April 2006
Monthly Archive
Sat 29 Apr 2006
Posted by Robert C. Nordvall under
20061 Comment
A Day at the Races
On Liberation Day (April 25-the date in 1945 when war ended in Italy) I went to the race track in Florence. It is surprisingly close to the downtown area; in the USA this tract of land would have long ago become housing and the race track would have been moved farther out. I haven’t been to a race track in the USA in 30 years so I don’t know what American tracks are like today. There were no slot machines at the track in Florence; I understand that the installation of slot machines has been the salvation of many tracks in the USA where attendance had lagged. There were TV monitors that showed races going on at other tracks in Italy. In fact, you could bet on races at these tracks as well as the ones at the local track. I did not doing any betting, but one of my friends did and won a little money.
Liberation Day
On this day there are often parades in the major cities –usually attended mostly by people of the left who see themselves as the heirs of the Partisans (many of whom were communists) who fought the Germans and Fascists in the Civil War of 1943-45 in Italy. A controversial member of the Berlusconi government is Letizia Moratti, the minister for education. She has instituted some reforms in the educational system that have been unpopular among many universities and lower schools. Her father was imprisoned in WWII in a Nazi death camp. On Liberation Day she marched in one of the parades pushing her father in his wheelchair. He had asked her to do so. Some people in the crowd hissed at her and called her a fascist. This kind of ugly personal hatred is a very unattractive feature of Italian politics. As I think I have mentioned before, I see this same kind of attitude growing in the USA, and it saddens me.
Trial Balloon on Condoms
The Catholic Church opposes birth control including the use of condoms. Condoms are easily available in Italy including from outdoor vending machines. This week an Italian Cardinal raised the issue of whether condoms might be acceptable as a way to stop the spread of AIDS
Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the former archbishop of Milan, said that in specific circumstances condoms could be seen as a “lesser evil” because they could help stop transmission of the HIV virus. The Vatican has long been criticised for its continued opposition to the use of condoms, even in areas of the world such as Africa, where about 3 million people are infected with AIDS every year .
‘The Director of Weddings’
This is the title of a new, highly-praised, Italian film that I saw last week. In the movie the main character is a film director who plans to make a film of the most famous Italian novel, ‘I Promessi Sposi’ (The Betrothed). In the film certain events occur that have analogies in the story of the novel. You can understand and enjoy the film without knowing the book, but a full appreciation of it requires a knowledge of this book. This novel (written in the 19th century) is known by more Italians than any American novel is known by residents of the United States. I guess I will have to read this book someday. I doubt that this movie will find its way to the USA.
American Student Drinking in Florence
I’ve noted before how American students ( 7,000 each year) in Florence (as well as in other cities with a substantial American student population) have created an American College social life with all its defects. American universities here and local authorities have started a Smart Bar project. Participating bars agree to stop offering : a happy hour, free or low-priced shots, and discount prices for drinking a certain amount. Employees agree to help those who are inebriated get a taxi home. (Fortunately students here don’t have cars.) Twenty bars have signed onto the project, but if it turns out that the non participating bars now get more business, I don’t see a bright future for this initiative.
Grammar Quiz From Last Week
Nobody provided the full correct answer (including the rule that explains why the answer is correct) as to which word is correct in this sentence: In Great Britain you (should) (must) (have to) drive on the left. ‘Should’ is clearly wrong because it does not convey the full sense of legal obligation. The choice is between ‘must’ and ‘have to.’ ‘Must’ is the correct answer. When an obligation is imposed by an external force, such as a law, you use ‘must’ When an obligation is internally imposed, you use ‘have to’ as in the sentence ‘If I want to lose weight, I have to stop eating desserts.’ I tell my students in this case, that either ‘must’ or ‘have to’ is totally correct in everyday usage. Nobody will correct your grammar for using one or the other.
Italian Politics
If I had to sum up the problem of politics and government in Italy in a concise, even if a bit over simplified, manner it would be as follows:
The Italians want a modern government with a full range of governmental services and necessary reforms as times change.
There is an almost universal and corrosive distrust of the government which is seen as corrupt and wasteful.
This distrust provides a rationalization for not paying one’s taxes whenever possible.
It is difficult for any government to provide excellent services and to make meaningful reforms when it lacks both the trust of the people and adequate financial resources.
Traveling with an Italian Passport
A British friend of mine, who is married to an Italian, has a daughter (now living in the USA) who holds both British and Italian citizenship. She used her Italian passport to travel. The daughter once came with her two children to visit her mother in Italy. When she went to get on the plane to leave Italy with the children to return to the USA, the government officials first called her husband in the USA and asked if he gave his permission for them to leave Italy. In Italy a married woman cannot leave the country with her children without the permission of the husband. This event took place a few years ago; possibly the law has changed. I would not bet that it has.
The Florentine Newspaper
This English language newspaper published bi-weekly just celebrated its first birthday. I think the founder (Nita Tucker) is American (possibly British). She came to Italy with her husband. Both were frustrated that there was no English language paper in the city. Neither read Italian well enough at first to get the information they needed from the Italian press. So knowing nothing about the newspaper business or Italian business rules, they floated their idea to an Italian company that did printing and advertising. The Italians, probably to their regret, agreed to help them. What is most interesting in this story is that the entrepreneurial spirit of the founders is something that you rarely find among Italians. Italians are very clever and inventive, but they are not in general risk takers.
Update on Case of American Author Arrested and Questioned in Italy
I wrote a few issues ago about an American author who is publishing a book with an Italian co-author about a serial killer in Italy who was never captured. When the American came here to meet his co-author, he was arrested and questioned by the judge who is in charge of the investigation of the serial killer case. In Italy, unlike the USA, you can easily be tried for libel or slander of a public official. The American author returned to the USA. Here (from The Florentine newspaper) is the latest on his Italian co-author.
On Friday, April 7, journalist Mario Spezi was arrested and charged with slander for his book Sweet Bloody Hills (Dolci Colline di Sangue). The book, which Spezi co-wrote with American journalist Douglas Preston, criticizes the investigation surrounding the so-called ‘Monster of Florence’. This ‘monster’ killed 14 people in the Florentine Hills between 1974 and 1985. The killer has never been caught, and the case has become the most expensive and longest-running criminal investigation in recent Italian history. The book’s publisher, Sonzogno, set the release date for April 19. Authorities charged Spezi with slander and throwing the investigation off track by faulting those in charge of it. In addition, some have speculated that Spezi’s intense interest in the case stems from the fact that he was involved in the murder of Francesco Narducci, a doctor from Perugia who was found dead in Lake Trasimeno in October 1985. Narducci has been suspected of being one of the ‘monster’s’ victims, even though his family maintains that his death was the result of an accident or a suicide and was not connected with the serial killer. Despite such allegations, Spezi claims that he only began studying the case out of a purely professional interest. On Tuesday, April 11, Spezi was interrogated by judge Marina De Robertis. Before his interrogation, Spezi’s defense lawyer, Alessandro Traversi, said that after the session, the lawyers would present a petition for his release, or at least put him under house arrest. Traversi argues his client’s innocence. ‘The truth is that Spezi fell in love with the case, and he followed it closely’, he said. ‘As Stendhal said, ‘Passion is not blind, it is visionary’, but to end up in prison is truly too much.’
Sat 22 Apr 2006
Posted by Robert C. Nordvall under
2006[2] Comments
Trip to Spoleto
Spoleto is known for the Festival of the Two Worlds that it shares with Charleston, South Carolina. I went there for a visit on the Monday after Easter which is a holiday in Italy. We saw the large Roman aqueduct there and the cathedral. We also visited a lovely convent where for 20 Euro a night you can rent a room with a private bath. Afterwards we went to a hotel above the aqueduct for dinner. For 20 Euro we had the fixed menu of: antipasto, two pasta dishes, grilled pork and sausage, potatoes, and dessert. The meat was cooked on the fireplace next to our table. Life in Italy can be frustrating, but at such a dinner one thinks ‘it doesn’t get any better than this.’
‘The Best of Youth’
This is the English title of a TV mini series that was shown in Italy a few years ago. It is available on DVD. It is about four hours long. First, it is an interesting story of the lives of two brothers from 1962-2003. Secondly, it weaves into the story a lot of the history of Italy during these often turbulent years. It was recommended to me by a friend in the USA; I in turn recommend it as a film well worth watching.
