One in six children can't be wrong

Happy 2006 to all!Buon anno nuovo a tutti!

It's been ages since my last dispatch. No excuse, really, for the hiatus. What's happened while I was out traveling the planet?

The Bank of Italy-Fazio fiasco is now history. Preghiamo!

The Berlusconi government has begun to tax porn. The proceeds, we're told, will go towards encouraging young Italians to have more children. (Of course this will have a negligible impact on the massive national debt load, but church-going voters will be pleased, goes the thinking).

The Winter Olympics in Torino is a month away and, in classic Italian tradition, the Games are already 64 million euros in the red. Imagine how indebted they would be if they hadn't skimped on the medals.

And, looking beyond the boot, what have we learned in 2005?

-- One in ten Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed.
-- Giant squid eat each other -- especially during sex.
-- One in six children think broccoli is a baby tree.
-- Pulling your foot out of quicksand takes a force equivalent to that needed to lift a medium-sized car. (thus confirming the Six Million Dollar Man was the greatest Super Action Hero of all-time.)

Thanks to the Beeb for these (and 96 other) pearls of wisdom.