thisweekinitaly.com

I Should Not Have Commented Last Week in Improving Efficiency in Italy

Right after I sent out newsletter 461 with such comment, my internet service went down and the elevator stopped working in my building. Then a friend in Florence complained that it took seven days for a letter to arrive at her house that was mailed 12 blocks away.

Everett Hall Trousers

I finally got these oversized trousers (for professional athletes) altered down to my size.  The seamstress probably could have made another garment from the material she took out of these trousers to fit me.

Mayoral Election in Pistoia

It took place this week. There were eight candidates for mayor. The candidate of the central-left coalition won with 60% of the vote.  There were administrative elections throughout Italy.  The center-right party of Berlusconi did poorly.  I predicted that this party would not long survive Berlusconi’s exit from politics, and I think my prediction will come true.  The closest thing to the American Tea Party in Italy, the party of comedian BeppeGrillo, showed strong gains, but I don’t think it will develop into a major party.

Renzo Bossi (aka The Trout)

I have written recently about this not very bright son of Umberto Bossi, the founder and head of the Northern League party.  A prime tenet of the League is disrespect and disdain for the south of Italy.  After Renzo twice failed his high school exit examination, however, the Bossi family sent him to the south of Italy (where standards are more lax) to take it a third time.  He passed.  Then the family faced the issue of a university education for Renzo.  It now appears that at a private university in Albania he earned a three-year degree in only one year by passing 29 examinations with very good grades.  What makes this even more amazing is that the language of instruction at the university is Albanian.  All this came to light when it was discovered that the Treasurer of the Northern League party made a large payment to this university.  Perhaps the tuition is quite high for the fast-track, one-year program.

In Renzo’s defense, however, I must note what he said last week.  With the scandal in Northern League finances, Renzo has lost his political post.  He said that he needs to start over now, and he thinks he would like to be a stone mason or farmer.  The most sensible thing I have ever heard him say.

A sad coda to this story.  Umberto Bossi has done everything possible to get Renzo qualifications that he has not earned and to place him in positions for which he is not competent. The final result: Renzo is a national joke in Italy.

Renita Cameron

She does not live in the city of Pistoia, but when she is in town on Wednesday or Saturday, she may join our coffee group.  She grew up about four miles from where I grew up.  She was in TV work in USA, but came to Italy to marry an Italian from whom she is now divorced (a not untypical story). We have worked together in an organization to promote local artisans in Pistoia, but now her main project is promoting disc golf (golf with a Frisbee) in Italy (www.discgolf.it) .  This sport is quite popular in northern Europe and parts of USA, but is just getting off the ground in Italy.  An extraordinarily vivacious person, she is even a better known American than I am in Pistoia!

Approaching a Crucial Moment in Movement for Change in Italy

I often asked people why Berlusconi, with a large Parliamentary majority, implemented so little of his political program.  I have been told that every time he tried to do some new major initiative, the opposition blocked it with strikes, street demonstrations, etc.  In short, if you are loud enough in protest in Italy, the government simply backs down.  Now we have a non-political government of technocrats.  It is proposing major changes, and the opposition is growing more intense.  Will this government also pull back in the face of strikes, demonstrations, etc.?  If it does, how will the world financial markets react?  Will Italy have to pay more interest to borrow in the marketplace because it will be seen as not serious in making needed changes?

 The cost of politics and government in Italy is scandalous.  So demands that the government address this waste are just.  The problem is that the mirage arises that savings from such cuts can solve Italy’s financial problems and put it on the road to economic revival.  Not true.

City Rivalries

I wrote recently about how Pisa would not allow Florence city flags in a celebratory parade in Pisa.   An Italian friend wrote to remind me of what Dante from Florence said about Pisa in The Divine Comedy:

Ah! Pisa, thou opprobrium of the people
Of the fair land there where the ‘Si’ doth sound,
Since slow to punish thee thy neighbours are,

Let the Capraia and Gorgona move,
And make a hedge across the mouth of Arno
That every person in thee it may drown!

It’s only been 700 years since these words were penned.  One can hardly expect the Pisans to forget that quickly.

Follow Up on Private Mail System

I wrote in newsletter 457 (April 6, 2012) about mailing some post cards in Rome that seemed to be going through some kind of private mail system.  I could not identify the stamps I purchased at the tobacco shop.  I put the cards in a special box in the shop.  I thought maybe these were Vatican stamps, but they did not seem to be.  So I planned to have a friend to whom I sent a card scan the stamp on the card and send me the photo of it.  I could then look more closely at the stamp and try to figure out how the mail was sent.  A big problem with my plan – the cards never arrived in the USA.  Maybe it was just a scam.

In My Neighborhood

I wrote in newsletter 442 (December 16, 2011) about tours of historic sites in my neighborhood sponsored by a new coalition of local merchants. I took all three tours.  Now some of the sites on the tours have a plaque mounted which has on it a code that can be read by a smartphone. Then the sceen of the phone will display the information about the site (perhaps even an audio track).  Very up to date!

One Reason Not to Return to the USA

When people ask me to compare life in the USA to life in Italy, I always note that life is more efficient in the USA. Recently I had to order two replacement credit cards.  I called the toll free numbers in the USA and was told the new cards would arrive (at my American address) in 7 to 10 business days.  Neither did.  When I contacted the two companies after 20 days, the first admitted that the card in fact was not sent.  The second said that the card had been sent.  In this case it in fact wasn’t sent or the US Postal Service lost it. This is the second time a card supposedly sent did not arrive.  In my years here life in Italy has become more efficient.  If in the USA efficiency is going in the opposite direction, this is a good reason to stay in Italy.

