Why I will leave the sinking boat..
Many ppl will think I am crap, cuz I plan leave this country when its sinking to the bottom, instead of staying here and helping. But I don’t care, I won’t give a damn about what ppl think or say, the fact is that I don’t see any more hope here. Let me explain in short why:
First of all, nothing works in this country. In Roma, the capital, bus are infrequent, dirty, broken, and crowded like hell. Very few lines work at night, so you have to rely on taxi if you go out. Taxi are expensive, just call one at night, and you’ll be charged at least 5.30€ just for going in, then normal rate, which is not terribly cheap either. The metro is fine, if you have the luck to live near the FEW stations, otherwise is useless, I live around 15 mins walk from a metro station, however to get there I’ve to go trough a dangerous road with no sidewalk and cars running at crazy speed, definitely a last resort route.
Given the transportation problems, another big problem is housing: prices in Roma are simply outrageous, we pay 1100€ + services for an 80sq.mt. apartment, luckily we don’t pay the shared expenses since we are not in the main building…Electricity is very expensive, Italy has one of the most expensive price for kW in Europe, gas is very expensive as well, but if you don’t want to freeze in winter you have to rely on heating with gas since electricity is simply ridiculous. We have a bundled connection interne+voip, we had to wait for 5 months before they finally decided to put that line, 5 months of being with no phone, relying only on cells, and no internet, is that reasonable? i think no.
Food in Roma is pure crap, beside a couple of small restaurants or hostaria, and a few ethnic ones, is impossible to eat reasonably good food. Roma is full of pizza shops, but the pizza here is sort of a giant crunchy cookie with a thin layer of seasoning on top, it remembers me of the Sardinia’s pane carasau, is definitely not pizza, is oily, not much tasty and expensive. Many restaurants are tourist traps, but the ones which are obviously not, cook just less than average, for unreasonable prices. Fortunately supermarkets are well furnished and widely available trough the city, but if you look for something more than food, such as hardware or kitchenware or electric appliances, you will have to go to those big chains which are usually located far, in places not really easy to reach without a car, otherwise you will get ripped at the local shop…
The quality of the services is extremely low, being everything messy and extremely dirty. Roads are messed with papers, sidewalks are filled with dogs’ poop, nobody trims trees so they grow in such a way that is not possible to walk easily, and last thing, is not uncommon to find holes in the paved streets which will take a good care of your ankles if you don’t pay attention to avoid. Buses are filthy, train stations extremely dangerous, crowded at night of drunken eastern european or gypsies, train are usually delayed, or they change track with no prior notice, or whatever u can think it may happen.
In Palermo things are the same, dirty buses (but cleaner than Roma) with EXTREMELY long waiting time at the stop, metro non-existant, dirty roads, no paperbaskets in the streets, holes here and there, and a general sense of inefficiency whatever u have to deal with bureaucracy. You need a documents? there are papers to fill, and hours to wait..I needed to renew my passport, and I had to pay 30€ tax, I think Italy is the only country that does that, considering also they want me to pay 30€ a year as a “government” tax for my own passport. I have a car in Palermo so fortunately I don’t have to rely on public transportation, but, car insurance in Italy is crazily expensive especially if you are a fresh driver, car ownership tax is not less, and gasoline prices are the highest in Europe. Add this to the fact that Italy has one of the lowest medium wage among Europeans and you will see what i mean. An engineer is paid as much as a street cleaner, I’ve been offered between 950€ and 1300€ as an engineer, not including any benefit.
Taxes are extremely high as well, in part due to the fact that a large part of the autonomous worker don’t pay them, is not uncommon to buy something and not get a receipt, or get a receipt for a lower amount. Doctors, dentists, plumbers, technicians, gardeners, all them will not bother to leave you a receipt, nor to declare the income for the tax. So in the end who pays the taxes is only who get’s a wage since NOBODY checks the others and the current government does everything to make it easy for them to trick. Being this, you can guess why the taxation in Italy is around 70%. And there is a diffuse illegality, small groups of gypsies go around pickpocketing what they can, thieves steal happily from your parked car or motorbike what they need, police is totally absent, and when those felons get caught, they are usually out in less than 24 hours due to overcrowded jails.
