fantapolitica
humorous look at Italian politics (bilingual)Wednesday, April 16, 2008
OK Now* the US Class War has Begun
or rather the non rich are fighting back. The spot heard round the world. The Bosses tea party. The storming of the pastille
* I have been known to jump the gun on this one, but this time it's for real.
Via Kevin Drum
update: I posted here by mistake. Now I have to try to explain the ad to Italians.
First, most Italians know that the US doesn't have a national health care system. Rather those who have health insurance are old or poor (and get public health insurance) or get it from their employers. This means that people can't quit (dimetersi) without losing their health insurance.
Note that the boss is younger than his subordinates. Very few Italians suffer this indignity as Italy is almost a pure gerontocracy.
Note the guy who hates the copier almost as much as I do is reading the classified ads while photocopying his culo. In the US there are pages and pages of want-ads where employers advertise seeking employees -- trying to get people to accept jobs and work for them. This really happens. On the other hand, you can get fired for photocopying your butt in the USA.
Note the comment on foam (schiuma). This scene is set in a Starbucks. The blond woman is, by US standards, grossly over-groomed indicating that she is rich and compulsiva (yet the barista is much better looking and, in particular, if she were to photocopy . The foam is foam in a giant cappucino which is not called a cappucione but a "latte".
US snobs like to pretend that they are European by calling coffee milk. Think of how Italian snobs miss use English words when trying to show off (I especially like "management" with the accent on the first e which is silent in English and "feeling" whose meaning in Italian is closer to simpatia than to any actual English word*). To me calling caffé "latte" indicates a limited command of language. In the USA it is they key signal of not being populare.
*I said closer not close.
What the f* did they put in Jonathan FBD Weisman's coffee ?
Read what he and Michael D Sheer wrote
"In my administration, there will be no more subsidies for special pleaders, no more corporate welfare," McCain said.
But much of what he detailed was a corporate special pleader's dream:
I'm not surprised that no one told me that today is blind Squirrel day, but why didn't anyone tell Atrios ?
Monday, April 14, 2008
Oh Well
As happened in 2006, the exit polls appear to have under-predicted the vote for Berlusconi et al.
Exit Polls !!!!
Blacked out in Italy. Easily available on the web. Lo stato Italiano protegge il pubblico dal informazione but who will watch the watchers and guard The Guardian
In the vote for the senate, for which only voters over the age of 25 are eligible, Berlusconi's Freedom Folk party had a lead of around 4%, according to revised figures.
In the ballot for the lower house of the Italian parliament, the chamber of deputies, where the voting age threshold is 18, the gap between the two main parties narrowed to two percentage points.
In both cases, the range of possible error – around 4% - was wide enough to allow for a reverse when the actual results come in.
Wow 4% in the Senate is not likely to give him a majority !
The Telegraph agrees with The Guardian ! Has this ever happened before ?
Silvio Berlusconi ahead in Italian exit polls
By Tom Chivers and agencies
Last Updated: 2:27pm BST 14/04/2008
The billionaire Mr Berlusconi, a conservative, has a two-point lead over centre-Left opponent Walter Veltroni in the lower house of the Italian parliament and a three-point lead in the upper house, according to a poll carried out by Sky TV.
One poll was by RAI and one by SKY
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Italian Election Half Time Report
The first day of voting in the Italian general election has finished. It has been illegal to public polls for 14 days now (ouch). Noo exit polls (I think).
Betfair has implied probabilities of leading politicians becoming the next prime minister. They give the inverse of the probability of winning.
Currently betfair has Berlusconi at 1.21 or 83% change of being the next prime minister. This would be the third sack of Rome (Ricimer he's already served as Alaric (95-96) and Genseric (2001-06)
