In my humble opinion...

Nothing to say about the album but the title seems fitting....

Dear All,

The date is 5th of February 2009 and the time is 00.02....and i hope, with this preamble, to have lent some gravitas to the first opening lines of this post.

I have no precise idea, to be honest, of exactly what sort of information I will be publishing on this corner of the web (if any) and even less of a clue of who (if anybody) will ever be bothered to read my scribblings.

The reason why I have decided to start the ambitious endeavour of becoming a world renowned opinion leader is quite simple. As I become older, more and more set in the ways of corporate life (and in my own deluded mind) more successful (and hopefully mature) my ego has reached dimensions such that it now feels constrained within the realms of my body and everyday environment and suffers an impulse to conquer the rest of planet earth.

I do not quite know, in all honesty, whether the world around me is becoming progressively (or maybe I should say regressively) more stupid every day, or whether it is me that is turning more and more into the sort of opinionated bastard that feels the right to comment and have opinions (not ideas but OPINIONS) on pretty much everything, from the way flowers should be arranged in my living room to Barack Obama's policy towards veterans of the war in Iraq.

The above is not a question that has featured prominently in my mind in the recent past if truth be told, were it not for the fact that i have acquired a habit of commening on current affairs in The Economist. It all started as little more than a joke, an attempt to make the sort of witty and apparently insightful remarks (that are in most cases ill informed and simplistic) so typical of readers of The Economist and Woody Allen lovers. Over the weeks, however, what started as a self surfing exercise in the art of sounding articulate and informed became not only a regular habit, but also a trigger of very interesting exchanges and a way of feeding my ever expanding ego (yes, my posts in The Economist have been receiving reccomendations by the bucketload).

And so here I am, determined to make a difference or die a heroic death (my ego again) in trying to do so. What, why or for whom I will make a difference i have no idea, but i will try nonetheless.

I shall not make this first blog topical in any way and will only make a passing comment on an over dinner conversation I had with my wife tonight.

Rumour has apparently spread within the European Commission that Barroso may not,after all, be reappointed as president of the college of the Commissioners. Whether that will actually be the case, or whether the rumour is simply an indication that his political fortunes have turned (if he ever had any) towards the oblivion that belongs to any politician is not the object of my reflections. The interesting question in this affair is the reason why the guy has suddenly found his head (or some more intimate parts of his anatomy) on the chopping board.

My wife answered that question without any hesitation: his handling of the financial crisis. HIS handling of the financial crisis? Are we talking about the same financial crisis that has paralysed credit markets world wide, pushed America into the deepest recession since the great depression, thrown the federal reserve into disarray, sparked talk of a potential UK default and even saw Alan Greenspan having to explain himself in front of a congressional commission of inquiry? Now we turn around to a shy, miserable and unimaginative former prime minister of Portugal (who happens to be the totally powerless president of the Commission) and say "shame on you for not fixing this mess"? Now that is RICH! or may be it is just politics.

Good Night,

Alessandro