thisweekinitaly.com

 Free Viagra 

I wrote a couple of years ago about a city council member someplace in Italy who proposed giving free Viagra to senior citizens. This idea was swiftly shot down by the older women who were afraid their re-invigorated husbands would be too demanding of sex at home or would seek it elsewhere. The idea, however, will not die. A recent article about the success of a political party in one region in Italy noted the promise made that Viagra would be distributed free to those who had a medical need of it. Maybe instead of promoting Viagra after his losing his bid to be President, Bob Dole should have first seen the possible use of this drug in his campaign.

An interesting sidelight: Viagra was originally tested as a drug to treat high blood pressure.  Only after the male subjects in the drug tests began to report a peculiar side effect of the drug did the manufacturer discover the much larger market for this medication.

  Loan to Alitalia 

I wrote about the pending bankruptcy of the airline and the hope that maybe, one more time, the Italian government would bail it out. Such bailouts violate the Europeans Union economic rules. It isn’t exactly a bailout, but the Italian government proposes to give a 300 million Euro bridge loan to Alitalia while it continues its long search to find a buyer. The European Union has already said such a loan violates its rules, but I doubt that it will be stopped.

  The Swissair Lounge  at Zurich airport 

I had a three hour layover in Zurich on my way back to Italy. I saw signs in the airport for a Swissair Lounge. These lounges ordinarily are for first-class and business class passengers or those who have some special membership. Still I gave it a try with my economy class ticket.  I was admitted without question.  Is this Lounge for all Swissair passengers? Maybe. My ticket for the next flight had a seating assignment of 3A which (in a plane with a first-class section) is often a first-class row. (My plane had no first-class area.)   Perhaps I appeared to be a first-class passenger. Of course, upon admittance, I asked no questions about why.

 Italian Politics –Some things Good 

I often make disparaging comments about aspects of Italian politics.  Here are two good things.  The electoral races seem to revolve mainly around issues, not personalities.  If a politician says something foolish or controversial, it is in the paper for a day and forgotten. When a government falls, a new election must be held within 90 days.

 Of Course Political Coverage May Go a Bit Beyond the Issues 

In an article about an appearance of the two candidates for Mayor of Rome at a political event, the color photos of them and the descriptions indicated what color suit and tie each was wearing.

  The Tip of the Iceberg? Two couples in my church who have lived many years in Italy are moving back to the USA either completely or in part because their income is in US dollars and the cost of living here in Euros is becoming unreasonably high. The dollar now has about ½ of the value versus the Euro that it did when the Euro was first issued in 2002. Immigration and Security 

“Security” is word Italians use for discussion of the crime problem. Security and immigration are connected problems because of high percentage of foreigners in Italian jails. The political party that stresses these issues most highly doubled its vote in the last election.  It is part of the governing coalition, but it is doubtful that there will be much change. To deal with immigration you need to forge a reasonable public consensus about the measures to take and then be able effectively to implement these measures. Italy, like the USA, has not been able to do these two things. Even if stronger laws are passed, few believe they will be enforced. For public relations purposes you will see a few airline flights of illegal aliens being deported. Many of these folks, if they wish, will just return to Italy illegally within a few weeks.

Putting aside the problem of inefficiency in law enforcement in Italy, there is another.  The media will be full of stories about crimes and other problems with immigrants.  Italians will demand that “something be done.” The minute, however, that stronger action is taken, the media will then have a spate of stories about honest, hard-working immigrants who came to Italy to seek a decent life denied them in their country of origin.  The Italian propensity to side with the underdog will kick in; there will a reaction against the measures taken to solve the immigrant problem.

  Hypocrisy and Politics 

I’ve mentioned that many Italians think that they are an honest, hard-working populace that is ruled by a group of scoundrels.  Italy, however, is a democracy.  The people have democratic means to make changes. If they don’t, then we are reminded of the old adage that a people get the politics that they deserve.

In the USA, I can think of an analogous problem. I believe most Americans would express displeasure at negative political ads and support the idea that these should be eliminated, but as long as these ads continue to be successful in affecting voting decisions, they are not going away.  Here too the people have the means (by ignoring the negative ads) to effectuate the change they say that they want, but they don’t do it.

