Category Archives: the italian left

Amazon.it Brought to Heel by Levi Law

While trying to research publication information on the Italian guidebook that profiled my home state, a visit to Amazon.it, which just opened this year, revealed the following warning: Dear Customer, It now seems certain that by September 1, a law … Continue reading

Posted in financial crisis, freedom, italy, literature, the italian left, tim parks | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Osama, Mladic, Berlusconi: rough winds do shake

May ended up being a very bad month for the intolerant: first Osama bin Laden, then Ratko Mladic, and now Silvio Berlusconi, whose coalition was dealt a serious blow in run-off mayoral elections all over Italy this past week. Of … Continue reading

Posted in electoral crisis, gypsies, human rights, humor, il cav, immigration, italy, lega nord, roma, the italian left, the italian right | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Magdi Allam’s Politics of Fear

Some readers have criticized my use of the word “nutjob” to describe Magdi Allam. That is admittedly an imprecise description of a journalist-turned-demagogue whose views are nativist at best and racist at worst. Like Oriana Fallaci before him, Allam has … Continue reading

Posted in Bossi, Chinese, gypsies, human rights, il cav, immigration, italy, lega nord, roma, the italian left, the italian right, the right in europe, Via Sarpi | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Italy and Refugees

As Italy struggles to accept massive flows of refugees from the Arab Spring, one hopes that the G7 country has learned something in last 20 years.  As Berlusconi’s channel report that the refugees are complaining about the quality of food … Continue reading

Posted in decline of empire, human rights, il cav, immigration, international development, international justice, italy, lega nord, libya, maroni, the italian left, the italian right | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

150 Years of Unity?

Italy’s political situation, overshadowed lately by events in Middle East, is grim.  Berlusconi’s coalition totters.  Fini’s breakaway group seems waiting for the right moment.  Indeed this fall March was bandied about as the right time for a vote.  More power … Continue reading

Posted in Bossi, electoral crisis, fini, il cav, italy, lega nord, the italian left, the italian right | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Friday AM Roundup

What’s great about Friday morning?  Having the Economist placed at your feet.  And even though this is a blog, sometimes it takes having the paper placed in your hands to do a good scan. Premesso’s not-quite week in review, drawn … Continue reading

Posted in art, Balkans, Bossi, electoral crisis, eu, film, il cav, immigration, italy, lega nord, macedonia, obama, the italian left, the italian right, the right in europe, veneto | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Benigni

I’m not going to even pretend that this will be easily comprehenisble to those without a command of both what’s going with Berlusconi these days and the Italian language, although the Corriere‘s English language edition — serviceable but nothing compared … Continue reading

Posted in electoral crisis, il cav, italy, the italian left, the italian right | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Weekly digest: more Berlusca, the seriousness of ‘bunga-bunga’, more rain, and more Republicans

It’s been awhile and no updates. Yet, in the US we’ve had the midterms, which happened pretty much as predicted, and here in Italy Berlusconi again dominates the headlines with another sex scandal. At this point I’m so fatigued by … Continue reading

Posted in electoral crisis, il cav, italy, jack conway, milania, music, rand paul, the italian left, the italian right | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

If it had been in Italy…

A student passed me this joke on the Chilean mine disaster, which also plays on a lot of other recent Italian news (Sarah Scazzi, Giancarlo Tulliani‘s house, the Naples trash crisis, the electoral crisis).  Mainly it’s funny, if you get … Continue reading

Posted in Bossi, electoral crisis, fini, humor, il cav, lega nord, the italian left, the italian right | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Quick Roundup

ENEL is getting pretty interesting.  Check out their Green Power.  Back when in 2008 I was impressed by their solar generation, tracked by the minute, at their headquarters near Largo Cairoli in Milan. As was predicted in the Italian press … Continue reading

Posted in america, Bossi, fini, il cav, immigration, lega nord, maroni, the italian left, the italian right, the right in europe | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment