Italian Mafia Town: Name Change or Trademark?

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zoomata.com staff posted:Wed Nov. 26 15:29 pm

One local man’s crusade to clear the name of Corleone, a Sicilian town long associated with the mafia, pitches him against politicians who are more interested capitalizing on the organized crime connection with a trademark.

Lawyer Antonio Di Lorenzo is collecting signatures for a petition to revert to the town’s older, less stigmatized name of Cuor di Leone ("Lion Heart").

It’s an uphill battle, because Di Lorenzo needs 50,000 signatures — or about five times the number of Corleone residents — and many would rather cash in than wipe out the town’s history.

Officials decided in 2002 that Corleone, considered home to some of Italy’s most infamous Mafia families, should become a brand name. "It’s useless to deny that it’s a very powerful name," said mayor Nicolò Nicolosi."We’ve verified that it attracts the public, so we’re in the process of registering it. Changing the name at this point is crazy."
The Corleone brand will likely be used for a line of dairy products from the town’s creamery, which is in the process of being privatized.
Notable native sons of the town of 11,000 in the province of Palermo include fugitive boss Bernardo Provenzano and clan head Totò Riina, currently serving several life sentences.

Corleone will also ring a bell with consumers because of "the Godfather" films, thanks to the fictional family of the same name. It isn’t the first time the town name has been used to sell products, it was also the subject of a much-contested campaign for Benetton clothes.

Corleone isn’t the only Sicilian town to contemplate a name change for publicity reasons. In May, Porto Empedocle in the province of Agrigento decided to change its name to Vigatà, a fictional town hopping with nefarious activity made popular by mystery writer Andrea Camilleri.?1999-2003 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingualjournalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.Related resources:
Rebels & Mafiosi: Death in a Sicilian Landscape
An investigation of the historic orgins of the Mafia….

Former Axum Site in Rome to Honor Victims in Nasiriyah

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zoomata.com staff posted:Tue Nov. 25 17:32 pm

The Italian government is considering building a monument to Italian soldiers and civilians killed in the Nov. 12 bombing in Iraq where the Ethiopian obelisk used to stand in Rome.

It would be a peaceful resolution for the future of the square now that the much-contested monument formerly in the center of Piazza Capena is on its way home. Italians agreed to send back the stolen monument over 50 years ago, but even as the stele was being taken down some were loath to part with it.

A massive outpouring of grief accompanied state funerals held last week in Rome and many called for a permanent way to remember the fallen. Rome’s city council voted unanimously yesterday to rename the square in honor of the victims and a project to create a new monument for the 19 Italian carabinieri and 14 civilians killed.

“It’s the best way to remember the incident, without rhetoric but with action,” said Sergio Marchi, member of the neo-fascist National Alliance party, which protested giving back the Axum obelisk to Ethiopia. “These were soldiers working for peace and victims of terrorism, this is a tangible way for Italians to show support.”

?1999-2003 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingualjournalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.

Italian Nicknames Enter Phone Books

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zoomata.com staff updated:Fri. Nov. 14 11:07 amLooking for Mr. Hardhead? Miss Nitpicker? The son of ‘Napoleon?’ Search no more: listings in phone books on the Italian isle of Sardinia will be complete with nicknames in local dialect.

The idea came to local truck driver Salvatore Cabras who was tired of fielding calls from people looking for friends or relatives with the same exact name. Cabras decided to distinguish himself by adding the nickname he’s had since childhood, which translates to something like ‘tough guy.’

This initiative has more to it than an artificial push to institutionalize dialect that, in other parts of Italy, has led to bilingual street signs and translations of computer programs. Having the same name as another person has led to many legal horror stories in Italy, so much so that website proglobal.org keeps a running list of these unjust arrests. Italians are also largely stuck with names their parents assign them because courts only allow changes in very limited circumstances.

Nicknames can often be handed down for generations. Umberto Moro, for example, is known as "hornet" an appellative handed down from his grandfather’s knack for stinging wit. "I’ve inherited it and passed it on to my two daughters, it’s part of a tradition and distinguishes our common name."