It’s common to talk about the “hypocrisy” of politicians, but few want to talk about the hypocrisy of the public itself.

  No Cause Not Worth Protesting in the Streets About My favorite protest this week took place in Balzano in the German speaking area of northern Italy. At a German language high school there the students protested demanding higher grades.  In Italy grades run from 1-10.  If you get a low grade on an exam, let’s say a 3, you can take it over and your final grade is the average of the two grades.  If you get a 7 the second time, your overall grade is a 5.  Students demanded that grades of 1, 2, and 3 be eliminated and that the lowest grade be a 4. They argued that when you get a 1,2, or 3, even if you do well when you take the test a second time, the overall grade is still low—it is hard to “pull up” such a low grade to a decent grade  through retaking the test.  The mayor of the city, who has no jurisdiction or control over the schools, sided with the students.  This is an example of how an Italian politician will take a stand on any issue (even one outside his knowledge, jurisdiction, and competence) if he thinks it might gain him a few votes.      

Sent from USA where I am visiting until April 22

Cynicism vs. Involvement

I’ve written often about the cynicism toward and lack of respect and trust of politicians in Italy. Compared to Italians Americans love their politicians. So it is surprising to note that Italy has a high percentage of voter participation in elections (up to 80%) – one of the highest in Europe.

Update on My Apartment Rental for This Summer

At present the following weeks are still available : July 13-26 and possibly September 14-27.  Rent for one week is 250 Euro and for two weeks 475 Euro. If interested, contact me at bobnordvall@hotmail.com

George Clooney Clothes

Recently for my birthday I got a Donald Trump brand shirt. Other celebrities have spawned clothing lines. So I was not surprised when I saw in Italian news an article about a new line of George Clooney duds. He is very popular in Italy. The problem turned out to be that George Clooney too knew nothing about these clothes until he read it in the newspaper. The police seized the inventory.

Italian Election

While American politics get extensive coverage in Italy, the Italian election was far from front page news in the USA. Berlusconi returned to power. I’m suspicious that in Italy no government seems to be able to do much so the elections alternate between one side and the other. Berlusconi is about the best proof one could find of the fact that in Italy style is more important than substance. I keep thinking that the Italians will eventually see “that the emperor has no clothes,” but it hasn’t happened yet.

Beneath the main results of the election was an important change. Both of the major parties ran this time with only one other party in their coalition. As a result many minor parties had to form new coalitions or run alone. The minor parties did badly. In the new Parliament the number of parties with representatives will drop from 26 to 6. There is a definite move toward a two party system as in USA and Britain.

Berlusconi’s coalition partner in the Northern League (the party that wants to divide Northern Italy from Southern Italy). When he first came to power in the 1990s, this is the party that withdrew from his coalition and caused his government to fall. We will see if Silvio can keep them happy. The Northern League wants a more federal system of government in Italy with more power to the regions. A law establishing such a system was passed by the last Berlusconi government but then was overturned in a nationwide referendum.

Religion and Politics

In Italy there are political parties more allied with the Catholic Church (although not formally) and ones that are openly opposed to the role of the Church in political life. There are politicians who talk about preserving Italy’s Christian heritage, but this talk tends to be connected to the issue of immigration which is bringing many non Christians to Italy. It is really more of a cultural than a religious issue. What you do not have in Italy (Thank God!) is politicians talking about their own personal religious beliefs. Politicians’ personal lives and beliefs are considered irrelevant to politics.

Driving Restrictions in Italy

In certain major cities in Italy, your car has a zone sticker and you cannot drive the car out of your zone during the day. This is policed using television cameras. A friend told me about some Germans who were temporarily living Rome. They were driving around the city and saw a lovely residential area that so captivated them that they drove through it three times. A few days later they got a ticket in the mail for 250 Euro for improperly driving in a restricted area three times.

Driver’s License Renewal

It took me exactly 5 minutes to renew the license. If there had been a large crowd at the office, I may have had to wait for an hour or more, but fortunately I came at a time when few were there. Still the actual process of renewal, once it is your turn, takes 5 minutes. A little different than Italy. On my license it is marked that I am an organ donor in case of an accident, but who wants the organs of an 68 year old? Maybe an 85 year old?