This can be changed, the downward moment could be stopped, but this is frankly impossible: the government system is rotten to the bone, 30% of the parliament has been indicted and is generally guilty in at least one trial (in Italy there are 3 steps of a trial, being the last one the only definitive), moreover it happens frequently that some local politicians get indicted, then they get candidate and elected to parliament to SAVE them from the shame of going to jail. I don’t know how much this parliament costs to Italy, but I can consider reasonable if those pigs account at least 30% of the total expenses of the country. Those pigs earn usually crazy amount of money, have multiple service charges at a time, and stuff in offices all their relatives and friends they can, of course at contributor expenses.
Beside all of that, when the boat is sinking, the captain should do its best to save it, instead the premier of Italy is one of the biggest criminal. He has been indicted 17 times, only one time was ruled not guilty, 2 times was ruled not sufficient proofs for charging, 5 trials are still in progress, 2 times he changed the law so he couldn’t be considered guilty, 5 times guilty but prescribed and 2 times general pardon..His only priority is saving his ass, and flirting with models at his venerable age of 72, worse than the worst of old jerks..No that the others are better, but with that kind of models in front of the country, where else should we go? Most interesting among all, the biggest pig controls most of the TV, and magazines of the country, so you will never know what he did, you will never know if something goes wrong, the only way is reading internet freelance journalist, since the media in Italy are totally enslaved to politics.
Now you know why I am doing like the mice, i leave the sinking ship, after all its not my country anymore, is just a rotting corpse.
Marco Lauria said,
12 October, 2008 at 1:45 am
Hello assasukasse
:)
unfortunately you know my point of view but not many others know…
You continue to throw out shit on the ship telling you finally are leaving…
good luck.
Good luck in any other country that works better than italy, but please,
go to some country that is really better than Italy is.
You measure the quality of a country from your point of view… you arrive
to tell than a town like HK is better than Italy is (not here but many times
in our real life debated)… but sincerely ruling a town or a province rich
by his own is far far easier than a country.
Italy has many good aspect that for you are not important, the same sicily…
If you see many bad points, please give solution…
I always told you that “saying that everything is a shit” is useful to no one…
You want to solve problems, remain here and find ways to solve them…
You continue to swear against our president
I’m sorry but I will never agree with you because I saw on my skin the
result of the previous one.. and I far far prefer this one…
Anyway what can I add…
continue to put shit on shit about your country… but please
in the moment that you leave stop it… and leave us dealing with our shit
as it’s not yours… and please change your passport… better to get
passport from some hole where you surely will live better but from where
in order to move around the world you’ll need visa to everywhere…
because, you know, your abitlity to freely move around the world…
is something you have from this shit…
Now i’ts too late, I’m tired… I hope this is the last time I’ll feel to
answer you again your unuseful speaking abt my wonderful country…
I’d sorry I’M PROUD OF BEING ITALIAN and I’LL NEVER THROW AWAY
ITALY FOR ANYTHING ELSE.
Your Friend
Marco
assasukasse said,
12 October, 2008 at 10:31 am
Well, first of all, I must say that I’ve been in countries different than Hong Kong: in Switzerland, in Canada, and in China. Unfortunately Hong Kong is China, which is a 3rd world country, or it was until recently.
If only Hong Kong was better, then no deal, its small and they can control much better the territory.
But if others too are able to manage better than our beloved indicted criminal Mr. Berlusconi, then for sure we DO have a problem.
I never said the previous government was better, in my personal point of view Communism is on pair with Nazism, no difference, so i won’t discuss about that, what I complain is this: from when I remember, I don’t have recalls of a government who wasn’t suspect, or at least one of the its member didn’t steal or end in jail or something like that.
Andreotti ruled Italy for long time, being acquainted with Mafia, it has been ruled out from the trials (remember prescription is given to the guilty not to the innocents, the innocents are DISCHARGED not PRESCRIBED), and I could nominate another good number of those pigs (what about Craxi, Gava, Pomicino).
Not only in National Government, do you remember our beloved Ciancimino? and our beloved Cuffaro? and a long long long queue of criminals who sat on the right chair at the right moment?
Italy has many good things so I don’t see why its unable to have a good government LIKE ALL THE OTHER COUNTRIES IN EUROPE.
