It is appalling that all Italian women do not vocally rebel against this feminine stereotype, rebel with their votes against this pornocracy just as the better half of Italy does, that rather than envy Berlusconi, hold him in utter contempt.
Lerner points out an excellent documentary in Italian well worth seeing, The Body of Women. For the many who don't speak Italian the images are self-explanatory.
Northern League puritans grapple with an itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny issue - Europe, World - The Independent PATRICIA CLOUGH in Rome Tuesday, 13 July 1993Diano Marina is also trying to 'restore a sense of modesty in the streets' away from the beaches and promenade, said the mayor's spokesman, councillor Elio Novaro, but it is clear that here there is modesty and modesty. Mr Novaro caused something of a stir by telling the Corriere della Sera that they should not fine beautiful women, only carampane - a term originating from old Venetian meaning an ugly, vulgar slattern.Seeking to explain himself to the Independent, he dived from the frying pan into the fire. 'It is nice to see a woman from 18 to about 35 in a bikini,' he said. 'And we hope that older women will have the good taste not to go round undressed.'
PATRICIA CLOUGH in Rome
Tuesday, 13 July 1993
Diano Marina is also trying to 'restore a sense of modesty in the streets' away from the beaches and promenade, said the mayor's spokesman, councillor Elio Novaro, but it is clear that here there is modesty and modesty. Mr Novaro caused something of a stir by telling the Corriere della Sera that they should not fine beautiful women, only carampane - a term originating from old Venetian meaning an ugly, vulgar slattern.
Seeking to explain himself to the Independent, he dived from the frying pan into the fire. 'It is nice to see a woman from 18 to about 35 in a bikini,' he said. 'And we hope that older women will have the good taste not to go round undressed.'
that was the front page of that hate rag back in july '98.
when it comes to getting into bed with the Great Priapus, it seems consistency is everything. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
Now the Lega Nord demonstrates what devotee politics is all about. Bossi broke up with B for a while and started publishing some of the worst charges they could for months on end. Then Berlusconi had a few chats and they've been the best of friends ever since. Explain that to their electorate. It's 1984. Say one thing one day, the opposite the next. It weeds out coherence and the thinking citizen, leaving only the devoted fanatic.
A few convenient things occured afterwards. The Lega's favorite bank, the Bank of Lodi, became the largest non-Sicilian bank in Sicily. It also bought up Berlusconi's Rasini bank and conveniently lost all the archives allegedly detailing the Berlusconi historical family ties with the Sicilian mafia. Perhaps Bossi knows where those archives are. Investigators have been after them for years- and even came to a confrontation in which the Palermo procura went to Palazzo Chigi and asked Berlusconi several questions concerning them. He refused to answer those questions.
Here the Lega has 11 unanswered questions in 1998. But who can blame Berlusconi? The only time he answered questions under oath he was caught lying and sentenced to three years. Naturally, there was an amnesty soon after to cancel that. As Craxi said in the remote 80's: he had never met such an outright liar like Berlusconi.
Say one thing one day, the opposite the next. It weeds out coherence and the thinking citizen, leaving only the devoted fanatic.
great perception, that's it in a nutshell. shades of glenn beck...
believe in garbage, but believe in something!
