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Sex, Lies and Dvds

burntbythetuscansun — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:00:58 GMT

History has just been made: An Italian politician just went down for his sexual picadillos, in what is a very first for this country. I mean, we�re talking about the place that gave us Caligula, Popes with 17 kids, Caesar & Cleopatra and then Marc Antony & Cleopatra, and Emperors gifting sumptuous villas for their (very open) mistresses. It was the Italians who remarked upon seeing photos of Gary Hart on the �Monkey Business� with a pretty blonde (who was not his wife), that he most likely would have lost his candidacy if he�d been on the Monkey Business and not tried something. And so, catching Marazzo, the President of Rome�s great Lazio region with his pants down and taking the fall? This is nothing short of monumental.

Has Italy suddenly become prudish? Not if you count the numbers of men (and women) who back Berlusconi�s affairs as a sign of his �virility�. No, with all the drama of an Italian tragic opera, it wasn�t one of your plain vanilla puritan American affairs; getting caught sleeping around, or paying for escorts, or getting a b.j. in the oval office, or even chasing pages (these transgressions don�t even cause blips on the radar screen). He was caught � on tape � shacking up with transvestites. But that�s only the QuickRead version of the story. It grows more complex by the minute:

What started out as his �personal weakness� for the likes of (illegal immigrants) Natal� and Brenda, later involved four Carabinieri policemen who filmed him in the act (for whom?, one might ask). He tried offering them hush money. The film supposedly ends up, however, in the hands of one of the huge media outlets � who warns him about it, rather than publishing it. That person is also the Head of State, Berlusconi. Speaking of Prime Ministers, the building is the same one in which Aldo Moro was famously imprisoned before being murdered. The same neighborhood where Italy's Secret Service purportedly own 22 other apartments (begging the question...did they murder Moro?). Or, did the Carabinieri have ties to Rome's local mafia, the Casalesi and is it true, they have other hot videos (involving other ex-Ministers)?
As the climax of Marazzo�s personal and professional life is spent as fast as a man after well, climax, he's taken a leave of absence from his job. Unfortunately, just when Berlusconi�s men are maintaining a public campaign to halt absenteeism for false maladies � Marazzo goes home and gets a note from the doctor. The opposition cries foul, and presses for new elections � surely to win.
And, speaking of Berlusconi, the spotlight's now off the uncannily quiet Berlusca and his escorts, and shining brightly on the left, where the dirt is so murky, his own affairs pale by comparison. Hmmmmm...those accusations now seem like fun foreplay when set against the after-glow of Marazzo's transvestite trysts.

Shakespeare set his plays in Italy, for all the intrigue and fascination the place obviously held even back in his day. But Shakespeare, if he were alive today, could never have predicted such a convoluted unfolding of events.
As for me, since the days of seeing Gary Hart's Presidential campaign go impotent, up to John Edwards' premature ejection from public life, I still can�t figure out for the life of me, why public figures don�t keep their privates private � at least for the time they�re occupying a public office.

Happy International Pasta Day!

burntbythetuscansun — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:40:47 GMT

Wednesday may have been Prince spaghetti day, but, today is International Pasta Day! And, judging from the latest statistics, Americans are eating pasta even more than once a week. In sunny Rome, we had a beautiful day to celebrate, with all kinds of pastas being served in the shadow of Castel Sant�Angelo. Heck, they even had a kiddie area where they were making Colosseum replicas out of the boxes!

It seems everything�s happening in Bella Roma this fall: The Festival del Cinema, a Calder exhibit opening (can�t wait!), theatres filled with performances, even the Barnum & Bailey circus, museums at night�It�s no wonder that Rome was voted recently one of the most livable cities. I would totally agree, although there are those other studies which show for pollution, traffic, and, services (like no nursery schools)�it�s not so great. And, if you don�t count the hundreds each year who get run down on the crosswalks (they probably would have agreed, it was a great city in which to die, though)�I think those reports are spot on.

My friends called from Castel Sant�Angelo to tell me that the day was picture perfect, and the organization flawless. Of course, there were the curmudgeons who were wondering when they�d get fed their �secondo piatto� (was it called International Roast Bif Day??!!)

