Yes, Prime Minister

For the uninitiated, which means most of my Italian readers, Yes, Minister was a comedy (as in funny), which appeared on BBC tv in the UK for good few years.

Basically, this wonderful series, which became Yes, Prime Minister ran for a good few years, and can probably be regarded as being British TV as its very best.

A few snippets of these shows are to be found on YouTube, and here is one for your deliction. It’s a famous sketch in which the main British newspapers are summed up. Enjoy:

The thing is, Italy’s horribly sensitive politicians would never let such a scandalous show exist here. Well, I’ve never heard of an Italian equivalent, although I’d love to.

Blind Cheek

The Far Sighted Record Breaker

There is a lovely little story in Milan’s freebie newspaper ‘Epolis Milano‘ today all about a guy down in Taranto who pretended to be blind.

The story gets better, though.

This ingenious chap managed to keep his perfect vision out of sight for twenty four years! I wonder if there is a world record for ‘the longest fiddle ever’.

There is more. This far sighted individual actually used his sightless status to land himself a job as a telephone operator at Taranto prison, of all places. As a result of his far sighted fiddle, he may well end up as a permanent resident in the very same prison.

And yet more. Our blind friend had a driving licence and a big powerful motorbike.

Somewhere along the line, someone must have cottoned on to the fact that for a person registered as blind, he could see pretty well. In fact, Italian police finally caught up with him after he was filmed while reading a newspaper.

End of a possibly record breaking fiddle.

But what of the good doctor who signed our not so blind friend’s medical certificate? Good question. Actually, the doctor concerned is 100% safe from any kind of legal recourse, thanks to the fact that after a certian length of time, you cannot be prosecuted for a crime in Italy.

One does wonder whether the mischievous medic had signed any other dodgy health certificates though. Digging around I imagine investigators could come across a few two-legged one-legged men, and women. A few walking dead, or maybe even the odd deaf piano tuner or two.

More Dodgy Doctors

On the subject of dodgy Italian doctors, a few incidents have made it into the news here recently. How about the 32 Milanese doctors under investigation for having issued prescriptions to those who are now living behind the pearly gates (Or simmering down below)?

Then there was the esteemed ‘prince’ of Italian paediatricians, Carlo Marcelletti, who was arrested for demanding money from the parents of his little patients to, er, accelerate their treatment. This charming quack was then found to have had pornographic images of  what was probably a child on his mobile phone.

To round things off, this price of fiddlers was also, apparently, pocketing money owned to the hospital where he worked and, just for good measure, was probably involved in the manipulation of tenders for work within the hospital.

Ah, the artful dodgers of Italy.

Berlusconi the Wizard 2

Last week I wrote a post entitled Berlusconi the Wizard about a lovely little cartoon of Berlusconi tackling the Naples rubbish problem in is own inimitable way. Well, I’ve found said cartoon, which appeared in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

It can be seen here on PressDisplay.com – if the link does not take you to the right edition, just use the little calendar to find the 20th May edition of Corriere della Sera. The ‘toon is on the front page, and if you click on said page, you’ll see the full size version.

Actually, the Berlusconi as a wizard theme is used in quite a few of the cartoons appearing on the front page of what is one of Italy’s main newspapers. To see more, have a browse through last and this week’s editions.

Happy chuckles!

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