Hard to explain. One of the top bloggers in the world is Beppe Grillo, an Italian comedian turned political activist who held a day last year called Vaffanculo Day (or F--- Off Day). I'm still trying to get my head around what exactly the day is about, but I think it's partly (or a lot) about Freedom of Information. Grillo, understandably, is a bit concerned about the Italian media, which is controled by a few companies (run by, gee, the guy who is against Prime Minister). You think the US is getting bad? Italy is our future. Anyway, Grillo has been using the Net to raise hell on this issue, and it's been quite interesting. Again, I'm only beginning to understand what this is all about, and hope that next time I get to Italy I can meet the man. You can read more about Grillo and V2-Day here.
I was searching around YouTube and came across this interview I did with an Italian journalist in Rome a few weeks ago. The interview is about the role of the blogs and the Internet in the US elections. It should give you a flavor for the kind of things Europeans are interested in regarding our use of the Net, but also the key points I raise when I travel and do these talks.
Oh, and I found a talk I did, also in Rome, for college students in Sardinia and Sicily (we did it via Web video from Rome). Same topic, how the US is using the Internet for the elections, but this talk went for a good hour-plus, in Italian, with Q&A (kids in some of the more out of the way places in Italy not only don't speak English well, but they don't get American speakers because visiting Americans generally don't speak Italian - so it was kind of neat being able to do talks and Q&As for younger people). Just to give you the flavor, here is a short part where I explain what ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising site, is (again, in Italian).
What a slug. Leave it to a knuckle-dragger like Berlusconi to attack the positive changes in Spain. Berlusconi might also take a look at the Scandinavia countries who have much more equal representation in government and business. My wife just attended a seminar last week (hosted by a global, prestigious consulting firm) that showed companies with three or more women on the executive board outperform male dominated firms both organizationally and financially. Looking at the depth of problems in Italy - both organizationally and financially - perhaps Berlusconi should be taking a closer look at how women can play a larger role in Italy. For that matter, we could do a heck of a lot better in the US as well.
Berlusconi on the new Spanish cabinet:
"[He] has formed a government that is too pink," reads one. "That's something we cannot do... because there is a prevalence of men in politics and it isn't easy to find women who are qualified for government. Now he's asked for it. He'll have problems leading them."
It's just very sad to see Italy stumbling along. I first visited when I was 19. The place blew me away. I couldn't believe that a single country could contain so much beauty, from the landscape, to the history, to the culture, the food and the people (who were both gorgeous physically, and had an infectious spirit that I've only seen matched in Brazilians). Simply blew me away. I decided then to teach myself Italian, and did, and have been back to Italy somewhere around a dozen times. This last trip was the first time I'd been back in 5 years, and people are worried, and despondent. The country has had 60 governments since World War II - that's an average of a new national election every year. The political instability hurts business, hurts reform, hurts Italy's efforts to modernize with the new Europe. I'm told even the Mafia is back with a vengeance. Berlusconi sounds like he got enough of a mandate to perhaps push through some direly-needed changes, but many wonder why he'd follow through on promises now that he ignored the first two times he was prime minster before. Just such a lovely country. But as I've said before, Italy isn't the only great nation to fail to reach, and perhaps even squander, its potential.
God I love Italy :-) And here are her campaign posters that AP didn't bother including in their story. You might recall that in the 1980s, Italy had a porn star in the parliament, good ole Cicciolina.
A number of you asked to see my photos from my recent trip to Italy (I was there doing a series of talks and lectures about how we use the Internet for blogging and the elections). Rather than post a gazillion photos, you can check them out on my Flickr account here. Enjoy.
And before you think "choice" is a beautiful thing, listen to how it works in Italy. Because they have a parliamentary system of government, meaning, more or less, the parties need to form coalitions with other parties to create a government. Sounds nice and "let's all work together" doesn't it? Except it means that one small party can pull out and bring the government crashing down. This has been happening a lot in Italy for several decades now, governments coming crashing down after only a short time in office. It's led to a lot of instability, and Italy, from what I'm told, is starting to fall backward while countries that were once not as rich as Italy, like Spain, continue to move ahead economically. It's very sad. Italy is an amazing country. Culture, architecture, cuisine, a 2,000 year old ruin on practically every corner, and some damn nice (and good looking) people. It makes no sense that a country this rich should continue to be run so poorly. Then again, we should talk.
Oh yeah, Italy. I forgot to mention. I was invited a while back to give a series of talks to Italian university students, and journalists, about how we're using blogs and the Internet in the US for the elections (and overall politics). Italy is pretty behind in using the Net for everything (I'm told Berlusconi, the man who once was, and is soon expected again to be, Prime Minister, doesn't even have a campaign Web site). It's been really interesting. Some of the students speak English, others not so well (in contrast to Greece, where fluency in English in Athens was RAMPANT - I mean it was downright bizarre how well the Greeks, in Athens at least, now speak English). But in Italy, not so much. So some of my talks have been in English, others I've given in Italian, which makes it a lot harder, but it's also fun. There's something about experiencing another country in their own language that makes the experience more authentic to me. It's interesting the perspective you get on your own country, your own politics, your own nation's future, when traveling abroad. Some people think foreign travel is all milk and cookies, but it's really not. It's fun, yeah, but actually can be quite lonely as well. But at it's best, it's more fascinating than anything else. It's hard to tool around 20 feet below ground in a 2,500 year old Etruscan tomb, looking at a frieze of some long-forgotten very-important-dead-guy (an Italian Ozymondias) and his loving family, and not get a sense of perspective.
[NOTE FROM JOHN: I speak Italian, and the word the Italian politician is using is not "faggot," it's "ass-f*cker." Oh, and the only reason I'm using the little star is because a few Internet filters have classified us as an adult site, read: porn - hoping to avoid that in the future.]
And we were worried about Jim Naugle's proposed $250K robojohn in Ft. Lauderdale to halt imaginary gay bathroom sex. Take a look at what right-wing pol Giancarlo Gentilini, the deputy mayor of the Italian town of Treviso proposed in a TV interview:
"I will immediately give orders to my forces so that they can carry out an ethnic cleansing of faggots," Gentilini told the station in an interview.
"The faggots must go to other [places] where they are welcome. Here in Treviso there is no chance for faggots or the like."
There were nearly 1000 people in front of city hall protesting the outrageous comments, and calling for Gentilini's resignation. There's a video (in Italian), for those willing to translate.
If Italian PM Prodi manages to survive in power for another year, it might be a miracle. Tripped up by a vote that related to the US, members of his varied coalition grumbled and handed him a defeat. After thinking more about what happens if Prodi is ousted brought back memories of Berlusconi, who could possibly take power again. The result is a temporary victory for Prodi, who will return to power, but the big question is how long Prodi's delicate hold on power will continue.
