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. […]
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 […]
It was without a doubt a media coup, when Berlusconi announced on Friday that he would be pushing forward a special decree to intervene in the case of Eluana Englaro. And, not just a media coup, for some. The Englaro case been in the media spotlight for months, since a definitive sentence was handed out […]
This monkey has only a passing interest in football, and so found little of interest in the rumours that Brazilian star Kakà was to leave Berlusconi’s AC Milan. Little of interest until browsing the latest from La Voce, the online magazine from some of Italy’s leading economists. The site posted an intriguing article by Tito Boeri […]
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 […]
Facebook gets more free publicity as the debate rages around the company’s decision to enforce strict guidlines regarding what can and can’t be shown in breastfeeding photos posted by users to their personal pages. A storm in a prurient teacup, according to many given the other issues cropping up with the popular social network platform, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
