Into thin air

And, while we’re on the subject of the disappearance of facts:

I haven’t got any links to British news outlets this time, as no one’s yet written about it.

Actress and comedian Sabina Guzzanti – who had already been sued repeatedly by Mr B. for allegedly spreading “lies and insinuations” about him and his government – took the stage during last Tuesday’s anti-Mr B. political demonstration in Rome, and waxed *very* polemical against Mr B. and the Pope.

As of today, her website is down, and has been down for approx. 48 hours. It was up briefly yesterday, and Guzzanti was able to post a brief statement saying she had been “hacked”.

By whom, nobody knows.

Then she was “hacked” again. Her brother Corrado’s website (he is also an actor, director and comedian, and shares his sister’s views on politics) is “closed” as well.

Their father, Paolo Guzzanti, is a senator with Mr B.’s party (yep!), and his site is up and running. While of course disagreeing with the gist of his daughter’s pronouncements, he has expressed solidarity with her, stating that “Sabina’s blog is under attack and has been silenced”.

I shall now employ the word “censorship”. I might even go so far as to use the word “regime”. Now, should I stop posting here, you’ll know I’ve been (a) arrested, or (b) “hacked” myself. If they understand English, that is. Reckon I’m safe, for the time being.

[I didn't ask to be born here /2] – Manliness is next to godliness

Part 1 is here.

Perhaps, when the architect Daniel Libeskind produced his grand plans for an art museum and office tower designed to inspire civic pride in the heart of Milan, he should not have been surprised when Italy’s gaffe-prone Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, said the bent structure emanated a “sense of impotence” because it is not manly enough.

‘Not manly enough’: Berlusconi’s verdict on Libeskind work

Whereas Mr B. is manly enough to have his own private harem of “little butterflies”, and a peculiar taste in ministers.

“Dear Mara,” he said to her publicly on one occasion, “I am obliged to point out to you the rule that applies inside Forza Italia, the rule of ius primae noctis”, which the medieval right of a feudal lord to sleep with the bride of one of his subjects on the first night of her marriage. “You know I like women of easy morals …

And:

On 3 July, L’Espresso published highly compromising transcripts of Berlusconi’s phone calls with influential political figures and important members of Rai, the Italian public service broadcaster. Some publications, such as Libero, tried to save his reputation by saying he was just giving a career break to his actress friends, and that he cannot be blamed because he likes la gnocca (‘pussy’). Yet, in reality, the actresses were pawns in a political game whose purpose was to bring down Prodi’s government. But Italy has an odd habit: if no one talks about a problem, then it simply ceases to exist. This leads to the ‘disappearance of facts’, as the journalist Marco Travaglio puts it, which means that the spotlight ends up on ‘la gnocca’ rather then on political corruption.

Please get me out of this country, like, NOW.

For Yours truly, September starts in early July

After a grand total of three weeks’ holiday – mostly spent at home, though relaxing and in great company – am now back at work on two new translations. Couple of very funny books, to boot. I love working when everybody else is on holiday, so then I can take two weeks off in November and tell them all to bugger off.

Meanwhile, it would appear FriendFeed is my new drug of choice. Love the lightheartedness of most conversations, feels a bit like a *very large* IRC chatroom. Great way to meet new people and discover new blogs and tumblelogs. Plus, unlike Twitter, I think I can find a way of posting in more than one language on FF without going mad. I was thinking of subscribing to some French and German people, so even if I don’t write back I still get some language practice.

Oh, and I’m writing this on my new EeePc900. Best buy in 2008 so far.