Time will tell if the nickname listings are successful. It may depend on how many people consider them either positive or are able to shrug the negative ones off — it’s one thing to be known as the kid of ‘cockroach’ or ‘funnel’ (label given to a heavy drinker) — and quite another to go down on the books that way.

Mayor Angela Corrias, intimates call her ‘Puppu’, says hers has been handed down so many times no one remembers what it means. "It was my grandmother’s nickname, but no one could tell me what it derives from or the exact meaning. Now it’s mine and I’d have to say I’m happy to have it."?1999-2003 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingual journalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.

Sara Kruger (Bassano del Grappa)

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Each month we introduce you to someone who has made the dream of picking up and moving to the Bel Paese a reality.
In their own words they share the good parts, the bad parts and the just plain absurd moments of day-to-day life in Italy.

Looking to move to Italy? Try the reader-recommended Survivor Package
Or browse our free weekly newsletter with updated job offers for English-speakers in Italy by clicking here .
If you live in Italy, we would love to hear your story–contact us at editor@zoomata.com .

ID Card: Sara Kruger, an American journalist.

Currently living In: Bassano del Grappa

How (or why) did you get here from there?
My husband is a teacher. After two years of discontented teaching in the States, he looked into teaching overseas. He discovered the European Council of International Schools in November of 2000 and through this connection secured an interview with an international school in Italy in the summer of 2001. The principal liked his voice and written credentials enough to hire him, so we moved at the end of August.

What role did language skills play in your expat experience?
Prior to leaving, we checked out a children’s Italian book so upon arrival we knew colors and numbers and how to say "Dove." This didn’t help a whole lot. Fortunately, our first week in Italy we met an Italian family that befriended us. They didn’t know any English, so we were forced to rapidly increase our vocabulary (with the aid of a very helpful dictionary). Learning Italian has been essential to an enjoyable experience for us. It has allowed us to converse with the locals and participate more fully in the Italian lifestyle.

Your biggest challenge:
Dealing with the Italian bureaucracy. During the first few months we were here, as we tried to secure permessos (permission to stay in the country) and visas, we learned that nothing involving the government happens quickly or on the first try. Nor do the practices always make sense.

What did you do to feel at home or adapt here? We immediately dove into learning the language.

What do you still have to get used to/learn?
Italian hours. Businesses take random days off – not the predictable Sat/Sun – and random afternoons off. Now each business is consistent in what days and afternoons it takes off, but not all businesses have the same ones off. And all businesses close for some time in the afternoon, but what hours they take off vary. And there’s no such thing as a 24-hour supermarket.

Compare an aspect (or aspects) of your home town (or other place you’ve lived) to current town.
Parking downtown in both places is something drivers only dream about.

Latest pursuits: Travel writing. When I first arrived, I was working at the same school as my husband. Recent hires made my employ there unnecessary, so I’ve been writing stories about the places we’ve traveled since we’ve been here in the hopes of being published.

A preconceived notion about Italians/Italy that is not true:
Prices are cheap here. We arrived in September, when the lire was still in use. Knowing the terrible value of the lire, I assumed prices would be incredibly cheap. Apparently, just because I got 2,000 lire to my $1 doesn’t mean I could buy 2,ooo times the goods with my $1 than I would in the States. Prices were pretty much the same as my hometown, once I did the conversion. Of course, that conversion is no longer necessary since the euro is almost equal to the US dollar.

A preconceived notion about Italians/Italy that is true:
Driving is incredible here. All the crazy stories you hear about Rome are true throughout Italy, just to a lesser extent. Rather than the philosophy that I grew up with that every driver should be a defensive driver, Italian drivers believe every other driver is a defensive driver and thus make some pretty wild moves, assuming every else is looking out for them. But if everyone else holds this same perspective, how does it work? Somehow, it does.

