High life
The amazing .
awocato
Taki
TRougemont hat was a very nice touch last Sunday in Melbourne when the Ferrari mechanics hoisted a sign saying 'Ciao Gianni'. It was meant for Gianni Agnelli, the honorary chairman of Fiat, who was back home in Turin celebrating his 79th birthday. Ferrari, which is owned by Fiat, took the first two places in the Grand Prix, and his other toy, Juventus, also was victorious on the day of the `awocato's' birthday. The next morning Gianni was back in the news. General Motors, the world's biggest car maker, announced it was joining forces with Fiat, a deal that Gianni has been after for quite a long time. `L'awocato' never ceases to amaze me, even after 40 years of friend- ship. As long ago as 1960 I remember dis- tinctly him saying that 'only the Germans, the Japanese and the Americans will sur- vive', as far as making cars, that is. Now he's got his wish. Fiat remains in 'his hands' for the time being, with GM taking a 20 per cent share in Fiat, but he gets to keep total control of Ferrari and Maserati. The Agnelli family wins big on this one. It has extracted a great price from GM, while staging a gradual withdrawal from the car business, while remaining in charge of the rest of the humongous Fiat group which includes the world's number two truck- maker, a major tour operator, and the New Holland NV farm-equipment giant. Not bad for a man who is often described by know-nothings in the media as a playboy.
So, here's to playboys who love fast cars, fast boats, fast women and who have fought in Russia. And speaking of playboys, `Taki's Top Drawer', based in New York, has offered $5 million to anyone with infor- mation leading to the arrest and conviction of Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright and Tony Blair. All three stand indicted for serious violations on international humani- tarian law, the laws or customs of war, and the 1949 Geneva Convention. According to `Top Drawer'
all three conspired to wage an illegal war against a sovereign state in violation of innu- merable articles of the UN, of the 1969 Vien- na Convention on the laws of treaties, of the Helsinki accord final act of 1975, of the 1954 Hague Convention for the protection of cul- tural property in the event of armed conflict, and even of Nato's own 1949 charter.
`Taki's Top Drawer' also pointed out that the three organised the wanton killing of hundreds of unarmed men, women and children; the devastation of cities, towns and villages; and the destruction of cultural and historic institutions dedicated to reli- gion, charity and education.
Not bad for a tiny little organ, even if it's only the poor little Greek boy that says so. Mind you, some know-nothings in the media will think it's showing off. Not on your life. If somebody, anybody, grabs Clin- ton after he's out of office and sunning his grotesque body on some beach and brings him to justice, and he gets his come- uppance, there will be $5 million big ones waiting for him — or her. Ditto for the ghastly Albright and the Grinning Hyena. Last week's Speccie said it all about Nato's crimes.
In fact, it was the Speccie's leader that got me thinking about 45 million as a reward. The United States government offered the same amount last week for any- one who helps bring Milosevic and a cou- ple of his henchmen to justice. It advertised the reward on the front page of the Interna- tional Herald Tribune, once upon a time a proud independent paper, now a mouth- piece for Clinton and his gang. I thought an equal amount for bringing far bigger criminals to justice was only fair. After all, the US government steals from its citizens in the form of taxation and has money to burn, whereas I have to go out all alone in a very cruel world and make my moolah (with a little help from my friends like John Rigas and Carolos Fix).
And there's more good news. Switzer- land's direct democratic system yet again proved this week that, in order for laws to be popular as well as fair, they have to be drawn on a local level. Emmen, a suburb of Geneva, voted overwhelmingly against granting Swiss citizenship to foreigners with certain exceptions. Under Swiss law, citizenship is not a right but 'a sensitive political decision that starts at the com- mune; if the person is accepted there, the application then proceeds to the cantonal and federal level'. Now I ask you, dear readers, isn't this why the unelected bureaucrooks in Brussels never ask for a referendum a la Swiss? They realise that if the people knew what was in store for them the answer would be a resounding 'Up yours, Romano'. The Swiss, in their infinite wisdom, will now probably stay out of the cesspool (two Swiss friends of mine, fanati- cally pro-EU until now, plan to vote against because of the EU's interfering stand against Austria), which means the poor lit- tle Greek boy will not be moving to Grozny any time soon.
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