Apparently some reactions to the story of the possible 2006 election fraud in Italy: justice is investigatiing, the parliamentarians are fighting over it, and Berlusconi is accusing the communists. Everything is OK.
What will actually happen? Nothing, of course, nobody is kidding here.

The "pink quotas" are a typical italian invention: hypocrite, paternalistic, and useless. I wouldn't be interested to talk about it (it is better when our parliamentarians don't capture our attention anyway, as the recent slaughter of the Constitution proves) but it crossed my mind that all the story of the "pink quotas" is the mirror in which is quite visible the waste land where our democracy lays, drained to the bone.

As the story goes, in the Italian parliament there's a historical, irremediable majority of men. Because of this majority, the battles in favor of women rights are often discarded or ignored.
In the last years, as few women politicians gained more attention by the media, it appeared obvious how after any election less and less women have a real chance to get elected, while more and more of them are militating into political parties.

Moved by the hypocrite need of using any expedient at hand to conquer more votes, all the parties, beginning with the ones from the left, began assigning "quotas" of their won seats to women on a 30 to 70 ratio, even to a 40 to 60 ratio. Wow.
In the trite world of the Italian journalism, gifted with less imagination than a heating radiator, those quotas were immediately named "pink" since they were dedicated to women. "Blue" is for male kids and yellow is for all those intermediates. Ha-ha.

No, the fun part of the story is when recently they tried to enforce the pink quotas again, this time as a general mandatory law for all political forces that want to run for the elections.
They failed up until now. The right-wing parties, that proposed the new normatives, in the end voted against it. They were probably scared to lose seats, because they're almost all men. The left-wing opposition cried to the chauvinism and ignorance of the government, while probably many of the members were pretty relieved.

The point is, are the "pink quotas" really a good set of rules? Is it right to patronize women this way?

No, what a bore, this is not the point, I was just kidding!

The point is: does that really make any difference? Since all the candidates are decided by political parties and not by the people, since there are no candidates lists where to pick names from, since all you get is the choice between one shitty coalition and the other, does it really make any difference whether you pick a man or a woman the moment you vote?
Wait, I have to correct here: does that make any difference if you find a man or a woman as a candidate for your preferred coalition when you vote?
Nota bene: there's no chance you can pick a man from a woman in the same political party or coalition for example. You just go and get what they want you to.

And, even if more women are sent to the parliament, what does that mean? Since they're not called by the people, but by political parties, it is obvious that they will end up as yet more unoriginal, coward, plain average, enslaved imbeciles who are one hundred percent trusted by the party that sent them to the long awaited seat¹.
So who cares what sex are they suffering into in the end. They're not on my side anyway.

_{1. You may think I am exaggerating here, but I am a longtime listener of the political debates of the italian parliament, thanks to Radio Radicale. Therefore I know, how much they lack of imagination, and how much they abound of servility.}

The announced reform of the Italian Constitution has been approved by the italian parliament. When the President will sign it, it becomes law. It will be operative after the next elections (April 2006).

There would be many things to say about this reform (particularly because I have been away from the blog for few days, and many things happened in the meantime): About the widening of the north-south divide; about the ridiculous increase of powers of the prime minister, in the hope to entice all the gullible middle-class nostalgic for a strong single man in charge; about the birth of a imitation of a Federal Senate; about Rome that won't be anymore Italy's capital, but the capital of the Federal Republic of Italy; about how the President, once a crucial figure dedicated to monitor the respect of the Constitution is now demoted to a simple notary; how magistrature will be partially elected by the parliament (breaking the supposed autonomy of the two forces); about how the number of parliamentarians will be reduced. And about how all of this is part of a major plan to turn Italy into a soft dictatorship, devoted to Mafia and the US foreign policy. Probably the first of its kind into the new United Europe.

There's also this aspect: parliamentarians will be younger (the President too) and fewer. I couldn't figure out the reason for this until I realized: the final goal will probably be to have a soccer team, possibly the Milan team, owned by Berlusconi, to seat at the parliament instead of all those guys with all their blockheads full of words. Just a fistful of young, ignorant obedient fellows to pass the ball around in the Chamber: That'd be a dream.

But in the end all these reforms, as the one of the educational system, are done in a hurry with the sole purpose to redeem the government by the suspect of having worked only on Berlusconi's business, saving he and his friends (with special laws) from charges of corruptions, false accountings and embezzlements, and by making him enormously richer (from 5,000 billions € of debts he had before going into politics to the 29,000 billions of introits he has now, after 10 years of what he calls his hard "fight against communism").

The left opposition announced a referendum, a pool to the entire population to check whether we approve. Possibly, the referendum will cancel all Berlusconi's constitutional reforms (there's still hope). But this is not a real problem for him. Because the only reason for these reforms to be right now is to keep the electorate of the xenophobic "Northern League" and the Neo-Fascist "National Alliance" (Berlusconi's major allies) quiet: and to endure the next electoral campaign with something "efficient" to herald.

