Image from Reuters

Wave goodbye: Italy’s Prime Minister on his way out.

This train don’t stop: Cain vows to stay in the race.

Can you find me now? GPS tracking worries highest court.

Heaven getting heavy? Rapper Heavy D dies.

And, is there anything that can’t be live-tweeted?!

Image thanks to the LA Times!

It’s okay Silvio, the Italians are pretty sick of you too.

Wake up and smell the smog!

Don’t have time to read Dick Cheney’s whole memoir? No worries - the Daily Beast has the highlights!

Cultural cohesion…through hot dogs?

A reflection on Labor Day: end of summer, workers’ movements, and cleaning the house.

If you are depressed about things in the USA these days… don’t try to escape the madness by taking a vacation in Europe… you’ll only get MORE DEPRESSED.

Recently, countries like Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Britain have been grappling with gigantic economic disasters of their own.

Governments are in deep debt… almost bankruptcy. Politicians in those countries are desperately trying to tackle the problem with mixed success (See cartoon above).

Meanwhile, peeved citizens have been revolting against government painful economic remedies, as seen in Ireland this past weekend.

Iceland is in such desperate straits that it is re-drafting its constitution.

Yesterday, the entire country voted to elect 31 individuals, who will make up an assembly to put together a new charter for the island nation. This dramatic action is at least partially influenced by Iceland’s financial crisis in 2008.

Makes you wonder if  the United States should consider this, too?   If you could change something about the US constitution, what would you change?

North Korea recently joined YouTube and Twitter, using the social media platforms to mock South Korea and the United States. Interestingly, the messages are aimed at South Koreans, not at North Koreans, who are denied access to websites like YouTube and Twitter.

Europe

Ladies of Italy, rejoice! Venice is soon going to see its first female gondolier! Until recently, the trade has been limited to men due to the tradition of fathers training their sons to become gondoliers. Now, there is a course in becoming a gondolier and more women can try their hand at the profession.

Middle East

There’s another controversy involving Facebook! An Israeli soldier posted pictures of herself smiling and posing next to blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian prisoners,  causing an uproar among Palestinian groups. The Israeli Defense Force has released a statement disapproving the picture, but the soldier sees nothing wrong with her actions.

Thanks to the Guardian, we see some Silvio Berlusconi statuettes with some blood for flare in light of recent events...

This is one of a series of dispatches from our Foreign correspondent currently based in Scotland:

Ahhh… December 17. Almost time for me to resign my post as USDemocrazy Foreign Correspondent in Scotland and return to the ol’ homestead.

Can’t wait to get back to the place I know well, complete with crazy politics, late nights, and unique smells. And that’s just in the USDemocrazy headquarters.

But before coming home, I decided to pop over to Italy to check on things there.

(Editor’s note: The timing with the Recent attack on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (Ouch)is purely coincidental)

What was the biggest culture shock going from the UK to Italy? The politics? The people? The food? The language?

Nope — the traffic.

Forget adopting a common currency — the countries in Europe can’t even decide which side of the road to drive on!

That’s right, the Brits drive on the left side of the road. Italy and the rest of continental Europe drive on the right.

So what makes the stubborn Brits insist on driving on the ‘other ’side of the road?

Well, back in the days of yore, travelers on the road preferred to pass one another on the right side. Why? so that if necessary, they could attack the driver/horse-rider/traveler with their dominant hand. (People had road rage even back then.)

Eventually this practice was phased out as people started being less paranoid about getting attacked on the road.  The right side was chosen, eventually, by many countries to be the sensible way to take to the road.

So why does the UK (and Japan, and Ireland, and Australia, and India, and Thailand) continue to drive on the left? Tradition, sure, but also — MONEY. Imagine how much it might cost to turn around all the signs on the motorway. Not to mention re-engineering the cars and buses that run there. (I smell a campaign opportunity for GM in the UK… Lobby for the rules of  traffic to change and sell the Brits some American cars!)

It’s worth having a look around Europe to see just how disorienting new traffic rules are. Just look both ways before crossing the street. Seriously.

With that in mind, today we would like to announce… Iceland’s #1!