Reading English –How Difficult??

I imagine most of you have seen the item where a paragraph in English is rewritten with numbers replacing many of the letters. So to read the paragraph you have to figure out what the words are by reading the letters that are not replaced with numbers, by the length of the words, and by the context of the paragraph.  It is not difficult.  I thought, however, that this would prove quite difficult for my Italian students of English.  When they tried it, they had some initial difficulty but quickly caught on and read the paragraph with few errors.

The Market Day Coffee Club

On Wednesday and Saturday mornings (traveling market days), a group of English speakers get together for coffee.  Here is the cast of characters besides me:

Pam and Paolo – She in English;; he is from Pistoia. Before retiring to a home in hills just outside Pistoia they lived in USA, Mexico, Great Britain, and Rome.  Paolo was an international banker.

Julie– An English lady married to an Italian.  She teaches English.

Patricia — An English woman who worked in international development agencies

David and Nina – An Australian couple who retired to Italy.  David worked for many years in New Guinea; he can’t speak Italian, but he can talk the pidgin language of the native New Guineans.

Tracey—A young American girl from Iowa who lives with an Italian lawyer in Pistoia.

Rig and Nicola – a British couple who travel around Europe giving seminars in Buddhism.

Susan – An English woman married to an Italian state policeman.  She has a rare disease among women – a masculine sense of humor.

I Can’t Stand it Anymore!

There are occasional stories in the Italian press about a person who has failed in business or does not have enough money to get by and commits suicide for this reason. This may happen too in the USA, but if it does, it is not national news as in Italy.  In the USA it is easier to declare bankruptcy (both legally and culturally) and start over than it is in Italy.  Add to this the Italian penchant for the dramatic, and you may have at least a partial explanation for this phenomenon in Italy.

The Artist??

The only F grade I ever received in school was in an art course.  My sense of visual perception is terrible.  If I could remove the visual perception questions from an IQ test, I might be a genius.  So consider the irony that my photo that I recently attached to this newsletter (that is displayed in a hospital room in New Orleans) will be displayed in an amateur art exhibit in Florence.  Is this even a step ahead of the modern art show with a work painted by a monkey inserted? A friend who has seen the photos to be shown in the exhibit notes that mine is attractive but not as sharp as the others—not surprising because I used a $100 camera while others photographers probably have a $500-$1000 camera (if not more expensive).  When you enlarge photos, this difference in camera quality shows.

On a recent afternoon bike ride I took some photos of spring flowers around Pistoia that are posted at http://thisweekinitaly.com/spring-2012-flowers   These seem to be attractive but unexceptional photographs of flowers, but you must remember that they were taken by an “Artist.” Click on the small photos to enlarge them.

Campanilismo

This word signifies the Italian devotion to the local city or town rather than larger political units like the province, region, or nation.  A friend told me he thought this perspective was diminishing.  Well Pisa invited Florence to participate in the 140^th anniversary of the Marina of Pisa.  Pisa, however, balked when Florence proposed to send a crew of flag throwers (sbandieratori) who would carry the Florentine flag.  No Florentine flags in Pisa!

It Happened Again

In newsletter 212 (December 9, 2006) I wrote about seeing the film The Wind That Shakes the Barley set in Ireland in the 1920s.  Although the film was in English, I ended up often reading the Italian subtitles to understand what the characters, with broad Irish accents, were saying.  The same thing happened this week when I saw the film Hunger(first film directed by Steve McQueen) that was set in Ireland in the 1980s.

Can Some Money Solve the Problem?

Two Italian soldiers are being held in India. They were guards on a merchant ship and are charged with killings two Indian fishermen whom they mistook for pirates.  There is an argument between India and Italy about which country has jurisdiction over the case that took in international waters.  Recently the Italian government, without being asked to do so, made large cash payments to the families of the fishermen.  A sympathetic person might view this as a laudable, charitable act while a cynical person might….

Erotic Games

Two deaths were reported in newspapers this week concerning erotic sexual games.  In the first a man hanged himself while practicing a game that involves near strangulation.  In the second a man was found nude, tied, and suffocated in his bed. Police believe he hired male prostitutes for sexual games that got out of hand.  The first man was 44; the second was 80.

Apology

My e mail account was hacked this week and spam mail sent to many if not all the people in my address book.  I did then close down the account and reopen it with a new password.  I apologize for any useless mail you may have received with my name on it.

Latest in Criminal Weapons

As I’ve noted before, Italians are fascinated by transsexuals from Brazil who often work as prostitutes here.  Recently two of them talked an older guy into give them a lift, and then threatened him and forced him to stop and withdraw funds from an ATM machine to give to them.  Their weapon to force compliance – it was the spiked heels on their shoes.

Solving a Bureaucratic Problem – Italian Advice

A friend of mine lives half the year in Italy and half in the USA, a citizen of both nations.  He ships to the USA high quality olive oil from his trees in Italy.  Last December, for the first time, his shipment of oil was held up by US Customs at the FedEx terminal in Memphis.  He was desperate to get it released and called the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the USA for advice.  The woman he spoke to was no expert on customs problems.  Her advice – get in touch with the official in charge of US Customs in Memphis and find out how much he had to be paid to release the shipment. My friend knew enough about the USA to realize that this was not good advice for America although it might have worked in Italy.   He eventually got in touch with a congressman who got the shipment released.

