In Absentia

Sporadic posts because of logistical problems. In Italy of late one is required to hand in one's passport when one uses an Internet cafe and the proprietor is then required to periodically hand in log on records to the police. In the name of fighting terrorism of course. A lot of other countries manage to get by well enough without that measure, and the foiled bomb attack at Heathrow the other day notwithstanding, I think that former Premier Silvio Berlusconi's fondness for censorship might be more relevant to this law. Italy last year slipped to 53 in the world league table for press freedom. Keeping tabs on troublesome journalists that log on in cyber cafes might be a temptation too much.

Well at least Silvio is gone and a sensible Venetian proprietor facilitated me even though I did have ID on me at the time, hence the last post. Since then I have not been on because of not being able to find access inTrieste (a strange town indeed, and I mean that in a good way), while here in Ljubljana, where I am now, most commercial enterprises close at 1pm on a Saturday. Added to that I have to labour with both a Slavic keyboard (it is however more logical than a French one) and Internet Explorer (when will people ever learn). Back in Paris on Monday. Will post more then.