Constitutional reforms rejected

Berlusconi takes another hit, and Prodi’s center-left coalition gets some more political capital, as Italians vote in a referendum to reject broad constitutional changes that would have pumped more power to the prime minister and increase regional independence.

Results from all polling stations except those overseas showed 61.7 percent of the voters in a two-day, nationwide referendum turned down the plan to strengthen the prime minister’s powers and give more autonomy to the regions. (Link)

Little Italy in Eritrea

Reuters is carrying an interesting little (alas, all too short) article on the lingering influence of Italian culture in Asmara, Eritrea. After being brutally “colonized” during the rule of Mussolini, the region that now includes both Ethiopia and Eritrea gained its freedom, only to fall into a civil war as Eritrea sought independence from its neighbor.

After chatting in Italian to an elderly gent in an immaculate dark suit and carrying a cane, wander off to an outside terrace and lunch on spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams).

A few hours later, drop into a peaceful gelateria with views over wooded hills for a delicious coffee ice cream.

A hill town in Tuscany? Or maybe the palms mark it as one of Sicily’s cities?

Far from it. This is Asmara, capital of Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. No wonder a few days there can leave a former correspondent in Italy somewhat confused. (Link)

And they just keep winning!

Final score: Italy 1, Australia 0. The ‘mates’ from down under couldn’t bring down the Azzurri. (And yes, they had a little help from the referee.)

If the thrill is going to your head, you can buy this jersey at Amazon and match the team.

Ale’ Ale’, Italy wins again

Italy routed the Czech Republic, 2-0.  And so on to bigger and better things, as the Azzurri lead their group.  We'll have a more complete post on the subject later, when the more sporty member of the blog squadra has a free moment.

Italians wish they could have more babies

Italy has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe.  But, according to the latest research, most Italians wish they could have more children.  The current birth rate is a low 1.3 per woman–which means there are fewer births than deaths.  The birth rate would be 2.1 if Italians could have it the way they wanted.

Almost half of those who said they wished they could have more children sited economic factors in their decision to not have more.  Other factor were size of homes or apartments (the prices of which are astronomical), lack of help of a partner, or work.

Link (It) 

Italy vs. Czech Republic tomorrow

Don't forget, fellow Italophiles.  This game is perhaps equally important for the US team.  

More than half of Italians are computer illiterate

A new study claims that 59% of all Italians have virtually no computer skills whatsoever. This puts them at the highest computer illiteracy percentage in Europe, after Greece, which comes in at a whopping 65%.

Of all age groups, those over 55 are, understandably, the most disadvantaged in this area. It's estimated that 87% of those who are computer illiterate in Italy are over 55.

These percentages are a bit disturbing considering the Italian government's current push to make the internet available to everyone.

Link (It) 

40th annual EuroVespa party–Vespa Club celebrates 60 years of Vespas

The biggest reunion of Vespa lovers took place this past week in Torino. And how big is it? They say that if you lined up all the Vespas belonging to the attendees, you'd get a line almost 4 miles long. That's a lot of scooters.

The three days of the festival were packed with shows, tours, and general drooling over or vaunting of Vespas.

To find out a little more about Vespa clubs, Eurovespa, or the world of the fantastic and legendary Vespa, you can visit www.eurovespa2006.it , www.vespaworldclub.com , or www.vespa.com. Or visit one of over 10,000 Piaggio dealers in the world and eat your heart out.

Here's one of the original vespas from 1943.

And one from 1965.

And a brand new one.

And, of course, the Piaggio Mp3.

Italy’s prince exchanges the jet set for a jail cell

Vittorio Emanuele, the 69-year-old son of Italy's last king, is in jail, arrested on charges of corruption and prostitution.

He has only been allowed in Italy since 2002, when the Italian government lifted an exile ban on any male members of his family. The Savoy family–the last royal family–was exiled in 1946 when Italy changed to a republic. Their exile was 'punishment' for collaboration with Mussolini and shamefully fleeing Rome to avoid a German invasion.

