COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Too short, too much cleavage? - "One glance will be enough to judge."


Miniskirts ban planned by Italian resort

The mayor of Castellammare di Stabia, south of Naples, has ordered his police to fine women who wear 'very short' miniskirts


Tom Kington in Rome
guardian.co.uk, Monday 25 October 2010 21.31 BST

The mayor of a southern Italian beach town has ordered police officers to fine women who wear short miniskirts or show too much cleavage, as part of a battle to raise what he describes as the level of public decorum.

At a council meeting last night, Luigi Bobbio, who was elected on Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party ticket, won a vote to ban clothing considered "very short" from the town of Castellammare di Stabia, south of Naples. Police will get the power to hand out €300 (£265) fines to offenders.

Explaining what he meant by "very short", Bobbio said officers would target women wearing miniskirts that did not fully cover their underwear. "The display of too much cleavage will also earn a fine," added a spokesman.

Bobbio said he had faith in officers to make snap decisions. "They won't need to carry out checks up close," he told Corriere del Mezzogiorno. "One glance will be enough to judge."

The new rules, which were approved by the town council yesterday, drew outrage from local centre-left politicians, who mounted a sit-in outside the town hall. "The Bobbio administration is male chauvinist," the organisers of the protest said in a statement. "This town does need decorum, but not the decorum that is measured by a tape measure held against women's clothing."

"By equating women's clothing with urban decorum, this measure implies women are no more than benches or hedges," said councillor Angela Cortese.

Cortese said she was equally angered by a local priest, Don Paolo Cecere, who praised the move and claimed it could cut down on sexual harassment.

"This turns the clock back years for women and undermines all our victories," she said. The Italian consumer group Aduc added: "Is Castellammare di Stabia in the province of Naples? No, it's in the province of Teheran."

The vice-president of the provincial commission for equal opportunities, Ilaria Perrelli, said: "This is worse than prison, where at least female guards check the clothing of female inmates."

The miniskirt ban is one of 41 new decorum measures introduced by Bobbio. Swearing in public, kicking footballs in the street, lying on benches, climbing trees and walking a dog with a lead longer than two metres will also be targeted. Bobbio said people would not be allowed to wander off the beach in their swimming costume. "This is not Majorca," he said.

25 comments:

  1. .
    Sorry to go off subject. Wouldn't know were to go on this stream anyway other than to comment on the mayor's name.

    so

    Clinton urges small crowd to vote big

    Detroit — Former President Bill Clinton lavished praise Sunday on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero, but the Detroit rally took place in a high school gym that was only about one-third full.

    Clinton, who has always enjoyed strong popularity in Detroit and was described by one Democrat as having "rock star" appeal, drew a crowd estimated in the high hundreds to Renaissance High School on the city's west side...


    Even Big Bill Loses His Mojo During These Tough Times

    .

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  2. That looks like it would be uncomfortable - having a string running up the crack of your ass.

    Don't it?

    Anyways. Thank God for looney politicians doing goofy, but, basically, unharmful things. Gives us something to smile about. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wonder if you can still spit on the sidewalk.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Or better yet,

    Spit on h...

    Ahh, never mind.

    ReplyDelete
  5. New Ad Slogan for Majorca:


    This IS Majorca

    ReplyDelete
  6. or,

    This is Not Castellammare di Stabia

    ReplyDelete
  7. Reminds me of an ad at a great pub here just around the corner from work. Known for their great steaks.

    'Adelaide's Worst Vegetarian Restaurant'

    ReplyDelete
  8. I wonder if they have any rules regarding trout fishing while underwearless?

    Reciting powtry while putting up the hay?

    Falling in heat with unnamed, unseen wenches over the intertubes?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Or then there's the Flight Center one advertising for cheap flights to SE Asia:

    'Fares so cheap it's enough to make you say, 'Phuket, I'll go''.

    ReplyDelete
  10. If you want Tits and Ass go to Majorca. Come here for . . uh, something or other . .