But, a friend who went to the Dennis Hopper presentation of his new fab book of photos (at 500 euro a shot, it better be fab) had this to report: He was doing a book signing of sorts. Except that he was signing little slips of paper, promoting the book. There were no books on display, nor were they on offer. I wonder -- was that intentional (to avoid the embarrassment of him not signing any books since we�re in the throws of the Great Recession?) � or, were the books merely stuck in customs?

Se volete parlare.. Skype in Italiano!

The Russian — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:58:08 GMT

Quote:

Originally Posted by paolo

Alessia
Spero poi domani di installare un audio video chat su questo sito cosi' non servira' piu' andare su Skype ma si potra' conversare all interno del forum
Paolo

Great idea Paolo! Very much needed feature here. Good luck with the instalation. Please let us know when it is up ;-) (the feature I mean) so that we can start using it. :)

Win For Life

burntbythetuscansun — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:36:32 GMT

The Lottomatica people just announced this terrific new lottery game, with three winners on the first day alone garnering 4000 euro/month for 20 years (let's just say, we hope the lives of the Win For Life winners don't come to an abrupt end in around that time -- not that that wouldn't make a good thriller plot).
But then, I think the term was used just to coin a phrase, and I wonder, how many of Italy's main players -- those aging seniors (and even a lot of youngsters) really know what those words mean. It never ceases to amaze me how much of English is used to sell anything, from the ridiculous M'Honey Bank card (brought to you by my nemesis, Monte dei Paschi) to cars to the very Italian Todd's.
And then a reader sent in this witty piece to put it all into perspective:

The English tend to struggle with foreign languages � which may be why they made the rest of the world speak theirs instead. So as an Englishman of a certain age, the five years it�s taken me to learn Italian have put, well, years on me.

Blunders that still make me grimace? Confusing ho scoperto (�I discovered�) with ho scopato (�I screwed") � on one of my first meetings with my future mother-in-law. Even worse was my asking at a restaurant what to do about la mancia (the tip). Only it came out as la minchia (a quite vulgar term for the male genitalia).

All that trouble to learn the world�s most romantic language and what do I find? Half of Italy has replaced it with �Anglo-Italiano�, a curious mix of English and Italian.

Accommodation for your vacation to Rome? If gli hotel are booked, lo staff may recommend un bed and breakfast nearby that is one of i top in the capital and comes with tutti i comfort. Staying for a few weeks? Then think about un residence or un loft with un big open-space.

The media is no better. Il Premier Silvio Berlusconi has allegedly been sleeping with le sexy escort after using il suo private jet to transport i VIP and le showgirl to i party at his home. It�s un altro gaffe by il tycoon and il feeling between him and voters has never been worse. Now he�s complaining about lo stress and il suo privacy.

Following il summit di G8 � which brought altri leader such as Barack Obama and le first ladies to Italy � Berlusconi called un meeting of his cabinet to settle un budget. But the newspapers have un scoop � during un briefing, he blamed Il Ministro del Welfare for the deficit reaching un record.

Or how about the soccer in La Gazzetta dello Sport? There was il derby during il weekend between i due club di Milan, AC Milan and Inter. Because il match era sold-out, i fans found it hard to buy i ticket. Milan�s No9 was il matchwinner with a goal from un corner. It led to scuffles among gli hooligan, which gli steward soon dealt with. Leonardo, il mister di Milan, was just happy to win.

But gossip and beauty magazines are the worst. Madonna non � piu single � la superstar now has un boyfriend and she and il suo partner have been spotted in un resort. Or fancy un po� di restyling? Read all about il beauty, gli accessory-must and i color this season � sono black and white. By the way, il new look is un T-shirt extra large with un paio di jeans.

Then there�s una showgirl from un reality show, downing i cocktail in un bar, before a spot of il clubbing and then heading off with un pop star from un boyband.

But surely Italian is a rich enough language with words of its own that do the job perfectly � un albergo, not hotel; impiegati rather than staff; spuntino instead of snack.

Last year the prestigious Dante Alighieri Society launched a campaign to curb the erosion of Italian by English words. Tough job � Anglo-Italiano is now il nuovo trend�

Thanks to Ainsley Okoro for his terrific commentary on this trend...

Ainsley Okoro works for Homes and Villas Abroad.com, a property website and specialises in Calabrian property and property in Tuscany.