Berlusconi – Moved from Page 1 to Page 7

Berlusconi’s newest legal troubles are in the newspapers, but no longer front page news.  The judges are still investigating the bunga-bunga parties at his home.  He described some of the entertainment as a “Burlesque contest.” Now such entertainment was legal for him to display in his home with the possible exception of the use of minors.  What Silvio, and many of his Italian supporters, seem unable to understand is that the days when ones private activities were strictly private are over.  President Kennedy was a sex addict while President and it was unreported in the media, but Bill Clinton discovered that even limited sexual activities in the White House were no longer a simply private matter. Today such activities diminish the reputation of the political leader and also the reputation of the nation he leads.  When the financial crisis hit Italy, the low reputation of Berlusconi was a prime reason he had to be replaced to reestablish international confidence in the nation.

TV Ratings in Italy

The most popular American TV import among older Italians – Californication.

Legal vs. Cultural Change

I spoke with one of Italy’s leading political scientists, the husband of a friend of mine.  He highlighted the difference between legal and cultural change for the future of Italy. For example, the pension system can be and has been changed by law to accommodate the new challenges of an aging population. The pension system is totally regulated by law.  Many of the problems of economic productivity in Italy, however, are not legal but cultural.  Changing burdensome laws and regulations can be a good first step in making the economy more dynamic, but the culture that underlies the economy will take much longer to change if at all.

One of the government ministers made this point clearly when he said that government can pass new laws against tax evasion, but they will not be highly effective unless Italians abandon the culture of not paying their taxes.

Living Long vs. Living Well

Women live longer than men, but a recent study in Europe says that in European nations men on the average have more years of sound health during their life (both in terms of absolute number of years and as a percentage of total lifespan)  before the inevitable problems of old age arrive than do women.  Nobody knows why.  If this is a phenomenon limited to Europe, I made a good health decision to move to Italy.

Liberation Day April 25

This national holiday commemorates the date in 1945 when Italy was liberated from German occupation.  As always in Italy, the historical memory of WWII is concentrated on the years 1943-45 in which there was a war between the Germans and Italian Fascists on one side and the Italian partisans on the other.  (Nobody likes to talk about the years when Germany and Italy were allies.)  A famous film about this era is TheFour Days of Naplesabout the rebellion against the Germans in Naples just before Allied troops arrived.  Even the Germans could not bring order to Naples sothey negotiated a truce and left prematurely.

On Liberation Day some friends and I had trouble finding a bar open to have coffee together.  It is hard to know which bar, if any, will be open on a holiday.  We finally found one open that is operated by a Chinese couple. If you are looking for a business open on a holiday, a good guess is to try one with Chinese management.

A Little Good Medical Advice

A friend of mine started and runs the Foundation for Photo/Art in hospitals (http://healingphotoart.com/) that places nature and landscape photos in often sterile hospital rooms to provide a more pleasant environment for the recovering patient. The photo attached to this newsletter is one I took in southern Tuscany that now hangs in a room in the East Jefferson General Hospital in New Orleans.  So if you are scheduled for surgery, you can go to this hospital and request the room with my photo.  More simple medical advice is that your print out the photo and hang it on the wall of your bedroom next time you are home sick in bed.

Death on the Soccer Field

A soccer player in the B league (one level below the highest league) fell down on the field with an apparent  heart attack.  The ambulance was delayed a few minutes getting onto the field because the entrance was blocked by a locked police car, but there was a defibrillator on the field, and it does not appear that the delay of a few minutes was crucial. He died at the hospital.   This was on Saturday; the next day all professional soccer matches were cancelled for a day of mourning. This was the number one story in Italian media.  I recall many years ago when a National Football League player collapsed and died on the field.  You can bet that in the USA no games were cancelled in respect for the departed player.  The event also was not the number one news story in the USA.

The Interaction of Government and Business in Italy

The new government is trying to loosen the fetters of laws and regulations that make it hard to start and sustain a business in Italy.  A true challenge.  Italy has more laws than any other nation in Europe.  Here is how it all works.  Let’s say you are the head of a department for an Italian governmental agency.  Naturally, you want to get more laws and regulations passed and promulgated in your area. Then you can require more employees in the agency to administer the growing set of rules – jobs for your family, your friends, and political supporters of your party plus a higher salary for you as supervisor.  Meanwhile businesses have to put up and pay the cost of the meaningless regulations you require.  These costs get passed onto the taxpayer who thus pays too much in taxes to support a bloated bureaucracy and also incurs extra costs as consumer.  It is not surprising that the Italian economy is stagnant; the true miracle is that it functions as well as it does.

This phenomenon of governmental burdens on business is, of course, not limited to Italy, but international comparisons show Italy as a developed nation that is quite burdensome for business.

The Mayor Discusses Beggars in Florence

In a reply to a tourist who asked about the problem of panhandlers at traffic lights in Florence, the mayor replied that there is no law against begging.  He said that the city, however, does provide places for the poor to sleep, food distribution, and social services for such people who often refuse the help.  I wrote once about the typology of beggars in Italy (newsletter 395, December 17, 2010 www.thisweekinitaly.com).  What the mayor did not note is that many of these beggars are not poor so they don’t need housing, food, and special services.  Begging is their occupation, not an act of desperation. They may earn more begging (all tax free) than they would otherwise.