Why on earth do we have to deal with those garbages instead of putting them in the place they deserve?
You, like the cicada, think only about your personal income:
This government reduces taxes? then is good.
This government makes it easier to do what you want? then is good.
Well, I don’t. This government HAS NO CLUE how to rule a country!
Mr. Berlusconi goes on tv spotting Enel, Eni, and Mediaset during a major crisis in banking; Mr. Bossi spits on the National Flag and calls 300000 rifles to split from Italy; Mr. Fini swims in a natural reserve using a firemen boat; Mr. Scajola makes an Alitalia plane route direct to his town….
Indeed it seems to me that you have big and thick pieces of prosciutto in front of your eyes…
I don’t remain here and try to solve problems, because this country is full of people thinking like you, they DO care only about their personal.
Who cares if the first minister is a criminal, who cares if one of the ministry spits on the flag, the important is that we pay less, the important is that someone else pays what we should…
I am not a politician, nor I want to be, the system is so rotten that I am afraid EVEN to go near. So there is no use to tell me to find a solution. And please, our president is Napolitano, Mr. Berlusconi is only the first minister, at least until now, tomorrow surely he will make a law that allows himself to became both, Gr. Duc. Belusconi ad INTERIM.
In the rest of your comment I had the impression that you understood what I meant, for later seeing you didn’t.
Yes, I wish I could change my passport, I don’t want to have anything to deal with this rotten government; what you can’t see is that I FOUND THE PROBLEM, its clearly the government.
I like Italy, the food is great, the places are great and even the people is great, however everything is ruined if the government is just a bunch of criminals, if the government is not even respecting the laws made by itself, why should the normal people do?
If Mr. Belusconi tricks the balances of its companies then issues a law to make it no more a crime, why should the normal people behave following the laws?
How can the country go better when the top part of the nation is giving this kind of EXAMPLE?
Are we all insane? Are we all stupid? How could we let those criminals do what they are doing? How could we have permitted them to make this country their toilet? I am very pissed I woke up only recently, and I am even more pissed there is someone who will never wake up..
I will never stop complaining about how crap have been the government of Italy in the last 30 years, because this is the truth. And I don’t care about visa or anything, is everyone’s fault if I have to go abroad to find something reasonable, even mine, who didn’t stand for my country while it was getting raped by criminals.
I hope you will wake up to, and stop thinking only about yourself, if you really love this country like you say, you must admit that a criminal is a criminal, even if he changes the laws for not being so.
And agree that a bunch of felons guiding the nation, is not really the best thing to have.
Criminals should stay in jail, not serving; nor it should be permitted to convicted criminals to be part of government, parliament, regional government or anything related to the country.
I’m sorry, this is my point of view, this country has no hope until we kick out all the criminals from key places, over than 60% of the population is still listening to the chants of those criminal and believing that black is white and white is black.
IF and WHEN they decide to remove the criminals from the government places, then I will be glad to come back and help.
Until then, I won’t recognize Italian government as legal, since criminals should stay in jail, not in palaces.
So, like I said, this is not my country, since here the world is going backwards: criminals get the government and honest people starve, thieves are running freely and normal people can’t even park anywhere, dogs are really playing poker here, while buccaneers rule the streets in their shiny, uninsured, illegally modified, unregistered and stolen cars..
The uncle said,
12 October, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I have nothing to add Agostino
:)
just that you like our ministry spit on your country so if if’s not your country
leave it as soon as you can
My point is and will always remain “Do anything or stay silent!!!!”
If you can or want to do nothing it’s unuseful to tell people shit and shit..
Politicians are dirty all over the world.
And, by the way, even if someone is not the prime minister (sorry for the mistake
but I remind you that in italy the president has almost no powers at all as he never
uses except in some rare cases the one that allows them to not sign a law and
send it back to the parliament) it remains powerful.
Andreotti like all the others, remained one of the most powerful politicians even during the shittest times.
