Italy's horse of a different color

Long life to the British Imperial Army!  Or, what's the EU doing?   In the Malay States  they have hats like plates  that the Britisher won't wear  [“Mad dogs and Englishmen”, by Noel Coward]   No, not for how they managed to keep together the biggest and more extended empire that the World had ever seen. If anything, the Navy was the real glue, and the story of the Royal Navy and the Commonwealth Navies is a fascinating subjects, and HRH Prince Philip was an accomplished and highly regarded Naval Officer.  They were a small lot anyway, numbering at the height of British power, shortly before WW I, in the region of 200.000 men. Local militias supplied most of the manpower, usually. No, I am celebrating the British Army because given the economic and political situation in the EU, and the response to COVID, it looks as if the European Elites have taken the Old officer corp traditional toast, the one that resonated from the humid jungles of Bengal to ...

  The Crisis that never was – An Italian perspective Originally hosted on "Intelligence Quarterly", https://www.intelligencequarterly.com/2021/02/the-crisis-that-never-was-an-italian-perspective/ Covid notwithstanding, I believe that the authorities do not yet appreciate the extent of the crisis now facing the EU.....they will, but we are not there yet. One of many things about Europe that irritates me, during such uncertain times, is how LITTLE we have changed the way we do things, given the scale of the problems facing the broad populace. No! This is not a particular gripe against the Draghi government, it goes way deeper and way beyond the Italian borders. It comes, in part, from my years of history fandom. Above all military history: War is the ultimate discoverer of real truth.  It is a terrible master  that like Atropos [1] , cuts the life of unsuccessful ideas short. Think Maginot line. Up until 1940, France had a perfectly reasonable strategy going forward,...

  Italy: the listing ship We have had the new Prime Minister for about a week now, albeit still waiting for the confidence vote, and I realized talking and interacting with “them forringers” that Italy is still quite misunderstood. Really, it's one of the reasons for this blog, closely linked with my passive-aggressive rage at thinking that down the road, the same people destroying my country would absolve themselves publicly saying “Who could have seen that coming?”. So, while I hope that our new government proves to be able to redress our trouble and set Italy on a path of recovery, It is useful to give what my frame of reference is to interpret Italy's story so far. Imagine, if you will, a tall ship, similar to the Cutty Sark currently displayed at Greenwich. 1 At some point, going towards the Cape of Good Hope en route to the UK, you spring a leak. You start listing to port, but as long as the ship is underway briskly and not too much water has entered the bilge,...

                                        ITALY: The Ghost of Mario Monti Everyone is watching Draghi these days. As anticipated, Italy called its rainmaker, and now everyone is waiting with bated breath, no one with more trepidation than that peculiar political race italians graciously call “Tecnici di area”, meaning reliably , “politically grounded” experts. Yet finally the coy bride to be has shown at least a scrap of her dress, in the guise of..... a new ministry. There's no beating back the Italian bloodline, you have to admit that. It has been confirmed, or better “been allowed to be confirmed” from the very voice of WWF no less, that a “Ministry for ecological transition” will be established, at the behest of Movimento 5 stelle leader, Beppe Grillo, and in order for his party bigwigs to survive an internal referendum on their “Rousseau” platform. Bear in mind...

Kafka reloaded  My son, fresh out of the University, has had an early introduction to what working in Italy entails. Fresh out of the University, he landed a job offer (yes, miracles happen). He was sent a list of documents he has to provide. First on the list is a copy of the Identity Card. In Italy, this document lists your full name and surname, date and place of birth, place of residence at issuance, the Italian equivalent of the social security number, Citizenship, and the identifier of the birth certificate. After that, in quick succession, he was asked by this company to provide: ID card image Scan of the social security number ; Signed declaration of date and place of birth; government issued certificate of citizenship, (with stamp duty); government issued birth certificate (with stamp duty); government issued composition of the family unit (with stamp duty); Signed declaration of graduation (which is available to third party on the Univers...

  SLIDING DOORS Mario Draghi is rumored of becoming the new Italian Prime Minister. But what if we never had a Draghi at all? Frankfurt, January 4 th , 2021. Taunusanlage 5, 60329 Frankfurt am Main, Germany . Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome! As Chancellor, it has fallen to me to thank our beloved Bundesbank, in its very offices, for having kept an even keel on our economy in these difficult times in cooperation with the European Central Bank. As you all know, I cannot stand to offer you a toast to your good health(laughter), but where the body fails the mind can try to overcome. But I particularly want to thank our former ECB head, Axel Weber, for having laid the groundwork that allowed the European economy to react so well and so flexibly to the COVID epidemics. Only his pigheaded insistence in the face of huge political pressures on having a firm plan for coming OUT of an easy money policy similar to those adopted in the US and previously in Japan BEFORE even trying ...

  I have a dream Each year, on New Year's Eve, it is customary that the President of the Italian Republic appears on Television to give a speech. For as long as I remember, these have ranged from gooey to annoying to downright infuriating, but hey! It's the night of dreams, in a sad year, so let me insert some fancy parts.... That I am safe in thinking I will NEVER hear. “ Over the past decade, and well before last elections and the nomination of Conte as Prime Minister, the use of Confidence votes to enact legislation has exploded. So, as custodian of the Constitution, I want to say this to my fellow citizens: from now on, every government will customarily have a strictly limited number of Confidence votes: One when it is confirmed, then one per year on matters OTHER than its continued existence. I won't sign any other law coming off over and above those numbers.” “ As much as the Recovery Fund will provide additional resources, it's all coming from additional...