Italy by Numbers: Future Mafia?

55% students think the Mafia is ‘invincible’
35% have faith in police forces
33.8% know the Mafia from direct experience
21,5% consider the Mafia a fact of life

When the first results came back from a poll about the Mafia of 3,000 students in Naples, researchers were so stunned by negative responses they decided it was better to get a wider sample in the Campana region. Unfortunately, despite obtaining six times the number of original answers, some 18,000, the results were even less optimistic: the majority of students in the Camorra-infested region think the Mafia is invincible.

Another recent example from Naples shows how organized crime permeates daily life — local newspaper Il Mattino uncovered a "milk product racket." Local heavies from the Mazzarella clan, not content with protection money skimmed from local businesses, started using persuasive methods to convince local supermarkets and restaurants to buy milk products — mainly the region’s famous bufalo milk mozzarella. At first, merchants denied any coercion from the Mafia but after an official investigation was opened, it turned out some 90% of the restaurants and food stores in the Santa Lucia and Chiaia neighborhoods were paying up and keeping quiet.

Related Resources:
Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic
Italian organized crime in a historical context…

Debate over Patron Saint of the Internet

Just which saint should be chosen to watch over computer programmers and guard against crashes has become a matter of debate in the Italian religious community.

St. Isidore of Seville, nominated two years ago, is a leading contender to be the protector of cyberspace. Vatican watchers say that Pope John Paul II should soon name the patron saint of Internet users and computer programmers. St. Isidore is said to have penned the world’s first encyclopedia, known as Etymologia. The 20-volume collection of writings on topics like art, medicine, history and theology to mathematics, literature, agriculture, war and cooking was written over 1,400 years ago.

Less than 7% of almost 3,000 Italians polled by Internet site, www.santiebeati.it however, chose him, preferring a little-known Italian saint. Some 32.58% nominated San Giovanni Bosco, as the guardian of the info highway. Bosco, born in 1815 and sanctified in 1946, was credited with rejuvinating the Church’s teachings for young people. Coming in a close second is the angel Gabriel, with 30% of preferences, who currently keeps watch over the radio, postal workers and stamp collectors.

Selecting a patron for the Internet another sign of Catholic Church’s growing appreciation for cyberspace. Pope John Paul II recently called it a "wonderful instrument" and said that the Church, in approach to the new technology, is "realistic and trusting."

www.santiebeati.it/patrono.shtml

Concert Series for Line-Waiters Returns to Florence

by Nicole Martinelli
posted June 26 @20:32

After the success of street theater for sun-baked tourists stuck in long lines for the Uffizi, the city of Florence has organized another series of summer concerts. While waiting to see Botticelli’s Venus, visitors will be lulled by remakes of the Beatles in a jazz key and classical music from Haydn to Vivaldi. This will hopefully distract them from writing on walls and depositing gum, currently two popular time killers while waiting to view masterpieces.
“We aim to improve life in the piazza and foster a high quality of tourism,” said culture assessor Emilio Becheri. “The initiative helps meet the expectations of visitors.” Apparently, this includes being entertained while standing in a line that sometimes snakes all the way down to the river Arno. Some 44 concerts are planned from Tuesday-Sunday, morning and afternoon, until September 22.?1999-2004 zoomata.com
This is an original news story. Play nice. Please use contact form for reprint/reuse info.

Related resources:
www.florenceart.it
Online booking the museum — opt for a surcharge rather than a free concert.

Web-Wise June 25-July 2

Festival: Singing Sister Duo is Back • Outlet Store Database •Italian practice: Meet Model Raphael Leonetti

Outlet Store Database
If you’re hunting for designer clothes, this is one of the best spots on the web to start. There’s a new section in English (with a rocky translation) & you can write in and ask the local expert if you can’t find what you’re looking for…
www.corriere.it/speciali/outlet.shtml

Meet Model Raphael Leonetti
Get to know this familiar face from Italian ads — and don’t miss the photo gallery…
www.moda.it/articoli/2002/06/11/305996.php

"Festival": Singing Sister Duo is Back
Critics would’ve like to see slightly nasal sorelle duo Paola & Chiara take a break — but they’re back with another Latin-inspired dance hit..Sample some on their official website…
www.paolaechiara.net

Convincing Italians to Eat Ice Cream

Hard to imagine why Italians have to be coaxed into eating ice cream — but gelato makers hope to tempt them this summer with flavors like limoncello, Barbera and special concoctions named after new saint Padre Pio, the Italian first lady and the World Cup.

Italians lag far behind European counterparts in gelato consumption largely because, much like seasonal fruit, it is only enjoyed in the proper moment — in this case the hottest months. In many colder climes, the dessert is eaten year round — in Denmark and Sweden each person eats 12.4 liters a year, in the UK 8.9, while in Italy the average person has only 5.5 liters.

Many new flavors are alcohol inspired — such as a tangy sweet limoncello or ice cream tasting of San Giovese and Barbera wines.
Novelty creations abound: tricolor for the world cup (vanilla topped with green and red cherries), Padre Pio (vin santo and almonds), and last but not least the Coppa Franca, named after Franca Pilla, wife of President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. In the case of the first lady, each ingredient of the sweet confection corresponds to an aspect of her personality: cream for sweetness, coffee for strength, chocolate for love of fellow mankind and, finally, eggnog for energy.

