Parliament and some of the ideas he and his supporters have come up to address these defects in Italian democracy.

The current organization of the State is bureaucratic, overblown, costly and inefficient. Parliament no longer represents the citizens who cannot choose their candidate, but just the symbol of the party. The Constitution is not applied. The parties have put themselves in place of the will of the people and have removed themselves from being controlled and judged by them.

- Abolition of the provinces

- Grouping together of towns below 5000 inhabitants

- Teaching about the Constitution and obligatory exam for every public representative

- Reduction to two terms of office for every public representative and for any other public office

- Elimination of every special privilege for the parliamentarians, among these the right to a pension after two and a half years

- Prohibition on parliamentarians to exercise another profession while they are carrying out their term of office

- The salary of a parliamentarian in line with the average of national salaries

- Prohibition on accumulating positions for parliamentarians (example: Mayor and Deputy)

- No eligibility to hold public office for those citizens who have been convicted

- Direct participation at every public meeting by the citizens via the Web as already happens for the Lower and Upper Houses

- Abolition of the “Authorities” and at the same time the introduction of a true class action

- Referendum that can be used to propose or repeal and without the need for a quorum

- Obligation to discuss in parliament and to have a poll by name for popular initiative laws

- Approval of every law that is subordinate to the effective financial cover

- Laws made public online at least three months before their approval so as to receive comments from the citizens