Observations of Italy, France and G7 countries in general

The latest news from Italy is that Forza Italia led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi won the upper house, and for the lower house, there is a dead heat between Berlusconi's coalition getting 49.7% of votes and the main opposition leader Romano Prodi's coalition getting 49.8% of votes. If this news prove true, it presents an interesting picture of democracy in G7 countries. Let us recall: U.S. President Bush was reelected with a clear majority with the Republican Party retaining control of both Capitol houses; President Bush has three years left in his term and the Republicans are campaigning to retain Congressional control in November's midterm elections. Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party was reelected with a majority control of both houses of the Diet; the prime minister has announced he will retire within a year. British Prime Minister Blair's Labour Party has full control of Parliament amidst persistent rumours that this is the prime minister's last term. At least there is stable government in the U.S., Japan and the U.K. Let's see the other four countries of the G7. Canadian Prime Minister Harper leads a federal government with a parlimentary minority in both the House of Commons and the Senate. German Chancellor Merkel leads a "grand coaltion" government with the former governing party because her own party won a minority in the last election. Well, the situation in Italy remains to be seen: Prime Minister Berlusconi may only win control of the upper house and lost control of the lower house. Finally, there is France. French President Chirac has thirteen months left in his term and has announced he will retire. His party UMP has a majority in the French Parliament. However, President Chirac "caved in" to popular protests to the first meaningful economic reform legislation aimed to increase jobs and loosen restricting hiring conditions. By the way, the youth unemployment rate is 22.2% in France! He withdrew le contrat première embauche (CPE, meaning: first job contract), not because Parliament could not pass the legislation but because two months of protests by students and unions frightened business confidence. Sigh! Remember in Ontario in the 1990s in the face of widespread union protests, the Harris government passed laws to cut taxes and welfare funding and changed labour regulations also aimed at creating better economic conditons for businesses. So, it appears that in France, democracy means one demostrates in protest rallies if one disagrees with the government. And it seems it works--if you want to leave the unions in control limiting the increase of jobs in the marketplace.

New ideas among Conservatives

Last week Preston Manning spoke to Progressive Conservatives of Alberta. This week UK Conservative Party Leader David Cameron spoke in his Party's Spring Conference in Manchester. Manning and Cameron are two conservative politicians who advocate policies dealing with the environment, pointing out that green policies are not the preserves of left-wing political parties.

Another scoop by the New York Times

Read New York Times's reporting of "Provincial Stability Assessment", produced by staff of the US Embassy in Baghdad, US military in Iraq, US State Department, and civilian reconstruction agencies. The Kurdish provinces are "stable"; the southern provinces, except Basra, are "moderate."

Nice article on the Darfur genocide

The New York Times Magazine has a nice article (review and analysis) on the Darfur genocide and what the world is doing about it.

Alberta PC Party leadership race

Compared to that of the Liberal Party of Canada, the leadership race of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta will be more exciting, more forward looking, yielding more significant results. First of all, the winner will be Premier of Alberta, leader of a provincial government which is close to balancing its budget, and which is nominally steward of a booming economy. The balanced budget means fewer spending cuts to be considered; the booming economy means steadily increasing tax revenue available for government expenditure. Which politician does not want to inherit what Premier Ralph Klein leaves behind. Businessman Jim Dinning has the odds in favour, being former Alberta Treasurer, former chair of Calgary Health Region, and former fundraiser for Canadian National Institute of the Blind. The dark horse is Preston Manning, CEO of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, being former federal Leader of the Official Opposition, founder of the Reform Party of Canada, and founder of the Canadian Alliance. When the race is called, it will be interesting--more so than watching the Liberal race. Watch for other Alberta politicians running: Ted Morton, Mark Norris, Gary Mar, Ed Stelmach. Canadian politics is fun again--with simultaneous leadership races in the Liberal Party and the Alberta PC Party and a new Conservative Government of Canada in Ottawa. In both parties, I expect to hear new ideas from candidates on the scope of government in the economy and people's lives, the place of provinces in the Canadian federation, and the role Alberta or Canada plays with the U.S. and in the world. Interesting times ahead. Prime Minister Harper gets another lucky break--besides the Liberal Party in disarray and the Quebec Government in a distinctly friendly mood, the Alberta Government will be too distracted with domestic politics to affect federal-provincial relations.