o madonna.. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
My knowledge of Italian slang was insufficient to be quite sure what torments Sabina Guzzanti had specified for poor Mr Ratzinger to get her prosecuted (see below), but a kind passer-by has enlightened me - he is to be tormented by gay devils of an active, rather than a passive disposition. As Dario Fo has pointed out, speculating about the torments endured by dead Popes is a noble tradition, with Dante as its leading exponent, and it is a depressing sign of Italy's current state that it should again be a matter for prosecution. Note: On September 19th Justice Minister Alfano decided not to proceed with this misguided prosecution of Ms Guzzanti. Dante was particularly negative about the fate of Pope Boniface VII. I am not sure if this is the same Pope Boniface mentioned in that classic history "The Bad Popes", who ate a chicken on a Friday. A colleague reproved him, saying that he might be punished after death for this breach of dietary rules. He replied that he was no more likely to survive his death than the chicken was. Speaking about Pope Celestine, Boniface's predecessor, Dante coined the famous phrase Il Gran Rifiuto. Pope Celestine's tale is well recounted in "The Bad Popes". Two of the great Roman families - it might have been Orsini and Colonna, I can't recall - couldn't agree whose turn it was to be pope, and the conclave was deadlocked. Rules specify that the supply of wine and food to the conclave should be progressively reduced, but these rules were set aside with Berlusconi (or Mugabe)-like resolve, and the deadlock endured far too long. Eventually somebody suggested that a holy hermit, then living in a cave in the Abruzzi, might be a good compromise candidate. The poor man was taken off, much against his wishes, and made Pope, but, perhaps predictably, turned out to lack completely the necessary administrative and diplomatic skills for the job. Since he was very popular, he had to be got rid of tactfully. Somebody hit on the idea of secretly drilling a hole in the wall of his bedchamber. Then, while the old man slept, one of the Cardinals spoke repeatedly, in sepulchral and portentous tones: "This is the Holy Ghost speaking. You must resign". Delighted to find out that his longing to get back to his cave had divine approval, Pope Celestine did so, becoming the first and last Pope to resign: he made il gran rifiuto,to Dante's disgust. There must be millions of Protestants and of Muslims for whom it is an article of faith that Mr Ratzinger will have a tough time after death (though this writer feels that Pope Boniface may have been on the right track). They may differ from Ms Guzzanti about the punishment - I think the Koran specifies eating filth and drinking boiling water (an experience, incidentally, available, though only at surprisingly high cost, at most British motorway service stations) rather than being tormented by gay devils - but they should be warned that, in present-day Italy, they risk being hauled up in court if they express their views publicly. Of course, this is much more likely to happen if they are addressing an appreciative audience of thousands in a packed square, and have just been speculating on what it was that the Minister of Equal Opportunities did to qualify her for the job, and pointing out that many other Italians would like Equal Opportunities of having it done to them.Of course, if you are prosecuted, you can take comfort from the thought that, if you expressed your views well enough, they may well be erecting statues of you in 700 years time.
My knowledge of Italian slang was insufficient to be quite sure what torments Sabina Guzzanti had specified for poor Mr Ratzinger to get her prosecuted (see below), but a kind passer-by has enlightened me - he is to be tormented by gay devils of an active, rather than a passive disposition. As Dario Fo has pointed out, speculating about the torments endured by dead Popes is a noble tradition, with Dante as its leading exponent, and it is a depressing sign of Italy's current state that it should again be a matter for prosecution. Note: On September 19th Justice Minister Alfano decided not to proceed with this misguided prosecution of Ms Guzzanti.
Dante was particularly negative about the fate of Pope Boniface VII. I am not sure if this is the same Pope Boniface mentioned in that classic history "The Bad Popes", who ate a chicken on a Friday. A colleague reproved him, saying that he might be punished after death for this breach of dietary rules. He replied that he was no more likely to survive his death than the chicken was.
Speaking about Pope Celestine, Boniface's predecessor, Dante coined the famous phrase Il Gran Rifiuto. Pope Celestine's tale is well recounted in "The Bad Popes". Two of the great Roman families - it might have been Orsini and Colonna, I can't recall - couldn't agree whose turn it was to be pope, and the conclave was deadlocked. Rules specify that the supply of wine and food to the conclave should be progressively reduced, but these rules were set aside with Berlusconi (or Mugabe)-like resolve, and the deadlock endured far too long. Eventually somebody suggested that a holy hermit, then living in a cave in the Abruzzi, might be a good compromise candidate. The poor man was taken off, much against his wishes, and made Pope, but, perhaps predictably, turned out to lack completely the necessary administrative and diplomatic skills for the job. Since he was very popular, he had to be got rid of tactfully. Somebody hit on the idea of secretly drilling a hole in the wall of his bedchamber. Then, while the old man slept, one of the Cardinals spoke repeatedly, in sepulchral and portentous tones: "This is the Holy Ghost speaking. You must resign". Delighted to find out that his longing to get back to his cave had divine approval, Pope Celestine did so, becoming the first and last Pope to resign: he made il gran rifiuto,to Dante's disgust.
