In Italy things are different. Roms and homeless people coming from abroad (mainly eastern countries) have invaded the territory and transformed public spaces in their place. Several areas (most parks and gardens) were “conquered” by those people, who turned those places into their “houses”, forcing local administrations to declare them off limits for Italians. As a consequence, Italian people cannot access those spaces any more.

Moreover, hundred of thousands of Rumanian and Nigerian prostitutes as well as South American transvestites invaded the streets (check Rome streets on Google Earth!), day and night, everywhere… most of them reduced to slavery by foreign criminals/pimps.

In Italy there is a tragedy within the tragedy of the commons…

Political franchise in Italy has a major role: the exchanges “vote-for-money” and “vote-for-job”. Having the right to vote means citizens can sell their vote (I think in the south of Italy and abroad it costs around 500 Euros each… ask Dell’Utri, he knows more) to political parties, while ensuring to a given party a lifetime commitment (voting the same party) is the only way for getting a job in the civil service… quid pro quo is the “ethics” behind this labour market, pillar of many Italian facts.

Would these thousands of unskilled and almost not alphabetized Italian people accept to jeopardize their right of getting a lifetime wage without working (this is what they do at “work”) by some newcomers? We do not dare to forget foreigners do those types of works Italians do not do any more simply because unskilled and unprofessional Italians have the privilege of getting a wage without working, hired as civil servants… Once a Moroccan, a Chinese or a Rumanian like any other Italian citizen had the powerful franchise tool in his hands, why would he not take advantage of the “right” of getting a decent job (it actually means “wage”) just accepting the “court” paid by political parties interested in buying his/her vote? Considering that even a dead corpse would be fit enough for working in the public administration, what would prevent also people who do not speak Italian from getting a job where you do not have to work?

They do not like the following:

TITLE IV
THE JUDICAL BRANCH
Section I
The Organisation of the Judiciary
Art. 101
Justice is administered in the name of the people.
Judges are subject only to the law.
Art. 102
Judicial proceedings are exercised by ordinary magistrates empowered and
regulated by the provisions concerning the Judiciary.
Extraordinary or special judges may not be established. Only specialised
sections for specific matters within the ordinary judicial bodies may be
established, and these sections may include the participation of qualified
citizens who are not members of the Judiciary.
The law regulates the cases and forms of the direct participation of the
people in the administration of justice.
26
Art. 103
The Council of State and the other bodies of judicial administration have
jurisdiction over the protection of legitimate rights before the public
administration and, in particular matters laid out by law, also of subjective
rights.
The Court of Accounts has jurisdiction in matters of public accounts and
in other matters laid out by law.
Military tribunals in times of war have the jurisdiction established by law.
In times of peace they have jurisdiction only for military crimes committed
by members of the armed forces.
Art. 104
The Judiciary is a branch that is autonomous and independent of all other
powers.
The High Council of the Judiciary is presided over by the President of the
Republic.
The first president and the general prosecutor of the Court of Cassation are
members by right.
Two thirds of the members are elected by all the ordinary judges belonging
to the various categories, and one third are elected by Parliament in joint
session from among university professors of law and lawyers with fifteen
years of practice.
The Council elects a vice-president from among those members designated
by Parliament.
Elected members of the Council remain in office for four years and cannot
be immediately re-elected.
They may not, while in office, be registered in professional rolls, nor serve
in Parliament or on a Regional Council.
Art. 105
The High Council of the Judiciary, in accordance with the regulations of
the Judiciary, has jurisdiction for employment, assignments and transfers,
promotions and disciplinary measures of judges.
Art. 106
Judges are appointed through competitive examinations.
The law on the regulations of the Judiciary allows the appointment, also by
election, of honorary judges for all the functions performed by single
judges.
27
Following a proposal by the High Council of the Judiciary, university
professors of law and lawyers with fifteen years of practice and registered
in the special professional rolls for the higher courts may be appointed for
their outstanding merits as Cassation councillors.
Art. 107
Judges may not be removed from office; they may not be dismissed or
suspended from office or assigned to other courts or functions unless by a
decision of the High Council of the Judiciary, taken either for the reasons
and with the guarantees of defence established by the provisions
concerning the organisation of Judiciary or with the consent of the judges
themselves.
The Minister of Justice has the power to originate disciplinary action.
Judges are distinguished only by their different functions.
The state prosecutor enjoys the guarantees established in the prosecutor’s
favour by the provisions concerning the organisation of the Judiciary.
Art. 108
The provisions concerning the organisation of the Judiciary and the judges
are laid out by law.
The law ensures the independence of judges of special courts, of state
prosecutors of those courts, and of other persons participating in the
administration of justice.
Art. 109
The legal authorities have direct use of the judicial police.
Art. 110
Without prejudice to the authority of the High Council of the Judiciary, the
Minister of Justice has responsibility for the organisation and functioning
of those services involved with justice.
Section II
Rules on Jurisdiction
Art. 111
Jurisdiction is implemented through due process regulated by law.
All court trials are conducted with adversary proceedings and the parties
28
are entitled to equal conditions before an impartial judge in third party
position. The law provides for the reasonable duration of trials.
In criminal law trials, the law provides that the alleged offender shall be
promptly informed confidentially of the nature and reasons for the charges
that are brought and shall have adequate time and conditions to prepare a
defence. The defendant shall have the right to cross-examine or to have
cross-examined before a judge the persons making accusations and to
summon and examine persons for the defence in the same conditions as the
prosecution, as well as the right to produce all other evidence in favour of
the defence. The defendant is entitled to the assistance of an interpreter in
the case that he or she does not speak or understand the language in which
the court proceedings are conducted.
In criminal law proceedings, the formation of evidence is based on the
principle of adversary hearings. The guilt of the defendant cannot be
established on the basis of statements by persons who, out of their own free
choice, have always voluntarily avoided undergoing cross-examination by
the defendant or the defence counsel.
The law regulates the cases in which the formation of evidence does not
occur in an adversary proceeding with the consent of the defendant or
owing to reasons of ascertained objective impossibility or proven illicit
conduct.
All judicial decisions shall include a statement of reasons.
Appeals to the Court of Cassation in cases of violations of the law are
always allowed against sentences and against measures affecting personal
freedom pronounced by ordinary and special courts. This rule can only be
waived in cases of sentences by military tribunals in time of war.
Appeals to the Court of Cassation against decisions of the Council of State
and the Court of Accounts are permitted only for reasons of jurisdiction.
Art. 112
The public prosecutor has the obligation to institute criminal proceedings.
Art. 113
The judicial safeguarding of rights and legitimate interests before the
bodies of ordinary or administrative justice is always permitted against
acts of the public administration.
Such judicial protection may not be excluded or limited to particular kinds
of appeal or for particular categories of acts.
The law determines which judicial bodies are empowered to annul acts of
public administration in the cases and with the consequences provided for
by the law itself.

