Category: Uncategorized
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Style and substance
This week the tenders are out for the gazebos which will be placed in town centres to run the vaccination programme. Now, Im not one to rain on parades, but we are in February. The inital idea was for 1500 structures, we’re now down 150. The length of time to build one has gone up…
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The Ego has landed
Long ago Matteo Renzi was lauded as the great hope for Italian politics in the shadow of Tony Blair. Like Tozza his halo became somewhat tarnished, after his promises to resign came and went, and he gradually became inconsequential. After the last election, running on the PD ticket, he left to form his own party…
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Like getting blood from a stone
The miracle of San Gennaro didnt happen yesterday. Consternation and gnashing of teeth in Naples and beyond. The December ‘miracle’ is relatively new – it was instituted after the eruption of Vesuvius in 1631 when the saint stopped the lava flow short of Naples. It’s the ‘civil’ miracle, as opposed the one on September…
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Calabriamente
The saga of poor Calabria continues. The second appointee (see previous post) lasted a grand total of 3 days before leaving his post, after spouting more no maskery. He was replaced by a university rector, who lasted a mere 12 hours by my reckoning, announcing the morning after the night before that his wife had…
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Lockdown 2.0
Tempers are fraying. Salvini, leader of the Lega and Trumps Italian rentboy has spent the summer in a maskless meeting and greeting frenzy, declaring to anyone who will listen that there is no virus, its a sham, etc – basically regurgitating Trumpery. Now, all of a sudden he wears a mask, and is telling us…
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That way madness lies
Its Day 8 in the Big Brother household. Or Day 9 – I cant quite remember when all this started, but it seems ages ago. The near total lockdown in Italy has yet to bear fruit, and here in my quiet corner of Sicily, where we have not one hospitalised case from my comune, it…
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Life in lockdown
It’s odd how many people seem to think that being in Sicily in the age of Covid19 means you just go to the beach. If only. Just day 3 of the lockdown and Im bored witless. I have a long list of DIY tasks to do, but cant go and buy the necessary stuff, …
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Berlusconi’s Pad
The story of Arcore It’s a story that reads like a film. As a plot of a film it would be dismissed as barely credible. A story that involves the aristocracy, politicians and a Prime Minister, as well as sex, murder and the Mafia, and yet is unknown outside Italy. Arcore is Silvio Berlusconi’s home. …
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A very Italian poisoning
Imane Fadil was one of Berlusconi’s bunga bunga girls. She died at the beginning of March after over a month of agony in a Milan hospital. When she arrived in hospital she told the doctors and her lawyer that she had been poisoned. The police were called only after she died. It’s a very Italian…
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Tic Toc
The EU bigwigs have decided that by 2021 all member countries can decide if they want to have permanent winter time or summer time. Apparently this is due to the fervent desire of its 500 million inhabitants. There was an online questionnaire about this last summer, completed by 7 million, of which over 4 million…