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Since the summer, I've been taking Italian lessons at the Italian Cultural Institute. Loads of fun. There was a Christmas party for the students and the guest of honour was Ninalee Craig, the girl -- now 83-year-old beauty -- in the famous photo. (Seriously, I should be so nimble and lovely now, much less decades from now.)

She gave a little talk and went on rather a bit too much about how poor Italy was in the post-war period. They were so poor, these men, she kept saying. They had nothing to do but stand around on the street corners. They had no jobs! Et cetera. What she failed to mention was the cause of the poverty. She rather made it sound as though Italians had been victimized by someone other than themselves.

I had an overwhelming urge to cry out, "That's what you get for supporting Fascists and hooking up with Hitler!" But I didn't, as the event was festive. By the way, she also failed to mention the Marshall Plan and the considerable help given to our former enemies after the war. Further -- and maybe I'm being harsh -- but look at the below picture. Do those fellows really look as though they're interested in employment? Do they really look as though there is anything else on their minds but picking up a beautiful girl?