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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.

With that in mind, today we would like to announce… Iceland’s #1!

That’s right! The World Economic Forum recently evaluated countries who have reduced disparities between the genders. The frozen folks in Iceland moved from their No. 4 spot in 2008 to triumphantly snatch the title this year. Congratulations Icelanticons, Icelandators, People of Iceland!

Other European countries also fared well. Germany was No. 12 on the list. Not surprising, as they just swore in a woman, Angela Markel as Chancellor for the second time.

However, Italy’s prime minister, Silvia Berlusconi, could use a lesson from Iceland and Germany. When it comes to gender issues, he’s got a case of open mouth, insert foot.

Many women of Italy (ranked 72 out of 134 countries) are fed up with Berlusconi’s sexist attitudes and are circulating a petition denouncing him.

And what about the USA, you ask? Take a guess where America landed on the list?… ( hint: it’s a number between 30 and 32).

…And for a funny take on the world wide ladies theme, there’s this from the HBO series Flight of the Conchords.

Thanks to Wikicommons.

Politicians sometimes don’t tell the truth (and we at USDemocrazy are SHOCKED!).  Sometimes politicians don’t just lie to the public… but also cheat on their spouses! (SHOCK! HORROR!)

Throughout history, extramarital relationships have tarnished a number of politicians (and entertained legions of their opponents).

For instance, who can forget Bill Clinton’s involvement with Monica Lewinsky, an event that led to his impeachment by the House of Representatives (though the Senate didn’t close the deal)?

And even other past presidents have indulged in an extramarital fling or two (or twelve). President Grover Cleveland’s wayward reputation earned him the political slogan, “Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa? Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha.”

John Edwards, one-time presidential hopeful in 2008, admitted he lied about an affair.  In addition to that misdeed, he is being investigated for money he paid to his mistress’s company.

And now today, there is news of an international affair of state.  

The culprit this time is Italy’s playboy prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. His wife has had it with his paramours and is filing for divorce. The final straw for Mrs. Berlusconi was suave Silvio’s plan to nominate a number of models and actresses, nicknamed “Berlusconi’s Ballot Babes”, for the European Parliament.

How will the Italians take their prime minister’s divorce?  Berlusconi probably hopes they react like the French.

French President Sarkozy’s divorce of his wife Cécilia and subsequent marriage to model Carla Bruni was met with a Gallic shrug (it seems the French care less of their politician’s personal lives than we prudish yanks).

Even in America an affair doesn’t always spell the end of a politician’s career.  Take former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (nailed for being Client #9 at a prostitution ring). The kinky cavorter is back in the headlines (and not for unseemly reasons). He has resurfaced as a financial expert (he was known as a watch dog of Wall Street crimes) and now appears as a columnist for Slate Magazine.

Spitzer has bounced back to the point where in a recent poll a majority of New Yorkers would prefer him to current Governor Paterson (the man who replaced Spitzer during the scandal). Talk about a SHOCK!

So it seems that mistakes can be forgiven (at least by the public).  Does this shock you?