The Provenzano Code
We have all heard of ‘The DiVinci Code,’ but Italy is talking about the Provenzano code. Recently captured Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano had a lot of messages written in code in his hideout. Authorities are close to breaking the code and believe that it may be based in part on the Bible. During WWII, the Allies broke both the German and Japanese codes. Since then, with computers, code making and code breaking have become much more sophisticated. It is hard to think that a code used by a Sicilian mobster with a second grade education would be a big challenge for code breakers today.
Grammar Quiz for You
I’ve mentioned how I sometimes have trouble explaining to my students of English why a certain answer is correct. I know the right answer, but not the rule for why it is right. Here is a question to illustrate my plight. Choose the right word from the three choices in this sentence ‘In Great Britain you (should), (must), (have to) drive on the left.’ With only three choices, it may not be hard to guess the correct answer. Here is the challenge. Without looking at a grammar book, tell me the rule that explains why the correct answer is correct. An Italian friend who teaches English was able to tell me the rule. Can you? A prize for the first person with the correct answer.
Rape Case at Duke University
This case involving the lacrosse team made front page news in Italy. The contrast between the impoverished victim and the rich suspects is just the kind of story Italians love. For some reason lacrosse is a sport that has a reputation, not just at Duke, for a lot of misbehavior among the players.
Election in Italy
A delicious irony that may not have been noted in the foreign press is that the Berlusconi government changed the method of representation in Parliament last year in a way that it thought would help its center-right coalition in this year’s election. In fact, this change allowed the victorious center-left coalition to have a good working majority in the lower house even though its plurality in the votes was paper thin.
Italy and the Euro
I mentioned before that there are a few politicians who want Italy to go back to the Lira. Italy will not do this voluntarily, but now there is a little talk that eventually the Euro countries will throw Italy out of their group because of its high public debt. With Prodi as the new leader, I think this is unlikely. Berlusconi was more likely to have led Italy down this path. In that sense, if I could have voted, I should have voted for Berlusconi. The return to the Lira (always a weak currency) would make me immediately more wealthy in Italy.
Pennsylvania Student in Montecatini
A 16 year old American high school student on a school trip to Montecatini was the victim of an attempted rape in her hotel. She was able to break free and sound an alarm. The accused is a 29 year old Tunisian who lives in Naples. The newspaper reported that he too was a guest at the hotel. Now it is not impossible that a young Tunisian who lives in Italy was a guest at the hotel, but it is not likely. Few Tunisian immigrants have enough money to take a vacation in Montecatini. My Italian friends think that he was an illegal employee (This is called the black economy in Italy.) of the hotel that the hotel claimed was a guest to hide his illegal status. Although she was not required to do so, the student returned from Rome (where her group had gone) to attend the preliminary hearing for the accused in Pistoia.
Tue 18 Apr 2006
Posted by Robert C. Nordvall under
2006[2] Comments
Hello,
Since I started to distribute my newsletter through my Web site
(www.bob.it.tt), some people have sent me comments through the comment
feature of the site. Such comments are posted on the site and available
to everybody who reads it. I don’t know if simply hitting the “reply”
button on the e mail message with all or part of the newsletter in it also
sends the reply to the comment section of the web site. I think that it might. I am sure that a
separate e mail message (not using the reply or comment function) sent to
bobnordvall@hotmail.com will not be posted also on web site.
I mention this so people can distinguish between personal replies to me
and replies to the substance on the newsletter that they may want to share
with others.
Bob
Sat 15 Apr 2006
Posted by Robert C. Nordvall under
2006[6] Comments
Funeral of Little Tommaso
This was attended in Parma by 50,000 Italians from all over the nation. One man on TV said he came from Sicily to show that, unlike the murders who are Sicilian, all Sicilians are not bad. Meanwhile the authorities are not yet sure what was the motive for the kidnapping. One thing is sure; whatever official version of the motive is ultimately proclaimed will not be believed by many, if not most, Italians.
Election
The Italian election received broad coverage in the USA. One interesting point. Both main candidates, Silvio Berlusconi and Romano Prodi were born before WWII. In the other western nations power has passed to the generation born after the War, but not in Italy. Just a little example of the gerontocracy that makes it difficult for talented young people to rise in Italy. There are at least two promising younger politicians in Berlusconi’s center-right coalition who clearly are the hope of the future for this political wing, but you can be sure that Silvio will not step aside to give them the opportunity they now deserve. To call Berlusconi narcissistic is an understatement.