The Italian Parliament currently is the core of legislative powers and organised crime… Changing this part of the Italian constitution would be a necessary step for officially merging the two sides of the same medal.

You can now find “spaghetti bolognesa” (probably spelled as “spaghetti alla bolognese”) on the menu of some cheap touristy restaurants in Italy as well, because it is what tourists ask for. In Italy there is something similar to it called “pasta al ragù”, which is prepared with egg pasta, not durum wheat spaghetti.

2) “Risotto” is rice with a sauce, any kind of sauce, more or less like pasta. One specific version of it, done in Lombardy, is called “Risotto alla Milanese”. This one is what foreigners call risotto, neglecting it is just one type of risotto, and not THE risotto.

3) No, in Italy almost nobody drinks wine while eating pizza. Only foreigners do that. We drink beer while eating pizza. ALWAYS.

4) Yes, you can expect people singing “O sole mio” for you in Venice or Rome as much as you can expect Andalusian flamenco dancers whistling for you Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”.

Those “privileged actors” decided they need more freedom, and one way to get rid of the control of Institutions is to modify the Italian Constitution.

The economic part they do not like is the article number 41, which says:
Private economic enterprise is free.

It may not be carried out against the common good or in a way that may harm public security, liberty, or human dignity.

The law determines appropriate planning and controls so that public and private
economic activities may be directed and coordinated towards social ends.

I think those words are way too civilized for a third world country like Italy! Berlusconi and his friends seem agreeing with me, because he said it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to change it, so that any economic activity would be allowed, if not against the law… And obviously Berlusconi will also keep on changing the laws for making dirty business easier…

From the industrial point of view FIAT is merely using Chrysler current cars and projects, re-branding them with the Italian logos (FIAT and Lancia) and selling them in Europe. I understand we (some countries more than others) are still going through a difficult crisis and it does make sense to exploit all possible potential available, but to me this does not seem to be a long-run strategy.

Let’s move towards a more subtle fact. FIAT, one of the most mediocre car companies ever, are still alive thanks to the Italian State and its blind vision. In Italy they are so powerful that influenced urban transportation policy: due to the crap quality of their cars, Italy was the only possible market for FIAT, therefore (at least since the 60s) to please them city public transportation was almost eradicated, forcing Italian people to buy their cars. As if it was not enough, through the decades they have been also receiving from the Italian State a huge amount of money – that at current exchange rate would be of hundreds of billions of dollars – in different forms such as incentives, tax discounts, subsidies to employers, etc.

Chrysler through the years already got hundreds of millions of dollars, but more recently got another huge subsidy from the Obama administration.

Marchionne, in the end, only put together two companies heavily subsidised by each respective State, for exploiting public money.

Liberalism, R.I.P.

At school we all learned Italy acquired its unity after a joint irredentist movement spread all over the country, with all “Italian” people freed by the Piedmont army. The story is slightly different.

History is written by winners, and not much room is left to defeated populations. Therefore not many historians admit this feast celebrates the victory of Piedmont that conquered many independent States and enslaved a variety of free nations.

