… che la legge sia uguale per tutti. 
Bah
From The Guardian:”[…] Berlusconi’s triumph will send a shiver of apprehension through Brussels, where memories are still fresh of the way his government let Italy’s public finances run out of control, threatening the stability of the euro. Romano Prodi, the former European commission president and Italy’s ex-prime minister who narrowly defeated Berlusconi two years ago, reversed the trend. But to cut the budget deficit, he made the centre-left deeply unpopular by raising taxes and clamping down on evasion.
[[…]
The country looks set for five years of government headed by a 71-year-old man who has a string of trials behind him for alleged financial wrongdoing. All his convictions have been overturned on appeal and other charges against him expired under statutes of limitations.”
From The Times:
“Above all Mr Bossi will expect high office, even though he had a severe stroke four years ago and can still barely speak.
Mr Bossi has, however, described African immigrants as “Bingo Bongos” and said illegal immigrants arriving by boat should be “blown out of the water”. During the election campaign he called on his supporters to “take up arms” against “that rabble in Rome” over allegedly confusing ballot papers.
[…]
Some local League leaders have called for separate train carriages for immigrants, and the former mayor of Treviso, Giancarlo Gentilini, removed park benches in the town on the grounds that immigrants slept on them, remarking “We should dress them up like hares – and then, bang bang bang”.
“
Madness concept considered harmful
I read too much sci-fi to not be concerned about the recent claims I read about in the press. I found that “madness” boundaries are quite fuzzy, just have a look at the definition of Insanity on Wikipedia. Being a danger for himself and the people in general by flouting societal norms is quite vague, and you can stretch it to fit a number of behaviors that ranges from criminal to acceptable though odd or unusual.On the thin ice of the latter side, the “mental insane” label could be applied on who is just different from you, who do not fully conforms to the canon. And here we go on the even thinner ice of who decides which the canon is.
That why a political agenda that contains the “more mental sanity checks for these people or those” sounds creepy to me.
Given the backlog of the politician shouting these claims, who this man would consider mental among judges and magistrates? Those investigating on his business?
You may well consider both refusing being corrupted and investigating on one of the most powerful men (if not the most powerful) in Italy something that flouts our pitiful societal canons.
Elections 2
If you are going to cast your vote for the Italian government on the next weekend then you may want first take a look at this list.
Elections
If you are going to vote in the next electoral round, then you might be baffled by the choices that the Italian parties offer you. Valentino sent me to this link to find my position in the political panorama: Elezioni 2008. E tu dove sei?. It is a quick test on differentiating topics for the different parties that gives you the party closest to your opinions.
Not even a full democracy
Sadly Italy doesn’t score as a full democracy (pdf). It is the only country in the OECD considered to have a “Flawed Democracy”.
V-day
I have always feel distrust in demonstrations, rallies and overly crowded shouting events. I always though that when you are just a number, an atom of a whole, is easy to manipulate your intentions. Maybe you demonstrate for peace and political leaders use the numbers to show how strong is their party. I mean you are counted for something you don’t even think of supporting.This time I feel different, this initiative is political but is not tied to any party and is intended to start fixing some of the troubles we Italians have. The promoter is not a party leader nor empathizing of any party. You can read the motivations here in English, or here in Italian.