As I Have Said Many Times…

All things bad from the USA arrive in Italy, even the “Lorena Bobbitt syndrome”:

The frustrated lover of an Italian man castrated him in a fit of rage sparked by his refusal to leave his wife, Italian police said.

The unidentified man, a 40-year-old professional, rushed to an ER in this northwestern city with his right testicle “hanging by a thread,” doctors said. Doctors were unable to save the testicle and are now working on the other one, which is in a “grave” condition after losing “copious” amounts of blood.

Deep knife wounds were found on the man’s scrotum. The man initially said he had had an “accident” but eventually admitted his lover had taken a knife to him in a “fit of jealous rage”.

In a separate case in the northern city of Parma, a wife bit off a piece of her estranged husband’s penis after pretending to agree to make-up sex.

The Always Surprising Extent to Coverage of United States’ News in Italy

On the news there was an item that the USA may soon have a left-handed President since both McCain and Obama are lefties. The piece reviewed how many former Presidents had been left-handed, I think it was 8 or 10 which is larger than one would predict by chance.  Why would anybody in Italy (or anywhere else) be interested?

Upscale Chinese Goods

I’ve mentioned that the Chinese are now not manufacturing merely low-cost, low-quality clothes. I got at my church’s Thrift Shop a light weight summer blazer of an Italian brand of good quality. I would have bet money it was made in Italy. Wrong—made in China.  Even brands that formerly touted the “Made in Italy” label are moving production abroad. 

Cultural Misunderstanding at Alitalia

I wrote recently about the negotiations of Air France to buy nearly bankrupt Alitalia.  Air France made a final offer. The unions of Alitalia employees decisively rejected the offer.  Air France ended their offer.  Within two days some Italian Alitalia workers were on a hunger strike which would end only when Air France returned to the negotiating table.  I think Air France (as would an American company) thought that a FINAL offer and a FINAL refusal ended negotiations.  Of course in Italy this is not at all the case.

From the World of Formula One Racing

Formula One racing is big news in Italy because of the prominence of the Ferrari team. So the news carried the recent story of Max Mosley head of FIA which is the governing organization of Formula One. Max is the son of Oswald Mosley, the leading British Fascist of the 1930s.  A British tabloid got hold of a videotape of Max in a house of prostitution — not just a typical one but one in which he played the role of a Nazi concentration camp inmate while the ladies, dressed as camp guards, abused him.  I don’t think Max will be able to keep his job.

Controversial Political Ad

It shows an actor playing Jesus and the voice says “The world’s first Socialist.”   It does not go into a lot of detail, just a quick phrase or two, to support this claim. In fact the early Christian communities might be described in a crude sense as socialist in that they were urged to share the wealth among their members.  The ad is for the Socialist Party which is not particularly large in Italy.

Reporting the US Subprime Mortgage Crisis in Italy

Because of the interconnections of the American and European economies, any significant change in the American economy is news here.  Italy also appears to be one of the few European countries where there might be a similar crisis because mortgages have been given that are not economically sound. I saw on the nightly news a more colorful report on the mortgage crisis in the USA. It showed a bus tour of potential home buyers in Los Angeles to repossessed houses.  Two houses were shown. For one the report said it sold for $600,000 recently but could be bought now for about $200,000. The second house was said to have been recently valued at $1 million but now available for $300,000. These discounts seemed a little high to me, and I don’t have total faith in Italian TV news.

This news story from the USA was paired with a story from Egypt about riots over the high price of bread there. I guess the USA and Egypt are seen now as similar –nations with big economic problems.

Italian Sensibilities

A computer expert was caught in a police sting operation with thousands of pornographic computer images including child pornography, sadistic images of children, and snuff films.  In Italy there don’t seem to be any rules against giving the name of an arrested person in a news article.  The article in this case outlined the man’s reputation, in Italy and abroad, as a computer expert, but the police withheld his name “because he has two small children.”

My Permesso di Soggiorno

This documents showing you have permission to stay in Italy for me now has to be renewed every two years. In 2007 for the first time one could apply by mail rather than going to the Police station and waiting in long lines to file the application. I mailed my application for renewal on September 14, 2007.  I got a notice to pick up my new Permesso at the police station on May 8, 2008. (Important documents never delivered by mail in Italy.) The old system took about three months.  Fortunately this document is not crucial for me.  I am never asked to show it.