Royal Flush

burntbythetuscansun — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:26:23 GMT

My 10 year old nephew, visiting from the United States, burst out with a pretty amazing observation, after we checked into a wonderful apartment in the foothills of the Abruzzi National Park. Obviously following in the footsteps of his dear old aunt (and with a hint of exasperation in his voice, I�d say), he remarked, �Why is it that every single toilet in this entire country has a different way of flushing??!!�
According to Giancarlo, he has yet to flush the same way twice. In fact, even in our rental apartment, each bathroom had a different system.

Here�s his list:

- Sometimes, you have to pull a sort of plug upwards into the air that you find on the toilet tank.
- Other tank tops have buttons which you have to press down on (only after you�ve tried pulling them up)
- On trains, you have to press down on a pedal if you can find it (but only after you realize there is no other way to flush)
Sometimes it's not a pedal but a little rubber thing in the floor
- On superfast trains, there�s actually a light switch that flushes the toilet like supersonic speed as in airplanes
- Old apartments have chains you pull down like old light switches
- Some have buttons you have to press real hard on the wall, which have no relation to the toilet area itself
- There are plastic disks, divided in two, and it takes a moment to figure out what the two sides mean...he usually presses either one, both seem to do the trick, but not always
- And, finally, some have buttons hanging down from the tank which you have to push up, and then hold it there, in order to assure proper flushing

Coming from a country in which everything is standardized, down to the light switches on the inside right as you walk into that very bathroom, I can see why he was a bit perplexed. Part of the beauty of discovery, I suppose.
I can�t wait to hear his uptake on toilet seats.

Where do you eat lunch?

Martha — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:47:15 GMT

I miss Italian lunch. When we lived in Rome, I made lunch for my husband and myself almost everyday. We sat down at the table and enjoyed every bite. While I wouldn't say I'm a great cook in the U.S., in Italy I was. Fresh, in-season food makes a world of difference. Anyone can be a good cook in Italy.
Now, repatriated and living a fast- paced life, lunch is sometimes a p.b.j. sandwich scarfed down over the sink. Or like yesterday, I left my part-time job at 2:00, ate my brown-bag lunch in the car on the way to a clothing sale, and then rushed to pick up my son at school by 3:00.
I never saw Italians eating on the go. It just wasn't done, except for gelato. Now, that is done by everyone and is perfectly acceptable. But to bite into a slice of pizza while walking down the street....never!
What's your lunch like?

Valle San Giovanni Reunion

stefanaccio — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:14:54 GMT

The sixth annual Valle San Giovanni luncheon will take place at noon on Saturday 3 October 2009 at DiPaolo�s Italian Ristorante in Penns Grove, NJ. As always all �Vallaroli� (people from Valle San Giovanni), guests and friends are welcome. Reservations (by responding to this email or contacting Mike Di Paolo directly) are appreciated but not mandatory. The price remains just $20 at the door for the best Italian meal and nicest people to be found this side of Italia. Buon appetito!
Siamo lieti di segnalarvi che la festa annuale �pranzo vallarolo� abbia luogo sabato 3 ottobre 2009 al Ristorante Italiano Di Paolo, a Penns Grove, Nuova Jersey. Tutti gli abruzzesi,vallaroli del cuore, ospiti ed i loro amici sono invitati. I biglietti solo 13 euro. Si mangia bene le pietanze autentiche italiane!

The ties between Penns Grove and Valle San Giovanni remain strong more than 100 years after the first Italian emigres came to southern New Jersey in search of a better life. Extremely interesting is the connection between the statue of the Madonna located at the Saint James parish and the annual festival of the Madonna delle Grazie held July each year in Teramo, Abruzzo Italy.

Nota bene: I legami fra Penns Grove in America e Valle San Giovanni in Italia rimangono strettissimi cent�anni dopo i primi vallaroli sono emigrati a Nuova Jersey da migliorare la loro vita quotidiana. Molto interessante il nesso fra la statua della Madonna nella chiesa San Giacomo a Penns Grove e la Festa della Madonna delle Grazie celebrata ogni anno a Teramo.

