$100,000 (USD) Oliviero Toscani, fined for insulting land surveyors
$30,000 (USD)Vittorio Sgarbi, fined for calling a committee head “stronza“
$45,000 (USD)Umberto Bossi, fined for saying Antonio Di Pietro is a secret agent
$200.00 (USD) Stefania Craxi, fined for calling Roman mayor Rutelli “stronzo“

Better think about the price tag before letting the insults fly–Italy’s slander laws can make having a temper, or even an opinion, very costly. Public figures are not expected to withstand a certain amount of flack for being in the spotlight–and sue to prove it. Toscani’s fine this month is but the latest in a series–the photog attributed the monstrous illegally-built houses that ruin the Italian coastline to land surveyors. They sued and won–his remarks were found “damaging to the profession.”
Journalists are an unprotected category– retractions or apologies can’t save them from being sued for moral damages.
Of course, the fines actually paid are somewhat different. Currently only journalists can’t appeal sentences–Craxi’s fine was reduced on appeal to $25 (USD) and Bossi was eventually let off the hook altogether..

No one ever accused animal rights’ activists of having a sense
of humor. TV personality Licia Col?, whose efforts to help
wild life included a breath-mint advert with proceeds going to
polar bears, had the Italian version of the infamous hoax “bonsai
kitten” site shut down. Col?, while obliquely promoting
her own just-launched site, made use of a new law requiring all
web sites in Italy (or transmitting to Italy) with “regularly
updated information” to have a staff member enrolled in the
national order of journalists.

Related resources:

All the more intriguing with the ominous message "this site
has been closed by the Police
www.gattibonsai.it

The annual report from the National Statistics Institute (ISTAT), which looks into the daily lives of 27,000 Italians, showed few surprises but confirmed a number of trends.
Mobile phone use continues to grow–at the expense of fixed phone lines which dropped 6%, to be found in 85% of Italian households. Internet use, heaviest among young male users in Central Italy, still ranks among the lowest in Europe but shows a more than 700% percent increase over just three years ago. Some things remain the same–Italians still count on grandparents to watch toddlers and the majority still manage to go home for lunch.

Mobile Phone: an everyday object

70% Italian households own at least 1 cell phone (2000)
30% Italian households own at least 1 cell phone (1994)
31.5% Italian households with more than one cell phone(2000)
16% Italian households with more than 1 cell phone (1997)

Internet Use: low but rising
15.3% Italians use Internet regularly (2000)
2.3 % Italian used Internet regularly (1997)

Granny-sitter: still reigns
50% children under five are cared for by grandparents (2000)
72% of children in day care have a working mom
8.8% families use day care (2000)

Home For Lunch: but decreases as main meal
70% Italians eat midday meal at home (2000)
72.7% Italians eat main meal at noon (2000)
77.7% Italians eat main main at noon (1994)

*Source: Istat Millennium Report www.istat.it

13 million = (1/3 of the population) is unable to formulate or understand a simple message.
13 million = have difficulty understanding elementary texts, simple dialogues and comprehending graphs.
15 million = possess modest vocabulary/reading skills. Considered “at risk” – since they do not read and write regularly.

This joint study shows that millions of Italians between 16 and 65 have trouble with the language in everyday situations. The most alarming flunk- the 13 million Italians baffled by the technical language that accompanies all medicines, from aspirin to prescription drugs.
Researchers remain perplexed, not expecting lack of literacy in a generally well-off society. How are these well-heeled Italians communicating, then? Perhaps local dialects aren’t going the way of the dinosaur.

Citing security reasons, officials at the famous Milanese opera house have cut 200 standing-room posts, traditionally occupied by the”loggionisti” or rather the working-class folks who occupy the gallery. These spots, which cost only L.10.000 ($5USD), will be no more as of Sept. 12 2000– city administration seems to have just realized standing roomers constitute a fire hazard. The loggionisti, however are a cultural institution and refuse to accept the decision. The top spots, in fact, have the best acoustics in the house and the “peanut gallery” is often the most important judge of an opera. Gallery occupants are certainly the most vocal of critics– boos from them were said to have reduced Arturo Toscanini to tears and tripped up Luciano Pavarotti when he hit an off note in 1992. No word on whether the official association will withdraw support of the opera house–it holds a prestigious singing contest and runs a chorus. We’ll let you know how it plays out.