    ReplyDelete
  11. or, the classic:

    Don't Try to Have Fun, Here, Asshole

    ReplyDelete
  12. .
    ...Islamic culture neither fosters, let alone allows, the kind of independent thinking that would permit an evolution in holy teaching away from jihad and submission, to a platform that at least nods in the direction of human rights that exist independently of secular constructs, most notably government, and too often religion...

    Yet they must adapt or keep falling behind creating their own little ghettos in the Middle East.
    If they want to live in the major
    secular societies in the West (or East for that matter), they will be forced to adapt.

    They are forced to do it here. They are forced to do it in the EU, India, Indonesia, China, Russia, Turkey (although that has been changing somewhat under the new government), and many other states.

    When it comes to rendering unto Ceasar, the secular state makes sure Ceasar comes first at least with regard to the law.

    Creeping Sharia? Possible. But only in the sense that things will be allowed to happen. The minute someone complains, the state is forced to crack down. There may be incidents of some crazy judge ruling in favor of one of these guys because of some mistaken interpretation of what constitutes 'religious freedom' but these will merely amount to isolated incidents.

    From a recent article on the subject:

    Serving Two Masters: Shariah Law and the Secular State

    “To make the individual’s obligation to obey . . . a law contingent upon the law’s coincidence with his religious beliefs” would have the effect, Scalia explains, of “permitting him, by virtue of his beliefs, ‘to become a law unto himself.’” And if that were allowed, there would no longer be a single law — universally conceived and applied — but multiple laws each of which was tailored to the doctrines and commands of a particular faith. In order to have law in the strong sense, Scalia is saying, you can have only one. (“No man can serve two masters”).

    Secular Law Trumps Religious Dictates When They Are In Conflict

    Catholics, Jews, Protestants, and most other religious groups have accepted that their religious practices are bounded by the laws of the state. The Muslims will need to accept it too.

    If they want to live in a state who's law are based on Sharia it's their choice. But they will, in my opinion, continue to fall further behind. If there is conflict between them and us I have little doubt as to who will come out ahead.

    .

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  13. .

    I just put in my pre-order for Fable III for X-Box 360.

    Sweet.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  14. You think they're behind, now? just think what it will be like when the oil's gone.

    I think the Saudi King is already thinking about it.

    ReplyDelete
  15. .
    That looks like it would be uncomfortable - having a string running up the crack of your ass.

    Hard to say Ruf.

    I saw an add the other day for ladies vibrating underwear. It came with a remote control.

    There are more things in heaven and earth, Rufus, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  16. .
    ...just think what it will be like when the oil's gone....

    I've sent an e-mail to Whit asking him to delete any posts you put up about running out of oil.

    A couple of the most recent ones have been giving me nightmares.

    .

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  17. About them viberatin undies:

    Don't Tell Bob!!


    Please

    ReplyDelete
  18. Marty said,

    "Plenty of details and there will be some pain, but
    ***this isn’t rocket surgery.***
    "

    Mon Oct 25, 12:26:00 AM EDT


    Doug said...
    Where do ya think Marty comes from?

    Mon Oct 25, 12:29:00 AM EDT


    Quirk said...
    .
    Where do ya think Marty comes from?

    I've been trying to figure it out myself.

    I'm thinking somewhere out west. Maybe the northwest. Yea, probably the northweast. Not all the way to the coast but pretty close.

    ---
    Doug says:

    "Rocket Surgery" came from farther north and farther west...

    Alaska via Mike Meyers in a bit part in a movie about an Alaskan Hockey team taking on a NHL team.

    Little Richard sings an extended version of the National Anthem


    In the ultimate co-inky dinky, the wife shows me the Meyers segment to see if I could tell who it was, and lo and behold, out came

    "ROCKET SURGERY"

    So Now we know.

    So the question no is:
    Why does Marty spell "the"

    "Teh" ???

    ReplyDelete
  19. .
    Don't Tell Bob!!

    :)

    Excellent point.



    G'nite. Don't forget to lock up when you leave.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  20. Those damn degos don't know what they are talking about.

    My father would never allow me to where a mini skirt or make-up or a bikini...Therefore, my car acted as a second dresser and the parking lot of an empty warehouse on River Rd acted as a dressing room.

    ReplyDelete