Tips for Travelling in Italy

burntbythetuscansun — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:57:35 GMT

With so many visitors to Italy, I grow a bit tired trying to explain the tipping thing. Time & again. Inside & Out. And, no matter how much I blather, there they go, leaving tips and ruining the market for the rest of us. So, as one of my periodic Public Service Announcements, here it is, YOUR GUIDE TO TRAVELING IN ITALY � TIPPING � Do you? Or, don�t you?
Like any good practices, let�s start with a definition of terms:

TIP: �a gift of money for a service, especially as an amount above what is owed�

So, why do we tip? TIPS � To Insure Personal Service

And, who receives those tips?

In the USA, we generally give a tip to people who have the following qualities:

- making well under the minimum wage (and that wage has been kept to a bare, unmovable minimum for years).
- do not get paid vacations
- probably do not even get paid sick leave, which means they lose income for getting the flu
- do not have health coverage on pretty much any level, although this is not across the board
- are often students/ actors looking to top up income
- try their best to assure you get great service in order to gain those tips

In Italy, waiters are a bit of a different breed:

- they make the standard wage for their category, assured by State Law (not by the enterprise), although that wage does not always go up year after year
- they get an extra month�s pay in August or December, or both
- they get paid vacations, upwards of 4 � 6 weeks
- they get paid sick leave, with no max no. of days that they can�t be sick. In fact, if they break their leg or even pull a shoulder, they don�t have to go back to work for 6 weeks, all the while, getting paid their entire wages
- they receive free national health coverage on pretty much any level
- they are professionals in their industry, and often get paid as well as a banker or other professional categories. If they�re paid under the table, 100% of their income is in their pocket, no taxes applied. And they probably can still use those health benefits
- they try their best to assure you get great service anyway, which is a good thing although this is not always the case.

The incredible thing is, if you leave a tip on the table, it almost all goes handily into the cash register of the owner, and not into the pocket of the person who served you in the first place.

That same owner, aside from charging you $12 for a 12 cent plate of pasta, already owns most of that gorgeous block of buildings where you�re eating, right in the heart of (fill in city name here). They bought the block around the corner too, after doubling prices following the introduction of the euro.

When you sit down, aside from being charged double in bars, you pay what is called a COPERTO (bread / tablecloth use). This is a per person charge of about $1.50 to $4 depending on the establishment. I was once charged near the Pantheon $8. This can come out to 10% of your bill in mild-mannered places. In Rome, they did away with the Coperto, so now, it�s off the menu but still on the bill. I can personally attest you'll be charged even if you�re yeast intolerant.

Taking the lead of the hordes of American tourists coming here and leaving large tips for no apparent reason (even in the fanciest of places in the old days Italians would leave a 1000 lire bill on the table � roughly 40 cents), many tourist places also add a 12% or so service onto the bill. It is sometimes stated on the menu in fine print.

As a result, Americans have ruined the market, as waiters, on hearing your English, expect the big bucks. [In Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, after paying a hefty coperto, plus the Service charge, the waiter actually chased me down for the tip�! Needless to say, I never ate there again]. The craftier establishments give you a credit card receipt with the tip line empty, hoping you are none the wiser.

So, for all you Americans who, despite all of the above pointers, still FEEL GUILTY out of habit, or simply feel like indulging your obvious masochistic tendencies, you are off the hook. You have my permission NOT TO TIP. Ditto on taxi drivers.
And, to assuage your guilt further, just say to yourself as you leave and graciously shake hands, �50 years� of Americans have been paying my tips for me.�
Besides, as the Japanese tourists recently discovered (after a 130 euro tip was added to their bill), you�re probably paying a bit more for everything anyway than the Rossi table dining right next to you.

Appriciate your points of view.............

A.I.A — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:56:47 GMT

What are the pathways to migrate to Italy for a SriLankan national who is not very affluent?????????:):)

Why?????????????

A.I.A — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:52:46 GMT

Why am I fighting to live, if I'm just living to fight......
Why am I trying to see, when there aint nothing in sight.......
Why am I trying to give, when no one gives me a try.........
Why am I dying to live, if I'm just living to die..........?
someone tell me y??????????

Moontalk

burntbythetuscansun — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:56:15 GMT

July 20th (21st in Italy) marks the 40th anniversary of the American landing on the moon. Everyone is making a nod to this great event, with TV specials, documentaries, interviews, heck � even Louis Vuitton came out with an extra special ad and web feature (as if they were the Official Sponsor of the Nasa Suitcase Supply).