Related resources:
View the Scala from the gallery vantagepoint:
http://lascala.milano.it/theatre/visit/qtvr_map.html
At the site for Association of Loggionisti, unite your email protest to defend cheap spots for starving students & opera lovers
www.ingressi.freeweb.org English & Italian.

62% gambled in some form, last 3 months (July 2001)
67.7% those who gambled from South
51% those who gambled have university degree
25% of gamblers played average 25 times in period
90% gamblers “believe in themselves”
84% non-gamblers “believe in themselves”

This extensive study (10,000 Italians, age 14 and up) gives an idea how many are willing to gamble a bit in hopes of hitting pay dirt. Any sort of betting (from scratch & win state lottery to the horses) was considered. Italy’s crowded betting arena includes three soccer-betting schemes, wagers on horses and numerous state lotteries, with Bingo to come in fall 2001.

Related resources:
http://erewhon.ticonuno.it/riv/societa/pubblicita/fujifilm.htm
Common parlance for “luck” is “culo” (butt), here’s one of many tasteless recent ads based on the idea.

?

72% Anti-smoking protest
12% Celebrate Italian Republic
7% Celebrate winning soccer championship
6% Protest G8 meeting in Genova

Winds of change–smokers fire up Italians 10 times more than taking top honors in the national sport. This phone poll (100 Italians between 18-64) asked which recent events would get them enthusiastic enough to take to the streets (“scendere in piazza.)”

Former health minister Umberto Veronese should be proud–despite not getting a stricter anti-smoking law passed, he managed to raise consciousness. Now, if someone could work magic on that dismal patriotism.

Related resources:
www.comune.fe.it/nosmoking/test.htm
A test, to discover why one smokes..

26% Get headache even thinking about planning vacation
17% Anxious because doesn’t know where to go
12% Worried will end up alone on vacation
1 tasteless villa vacation rental

A slightly more serious study in an avalanche of frivolous summer polls (we skipped “hot weather turns up office romances” & “the female body hair debate”) which appears to illustrate Italians famed lack of planning causes some distress. Of the 965 Italians queried, 40 year-olds and women were hardest hit, and especially concerned about not having enough money to take long vacations.
One Italian was determined not to wait until the last minute to make plans–an unidentified businessman offered circa $50,000 a month for Villa Altachiara in Portofino, according to newspaper reports. The villa, built in 1874 by Lord Carnavon, boasts 40 rooms, a helicopter pad, swimming pool–but is also where countess Vacca Augusta fell to her death on Jan 8, 2001. Investigators have made little headway in discerning whether her tumble from the villa’s cliff was murder or suicide.
The story rivals any mystery novel– a scheming ex-husband, handsome foreign butler/lover, various hangers-on and several wills. The proposal may be accepted to settle the debts discovered after her death.

Italians, not a particularly patriotic bunch, have been ordered by European law to fly both the Italian flag and the flag of the European union in front of public offices and schools.
Actually, the decree was issued in 1998, but these things take time. In fact, the flags will be displayed in front of schools for the first time this month, during exams the 14th and the 21st of June 2000.
Perhaps the complicated rules didn’t help this civic cause: the Flag Person, who must be officially appointed by each school or office, has quite a job. In general, for schools the Italian flag flies on the right, the European flag on the left.
During special occasions (holidays or state visits) the far right slot is for the “visiting” country.
For public offices, however, the order is reversed– the European flag is on the right, followed by the Italian flag and the regional flag takes the place of honor.

Related resources:
For more on the Tricolore
www.fotw.stm.it/flags/it.html

Daydreams:
75% erotic

Dream erotic adventure:
27% sex with complete stranger, on the beach
15% fling with sexy coworker

Daydreams:
75% erotic

Dream erotic adventure:
27% sex with complete stranger, on the beach
15% fling with sexy coworker

Dream Object:
54.4% villa in the Tropics
9.5% a Ferrari

Dream Vacation
41.5% Polynesian islands
17.5% The moon

Italians would forgo a trip to the moon and a Ferrari in exchange for a ticket to a far-flung isle, preferably with an attractive colleague. The poll, conducted by a leading news weekly, asked 1,000 Italian men and women between the ages of 25-50 what they dream about.One small surprise: making a micro-comeback as the top “dream woman” was long-forgotten 36-year -old TV movie queen Francesca Dellera, an actress more noted for sending her plastic surgeon into early retirement than for her on-screen abilities.

http://ssmax.supereva.it/Dellera/francesca01.htm
One Francesca Fan page