Football and life

The Euro championship is finally over... Italy has been soundly beaten by Spain. Spain and Italy... a nice sample of the disastrous economies of Southern Europe. They rule (to some extent) in football, but that's basically it. This is not true, actually... but it is a fact that with the leaders they have, it is hard for those countries to be able to excel. Massive crowds staring at great screens in urban squares. In Italy, nazis trying to cause fights and throwing stuff at the screens themselves. In Neaples someone complaining that the Italian team should have won in order to reach a "moral redemption" for Italy... "are these fucking people kidding me?" (George Carlin). Do you think that a bunch of wealthy young men, who earn their living kicking a ball (very well, to be honest), could represent anything "moral". I mean, all due respect for them, but football is business, show, with a good injection of nationalism. If I want to see people playing, I'd rather watch other games, like Rugby, where it looks like there is much more sportsmanship available. Football is completely devoid of it. Nonetheless, I confess I watched most of the matches of this Euro Championship. A good distraction from the PhD hell, and a good pretext to meet with friends, having good food and drinks together... that is the main reason I watched it, I think. As an Italian, I have embedded in my DNA the tendency to support Italy: I tried to support England and Germany, but I could not help being happy that Italy defeated them. However, now I am not "sad".. as Loris once said, speaking about RISK, "whether you win or lose, tomorrow you have to go to work".. having lost (the Italian national team has) does not affect me, actually. My wage is not lower, and my PHD not more shitty than it used to. The fact that so many people are affected by the result of the team they support is a good argument to support what I heard some months ago: in many cases, it is no longer religion to be the people's opium, but football. "Panem et circenses", as the Romans said.

HMP Manchester education... attempt 1

Yesterday I have sent an email to a college in Manchester, that I think provides education training to the inmates of the Manchester prison... I did it because I think it could be nice to have a go giving some "lectures" to the inmates. It could be a nice attempt to make the most of the teaching of history, to people that may need it the most! Let's see what happens, now!

 UPDATE 15th June: still no answer.. dammit!
 UPDATE later on the 15th: they sent me a contact within the prison... let's wait what happens!

scattered thoughts 1

Some "scattered thoughts"... I've noticed only recently that Beppe Grillo's blog has introduced advertisements... not a nice development, is it? Very nice tv live performance by one of those Greek-born fascists with their "doric salute"... punching in the face a Communist lady is probably their best dream, but it could possibly cause some loss of consensus... or not? Always the same, discouraging news from the world. The BCE keeps pouring money in the banking system. Cameron and his pale squire keep talking nonsense concerning the biggest industry of England. It seems I have caused the crisis, with my farts... well, guys, keep working to protect those who caused the crisis in the first place, at least in the current instance (I guess it ultimately is a crisis of capitalism, not only of the banking\finance systems). A French minister says something about the liberalisation of cannabis.. Hollande replies saying that this is not in his agenda.. thanks, Francois, for reminding us that you are not going to save us. Anyway, good to tell Obama and the US that they caused the crisis (at least in this financial instance...) and that they should give up being so judgemental about other economies. Couple of days ago I saw some pieces of Pilger's report on Japan (second half of the 1980s): not very recent, but interesting anyway. At least, tomorrow we can start to put aside our anarchist and revolutionary ideas, to temporarily bury our disgust towards nationalism, to silence our disapproval for the distribution of panem et circenses to the ignorant people of Europe.. we'll share into the celebration of the customary rituals of football, with beer, good food, hours-long disussions and maybe some half-time old-pics slideshows. Have a good end of the world. PS: by the way.. yesterday I saw Prometheus... seemed promising, but ended up in a massive disappointment...

Wooden-faced disappointment

I forgot to write a post about it... some days ago I happened to find a movie with Michael Caine and STEVEN SEAGAL... I mean STEVEN WOODEN-FACE SEAGAL, by far my favourite actor! With Michael Caine! AWESOME, I had never seen this movie (On Deadly ground, 1994)... Strangely my wife, who was sitting next to me, did not start beating me, as it usually happens when I stop on a movie with Steven (actually, he is often on air in British Freeview): she was too busy with her new knitting pattern... Anyway, the movie was so bad that after some minutes I spontaneously gave up and tried to find something else.. something better than a movie with Steven Seagal, I did not know it was possible!

Again, for the Italian-speaking... Why do we still have to put up with such an obsolete institution and its greedy representatives? I'd swap the pope and his bunch of skirt-wearing companions with the Dalai Lama... that's time for the Roman Catholics to be forced into exile. http://temi.repubblica.it/micromega-online/le-piaghe-del-vaticano/

Anarco-Piduisti

Sorry, but several comments to this article are so funny... of course, knowledge of Italian politics and recent history is required to appreciate them! http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2012/05/23/terrorismo-allarme-servizi-segreti-possibili-nuovi-attacchi-degli-anarchici/239398/

Da repubblica.it... Napolitano con Monti a Palermo 'Non si escluda ritorno stragismo' sará semplificazione giornalistica, ma non vi suona assurdamente ironico?