Preparing Apartments for Visitors – Italian Style

I inspected some rental apartments in Florence for a friend who wanted to make a reservation at one of them.  Here is the website http://www.asuiteinflorence.com/ They are lovely apartments recently renovated in a building constructed by one of the Medici in the 16^th century. The family too lives in the complex.  Anyone putting together such apartments would want them to be attractive, but since they are rental properties, there would also be a concern about controlling costs.  If art work was needed, in the USA the tendency would be to buy some nice prints.  In these apartments there are original art works carefully selected by the owners.  When an Italian does something in his own house(even if converted to rental use) , it almost always will be first class even if that is not the wisest move from a purely economic viewpoint.

Translating a Legal Document

I reviewed the translation into English that a friend made of a court order in Pistoia.  It concerned two Nigerians arrested for using cloned credit cards.  The issue was whether they could be retained in jail pending trial. Now these two were illegally in Europe and arrived in Pistoia in a car with French plates. If released before trial, you can be 99.9% sure you will never see them at the trial.  The court order spelled out exactly how these two (in terms of their background and the crime itself) met the criteria to be held in jail until the trial.  In the USA, they would be bought before a judge, there would be a brief explanation of the circumstances, and the judge would then set a bail higher than the two guys could pay. They then would be carted off to jail.

In fact, the Italian system in this situation may be more just and fair than the American one.  The problem, of course, is all the rules and regulations of the Italian system are too complex for the Italians to administer effectively.  It is the every present problem in Italy – what looks good on paper is more important than what in fact works.

At the Supermarket

Two customers in front of me in the check out line were a couple who carefully packed their large order, and then, as if it were a surprise, realized that had to pay for the food. The woman rummaged through her purse for a minute and finally took out a small wallet. Then she took out four different credit cards, one at a time, before deciding which one to present. Next was a lady with three items: a package of 6 bottles of mineral water, a candy bar, and a package of nuts. She laid 5 Euro on the counter, but the cashier said the total price was, let’s say, 6.50. So the lady gave back the package of nuts and the cashier had to adjust the bill. Now it can’t be very hard to figure in your head the approximate total bill for only three items. The slow shoppers were very nice people. Nobody gets upset at their delays.

 I am retired. I am almost never in a hurry. So these little inconveniences are not important to me. I feel very sorry for somebody who works in Italy and tries to squeeze in a little shopping or an errand over the lunch hour. There is always the risk that you won’t get it done because you will run into these kinds of delays.

Film and Reading Recommendation

The Italian film “We Have a Pope” by prominent Italian director Nanni Moretti, has come to the USA. Of course, it may have only limited distribution; Italian films rarely are released in the USA. I saw it last year, and think it is well worth viewing.  I recently read Too Much Tuscan Sun, Confessions of a Chianti Tour Guide by Dario Castagno. It is a quick, breezy read that gives some flavor of Chianti while presenting some interesting portraits of tourists.

A Footnote on the Scandal of Party Election Expense Reimbursement Used for Personal Purposes

I wrote last week about this and the Northern League. Actually a month ago a similar scandal came to light in another party. The government reimburses political parties not upon the basis of actual electoral expenses submitted, but on the basis of the percentage of the vote received the party in the last election. So in 2008 election , the expenses of all the parties were estimated at 101 million Euro; the government reimbursed them to the extent of over 500 million Euro.

The situation is even worse that the numbers indicate. Previous to the 1990s, the Italian government directly financed party expenses in elections. In a referendum, the Italian voters revoked the public financing law. So Parliament just passed a new law that reimbursed the parties rather than paying them in advance. A slight example of why Italy is considered one of the most corrupt countries in Europe

Talking about Corruption

A perennial problem in Italy is that government money send for projects to improve and develop the South of Italy somehow disappears (into somebody’s pocket) and the South doesn’t get any better. Well with the European Union there is another source of funds to improve the South – EU money that comes from the EU headquarters in Brussels. Tourism is undeveloped in the South of Italy even though there are some lovely areas to visit. So a proposal was made to the EU for financing to build additional tourist facilities in an area of the South with good potential to attract tourists. Unfortunately the money ended up being used to build private residences and for other personal uses. I imagine by now the officials in Brussels have discovered what has been known in Italy for a long time – the South of Italy is a great place to waste government funds.

What is in a Nickname?

I mentioned last week the less than bright son of Umberto Bossi (Renzo Bossi) whom Umberto at one time named as his successor as head of the party. (Of course, when Umberto resigned recently , nobody looked to Renzo to take his place.) Anyway Renzo is known as “the trout” in Italy. When Umberto named Renzo as his heir apparent, a newspaper reporter asked if Renzo was thus the Dauphin. In Italian the same word that means Dauphin (heir apparent to French throne) also means dolphin, the animal. So Umberto Bossi, playing on this double meaning, said that his son was not a Dauphin (dolphin) – he was more like a trout.

