Rome parking chief gets sacked for illegal parking
http://www.reuters.com/
Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:32pm IST
ROME (Reuters) - Rome's mayor sacked the city's traffic and parking chief on Sunday after a newspaper reported he parked his car in a no parking zone and displayed a handicapped permit that belonged to an 86-year old woman.
Giovanni Catanzaro parked his red Alfa Romeo Brera in a tow away zone near the Spanish Steps in central Rome before heading off to a restaurant on Friday night, Roman daily Il Messaggero reported on Sunday, complete with pictures from the scene.
His car displayed a permit for disabled drivers that was no longer valid and initially issued to a senior citizen, the paper said, noting that officials almost never tow away a disabled person's vehicle no matter where it is parked.
A spokesman for Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni said Catanzaro had been removed from his post as head of the city's municipal police force that oversees traffic and parking violations after the newspaper report.
Rome has a series of restrictions on driving and parking along many of its narrow, cobblestoned streets, though parking illegally -- often on sidewalks and crosswalks -- is a common sight across the city.
--Hindi gumana sa kanya ang pagflash ng government ID. Hehehe.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Munchen
Just tried this in one German restaurant along Mabini St., Ermita (yes, Ermita indeed.), Manila. For those who love trying out holes in walls, maybe you would want to try this restaurant. They sell great German food (for Filipino food lovers, they also sell Pinoy food), with ice cold German Wheat Beer. My officemates checked it out one lunch break (since it's just a few blocks away from UN Ave.), and my lady and I tried it out last Saturday. We tried the sausage platter. Ayos...
Sarap ng Beer... Php110 lang, 500ml.
Sarap ng Beer... Php110 lang, 500ml.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Suicides and Explosions
What's with the alignment of the stars lately, that what we hear in the radio and TV are news that report one of two things: a suicide and an explosion?!
Just last week, we read and heard about the explosion in a subdivision in Bacoor, Cavite, just a few weeks after the dreaded Glorietta accident. Just last Tuesday, a suspected bomb exploded just in the foot of one of the most prominent seats of power, the Batasang Pambansa, killing Rep. Wahab Akbar and 3 others, and injuring 8 people including Reps. Luzviminda Ilagan and Henry Pryde Teves.
Meanwhile, after the Marianeth Amper suicide, two other students were reported to have suicide due to despair and poverty. Also, among others, a farmer in Butuan City, took his own life due to extreme poverty, while a Japanese businessman was found dead. Another man allegedly jumped in the 4th floor of Trinoma mall, killing himself and injuring the person he fell on.
As for the bombings, I really hope these are not intertwined and their cases are all isolated. As for the series of suicides, hopefully the "Tipping Point" concept of suicide has not yet arrived in the country...
I hope we'll never forget that we are Filipinos, fun-loving, hospitable, caring. We are never a brutal race by nature. Let us not let colonial mentality overrule this trait...
Happy thoughts naman diyan!!! Manood na lang tayo lahat ng Marimar para masaya lahat.
Just last week, we read and heard about the explosion in a subdivision in Bacoor, Cavite, just a few weeks after the dreaded Glorietta accident. Just last Tuesday, a suspected bomb exploded just in the foot of one of the most prominent seats of power, the Batasang Pambansa, killing Rep. Wahab Akbar and 3 others, and injuring 8 people including Reps. Luzviminda Ilagan and Henry Pryde Teves.
Meanwhile, after the Marianeth Amper suicide, two other students were reported to have suicide due to despair and poverty. Also, among others, a farmer in Butuan City, took his own life due to extreme poverty, while a Japanese businessman was found dead. Another man allegedly jumped in the 4th floor of Trinoma mall, killing himself and injuring the person he fell on.
As for the bombings, I really hope these are not intertwined and their cases are all isolated. As for the series of suicides, hopefully the "Tipping Point" concept of suicide has not yet arrived in the country...
I hope we'll never forget that we are Filipinos, fun-loving, hospitable, caring. We are never a brutal race by nature. Let us not let colonial mentality overrule this trait...
Happy thoughts naman diyan!!! Manood na lang tayo lahat ng Marimar para masaya lahat.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Marianette Amper, 12
Taken from http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/:
12-year-old girl commits suicide in Davao
Poverty apparently drove a 12-year-old girl to commit suicide in Davao City, ABS-CBN Regional Network Group reported.
Marianette Amper, hanged herself with the use of a nylon cord around 3 p.m. on November 2 inside their residence at Barangay Ma-a.
Amper’s younger brother Reynald was the first to witness the incident.
"Nakita ko pa siya na nanginginig. May hinahawakan siyang relo. Puputulin ko sana ang lubid pero di ko kaya..tumakbo na lang ako palabas ng bahay para humingi ng tulong.."
