Free Republic

You want to take things from people? You want to take away their freedom? First you must disarm them. Then you may have your way with them One of the billions of pictured thought-captions floating around the web, asks this question: “Why is it that liberals demand gun control after every shooting - but never border control after every rape and murder by illegals?!” Those sorts of ‘memes’, as they’re called, perhaps rile people up. But, in the big picture, in the sea of words out there, that no one seems to slow down and sort through, it is a...

(Nigel Farage at :52)"...... but other things are going on and there's a, I really think very big story out there and you'd struggle if you went through today's newspapers to really find it, the 'Sunday Times' has done more on it than anybody else, but it's what's going on in Italy. Often we get the impression in this country from those that wish us to remain in the European Union and would like to force a second referendum on us that we're the ones with the problem that everything in Brussels and across the EU is hunky dory. Well...

---SNIP--- Mr Fontana's region, Lombardy in the north, is the leading destination for migrants in Italy. He reflected on this point. "We can't accept them all," he told Radio Padania, "Because if we had to accept them all, it would mean that we're no longer ourselves… as an ethnic fact. Because they outnumber us, because they are more determined than us to occupy this land." Mr Fontana, by now fully into his stride, reached his conclusion. "We need to decide whether or not our ethnic group, our white race, our society should continue to exist, or be wiped out. It's...

An analysis of the political setup in Italy shows eurosceptics are on the verge of taking control of the country.The only missing ingredient is an early election. And early elections are now the odds-on favorite.Let’s back up a bit to fill in the pieces as to how things got to this point. Former prime minister Matteo Renzi stepped down in December after holding a referendum that failed miserably. See Renzi Resigns Following Crushing Referendum Defeat: Beppe Grillo, Marine le Pen, Matteo Salvina TweetsItaly’s president, Sergio Mattarella, appointed Paolo Gentiloni as the new prime minister after Renzi resigned. See Meet Paolo...

Italy's anti-establishment Five Star Movement (5SM) took a large lead in the first round of voting for the mayor of Rome, in a possible blow to prime minister Matteo Renzi. Some 13 million people, or a quarter of the adult population, were eligible to vote for mayors in around 1,300 towns and cities, with attention focused firmly on a handful of major centres, including the capital. Victory in Rome would be a huge breakthrough for anti-establishment 5SM, which was founded in 2009 by comedian Beppe Grillo and has grown to be Italy's second largest party. A victory by the populist...

Europe’s establishment breathed a sigh of relief after the pro-European Union centrist Emmanuel Macron was elected French president this week. But another populist storm is brewing in Italy, where the euroskeptic 5 Star Movement has remained strong. Fueled by discontent with slow growth, high unemployment and disillusionment with mainstream politicians, 5-Star has won local elections in Rome, Turin and elsewhere, partly on the strength of its leaders’ call for a referendum on Italy’s use of the European single currency. Pollsters say about 30% of Italian voters support the movement founded by comedian Beppe Grillo, a level of popularity that has...

Rome’s administration collapsed into chaos on Friday after infighting within the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement triggered an avalanche of shock resignations. Embattled Rome mayor Virginia Raggi vowed to find new heavyweights who can "relaunch the city" despite a domino-effect of five departures. The string of resignations began with the chief of staff, followed by the finance chief who did not want to work without the chief of staff, followed by the head of environmental administration who did not want to work without the finance chief, followed by two heads of public transport – all in a matter of hours. Ms Raggi's...

One of the dumbest things a country can do in a recession is raise taxes. Yet, after pronouncing the end of austerity, Italy's "grand coalition" government, led by Enrico Letta, is going to hike the VAT. Why? It seems they need to hike the VAT to pay for a decrease in property taxes. Recall that Silvio Berlusconi was only willing to take part in Letta's grand coalition on condition property tax hikes were rolled back. Letta agreed to do that, but now Letta says Italy needs revenue hikes to make up for it. Grand Coalition Splintering Curiously, the International Business...

Euroskeptic deputies were denied several of the European Parliament’s top committee posts on Monday (7 July), as the assembly’s centrist groups joined forces to shut them out. The committees elected chairpersons and vice-chairpersons using the “D’Hondt method” on the relative sizes of the EU assembly’s seven political groups. Twenty one of the 22 committee chair posts, and the vast majority of the 88 vice-chair roles, were uncontested and elected by acclaim. However, the conservative EPP, center-left S&D and liberal ALDE groups on the petitions committee joined forces to reject Eleanora Evi, a member of the euroskeptic EFDD group from Italian...

