IDIOTS XI : WORK MORE TO EARN MORE

This was the (in)famous slogan of Sarkozy, now almost forgotten..

In France may-be but not in Switzerland. Last fall in fact a Swiss Tribunal condemned a woman because they felt that she did not work enough to earn what it considered necessary for her to decently maintain her kids.

Work more they ordered.

Her profession? prostitute.

What wouldn’t the Swiss do for money ?


Photo: http://www.usawrestlinggear.com

Once upon a time there was the GRANDEUR de la France

We all know that US made statistics are the most US centric ones in the World. Made by Americans with a limited knowledge of the real world, i.e. the rest of the world. But they can be used as indicators.

Forbes just issued its first ranking of the World’s 67 most powerful persons ( http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/11/worlds-most-powerful-leadership-power-09-people_land.html ). To prepare the ranking, they considered four points:

- “do they have influence over lots of other people ?
- do they control relatively large resources as compared with their peers ?
- are they powerful in multiple spheres ?
- do they actively use their power ?”

And poor Sarkozy must have had a fit: he is only 56th. Where is the Grandeur de la France gone ? Is Sarkozy so low because France lost its grandeur or is France that lost its grandeur due to Sarkozy ? Probably both.

He must be even more frustrated because Berlusconi, his rival, is 12th…This shows the weakness of the ranking since Berlusconi has literally no influence on the international scene. Even Forbes refers to “.Colorful private life, bribery allegations, Cabinet member picks have caused him to be depicted as Europe's buffoon. Unfazed: Calls himself "the Jesus Christ of Italian politics." But money wise, he is certainly first between the two. In the ranking, he precedes Angela Merkel, 15th. But she is far above Berlusca in terms of influence in the world.

Interesting enough, there is only a handful of women among the 67….another weakness in the ranking, but possibly also in the way the world is run. And, rightly so, all before Sarkozy.

Definitely, this is not a happy year for him.

PETIT MALIN GROS MENTEUR

Last Sunday, just before President Nicola the First (alias Sarkozy) left to attend the Berlin ceremonies for the 2oth anniversary of the fall of the Wall, he had a note published on his Facebook profile relating to his travel to that city on 9 November 1989.

Either he was a magician and knew what nobody knew when he allegedly left Paris for Berlin, or there was something funny in the story.

And in fact it was a bluff: he never went to Berlin on that day, but one week later ( see http://decodeurs.blog.lemonde.fr/2009/11/09/sarkozy-etait-il-a-berlin-le-9-novembre-1989/ ). But you found people who until the whole lie was revealed, supported what Sarko had declared.

A President who claims to be transparent and lies about his past. A good example for the young generations. But he must have thought: if Berlusconi with all his lies still gets 48% support, why shouldn’t I lie also ?

Two little men, two big liars.

Exceptionally Bright Children

We were so pleased to learn that it is not only in Africa where politicians have exceptionally bright children.

Over the past few months we were rewarded by the election of Omar Bongo’s son to succeed his father. And we admired how strongly Colonel el-Gaddafi protects his son Hannibal, arrested by the Swiss authorities (and released very fast). And we learned that the two sons of Tunisian President Ben Ali lead a gang of people stealing luxury yachts in the Mediterranean Sea (thieves like the father ?).

Yesterday we learned that also Mr. Bossi, right wing Italian politician of the Lega Nord known for his slogan “Roma ladrona” (Rome is only robbery) had a brilliant son, Renzo. He was already famous for failing three times his high school diploma (he eventually got it in 2009 at age 21). Now we learn that he will assist a European MP, of the Lega Nord, and that he also became a member of the “observatory” for the Universal Exhibition to be held in Milan in 2015, all this for the low compensation of 12,000€ per month.

But we also learned that Mr. Jean Sarkozy, the 23 year old son of the more famous French President, who just enrolled in the third year of college, will become the CEO of the EPAD, a public entity responsible for the management of La Defense, a prime commercial and residential area of Paris with an annual budget of 1 billion € (1.5 billion $).

Brilliant fathers, brilliant sons. Two new dynasties are born.

Pictures: 7sur7.be ;nuovosoldo.wordpress.com

Idiots X : French censure

The camera of a public service television captures a French Minister, and not a little one, that of Interior, very close to Sarkozy, and quite obnoxious like his president, making a derogatory comment about North-African immigrants.