Jay Walking – Italian Style

American Comedian, Jay Leno, had a segment (Jay Walking) on his TV show where he interviewed people on the street asking them simple questions like : who was first American President, what is the Gettysburg Address, and in what country would you find the Great Wall of China? Of course he found folks who could not answer such simple inquiries and usually gave a silly response. A journalist did a similar thing in Italy asking who was Mao Tse-tung, name one play by William Shakespeare (His plays are frequently performed in Italy.), and what is a synagogue? In this case, however, those questioned were not just pedestrians along the street, they were members of the Italian Parliament. They did about as well as Jay Leno’s folks. Every country has its political clowns – Italy is a veritable circus.

Gladiators Battle Again at the Roman Colloseum

week city officials in Rome began a ban on Gladiators and Centurions who hang around the Colloseum in costumes and ask money from tourists for posing for pictures. The reason for the ban, according to one city council member, is “They are illegal.” They are, however still allowed to work on the road leading to the Colloseum, at the Trevi Fountain, and in the Piazza Navona. Don’t even bother to ask the obvious question “why are they illegal at the Colloseum and legal in these other places?” Police say that these men earn as much as 200 Euro per day and pay no taxes. A similar ban was tried in 2003, but eventually the city council ceded to the protest of the warriors and allowed them to stay saying that their trade was “akin to traditional traveling minstrels. “ I would not bet that the 2012 ban lasts longer than the 2003 one did.

Italian Movie Sophistication

A local newspaper had a story about a divorced husband who broke into his ex-wife’s house and abused her and terrorized her for an entire night.  The headline on the story spoke of a night from “A Clockwork Orange.”  There must be many Italians, probably a majority, who have never seen this 1971 film, but the level of knowledge about films in Italy is sufficiently high that the newspaper can use such a headline and feel it will be understood by readers.

A Post Script on World Figure Skating Championships

In the 1950s and 1960s American skaters were often champions.  In the 1980s and 1990s, the Russians tended to dominate. Today no one country dominates, but as a group skaters of Asian ancestry or nationality tend to be the most successful. They certainly don’t win all the medals, but their overall performance is the strongest. 

I noted last week how the judges at the ice skating championships are looking at technical details rather than what is of the greatest interest to spectators.  The judges have TV monitors in front of them that allow them to monitor closely these details is a way that is impossible for spectators in the stands.

The new Women’s world champion is Italian Carolina Kostner.  She has had an up and down career as a skater.  She may retire now after winning the World Championship.  I think one of her greatest assets is her height which gives her a more elegant figure on the ice.  There is a reason that fashion designers use tall models to display their clothes.

Returning to Italy from France

A one day trip turned into a two day one because of a train strike in Italian region of Liguria on the French border.  When you confront such stupid inconveniences in Italy, you have to start saying to yourself the good things that making living here acceptable – food, natural beauty, great art, friendly people, etc.

In Ventimiglia just over the border from France into Italy, we did have an excellent meal.  The restaurant was advertising their special Easter meal which for $53 provided: (antipasto) pecorino cheese with a small salad of chicken, artichokes and nuts or (and?) pasta with asparagus and shrimp; (first course) spaghetti with saffron and a lamb sauce flavored with laurel or (and?) homemade pasta with spring beans and a mixture of potatoes and bacon; (second course)   lamb marinated with mint flavor plus zucchini,  a potato tart, and fresh tomatoes with pecorino; (dessert) a special frozen tart made with the traditional Easter dove cake, cream caramel, and grey salt crystals. Wine, water, and coffee included.

It might be worth a trip back for Easter.

The Leonardo Mural under the Vasari Mural in the Grand Hall of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence

I wrote about this recently.  Since then I went to talk by the man who since 1977 has been leading the investigations to discover this lost work.  He is a scientist, not an art historian, and the talk highlighted the various scientific methods of trying to see behind Vasari’s mural.  These include, among others, sound waves, heat waves, and lasers.  Much of this technology is the offshoot of military advances just as the navigator in a car is.  These devices have allowed the investigators to trace various alternations made in the room over the centuries. From time to time the work on this project has stopped for lack of money, but the major obstacle (as always in Italy) has been political interference.

Talking about Politics

The Northern League, as I have written before, is the political party in Italy that, among other things, would like to separate the North of Italy (which they call Padana) as an independent nation.  The League was created by Umberto Bossi who has remained its leader for over 30 years.  He treats it as his personal fiefdom even to the extent of naming his moronic son, Renso, as his successor as leader after Umberto’s death.

With the new alignment in Italy under the Monti government in response to the financial crisis, the League has been in opposition, but also is increasingly less relevant.  Other top officials in the League see the need to move in new directions, but not Bossi.  In short Bossi has been becoming a liability for the future of the party.  This week the revelations surfaced that government funds given to the League to reimburse electoral costs (as provided by Italian law) have instead been used to benefit the Bossi family.  Unlike other politicians in Italy, Bossi dresses like a slob so one newspaper noted that he certainly was not using party funds to buy clothes. Bossi has resigned as party secretary.  It may be just a coincidence that this scandal broke at the exact time when some important folks in the League wanted to move beyond Bossi, or it may not be a coincidence.

Private Mail System

When I was in Rome this week, I went into a Tobacco shop to buy some stamps for postcards to the USA. The man sold me some special stamps that you put on the cards and then deposit the cards in a box in the store, not in an Italian postal system mailbox.  In Rome the Vatican mail system has always existed as a more reliable alternative to the Italian one, but these did not seem to be Vatican stamps.  I could not discern the name of any country on the stamps.  One image on them looked like the Swiss flag, but I certainly did not see the name of Switzerland.  The price was the same as for Italian stamps.  I’ll have to check to see with the recipients if the cards arrive in good time.

