Italy– tag –
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Silvio Berlusconi: 11 overwhelming questions
As I have said time and again, Silvio Berlusconi’s ventennio (his twenty years in office) is a privileged observatory as far as the future of democracy is concerned in the Western World. These are the overwhelming question... -
‘Mediterranean Summer’ series- on the road ‘write as you go’ diary of summer wanderings throughout Italy and Southern Europe
You’ll see no Rome, Florence, Venice or Taormina in this diary. Instead, I’ll take you to small unknown places of rare beauty often harbouring next to territorial or industrial diseases, ‘ugliness’ of various kind that makes Italy the cr... -
The Ballad of the Covid-19 Gaol, part one
(DIEM 25 Magazine, April 2020) The Burial of the Dead April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland Part 1: It al... -
Loro, the movie. Money for nothing and chicks for free. The immoral majority’s and Berlusconi’s philosophy
Loro 1, Loro 2, regia Paolo Sorrentino, 2018 “What did you expect: to be the richest man in the country, become prime minister and be madly loved by everyone too?” “Yes, that’s exactly what I expected.” I approached this two instalment m... -
Mediterranean Summer, chapter 3 – West Sicily, Monument Valley by the sea. In the name of the law?
You’ll see no Rome, Florence, Venice or Taormina in this diary. Instead, I’ll take you to small unknown places of rare beauty often harbouring next to territorial or industrial diseases, ‘ugliness’ of various kinds that makes Italy the c... -
World Cup 2018 – out of the cup, into the mud: corruption,violence, beauty in Italian football
All the World is a Football Stage Italian football is the mirror of our society: it means organized crime connections, both at top management level or at mafia and camorra rank; it means corruption, in match-fixing, slush funds creation ... -
Mediterranean Summer, chapter 2 – Matera, the unbelievable ‘city of stones’: from dust to stardom
You’ll see no Rome, Florence, Venice or Taormina in this diary. Instead, I’ll take you to small unknown places of rare beauty often harbouring next to territorial or industrial diseases, ‘ugliness’ of various kinds that makes Italy the c... -
Mediterranean Summer, chapter 1- Malta: Christendom facing the Muslim dominion
You’ll see no Rome, Florence, Venice or Taormina in this diary. Instead, I’ll take you to small unknown places of rare beauty often harbouring next to territorial or industrial diseases, ‘ugliness’ of various kind that makes Italy the cr... -
Vasco Rossi’s Modena Park concert: the world’s biggest live rock concert ever – in my hometown. Who’s that guy that comes from the farm?
Vasco Rossi’s Modena Park means 220.000 paying spectators at the concert. Is this a modern-day Woodstock or just a megalomaniac product? Is the rebellious spirit of Woodstock still here or are the children-parents-grandparents singing al... -
Mafia Republic, a true crime book by J. Dickie – review
Mafia Republic: Italy's Criminal Curse. Cosa Nostra, 'ndrangheta and Camorra from 1946 to the Present by John DickieMy rating: 5 of 5 stars ... a wise traveller should bring this book with him on an Italian holiday and read it while tann...
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