The movie is shown by Le Monde. And a political uproar ensues. And what happens ?

More than one million hits on the net to see the sequence.
The opposition calling for the Minister’s, Brice Hortefeux, resignation.
His party defending him stating that the images had been cut and put together just to embarrass him.
His party stating that the images had been taken with a portable phone, thus taken illegally in a sense.

But when the public TV shows the entire sequence and such line of defence cannot stand any longer, what happens ?

Mr Copé, the President’s party leader at the French House, staets that the Internet is a “danger for democracy”. Funny for someone who has his own website that includes videos. In other words, Internet is a danger when it is not controlled by the President friends….He added on a separate occasion that there is the need to debate “the role that we are going to leave to Internet in the area of information”.

Another (in)famous friend of and special advisor of Sarkozy, a certain Guaino, states that the “absolute transparency (of the internet) is the beginning of totalitarism”, nothing less.

As Le Monde dated 14/9/09 points out these statements are in line with a position taken by Sakozy, well known for the way he appreciates criticism, since 2007. He can ask (and obtain from) his friends who own TVs and newspapers to stop the publication of information (or the firing of journalists, like the Director of Paris Match, a few years ago, for publishing embarrassing pictures !) but he cannot do anything against the WEB.

How jealous he and his servants must be of the Chinese leaders, and even of the little Tunisian president, for their control of the net ….

Funnily enough, Sarko and his friends look more and more like El Berlusca and his friends: what matters is not whether an information is true or not, what matters is what information one lets it through. This is the real danger for democracy. Once again Sarko and El Berlusca look alike: little (not only physically) dictators.

Photo: bonaberi.com

Switzerland : what is that ?

According to the very serious Swiss diplomatic circles, Colonel al-Gaddafi will propose at the next UN General Assembly to dismantle Switzerland and split it among Italy, France and Germany. All this because his son Hannibal and his wife had been arrested by the Geneva Police (whose diplomatic tact is the exact opposite of that of the Swiss Foreign Ministry).

Indeed Sarko and Berlusca have been very nice to the Colonel. What will he ask Germany in exchange ?

And if the arrest of his son calls for the wiping out of a country, what should happen to a country whose leader is responsible for the killing of hundreds of innocent people in two airline bombings ?

But al-Gaddafi has oil, Switzerland had only the secret bank accounts which are being dismantled. And it is not even an EU member (and only a recent UN member).


Photo: http://www.toonpool.com/user/609/files/muammar_al-gaddafi_59935.jpg

The only world leader

If you think at political success on the international scene as an indicator of power, then there is only one “leader” who seems to be consistently obtaining results: Muammar al-Gaddafi.

Under GW2, he was re-established as a dignified leader people could talk to (and do business openly instead than under cover as they all did, including US firms).

Sarkozy sent his former wife (current wife at that time) to get the liberation of the Bulgarian nurses who were being detained as hostages and for a cover-up of the poor conditions of the health system in Libya.

The UK released the only person condemned for Lockerbie and the latter was received as an hero.

During his entire recent official visit to Italy, he exhibited on his vest a picture of the arrest by Italian troops in 1931 of the first Libyan hero, the guerrilla leader Omar al Mukhtar, but this provocation was found acceptable by Berlusconi who had recently signed a friendship agreement with the Colonel.
And, last but not least, just last week the Swiss apologized for the arrest last year in Geneva of Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife for mistreating (in fact holding like slaves) their house employees from Morocco. A well justified arrest but unless the Swiss apologized, two poor Swiss Nationals kept innocent hostages in Libya since one year would not have been released.

How many world leaders can show so much success ? how low is the morale level of Western democracies (let us forget Berlusconi’s Italy of course where there is no morale as a matter of principle) just for a few barrels of oil ? Gaddafi is an assassin (Lockerbie and the DC10 over the Sahara among others), hostage taker, heading a bunch of crooks (Hannibal, his sister, his other brother, all well known by the European police authorities for their excesses and arrogance) but world leaders bow in front of him.

Let us stop pretending that Human Rights are a priority, and feel ashamed.

Photo: (Alessandro di Meo/EPA)

Berlusconi and al-Gaddafi

Indeed Berlusconi is very special even in the choice of his friends: GW, Putin, al-Gaddafi, escorts, well known Mafia members,....

Quite lonely in his choices, and possibly alone among the western "civilized" (but can Berlusconi's Italy still be called so ?) he will be in Libya for the 40th anniversary of the ascent to power of the Colonel.

Definitely, he will never learn from his other friend Sarkozy: had he followed the latter's example, instead of going to Tripoli he would have sent Noemi, his young friend, or one of his usual escorts. Sarko managed to get the Bulgarian nurses released by sending his former wife Cecilia, Berlusconi could have got some oil in exchange for Noemi.

Photo : nndb.com

Gay and homeless: every country has its internal enemy

Last week we saw how the power deals with defenceless minorities :

In India, New Delhi’s beggars are arrested and condemned to one year imprisonment far from the city. The millions of foreign visitors expected next year should not see the reality but only dream at India’s progress;

In Paris, armed police forces violently displaced homeless people living in tents on the Seine river: how could Sarkozy who promised to get growth with his teeth if necessary, allow all foreign tourists and, even worse, the French people, realize that the growth is not there and thatFrance entered officially in a recession phase ?

In Moscow, heavily armed police forces hit and arrested gays demonstrating on the International day against homophobia for their rights while Orthodox Christians were demonstrating against those sinners. How could Putin, who is often seen showing his mussels, allow a handful of people attempt to undermine the Russians’ morale ? The Nazis were right in executing them !

Three sad cases of violence by those who have the power and do not accept that people may be different or poor. We are only one step from dictatorships (but in Russia we have been there for long time already). Intolerance gets globalised too.


Photos: www.daylife.com/photo/0eswd7L91TfAH ; www.rferl.org/content/Article/1076484.html

SARKOZY'S THE FIRST (AND UNIQUE)

Last summer, proud of himself: president Sarkozy made quite a statement: “even if there is a strike in France, nobody hears it.”

In January, he went to the North of France to meet the teaching staff and promulgate his policy. Just to contradict him, about 3,000 people demonstrated against him. And he heard them…..

Conclusion? Like a little African despot, Sarko the First fired the Government representative (the “préfet” quite an important person) and the well rated and esteemed chief of Police. Not a new thing: last summer too he fired a very well rated antiterrorist chief of Police in Corsica because some demonstrators had dared to walk on and occupy for a couple of hours the lawn of the villa of one of his friends….making no damage.

The interest of the people, having good police chiefs, comes after Sarko’s little petty interests.

We are waiting to see how many people he will fire after the demonstrations of last week when more than two million people marched through the streets of France: he cannot say that he did not hear them !

Picture : http://hiram7.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/chirac-sarkozy.jpg

Obama 1: let's get real

(this is the first of a series of articles I will devote to Obama’s election)

So Obama is President since two days.

He decided to close Guantanamo.
He decided to stop torture.
He decided to respect the Geneva Convention.
He called the President of the Palestinian authority before calling Olmert
He is concerned about peace in the Middle East.

And everybody is excited.

But why ? What did he do special ? Isn’t it normal what he did ?

He simply decided to respect the American Constitution and the International law.
He simply decided that it was time for America to be a “normal civilized state” as it used to make people believe it was..

So why are all people excited ? Simply because we got so used to crooks, idiots, dishonest politicians such as GW, Berlusconi, Sarkozy and even Blair.

I welcome the initiatives of Obama. But this does not mean that he is special. He is simply normal. And we, over the last years, we had lost the concept of normality.

Good start Obama, but it is not enough. Let us wait and see the next steps


Photo: freedomlibertadiparola.blogspot.com

IDIOTS VI

Italy is sinking into the worst crisis since WW2 and the Prime Minister Berlusconi, the richest man in Italy, says that one should remain optimistic: “the GDP is just going to be that of two years ago and we were not doing so bad then” (19 January 08)

Obama is being sworn in as US President and Sarkozy, jealous of the fact that people and the media talk only about the latter, says: “Obama and I will change the world”. I am sure Obama will appreciate….as he did Berlusconi’s comment about the color of his skin !

The Fourth Punic war

The other day, Libya did forbid Swiss airlines to land on its sacred land. Why so? Hannibal of course. The Fourth Punic War is ongoing since Hannibal Gaddafi (and his wife) was arrested in Geneva for holding two housekeepers almost as prisoners. To the point that the workers of the hotel they were staying did call the Police.

