The Berlusconi Divorce

The UK's Daily Mail reports that Ms Noemi Letizia has denied that Italian Prime Minister is her father, despite her calling him "Papi". An excerpt from the report:

Noemi Letizia, 18, has been accused of sparking the divorce of the 72-year-old Premier from wife Veronica Lario which has exploded into a very public row.

Miss Lario announced the split by declaring: 'I cannot be with a man who spends time with under-age women.'

She accused her husband of 'consorting with minors' after he went to Noemi's 18th birthday party and allegedly gave her a gold and diamond necklace.

But despite calling Berlusconi 'Papi', the teenager is adamant he is not her father

Speaking with her parents by her side, she told the Times: 'No, absolutely not. That's my dad, over there.'

Berlusconi says he was at her birthday party by chance because he needed to speak to her father, Benedetto.

(Source: The Daily Mail, 9th May 2009. Berclusconi is NOT my father, insists the teenage girl at the centre of his divorce spat.)

Background
From the Wikipedia entry on Silvio Berlusconi:

Wife files for divorce

At the beginning of May 2009, Veronica Lario confirmed she was filing for divorce following her husband's attendance at a girl's 18th birthday party and buying her a gold necklace[110] in Naples. She claimed that Berlusconi had not attended his own childrens' 18th birthday parties,[111] and that she could not be with a man who "consorted with minors". [112] A week previously, she had also written an open letter expressing her anger at Berlusconi's choice of young, attractive female candidates—some with little or no political experience—to represent the party in the 2009 European Parliament elections. Berlusconi demanded a public apology for the third occasion he believed she had "done this to me in the middle of an election campaign", and stated that there was little prospect of his marriage continuing.[113]

Children
Silvio Berlusconi has five children, three from his marriage of 19 years to Veronica Lario and two from a previous marriage:

1. Marina Berlusconi
2. Pier Silvio Berlusconi
3. Barbara Berlusconi
4. Eleonora Berlusconi
5. Luigi Berlusconi

Jealous
So, why should an 18 year old's birthday party be of such concern to his wife? It could be that his wife felt intense jealousy.

She (Veronica Lario) also lashed out at the premier's reported attendance at an 18-year-old woman's birthday party in Naples, saying she was surprised "because he never came to the 18th of any of his children, even though he was invited."

(Source: Associated Press, 3rd May 2009. Italian premier Berlusconi's wife seeking divorce.)

Stormy relationship
The same report also stated (in effect) that the Italian Premier has had on-going trouble with his wife all this while.

Lario and Berlusconi met in 1980, wed 10 years later and have three children in their 20s. Berlusconi has two children from his first marriage.

His union with Lario has long been rumored to be in trouble — the two don't live together and she rarely is seen out with him. And rumors of affairs have swirled around each of them.

....

Berlusconi often has said it was love at first sight when he saw Lario, then a 24-year-old actress, performing at a Milan theater in 1980.

"When we met, she made me lose my mind," he once told the women's magazine A. "She's a special woman. ... She has been and is a wonderful mother. She has never embarrassed me, never."

Lario has largely shied away from her role as first lady, both during his current term as premier and when he held the post in 2001-06. But she occasionally broke her silence with stances that suggested an independent-minded personality. In one case, she defended pacifists protesting the Iraq war, which Berlusconi supported.

In 2003, Berlusconi acknowledged rumors linking his wife to a left-leaning philosophy professor, Massimo Cacciari, during a news conference with the Danish prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

"Rasmussen is the most handsome prime minister in Europe," Berlusconi said to the surprise of both his Danish counterpart and reporters. "I'm thinking of introducing him to my wife, because he's much more handsome than Cacciari."

Money
A Forbes report dated 4th May 2009 states that Berlusconi is valued at USD$6.5 billion.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has had an unimpressive time over the past year, as have other billionaires--he was one of many who saw his fortune dwindle in the global market turmoil, valuing him at $6.5 billion in March.

(Source: Forbes, 4th May 2009. Berlusconi: Bachelor Billionaire?)

According to the Forbes report, Italian laws mandate three years' separation, during which time alimony is given. The main issue that everyone is waiting for is how his property will be divided among his children from Veronica Lario and his children from a previous marriage.

Italy's curious divorce laws--introduced just 29 years ago--will buy Berlusconi some time: a couple must officially separate for three years before they are able to divorce; during the separation period, an alimony is payable to the spouse in the weaker economic position. However, alimony is only granted in around 20% of cases, says Chiara Saraceno, a sociologist. The separation of property comes only at the second stage--divorce. The biggest issue in the divorce, according to the Italian media, will be how the properties are divvied up between Berlusconi's children from his two marriages: he has two children from his first marriage, as well as his three children with Lario.

Strangely, I feel that division of property should not be an issue among the children until he passes away. That is when the will comes into effect.