Yes, depending from the perspective, things change. Herewith I enclose a document that briefly describes the Italian unification from the perspective of Southern people. It is composed of a long number of slides, but most of them are full of pictures and have few lines on each, making the reading of the whole PDF doable in less than 10 minutes.

I hope it will help preventing the misuse of the word “Italian” in describing anything ethnically and culturally (food, languages, habits, cities, expressions) separated, something that for more than 1,300 (one thousand and three hundred) years one could identify only geographically (“Italy is a mere geographical expression” said Metternich), because delimited by the Alps and the Mediterranean See. A territory overwhelming with diversities that was only recently forceful constrained into a united State by the invasion of a French speaking State of the north of the peninsula.

To the end, Massimo d’Azeglio, one leading political figure of Piedmont and later of Italy, said “we made Italy, now we have to make the Italians” (he also said that uniting with Neapolitans was like going to bed with a leper, demonstrating what he really thought about uniting the peninsula). Well, the process had an acme during fascism, with the nationalist hoax, and after that the Italian language started to be understood (not always spoken) all over the peninsula thanks to the introduction and spreading of radios and TVs, mainly during the second half of the XX century. But that was it. I wonder what they have to celebrate now…

Today, December 21, is the winter solstice commonly known as the shortest day, but also as the beginning of longer daylight, therefore most cultures have held a recognition of rebirth, involving holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations around that time.

Before the introduction of current calender, in the Julian calendar since 45 BCE the winter solstice of Europe was the 25th of December. But already in ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.

The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honouring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death (does it ring a bell?). This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.

Mithraism was one of the major religions of the pre-Christian Roman Empire. It was the Cult of Mithra, the ancient Persian god of light and wisdom. In the Avesta (the sacred Zoroastrian writings of the ancient Persians) Mithra appears as the chief yazata (Avestan, “beneficent one”), or good spirit, and ruler of the world. Mithraism is similar to Christianity in many other respects, for example, in the ideals of humility and brotherly love, baptism, the rite of communion, the use of holy water, the priest were called father, the adoration of the shepherds at Mithra’s birth, the adoption of Sundays and of December 25 (Mithra’s birthday) as holy days, and the belief in the immortality of the soul, the last judgement, and the resurrection. Mithraism differed only in the exclusion of women from its ceremonies and in its willingness to compromise with polytheism.

These similarities made the conversion of its’ followers to Christianity easy. In 350, Pope Julius I also declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity.

In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar bringing the northern winter solstice to around December 21, for compensating the difference between the calendar year (365.2500 days) and the tropical year (365.2422 days). But major celebrations remained on December 25, offering us a magnificent example of how a ritual can overwhelm in importance its reason of being, also losing any contact with its origin.

Anyway, whichever is the god you worship, whoever the prophet you celebrate, I wish you a sunny year!

Moreover, on Newsweek you can read how impalpable is hand-washing in preventing H1N1 spreading, because humans are most likely to catch influenza by breathing in microscopic particles exhaled by infected people. Generally speaking, I know such measures make human beings feel “on control” of their life, and campaigns done by local governments for public health reinforce the role of politicians (especially shortly before elections, like in Portugal) and give current governments the legitimation of being in charge (because they care for their citizens), but honestly hand-washing sounds a weak and partially justifiable criterion for a flue prevention, not only scientifically but also according to common sense. On a more local context, I am puzzled by the bombarding campaign of the government in Portugal on hand washing, but not a single word was uttered on the disgusting national habit of constantly spitting on the floor: roads and sidewalks are paved of phlegm, fact that I am sure helps in making Portugal “a leading country” in TBC cases in Europe. In other words: lecture people on what they can accept, but do not molest their touchiness or jeopardise their right of being uncivilized.

Crossing the two pieces of information, a few questions came up to my mind:

1) Why is the prevention campaign so standardized across different countries?

2) Is there any mastermind behind? I mean, who are the people planning the “terror and reassure” strategy? I think about a cartel of pharmaceutical companies, but most governments take advantage for those situations.

3) Is it a coincidence in a period of world economic crisis main news on TV and newspapers are about facts and emergencies that turn in being the core of new stock-market investors’ strategies (bread, water and medicines)?

4) What is the role of politicians? What are their advantages?

5) Is it not that pharmaceutical companies producing the vaccine are doing a great marketing campaign paid by national governments?

I do not believe in conspiracy theories, but we do not dare to forget it is already the second time in two years (does anybody remember the bird flu H5N1?) somebody is trying to let us believe some nasty virus is going to exterminate mankind, therefore I wonder who – apart from newspapers – is taking advantage form those terror strategies.

More info at http://www.isid.org/

Update: watch this

In reality the legend is that nomads DO move from place to place, because, funnily enough they are sedentary… but when they “move”, hey!, they do it with class! With a Porsche!

The story is in the Nomad Camp of Tor de’ Cenci (Rome) on Monday February 1 the police found cocaine and heroin, some grams of mannitol – substance used for “cutting” drugs – six 7.65 calibre intact bullets, tons of copper (probably stolen) and nine cars without insurance, including a “Porsche Carrera”.