A FEW WEEKS AGO I POSTED THIS ITEM IN MY NEWSLETTER AS PART OF AN EXCHANGE OF POSTINGS WITH ANOTHER SITE.

IT DID NOT POST CORRECTLY SO NOW IT HAS BEEN POSTED AS A SEPARATE ITEM

A trip to Italy is a dream for most people. Italy is ranked as one of the most popular tourist destination in the world. Italy by nature is a classic destination of choice. This country has so much charm because of the great art, architecture, culture, fashion, people, language, food, scenery, landscapes and history. It is a beautiful country with its lakes, mountains and picturesque cities. Rome, Venice and Milan are the most visited cities along with the islands.

Italy is the land of romance with historical monuments that make it to the Seven Wonders of the World such as the Tower of Pisa to the Vatican City. There is yet another side that attracts tourists and fellow citizens alike and that is Italian casinos. Most large Italian cities will have a casino especially if it is a tourist attraction. So while travelling Italy one can play casino game online in Italy.

Private homes for rent to vacationers in Italy can be found in various price ranges. If you are looking for luxury then the villas are available. If something more rustic suits your taste and budget then the smaller homes and even old farmhouses are available to appeal to all tastes. Some internet online casino bonus offer their free bonuses in the form of free credits, free slots.

Among the things you can buy in Italy there are: leather footwear, jackets and bags, designer clothes, knitted wear, crystal, jeweler and old-fashioned frames. Casinos in Italy are very popular as well as sports betting in football and in other forms like free casino games, poker games, slot games etc.

Everett Hall Trousers

 I saw a very nice new pair of this brand in my waste size at the local market (cost $2.50) and purchased them. I did not know this brand name which is in English, but sometimes Italian clothiers use English names. When I took the trousers to my tailor to have the bottoms hemmed, I discovered that the legs were almost long enough for a seven foot person. Of course, you can always shorten the legs. After I had that done, out of curiosity I looked up Everett Hall on internet. It turned out to be a company that specializes in clothes for oversized athletes.

Well the pant legs are fine now, but I also did not notice how wide these legs are. I could only wear these pants if I got a zoot suit jacket to go with them. (For my younger or foreign readers who don’t know what a zoot suit was, I recommend a quick visit to this web site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2Hq1Qv9N2U )

Maybe I could save the pants for a trip to an National Basketball Association game where the players might look at these trousers with admiration.

Italian Food

It’s time to reiterate a point I’ve made before. Everyone knows food is generally good in Italy. Every meal is not outstanding, but you almost never get a bad meal. If a person goes to a 5 star very expensive restaurant in any country, he or she is likely to get a very fine meal. One might even say “It costs $100, but it was worth it.” In Italy you can go to an ordinary restaurant, order something you have eaten many times before in various places, and end up saying to yourself, “My God, I’ve never tasted (X) this good before.” It won’t be a fancy or complex sauce, but just exquisite preparation.

Of course you get some items in Italy that are not common in the USA. Recently for lunch I started with a pasta with squid and then had a plate of octopus with peas. That evening I got something really unusual, even for Italy, a hot large sandwich featuring dingo meat. The dingo is the wild Australian dog. This item was featured at the neighborhood pizza and grilled meat restaurant with the American co-owner.

Another Food Oddity

This week I am in Nice, France for the World Figure Skating Championship. My traveling partner ordered sheep testicles at a local restaurant. I got a bite. They were not at all unpleasant, but hardly an extraordinary flavor.

The Ice Skating Championship

I have gone to these for a number of years. Probably the worst organized in the past was the one in Turin, Italy, but the French this year are giving the Italians competition in this regard. Well anyway the skating is lovely to watch. I could never figure out when a skater or a skating pair would get a high or low score for their performance. This year I realized that a lot of the scoring concerns what happens with the feet – position, timing, take off, landing, etc. The upper body of the skater is more interesting to watch. So I am not really looking at a crucial element, assuming I would be clever enough to know the differences in terms of scoring for what happens at the ice level.

 I wrote once before (newsletter 305, January 23, 2009) how the recent scoring system in skating places more emphasis on athletic/gymnastic ability and less on ballet elements. It also has required elements for the routines which limit originality. A fall now is a one point penalty only but does not have other negative results. So a skater may fall one or two times and still easily have a higher score than another skater who did not fall at all.

Interestingly more than a few of skaters skate for a country other than their own. In pairs competition usually only one the pair has to be from the country the pair represents. Skaters can also get dual citizenship in another country. If a skater is not talented enough to be sent by one of the major skating powers to an international competition, he or she may still be good enough to represent a smaller nation.

Pharmacies

Part of the new government’s deregulation of the economy is to allow more pharmacies (whose number is limited to one for every X citizens) and also mini-pharmacies that sell some but not of the items sold in full pharmacies. What is surprising to an American is that there seems to be no shortage of pharmacies now. I can think of at least three within a 5-10 minute walk from my apartment.

Scientific Review of Criminal Evidence

In a criminal trial in Italy the prosecution and the defense don’t bring in conflicting expert witnesses for the scientific review of items like blood samples, teeth marks, saliva, etc. Instead the court appoints an expert to make a report. The first appeal in Italy, unlike in the USA, reviews the fact of the case. Sometimes the appeal court then appoints a second expert to review the forensic evidence. You can almost be sure that the second expert will disagree with the one at the original trial. After all if the second expert simply affirmed the prior findings it would not show that he or she was superior to the first expert. Enhancing your image (remember image is very important in Italy) requires disagreement. What is the truth about the evidence? Who knows?

