Let’s forget the fratello issue : after all who am I to tell you how to speak (besides you don’t even use the word yourself). I once heard that there are some 60 million Italians or Italian descendants living outside Italy. That’s like a second country, and a great resource and asset which we must exploit. My problem though – and Angus had a point there – is that quite a few of those have only a very superficial knowledge of the country’s history, culture, people or political situation. In particular, I don’t feel very confortable with the fascination some of them (notably those in America) seem to have for the darkest sides of Italian society, i.e. Cosa Nostra. With all the great things that Italy (or even that stupendous island that is Sicily for that matters) has brought to this world, why pick the mafia ? Many Italian Americans I met in the US wouldn’t know who De Gasperi or Cavour are, but they could promptly name me all the bosses of the Italian American mob since Al Capone. They seem to think that acting like a “wise guy” from a Martin Scorsese movie is a way of asserting their heritage. Well I’ve got news for them : Ray Liotta or Robert De Niro (otherwise one of my favourite actors) are hardly representative of the Bel Paese. They just symbolize one of the hundreds of aspects of Italy which the vast Italian community that emigrated to the US has brought with her.