As usual, the media is just one step behind the spies

You will recall the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution last Tuesday asking Iran to stop enrichment and processing uranium in an effort to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons in the world. Iran isn't budging. China and Russia aren't keen on enacting sanctions if Iran doesn't comply. Now recent history has shown in Serbia and Iraq: If diplomacy fails with you, the bombs fall on you. London's Daily Telegraph reported on an upcoming meeting Monday of British Defence Ministry, Foreign Office and Downing Street officials. Consider bunker busters. They give new meaning to Roosevelt's statement, "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick."

Dalai Lama's view on marriage, western society, etc.

From the Daily Telegraph, by Alice Thomson, an excerpt: "It is fascinating," he says, speaking in slightly stilted English. "In the West, you have bigger homes, yet smaller families; you have endless conveniences - yet you never seem to have any time. You can travel anywhere in the world, yet you don't bother to cross the road to meet your neighbours; you have more food than you could possibly eat, yet that makes women like Heidi miserable." The West's big problem, he believes, is that people have become too self-absorbed. "I don't think people have become more selfish, but their lives have become easier and that has spoilt them. They have less resilience, they expect more, they constantly compare themselves to others and they have too much choice - which brings no real freedom." He has lived as a monk since childhood, but the Dalai Lama views marriage as one of the chief ways of finding happiness. "Too many people in the West have given up on marriage. They don't understand that it is about developing a mutual admiration of someone, a deep respect and trust and awareness of another human's needs," he says. "The new easy-come, easy-go relationships give us more freedom - but less contentment." Although he is known for his tolerant, humane views, he is a surprisingly harsh critic of homosexuality. If you are a Buddhist, he says, it is wrong. Full stop. No way round it. "A gay couple came to see me, seeking my support and blessing. I had to explain our teachings. Another lady introduced another woman as her wife - astonishing. It is the same with a husband and wife using certain sexual practices. Using the other two holes is wrong." At this point, he looks across at his interpreter - who seems mainly redundant - to check that he has been using the right English words to discuss this delicate matter. The interpreter gives a barely perceptible nod. "A Western friend asked me what harm could there be between consenting adults having oral sex, if they enjoyed it," the Dalai Lama continues, warming to his theme. "But the purpose of sex is reproduction, according to Buddhism. The other holes don't create life. I don't mind - but I can't condone this way of life." He laughs when I change the subject and talk about the West's attempts to become more spiritual through yoga, massage and acupuncture. "These are just physical activities," he says. "To be happier, you must spend less time plotting your life and be more accepting." Many of the Western women who queue up to be blessed, he says, have told him they feel they can talk to him about anything. "I see women who have had abortions because they thought a child would ruin their lives. A baby seemed unbearable - yet now they are older, they are unable to conceive. I feel so sorry for them." They need to discover an inner strength, he tells them. "The West is now quite weak - it can't cope with adversity and it has little compassion for others. People are like plants - they can develop ways of countering negative forces. If people took more responsibility for their own problems, they would become more self-confident." He does not believe that you have to be religious in order to have a meaningful life. "But you have to have morals, to strive for basic, good human qualities. I don't want to convert people to Buddhism - all major religions, when understood properly, have the same potential for good." Yet while he has been sitting in his bungalow in the Himalayas, religion has turned ugly, with fanatics stirring up hatred…"Fundamentalism is terrifying because it is based purely on emotion, rather than intelligence. It prevents followers from thinking as individuals and about the good of the world," he says.