Bike Ride Aborted

I made plans to ride in the hills north of Pistoia with a friend. We would go to the starting point by bus (which can carry bikes in the luggage area).  I would catch the bus at 8:15 am at the station in Pistoia and he would get on the bus later at the stop near his home.   I arrived at the bus station at 8:10. By 8:30 my bus had not arrived, but my friend called to say that the bus had come to his stop and he was on it. Where was I?  Obviously the bus had left my stop at least 6 minutes early.  Why?  I can’t say for sure, but it is a good bet that the bus driver had some personal reason to want to finish his run as soon as possible.  You know that trains and buses are often late in Italy, but they can even leave early.  What they are not is dependable.

Political Cartoons in Italy

I have a friend who distributes periodically by e mail a collection of current political cartoons from the USA.  Although a few of the creators of these have a minimalist drawing style, in general the drawing itself carries most of the message with the caption or dialog supplying the rest.  In Italy the typical cartoon is two people talking and the message is not mainly in the drawing, but in the dialog.  The drawings are much less detailed than is often the case in the USA.

Big Art News

Five hundred years ago Leonardo da Vinci left an unfinished large wall painting, Battle of Anghiari on the wall of a large salon in Florence’s historic government center.  A group of art scholars have argued that this painting was covered over by the painting Battle of Marciano by Vasari. They could hardly, however, tear off the Vasari painting to test their hypothesis.  Now with sophisticated probing devices specks of paint have been found on the wall behind the Vasari painting (There is an air space between the back of the Vasari painting and the old wall.) which are the same color of black that Leonardo used in the Mona Lisa. Obviously there is still a problem of how best to search further for the Leonardo original without compromising the later work of Vasari.  Italians may well argue about this issue for years, but I have confidence that sooner or later, they will find a way to expose the da Vinci work (if it is there) without destroying the Vasari one.  Art preservation and restoration are two areas where the Italians excel.

Too Sexy Teachers Revisited

A few years ago I wrote about a teacher fired from a Catholic high school  in Italy because she was too sexy. This week there is a new case, not of a firing but of parents withdrawing their children from a nursery school because the teacher is too sexy.  I am proud to say that the teacher  involved is a fellow American living in Italy, Michela Roth.  She is 38 years old and the mother of one.  She has posed for a Harley-Davidson calendar, was regional winner in the Miss Mama Italia contest, and in 2011 was named Miss “Golden Cute Ass” in Italy. (Does this title even exist elsewhere?)  At school she dresses in ordinary clothes.   I doubt that 4 year olds Giovanni and Maria are surfing the Web to find hot pix of their teacher.  There should be a good attendance of fathers at parents’ night at the school.

I’m sure that some of my readers, especially men, will want to express their solidarity with Michela while also glimpsing a look at some photos of her.  They can do so by visiting the Facebook site of Michela Roth, Bologna Italy. My guess is that Michela came to Italy for some romantic engagement; on her Facebook page, however, she lists her current romantic status as “It’s complicated.”

At the Pistoia Train Station

About six months ago two elevators were installed to allow people to go to and from the access hall below the platforms to the platforms themselves without taking the stairs.  They were installed but not operative. I was surprised to discover last week that at least one of the elevators finally was functioning.  This week I went to the station with a heavy item that I was carrying to my church in Florence.  I looked forward to using the elevator to get to the platform.  Both elevators were already out of order.

A Side Effect of the High Pay for Politicians and Government Officials in Italy

I’ve written recently about this issue of high salaries both at the national and the municipal levels.  In the upcoming municipal elections in nearby Lucca there are 27 party lists and a total of 730 candidates.  This is one candidate for every 68 voters.  A municipal post provides a good salary for you and the opportunity to find municipal jobs for your family and friends.  I think the motivation of “public service” is muted at best for the candidates.  As the American comedian Jimmy Durante often said “Everybody wants to get into the act.”

Nepotism Broadly Conceived

Here is an article by an Italian professor who works in the USA about how nepotism functions in Italy (in both business and academia), in the USA, and more broadly in the entire animal kingdom.  Well worth reading.

http://mag.uchicago.edu/science-medicine/bobo-soprano

An interesting note on the word “nepotism.”  An Italian friend tells me it is related to the Italian word “nipote” which means nephew (as well as grandchild).  One would expect for this practice a word related to the word for “son “ because the primary goal of a person in power traditionally would be to forward the interests of his son.  The word nepotism, however, goes back to the practice of Popes.  Officially Popes did not have sons and daughters; so if they promoted the interests of their family, it would be of siblings and collateral relatives.  Perhaps some actual “sons” of Popes were claimed to be “nephews.”

Gay Marriage versus Civil Unions

A high court in Italy has ruled that Italy does not have to recognize gay marriages performed in other nations.  The court went on to say that in Italy, unless the laws are changed, marriage is only between a man and a woman.  The court did hold, however, that unmarried couples (homosexual or heterosexual) who register as a couple are entitled to all rights at law granted to married couples. 

