Category: Uncategorized
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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…
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I Millibandi
Italy has finally caught up with the UK. These two unlikely brothers (could they be related?) are the Zingarettis: One, Luca, is Inspector Montalbano and more well known than Nicola who is now the leader of the PD – the Italian labour party. Luca is the big brother, while Nicola is the president of the…
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Black and white bread
There’s a mystery in Italy to Italian bread, and Ive heard so many reasons behind it, it’s up there with Area 51 as a conspiracy. To any seasoned breadaholic from another country, trying to find a decent wholemeal loaf in Italy is like searching for the Templar treasure. Lots of bready products emblazon their labels…
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Reasons to be cheerful (part Diciotti)
You may remember a ship called the Diciotti which Salvini denied permission to dock in Catania, thronged as it was with migrants who had been saved at sea. He was putatively indicted for hostage taking and denial of human rights. Of course being an MP the rest of the club have to vote as to…
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Eating words
The Powers that Be have a rather annoying habit of announcing new laws before they have been written, discussed or even thought about for more than a fleeting moment. This week we have had three. Last year on the back of the elections, the M5S announced that they were going to end all Sunday opening,…
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Montalbano lost at sea
The threat of an episode of Montalbano dealing with immigrants meant that Salvini took a break from eating all the pies to go on tv directly afterwards to refute anti immigrant accusations. In the end it was a storm in teacup, and Salvini used the moment to a) slag off the French b) agree that…
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Norman Wisdom to head the IMF
While Salvini eats more pies and pitches himself headlong into the European election campaign by calling France a colonial despot, his partiality for dressing up in uniforms and blackshirts isn’t going unnoticed. There’s been a bit of an outcry over his choice of wearing a police jacket of late – even though he is Home…
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Annus orribilis
Brexit may be the car crash we all expected, but in Italy we’re in the midst of a multi car pileup that shows no sign of ending. There are the gobbets of news which make you despair: One of the ministers of the family telling us that global warming is Satan’s work, Di Maio getting…
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A strange way to celebrate an anniversary
Its 80 years since Italy passed the racial laws against the Jews and other minorities. To celebrate Salvini has decided to introduce a decree which makes ‘ethnic’ shops shut at 9pm because, he says, they are centres of drug dealing. It’s going to be a short step to having these shops display a logo in…
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Unteachable
Salvini, who is eating too many pies, has announced over the last few days that he won’t take lessons from the EU, the UN, the Church, or the WTO. He is happy to sit down with the deeply unpleasant Viktor Orban, allied himself with Steve Bannon, had a cosy chat with Tony Blair and is…