$150 million (300 billion) state revenue increase from price hike
$50-150 proposed fine for smoking in public places
$1.50 (Lit. 3.000 ) current fine for smoking in public places
1 new anti-smoking law, back to the drawing board

When the Italian parliament dissolved March 9 2001, it left at least one piece of unfinished business: a stringent new anti-smoking measure. Smoking was banned in public places (hospitals, theaters, schools, nightclubs and on public transportation) in 1975, but public authorities rarely enforce the regulations. Hard to blame them, the measly fine is not exactly a deterrent. The new law, in addition to heftier fines, proposed “cigarette police,” a person appointed by the organization to fine people lighting up where they shouldn’t. Health minister Umberto Veronesi’s proposal was criticized as an “attack” on smokers, who felt they were going to be persecuted by the government. No worries: Italy’s state tobacco monopoly has no reason to persecute such a lucrative public. In fact, to fill government coffers, it announced a cigarette price hike yesterday-the $ .20 increase on each packet will add up to around $150 million in 2001.

Related resources:
www.ultimobanco.it
Italian non-smokers can pull a few punches at politicians with this new interactive game.

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

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

$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..

8,200,000 Italian internet users (May 2001)
37% total users women
+ 30 minute increase per user
7 p.m. ‘internet rush hour’
Italians used the web to get informed for May elections, according to Nielsen reports. But they weren’t looking for offical/party information–the most heavily trafficked sites were news-related (3.5 million unique users) while about half that amount was seen on institutional sites.

1 law, requiring “professional journalists” on all info-based web sites
18.789 professional journalists (members of Italy’s Order)
47,749 associate members of Order
39,736 signers of petition against statute
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 is a powerful swipe at the new economy by the old guard.
Italy is one of the few countries where journalists belong to an order-like doctors and lawyers-and represent an equally powerful lobby. It’s not simply a matter of having a staff member sign up for a press card. Getting an associate press card requires demonstrating at least two years of paid work, while becoming a professional journalist also requires passing a bar exam.
“I find it offensive and humiliating because it deprives me of my right to freedom of speechSince I’m not a professional journalist, I won’t be able to write another single word or have an opinion about anything,” says one forum post on the Order site.
As a zoomata reader pointed out, despite the attention of electronic media, not much has been said in the Italian press. Then again, there’s a monopoly to protect.

Related resources:
An extreme example-even this erotic diary would require a professional editor and registration in a tribunal…
www.clarence.com/contents/tabu/paola/nuovo

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

Transport minister Pietro Lunardi made his mark on the new administration by proposing to raise freeway speed limits to 99 mph (160 kph) as Italians get ready to hit the road for summer vacation. Critics point to 1999 ISAT statistics that attributed 26,770 accidents and 1,430 deaths from excessive speeding. Current Italian speed limit on the autostrada is 80 mph.

Related resources
www.radio24.it/newsletter/out/newsletter_editoriale.htm
The ongoing debate…

White storks, once common in the swampy areas of Lombardy and Piedmont, became a rarity around 300 years ago. Italy’s League for Bird Protection (LIPU) is trying to help them make a comeback by “seducing” the birds, symbol of fertility and love, into artificial nests. The initiative started after attentive birdwatchers noticed storks trying to nest, but were often discouraged by farmers. Today, over 60 pairs have successfully nested thanks to the Stork Center in Racconigi (Cuneo). What convinces a stork to stay? A bit of healthy voyeurisim: the artificial nests are topped with two decoys of birds in courtship. The League announced more love nests will be planted areas surrounding Milan and Lodi.

Related resources:
The association also organizes vacations in Italy’s wildlife reserves for adults and children.
Here’s the 2001 calendar.
www.lipu.it/Fp_ea.htm