Italy Convicts 23 US CIA Agents for Rendition for Torture

The Arrogance or Incompetence of the US CIA agents was Astounding in their Illegal and Undemocratic Rendition, also in violation of Italy's Sovereignty.

A case was easily built against the US CIA agents, since credit card receipts, cell phone call and Email records, and a plethora of other evidence, that indicated that the agents even often dropped their "cover", in bold and brazen actions, that is an embarrassment , and sure

identifies them as Maxwell Smarts rather than James Bonds.

None of the Agents will be surrendered by the US, But all the agents are in Peril if they travel to any EURO country, or ANY country that has an extradition treaty with Italy.

Italian Court Convicts 23 Americans of Kidnapping Muslim Cleric

Case is blow to anti-terrorism program known as extraordinary rendition

Chicago Tribune;.By Maria de Cristofaro and Sebastian Rotella; November 5, 2009

ROME-- An Italian judge convicted 23 Americans on Wednesday of kidnapping an Egyptian cleric off the streets of Milan in 2003, a sweeping verdict against one of the CIA's most valued anti-terrorism tools -- the practice known as extraordinary rendition.

The decision was a victory for Italian anti-terrorism prosecutors and police who spent six years building a massive case. The two-year trial exposed details of a secretive world and was the first anywhere to challenge the program under which the CIA abducted suspects and spirited them to third countries for interrogation.

A clandestine team of U.S. and Italian operatives abducted Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, a militant cleric suspected of recruiting fighters for Iraq and Afghanistan, and he was flown to Egypt, where he claims to have undergone months of torture and abuse.

The case sparked international uproar, and the governments of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his predecessor tried repeatedly to scuttle the trial.

"I think it is very important for everyone that this trial was completed," said Armando Spataro, the lead prosecutor. He added: "The message of this important ruling -- to nations, governments, institutions, secret services, etc. -- is that we cannot use illegal instruments in our effort against terrorism. Our democracies, otherwise, would betray their principles."

Judge Oscar Magi acquitted three other Americans, including the former CIA station chief in Italy, because of diplomatic immunity. He also set aside charges against five Italian intelligence officials, including the former chief and deputy chief of Italy's spy agency. But he convicted two other Italians.

The trial was held in Milan, and the Americans were in absentia. Given that the U.S. government has declined to cooperate with the prosecution, it seemed unlikely that any would spend time in an Italian prison. However, the convicted Americans may be at risk if they travel to Europe.

The judge issued an eight-year prison sentence for Robert Seldon Lady, the former CIA chief in Milan. Testimony indicated that Lady initially opposed abducting Nasr as unnecessary and dangerous but ultimately became the ground-level architect of the operation. The other U.S. operatives were given five-year sentences, and the Italians received three-year terms.

"The Milan court sent a powerful message: The CIA can't just abduct people off the streets," said Joanne Mariner, terrorism program director at Human Rights Watch. "It's illegal, unacceptable and unjustified."

The Bush administration aggressively expanded a rendition program that was already in place. Human-rights advocates believe U.S. agents transported terrorism suspects to the custody of countries including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Libya and Syria. The exact number of people is unknown.

The Obama administration has cracked down on what it calls abusive tactics, but U.S. officials have said spy agencies will continue renditions, albeit with more oversight. On Wednesday, the CIA declined to comment, as it has throughout.

Special correspondent de Cristofaro reported from Rome, and Rotella from Washington. Tribune Newspapers reporters Julian E. Barnes, Paul Richter and Greg Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-thur-nw-cia-renditionnov05,0,31329.story

San Diego "Little Italy" Adopts Adjoining Elementary School

While I applaud efforts to teach the Italian LANGUAGE, I have for 40 years been preaching that Italian American kids need to be taught

about Italian and Italian American CULTURE (not merely Cuisine) !!!!

"Little Italy" Merchants have adopted Washington Elementary school, (that was built in 1915, and one of the oldest elementary schools in the city, and at one time served largely Italian-American children who lived in the area), and have encouraged adding to the cirriculum, Italian dance, language, art and history instruction.

Little Italy

School Studies Italian Roots

Nearby Merchants Help Support Washington Elementary Programs

San Diego Union Tribune; By Maureen Magee; Thursday, November 5, 2009

Follow the sound of Italian folk music at Washington Elementary School and you'll find dozens of children practicing traditional Neapolitan dances.

"Forward, two, three, four and back, two, three, four," the students chant as they concentrate on the movements and listen to the melodies of fiddles and accordions.

"I've never danced like this before," said Leo Arellano, 9, as he shuffled through the "Balloindodici" dance. "But it's OK. I like it. This is how they dance in Italy."

Italian dance, language, art and history instruction have recently been added to the curriculum at Washington. The school, located on the edge of Little Italy, has carved out a new relationship with the merchants and residents in and around the neighborhood ? many of whom attended school there themselves.

"The people of Little Italy have deep personal and emotional connections with this school," said Principal Janie Wardlow, who just started her second year at the campus. "I really believe the school and community should be partners. It's also important for the students to know about another culture and, at the same time, to learn about their school's identity."

As part of this new partnership, Washington students were recently invited into the shops and cafes that line India Street to trick-or-treat. Some members of the Little Italy Association bought tambourines for the dance students, who will perform at the neighborhood's annual tree-lighting ceremony in December.

But the association's support isn't limited to Italian programs. It also sponsors the campus jog-a-thon, and some of its members volunteer on campus and tutor children.