Lawyers
Who are the lawyers acting for both sides? Veronica Lario has engaged Maria Cristina Morelli, based in Milan and better known for her work involving a euthanasia case. Silvio Berlusconi on the other hand has engaged "Padua, Italy-based lawyer Ippolita Ghedini". Both lawyers have yet to make any comment for the media. (Source: Bloomberg, 5th May 2009. Berlusconi’s Wife Chooses Englaro Family Lawyer for Separation.)

At Stake
The Singaporean Straits Times reported the incident, centering around the lawyers. Ippolita Ghedini is the sister of his regular lawyer.

Mr Berlusconi, meanwhile, has selected Ippolita Ghedini, a family law specialist who is the sister of his regular lawyer Niccolo Ghedini, to represent him in the split from Lario, the ANSA news agency reported.

The couple engaged in a bruising media-fuelled spat sparked last week by an open letter in which Ms Lario complained over her husband's roving eye.

Speculation over whether Ms Lario will seek damages from Mr Berlusconi, whose family's fortune is estimated at 6.5 billion euros (S$12.78 billion), filled the pages of Italy's press on Tuesday.

The couple opted for a 'separate property' regime when they married in 1990, so she would not be entitled to a portion of his fortune without suing him, press reports said.

Entitlement would rise for Mr Berlusconi's five children - three by Ms Lario and two from his first marriage - as well as for Mr Berlusconi himself, according to the financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore. -- AFP

(Source: Straits Times, 5th May 2009. Berlusconis pick divorce lawyers.)

Other cases
The Bloomberg report also lists two other high profile cases:

Berlusconi could become the second European Union leader to divorce in office in the past two years. French President Nicolas Sarkozy divorced from his second wife, Cecilia, shortly after his election in 2007, and months later married Carla Bruni, an Italian model and singer.

The Czech Republic’s outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and his wife Pavla in 2007 confirmed media speculation about their separation. They have yet to divorce. Topolanek now lives with Lucie Talmanova, a deputy chairwoman of the lower house of parliament.

Inspired By Great People @ CRIEnglish.com

1. Today I stumbled across the wonderful site of CRIEnglish.com, which is operated by China Radio International. One of the most important sections on the site is the "China's Champions" column. Fuelled by curiosity, I had to look at the archives. Amongst others, I read about Zhang Huamei, Xie Hailong, and Wang Changqing.
2. Zhang Huamei is a lady from Wenzhou, China, who has the distinction of holding the first business licence in China. In 1978, China's government initiated the Reform and Opening Up Policy. She became self-employed when she could not find employed. Her business began simply, selling colourful trinkets and fashionable accessories not available in the state-owned stores. She was approached by a government official to register for a business licence in 1978. After much thought, she agreed. She has been self-employed for the last 28 years.
3. China Daily reports that during the late 1970's and the early 1980's, some business people were thrown into prison during crackdowns on speculators and profiteers. Zhang Huamei's friends and acquaintances too would pretend not to know her because they despised profiteers and speculators at that time. Despite that, the new policy succeeded in breeding a new generation of successful businessmen.
4. Xie Hailong was famed for his photographs of poor children in rural areas who were desperate for education. He was inspired to his mission of photographing the poor children when he was told by a friend that his photographs of his child were charming, but photography should provoke thought. After much thought, he made it his mission to take pictures of children in rural areas. At that time, poverty forced many children to stop studying. His photographs were used time and time again in the fundraiser "Project Hope", which since its inception has raised 2 billion yuan in donations.
5. Xie Hailong's works are in black and white and at times grainy. Despite that, there is no denying the quality of the works. Amongst other accolades, he is presently Director of Beijing Photographers' Association. The most famous of his is that of a girl, Su Mingjuan, hunched over her books and staring wide eyed at the camera. It is called "I want to go to school". It was this photograph that became the face of Project Hope.
6. Wang Changqing is credited with the resuscitation of Shaolin and other martial arts. In 1928, various important texts were burned by a warlord. Wang Changqing was a student in the Shaolin temple until the age of 12. He later became a doctor and served in the army. After retiring from the army, Wang Changqing practised martial arts at the Shaolin temple. He found an old monk, Yong Xiang, with a lung infection. He took care of the monk and nursed him back to health. When Wang wanted to return to his home, the monk gave him a bag of scripts. They were copies of the important texts that he had copied by hand in 1927. Wang Changqing recognised the significance of this and went all out to seek out practitioners of martial arts who had trained at Shaolin temple.
7. Wang Changqing's marriage suffered and as a result, he divorced. Nevertheless he kept on with his efforts. He was fortunate to meet and marry his second wife, Xu Qinyan, who also practised Kung Fu. He has written many books, the most famous of which is the Shaolin Encyclopedia (co-authored by his wife, Xu Qinyan). He believes that martial arts belongs to all people on this earth and has continuously promoted the art.
8. Of the three people above, two have achieved greatness or recognition because of their contributions to society. The other, Chang Huamei, is celebrated because of her representation of the economic success of the country. In some way or other, they have all been part of the history of the country.
9. It is undeniable that the minority races of my homeland, located just south of Thailand and just north of Singapore, have played a role in its journey to where it is today. Yet it may be a well-founded fear that future generations may not be able to know what role the minority races have played in our nation. We were here many years ago, from before the years of Merdeka. My own grandmother was a Straits born Chinese, whose family had been in Malaya for many generations. I have no doubt that members of the Chinese community have been an important factor in the success of this nation.

