Category: Uncategorized
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Dont hold your breath
Its ten days since the terrible bridge collapse in Genova, and 2 years to the day since the earthquake that shook central Italy. The powers that be in Genova insist they can rebuild the bridge in 8 months, and will submit a project in 5 days. This from a company which has had numerous technical…
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A fountain of sanctimony
He may only have one daughter with a pretty standard name, but in many respects Lorenzo Fontana is the Italian answer to Jacob Rees Mogg. An ultracatholic, spewing hatred and spite, Fontana yesterday announced that as Minister for the Family (A Rees Moggian ministry if ever there was), it was incumbent on the government to…
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Foa and Foa jr
The committee for the Rai vetoed the election of Foa as chairman, but he refuses to accept the decision, as does Salvini – who by way of continuing the strange nepotism of Italian life, employs the young Leonardo Foa on his team of spreading his message. Daddy Foa is not embarrassed by the revelations. The…
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Rai, Foa and other three letter words.
Hopes that RAI (the italian BBC) may become politically independent are fading with the latest nominations to the board. The behemoth of Italian broadcasting has historically been divided up between the politcal parties – Rai 1 to the Christian Democrats,Rai 2 to the right and Rai 3 to the left. This has meant 3…
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That way madness lies.
Yesterday would have been Mussolini’s birthday, and to celebrate it Matteo Salvini deliberately quoted the fascist leader, ‘Tanto nemici, tanto onore’ – many enemies, much honour. Salvini has said that the upsurge in racist attacks since he was elected to government is fake news. In the last week two people, one a five year…
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What would Jeremy Hunt do?
For all of those who bewail the NHS, Italy has just proved how to rally the staff. At a hospital in Naples a newly appointed doctor decided to throw a party to celebrate his new post as head of his department. To make sure everyone could come to his kneesup, he decided to close the…
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Replay
The new Lord of Darkness, Matteo Salvini, has been flexing his muscles since he got into his new office as Home Office Minister. As vice PM (along with Di Maio) they are the chief architects of the governments policies, but Salvini has shown himself to be the master tactician up till now. Dedicating himself to…
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The Republic is dead, long live the Republic
Silvio is worried about the new government, because they wouldnt appoint him PM – he did nominate himself as the only possible option given his experience, but surprisingly was roundly ignored. Instead we have a Puglian lawyer who nobody has ever heard of, who may or may not have invented something on his CV, ‘loves…
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Hot under the Colle
The temperature at the Colle (parliament) this week must be pretty high. Judging by the chatter in the barber and bar here in Sicily, everybody has pretty strong opinions about what has been going in Italy over the last week. Obviously its a mess, exacerbated by a partial media that is inventing more stories than…
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The mighty fall
Lots of arrests in Sicily this week, all connected to Antonio Calogero Montante – ex president of the Sicilian Confindustria with special powers to combat the mafia. Montante was already under investigation for ties to a clan from Caltanisetta, but this week the net widened. The charges are many, including associazione per delinquere – ie…