Do you think that in other countries this never happen? Ok, please think so…
But sorry let me think that what you can know or read is just a bit of what really
happens in each country…
And regarding to taxes, I had no reduction of taxes, just a reduction of tons of documents to produce…
during the last 4 years every fiscal consultant and work consultant told continuously that the laws were getting worse and worse…
going in July to the immigration offices they told me that with the “semplification” made by previous government 2 years and a half ago, while before the immigrate should have gone to 1 office now he should go (and I saw it by myself) to three different offices and should produce each time a lot more…
Berlusconi is a dirty one, surely it is but I see no alternative in the political arena,
so I should have chosen between the old ones that continued to ruin Italy and him
that from my point of view will lead to a semplification in many area, then surely
there will be holes and the next ones will fix them…
everything needs time…
And by the way, maybe you don’t see them but in the public administration a lot
of things are changing.
People are really working in the offices more, and I see it dealing with public offices..
Even in hospitals now they are more efficient because now they are starting to
understand that in the next two years if they’ll not be working they’ll risk their work
places… but sorry all this has been made by this government…
my dear please, don’t watch only the crimes of our prime ministry, watch also the
other things…
You are able to see only the bad points…
I told you, you’re my friend but you’re an anarchic…
Cheers
the uncle
assasukasse said,
12 October, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Well, what can I say:
In Israel Olmert was indicted, and I mean INDICTED not RULED GUILTY, and he resigned.
In France Chirac was INDICTED, and he resigned then now is being ruled.
And I can give you alot of other examples of FACE and DIGNITY.
Berlusconi clearly lacks both, as well as Honesty.
When I say reduction of taxes you know what I mean, is no need I explain here. If Berlusconi removes the way of tracking money, plus reduces the penalty for not paying taxes its OBVIOUS that more and more will start avoiding taxes.
I didn’t really see any significant improvement by this government, but one thing is sure, if this Brunetta wanted really to start solving the problem from the root, he would have started from politicians. Reducing their wages, reducing their benefits reducing the number of people that they can CHARGE on contributors’ shoulders..
Since he did not, what he did its just a “media” operation, and unfortunately you, like most of the others, are listening to the chants…
I’m sorry to say, if YOUR prime minister is a criminal, that’s your problem, for me he is simply a criminal, and nothing else. He shouldn’t be on that place nor he should let to talk as the country voice. I despise him and all those other criminals that are around, from one party or from the other.
But now since I am anarchic, give me 3 countries of the developed world that have parliament components like that:
Guilty for Mafia (dell’Utri), Guilty for Bribery (Sterpa), Guilty for false (Tomassini), Guilty for corruption of Justice (Berruti), Guilty for terrosism (D’elia), Bribery (Pomicino), Concussion (La Malfa), Reistance to public force (Maroni), Illicit construction (Visco), Corruption (Vito), not forgetting be best one, which was unruled for general pardon, HIGH TREASON (Cossutta) not counting the other many that i can’t post here or I should fill a whole page..
You surely must be kidding, unfortunately I can’t see the humor in that..
The uncle said,
12 October, 2008 at 4:35 pm
For you italy is a sinking ship for Berlusconi…
:)
nothing to add more
and anyway as I always repeated to you several times, tracking of money didn’t end up evasion as people started to ask money by meant of CASH like they do in USA
where they prosecute seriously only one guilt “TAXES EVASION” but you are
unable to understand it and you think that during the previous government people
were putting out more invoices continue to imagine it
Abt reduction of wages please no one will ever cut his own wage sorry in no parts
of the world and reducing their wages would not help IN ANY WAY our public administration instead what he is doing is what should be done, they started for
both private and public sector to introduce the reduction of wage when they are on
illness, they introduced even for public sector the oblige to show the certification
even for 1 day of absence, they are reintroducing the simple fact that if the public
employee is found out in supermarket during work time he’ll lose his wok place,
but sorry for you this is not important
Good luck
And, by the way, about chirac he was ill, about the german one Helmut Kohl he made an agreement with judges so he resigned and he was not prosecuted…
is Germany a sinking ship too?
I hope you’ll find your gold place, when you’ll find it please let me know
Cheers
The uncle
assasukasse said,
12 October, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Let’s use the same instrument they do use in USA then: an “agent provocateur” will visit the indicted, request a service, and if when he pays he doesn’t get an invoice….happens what should have happened.
I agree, yes let’s use the same system. Let’s send civil clothes financial police officers buy bread, buy clothes, ask for services, call plumbers, go to dentist..LET’S do the same way they do. SINCE IT WORKS.