Related resources:
Gelato! Italian Ice Cream, Sorbetti & Granite
Get the true scoop with Tuscan resident Pamela Sheldon Johns…

 

Italy by Numbers: To Each a Cell Phone

+2.9 million more cell phone numbers than Italians (est. 2005)
2,320 mobile phone lines active (1985)
265,902 mobile phone lines active (1990)
3.923 million mobile phone lines active (1995)

A recent study confirmed that Italy’s love for the mobile phone shows no sign of slowing down: by 2005 the number of mobile phone lines will outnumber Italians by almost three million. The explanation given by the national observatory for mobile phones is simple: many Italians have more than one SIM card for the same phone. About half of Italians consider cell phones essential for keeping in touch with friends and family, some 40% use them every day, while less than 20% use them for work. This element of family ties to the ‘cellulare’ or ‘telefonino’ has led to exponential growth in the mobile phone sector — in 2001 there were 33 million cell phone numbers and, if expert predictions hold true, that number will almost double in the next three years. And, in any case, outnumber Italians…

Related resources:
Our Guide to Italian for Cell Phone Messages

Grandparents Vs. the Playstation

Italian senior citizens will enter classrooms in the fall to teach middle school children skills that are falling by the wayside in modern society.

“Seeking youths with at least 50 years of experience” announces the recruitment flyer from children’s activity club Arciragazzi in Milan. These youthful experts, after a short course designed by educators and psychologists, will impart lessons ranging including how to cultivate a garden, book binding, sewing or simply telling the story of their lives.

The project taps into a vital resource: about 90% of Italian senior citizens, currently the only growing segment of the population, wants to do something useful for society. By 2030, over 50% of Italy’s population will be over 60 years old.

"A recent study proved what we’ve found — that kids prefer being around grandparents to being with parents" said Antonio Monzeglio, president of Arciragazzi. "School is a great way to bring seniors into their lives."

Web Wise June 17- 24

Virtual visit to Michelangelo Exhibit • Soccer Players Undressed • Summer Music Festivals • Italian practice: Government Guidelines to Getting Around Italy

Virtual visit to Michelangelo Exhibit
Michelangelo was a tough act to follow: though hardly a controversial concept, this exhibit in Florence takes a look at students and followers who were left in the shadow of the Renaissance artist. See it in Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, until Sept. 29.
www.mondadori.com/panorama/area_2/area_2_10554.htm

Soccer Players Undressed
http://my-tv.virgilio.it/showbiz/video.jsp?IdArt=2901&show=1&smi=0&&player=2
Back stage at the photo shoot the Italian national soccer team, the azzurri, did before heading to Japan..
Disproving the idea that the best moment of the world cup games are when players exchange jerseys when the game’s over…

Italian practice: Government Guidelines to Getting Around Italy
Notoriously a difficult country to master, the government of the Bel Paese recently launched this handy citizen’s guide for everything from having a kid, making a police statement to paying taxes.
www.italia.gov.it

Summer Music Festivals
If you’re coming to Italy in the next few months, be sure to take advantage a large array of concerts offered — you’ll catch international acts ranging from the Ray Gelato Giants to Jamiroquai as well as Italian stars like Zucchero and Francesco Tricarico.

www.umbriajazz.com

www.trentino.to/NewApt/pages/i/estate/progr_suoni.htm
Sounds of the Dolomites — new age

www.neapolis.it

www.pistoiablues.com

www.estateromana.it
This year’s program should be online shortly — if you visit Rome, there’s something to take in almost every night.

www.arezzowave.com

The First Italian Mamma Meeting

Considered an national institution, Italian mothers have just become the object of a national convention, "Il Raduno delle Mamme."

The Mamma Meeting also seems like a good excuse to get out of the house. Held in the beach and discotheque capital of Italy, Riccione, events for the week of June 8-15 include a Miss Mamma beauty pageant, belly dancing seminar for pregnant women and baby model casting sessions.

The conference comes at a moment of change for the Italian family: for the first time in almost a decade, the number of births were higher than deaths in the Bel Paese, according to preliminary reports from national statistics institute ISTAT. At the same time, the Italian Housewives Movement (MOICA), estimates that the number of women fleeing a hostile workplace to become housewives will double — to 16 million — by the year 2030.

Modern mamme must cope with a decreased family network — some 43% of the 1,024 surveyed for the meeting said they don’t have anyone to talk to and only 19% said they count on their own mother for help and support.

Not all Italian mothers will be packing in the work clothes. Probably the most famous example is Silvio Berlusconi’s daughter, Marina, voted one of the 10 top women executives by Fortune magazine who just announced her first pregnancy. Marina, 35, director of Fininvest, the Berlusconi family company that controls 48 per cent of Mediaset, is expecting a child by ballet dancer Maurizio Vanadia, 40.

Marina told newspapers she won’t stop working. “The company is an important part of my life,” said Berlusconi’s first born adding that the child won’t be named after her famous father.“That life is changing now, but I’ll have more reason to keep working. From now on, I won’t be doing it just for myself, but for my child as well. For a woman, that’s the best way to give meaning to what her work.”

Italy by Numbers: Euro price hike

70% Italians feel unified currency = price increases
+21.4% meal for two
+21% taxi ride to airport
+16.8% coffee in café
+10.8% CD

Statistics have finally confirmed the price pinch Italians have been feeling since the unified currency was introduced in 2002. Italians, for the most part enthusiastic about the arrival of the euro, have been complaining about a series of unjustified price hikes due to the changeover. Treasury officials have tried to calm the waters by confirming that inflation remains stable — but that doesn’t ease what newspapers are calling the “euro sting.” An independent study by AC Nielsen instead showed that price increases are almost across the board (a few exceptions: decaffeinated coffee, rubber gloves, Kleenex and some parking, all down slightly) and hover between 10-20.% Ouch…