Local Boy Gets in Trouble in the USA
Carlo Parlanti is from nearby Montecatini. While living in the USA he allegedly raped his ex-companion repeatedly during a three day period that he imprisoned her. He went to Germany and was arrested there. After fighting extradition., he was extradited to the USA. He recently was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison. His girlfriend and family are leading a fight to get the conviction overturned and have a web site (in English and Italian), www.carloparlanti.it They claim he is innocent, and there was insufficient evidence of his guilt at the trial. As to the nine-year sentence, if he is innocent he deserves no penalty, but if he is guilty, this is not an excessive sentence under American law. In Italy, upon appeal of a case, the appellate court may reexamine the facts of the case; in the USA the appellate court will usually only look to see if the court below followed the correct legal procedures. In short, Carlo is in worse shape now in the USA to get his conviction overturned than he would be for a similar crime in Italy.
Thinking About Religion Over the Easter Weekend
I have often noted how Italians are almost all Catholics but in general not very religious. Another example of the pervasiveness of the Catholic background in Italy –the five most common names for a male in Italy are (in their English equivalents) : Joseph, John, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I’m told that in Italy, as in the USA, the names of younger people reflect new trends so that formerly popular names are now less common.
Top Mafia Boss Captured
The good news: top Mafia Boss Bernanrdo Provenzano was arrested. The bad news: it took the Italian police 43 years to find him and arrest him. Ironically this is treated as a triumph in Italy rather than as a sad demonstration of the weakness of the Italian justice system. He was living in an abandoned farm house two miles from his family’s home. He was arrested after the police saw someone take a package from his home to the abandoned farm house. The package contained his laundry washed and ironed by his wife. If he had been willing to do his own laundry (His hide out was well equipped.), he might still be a free man, but for a Sicilian man of his generation some things are worse than life in prison-such as having to do your own laundry.
In Italy the government can seize land and other property that is controlled by the Mafia. In my neighborhood there is a store that sells items from third world countries and other things that reflect the politics (leftist) of the owner. One thing for sale is pasta made from wheat grown on lands seized from the Mafia. I haven’t tried it to see if it tasters better.
Bicycle Riding
After my medical problem last year, the doctor told me no strenuous bicycle riding. I had hoped that the situation might repair itself so I could go back to doing whatever riding I liked. It is clear to now that this will not happen. So I have decided to find places to ride where the terrain is level and I do not have to exert myself. I’m now exploring a ride around the Ring of Kerry in Ireland. There are a few level places to ride around Pistoia so I can get in shape here.
Mystery in Prato
Nearby Prato has the largest Chinese community in Italy. It is estimated at 11,000 people and probably is larger. Last year a total of five deaths were reported in this community. Many older Chinese return to their homeland to die, but also when a Chinese immigrant dies his or her immigration papers may be passed onto someone else (who has no legal status) who then assumes the identity of the deceased.
Sat 8 Apr 2006
Posted by Robert C. Nordvall under
20061 Comment
Little Tommaso
It turned out that his kidnappers, who are all captured, killed him the first night when he was crying while a police car approached them, and they feared that they would be discovered. In the middle of a national election campaign, this story still dominated the first five pages of the newspapers for three days. As is typical when such a crime takes place, some called for reinstitution of the death penalty in Italy. This is not practically possible because Italy would have to leave the European Union if it restored the death penalty This is not going to happen. The only political party calling for the death penalty is the Northern League in the ruling center-right coalition. This issue is a little more sensitive on the right than on the left of the political spectrum. The center-right has within it the Northern League but also has carefully nurtured good relations with the Catholic church that is adamant in its opposition to the death penalty. When a question was asked about the death penalty in a debate between Berlusconi and Prodi, Berlusconi dodged the question while Prodi just said outright that the death penalty was not an option in Italy.
Actually if I were one of the kidnappers in this case, I might prefer the death penalty to a life sentence in prison. You can imagine what the life of such a criminal will be like in prison, constantly looking behind your back to see if someone is about to kill you. They may put such criminals in protective custody in prison which makes life safer but even more onerous.
Keeping up with American Popular Culture
You never want in Italy for news about show business and popular culture in the USA. How many of you know that within the last two weeks both Buck Owens and Gene Pitney died? This was reported in the Italian press.
