Mr B, the boss of Italy and many things within the country, is gearing up for the elections. Late last year, when I should have commented on this, Milan was beset with hoardings bearing the B mans smiling face and stating all the good things Mr B and his minions have done for Italy. One of these statements caught my attention – it stated that Italy and Italians where well respected throughout the world. This struck me as being a wee bit odd seeing as the Economist, last year, had run an article about Italy being the sick old man of Europe, two large Italian companies had almost hit bankruptcy as a result of the less than honest actions of their senior managers and the head of the bank of Italy, no less, was being investigated for insider dealing, amongst other things. Such incidents do not generally create a healthy level of respect for a nation. Perhaps, just perhaps, Mr B should have cancelled this particular advertising campaign, which I suspect probably made many Italians feel rather sick – but I'm only a foreigner, so I know nothing about the place really and I'm probably a communist too.
It seems as though the Fazio affair has led to a nice little can of worms being opened, and buried in the midst of the writhing worms it would seem that there are certain members of parties in opposition to the B man. Needless to say, Mr B is attempting to milk this golden opportunity for all it is worth in an attempt to win the elections once more. I pity the poor voters – the choice seems to be between bank robbers and ad men, both of whom are renown for their rather loose interpretation of the concept of honesty. Of course, if Italians were really lucky, they could have a top politico like Mr 'rispect' Blair as the king of their castle.
Stop reading, start speaking
Stop translating in your head and start speaking Italian for real with the only audio course that prompt you to speak.
With leaders of the present calibre, the human race will be lucky to see the end of this century. And my son is growing up in the middle of all this – heck if I could send him back, I would – for his own sake. Those 'Tears for Fears' guys had a point.
Could I do better? Probably not – but there must be someone out there who can, or do, as someone close to me once commented, we just get what we deserve?
