The next day the Gelmini decree would be voted into law. As the evening passed Rome was devastated by torrential rains. It seemed a monsoon. According to a report the next day, one student spent the entire night under the rain with his placard. He said he had nothing to lose and would never forgive himself had he given up for the weather.

Often the students used film titles for their protest, films ironically distributed by the Berlusconi monopoly such as "Io non ho paura" by Gabriele Salvatores. "I'm not scared." A Roman student adopted it as his present idea of what life in Italy offered him.

With high disoccupation levels and dim prospects for his future, he simply couldn't care to be afraid about it. It was an interesting comment on present Italian society which has been bombarded by fear messages for years. A recent international study found that the Romans are the most afraid in absolute of citizens of 30 cities throughout the world including Capetown and San Paolo. Berlusconi's televisions has turned Italy into a nation of sissies. And now he complains about it.

Another apt slogan was "Non è un paese per giovani", a twist on the Coen film "No Country for Old Men": "No Country for the Young."

In front of the Senate.

Overworked cops.