Instead of being ashamed, the Gaddafi family started complaining about the Swiss authorities and even held two Swiss citizens hostage in prison. Now the retaliation against the Swiss planes (which by the way have only the name Swiss but belong to Lufthansa! but can you ask the Libyans to know all this?

If you think that recently the USA suspended all sanctions against Libya (but Americans were the most active for Libyan oil, still...), that the EU started negotiating with it again, that Sarkozy and Berlusconi, always them, made official visits to Libya and that Sarkozy received him with full honors in Paris in December 2007.

All this for a few barrels of oil. And they forget that Gaddafi, and his clique, is a killer (at least two civilian planes destroyed with hundreds of innocent victims, over Sahara and at Lockerbie), a hostage taker (the Bulgarian nurses), a slaves trader (all the illegal immigrants landing on Sicilian coast arrive from Libya).

Is there any morale left in international politics? If ever any existed in fact.

So all these fancy Western leaders accept passively the Fourth Punic was for a new Hannibal. And although once again Gaddafi shows his real face, nobody does anything to kick him out for good. But the US continue to boycott Cuba, the US, the EU and the UN Secretary-General call for free elections in Guinea, and the G77 supports Libya at the Commission on human rights (not applicable indeed to house workers of the Gaddafi's family).

Hannibal, the real, lost in the end. Let us hope that the history will repeat itself.


Photo : www.copts.com

Employment: Berlusconi vs Sarkozy

One of the main points, and most debated, of Sarkozy’s program was “work more to earn more”. In other words, destroy the Socialist approved 35 hours work week and deregulate the work hours more or less as in the USA. A real social progress ! But his plans in this area are not really moving ahead.

Berlusconi’s government just launched the idea of “work less and earn less” to increase employment. during this crisis time.

The French socialists had tried the “work less to earn the same” but the assessment of that law is so confused that one could not really make sense of the real impact of the law.

One thing is common for both Sarkozy and Berlusconi: they favor their friends, the industrialists, over the real people. And whatever their scheme is (work more or less or the same), the workers will pay and their friends will gain.

Nothing will change in spite of the crisis.

Carla's nationalities

So, we learn that the famous political analyst Carla Bruni Sarkozy declares that sometimes she is happy to have taken the French nationality. i.e. not to be any longer Italian.

She declared so asked by a French newspaper what she thought of the latest Berlusconi’s statement about Obama’s suntan.

Funny: many people would have thought the contrary: that she would have regretted by now to have lost the Italian nationality, ashamed by the behaviour of her husband Sarkozy.

Now we are left with a main question: when she will finally get wise again and be ashamed of Sarko, which nationality will she opt for since she is left with the French only ? may-be that of her next husband ?

Photo: www.blurt-online.com

"fuck off, asshole"

An activist, jobless, had a poster with that presidential say written on it. This is how President Sarkozy addressed a guy who refused to shake hand with him at the Paris agricultural fair ("casse-toi pauvre con").

The guy did not sue Sarko for his insults.

A few months later, a trade-unionist, jobless, had a poster with such Presidential sentence written on it. He showed it last August during a Presidential visit in Northern France.

The Public prosecutor, who in France reports to the Ministry of Justice, took the poor guy to court. The court "condemned him yesterday” at 30€ ( 38$) with probe for "offending the head of State". Sarko is probably unhappy about such leniency.

It also shows that under Sarko's regime, the "égalité" does not apply any longer to all citizen: Sarko can say it to a simple citizen but a citizen cannot say it to Sarko. All assholes are equal but some are more equal than others.

An advice to sarko: next time, sue the guy who quotes you for infringing intellectual property. You may get the guy condemned to a bigger fine, may-be even imprisonement, than for just insulting you with your own words. Too many people share the guy's point of view about you.....

CROOKS

Colonel Gaddafi was clearly responsible for the bombing of a civilian plane, possibly two. He paid some money without admitting his guilt and all the Oil thirsty countries decided that he was again a good guy. With hundreds of innocent civilian lives lost because of him. Americans closed their eyes, oil is too important. Sarkozy received him as a guest of honor. Berlusconi kissed him and declared that he was a democrat. Are these the countries claiming observance of human rights ?

