thisweekinitaly.com

Last Newsletter until August

I leave for USA on June 24 and return to Italy on August 3.

Returning from Germany

Thanks to a six hour delay in my return flight, I did not get back to Pistoia until after 11 pm.  While walking home, I passed an old church that was destroyed during the war and then had its exterior rebuilt.  The interior was not restored as a church , and it is now used for art exhibits.   Even though it was 11:20 pm, the church was still open showing a photography exhibit of a local camera club.  How many places in the world can you see such an exhibit so late at night—on a Sunday no less?

A Little More About the Italian Justice System

I wrote about my opinion that Berlusconi  has made a political mistake giving so much emphasis to reforming this system.  I noted that the need for reform is admitted by many.  On the trip back to Italy I read A Question of Belief by Donna Leon. She is a British author who writes mystery novels set in Venice.  Almost all Italian detective stories have as a leitmotif the inefficiency and corruption within the Italian justice system.  The American system is hardly ideal, but cynicism about the legal system is much more rampant in Italy.

Berlusconi’s proposed reforms have both a structural and an operational aspect.  The structural ones would separate the investigatory and judicial roles that the judiciary has in Italy unlike the USA where investigation and prosecution is in the executive branch of government.  The operational reform would require that trials be concluded more quickly.  The main vice in the system in inordinate delay.  One can disagree about whether or not Berlusconi’s reforms are the best ones to improve the system, but in arguing for them, Silvio more and more talked about a vendetta of the leftist judiciary against him.  In short he took a problem of significant general interest to Italians (although not as important as other problems that he was not discussing)   and personalized into an issue (the judiciary versus him) of much less interest.  It was as if Obama proposed a large scale change to the federal tax system, and then spent most of his time talking about how he personally paid too much in taxes.

More Fun at the Bank

I temporarily could not find my Italian bank book.  It tuned out that it was in the usual place but just got hidden so I did not see it.  While I could not locate it, I thought that perhaps I had left it at the bank the last time I went there.  I wrote about the revealing cleavage on the bank teller’s dress during that visit; perhaps I became distracted and forgot to take the book.  The bank said no.  At that point I asked how I could get a new book if I could not find the current one.  I have to file a report at the police about the lost item.  If it is not found within three months, I can get a new book.  By the way the current account is blocked so anyone finding my book could not use it.  Even though the bank was at no risk, I would be without access to my account money for three months (fortunately this is not my principle bank account which is in the USA).  How is that for customer service!

Then I had to go to another bank where an organization of which I am an officer has closed its account.  I did the paperwork to close the account ten days before.  The bank officer  who helped me told me I could return after a week and  either see him or see a teller to get the money in the account.  When I came back, I went to see him.  He was on vacation. So I went to see a teller.  The teller sent me back to  another bank officer  — of course not right away but only after disappearing for a while to find out what to do.   The officer I went to see started to print out the necessary document on her computer.  But somehow she hit the wrong button and the computer began to print the whole archive of the day’s activities.  She did not know how to stop the print job.  After waiting for computer to pint about 30 pages, I finally got my document.  Next it was back to the teller to get the money.

In Contrast, at the Supermarket

After my picket was picked in Torino, I had to get a new membership card at the cooperative supermarket where I shop.  I presented my identity card.  The lady did a quick order on computer and told me the new card would arrive in the mail within 15 days.  Some things in Italy operate much better than the banks.

The Northern League

As I have written before this party is the main coalition partner of Berlusconi’s party in the ruling center-right government.  The loyalists of the League are more and more upset with Berlusconi because he is not delivering the changes they want.  At a big League meeting they shouted for the leader, Bossi, to end his alliance with Berlusconi.  Bossi said no and then set out a list of demands that Berlusconi has to meet for continued support from the League.  It is pretty much a charade.  The bottom line is that Bossi has nobody else of any importance with whom to ally his party.  For the first time one hears from the League members talk of a new leader – only murmurings now but likely to grow.

A New Sign Along a Country Road

While bike riding on a mountain road, I saw a sign cautioning that it was an area of training for dogs used to hunt wild boar.  The sign included a drawing of a dog chasing a boar.  I thought to myself that if I come up this road again I need to be sure that I don’t gain any more weight or forget to shave – otherwise I could be in trouble.

The Underground Economy

I was listening to a news report from the USA that included a segment about the economy in Egypt.  The narrator said that Egypt has many small underground businesses not simply for purposes of tax avoidance but because it is very hard and expensive in Egypt to get the permissions needed to have a legitimate business.  So these small ventures don’t grow and hire more employees.  Italy certainly is not Egypt, but its practices are closer to those of Egypt than they should be for an economy to grow.  In Italy the problem is not only underground businesses but small, legitimate ones, that never enlarge.

Soccer versus Basketball

The fact that the star player of NBA champs Dallas Mavericks is a German illustrates an interesting fact.  In the last 25 years the quality of top European basketball players has increased dramatically.  The same can not be said of American soccer players. No American is a star in a major European soccer league.  It may be that basketball is more important in Europe (where soccer is still the major sport)  than soccer is in the USA.  Soccer has become very popular among young players in America, but the talent development does not seem to carry over as the players mature.

USA versus the World

I was in an office in which there was a miniature globe of the world on a person’s desk.  It was a bit smaller  than a 12” softball.  So for many counties there was only room for the name of the nation, not for cities.  The largest nation in the world is Russia. Three Russian cities were indicated.  Next comes Canada.  Here too three cities were marked on the globe.  The  USA is next (or China if you include some disputed territories and use a different way of measuring coastline areas) .  Nine American cities were shown on this little globe.  It shows that at least for the manufacturer of this item, the USA is more important than other large countries.

A Little More on Comparing Italian and American Films

I wrote recently that Italian films tend to be more “arty” that American ones.  Those films considered greatest in Italian cinema history tend to be ones that have the peculiar vision of the director who uses images more than dialog to express that vsion. Probably the most famous image is Anita Ekberg wading in the Trevi Fountain in La Dolce Vita.  American films too may have a vision and famous images, but their strong point is the way they are put together into  an integrated whole.  American film directors are more like craftsman using their talents to make something tells a story in a unified way.  Italian directors are more like artists making a creative statement that may, at times, be messy and ambiguous.

Post Office Blues

The Italian post office has more functions than that of the USA.  In addition to the mail service it is a bank and a place where one can pay bills.  Last week the Italian postal system changed computer software systems.  If you have been reading my newsletters for long, you can probably fill in the blanks for the rest of this item.  In one word –Tilt.

The Ultimate in Grandparent Child Care

I’ve written about the extensive role that grandparents play in child care in Italy.  Normally when a child enters school, the grandparents get some relief at least during the day.  In one town in Italy, the school planned to close one of the elementary classes with very low enrollment and send the kids in this class to another school.  Ten grandmothers enrolled in the class to boost the enrollment. My guess is none of these ten had completed elementary school (typical for older Italians) so that they are furthering their education rather than repeating it. 

Petty Theft

I talked about the prevalence of petty crimes in Italy last week.  Here is this week’s example – the theft of three rhinoceros horns from a science museum in Florence.  Of course it may not be petty.  These horns may be ground up to produce what might be called Asian Viagra.

Dress Code at Bank

If you go to the bank, the bank officers often will be in a shirt and tie, but the dress for tellers can be casual to the extreme.  The last time I went, the teller who waited on me had a dress with such low cleavage, I was afraid they would have to pry me away from the counter after the transaction was completed

Referendum Defeat –Another Nail in Berlusconi’s  Coffin

In Italy there can be a referendum to cancel a law passed by Parliament if enough signatures are gained on a petition.  This week there was such a referendum to cancel three laws (1) the one authorizing a return to nuclear power, (2) the one authorizing private municipal water companies, and (3) the one allowing high government officials, including Silvio, to avoid legal proceedings against them while they are in office.

A referendum must have a participation of 50% of the voters to be valid.  No referendum had reached this threshold in the last 15 years.  To keep participation down, the government, that does not want its laws overturned, refuses to schedule the referendum in conjunction with another election day.  Instead it is scheduled in the summer when many Italians take weekend vacations.  Despite these usual impediments, over 50% of the voters participated, and all three laws were overturned.  One shortcoming of the referendum process in Italy, is that the law overturned can be re-introduced  in the future.

In the last few months Berlusconi has been almost exclusively concerned with his plan to reform the judiciary.  He is not alone in thinking that major changes are needed in the Italian judiciary system, but it appears that that for the public this is not a primary issue.  The public is more interested, in my opinion, in issues like economic growth and jobs.  So Silvio’s obsession with the judiciary has been a political mistake.

The Economist Gets the Picture

This prominent British magazine has been a severe critic of Berlusconi for years.  It has concentrated on the financial allegations against him and his gaffes and sexual misbehavior.  Now in a recent article http://www.economist.com/node/18805327 it has turned to what is the real problem that I have often emphasized, his failure to address the underlying economic problems of the nation.  This is a very good short summary of the Berlusconi years.

Solving the US Balance of Payments Problem

I am in Germany this week visiting my son and his family.  Although the USA is a big exporter of agricultural products, these exports are not enough to lead to a positive balance of payments for the country.  The USA imports much more than it sends abroad.  In the German supermarket, I was able to find two processed food products imported from the USA, Jack Daniels barbeque sauce and Konny Island Texas salsa.  Now if the USA can just get the Germans and the rest of Europe to go crazy for Tex-Mex food and barbeques, I think the balance of payment problem can be solved.

Assessing the Quality of Life in Various Nations –An Addendum

I wrote recently about a multi-nation study that rated the quality of life highest in Australia. Part of the data of this survey was assessment of the satisfaction of citizens with various aspects of their life. Australia for the most part has avoided the recent worldwide economic recession. It has been selling a lot of raw materials for the booming Chinese economy. So it may well be that Australians at this point are less dissatisfied in general than citizens in countries that are having economic hard times, and this may affect their attitude toward factors that are not economic in nature.

Children Abandoned in Cars

I wrote about a child who died from the heat after his father had forgotten him in the back seat of the car. I called this the second such case I could remember in Italy. Last week there was a third one. Perhaps there have been others I have forgotten or never heard about, but I still think this phenomenon is much less in Italy than in the USA. Italy’s population is 1/5 of that of the USA. Here are some recent figures for children dying from the heat in cars in the USA which were sent to me by a friend interested in this problem.

Children dying in cars in USA

In USA this year 3 dead–since 1998 –500 dead Texas leads with 71– Florida is second with 56 1/2 deaths are children forgotten in cars 1/3 deaths Re children playing in unoccupied car

In USA 19 states have laws to control leaving of children in cars. Most deaths seem to be not connected with drug using, drinking , partying people.  More are due to decent people who just don’t pay attention to their responsibilities of caring for the children , theirs or those of other people.

Italy – the Beautiful and the Not So Beautiful

The spring weather has been glorious. The flowers and the greenery in the hills around Pistoia are gorgeous. I often go to the new library which is a very impressive building with excellent facilities and programs.

I use the computers there for which there is a very modest fee. The computers do not have headphones attached. Recently I got a video over the internet that I wanted to view. I thought “maybe at the desk you can get a set of headphones to plug into the computer.” I went to the desk and was told that this item was available upstairs at the audio-visual section of library. I went upstairs. Nobody was at the desk there and a few people were in line. So I decided to do something else and return a bit later. When I went back the clerk was there, and I requested headphones to use with computers below. She asked me who told me headphones were available for this use. I said the lady at desk on floor below. She called this lady to confirm that the headphones could be put to such use. She gave them to me. I went to computer. The headphones did not work. Perhaps they were defective. Perhaps the computer did not have the sound driver installed. I then went to return the headphones. Again nobody was at the desk there. So I did another little task. Upon coming back, the clerk was there. I told her that the earphones did not work and that I had used computer number 4. You can be 99.99% sure that she will not report this information to anyone because this is not a problem in her section. I doubt very much that she will test the headphones herself. Nothing will change.

 This is the not so beautiful part of Italy. This is not a story of great inconvenience or problems, but one of annoying frustration. Everywhere in the world things malfunction, but in most developed nations more attention is paid to such matters than in Italy.

Italian Food Safety

Italian TV pointed out that the e coli outbreak in Germany is the third large food contamination problem there in the last few years. Italy has had none. As I’ve said before, if something is important enough to them, the Italians will do it very well. Food is one of those things of great importance – an area in which I would trust the Italians over the Germans. The annoying frustration I write about in the item immediately above concerns one of the many things that are not of great importance to Italians.

A Visit to Turin

I visited Turin with a friend and her 10 year old grandson. I had been their briefly two times before. We visited the famous Egyptian Museum that is the largest outside of Egypt. Italians were leaders in archeological studies in Egypt in the late 19th and early 20th century. We saw the royal palace of the House of Savoy. The apartments were lavish but done in a heavy late Victorian style. Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy, was a suitable predecessor to Berlusconi. The king had a long list of mistresses—I don’t know how many before and how many after his wife died. Two weeks before his death he married his current mistress, a commoner, in a quickly morganatic marriage (She and their two children did not get royal status.), and gave her a title. It was quite a scandal.

Beware of the Traveling Market

 After having my pocket picked twice at the market in Pistoia, I am careful when I go there and move my wallet to a front pocket. At visited a market in Turin. After leaving it, we went to streetcar stop to take the tram back to the railroad station. A streetcar arrived that was quite crowded. Suddenly there was a mass of people both exiting and entering the tram. My friend and I were watching closely her grandson to be sure he did not get swept up in the crowd. I felt people pushing against me –always a bad sign in Italy – and sure enough my wallet was gone and my friend’s cash purse was taken from her handbag. The pickpockets often take the cash from the wallet and throw it quickly on the ground (They don’t mess with credit cards.), but a quick survey of the area yielded nothing.

No matter how long I stay in Italy, I will never be a person highly alert to theft; it is not my nature. Violent crime is not common in Italy, but petty theft is much more frequent than in the USA.

 The New Automobile Museum in Turin

 This was another attraction we visited. It was very well laid out. An excellent section on self-propelled land vehicles prior to the automobile. The collection of cars, of course, had a predominantly Italian flavor, but there were cars from other countries. Two cars were missing that I think are essential for such a museum – The Model T Ford and the early 1930s Volkswagen. I discovered that Italy had a “people’s car” in the 1930s that predated the Volkswagen. Italy had the lowest rate of car ownership in western Europe in the 1930s. This little car (smaller than a VW) did not solve this problem – it was still too expensive for the average Italian and gasoline prices in Italy (which has almost no native petroleum) were high. In short, it was impossible to build a car cheap enough to be a mass market item in Italy as, for example, the Model T was in the USA.

Used Bikes

In contradiction to what I wrote earlier about there being no police auctions of abandoned bikes, Florence in fact has a place where it sells abandoned bikes which are first repaired. If I get a chance, it would be interesting to go there and see the prices.

Photos of Pistoia

 On Youtube there are two videos of a montage of photos of Pistoia. The pictures are primarily of the main Piazza and the interior of the Cathedral. The first is 3 ½ minutes long and the second 6 ½ minutes. They don’t show the full beauty of the city, but they give a good taste of part of it.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u4u6Nr4vHw&feature=related   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuXyBasaBWo&feature=related 

Seeking Reelection

The recent election illustrated a difference between Italy and the USA. In all nations politicians attack their opponents and their programs. If you are running for reelection, however, in most nations you have to talk about the accomplishments of your term in office. Barack Obama in 2012 may attack the Republicans, but he will have to present a positive picture of his first term. In Italy he would not have to do so.

Soccer Scandal

There is a big soccer betting scandal with allegations that criminals have been bribing players to fix games. On Monday, a slow news day, this story took up the first eight pages of the local newspaper. Remember that in Italy, when team A plays team B at the end of the season in a game that is important for A and unimportant for B, sometimes (who knows how often) B agrees to let A win with the favor to be returned at a future date. With this sort of “morality” in the sport, the jump to bribes from gamblers to players is not a great one.

Berlusconi-Obama Conversation

Who knows what the world  leaders talk about informally when they meet at a G 8 summit?  Obama was cornered by Berlusconi who told him about “the dictatorship of the leftist judiciary in Italy.”  Without making a judgment about the dispute between Berlusconi and the judiciary, I can’t imagine that this internal Italian political issue was of much interest to President Obama.  Of course this encounter did get a lot of press coverage for Berlusconi in Italy which was what he was seeking in the first place.

Election Update

Berlusconi’s coalition lost the two major mayoral runoff elections – in Milan and Naples. Berlusconi may survive until end of his term in 2013, but it looks more and more as if his power and influence are running downhill

The Italian economy has been stagnant during Berlusconi’s reign.  In the USA, some say in politics “It’s the economy, stupid,” but Berlusconi has survived despite weak economic performance.  In general he simply doesn’t talk about economic problems and says there is no “economic crisis.”  In his defense, given Italy’s large national debt and the restrictions of the Euro Zone on the amount of new debt, the Italian government may well not have resources that it can throw at domestic economic problems.  So possibly Berlusconi has been refusing to face an issue where he knows he can’t do much to make it better.

Latest Update on a Big Case

I wrote three times last year about a big murder case in Italy (newsletters 386, October 15, 2010; 387 October 22; and 390 November 11).  A fifteen year old disappeared. Later she was found at bottom of a well.  Her uncle confessed to the murder to cover his sexual molestation of the girl. Then he said he was assisted by his daughter, the cousin of the deceased.  Next he said the daughter in fact was the killer (out of jealously over a shared boyfriend), and he helped her in getting rid of the body.  The uncle has told six different versions of what happened.  Both he and his daughter have remained in custody.  Now the uncle’s wife, aunt of the murdered girl, has been arrested too because her story of her activities at the time of the crime has been discredited.  The uncle has been let out of jail because the police don’t believe he committed the murder but only helped get rid of the body.  I called this family “dysfunctional” in one of my posts about the case.  Maybe they can put them all on trial and ask the judges to “take your pick” in deciding whom to convict.

The Price is Right

I needed one of those cords you attach to your glasses so they remain around your neck when you take them off.  I have gotten them free at tobacco shop across the street where they had some extras from selling magnifying reading glasses, but they had no more.  I tried another tobacco shop without success. So then I went to an optical shop.  The clerk took one out of a box from under the counter.  I asked how much, and he said Euro 5.50.  This seemed very expensive, but I was not in the mood to go comparison shopping.  Besides this shop had adjusted my glasses for free a number of times so I felt I owed them something.  Next  I handed him a 50 Euro bill, the only money in my wallet.  As is often the case in Italy, he could not make the change for this and asked me to come back another time.  The second time I came there was a different clerk.  She went to a different place in the store to find a box of the cords.  They looked exactly the same as the ones I had seen on my first visit.  The price this time: Euro 1.50.  Maybe if I had tried a third visit,  I would be back to getting them free as at the tobacco shop.

Where to Live:  Well, What is Important to You?

The USA is a good place to live if you like:  fast food restaurants, convenience stores, and department stores open 24 hours a day.  Italy may be a good choice for you if you like: lingerie shops, bars (which in Italy are really more like coffee shops),  butcher shops, clothing stores, shoe stores,  news/magazine stands, tobacco shops (only place to buy tobacco products),  ice cream parlors, travel agencies (which proliferate despite the growth of online travel sites),  and about 1000 ways to play the  lottery.  The nineteenth-century Italian statesman Cavour called a lottery “a tax on stupidity”; if so, it is the one tax the Italians seem to pay without evasion or protest.

The Florence Traffic Nightmare – Sawing Down the Table Legs

In 1982 Johnny Carson had a special show in which he visited his hometown in Nebraska and recalled his youth there.  As a teenager he delivered furniture for a local store.  Often when a kitchen or dining room table was delivered,  it did not sit solid on the uneven farmhouse floor.  So Johnny  had to saw a little off one of the legs to get it to sit straight.  The problem was that this was easier said than done. Often after sawing a little off one leg, it still wasn’t right and he sawed a little off another leg.  He claimed that before he was done the table sometimes got pretty close to the floor.

This experience of  his is a good metaphor for trying to solve the traffic problem in Florence.  The basic problem is too many cars and too few streets adaptable to the automobile.  Of course there is public transportation, but some of this does not run late at night, and there are not big parking lots on the periphery so folks can drive to edge of town and then get on public transportation. Even when running , the public transportation often is behind schedule.  The new streetcar system is an improvement, but it is taking forever to build in the face of public opposition.

Residents are not allowed to drive their cars out of their own zone during the day.  There is a maze of one way streets.  As more areas are made auto free, the remaining streets become even more crowded.  It may well be that the city actually wants to make driving inconvenient so that people turn to other means.

Besides public transportation and cars, the major means are scooters and bikes.  Unlike in Germany, where the scooters must stay in line among the cars, in Florence they weave in and out of traffic, and one must constantly be aware of them and their location. They are much noisier than cars.  Bikes often  go the wrong way on one ways streets, but sometimes going for a block the wrong way saves a mile using the auto pattern of one way streets. If scooters and bikes were most closely regulated, they would lose some of their advantages in traffic, and then those using them might revert to cars.

To go back to my metaphor, any time you saw a little off one leg, you have a problem with another leg of the table.  The problem is not solvable, and I am not sure that attempts to mitigate it have had much success.

The Tree of Life

This film won the top prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.  It has been lauded in the Italian press as a masterpiece.  American film critics too have rated it highly.  You can look at the cinema as an art form or as an entertainment form.  These two perspectives are not contradictory, but they  also are not identical.  Italians tend to see films as an art form more than Americans; the most famous classic Italian films tend to be more “arty” than their American counterparts.  Of course, this distinction is not a complete one. 

Most of my friends who saw this film were lukewarm to negative about it.  My one friend who liked it the best is a great fan of the classic Italian cinema.  It had an overtly theological theme which is uncommon in American films.

Securing My New Bike

When I bought my electric assist bike, I got a new heavy duty bike chain with an integrated lock. I discovered this week that a friend with such a chain had her bike stolen, and the thieves left the lock, still usable,  on the sidewalk.  They did not smash the heavy duty chain or lock, they simply opened the lock with a passkey or some other method.  Now I feel much less secure.