There is an online petition (avaaz.org) addressing U.S. Congresspersons and exhorting them to ignore the myths and lies that are being spread about European healthcare systems.

I just wanted to let everyone in on a little news tidbit that could be taken as both hysterically funny and tragically frightening, depending on how you want to look at it.

As I was taking a glance at the headlines in this morning's online version of Rome's daily "Il Messaggero" (the online version of the actual newspaper was not up yet, and would not be for another 2 hours), I found this little blurb amidst the sum-up of Bush's day in Rome yesterday.

As could have been expected (also because before he arrived Berlusconi boasted that the "real" reason Dubya was coming to Italy was to see him), he obviously went to visit his pal Silvio (as we all know, first-name basis is de rigeur for International Dubya) and, after the one-hour visit, Berlusconi made a statement to the press.

From the diaries - whataboutbob

Yes, Senators Clinton and Kennedy, with all due respect, you’ve been had... by Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Whether you realize it or not, you are now being used as election propaganda by the center-right coalition in Italy, and by all the media over here who believe – perhaps in good faith (considering the input they’ve received, what should they believe?) – that you all repeatedly, wholeheartedly, enthusiastically, intentionally, conscientiously, independently, freely and spontaneously applauded Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi during his address to Congress on Wednesday, and therefore that you sincerely approve of everything he said and – it would appear to logically follow – what he stands for.

I'm sorry I don't have enough time to really do a good diary on this, but I just wanted to let everyone know that Berlusconi will be addressing the U.S. Congress in a joint session at 11 a.m. EST. It will be on C-Span.

I can't believe he's getting this present from BushCo during the run-up to the Italian general elections on April 9th-10th!

With just six weeks until Italy's election on April 9, analysts said Berlusconi's trip would provide him "wall-to-wall" media coverage back home and raise his credibility among voters.

This morning's Roman daily "Il Messaggero" has this tidbit, another stab at U.S.-Rest of the World relations. Actually, there are two articles, one in the form of an editorial ("Google only "protects" the White House"), starting on page 1 and continuing on to page 13, and one on page 17. For those of you who read Italian, "Il Messaggero" does publish their paper online. If you want to read the editorial, click on the page 1 box, which brings up the whole article; the page 13 link does not.

This morning when I went out to buy a newspaper, I found that "La Repubblica" has already printed the names of the American CIA agents who allegedly kidnapped Abu Omar on February 17, 2003, shipping him off to Egypt for an impromptu exotic vacation. They sure didn't waste time.

They say they are "three women and ten men: two "over 60's", an Arab, a Moldavian, and one who speaks Italian." The names have been published in full, but for the time being I will use just their initials in my translation of the article, even though they have now officially entered the public domain, at least here in Italy.

As I was browsing through the articles on the Downing Street Minutes that are now being featured and linked on Yahoo, I ran across this article on our Dear Leader - Bush: Pulling Out of Iraq Not an Option that shows perfectly what a delusional, contradictory, lying moron he is.

"Settle for nothing less than victory" ???!!!  Over terrorism??? In other words, according to logic, that means we'll never be able to pull out!