I hadn't noticed that the Guardian, and probably others, had covered the killings of Erba that recently where all over the place on the italian newspapers. The gist of it according to the Guardian seem to be that the couple murdered their neighbors because they were too loud (so also reports Italy Logue, where I first learned of the Guardian cover of the thing, and pretty much all the other media sources here in Italy).

Of course as always the truth is more complex, less absurd, and the real fun is not to simplify it. The truest things always come out if you look closely.

For example details of the story say that Rosa Bazzi, the killer from upstairs who apparently started the massacre dragging her husband into it, was raped when she was ten years old (if you can imagine that). Because forms of violence so often morph into similar or specular forms of violence later on, I see easily the same kind of brutal ignorance of the Italian province behind the two connected events: and the typical reserved and very-decent, extremely repressed behavior (that suddenly explodes) of the people of northern Lombardia in particular.

It's true anyway that "too loud neighbors" was the explanation the couple of murderers alleged for their "insane act".

Yet I think that everyone who wants to know knows, and particularly those who live in the same area or region of the event (a region where the infamous racist & powerful party "Northern alliance" was born), that a great deal of the reasons for this crime must be searched within the fact that one of the two murdered women, the main target of the attack, lived with a man from Tunisia.
And Rosa from upstairs cut the throat of a two years old little boy ("who was crying, and I suffer of headache" she said) who was the mixed-blood son of the said couple.
Not to recognize this simple fact, that they felt entitled to destroy that family because it was a racially mixed family, means to once again censorship one essential flavor of the Italian and European life of this century, losing yet another occasion to look directly at ourselves, our fading Italian world, what we really are.

You may already know that these are rough days for Italy.

This country is in such a bad shape, that in any aspect of life one can pick reasons of disappointment and annoyance (I mean, above average reasons).
Recently I stumbled in all sort of posts, from italians in Italy, italians abroad, from foreigners in Italy, all complaining the italians crabbiness, bad manners, pollution, negligence, mafia, ignorance... (from bellavite.de, Buzzurro, BeppeGrillo.it, Italian Meat, Romanus Yankeeus just to name a few). All the posts were pretty well-founded. Including mine.

On the other hand, it's pretty hard to say good things about Italy these days. Just as you bump into anything good, there will be someone pointing out how what seemed good on the surface, in fact was just as bad.
I did this exercise dozens of times.

Well anyway. Now things seem to turn into something darker.
I have bad feelings. Bad memories

Last week, as the first italian Primary elections ever were held by the left wing coalition, a southern politician, Francesco Fortugno, member of the "Daisy Party" (a left-wing moderate political party whose leading member is the former PM and former EU president Romano Prodi, elected in the Primary as the opponent to Silvio Berlusconi in the next general elections, due in April 2006) was ambushed and killed while headed to vote.
Obviously, the local Mafia of Calabria, called "Ndrangheta" instructed the murder.
It is already obvious that this criminal act was intended as a message to the left-wing coalition which is likely to kick Berlusconi out of office. The message, pretty clear, is: "If you win, you are going to deal with us, willingly or not".
Ndrangheta is the strongest criminal organization in Italy; probably the strongest criminal organization in the whole Europe: surely stronger than any terroristic organization. Its root in the territory are strong. Its friends innumerable.
They make most of the money by smuggling drugs all over the world, but Ndrangheta also controls most of the public contracts in Calabria and all around Italy. They control building, administrative, public health contracts. They always have their share.

From the FBI website:

The word "'Ndrangheta" is of Greek origin meaning courage or loyalty. The 'Ndrangheta formed in the 1860s when a group of Sicilians were banished from Sicily by the Italian government. They settled in Calabria and formed small criminal groups. The 'Ndrangheta consists of 160 cells and approximately 6,000 members and specializes in kidnapping and political corruption. The 'Ndrangheta cells are loosely connected family groups based on blood relationships and marriages. 'Ndrangheta presence in the United States is estimated between 100 and 200 members and associates. The majority of that presence is in New York and Florida. The 'Ndrangheta is also known to engage in cocaine and heroin trafficking, murder, bombings, counterfeiting, gambling, frauds, thefts, labor racketeering, loansharking, alien smuggling, and kidnapping.

In such conditions the left-wing coalition took charge in the last local elections in Calabria. And now paid the price.

What's going to happen now? Alas, nothing. Berlusconi doesn't care for Mafia. He never signed a single act against it. There's a lot of evidence pointing out that he instead invested, washed, recycled money that the Sicilian Mafia gave him. This way he kickstarted his fabulous economic empire.

But aside of Berlusconi's attitude, will any Italian government ever make a decisive move against mafia?
I know, unlucky me, that the answer is "no".
Mafia it's the snakes' pit of Italy, the dirty black hole that generates corruption, arrogance, criminal acts, murders, abuses. The branches are too long, mazy and numerous.
The roots may be in the south, but the bitter fruits are everywhere.