Why Doesn’t Berlusco Retire?
He has billions, he’s getting on a bit and he has a dodgy ticker, yet he continues to attach himself to the political bandwagon. Don’t really know why. Yes, he might end up in prison if he drops out of politics, but it would be unlikely to happen. After all, he has the resources to pay a team of lawyers to keep him out of a cell for many years to come.
If I were him, I would retire to my fabulous villa in Sardinia, hold lots of parties and have a good time until old father time catches up with me. Will he do this? Probably not. To Italians power is an addictive drug, and the addiction creates such a high level of dependency that it becomes virtually impossible to let go of the reins.
Do I like living in Italy?
Yep, sure do. Italians are wonderful people and despite the antics of those who purport to lead them, it’s a great place to live.
Paolo Sarpi - the Chinese quarter of Milan
After the near riots in the Paolo Sarpi area of Milan dominated by Chinese wholesalers, several things have been being talked about, some new, some not so new.
There is talk, again, about moving the Chinese traders out of Milan. Three locations have been proposed. First, there was an area near the site of the new exhibition complex out on the north west side of Milan, then there was some talk about sending the Chinese traders to San Donato on the south eastern side of the city and now, the latest proposal seems to be to send the Chinese traders out to the old Alfa Romeo plant in Arese - to the north of Milan. The only trouble with the Arese alternative seems to be the little matter of space - there is nowhere near enough of it.
In order to convince people to move out to wherever, a recent report in the Corriere Della Sera stated that 500 odd policemen were to be made available to the Sarpi area to maintain law and order. Looks as though we could be in for a long, hot summer, in every sense. I just hope the area remains reasonably safe.
As to how this part of Milan ended up with this little problem, the word on the street is that money changed hands. I don’t know who got what, or even if this is true, but having seen how fast the area has been transformed recently, I have to say that it is probable something somewhere has been done by somebody.
Apparently, the old ‘turn the area into a pedestrianised zone’ idea has been resurrected and will most probably be used as the excuse with which to push people out.
Me? I’m just going to wait and see, and hope that we manage to come through unscathed.
SNAFU
Prodi’s government is not really achieving anything, as many Italians are starting to realise. Not a great surprise when you know that a) his government has a slim majority and b) his government spends most of its time squabbling. Again, no surprise, in view of the fact that the current government follows the traditional Italian model of a rag-tag bunch of parties which have got together in an unholy alliance to form an unstable coalition, made up of political interests ranging from more or less extreme left to slightly left of centre. This all means that, as usual, nobody can agree on anything, so nothing important gets done. SNAFU.
Evidence? Well, here in Milan the public transport unions seem to be calling almost weekly strikes, and the teachers seem to be on strike every month or so. Then there is the infamous Alitalia, which despite being pumped full of public money is still making huge losses, and, just to put the icing on the cake, Alitalia staff seem to be on strike just about every other week. It’s a surprise that anyone actually flies with the company. Although I’m not a regular flier, when I do fly, I avoid Alitalia like the plague and I’m pretty sure that most businesses do the same. Then there was an item on the RAI Report programme which highlighted certain deficiencies in the Italian education system, which backs up a recent article in the Economist which highlighted many failings in the Italian education system too. In fact, you just have to look at the poor aesthetic state of many Italian schools to see how high a position education holds on the politicians’ agenda. I almost forgot to mention that I was at a children’s’ birthday party on Saturday afternoon and several of the parents there were moaning about the diabolical organisation of the nursery school which our son and their children attend - something which had not escaped my attention.
I remember when I was back in the UK and, as part of my job, I had to inspect numerous schools in one of the home counties. The condition of those schools made Italian schools look largely neglected, although I should add I carried out these inspections a long time ago. However, the generally poor state of Italian schools was something I noticed almost as soon as I arrived in Italy, probably as a result of my previous work.
Will things change? The answer is possibly ‘yes’, but it will take time - around 20 years I imagine. Change happens slowly here. There is talk of amalgamating several of the bigger political parties into one larger one, but, I am reliably informed, this has been talked about before, to no avail. As I said, change happens slowly in the living museum.
Beppe Grillo, the renegade comedian, who spends much time, and earns quite a bit of money, still seems to have plenty of material to fuel his ‘What’s wrong with Italy’ obsession. I suppose that if Beppe Grillo went quiet, that would mean that things had got better, but Mr Grillo’s silence is unlikely to be forthcoming for quite a few years to come, I fear.
News From Ansa- Buy stocks, Berlusconi says October 10, 2008International markets end week on the slide
- SuperEnalotto pot hits 80 million October 10, 2008Heaving betting a windfall for the state's coffers
- Ancient Roman stadium opened October 10, 2008Olympic-style games were held at emperor's arena near Naples
- Ethical changes needed, Napolitano October 10, 2008Credit crunch demands new rules for financial world
- Dante-mad thief nabbed October 10, 2008Robber 'turned on' to Divine Comedy by Benigni
- Arts guide: exhibits in Italy October 10, 2008Neo-Impressionists in Milan, Picasso in Rome
- Buy stocks, Berlusconi says October 10, 2008
- Beppe Grillo
-
The 442
-
Subscribe
-
-