First of all is obviously an error, the power of deciding their wage shouldn’t be given directly to the “workers” otherwise they will ask always more. So let’s remove the power from parliament! Let’s give them the same wage as now, but in “Presence Bonus”, they are already paid far more than any other country in the world, so they will just earn every time THEY GO TO WORK. So we can stop paying parasites that DO NOTHING.
BRUNETTA READ ME PLEASE, THIS IS YOUR TASK, NOT STAYING IN TV, DO YOUR JOB PLEASE.
Helmut Kohl, yes he made an agreement, can you please post here what he was indicted in? And please compare with what is YOUR premier guilty already and what he is indicted in. Then the readers will decide.
Ah by the way, in case you don’t know, Mr B didn’t resign, nor make an agreement, he is still there…
My gold place is not WHERE but WHEN, my gold place is here WHEN people will respect the laws, ALL of them..even the government.
I like my country, but I can’t stay here, you say you like it, but you don’t see any problem. If criminals are thriving in my country I see a problem and you don’t…Who is the wrong one?
assasukasse said,
13 October, 2008 at 9:10 am
Like I was sure, Mr. B is making out another “personal” law only for his interests:
ladies and gentlemen, after the
Alfano law (prevents B to be judged)
Consolo law (obligation to request authorization to parliament to INDICT a ministry, so in fact, making them upon the law)
Geronzi law (saving the managers who bankrupt a company from being judged)
WE HAVE NOW
Carnevale law!
a new law made on the spot to allow C. Carnevale to take his place in the Constitution Court even he is over age and even if in all his life he revoked sentences for mafia freeing the boss.
Gaudium and Jubilum
Oh Lord, please take him, please take mr B from this earth, please do take him fast, give us a sign of Your power, give us a sign of Your love, TAKE HIM AWAY please!
assasukasse said,
18 October, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Seems someone else has awaken before me..
This is on benefit of all the English readers:
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=LhOJc1JBpKI
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=mTfgtYg1_3A
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=MW8iP38KiGc
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=_tlydL2UAlQ
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=JMbr_gKDWx8
you can also search on youtube for “La Realtà Berlusconi – censurato in Italia”
Please note that this has been censored in Italy
Indeed the criminals don’t like to be called with their name.
assasukasse said,
28 October, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Yesterday I was looking at some of the biggest artworks ever made…Michelangelo, Tiziano..etc..
and I was thinking..
Why we deserve that, what did we do deserve such politicians?
950 people in parliament, 30% indicted, while in USA they have a little more than 500 people, with a population 5 times ours…
2800 peoples working for the president of Italy, while in USA Bush has around 400 and in Ireland barely 12..
who pays..the stupids..
we really touched the bottom and yet, we are drilling it to reach new deepnesess…
assasukasse said,
7 November, 2008 at 6:55 pm
“Obama is cute, tall, and even TANNED” Silvio Berlusconi.
The whole world laugh at him and he defines them “idiots”.
A journalist from bloomberg questions him about that, and he answered “he should apologize to Italy”.
yea yea, they are idiots, but Obama phoned to thank everyone but Berlusconi..
who is the idiot then?
Berlusconi is definitely a problem for the image of Italy.
Hell, this man needs really a visit at a good psychiatrist.
Poor Italy…poor Italy.
assasukasse said,
9 November, 2008 at 2:01 pm
63 pages of comments on the “president”
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/berlusconi-under-fire-for-obama-joke/?scp=1&sq=berlusconi&st=cse
assasukasse said,
14 November, 2008 at 3:41 pm
lol
Italy has:
pizza
mandolino
mafia
and
Silvio
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=W3k9pMtrccQ
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=gZq7j1DX3Aw
we DO have the joker we DO have the joker
assasukasse said,
6 December, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Now, the “government” popped up with a “social” card, for the poorest.
They will give the incredible amount of 1.35€/day, what can I say.
Give those 1.35€ to Angola, or other poor places, they can live with 1.35€ a day, for us, is just another shameful joke.
And what about the “porn tax”, i must say, I can’t recall anything more ridiculous than this “government”.
Shame on us, shame on us, we shouldn’t have let this happens.