 Pre-Election Political Discussions 

With the upcoming Italian national elections, there are many shows on TV showing representatives of the parties presenting their programs.  All in all there are 176 registered political parties in Italy but on the local ballot here, for example, only 16 of them have candidates running. On TV you see the top six or seven parties represented often and maybe 10 others occasionally.

In the USA there are political talk shows on which commentators from various perspectives debate and sometimes end up shouting at each other.  At their worst, these shows are on the level of professional wrestling. In Italy, it is not the commentators who go at each other; it is the politicians themselves. I saw a show with four politicians, each in turn telling his or her story. One guy said something that excited the other three. All at once all four were talking and gesticulating at the same time.  You could not understand anything being said.  It was like a Three Stooges movie.

My Favorite Election Poster 

It is a poster of one of the most xenophobic, anti-immigration parties. It shows an American Indian with full headdress. It says “They Thought They Could Survive the Invasion.  Now They Live on Reservations.”

 A Whiff of Communism on the Right 

The main politician of center-right coalition is Silvio Berlusconi. He loves to call all his opponents “communists.” Still I think his campaign brings to mind a phrase from the Communist world – The Cult of Personality. His campaign ad has a chorus of singers cataloging the many woes of Italy today (This song could go on forever.). Then as the reprise at the end of the list they sing “Thank goodness there’s Silvio.”  Of course this is guy who has compared himself to Napoleon and to Jesus Christ in the past.

  City Accents 

A number of my readers wrote to comment on my item about identifying the hometown of people from nearby cities according to how they speak Italian. This was especially interesting to me because for one of my “Movie Night” films I had just shown “My Fair Lady” in which Professor Henry Higgins brags that he can locate a person’s origin in London within a few blocks. Some of my readers spoke about accents between different states and close regions. One told of a professor who could tell what neighborhood of Chicago a person was from by listening to him or her talk. I confess I have a tin ear for such things; an accent must be quite distinct for me to discern it.

Bargain Buffalo Mozzarella 

The international scare about contaminated mozzarella cheese from Campagna ( because of contamination from burned garbage) had the expected effect. This cheese was on sale at a great bargain price at local supermarket.  Meanwhile the countries that temporary banned the import of this item from Italy has reopened their markets to it, but there is probably a temporary excess supply arising from reduced shipments abroad.

 A Promising First Step 

At a political forum Silvio Berlusconi noted that he had not made personal derogatory attacks against his main opponent, Walter Veltroni. The TV news show then showed a radio interview with Silvio the day before in which he made, you guessed it, derogatory personal attacks against Walter. This is the first time I have ever seen a news show do this obvious thing.  Now will the next obvious step take place? Will a reporter interviewing Silvio quote both his statement about no personal attacks and the transcript of the radio broadcast and ask for an explanation? I doubt it.

Something like Hillary’s statement about being “under fire” when visiting Bosnia might get mentioned for a day in the Italian press, but it would quickly pass away with little damage.

 No Permanent Jobs for the Young Folks 

A big issue in Italy is “precarità.”  This refers jobs that are not full time permanent ones –practically the only kind of jobs that young people (including university graduates) can get. Yet no politician seems to address a major factor in this problem.  Italy has a system of strong rights for full time employees. They are almost impossible to fire; they get an extra month’s salary at the end of the year, etc.  In an economy that is constantly changing and not particularly dynamic, why would any employer want to hire a full time employee when he could instead use a temporary employee who is less expensive and whom he can get rid of when no longer needed? 

 Something New in World of Counterfeit Money 

Counterfeit 2 Euro coins have shown up in Italy.  Now it is true that it is easier to pass a counterfeit coin than a bill – people don’t look closely at coins and for larger bills the supermarkets, and some other stores, have a machine to test the bill before it is accepted in payment. Still it seems easier to print something on paper than to melt, mold, and mill metal.  Furthermore, there is a reason why counterfeiters in the USA, for example, produce $20, $50, or $100 bills rather than $1 bills. Does some crook in Italy plan to buy a new car with 12,000 counterfeit 2 Euro coins?