The Inwood Mobilization Committee is questioning Columbia University’s expansion plans, which include a redesign of Inwood’s freshwater marsh, on an environmental basis.
Filed under: Reporting NYC, Watchdogs & Transparency | Tagged: birds, Chiara Sottile, Columbia University, environmentalism, Inwood, NYC, wildlife | 2 Comments »
A renovation of the Indian Road Playground in Inwood is nearly complete after a year, though with some changes that came about because of objections from Native Americans concerned that parts of the original design were offensive.
Filed under: Reporting NYC, Watchdogs & Transparency | Tagged: Indian Road Playground, Inwood, Inwood Hill Park, Native American, New York City, Parks and Recreation | 1 Comment »
VIDEO: Almost a year after General Motors declared bankruptcy, CEO Ed Whitacre announced GM expects first quarter financial statements to be “solid.” It is only fair to revisit this auto behemoth as it emerges from the global economic crisis.
Filed under: Watchdogs & Transparency | Tagged: auto industry, bailout, economic health, General Motors, U.S. economy | 3 Comments »
The pillow fight is an opportunity for strangers to engage one another in a healthy, fun activity at no charge; to meet each other, to cavort together, to appreciate the city of San Francisco for its quirky impulsiveness together. Now the Department of Public Works wants “organizers” to provide cleanup, security, and portable toilets.
Filed under: Watchdogs & Transparency | Tagged: community events, Department of Public Works, Mohammad Nuru, San Francisco pillow fight | 1 Comment »
As I was out of the United States for a few months while funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were distributed state-by-state, I wondered if there would be tangible changes when I returned home. California, owing in part to its massive economy and population, is to receive the second-most generous portion of the [...]
Filed under: Watchdogs & Transparency | Tagged: American Recovery Act, ARRO, Chiara Sottile, infrastructure projects, Sonoma, Sonoma County, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Every day, headlines, statistics and my own parents tell me that I chose the exact wrong time to graduate from college. In our anorexic economic climate with scarce job opportunities, the number of graduates with an appetite for postgraduate study has burgeoned. Even before the economy tumbled and naysayers negated the prospects of my generation, [...]
Filed under: Watchdogs & Transparency | Tagged: education inequity, Graduate Record Examination, GRE, the United States, unemployment | Leave a Comment »
Silvio Berlusconi has already been doused with criticism for his government’s tough immigration policy, for allegedly spending a night with a high-class prostitute, and for other relationships with young female models. Now, he may have taken his scandalous behavior to another field: the soccer field.
Filed under: Watchdogs & Transparency | Tagged: Berlusconi scandal, Chiara Sottile, Georgia vs. Italy, Italian soccer, Kaladze, Kaladze own goal, own-goal, soccer | 2 Comments »
Mediaset, one of Berlusconi’s television channels, refused to broadcast the trailer for the film “Videocracy,” a political film that reveals the relationship between Italian television and the political power players. Let’s recap: Berlusconi-owned Mediaset refused to broadcast a trailer that is critical of the monopoly of Berlusconi? Shocking. It seems that even without airing his trailer the film’s producer, Erik Gandini, made his point.
Filed under: Watchdogs & Transparency | Tagged: Chiara Sottile, Italian media, Italian TV, media, media and politics, media monopolies, monopoly, Silvio Berlusconi | 1 Comment »
If you are a tourist in Rome, your water purchase costs more than it does for a local. Your coffee costs more. And your meal costs more unless you know how to deliver the waiter the secret signals that you’re not naïve enough to be extorted.
Filed under: Watchdogs & Transparency | Tagged: American and Italian culture, Chiara Sottile, exploit tourists, extortion of tourists, Italian tourism, Rome, tourists in Italy | 2 Comments »
Berlusconi’s government is calling the infrastructure revival fund the “Marshall Plan of the South,” even though Sicily is a region of Italy, just as is the region of Lazio, where Rome is located. The comparison to the Marshall Plan implies that Berlusconi considers giving funds to Sicily as equivalent to the United States giving funds to Western Europe–that is, foreign countries located oceans away. The three miles of sea that separate mainland Italy from Sicily seem a shorter distance than the miles of political and attitudinal estrangement shown to Sicily in this plan and on a regular basis.
Filed under: Identity Politics, Watchdogs & Transparency | Tagged: Chiara Sottile, Marshall Plan for the Italian South, ostracizing Sicily, quality of life, Sicily, Strait of Messina bridge | 5 Comments »