Amper died while being rushed to the Davao Medical Center, reports said.
A diary retrieved from the victim’s room indicated that the girl was deeply affected with their extreme poverty and her parents’ arguments.
In an entry on October 6, the girl wrote on her diary that she had been absent in school for almost a month for lack of transportation fare.
She also told one of her classmates that her mother scolded her when she insisted on working for a noodle factory to help sustain the family.
Amper’s parents have no permanent work and are reportedly earning P200 a week or P40 a day.
Meanwhile, Davao City Councilor Leo Avila said Amper’s suicide was a symbol of extreme poverty and appealed to the government to address the problem.
*********************************************
My heart bleeds for the loss of a poor sould whose only wish was to be able to get to school everyday so that she could study and finish her education. How many more Marianette Ampers out there should commit suicide for the government to realize that poverty has risen to an alerting level?
Marianette just made a perfect timing to bring about the real general picture of the current socio-political and economic situation, and also illustrating the widening gap between the rich and the poor. While Governonrs, Congressmen and other stakeholders relish the luxuries and gains of an overpriced project, or squander the cash gifts that were delivered in paper bags, people like Marianette Amper suffer in extreme poverty and despair.
In Marianette's incident, not only did we see a direct hit on the current administration's neglect for the poor and the grassroots, but it also made and indirect hit on the people's apathy for the poor. The bishops were correct when they said that all of us were to blame on Marianette's death. The incident also shows that society nowadays is more alienating than before, leading to a series of suicides, most recently of Marianette's. I learned from my Psychology class that suicide is a product not of poverty, anger, or despair, but largely a product of loneliness and alienation. Should she have had someone to lean on during her most dire times, suicide could have been prevented. This time, she found no one else to turn to, thus leading to the events that transpired on that fateful All Soul's Day afternoon. She almost found hope in writing to GMA's Wish ko Lang, but probably she thought that if she had no money to go to school, how then could she afford mail delivery?
If this really were a wake-up call, I hope somebody significant wakes up...
12-year-old girl commits suicide in Davao
Poverty apparently drove a 12-year-old girl to commit suicide in Davao City, ABS-CBN Regional Network Group reported.
Marianette Amper, hanged herself with the use of a nylon cord around 3 p.m. on November 2 inside their residence at Barangay Ma-a.
Amper’s younger brother Reynald was the first to witness the incident.
"Nakita ko pa siya na nanginginig. May hinahawakan siyang relo. Puputulin ko sana ang lubid pero di ko kaya..tumakbo na lang ako palabas ng bahay para humingi ng tulong.."
Amper died while being rushed to the Davao Medical Center, reports said.
A diary retrieved from the victim’s room indicated that the girl was deeply affected with their extreme poverty and her parents’ arguments.
In an entry on October 6, the girl wrote on her diary that she had been absent in school for almost a month for lack of transportation fare.
She also told one of her classmates that her mother scolded her when she insisted on working for a noodle factory to help sustain the family.
Amper’s parents have no permanent work and are reportedly earning P200 a week or P40 a day.
Meanwhile, Davao City Councilor Leo Avila said Amper’s suicide was a symbol of extreme poverty and appealed to the government to address the problem.
*********************************************
My heart bleeds for the loss of a poor sould whose only wish was to be able to get to school everyday so that she could study and finish her education. How many more Marianette Ampers out there should commit suicide for the government to realize that poverty has risen to an alerting level?
Marianette just made a perfect timing to bring about the real general picture of the current socio-political and economic situation, and also illustrating the widening gap between the rich and the poor. While Governonrs, Congressmen and other stakeholders relish the luxuries and gains of an overpriced project, or squander the cash gifts that were delivered in paper bags, people like Marianette Amper suffer in extreme poverty and despair.
In Marianette's incident, not only did we see a direct hit on the current administration's neglect for the poor and the grassroots, but it also made and indirect hit on the people's apathy for the poor. The bishops were correct when they said that all of us were to blame on Marianette's death. The incident also shows that society nowadays is more alienating than before, leading to a series of suicides, most recently of Marianette's. I learned from my Psychology class that suicide is a product not of poverty, anger, or despair, but largely a product of loneliness and alienation. Should she have had someone to lean on during her most dire times, suicide could have been prevented. This time, she found no one else to turn to, thus leading to the events that transpired on that fateful All Soul's Day afternoon. She almost found hope in writing to GMA's Wish ko Lang, but probably she thought that if she had no money to go to school, how then could she afford mail delivery?
If this really were a wake-up call, I hope somebody significant wakes up...
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