In a ruling which could have far-reaching consequences for how the European Union deals with migrants in future, the European Court of Justice on Wednesday upheld the right of member states to deport asylum-seekers to the first EU country they enter. The ruling amounted to an effective rejection of Angela Merkel’s controversial “open-door” refugee policy, which saw more than one million asylum-seekers flood into Germany. The court ruled that the EU’s Dublin regulations, under which refugees must seek asylum in the first member state they enter, still apply despite the unprecedented influx of 2015.

This summer a private air plane has been flying over Italian beaches with a banner message Euro is Sucking Italian Blood The article states "Italians have only one solutions to fight against this situation : leave Italy." No End in Sight to Italy's Economic Decline Der Spiegel says No End in Sight to Italy's Economic Decline The Italian economy may be the third largest in the euro zone, but it is also plagued by inefficiency and continues to shrink. The country's political leadership has proven unable to implement badly needed reforms and the future looks grim. Italy, despite being the...

Does Italy still exist, or is it, as Metternich puts it, a geographic expression? By joining the Euro, it lost its monetary sovereignty. It lost its territorial sovereignty after its defeat in the second world war with occupation by the Americans who have never left since then. It lost its military sovereignty as it is now reduced to taking orders from the USA and organising pretend peace missions in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and bombing Libya (thanks also to grandpa Napolitano)/ The fall of Gaddafi is the cause of the immigration of biblical proportions - from that country that no...

Italian protest party leader Beppe Grillo on Tuesday said he wanted a “German invasion” of Italy to ensure “honest, competent” politicians. “In our parliaments, there are still 30 MPs who have been convicted of serious offenses. I’d also like honest, competent and professional people in the right positions,” Grillo, 64, told Bild newspaper. …

Once trust is lost it is very slow to recover. For now, much of Europe is acting as if it believes Cyprus is a "one time" thing? But isn't that what we heard about Greece? Who is next? Italy? In an article on Handelsblatt the chief economist of Commerzbank says: Italy should bring a unique wealth tax. It is a myth to talk of crisis-strapped states. Even the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) and the chief economist of Commerzbank, Joerg Kraemer says the numbers suggest a different view. Kramer relies on surveys of the European Central Bank. Net financial...

A great sense of alarm is spreading among ordinary Europeans today, especially in the south and east of the continent. Now even the elitist media are giving us the worst international news since the Cold War. Americans do not want to hear this, either. Well, you may not be interested in evil, but evil may be interested in you. Listen up. This could be important. The Washington Post just told us that a dictatorial strongman has risen to power in Hungary, a man named Viktor Orban. In a two-hour parliamentary session, Orban forced radical changes in the Hungarian constitution to...

A great sense of alarm is spreading among ordinary Europeans today, especially in the south and east of the continent. Now even the elitist media are giving us the worst international news since the Cold War. Americans do not want to hear this, either. Well, you may not be interested in evil, but evil may be interested in you. Listen up. This could be important. The Washington Post just told us that a dictatorial strongman has risen to power in Hungary, a man named Viktor Orban. In a two-hour parliamentary session, Orban forced radical changes in the Hungarian constitution to...

Italy lost 700,000 Italians in World War I, and then immediately voted in Mussolini's fascists, which militarized the whole of Italian society. If you wonder why Italians cheat on their taxes today, it's because they have 25 centuries of experience with nasty tyrants like Mussolini. Well, Mussolini gambled and went to war on Hitler's side, and Italy lost another half million people in WW II. Make it a round 1.3 million Italians dead from very, very bad gambles -- not to mention all the non-Italians they killed. What is astonishing is that Italy, having been punished twice in the 20th...

The rise of the Five Star Movement in Italy is the number one happening in Europe right now and mainstream media has not even begun to cover it in any depth. The movement is led by an Italian comedian, Beppe Grillo. Main Rules for the Five Star Movement Not be an elected politician prior to 5 Stelle Commit to stay in charge for no longer than 2 termsCommit to take a minimum salary and give the rest back to the communityPost a public platform on the internet Be willing to hold a public debate on the platform Beppe Grillo's personal...