In Italy, that fateful event did not go unnoticed. In fact, it remains in the collective consciousness a day of celebration for all mankind (except the ones who still believe it was all a hoax) and one of the great moments for TV reporting, in fact, from that point forward, TVs needed to be in every home (and with it, the ill-famed TV tax). While watching an excellently-commented documentary on Italian TV of the significance of that great day, I learned so much � not about opening frontiers where no man had gone before � but about the long-standing tradition of television bickering started then, and still going strong these 40 years later.

On that fateful day, over 20 million people were glued to their screens. It was the first all-live � 24/7 broadcast ever � a telethon of sorts lasting 30 hours. But, true to Italian organization, the only moment that was not broadcast was the landing itself. The reporters covering the event got into an argument over whether or not the landing had just occurred. In their bickering, 20 million people who tuned in missed Armstrong�s fateful declaration, �Houston, the Aquila has landed.�

Basically, Tito Stagno, comfy in his RAI studio in Rome, was shouting (probably to best the on-location reporter, Ruggero Orlando live from Houston, �It�s Landed!� Orlando chimed in, �No, it still has 10 meters to go!� Stagno couldn�t see the images just then being transmitted. From the base on the Sea of Tranquility, Stagno, trying to be the first, went down in history all right � for muddying the waters � as his name, Still Pond, suggests.

Another tidbit: The only other one who couldn�t see the landing was the third Astronaut, Michael Collins. His job was to stay in orbit to retrieve his comrades. Fittingly, our Michael was born in Rome � on the Via Tevere.

As the reporter for the Corriere della Sera so appropriately remarked of the occasion, �Noi siamo di quelli che quando il dito indica la luna, guardiamo il dito.�
We�re the ones who, when indicating the moon with a finger, ends up peering at the finger.�

When in Rome...

burntbythetuscansun — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:04:32 GMT

Michelle Obama & kids visited the Pantheon today. It has been twittered, and it's probably TOTALLY UNTRUE, in the friend of a friend of a friend sort of variety of info that our TOTALLY COOL FIRST LADY donning black leggings - leggings!- under a black dress asked for a doggy bag at the restaurant.
You mean to tell me, my blog isn't required reading prior to a Presidential presence in Italia???!!! I mean, is she a midnight snacker? Did Barack call her up and say, honey can you pick me up a little something while you're out and about??
If not, I'm going to say in her defense that she must be travelling with Bo, and she didn't know she could bring him to the ristorante...(again, if she only read my blog...!)

And while I'm on the Obama's case, I understand a bunch of nations promised to dump money into the endless corruption pit that will be Aquila's rebuilding. I don't know about you, but personally, I'd like to see a bit more of an improvement say, in making robust levees in New Orleans or taking care of Ground Zero (8 years on...) before I see American tax dollars lining contractors' and politicos' pockets over here. I mean, how much black market money do we have to go around?
Between paying bribes to Pakistanis, Iraqis and Afghan Warlords, I'm sure N'awlins still needs to suck up its fair share...
I can still hear Berlusconi laughing all the way to the bank with his G8 Show n'Tell.[/SIZE][/SIZE]

Italy Puts on a New Face

burntbythetuscansun — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:09:46 GMT

Since 1953, Italy has been using TV presenters to tell you the night�s programming, basically in a rare moment of technological prowess, they offer what today is known as a podcast. It�s one of the most endearing qualities of life in the Bel Paese. What�s more incredible about these announcers is that they are so loved, they are allowed to stay on long after their looks have gone into retirement. A few years back, the RAI decided to put them out to pasture � and in a public outcry so loud and long, they rescinded the order in a nanosecond. About the first time any government proclamation could be put into effect that quickly. Truly, in a country totally smitten with sexy young veline, the aging presenters are almost like an exhibition in a natural history museum, but we love them to smithereens.

And so, it comes as a huge surprise that metrosexual Italy has now chosen a new Signorina Buonasera � except he�s a Signorino. Even more incredible, he�s half-Egyptian, and it feels as if nothing short of a revolution is taking place � literally right before our eyes. In a nod toward their ever-changing population, they've chosen a young, tanned (in the Berlusconi-Obama sort of way), mixed-ethnicity guy with a truly terrific smile.

Livio Bashir would seem to have all the right credentials � but does he?