Colonel Gaddafi retained as hostages innocent nurses and doctors just to hide the Libyan responsibilities in disease spreading, AIDS in particular. Sarkozy sent his former wife who managed to get them freed after years on unjust imprisonment. It is not known what he paid…

Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Hannibal (!) was treating two house employees as slaves to the point that Swiss workers denounced him and his wife and hid the hose workers. Instead of being ashamed, Libya arrested two Swiss nationals, organized demonstrations against Switzerland in Libya and Hannibal sister issued threats. Every day hundreds of poor Africans and Arabs die in the Mediterranean sea due to Libyan illegal immigrants traders. Everybody knows that they come from Libya, Libya does not respect the agreements with Europe in this respect but nobody does anything. Gaddafi’s hands are full of the blood of these poor people. This is Libya, this is Gaddafi, this is a crook people honor because of his oil.

And now Berlusconi travels to Libya to pay the war damages…..:5 billion dollars when there is no money in Italy for the police and for the schools. Italy will pay the damages of fascist war while in Sicily they honor generals of the same war ( see next article). And tomorrow we will hear Berlusconi claim that Gaddafi is a great man, as he did of Putin two years ago. “Dio li fa e poi li accoppia”, God makes them and puts them together. Berlusconi, Gaddafi, Putin….Who’s next ?

photo: repubblica.it 30 Sept 08

Ethics French style

When he was elected President of France, many people wrote that Sarkozy was trying to imitate Berlusconi. AS people say in Italy “Dio li fa e poi li accoppia” (God makes them then marries them).

Even before becoming President, Sarkozy imitated Berlusconi concerning the Press. But, not being rich like Berlusconi, who controls private and public TV (the latter being the Prime Minister) he acted using his friends who own Newspapers, TV stations and Magazines.

So he managed to get fired the Director of the “best” (if this is ever possible) people magazine in France, Paris Match, because the magazine had published a picture of him with his girl-friend (his wife had just left him for a man she recently married, after a short come back with the President).

Now he is after the Public Television. Using the excuse that Public Television must educate the masses, he decided to suppress publicity. The end result ? : a new tax (not bad for a liberal…) on internet and cellular companies broadcasting TV programs as well on the income made by private TV stations on publicity. And cuts in programming and production of Public TV to compensate for the financial loss that will not be covered by the new taxes: quality is priceless, i.e. you can make it cheap. And of course now all TV ads will be on the private TV channels that will have even more money to produce the trash people love. Needless to say, private TV stations belong to Sarkozy’s friends , those same who lend him yachts and private jets for his vacations…..

Icing on the cake, he also introduced a new way for nominating the Head of Public Television: it will be he himself….(with a mechanism still confused by which a Commission, nominated b y the Government, thus by him) will have to give its consent.

Ethics French and Italian style, a real SarkBerlusconi

Picture: www.repubblica.it

Burma and the Bejing Olympics

Big debate these days as to whether the Olympic games should be boycotted or not. Only Ms Merkel so far stated, to my knowledge, that she will not attend the opening ceremony. Sarkozy is playing his games: he wants to go, he needs to go for economic reasons (and possibly also promised it to his wife….) but he was also elected on a program placing human rights at the top. So far he did not deliver in this area either.

To my recollection, President Bush stated that he would attend the opening ceremony: guess what, he wants to offer his smiling wife a last gorgeous trip before retirement in "bloody" Texas.

The Department of State publishes every year the report on human rights where the only country missing is the US ! This is called Transparency. And possibly Mr. Bush's cabinet does not read that report which sounds more as another window dressing excuse to hide the fact that the USA are far behind in this area.

Now we are facing the scandal in Burma, where the military regime does not allow relief workers and food etc. to come in. If ever there has been one, this is a situation which justifies a foreign intervention. But China will block it, and possibly also Russia and some other “freedom” lover countries in the UN Security Council such as Libya and Vietnam.

Is then China going to help Burma on its own ? China is the main ally (and more) of the military regime there. China is supporting Norh Korea, a regime starving its people. China supports Sudan in its war in Darfur. China sends arms to Mugabe to crash the democracy.

But President Bush, the defender of Human Rights, will go to Bejing for the Olympics...And possibly Berlusconi, and Sarkozy and plenty of other Heads of State and Government.

Trade is worth more than hundreds of thousand of lives. Thanks to Trade and Liberalism, people get the human right to die like animals while the Heads of State get fed by China and enjoy games.

God bless China and the US for their fight for Human Rights.

Pictures: Burma =Reuters for Repubblica, 9/5/08; Stadium = Official Bejing web site