Thanks to the Guardian, we see some Silvio Berlusconi statuettes with some blood for flare in light of recent events...

This is one of a series of dispatches from our Foreign correspondent currently based in Scotland:

Ahhh… December 17. Almost time for me to resign my post as USDemocrazy Foreign Correspondent in Scotland and return to the ol’ homestead.

Can’t wait to get back to the place I know well, complete with crazy politics, late nights, and unique smells. And that’s just in the USDemocrazy headquarters.

But before coming home, I decided to pop over to Italy to check on things there.

(Editor’s note: The timing with the Recent attack on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (Ouch)is purely coincidental)

What was the biggest culture shock going from the UK to Italy? The politics? The people? The food? The language?

Nope — the traffic.

Forget adopting a common currency — the countries in Europe can’t even decide which side of the road to drive on!

That’s right, the Brits drive on the left side of the road. Italy and the rest of continental Europe drive on the right.

So what makes the stubborn Brits insist on driving on the ‘other ’side of the road?

Well, back in the days of yore, travelers on the road preferred to pass one another on the right side. Why? so that if necessary, they could attack the driver/horse-rider/traveler with their dominant hand. (People had road rage even back then.)

Eventually this practice was phased out as people started being less paranoid about getting attacked on the road.  The right side was chosen, eventually, by many countries to be the sensible way to take to the road.

So why does the UK (and Japan, and Ireland, and Australia, and India, and Thailand) continue to drive on the left? Tradition, sure, but also — MONEY. Imagine how much it might cost to turn around all the signs on the motorway. Not to mention re-engineering the cars and buses that run there. (I smell a campaign opportunity for GM in the UK… Lobby for the rules of  traffic to change and sell the Brits some American cars!)

It’s worth having a look around Europe to see just how disorienting new traffic rules are. Just look both ways before crossing the street. Seriously.