Your response/advice/warning to the following question: "I love Italy! I really want to live here, even though I don’t speak Italian or have a job."
Italian isn’t difficult to pick up, so that part isn’t really a problem. You can live here for three months as a tourist. If you don’t mind living illegally and are confident you will never come into contact with a government official or police officer and will never need health care, stay as long as you like. If you don’t want to be constantly looking over your shoulder, think about studying here. Otherwise, it is incredibly difficult to secure a work visa within the European Union as you must prove no one else in the EU can do the job you’re applying for. Obtaining most types of Visas is a headache, as you’re dealing with the Italian bureaucracy, which isn’t the most efficient or consistent institution. So, my response? Good luck.

How would you sum up your Italian experience in a word (and why)? A blessing. From my humble abode in Renton, WA, I never thought it would be possible to live overseas. It was a dream that didn’t seem likely ever to see the light of reality. Every day spent learning the language, traveling to new places, witnessing firsthand all those sights deemed "must-sees" is simply a blessing that I’ll cherish forever.

Italy’s best kept secret
As long as you’re in the process of acquiring the necessary paperwork, you’re OK. In the States, having a piece of paper saying you are waiting for the official paperwork doesn’t cut it. You’ve got to have the official stuff. But in Italy, because acquiring these documents takes so long, being in the process is just as good as having them. While trying to acquire our permessos, we have secured a piece of paper that says, at the very bottom, in both Italian and English, "THIS IS NOT VALID AS A COPY OF FOREIGNER’S PERMIT TO STAY". So what’s the point, we asked. The police officer assured us that this with our passport would be good enough for anything we needed. But we still have to get the real permessos; it just doesn’t really matter when. The ones we have are indefinitely temporary. Crazy stuff.

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Contested Obelisk Leaves Italy for Ethiopia

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by Nicole Martinelli posted:Thu. Nov. 6 11:12 am

It’s been a long and winding road, but the Axum Obelisk is finally leaving Rome for Africa. Italian news agency ANSA reported that a large moving truck and crane were getting busy late last night in Piazza Capena, where the stolen monument has been a fixture for 66 years.
The pre-Christian treasure is expected to crown the UNESCO-protected heritage site of the same name by mid-November.

The late-night move of the 80-foot, 150-ton obelisk may be in part to ongoing protests by Italians about giving back what the fascists took as war booty. Despite media hubbub that predicted possible violence, protests have been more cerebral than physical — as the monument was being taken down about 300 members of neo-fascist party Alleanza Nazionale gathered only once. The Italians had agreed to give back what they took from Ethiopia over 50 years ago, but intentions don’t always match actions as the African country learned in 1998 after printing commemorative stamps for the expected return of the obelisk.

The lively intellectual debate surrounding other Ethiopian treasures will be harder to put to rest. On opposite sides of the issue are two men whose grandfathers participated in Italy’s war with Ethiopia. The first, Duke Amedeo D’Aosta, defending the honor of his forefather of the same name who fought and lost in the bitter battle of Amba Alagi, claims that the Italian government had no right to decide to return the obelisk.

In a long interview entitled ‘Valid Regrets’ published in leading daily Corriere della Sera, D’Aosta also said that ruler Haile Selassie told him in 1969 that the Italians might as well keep the stele. The royal also maintains that the obelisk was a ‘gift’ from Ethiopian clergy and that the mayor of Rome, not the national government, should have decided whether to give the monument back.

The opposite reasons led Nicola DeMarco, an Italian American teacher, to become active in the campaign to return the monument.
"I was named after my grandfather Nicola, a very compassionate and loving man. He told me about his years in Addis Ababa when I was a child," DeMarco told zoomata. "I became involved in the effort to return the Axum Obelisk in part to honor the memory of my grandfather as well as that of all the victims of Fascism." DeMarco got involved in 1996, when he met Dr. Richard Pankhurst, leader of the movement to return Ethiopian treasures, during a training program for local teachers.

For Pankhurst, whose most recent victory includes the recent return of an ancient holy book looted by British troops over a century ago, D’Aosta’s arguments for keeping the monument are ‘improbable.’ He cites the coercion of Italian occupying forces into giving such a precious item as a ‘gift’ and cites Selassie’s official autobiography, which calls the snagging of the obelisk as one of the most serious crimes of the fascist government against his country.