That’s right! The World Economic Forum recently evaluated countries who have reduced disparities between the genders. The frozen folks in Iceland moved from their No. 4 spot in 2008 to triumphantly snatch the title this year. Congratulations Icelanticons, Icelandators, People of Iceland!

Other European countries also fared well. Germany was No. 12 on the list. Not surprising, as they just swore in a woman, Angela Markel as Chancellor for the second time.

However, Italy’s prime minister, Silvia Berlusconi, could use a lesson from Iceland and Germany. When it comes to gender issues, he’s got a case of open mouth, insert foot.

Many women of Italy (ranked 72 out of 134 countries) are fed up with Berlusconi’s sexist attitudes and are circulating a petition denouncing him.

And what about the USA, you ask? Take a guess where America landed on the list?… ( hint: it’s a number between 30 and 32).

…And for a funny take on the world wide ladies theme, there’s this from the HBO series Flight of the Conchords.

Thanks to Wikicommons

We at USDemocrazy are always impressed by strong leaders. For this reason, our editors are a constant source of disappointment.

So, with the news late last week of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, we decided to dedicate this week’s Awesome Sites collection from the World Wide Web to the websites of  world leaders!

We’ve got all sorts… and they are quite varied and curious.

• Canada is the land of moose and maple syrup. Here the government is led by the Prime Minister, presently Stephen Harper , who is selected with the confidence of Parliament by the Governor-General, currently Michaelle Jean.
• United Kingdom has tea and scones and also has the fabulous Queen. She appoints the Prime Minister, presently Gordon Brown, with the confidence of Parliament.

Beyond the Ditch, as the French call the English Channel, lies the land of wine and cheese, France. The French Republic has both a President (Nicholas Sarkozy) and a Prime Minister (François Fillon).

• Germany the land of sausages and beer is led by a Chancellor, presently Angela Merkel. The President of Germany, presently Horst Köhler, appoints the chancellor with the confidence of the Bundestag, a legislative body which works like a parliament.
• Italy functions similarly, having a President, presently Giorgio Napolitano, who appoints the Prime Minister, now Silvio Berlusconi, with the confidence of parliament.
• Russia is similar to France. There is a President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev right now, who appoints a Prime Minister, currently Vladimir Putin.
• In far off Japan, the Emperor functions similar to the monarch in the U.K. Emperor Akihito is the head of state. There is a Prime Minister that is chosen by Japan’s people and their representatives.  Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama came to power after his Democratic Party won control of the Diet (parlaiment) in a recent historic election.

The Italian Court decided that even public officials can be prosecuted, which might get Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in trouble.

15 years after the Rwandan genocide, an intelligence officer is found and captured.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay leaves Dancing With The Stars.

Imagining that you might too, we’ve decided to expand our classic “What’zup today?” section to help you catch up on some of the important, or just interesting, or maybe bizarre, stories floating around the world wide web. You know, so you have something to talk about at all the parties you’ve promised to attend in the coming days.

Here goes nothing…

Here, The Daily Beast explores the possibility of “The Next Sarah Palin?” Can there be a “next” when the original is still hanging around? We smell a rivalry…

Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire’s GOP rising star, is a folksy, gun-loving mother of two who has her eyes on a Senate seat. And, you betcha, she married a dude who puts Todd to shame.

The new “the FBI made me do it” defense makes its debut… A blogger charged with making threats against lawmakers and government officials claims the FBI taught him how to do it all.

“His job was basically to publish information which would cause other parties to act in a manner which would lead to their arrest,” Orozco said.

Robert “Mr. Smug” Gibbs gets dizzy more often than you think. Why? A photo.

The “burqini” for Muslim women gets banned in northern Italy. One would presume it just doesn’t show enough skin for the Italians.

A modest fit burqini, thanks to: http://www.ahiida.com/

“The sight of a ‘masked woman’ could disturb small children, not to mention problems of hygiene,” mayor Gianluca Buonanno was quoted as saying.

Who is better at swimming: Shaq or Michael Phelps? We will soon find out….

America loses another pioneer in news… The inventor of the news magazine and the televised presidential debate, Don Hewitt, has passed away.