If they can go on TV and make a show of all the important reforms they have done, there's even a slight chance they can win... and that we are actually going to be citizens of an imaginary 'federative' homeland (federation of non-existent states that never federated together), born from the nightmares of a bunch of madmen from the rich provinces, who didn't want to share their richness with the mafia-ridden regions of the south.

With the words of Pasolini to Italy (translated here):

"...subside in this beautiful sea of yours, clear the world"

...her name is Daniela Santanché, she represents the right-wing party "Alleanza Nazionale" (National Alliance). She has written together with Mrs. Letizia Moratti the newly approved reform of the educational system, which seems to enhance the precariousness and flexibility of the educational careers, although I know almost nothing about it.
Reached on the phone by a journalist, Daniela Santanché right away denied to have given the finger to the protesters. Simple as that, like a kid caught at school.

The brilliant parliamentarian Santanché, in homage to Democracy gave in fact her gracious finger to the students that, in thousands, were protesting the new reform in front of the parliament. As Dagospia reports, the best slogan sung by the students was the one going like this: "Daniela e Letizia, zoccole a prima vista" (Daniela and Letizia, hookers at first sight), so she was uite in her right to give the finger.

Quite less fun is the part of the story where the fingered students are beaten up by the police, and end up to the hospital along with some journalists. As we said, inside the parliament the reform was being approved. The left-wing opposition, in sorry minority, once again didn't even voted.
Who said 'fascism' there? I didn't.

Yesterday the parliament began to approve the worst, most illegal, misleading transformations to the Italian constitution since Mussolini's times. Right before the whole thing started, Daniele Luttazzi described the operation on his blog. Notes and links are mine, as the translation. From Daniele Luttazzi News:

Today at the parliament the majority will try to change 55 articles of the Constitution in 6 hours. Devolution, unlimited premiership, Federal Senate, downsize of the President prerogatives, new technicalities in the approving of laws. An orgy that risks to outshine Tigellinus' ones.
Let's taste the abysses:

The parliament will be no more. The government will make laws since it will appoint which measures are considered indispensable asking 'for the trust'. If the trust is not given, the government dissolves the Chambers¹

The Chambers will be able to 'give the mistrust', but only if it a new premier has been recognized in the current majority. Thus, any opposition is useless. This kind of 'mistrust' limited to the majority does not exist in Europe.

The premier will be elected by the people².

The President of the Republic will be turned into a notary, who certifies the papers that the premier gives to him. He won't check on the lawfulness of the actions. And he won't be able anymore to send back to the chambers unconstitutional laws, like the Castelli-Gelli amendment, that the President Ciampi sent back to the Chambers 7 TIMES because UNCONSTITUTIONAL!

The Federal Senate is in the unknown³. It examines only regional laws. If there's a conflict with the House of the Deputies, a special Commission will decide, in fact a sort of third Chamber. If the third Chamber does not work either, all is sent to Vespa⁴

Devolution. Northern League members wrote it, therefore it is unintelligible. They were four in a cottage on the mountains, with the genepy, who knows what happened⁵. The organization of Public Health will be competence of the Regions, but the Tutelage of Health will be competence of the Federal State. The same for the Educational system. How? Nobody knows. How all the provinces will end up? It's everybody's guess. Maybe they will end up in the same place with the 'Great Ventures'..

To top it all: the Regions will be able to melt together. And they will be able to change boundaries. If the town of Piacenza wants to go with Lombardia, the Region of Emilia won't be able to oppose. Piacenza will go with Lombardia, bringing Hospitals, business, revenues from taxation, banking sources, professional sources.
- Where do you live? - In Reggio Calabria. - Oh, in Liguria!

_{1. According to the italian constitutional system, the parliament makes the laws, while the magistrature and the government should be limited to propose and enforce them. 'Ask for the trust' it's a emergency action the government can take to force the parliament to approve a certain measure. If the majority does not 'gives the trust' (by voting on behalf of the law), the chambers are dissolved and a new government is needed. Up till now, only the President (who guarantees the respect of the constitution) was allowed to dissolve the parliament, not the government itself.}

2. This may sound good, if you like to be beguiled by a single shitty face instead of many. But it is the obvious first step toward tyranny.

3. The italian parliament is divided in two chambers: a House of the Deputies and a Senate. Up till now, the double-chambered system was meant to double-check on the approving on the laws. The Senate is smaller and composed only by experienced parliamentarians who would monitor the House of the Deputies activity. The new so-called Federal Senate, which is being approved with this 'reform', is unheard in Italy before, since Italy is NOT a Federal Republic.

4. Bruno Vespa. Host of the major political program of the public TV. He's a boring, hypocrite, ignorant, abusive, sacerdotal brown-noser of the political oligarchy. Blessed in the past by a phone call from Mr. Woytila in person.

5. Real news: Last year four leading members of the Northern League wrote the draft of the so called Devolution of Powers for the Italian Regions, while wintering in a cottage in the Val D'Aosta mountains. The Genepy is the famous occitan booze locally produced.