Today a glimmer of what can only be described as hope shattered the remorseless onslaught of depression threatening to consume my life whole. The source of my ray through the stormclouds is the man above, yes the dapper, charming, and gaffe-prone Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. I cannot fault any reader for not springing as I did at the mention of his name towards the safety raft of hope that our Sam's return at the mere mention of Mr. Berlusconi's name for hopefully you all have lives away from BBC online news...without Sam I do not.

All springing from Berlusconi's gentle nudge homewards of a immigrant-laden vessel headed for Italian shores, a veritable foreign policy row has erupted in Europe and Italy is center stage. Yes 500 Libyans were returned home unwillingly by Berlusconi's government having attempted to flee sunny 'ole Libya for Italy, which has the added benefit of killer lasagna with sunshine. Americans are quite familiar with the public discourse that followed in short order: the Italian left grumbled that perhaps Italy ought to be more accepting of immigrants. Then Berlusconi did what perhaps only Americans well acquainted with the recently concluded Bush years would recognize; he said they were terrorists and had no legal rights and started...no wait that's the thesis talking. According to the Times Online Mr. Berlusconi commented that, "Italy was not and should not be a multi-ethnic society."

Maybe I have still left you scratching your head and pondering whether an intervention for my sake might be in order, but hold tight we're to the climax. The above shows old Chinese maxims to be true; nothing really does last forever. As charismatic as Sam is, if Berlusconi will stamp a boat full of poor, sick, puppy-dog-eyed, lasagna hungry Libyans with "return to sender" then I have no doubt that Sam's trip is running short on days. As his recent blog might suggest to you, there is very little mistaking a UD student, so try as he might to disguise himself he's one request for a highlander grogg or shirtless stroll to the nearest porch away from instant deportation.

A very special thanks to Silvio Berlusconi indeed.