Vittorio Emmanuele has had an even more colorful political life than our old favorite, Berlusconi. He was deeply involved in a gunfight on board a yacht in which a young German man was killed. He also refused to offer a symbolic public apology for the unpleasant racial laws passed by his grandfather.

We imagine that this arrest makes Berlusconi uncomfortable. He, too, is awaiting a trial for corruption.

Below is a photo of the illustrious prince in happier times.

Link

Oh, the anticlimax….

A new vocab word, pari—tied game/score. And so the thrilling USA against Italy match ends with a bit of a fizzle and a score of 1-1. But perhaps it’s all for the best, since we didn’t have to decide whether to cheer or boo for the winner.

Winners or not, they sure look cute in their blue shirts.

Tomb raider (no, not Lara) reveals oldest-ever Italian paintings

The opening paragraph from Reuters says it all:

FORMELLO, Italy (Reuters) – Italy unveiled on Friday a new archaeological site that some experts say houses the oldest paintings in the history of Western civilization. (Link)

The man who lead authorities to the site is apparently a suspected tomb raider and performed the kind deed in hope of receiving some kind of plea bargain. The paintings are attributed to the Etruscans, an ancient people that lived in the peninsula before the Romans.

Italy to pull Iraq troops by October 30

The undersecretary of defense, Lorenzo Forcieri, has announced that Italian troops will leave Iraq within 3-4 months, with the final deadline being October 30th. The foreign minister Massimo D'Alema is on his way to Washington to explain the decision to Condolezza Rice, while the Italian government hopes the news will be taken amicably by the US administration.

Link (It)

US vs. Italy tomorrow

The United States men's soccer team is preparing today for their humiliating loss to match against Italy tomorrow. The game will air on ABC at 2:30 pm ET. (Link)
Gotta admit that this one has us torn in our loyalties. Rooting for the stars and stripes seems the patriotic thing to do, not to mention that they get underdog sympathy, but then again we'd like to see Italy go all the way. Regardless, it's going to be a brilliant match, and may the best team win.

Statistics predict Italy vs. Brazil in World Cup final

Two computer science students at the American University in Sharjah, Dubai have compiled 20 years of soccer data and fed it into a statistical artificial intelligence model they call FIFI, or “FIFA Intelligence,” apparently in defiance of all rules of acryonmic naming. The result: Italy will face Brazil in this year’s final, but Brazil will take home the trophy.

The professor who oversaw the project says the predictions should be 83% accurate, which is quite high, though I wonder if that percentage is good per match only, or for all the predictions together–as we all see every year in our NCAA brackets, a few errors early on can really wreck your overall predictions.

Link (English)

Italy beats Ghana 2-0, US falls to Czechs

Forza Azzuri! Italy blasted their way to a 2-0 win over Ghana, even though the game was darkened by soccer scandals back home and a possible serious injury to the Italian star Francesco Totti.

Andrea Pirlo blasted a shot past a crowd of players after a short corner in the 40th minute, and the substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta capitalized on a defensive mistake to score in the 83rd minute.

Italy produced 13 shots on goal to Ghana’s 4 and hit the crossbar and goalpost with shots.

“It was the best soccer of the tournament so far,” said Joseph S. Blatter, the president of the sport’s governing body, FIFA.

It was also a welcome bit of good news for Italy. Prosecutors in four Italian cities are investigating allegations of match-fixing, referee arrangements and illegal betting. Several players on Italy’s roster have been linked to the scandal, either by their own actions or their clubs’.

Link (NY Times)

Meanwhile, things don’t look good for the Americans. The US got spanked by the Czech Republic 3-0. Guess who’s going to win Saturday’s match (US vs. Italy)?

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany — When it came down to game time, the Czech Republic was the schoolyard bully, and the U.S. was the wimpy kid in the corner handing over his lunch money.

Link (Sports Illustrated)

In preparation for Saturday, you sorry US fans can take heart by visiting www.ussoccer.com for the latest bad news about our team.