The return of the obelisk is not likely to put to rest all disputes over artifacts between the two countries. Italians still have to send back at least two other items, both covered by the 1937 agreement to return historical objects looted from Ethiopia.
Foot-dragging by the Italian government is even less understandable in these cases — since neither present the fragility or bulk of the obelisk. Haile Selassie’s prewar airplane, the first ever assembled in Ethiopia in 1936 and named after his beloved daughter Tsehai, is still in the Italian historical aviation museum and Rome still holds part of Ethiopia’s prewar national archives, the so-called Ministry of the Pen, or imperial archives, are still in Rome. ?1999-2003 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingual journalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire. *stamp image courtesy Nicola DeMarco

Italians celebrate ‘imported’ Halloween

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zoomata.com staff updated: Oct. 20 2004@ 10:02
Italians have taken a shine to ghosts, ghouls and mummies — in just a few years, the imported festival for Halloween has taken the Bel Paese by storm. Italians are expected to spend 250 million euro in parties, costumes and gadgets this year, according to consumer group Codacons, 20% more than the year before.

“Halloween is starting to overshadow carnival,” Enrico Brusa, president of a party supply company in Genova, told newspapers. “More people are choosing to throw parties on Oct. 31, it’s more trendy, more original compared to the usual costume party for carnival.”

Not everyone is getting into the macabre spirit. This year religious authorities in Palermo and Vicenza spoke out against the American holiday, the latter ‘suppressing’ a party for children organized by the city council. In 2001, Rosario Crocetta, head of public schools in Gela, Sicily offered about $500 as a bonus to schools in his district that didn’t throw Halloween parties for elementary and middle school students. Crocetta said that the fanfare and candy of the American import overshadowed local traditions for the day of the dead, Nov. 2 — in which Sicilian children await traditional marzipan sweets and toys, left the night before ostensibly as gifts from dead relatives.

The Italian celebration has a few interesting local twists. Trick-or-treating is still not common, Halloween costume parties for children are often organized as part of Italy’s fall food celebrations. Instead of the usual prepackaged hard candies, Italian kids can stuff themselves with pumpkin risotto, porcini mushrooms and chestnut specialties. Italians are also busy inventing a local alternative to the ‘dolcetto’ (treat) as this year’s contest in Modena contest for chocolatiers to invent a ‘Halloween sweet’ shows.

And, like carnival, celebrations aren’t limited to just one day. The month of October is considered fair game and in many parts of Italy, the party goes on for weeks. Ladispoli, in the province of Rome, was one of the first towns to don the Dracula teeth with a Halloween f?te six years ago. It’s become so popular that it has morphed into a full-fledged Halloween fair — last year more than half the town’s 27,000 residents took part in costume labs, “witch food” booths and general merrymaking. Amusement park Gardaland has also gotten into the act as a way to boost sagging fall attendance with an ad-hoc haunted house and specials for the second year of ‘Halloween month.’

Halloween in Italy is not just for kiddies, though. Oct. 31 is undoubtedly a good excuse to party — the day after Italians are on official holiday for All Saints celebrations. Billboards abound for a foreign beer company, hailing itself as the ‘official sponsor of Halloween,’ and night clubs throughout Italy are hosting costume parties. Ties to the local culture aren’t always excluded — adults will party all night while they relive medieval traditions in Grazzano Visconti (province of Piacenza), including a reenactment of the legend of the town’s famous ghost.

It looks as though the night of the living dead will likely become a permanent fixture in Italy.
The Halloween hoopla seems to have sparked more initiatives around traditional Italian customs. On Nov. 2, the day Italians honor the dead, Rome will hold a series of poetry readings in cemeteries and Northern League newspaper La Padania will publish photos of the dearly departed as a public service.”?photo + text 1999-2004 zoomata.com
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A Passion for Pasta: Italians Love Tradition

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Despite thousands of ways to dress a plate of spaghetti, Italians love the classics. The favorite variant in the Bel Paese is a simple plate of pasta with tomato sauce.
All other versions combined — seafood, pesto, cream sauce, baked — were named as favorites by only 25% of the 1,000 Italians surveyed by Cirm for World Pasta Day 2003.