Crime in Florence
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that petty theft may be more common in Italy than in the USA. When I taught Criminal Justice at Gettysburg College, I used a book that claimed that rates of non violent crime are remarkably similar in all industrialized countries, but certain kinds of low-level crime seem common here. Now I have personal experience. I went to a large market in Florence. I and my friend Max (visiting me from Berlin) took our bikes on the train to Florence and then rode them to market. We locked them outside entrance to the market. When we returned, the bike computers ( that tell speed, distance traveled, etc.) frame pumps, and bike bags had been taken from the bikes. I would never have removed such items from the bikes while parking them in the USA.
Two days later while I was walking to the train station late at night a guy bumped into me from behind and took my wallet. I felt it immediately. Max chased him. He dropped the wallet, but had removed the money. Ordinarily I wear pants where I button the back pocket, but that day I was wearing jeans because we had been hiking in the country. When you wear jeans, you should put your wallet in your front pocket. I had forgotten to do so.
Copying Homework From Internet
A friend of mine who teaches English made the mistake of assigning a theme topic about Africa for which students could easily get information from the Internet. It was immediately obvious when text had simply been copied from an Internet site. Some students had copied the identical information from the same site. The students were not clever enough, ambitious enough, or sufficiently knowledgeable of English to enter some modifications into their text so that it obviously was not copied.
Best Comment in Election
A transvestite who was interviewed on TV, said that Silvio Berlusconi should be sympathetic to transvestites because he has a lot in common with them — he has had face lifts and hair transplants, he wears elevator shoes with higher heels, and he uses cosmetics to improve his appearance.
Final Countdown to the Election
Italy votes April 9 and 10. At the last minute, Berlusconi promised to end a tax on homes. The center-left is promising improved programs. How does a country that is broke pay for lost revenue from a tax cut or for new programs? Both Prodi and Berlusconi say that in part it will be through increased enforcement of tax laws. An obvious lie. Both of them, when in power, did not increase such enforcement. Any government that actually was able to increase significantly the enforcement of tax laws would be voted out of office in next election. Unlike the USA, Italy simply cannot run ever larger budget deficits because of the limits on deficits imposed upon countries that use the Euro. Prodi and Berlusconi were opponents in the 1996 election. Someone said that the choice in this election is like an American election today offering Clinton and Bob Dole as candidates. Nothing changes much in Italy.
Prodi’s campaign slogan is ‘govern with serenity.’ This is to contrast his approach with the frenetic Berlusconi approach. On Italian TV, there are many stations that only have advertisements that sell products. During the election. seeing Berlusconi is like watching the pitchman on one of these stations. He becomes more and more agitated as he tries to convince you to buy his product (In one debate, Prodi quite aptly described Berlusconi as a “rug salesman”). Except for one slip, when he called his opponents political gangsters, Prodi has taken a quiet tact. He simply says that Berlusconi has failed and that the voters know this and will throw him out of office on April 9-10. Which strategy will succeed? Look for the results next week.
Medical Care
I got a letter this week from my doctor in Gettysburg in response to an update I sent to her about my medical condition. I have a family doctor in Gettysburg and another in Pistoia. I have a cardiologist at a university hospital in Florence. I also consult with a leading vascular surgeon in Florence. My CAT scans were also reviewed by a friend who is a leading cardiologist in Los Angeles. I don’t see how I could be getting any better medical advice.
Correction
Last week I wondered why Italy would invite applications from foreign residents for work permits in Italy when there are so many illegal immigrants already living in Italy. I discovered that most of the applications from persons “abroad” actually came from illegal immigrants already in Italy who were using their foreign address on the application because they have no legal Italian address.
Lottery Fever
In one of the regional lotteries in Italy the number 34 had not been drawn for 202 consecutive extractions — a national record. Of course many Italians rushed to bet on this number for the next week, not realizing that the probability of it being drawn next week is exactly the same (1 in 99) as it was for each of the last 202 weeks and will be for the next 202 weeks. I think it is almost impossible to convince the common man of this statistical fact.
