As we said other day, there's this schism between fact and the perception of reality. Even the left perceives danger where there isn't any. It looks like the apotheosis of consumerism. Ever see a commercial with a clochard scratching himself in the background? People want to live in a commercial hype world where the unsightly is banned. The disenfranchised are a menace, It's a mass of underproletariat at the gates of the empire that aspire to possess gadgets. They're the danger, the menace. They can steal your cell phone, your hifi, your baby.

So show off all this military might and make police blitzes against an "enemy" that doesn't exist. And of course at that point just stop front paging this crime crap so that people perceive that they're safer. A winner. Berlusconi for life. If he could only rule Europe and show all those wimpy fags in Strausbourg want it means to be a real hunk.

...and of course if a particularly brutal crime does occur despite all this macho crap it will be Europe's fault, never theirs.

By the way, page 3 today. Corriere. A small paragraph barely visible: An Italian raped a Romanian.