Monthly Archives: March 2011

Italy and Refugees

Posted on March 28, 2011 by hnbjr

As Italy struggles to accept massive flows of refugees from the Arab Spring, one hopes that the G7 country has learned something in last 20 years.  As Berlusconi’s channel report that the refugees are complaining about the quality of food … Continue reading →

Posted in decline of empire, human rights, il cav, immigration, international development, international justice, italy, lega nord, libya, maroni, the italian left, the italian right | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

In Need of a Beer Summit

Posted on March 22, 2011 by hnbjr

My impression is that, despite every news media outlet on earth coming out and saying that that Italy really had nothing to celebrate, most non-leghisti Italians actually did feel like celebrating, and Turin’s packed squares, riverbank, and streets were a … Continue reading →

Posted in immigration, italy, lega nord, the italian right, the right in europe | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Human Rights Watch Condemns Italy

Posted on March 22, 2011 by hnbjr

Human Rights Watch released a report on the state of racism and xenophobia in Italy yesterday.  The results are not cheerful reading. I wrote about this two years ago for the American, and it’s not heartening to see that things … Continue reading →

Posted in immigration, italy, lega nord, libya, maroni, the italian right, the right in europe | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Body Language and symbolism, part 2

Posted on March 18, 2011 by hnbjr

In the era of the image, media and spin presentation is ever-important. Avid followers of Premesso will recall a post offering interpretations of an old photo of Berlusconi with a sidearm a few weeks back. This time we turn our … Continue reading →

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150 Years of Unity?

Posted on March 16, 2011 by hnbjr

Italy’s political situation, overshadowed lately by events in Middle East, is grim.  Berlusconi’s coalition totters.  Fini’s breakaway group seems waiting for the right moment.  Indeed this fall March was bandied about as the right time for a vote.  More power … Continue reading →

Posted in Bossi, electoral crisis, fini, il cav, italy, lega nord, the italian left, the italian right | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Foot on Qaddafi’s Footie

Posted on March 1, 2011 by hnbjr

John Foot, a professor at University College in London and sometimes-Milanese, has a good piece up in today’s New York Times exploring the links between Qaddafi, Italian football (notably Juventus) and investments.  Worth your time.

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Vlastimir Đorđević at the Hague

Posted on March 1, 2011 by hnbjr

[youtube_sc url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw7gNPJI7BY] (Video primarily in Serbian although the judge speaks in English.) Readers of yesterday’s post, which quoted Rory Stewart questioning the ability of the UN and similar organizations to do much of anything, might’ve detected a hint of disappointment. … Continue reading →

Posted in Balkans, human rights, international justice, kosovo, serbia, UN | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment