The Olympics invasion of Italian news. Who cares about Syria and the economy?

Italian media must be so happy right now.

Finally, there’s another topic they can use to avoid discussing the real problems of our country: the Olympics. It doesn’t matter if they are taking place in London, somehow they still have the priority over everything else.

Today at 1pm I was watching the news (I won’t say what channel, but anyway unless you watch the Sky news channel they are all really alike), but before I heard something different from the Olympics I had to wait for a good ten minutes.

First of all, we absolutely need to celebrate the victory of the Italian women, who got all the three fencing medals. Fair enough, let’s be happy, since it is unlikely to happen again.

Then, a five minute long interview to the archery men’s team, that won the gold medal. And they also spent time joking about the fact that they become Olympic champions despite being quite fat.

Only after the extremely impelling report about the archery team’s physical shape, we finally heard about the economy, the Pope’s wish that the violence in Syria stopped, and then a report about the actual situation in Syria. In that order: first the Pope’s speech about Syria, then Syria.

I’m always speechless in these occasions. I honestly don’t understand how they can think that the Olympics and the Pope are more important than the violence in Syria. Plus, since I study in London, I developed a kind of dislike for the Olympics just like the Londoners, but that’s a personal thing. I want to thank Mario Monti for saying no to the Olympics in Rome.

Well, after all, football is the best way to divert Italian people’s attention from reality, but when we don’t have football we can be content with any kind of sport. Let’s get ready to be brainwashed for the next weeks.

Italian politicians and their "gold salaries": saved once again

Italian politicians cost us a disgustingly huge amount of money. If at least they deserved it… But they so don’t.

The Italian parliament counts almost 1000 MPs. Twice the American Congress, even though Italy only has a fifth of the American population.

And they get the highest salaries in Europe. No, wait. Maybe in the world. Many of them earn more than US President Barack Obama. Actually, according the data that were released in February, Obama earns less money than the President of the Italian “Electric Energy and Gas Authority”. And the Italian Senate’s stenographer earns as much as the King of Spain. No kidding.

So, I hope, everyone wants a law to cut politicians’ salaries. In the last months, a civic committee called “Comitato del Sole” started to collect signatures to propose a referendum about this topic, but it was suspended. Why? Because the deadline to get the 500.000 signatures we need to submit the proposal was this week. And we only got 250.000 so far. According to the Italian law, if you don’t get enough signatures by the deadline (or if the referendum doesn’t reach the needed threshold, or if the referendum gives a negative outcome), you have to wait five years before you can start a new signatures collection. So they rightly decided to postpone it for now.

Italian fellows? You are all so good at complaining. What about doing something? I am well aware that this signatures’ collection wasn’t advertised at all by state media, but if you care at least a little bit about the subject, you must have heard about it.

Apparently now they will start collecting signatures again in October. Maybe in the meantime we could spread the word, so that more people decide to show up and sign in October. Please, please, PLEASE, Italians: wake up!

Reuters article

Semi presidentialism? It works for France, but they don't have Berlusconi

Today I HATE every single politician in Italy.

This morning the Italian Senate had to vote for a Constitutional reform.  The bill, proposed by the Northern League and the People of Freedom (Berlusconi’s party), wants Italy to stop being a parliamentary Republic and become a French style semi presidential Republic. The Senate voted favourably. Vive la France.

Beside the fact that with the on-going economic crisis I believe the Senate should be discussing more impelling topics, this whole episode gives me a stomach ache for at least two reasons.

First reason: it shows how quickly it is possible for politicians to bypass bureaucratic procedures, and most of all to discuss changing the Constitution (that is sacred and untouchable only when it suits them) if the matter they want to debate benefits them.  And guess who would benefit from this reform? Yes, it’s always the same person and his surname starts with a B. Only the idea of Berlusconi as a president of the Republic is dreadful, but he said he might run for the role “if the party wants him to”.

Second reason: it shows the ineptitude of the parties that are supposed to oppose the bill. Do you want to know what they did, instead of staying there and casting a loud and clear “No”? Most of them left the room at the beginning of the meeting, the remainder abstained. Are you making fun of us? Has everyone ever told you that you can actually vote against something? Well, this was another perfect occasion to show the whole country how useless you are, wasn’t it? Let me tell you how I feel: YOU SHOULD ALL GO TO HELL.

