Saturday, October 23, 2010

Mamma Mia!

This is an outrage, I tellya! What the hell?! What are they thinking?! The Times of India reports...

Italy going prude? Town to fine women over skimpy outfits
IANS, Oct 23, 2010, 06.17am IST

LONDON: In a move that appears to be an act of moral policing , authorities in a small Italian town have decided to fine women who wear miniskirts or show too much cleavage , a media report said.

The fair sex will face fines of up to $695 under new rules to be introduced in an Italian town, the Daily Telegraph reported . In a move sharply at odds with a country which produced the likes of Monica Bellucci and Sophia Loren, the town of Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples, intends to prohibit women from wearing provocative clothing.

The town's council also wants to ban men and women from wearing low-slung jeans as part of a list of 41 new rules that "every good citizen must respect" , the report said. Luigi Bobbio, the mayor, said it was all part of an effort to "restore urban decorum and improve coexistence" by targeting people who were "rowdy, unruly or simply badly behaved" .

Playing football in parks and gardens and swearing in public will also be banned under new laws which will be put forward for approval at a council meeting on Monday. Italy has become entangled in a web of petty rules and regulations in the last two years after the government of Silvio Berlusconi gave councils extra powers to tailor laws to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

Across the nation, towns have banned a range of seemingly innocuous activities such as building sandcastles on the beach, kissing in cars and feeding stray cats.

Read more: Italy going prude? Town to fine women over skimpy outfits - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6796687.cms?prtpage=1#ixzz13BhskGmH


The article didn't include a picture, btw. I just did that for fun, googling "Italian woman" with "miniskirt."

Ahoy, Mateys!

So, B2's birthday went without a hitch. He loved his volcano cake and the pirate presents I got for him; he's allll about pirates lately. I made him (by request) a fake hook (using an old plastic clothes hanger I modified), since he wanted to be like Captain Hook. It was cute, watching him run around and say "Arrr, Matey!" Although he's quick to point out that he's a good-guy pirate.

Exene has the boys all day (and night) today; she's taking them to some friends who have an annual pumpkin-carving party. I wonder how that'll go. Hopefully without incident.

I'm going to take advantage of the peace-n-quiet to get a ton of writing done today. Beyond that, nothing more exciting than folding laundry and getting some groceries, as needed.