By GottaLaff
This came to me via an e-mail from a friend. I have no link, and hope you haven't seen it yet.
Heads up (pun intended):
Apparently they didn't consider the sun when designing this wall...(Answer below)
Anyone want to take a guess where this wall is located?
By GottaLaff
Wow, the bloody facial cuts are a pretty shocking:
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was hit in the face and knocked to the ground after a political rally in Milan, according to the BBC.Here is the Italian version:
Reports suggested he had either been punched or hit with an object.
He was taken to a hospital in Milan after the attack. The Italian news agency Ansa said he was to stay under observation for 24 hours, but there was no immediate report on the extent of his injuries.[...]
The incident will prompt questions about Mr Berlusconi's security arrangements, says the BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Rome.
Let's hope the Secret Service is a lot more effective protecting President Obama. This is scary stuff, and with the political climate the way it is lately, with the Tea Partiers and others inciting hatred and violence, a lot of us worry more now than we ever have.
By GottaLaff
Twenty three Americans have been convicted in absentia, after an Italian court found them guilty of kidnapping in the CIA rendition of a Muslim cleric, the Associated Press reports. Three other Americans were acquitted. [...]A symbolic victory at best. However, it is somewhat satisfying to see actual public acknowledgment of the Bush war crimes in a court of law.
The Times notes that the case, which has been going on for three years, is the first to challenge the legality of the practice of "extraordinary rendition" and is "widely seen as a referendum on Bush administration foreign policy." The government of Premier Silvio Berlusconi, however, has refused to seek extradition of any of the Americans, making it questionable whether the guilty verdicts can be enforced.
One of the 23 American citizens convicted in an Italian court of kidnapping a Muslic cleric in 2003 says the CIA "broke the law" when it ordered the operation.And that, too, is a real crime.Sabrina DeSousa, a former CIA operative, told ABC News that the agency and the US government "betrayed and abandoned" her and the other US government employees who orchestrated the kidnapping as part of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program, which saw terrorism suspects shipped to countries where they could be tortured within the confines of local law.
DeSousa a said she and the 22 other defendants in the case "are paying for the mistakes right now, whoever authorized and approved this."
I'm a total geek for this stuff.
ROME, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Archaeologists found what may be the "rotating room" the Emperor Nero built to entertain guests in his house in Rome, officials said.
The room was described by Suetonius, author of "Lives of the Twelve Caesars," who said a wooden platform followed the rotation of the earth. Roberto Cecchi, the Roman commissioner in charge of emergency archaeological work, granted funds to determine if the new find is indeed the "rotating room," the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
''This discovery has no equal among ancient Roman architectural finds,'' said Maria Antonietta Tomei, superintendent of work on the Palatine Hill.
Nero, who succeeded his great-uncle and step-father Claudius in 54 A.D. and took his own life 14 years later to avoid being killed, is generally classified as one of the worst Roman emperors. His palace on the Palatine Hill, the Golden House or Domus Aurea, was buried by his successors, who put the Colosseum and Trajan's baths on top of it.
A tad ostentatious, but at least the furniture will end up doing good.
L'AQUILA, Italy, July 12 (UPI) -- Furniture used by Group of Eight leaders at the summit in L'Aquila, Italy, will go to residents displaced by April's earthquake, Italian officials said.
(snip)
Italy moved the G8 summit to L'Aquila from Sardinia where it was originally scheduled. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he moved the summit to keep the spotlight on L'Aquila.
Almost as soon as the summit ended, officials opened the old police barracks used by the G8 leaders to curious residents and tourists. Hundreds were interested in seeing the bedroom used by President Barack Obama, as well as the temporary basketball court installed especially for him, officials said.
Some people still living in a tent camp since the earthquake were angry at the comparatively luxurious lodgings created for the leaders, the report said.
Gawd, I remember having to wear a mantilla when I was a kid. Oy.
Videos via Politico.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
So much for my speculation on the "high waisted" dresses. Michelle looks fab.
By GottaLaff
Billion, with a B:
Update: June 17th: Suitcase With $134 Billion Puts Dollar on Edge: Bloomberg
Update June 16th: We’ve updated this story $134 Billion U.S. Bond Mystery Continues In Italy
Update: Italy’s financial police said they asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to authenticate $134 billion worth of undeclared U.S. government bonds found in the false bottom of a suitcase carried by two Japanese travelers attempting to cross into Switzerland. A determination is expected within a few days.
Original Post
According to Japan Today, two Japanese nationals were detained by Italian financial police last week after trying to enter Switzerland with $134 billion worth of undeclared U.S. bonds, mostly Treasury bonds, an Italian daily said Wednesday. [...]
According to the report in il Giornale, two unidentified Japanese in their 50s concealed the bonds, including 249 U.S. Treasury bonds each worth $500 million, in a suitcase with a false bottom that was searched by the Italian authorities June 3 when they were in Chiasso, at the border with Switzerland, about 50 kilometers north of Milan. [...]
The treasure was in the hands of two Japanese from Italy were trying to enter Switzerland. In a suitcase were 249 bonds of the ‘Federal Reserve‘ American in the nominal value of 500 million each, and 10 ‘ bond Kennedy ‘ of the nominal value of $ 1 billion each, in addition to what is described as very original banking documentation. [...]
H/t: Fernando
Whittling them down, closing it up.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama won agreement from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Monday to accept three prisoners held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Obama made the announcement after talks with Berlusconi as the U.S. leader pressed efforts to move inmates from Guantanamo, which houses foreign terrorism detainees and has drawn international criticism, to other countries as part of his plan to close the prison by January.
(snip)
The European Union said earlier on Monday its member states were ready to help resettle detainees freed from the detention center at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba.
Three Guantanamo detainees were transferred to Saudi Arabia "under appropriate security measures" last week, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.
By GottaLaff
(There is a short commercial before the equally short video)
(video via)
This is driving Michelle Malkin insane (I won't waste a link). That, in itself, is a blessing:
President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are appearing in Italian nativity scenes this year, alongside the baby Jesus and wise men, according to Naples craftsmen selling figurines in the run-up to Christmas.H/tThe production of handmade figurines for nativity scenes is big business in this southern Italian city and has been for centuries.
But beyond the thousands of angel, sheep, Mary and Joseph figures filling market stalls before Christmas, craftsmen say Obama has become a top seller.
"The ones we are selling the most of are those of Barack Obama, America's new president, along with his wife Michelle," said craftsman Genny Di Virgilio. [...]
Beyond Obama, they are also selling figurines of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni and even Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
By Paddy
Sounds like they had another Patrick Henry grad in charge of the bios. If Senator Obama just promised to put qualified, experienced people into positions of power, that really would go a ways to fixing our damn government.
The White House has apologised to Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi for a briefing describing him as a political "amateur" who is "hated by many".
The "insulting" biography was included in a press kit distributed to reporters travelling with President George W Bush to a meeting of world leaders in Japan.
He was "one of the most controversial leaders" of a country "known for governmental corruption and vice".
Only last month, Mr Bush visited his old ally, calling him a "good friend".
The four-page description of Mr Berlusconi had been taken from the Encyclopedia of World Biography.
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