Most Italians seem to have a nearly inborn knack for noodles, 62.8% don’t bother following instructions. The ability to master the elusive “q.b.” (quanto basta or to taste), likely derives from a daily knowledge of penne, tortellini and spaghetti — at nearly 60 pounds per person per year, Italians are top consumers of pasta worldwide.

Celebrations taking place in Naples and around the world on Oct. 24-25 will also highlight new ways of looking at the old standby. The Cirm study found that Italians add six new recipes to the average menu of 12 every year — though these brilliant and often improvised creations don’t take the place of the classics. Some traditions may soon change, 9.8% of Italians have tried their national dish in what would have been formerly considered heretical versions — frozen or precooked. ©1999-2007 zoomata.com

Italians Protest Return of Axum Obelisk

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zoomata.com staff updated:Wed Oct. 22 7:51 amWith a dramatic last-minute timing worthy of opera, Italians are protesting the return of the Axum Obelisk to Ethiopia.
The Italian government agreed to give back this enormous chunk of fascist booty over 50 years ago, but only got around to taking it apart earlier this month. Slated to arrive in Africa in early November, the 80-foot, 150-ton obelisk is wrapped in scaffolding and once again the center of controversy.

Italian wire services reported that a mysterious ‘protest committee’ plans try to stop the delicate work to take apart the monument.
No details about committee members were provided but just that the group believes the ‘obelisk should stay in Rome’ and that some sort of protest was planned for this week in Piazza Carpena.
One thing is certain — Italians have mixed feelings about doing the right thing. Newsweekly Panorama published a mock-up photo to show what the ‘naked’ square will look like and several newspapers have published letters from readers who feel the plunder has become part of the Italian patrimony.
Piazza Carpena won’t be left empty, however. According to Nicola DeMarco, whose grandfather was a colonist in Ethiopia under Mussolini, a group of Italian and international artists will create a peace monumenton that site to commemorate the years of peace between Ethiopia and Italy and as a reminder of the evils of Fascism.

The granite monument will be sent back as damaged goods — it was partially shattered by lightning in 2001.
Taken by order of Benito Mussolini in 1937, the Ethiopian government has been trying to get it back for over half a century. Lightning struck the deserted piazza around 1 a.m., probably attracted as much by the shape as the steel braces added when the monument was transported. The incident also shattered the argument by Italian officials that the relic was in better hands in the Bel Paese.

The pre-Christian relic once crowned the city of Aksum, then center of trade in ivory, animal skins and grain in the ancient Ethiopian empire. The Obelisk was the latest in a series of heated arguments for return of stolen art — one that found Italians as the accused. Owning over 60% of the world’s art treasures, according to UNESCO, usually places Italy in the position of petitioning for its own looted treasures. One recent example: after years of negotiations, the Getty Museum in California was prevailed upon to return 500 terracotta and bronze pieces to a Calabrian museum in 2001.

Foot-dragging by Italian authorities meant that agreements to return the obelisk to Ethiopia, signed as early as 1947, never amounted to action. Italian government officials, most vocally Vittorio Sgarbi, have protested the restitution both because of political instability in the African region as well as complications in shipping the heavy monument.

Placed at the center of piazza di Porta Capena, close to the Circus Maximus, Italian Culture Minister Giulio Urbani told newspapers after lightning struck that the sculpture would be restoredand sent home — and it only took two years to sort out the shipment. ©1999-2007 zoomata.com

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Matt Dunford (Bolzano)

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Each month we introduce you to someone who has made the dream of picking up and moving to the Bel Paese a reality.
In their own words they share the good parts, the bad parts and the just plain absurd moments of day-to-day life in Italy.