We’ve heard about the uproar at health care town hall meetings, but have we seen the best protest signs? The Huffington Post helps us out in finding the most amusing. Our favorite:

What this country needs is more "Arrested Development."

You think American news outlets have major spin going on? Try living in North Korea. (OK, that wasn’t fair…)

Last week, KCNA took a similarly rose-colored look at the fact that the country’s capital city still has no traffic lights and relies instead on a corps of women who direct traffic the old-fashioned way, by hand, in an article headlined: “Traffic Control Platform beneath Umbrella Installed at Intersections of Pyongyang.”

Must be cool under there.

Is Putin back in the saddle? (Come on, that one’s worth a little smile.) The presidency may be in his future (despite also being in his past…).

See why we're funny?

Apparently, T-shirt-making is a science. That ragtag collection in your dresser doesn’t pass muster when it comes to T-shirts being fashionable, you know.

This shirt, if you’ll excuse me for sounding ridiculous, may be the most perfect garment I own. The fabric is thin to the point of almost being sheer, made of high-gauge long-fiber Sea Island cotton that is difficult to describe without resorting to clichés: soft as a buttered, cashmere baby’s bottom? Yes, that soft!

Barney Frank loses his cool over health care “Nazi policy” accusations come up. Well, it is August…

After all the uncomfortably testy town-hall footage we’ve seen this month, watching Frank deal with an over the top Obama-as-Nazi accusation is pretty entertaining. Nothing like an accusation of Nazism to lighten up August.

Time has come for the Afghan vote! (Catch up on the Afghan election situation here.)

And to wrap up, a bit of fake news: Obama gets tangled up in coat hangers! (Via The Onion.)

]]> http://www.usdemocrazy.net/2009/08/20/whatzup-today-deluxe-edition/feed/ 0 http://www.usdemocrazy.net/2009/05/05/political-philandering/ http://www.usdemocrazy.net/2009/05/05/political-philandering/#comments Tue, 05 May 2009 05:27:38 +0000 MZ Hammmer http://usdemocrazy.wordpress.com/?p=1247

Thanks to Wikicommons.

Politicians sometimes don’t tell the truth (and we at USDemocrazy are SHOCKED!).  Sometimes politicians don’t just lie to the public… but also cheat on their spouses! (SHOCK! HORROR!)

Throughout history, extramarital relationships have tarnished a number of politicians (and entertained legions of their opponents).

For instance, who can forget Bill Clinton’s involvement with Monica Lewinsky, an event that led to his impeachment by the House of Representatives (though the Senate didn’t close the deal)?

And even other past presidents have indulged in an extramarital fling or two (or twelve). President Grover Cleveland’s wayward reputation earned him the political slogan, “Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa? Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha.”

John Edwards, one-time presidential hopeful in 2008, admitted he lied about an affair.  In addition to that misdeed, he is being investigated for money he paid to his mistress’s company.

And now today, there is news of an international affair of state.  

The culprit this time is Italy’s playboy prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. His wife has had it with his paramours and is filing for divorce. The final straw for Mrs. Berlusconi was suave Silvio’s plan to nominate a number of models and actresses, nicknamed “Berlusconi’s Ballot Babes”, for the European Parliament.

How will the Italians take their prime minister’s divorce?  Berlusconi probably hopes they react like the French.

French President Sarkozy’s divorce of his wife Cécilia and subsequent marriage to model Carla Bruni was met with a Gallic shrug (it seems the French care less of their politician’s personal lives than we prudish yanks).

Even in America an affair doesn’t always spell the end of a politician’s career.  Take former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (nailed for being Client #9 at a prostitution ring). The kinky cavorter is back in the headlines (and not for unseemly reasons). He has resurfaced as a financial expert (he was known as a watch dog of Wall Street crimes) and now appears as a columnist for Slate Magazine.

Spitzer has bounced back to the point where in a recent poll a majority of New Yorkers would prefer him to current Governor Paterson (the man who replaced Spitzer during the scandal). Talk about a SHOCK!

So it seems that mistakes can be forgiven (at least by the public).  Does this shock you?