There must be millions of Protestants and of Muslims for whom it is an article of faith that Mr Ratzinger will have a tough time after death (though this writer feels that Pope Boniface may have been on the right track). They may differ from Ms Guzzanti about the punishment - I think the Koran specifies eating filth and drinking boiling water (an experience, incidentally, available, though only at surprisingly high cost, at most British motorway service stations) rather than being tormented by gay devils - but they should be warned that, in present-day Italy, they risk being hauled up in court if they express their views publicly. Of course, this is much more likely to happen if they are addressing an appreciative audience of thousands in a packed square, and have just been speculating on what it was that the Minister of Equal Opportunities did to qualify her for the job, and pointing out that many other Italians would like Equal Opportunities of having it done to them.
Of course, if you are prosecuted, you can take comfort from the thought that, if you expressed your views well enough, they may well be erecting statues of you in 700 years time.
A large assembly, organised by Beppe Grillo, to protest against Mr Berlusconi, was held in Piazza Navona, Rome, in July. The meeting was widely decried in the press as being in poor taste, because of the lack of respect shown to the rulers. (A lack of respect which recalls Montaigne's dictum that "kings deserve our obedience because of their position, but they deserve our respect only to the extent that it is earned by their virtue"). Sabina Guzzanti, who participated in the assembly, is apparently to be prosecuted because of disrespect shown to the Pope. In reality, the authorities hope to punish her for a quite different crime.The Minister of Equal Opportunities appointed by Mr Berlusconi is one Mara Carfagna, once a topless TV presenter, substantial acreages of whom can be seen here. Ms Guzzanti brought to the attention of the audience a report in the Argentinian paper El Clarin, available here, mentioning rumours that telephone interceptions had contained allusions to Lewinsky-like services offered by Ms Carfagna to the perjurer. There can be little doubt that it was this, rather than the very tame references to the Pope, that has aroused the ire of the prosecutors. More recently, Mr Berlusconi, referring to the current economic difficulties, mentioned the need for Italians to grit their teeth. Sabina Guzzanti added the proviso "Not you, Mara".After the press had self-righteously deplored the poor taste shown at this assembly, Dario Fo recalled an Arabic fable (available here in Italian) about a zebra who was attacked by a lion, and effectively retaliated by kicking the lion with its hind legs and shitting all over it. Whereupon the monkeys in the forest expressed their horror at the poor taste and low behaviour shown by the zebra, and admonished it not to retaliate in that offensive way, but to imitate the grace and charm of the deer. Which the zebra then tried to do, being promptly massacred by the lion. The monkeys commented "she's dead, but with what elegance and civility!"September 10th 2008 - Lessons from ThailandA Thai court has ruled that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, a keen gastronome, must step down after appearing in a television cookery programme. His offence is not that of cooking his favourite dish - pork in Coca-Cola - nobody who has not eaten that dish can judge what, if any, sanction it merits. Rather his offence is to have accepted €300 from the television company in expenses for appearing in the programme, which violates a rule established in Thailand with the purpose of preventing ministers from having any business links.The contrast with Italy is of course striking. The rules in Thailand are perhaps excessively strict. But the step is a long one from accepting money in expenses for appearing in a television programme, on the one hand, to owning all the private television companies and controlling all the public ones, on the other. There is no other country in the world that could tolerate the massive conflict of interest, and the noxious fusion of business and government, which Italians now take for granted.