When Push Comes to Shove in Changing Italy

The new government is introducing some measures in Parliament which are strongly opposed by  some important players in Italian society.  The government can introduce these via a vote of confidence which means that if the measure fails, the government has to resign, and the President of Italy has to try to form a new government.  In recent weeks the interest rate Italy has to pay on its new government bonds has dropped sharply because of international confidence in the new Monti government.  If the Monti government were forced to resign because it lost a vote of confidence in Parliament, the interest rate on Italian government bonds would head for the sky.  Everybody knows this, and the political parties don’t want to responsible for putting Italy in a big financial crisis.  So at this point I think Monti has the strong hand.

An Addendum on No Iron Shirts

I noted how these shirts look great if you take them out of the dryer immediately after the drying cycle ends, but that very few people in Italy have an automatic dryer. A friend living in Italy reminded me that after the cycle ends on an European dryer you cannot open the door for about 3-5 minutes. During that time the wrinkles return. It may also be that Italian dryers do not have the same cool down cycle, but in any case they manage to frustrate the advantage of no iron shirts.

 Historical Renovation vs. Modern Needs

The mayor of Florence wants to repave a major plaza in the city with historically correct red terra cotta. The current pavement is functional if not historically accurate. In Florence, as in most Italian cities, there are lots of areas with degraded pavements. So do you upgrade a famous plaza for esthetic and touristic reasons, or do you use the money to repair current problems with the streets and sidewalks? This kind of conflict in goals is not uncommon in Italy.

 A Little Tiff Between Italy and Great Britain

In Nigeria terrorists were holding a British citizen and an Italian citizen. A ransom amount had been demanded. I am not sure if a sum had been paid. The two in any case were not released. British secret service heard that the hostages were about to be moved and might be killed. A raid to free the hostages took place. The terrorists were killed or captured but during the fighting, they executed the hostages. The Italian government was very upset that it was not consulted about the raid before it happened. The bigger issue, however, is that the Italian strategy to free hostages is to negotiate and pay the ransom if necessary ( although they always deny paying it). Italians are very loath to use force in such a situation lest the outcome be the death of a hostage as is was in this case. The British strategy in general, like the American, is not to pay a ransom and to consider using force. The idea is that if you pay a ransom, you are encouraging further kidnappings of your citizens.

All this is a perfect example of the Italian short-term view (Save the life of the kidnapped person now, and we will worry about the future later.) and the British and American long-term one (Even if they kill one of our citizens because we won’t pay a ransom, they will realize that kidnapping our citizens in the future will get them nothing.)

Working Hard

Often buried in an article or column In an Italian newspaper, one finds a surprising claim for which, unfortunately, is hard to be sure of the truth because fact checking is not a major virtue of the Italian media. With this caveat , I note that a columnist reported that some government agency in the USA said that Italians on the average work more hours in a year than citizens of most other Western nations including Germany and the USA. (Despite the fact that salaried employees in Italy have many more vacation days and more holidays than those in the USA.) Italian salaries are among the lowest in Western Europe. If all this is true, you have people working longer and earning less. Of course it could be simply that Italians take more time to produce goods and services than others. It also could be that other elements of the economy: high taxes (low rate of compliance), inadequate infrastructure, lack of modernization, burdensome regulation, etc. depress economic output.

 A Little More on Lucia Dalla from My Old Friend Chuck Jarvis Who Administered a Study Abroad Program in Bologna

I want to comment or offer my comments on your last newsletter pertaining to the death of Lucio Dalla. I did not know he had died and want to thank you for your notice….Few of your readers probably did not know of him, but I did and admired his work tremendously. Profundo Del Mare is one of my favorites….and as a talented clarinetist, a very untalented clarinetest always admired his playing

He was from Bologna and carried on a friendly rivalry in the music world with Francesco Guccini, another cantoautore…also from Bologna and equally famous. Guccini taught intensive Italian for Dickinson/Bologna from the mid 60’s to the early 80’s and was a wonderful introduction of Italy to our students in the month he taught “intensive Italian” before regular classes begain. By the time Guccini stopped teaching for us, he was very famous and his concerts drew thousands…as did Dalla’s Guccini and I subsequently became good friends (he visited Carlisle twice) and at one time or another I met Dalla, either when he had his breakfast at a bar I frequented for my coffee on my way to work or at night at the place he frequented when I stopped in to see Guccini, who hung out at the same place. Both Dalla and Guccini had a following of fans at the same Bologna bar, Da Vito, and so it was very interesting to see Dalla and his following at one end of the room and Guccini at the other with his. I think the rivalry or maybe the crowds got a bit out of hand, so Guccini would often call the bar to see if Dalla was there, and from that info would choose to go to the bar or not. Guccini still sings, but he is also a novelist and at time appears in films…..the era of his kind of Dylan type songs having elapsed.

Cost of Local Politics

Pistoia is a city of 90,000 inhabitants. Its city council is at least twice as large as that of a typical American city of such size. The city has 17 “executive type employees” on its payroll. Their salaries (in dollars) range from $100,094 to $180,928. I don’t think you can find a city in the USA of Pistoia’s size with an administration anywhere near this expensive.

How to Avoid Bicycle Theft in Pistoia

First, get a strong lock. Second, attach bike to a solid iron rail. Third, choose a rail on the front side of a large church on a busy street. The result:

 http://thisweekinitaly.com/wp-content/gallery/pistoia-places-and-people/photo-0002.jpg