There are chilling moments in the life of any straniero when they realise that, with all the reflection, study, and will that certain ways of thinking, produced by local culture, tradition, and a very different history, will always be beyond them.
These are moments, more often than not, conjured up out of hot-air when politicos [...]
Responding to some ill-defined public outrage (in part manafactured by newspapers owned or close to the Berlusconi family), both Prime Minister Berlusconi and the speaker of the house of deputies, Gianfranco Fini, called for swift and decisive action - not against builders responsible, in Abruzzo, for using shoddy materials and cutting costs, nor against civil [...]
The chart-topping political debates in Italy at the moment are the economic crisis, crime and security, federalism, and illegal immigration - ranked in importance according to the particular peccadiloes of each political party. One interesting phenomena, which is tied to each of these issues in one way or another, is the issue of Italian emmigration.
Italian [...]
Errol Morris, the documentary-maker whose films include The Fog of War, and Standard Operating Procedure, is a man who is interested in images, and in particular photographs. To mark the end of the Bush administration, at the end of January, Morris invited three photo editors to discuss a selection of images of W. ranging from [...]
As happened in various European cities over the last fortnight, in Italy a number of high-profile protests took place against the Israeli bombardment and invasion of Gaza which to-date has resulted in the death of up to 1,3001 Palestinians.
In cities like Rome, Bologna, Milan, and Florence, amongst others, parades took place that included the [...]
Matteo Salvini, the outspoken Lega Nord MP and activist (is there any other sort of Lega Nord MP?), has thundered indignantly about censorship to the national press. The reason? His facebook account has been suspended, without explanation.
Salvini has vowed to take up the case with the minister for telecommunications, claiming that he’s received notice of [...]
In the same week that Berlusconi’s much contested minister for education, Mariastella Gelmini, took a leaf out of Obama’s book and created a youtube channel to address students directly*, Silvio Berlusconi announced to the world that he would be seeking to sort out the internet at next year’s G8 summit which will be held (disgracefully [...]
Every December one of the most important car shows in Italy - and perhaps Europe - takes place in Bologna. For two weeks the city’s transport system is put under ever-more pressure as car-crazy enthusiasts flock to the city to see the latest glitzy models (in the traditional and automobile sense) on display.
Walking back from [...]
Last week, seemingly against the odds, Vladimir Luxuria won the Italian reality-tv game show L’Isola dei Famosi (a type of ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here’). What makes her victory worth discussing - outside of the tv pundity columns - is that she is a) transgender, and b) a former member of parliament [...]
It’s not everyday that this monkey, or indeed the various journalists and commentators who are also writing about this case, finds it in his heart or logic to defend Rupert Murdoch or his business interests. He’s a big boy who can look after his own extensive interests - interests that are not necessarily conducive to [...]