Free Republic

Germany’s Angela Merkel and other center-right leaders have indicated they would like to see Mario Monti to keep on running Italy instead of Silvio Berlusconi. The center-right leaders—as well as the two Italian political adversaries—met in Brussels ahead of an EU summit on Thursday (13 December) in an event designed to prevent Italy’s political turmoil from stirring up the euro crisis once again. The center-right European People’s Party (EPP) chief Hans Martens admitted to journalists he stage-managed the whole thing so that neither Monti nor Berlusconi knew the other would be there until the last minute to make sure that...

Italian government bond yields jumped on Monday after Prime Minister Mario Monti’s decision to step down early raised worries over the future pace at which the heavily indebted country reforms its economy. While investors are clearly nervous about Mario Monti’s resignation as PM of Italy, investors seem to be signalling increased optimism about Venezuela’s Chavez’s return of cancer. Venezuelan bonds surged, sending benchmark yields to a five-year low, as speculation mounted that President Hugo Chavez will be unable to complete his third term after he acknowledged a recurrence of his cancer. I am sure that Hugo Chavez would have preferred...

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Sunday rejected talk of a euro crisis and said Rome was open to the idea of a tax on financial transactions championed by France—but only if the measure was part of an EU-wide effort. "The euro is not in crisis, the currency has solidly maintained its exchange rate with the dollar," Monti said on RAI 3 public television, adding that Italy's "banking system is not under threat". "The problem we are facing is that some EU countries have a public debt crisis," he said. "Our crisis is a systemic crisis." Monti, a former European...

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Mario Monti formed a government of bankers, diplomats and business executives Wednesday, saying the absence of politicians in his Cabinet will spare political parties the "embarrassment" of taking the tough decisions needed to steer the country from financial disaster. The 68-year-old former European Union competition commissioner and his Cabinet were sworn in at a solemn ceremony at the presidential palace that formally ended Silvio Berlusconi's 3 1/2-year-old government and the media mogul's 17-year-long political dominance. Monti faces his first major hurdle Thursday when he presents his legislative agenda to parliament and subjects his government to...

He apologized 30 hours later.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5T1Aq2tFVA&feature=player_embedded

This was absolutely awful. Barack Obama made another horrible mistake today. The president visited the 10th Mountain Division today and congratulated them on their service. Then he told the soldiers that he had given the Medal of Honor to Jared Monti who came back from Iraq alive. Jared Monti was actually killed in Iraq in 2006. How sad. “First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours,...

Speaking to soldiers at the Fort Drum army base on Thursday, President Obama stated among other things: "I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn't receiving it posthumously." The President apparently had forgotten that Army Staff Sgt. Jared Monti had died a heroic death in Afghanistan while trying to rescue a fellow soldier. Mr. Obama apparently also had forgotten that he had presented a posthumous Medal of Honor to Jared's...

President Obama flubbed his remarks to troops at Fort Drum Thursday when he told the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division about the time he awarded the first Medal of Honor to someone not receiving it posthumously. The medal, he said, went to Jared Monti. The only issue is that Jared Monti died in service in Afghanistan, and did in fact receive the medal posthumously

Attention to Orders: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Staff Sergeant Jared C. Monti distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a team leader with Headquarters and Headquarters troop, 3rd Squadron, 71st Calvary Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, in connection with combat operations against an enemy in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, on June 21st, 2006. While Staff Sergeant Monti was leading a mission aimed at gathering intelligence and directing fire against the enemy, his 16-man...

For Conspicuous Gallantry Above and Beyond the Call of Duty Greyhawk, at The Mudville Gazette provides the circumstances: On 21 June 2006, SFC Monti, then a staff sergeant, was the assistant patrol leader for a 16-man patrol tasked to conduct surveillance in the Gowardesh region. The patrol was to provide up-to-date intelligence, interdict enemy movement and ensure early warning for the squadron’s main effort as it inserted into the province. As nightfall approached, the patrol was attacked by a well organized enemy force of at least 60 personnel. Outnumbered four-to-one, SFC Monti’s patrol was in serious danger of being overrun....

<p>Check this out: Yesterday Europe's antitrust czar, Mario Monti, ordered Microsoft to offer a version of its Windows operating system without the currently included Windows Media Player, which allows computers to play music, movies and the like. Oh, the commission also fined Microsoft $612 million for "bundling" Media Player into Windows. But that's not the weird part.</p>