Sat 1 Apr 2006
Posted by Robert C. Nordvall under
2006No Comments
h3. Work Permits
Italy recently authorized 170,000 new work permits for non citizens. There were huge lines at Post Offices to obtain and file the forms. I guess it is sort of a lottery in that 170,000 will be chosen from the far more numerous applications filed. Applications were filed both by persons already in Italy and those residing abroad who wished to immigrate to Italy. To me it would have made more sense to give priority to those already here – legally or illegally. Why bring in new immigrants when you have a large supply of immigrants already here who cannot work legally because they have no work permit?
h3. A Piece of Litter with a Story Behind it
I picked up off the sidewalk a sheet of white paper with the following printed on it (on a computer) in very large letters “I am not able to end it……..I beg you to reconsider. I love you.” Who dropped it? The author who despaired at sending it? The recipient who tossed it to the ground in disgust? (My hint to its author: a hand-written note is better than a computer printed one for such intimate matters.) In Italy, as elsewhere, the path of true love is not always straight.
h3. Watching a Film on Italian TV
On European TV there is a text feature so that you can read weather, news, and other features as text off the screen. This feature can also support subtitles for a TV program. Recently there was a two-part series on the Gino Bartali, a famous Italian bike racer of the 1930s and 1940s. I discovered that this film came with English subtitles that made it much easier to watch. Included in the film was a famous story in Italian cycling history. In the late 1940s Bartali was racing in the Tour de France. During the time of the race In Italy there was an assassination attempt upon the head of the Italian Communist Party. Riots broke out in Italy and the situation was tense. Alcide De Gasperi, the Premier of Italy, called Bartali and told him that, if he could win the Tour, his accomplishment would serve to unify the country at a very difficult time. Bartali at this time was 22 minutes behind the leader, but he rallied to win the Tour. Is the story true or legend? Who can tell, but it is a good story for a sport’s movie.
h3. Italian Health Care System
In terms of longevity of life span, Italians are very healthy. The main complaints about the health system are: long waits for services and differences in accessibility and quality of care among various regions of the country. To avoid the waits, many Italians turn to seeing doctors as private patients at a substantial fee.
h3. Trains on Time
One in five commuter trains runs late in Italy. Also under the new train schedule there are some trains that cannot run on time because of trains having to wait every day to share a single track. The train I took to Florence this month appears to be one of these. It always was at least 5 minutes late and occasionally even later. The train after it was usually on time.
h3. Teaching English to Italian Elementary School Teachers
Now that English study is begun earlier at the elementary level, Italy has to train some elementary teachers to teach this subject. A friend is teaching a university course for such elementary school teachers. She has been told that at the most she can flunk no more than 20% of the students, and in general, the goal is to flunk nobody. Give make-up tests if necessary. At the first exam, she made the students sit in a scattered pattern. They complained “You mean we can’t cheat?” Only three of them passed the test. From all appearances the quality of teaching English in Italian elementary schools will not be much better than it has been at the middle and secondary schools.
h3. Note for Friends in the Gettysburg Area
In the United States public service programs on radio and TV are broadcast at the least important hours. This is true too for the Gettysburg radio stations WGTY (107.7 FM) and WGET (1320 AM). But if you have nothing better to do EARLY on Sunday morning, April 9, you can hear my interview about living in Italy on “The Seminary Explores” at 5:30 am on WGTY or 8:30 am on WGET.
h3. Election News
Our good friend Silvio Berlusconi got in some more trouble last week. In a long speech he stated in one part that during the Cultural Revolution in China (1958-63) in a time of great famine, in some areas the Chinese boiled dead children to use them as fertilizer on the fields. Soon one of the other politicians in Berlusconi’s coalition expanded this to say that the Chinese had eaten such children. The Chinese government was not amused even if there may be some truth to Berlusconi’s statement. I knew Berlusconi was in trouble when in a press interview one day he had to start by saying “I never said that the Chinese ate children.”
Now why in 2006 would a politician be talking about such old history in a way to offend a nation with whom Italy has friendly relations? The center-left coalition running against Berlusconi has two Communist parties in it along with many other parties. Berlusconi calls all his opponents “Communists.” So his statement about the Chinese probably was an attempt to make the following syllogism:
- Communist are terrible people who would even boil their dead children to use them as fertilizer,
- My opponents are Communists,
- Therefore my opponents are terrible people. As you can probably tell Silvio is now behind in the polls and a little desperate to say anything he can to try to close the gap.