Now the bill will move on to the Chamber of Deputies. I’ll light a candle and keep you updated. 

Want to complain about your job? Just consider yourself lucky to have one

New encouraging data about employment. According to a research conducted by the Ministry of Labour, in the third term of 2012 only 2 work contracts out of 10 were for a permanent position; the remainder 8 were for temporary ones. We should have seen it coming: our Prime Minister Mario Monti warned us. He said that in the future permanent jobs would no longer exist in Italy, and that after all they are “boring and lead to a monotonous life”. Well, if by “monotonous life” you mean that it would allow us to plan our future (move out of the parents’ house, get married, have children and so on) you’re absolutely right. It is partially true that Italians are a people of “bamboccioni” (“big babies”) who live with their parents until they are 40, but on the other hand, where should they live? Under a bridge? Without a stable job they can’t certainly afford a mortgage.  I personally think that more young Italians should move abroad, because being geographically mobile seems to be the most effective way to get a job. But then again, we do have a lot of “mamma boys” who will never leave the country. And very often the ones who do leave Italy are criticised because” if everyone leaves, Italy will sink”. Do you want me to sink with Italy then? Forget it.

But maybe we should consider ourselves happy even only with a temporary job: it’s getting harder and harder just to get a job of any length and kind. The Minister of Labour, Elsa Fornero, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal claimed: “Work isn’t a right, it has to be earned”. It’s funny though: I used to think that we have to work to deserve a reward. Now work IS the reward.  Perhaps we should amend the first article of the Constitution: not "Italy is a democratic Republic founded on labour", but "Italy is a democratic Republic founded on the right to try to get the right to work". Complicated, yet more appropriate. 

Paolo Borsellino: 20 years later, very little has changed

Today it's the 20th anniversary of Paolo Borsellino's death in the so called "massacre of Via D'Amelio". Borsellino was an Italian magistrate who spent his life fighting the Sicilian Mafia, and in the end was murdered in a car bomb. Together with his friend and colleague Giovanni Falcone, who was also assassinated, he is a symbol of the battle of the Italian state against the mafia. The topic is still very actual: unfortunately, it is not obvious that the state should fight.
Just in these days there new rumours about the role played by some Italian politicians in a presumed deal with the mafia, dating back to the massacres season in the '90s, which, according to the allegation. saw the complicity of the state. The new scandals involve the President of the Republic himself, Giorgio Napolitano. In a phone tapping, Palermo's judges claim, he was heard speaking with some men who might have been a part of that mafia deal. Now the debate is whether those conversations should be destroyed or not, since they include the President. 
Anyway, the matter is extremely hot. Borsellino's words are as current as they could be.
"Politics and mafia are two powers that live on the control of the same territory: they either fight, or collude"
(Paolo Borsellino, January 19, 1940- July 19, 1992)

Same old story, same old Silvio

What about 2013? Anyway, we all know that Berlusconi might lose and still be the most influential figure in Italian politics. So in any case, Italy really sucks at changing.
Can you guess the brand new name for Berlusconi's party? From "People of Freedom" it's changing back to "Forza Italia" ("Go Italy"). What an amazing innovation. They move backwards and call it "new". 
As The Independent titled: new party, same old Silvio (link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/new-party-same-old-silvio--berlusconi-hints-at-return-7946877.html)


Seriously, should we laugh or should we cry?

Will we let him screw the entire country again?

Quote of the day:
"Berlusconi will take advantage of the mood of the crisis: this feeling, which deep inside people still have, that, at the end of the day, when he was in charge things were not this bad. And this time he will play not in order to win, but just to get enough votes to be able to blackmail whoever will govern. As usual."
(Roberto Saviano, Italian journalist and author of "Gomorrah")


He's absolutely right. Search the universe, and you will not find a people whose memory is shorter than ours. We Italians are extremely good at forgetting things. This time, we have already forgotten the reason why we wanted Berlusconi to leave in the first place: the fact that he screwed the entire country, as The Economist correctly put it. Thinking that we might let him screw us all again makes me want to cry for Italy.