I have long held that Italy holds the title for the most over-talented and under-utilized population on earth. Well, even for our Signorino this seems to be the case. In a wonderful tribute article in the Corriere della Sera, we discover that our presenter brings a curriculum vitae just perfect for this job announcing the evening�s shows:

- graduated with honors in Communications
- became a publicist
- won an Erasmus scholarship to the Social Sciences dept at Paris� famed Sorbonne
- studied acting at the Living Theatre
- and has worked in theater, TV, movies and advertising

But, I shouldn�t despair. After all, Barbara Matera was a RAI announcer for 4 years. She�s now bringing down 20000 euro/month as a Europarliamentarian for Berlusconi's party.
Livio may just have the right credentials after all.

Down The Fort Documentary Trailer

justindemetri — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:00:20 GMT

Well it's St. Peter's Fiesta time here in Gloucester and this year I am participating in a project to document my town's "little Italy" - known as The Fort.

Although most of Gloucester's Italian-American community has moved on, The Fort is still the heart and soul, the place where our families got a foothold in America.

Change is happening across the country and in our tired old fishing town and so Ethnographer Sal Zerilli and his team are preparing to document the sights, sounds, smells and memories of our little enclave: The Fort.

Here are videos of some of the people I admire most - that helped shape the person I have become. Enjoy:

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These are my parent's best friends, they are still known as the 'fort gang' and are like my older brothers and sisters -getting me in small trouble but keeping me out of big trouble.

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Buzzy Bertolino was like the neighborhood grandpa and his bakery next door to my grandma Demetri's was the kitchen cupboard. After all these years he still looks the same...

For more stories and information on the project visit: Down The Fort

Party Time

burntbythetuscansun — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:07:14 GMT

Well, the European elections have come and gone, with the rigid right seemingly trouncing the left and socialist parties from Brussels to Brindisi. It�s not enough to know what, or for whom, we were actually voting for, but how those elections play in Parliament. What�s actually more confusing are the myriad parties from each place who garner representation there. I am still convinced that if my favorite candidate, the ubiquitous Home Developer, Mr. Carlino won out, he�d be spending his time selling houses to his fellow parliamentarians.

Italy is slowly eking its way into a two-party system. Except that in the Italian case, it's more like a multi-colored, multi-logo, 12 party one. Sometimes, they join together only to fight it out amongst themselves later (like Bossi�s Lega Party in Berlusconi's coalition); sometimes, they simply go it alone (like DiPietro�s one).
In America, party heads don�t seem to carry all that much clout (even Howard Dean, a physician and ex-head of the Democratic Party, after wholly revamping the party didn�t garner a place on Obama�s cabinet�even in the Dept of Health). But here, they become part and parcel with their party. Reaching demagoguery on the level of our beloved Prime Minister is the only natural conclusion.

I recall visiting the office of a former Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal here. Splayed across an entire wall was a sort of Family Tree of photos and political philosophies of every big wig across every party. Not unlike the situation room of Al Qaeda trackers, pieces would be moved here, there and everywhere to mark each active and sleeper cell's new party alliances, their rise, their fall and their manoeuvrings.

Now that we�re down to just a handful of parties (Fini�s Alleanza Nazionale having recently folded into Berlusconi�s bag), it still isn�t that easy to tell them apart. In a country that has a marked disdain for marketing practices, this is because the parties often change their names in mid-stride.

Berlusconi founded his Forza Italia party just about 10 years ago. At around the same time, the communist party failed, but you can now find them lurking in the Refounded or the Reformed Communist Party (I like calling them the Reconstituted...) Recently, I saw posters brandishing the good old-fashioned Communist sickle -- now how's that for marketing prowess?

My Radical Party, in an attempt of total rebranding, is now called, unbelievably, The Rose in the Fist. To me, it�s an awful lot like In the Name of the Rose, with all those politics and murders coming into play just like in the novel.
The left-wing parties who were left, joined forces under Veltroni to make the Democratic Party (Pd). No sooner did they change the colors of their new logo than the astute (and grand Marketeer par excellence) Berlusconi changed his party to the Pdl. That �l� is so thin, I can barely keep the two sides apart.
And Americans thought they had problems with hanging chads during their elections.

Perhaps they should simply stick with the huge faces instead of party logos. That way, we can just vote for the guy we recognize. Umberto Eco would get my vote.