Don't Want To Be An Emperor

I’m sorry but I don’t want to be an Emperor—that’s not my business—I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that. We all want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful.

But we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls—has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little: More than machinery we need humanity; More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all.

Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say “Do not despair.” The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people will return to the people, and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish.…

Soldiers—don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you—who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate—only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers—don’t fight for slavery, fight for liberty. In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written “the kingdom of God is within man”—not one man, nor a group of men—but in all men—in you, the people. You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let’s use that power—let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfill their promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people.

Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers—in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

Look up! Look up! The clouds are lifting—the sun is breaking through. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world. A kind new world where men will rise above their hate and brutality. The soul of man has been given wings—and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow—into the light of hope—into the future, that glorious future that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up. Look up.
Charlie Chaplin, “The Great Dictator” (1940)

This speech caught my eye while browsing at VVORK.com. I must say that its contents inspired me! Who knew that Charlie Chaplin gave such an impassioned speech? The words must surely resonate with everyone who reads them. The danger is that sometimes, vague words become vehicles for manipulators who piggyback on them to advance their own unjust cause. Yet this speech is surely a good example for our Malaysian politicians to read and learn from. Universal values inspire all men. Fairness, equality, and freedom -- these aspirations hold true for everyone. Nobody likes to be enslaved. Even those who say they like submission have their own idealized versions of submission. This means that they require freedom, in order to realise their ideas of submission. Yet it is the selfish nature of man to want to control other men. This only leads to the scheming and devising of vehicles of greed, and hate. Eventually, through lies of unity, the devious few will control the innocent masses, milking them for what they are worth.

It is time for a new look at the world. A world, where colour and creed do not matter, as long as we treat each human being for what he is entitled to. And that simply means that if you believe that you are entitled to economic freedoms, cultural and religious rights, so too does your fellow man. For you obtained those rights, and freedoms, by your birth. And knowing that, you should encourage each man to seek his birthright. Throw off the shackles of oppression! Live Life Free!

I Have A Dream...

Martin Luther King-I Have A Dream
Uploaded by eikichi

Martin Luther King, Jr. (15.1.1929 - 4.4.1968) was a human rights activist. On 23.8.1963, he delivered a historic speech - "I Have A Dream", which would inspire many others to the path of human rights. Along with Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Nina Simone, and many other participants of its struggles, he would go down the annals of human rights history as one of its monumental landmarks. This speech would cause the FBI, in a memo, to brand Martin Luther King, Jr as "the most effective and dangerous Negro leader in the country". (Ref: CNN, FBI Tracked King's Every Move, by J. Christensen, 7.4.2008; via Wikipedia). On 7.4.1968, Nina Simone and her band performed "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead) in dedication to the passing of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Ref: I Put A Spell On You, by N. Simone and S. Cleary (1992); via Wikipedia)

The text of the historic speech I Have A Dream follows.

I HAVE A DREAM by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Delivered on 23.8.1963)

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

The following YouTube video is Nina Simone's song, Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead).


Lyrics to the song are as below. (Thanks to Sing365.com for the lyrics.)

What's gonna happen now? In all of our cities?
My people are rising; they're living in lies.
Even if they have to die
Even if they have to die at the moment they know what life is
Even at that one moment that ya know what life is
If you have to die, it's all right
Cause you know what life is
You know what freedom is for one moment of your life

But he had seen the mountaintop
And he knew he could not stop
Always living with the threat of death ahead
Folks you'd better stop and think
Everybody knows we're on the brink
What will happen, now that the King is dead?

We can all shed tears; it won't change a thing
Teach your people: Will they ever learn?
Must you always kill with burn and burn with guns
And kill with guns and burn - don't you know how we gotta react?

But he had seen the mountaintop
And he knew he could not stop
Always living with the threat of death ahead
Folks you'd better stop and think
Everybody knows we're on the brink
What will happen, now that the King of love is dead?

Rest If You Must, But Don't You Quit

I found this inspirational video, based on a popular poem.
It is very inspiring. I have a copy of the poem hung on my wall.