Looking to move to Italy? Try the reader-recommended Survivor Package
If you live in Italy, we would love to hear your story–Contact form

ID Card:
Matt Dunford, profession: Web programmer, nationality: American,
email: zoot@zotikos.com. I’ve lived in Italy for about a year and a half now.

Currently living In: Bozen/Bolzano in Suedtirol/Alto Adige

By way of: Santa Monica, Fresno, Santa Barbara, San Francisco (all in
California).

How (or why) did you get here from there?
Pure luck. I was working in San Francisco when I received a job offer out of the blue from an Italian company.

What role did language skills play in your expat experience?
Language skills are essential to living here. I came here with no practical Italian or German experience, but with the promise of language classes. Visiting without knowing the language is OK, but after living here for a while, you become frustrated with yourself. You quickly find your limits when you can’t communicate with everyone.

Your biggest challenge:
Again the language. There are two spoken in this region, Italian and a German dialect. I didn’t think I would be such a slow learner. I thought I would pick them up pretty quickly as I lived here longer. But it’s turned out to be a long, slow process for me.

What did you do to feel at home or adapt here?
I bought milk and cereal. The lack of it was the only thing that was driving me crazy. Eating that every morning grounded me in a sense. Everything else just took some getting used to.

What do you still have to get used to/learn?
Everything being closed in the evening, usually around 6 or 7p.m. I still think I can go to the grocery store after work.

Compare an aspect (or aspects) of your home town (or other place you’ve lived) to current town.
Everything is much cheaper (compared to Santa Barbara & San Francisco) – from food to rent. Other than that, it’s a lot like small town life. Much like where I grew up. And public transportation is much more accessible here.

Latest pursuits:
Visiting more castles. When you live in a place, you never really do anything touristy. I’ve been relaxing for far too many weekends.

A preconceived notion about Italians/Italy that is not true:
That they drink lots and lots of wine. While it is true, they drink a whole lot of beer too, which surprised me.

A preconceived notion about Italians/Italy that is true:
That Italian women are extremely beautiful. It’s true! =)

Your response/advice/warning to the following question: “I love Italy! I really want to live here, even though I don’t speak Italian or have a job.”
Learn Italian first. (Or is your love for Italy only halfhearted?) It will make everything much, much easier.
Personally, I wouldn’t move anywhere where I didn’t have a job or at least a good lead. Moving to a country where you don’t have a job visa and don’t know the language is insanity in my opinion.

How would you sum up your Italian experience in a word (and why)?
Eye-opening. (I think the hyphen officially makes that one word.) After coming here, I realize how much I had been taking for granted.

Italy’s best kept secret
I think it’s the Sudtirol/Alto Adige region. It’s a blend between the Germanic north and the Italian south. And this applies to language, culture, food, everything. The best of both worlds.

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Vatican Accepts Credit Card Donations — on Faith

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Pope John Paul II now accepts all major credit cards.
The Vatican in Rome recently entered the era of modern charity by accepting donations through credit cards. Security experts, however, criticized the fact that the Holy See asks donors to take such a large leap of faith — by sending credit card information via fax to Rome.

“You’re giving anyone the possibility to use your card information for fraud,” IT security consultant Martino Bana told zoomata. “It’s not just a question of trusting Vatican employees, but trusting that the info you send over the wire via fax won’t be intercepted. It doesn’t make sense.”

Donations to the Vatican still go through the Peter’s Pence office, named after a penny tax Catholics were forced to hand over in Medieval times. Today’s Church, however, collects more than a few coins in voluntary donations — last year’s take was nearly 53 million USD, up 1.80% from the previous year.

Mons. Ramón Castro of the Peter’s Pence office said the Vatican does not have plans to process credit card donations through the official web site and invited those concerned about security to send a check by mail instead. Vatican officials recently reported that the Pope’s virtual home is under constant attack by around 30 hackers every day and 10,000 viruses per month. Experts like Bana insist that the cost of installing and maintaining a secure server is the only safe way to donate by credit card. ©1999-2008 zoomata.com