News sharing from Rome

Italy adopts tough law vs illegal immigration
By Francoise Michel
Agence France-Presse First Posted 10:24:00 07/03/2009
ROME, Italy—Italy adopted a tough law against illegal immigration on Thursday, including a measure allowing citizens to mount their own patrols, despite fierce criticism from rights groups and the Vatican.
The European Commission announced it would examine the new measures to determine whether they comply with EU norms, warning that "automatic expulsion rules for entire categories are not acceptable."
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had made tougher immigration rules a cornerstone of the election campaign that saw him returned to power in May 2008.
The senate, Italy's upper parliamentary chamber, endorsed a vote by the lower house in May bringing the package of measures into full force with 157 in favor, 124 against, and three abstentions.
Under the new law, illegal immigration becomes a criminal offense; anyone caught housing an illegal immigrant could face jail; and parents registering a baby's birth have to present papers to show they are legal residents.
During its slow passage through parliament, the opposition denounced the measures as reminiscent of Italy's fascist era.
Perhaps the most controversial measure permits "citizens groups" to mount patrols on the lookout for public order offenses.
After objections that they would be little more than vigilante groups, the local authorities will monitor their activities.
The measure was particularly sought by the fiercely anti-immigration Northern League, part of Berlusconi's right-wing coalition government. The Northern League has a strong presence in the richer northern part of the country.
In parliament, the opposition put up a bitter fight against the bill.
Dario Franceschini, leader of the Democratic Party, compared it to the racial purity laws introduced by Benito Mussolini's fascist regime in the 1930s onwards.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, a senior figure in the League, dismissed the charge as "laughable."
The new law makes illegal immigration a criminal offense punishable by a fine of between 5,000 and 10,000 euros ($7,000 and $14,000) and immediate expulsion.
Berlusconi had originally intended to make it an imprisonable offense, but was forced to reconsider because of overcrowding in the prison system, which has reached record levels.
Parents will also have to present their passport or residency permit when they declare the birth of a child, which some critics have warned could lead to a generation of "invisible" children growing up outside the system.
The new law would "deprive children of their most basic rights," said Raffaele Salinari, the president of the Italian branch of Terre des Hommes, a campaign group dedicated to protecting the rights of children.
It also extends the period of detention for illegal immigrations to six months from the current two months to allow more time for them to be identified so they can be sent back to their home country.
Italian writers including Andrea Camilleri, Antonio Tabucchi, and Nobel prize winner Dario Fo signed a statement denouncing "discriminatory standards against immigrants, unknown in Europe since the era of racial laws."
An official with Catholic organization Sant'Egidio estimated the number of illegal immigrants in Italy at between 400,000 and 500,000 and said many are employed by families to care for the elderly or children. Among them are an estimated 13,000 Filipinos.
"With this law, we introduce the idea that being an immigrant and clandestine means being a delinquent," said Daniela Pompei.
While other European countries have not actually criminalized illegal immigration, several, including France and Greece, have adopted similar measures.

(source: philippine daily inquirer)

King's Village Meets the New Kaiser's Supermarket

When they started tearing down this fast hundred year
old villa in my village in April 2008, I wanted to
know the owner and ask why would they sell out
an ancestral home with all the memories like maybe
the voices of the children playing in the gardens with
two giant trees of chestnuts and walnuts while pigeons
of all sorts were clustering in their branches especially
on sunny days reaching for the sunlight.
I have my own share of memory of this villa as I met
here a Pinoy named Dennis who told me that he has married
a German guy but they would move to Holland where he has
found a job. I have not seen Dennis since they moved out
of this villa.

The area where the villa used to stand so majestically
taken in January 2009 and by this time, people have
been talking about a future supermarket to rise in this
ground. Gone are the pigeons and the two giants trees.

Above is the new landmark in our village called
Koenigsdorf (King's Village)and today marks the grand
opening of this chain of German supermarket Kaiser which
attracts the local residents to flock to see, maybe shop
for the especial prices for the opening.
Hubby and I joined the local attraction by having our
brunch outside the supermarket amidst the coming
and going of shoppers with roses, pineapples on sale
potted plants, cherries and strawberries on especial sale.



Introducing the new search hobby of hubby in this new supermarket:


If you, dear reader, meet one Dennis who has moved to
Holland with his hubby, please tell him to visit and
see what has happened to the ancestral home...Well, now
the locals could step on the sacred ground used to be
reserved only for the residents of this fast hundred
year old villa. At least a consoling thought for the
loss of this grand landmark in our village.
We have Kaiser in our King's village. The value of
real property here gets one notch higher.

Shoe Toss

(photo: Mar Lou)

Student acquitted for shoe toss at China's PM
Published: 2 Jun 09 20:54 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20090602-19667.html
A German student who hurled a shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was cleared Tuesday of committing a public order offence as he defended his protest as a symbolic act of defiance.
Cambridge University student Martin Jahnke told the court in eastern England that he was inspired by the notorious shoe attack on George W. Bush.

Finding him not guilty, Cambridge Magistrates' Court judge Ken Sheraton said there was insufficient evidence to prove that Jahnke had behaved as charged in a way likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

Speaking publicly about the incident for the first time, the 27-year-old told the court he was not out to hurt Wen but to take a stand against his "regime."

"I am very pleased with the result," the pathology postgraduate student said after the two-day trial, in a statement read by a lawyer. "I would like to thank all those members of the public who have supported me, including the Chinese community. I hope now attention can move away from me to the real issue of human rights in China."

Sheraton told Jahnke that the verdict should not be seen as an indication that the court condoned his behaviour. The judge warned Jahnke about his future conduct.

Earlier in court, Jahnke said he wanted to protest about human rights in China, object to Cambridge University allowing Wen to speak, and show solidarity with the Chinese people.

Wen was giving a lecture in Cambridge on February 2, the last day of a European tour, when Jahnke blew a whistle, branded Wen a "dictator" then threw a trainer, missing hitting him by a few metres.

"It was a symbolic protest against the presence of the Chinese premier," Jahnke told the court. "My aim was to show solidarity with the Chinese people not represented."

Muntazer al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at then US president Bush in Baghdad in December, is currently serving a one-year jail sentence.

"I was inspired by the Iraqi shoe thrower," Jahnke said. "The idea that you could show protest in this way was in my mind. I think it really became symbolic throwing a shoe - a symbol of defiance against a regime or authority that is not accountable to anybody, a regime that uses violence. I didn't want to hit the premier personally."

He said it was meant to be was a symbolic protest.

"I didn't intend to hurt people - people sitting in front of me, people on the stage or the premier," said Jahnke.

The student, who had pleaded not guilty, said he did not think there was any chance of him hitting or injuring Wen.

"I think I aimed quite well onto that area of the stage in front of him," he said. "He was also standing on a podium, so there was no chance of the shoe hitting him in my opinion."

Jahnke said he presumed there would have been be a large-scale demonstration inside the lecture hall and he had merely planned to join in. But realising that no one else was starting a protest, he stood up towards the end of Wen's "propaganda speech."

"For me, it was terrifying to address an audience of that size," said Jahnke. "All I was wanting to do was to get out a coherent sentence and not make a complete fool of myself."

He said also Wen should be used to political protest.

"I wouldn't have expected he could be easily intimidated. He seemed a hardened character to force his way up the hierarchy and stay there for 20 years," he said. "I didn't expect him to be emotionally distressed. His regime is responsible for a number of human rights abuses."
AFP (news@thelocal.de)

If my girlfriend C.M. would one day show her protest by
throwing her shoe, I am pretty sure the recipient will
ask for the other intriguing, spiky pair.

Poverty Line in Germany and Football God

I wanted to post this photo taken from our
local newspaper...to share with my friends
and ask themselves..."Poor ba ako sa Germany?"


(Photo Source:www.bundesliga.de)

Then this morning, this headline about this
super football star Mario Gomez whose transfer
to FC Bayern costs 30Million Euro greets me...
where do they get the money nowadays?
Poor, poor football fans!

Germany Celebrates 60 Years of Bundesrepublik Deutschland

(Photo Source: www.rom.diplo.de)

Basic Rights

Article 1: Protection of human dignity
1. The dignity of man is inviolable. To respect and protect it is the duty of all state authority.
2. The German people therefore acknowledge inviolable and inalienable human rights as the basis of every community, of peace and of justice in the world.

Congratulations Germany! I am happy and thankful for being
a part of this community.

Let's get together with others, to dream and create
and conspire to build a better world.
(B. Ehrenreich)

Permanent Stress in Germany: Housewives Mostly Affected

This Friday morning after our marital shopping
in this public market in our city, hubby read to
me this piece of German news which says
"Jeder Dritte Deutsche Leidet - Im Dauer Stress"
which roughly means Every Third German Suffers
Permanent Stress.

"Uh-um, that's good stuff for blogging," I told him and
when I make such comments, the dear
kabiyak ng puso gets the message and tears the targeted
news off the dailies.

The news says: Every third German from ages 14 to
65 years old suffer permanent stress. For working
people the main factors for pressure are rat race,
too much work, financial worries, fear of losing
job, endless rush-hour traffic and too little time
for the family.

Housewives belong to the most stressed group
of people in Germany; 38% of them feel permanently
overstretched. Their daily routines are full of
surprises and are hardly organized. They function
as drivers for their children going to ballet
lessons and hockey trainings; they cook, clean
and wash, have never taken real time off and get no
praise for the job.

(Break for dinner)

This the result of a research done by a German
health insurance company, Techniker Krankenkasse (TK)
von Forsa and FAZ-Institut with 1,014 people
as respondents.

Summarizing the result, stress causes sickness
and absence from work. This costs alone
German companies about 20 Billion Euro every year.

It shows that stressed people suffer 4 times more
from depression than those who are less affected
by stresses and strains. Complaints are often
about backaches, burn-out, migraine, Angst,
insomnia, heart and stomach troubles.

Some pieces of advice to get out from this
"spiral of stress":
Go jogging, join a choral group, get early time-off
from work, reduce own personal demands and make
oneself unavailable.

(Source:KSTA:Koelnerstadtanzeige, 15.05.2009. Seite 1)

My Suggestion: Don't be a housewife, be a singing
jogger, meet friends after getting off early from
work, forget the Toscana villa dream and be away when
cleaning the terrace is in the marital agenda.

What's yours?

Happy Mother's Day

 

I saw this card in my other social networking. The special greeting
card has been prepared by Charles and Luis for their mommy Tracie
to greet her on this especial day, Mother's Day, which is celebrated
in many countries on the second Sunday of May.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, imaginary and real mothers.
Enjoy the day! Tomorrow you are all back to your role as
domestic goddesses, magicians, counsellors, referees,
cooks, cleaning women, teachers, accountants, budget or
floor managers, healers,partners and just about everything
which has to do with nurturing and caring.
Tough job!