"Our community loves to support the Italian heritage and culture, but we also want to make sure the kids are taken care of," said Chris Gomez, district manager of the Little Italy Association. "This is one of the oldest elementary schools in the city, and we want to make sure it carries on and that it thrives."

The original Washington campus was built in 1915, and at one time served largely Italian-American children who lived in the area.

Today, about one-third of the 280 students live in the local 92101 ZIP code, about one-third of their parents work in the area, and nearly one-third attend through the San Diego Unified School District's Choice Program. About 10 percent of the students are homeless.

The association is working with Washington to promote the school and recruit new students. Many fear that if enrollment drops, the district would close the campus to save money.

"We want this school ? and the history behind it ? to live on," Gomez said. "The school is important to Little Italy and to San Diego."

The school is reaching well beyond its neighborhood to enhance the Italian curriculum that supplements its regular comprehensive education.

For example, Washington recently won a $6,000 grant from the Italian government to offer language classes to all students ? preschool through fifth grade. A special instructor will begin giving language lessons during and after school later this year.

In addition, Washington has applied for a magnet grant so it can establish an international studies program. The school also hopes to become part of the rigorous International Baccalaureate program.

"I started teaching here 26 years ago, when we had a lot of Italian students," fourth-grade teacher Leticia Harper said. "This is the first time I can remember us having a real emphasis on the history and culture. It's nice to give them that sense of their community."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/05/school-studies-italian-roots-little-italy/

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino Wins a Fifth Term

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino won a fifth term Tuesday after a campaign against his toughest challenger in 16 years, City Councilor at Large Michael Flaherty. Menino has served longer than any Boston mayor. Could this be the end of Irish Dominance in Boston/Massachusetts Politics or merely an anomaly?

Boston, NYC, Detroit Keep Mayoral Incumbents USA TODAY; By Larry Copeland; November 4, 2009

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino won a fifth term Tuesday after a campaign against his toughest challenger in 16 years, City Councilor at Large Michael Flaherty. Menino has served longer than any Boston mayor. The non-partisan race showed how changing demographics affect a city's politics, said Charles Stewart, chairman of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's political science department. Italian-American Menino and Irish-American Flaherty made appeals to minorities. After the primary, Flaherty announced that Sam Yoon, a losing candidate, a Korean American, would be his deputy. "Flaherty brought in as his running mate, so to speak, Sam Yoon, a Korean American, and he was attacking Menino for appointing a cabinet that was too white," Stewart said. "You're thinking, this isn't your father's Boston." http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-11-03-mayors-race_N.htm ======================================================================= "The Boston Irish" by Thomas H Connor The first Irish to arrive in Boston, in the early 18th century, were Protestants from Ulster and were thought of by the local gentry as "members of a barbaric, inferior, and unmanageable race." By the time of the potato famine of the 1840s, these Protestant Irish had assimilated into the population and thought much the same about the new Irish, overwhelmingly Catholic, who emigrated to avoid starvation. In 1847 alone, Boston was inundated with 37,000 immigrants and the locals were appalled by the newcomers' unsanitary practices, indolence and propensity for drink. The prejudice shibboleth of that time read, "No Irish Need Apply," (which was shortly followed with "No Dagas, or Wops Need Aply, by even Irish) and in 1854, the Know-Nothing Party of Massachusetts promised to eliminate "Rome, Rum, and Robbery. "But with the urging of Boston Bishop Fitzpatrick, Irish Catholics learned to fight bigotry with the ballot. We are introduced to the featured players: He lovingly documents its growth from the time of scalawag James Michael Curley, mayor, congressman, governor and prominent rogue; to that of more modern leaders like Raymond Flynn. Hugh O'Brien, the first Irish-born mayor of Boston; John F. Fitzgerald and Patrick J. Kennedy, ward bosses and the grandfathers of JFK; James Michael Curley, and John F. Kennedy, who completed the cycle of Irish political hegemony when he defeated Brahmin Henry Cabot Lodge for senator in 1952. O'Connor has written a scholarly yet colorful account of a breed he convinces us is vanishing. He finishes appropriately with a question mark on the future of the Irish in Boston politics. The only criticism is one of omission. O'Connor ignores Billy Bulger, the long-standing senate president, (who's brother is on the FBI Most wanted List) as though only mayors count. Alongside the works of the late Tip O'Neill, this will provide a thorough history of Boston politics.

Giovanni Falcone: Iconic Italian Judge Tributed by US Supreme Court

Falcone was instrumental in some of the most important prosecutions against the Mafia in the 1980s and early 1990s, and was driving with his wife in Palermo, Italy in 1992 when a bomb was triggered a bomb that killed them both along with three bodyguards.

Italian Ambassador Giulio Terzi said "Italy has become a different country" in the years since Falcone's death, in part because of his legacy in reducing the influence of the Mafia.

Samuel Alito Jr., as an aside, accused the media of using the Mafia to "slander Italian-Americans." and took a swipe at the entertainment industry for the "perversely romantic" image of the Mafia it has "shamefully promulgated."

Alito has a more "Enlightened" attitude toward Italian American Defamation than does Antonin Scalia, who feels that if you if you ignore it, it will go away. although it is still with us over 120 years later. I would love to hear Scalia debate Abe Foxman of the ADL on the position of "assertive" and "pliant" dealings with Defamation.

Justices, Law Enforcement Officials Pay Tribute to Assassinated Italian Judge

The Blog of Legal Times (BLT); Tony Mauro on October 29, 2009

A high-level gathering at the Supreme Court paid tribute on Thursday to Giovanni Falcone, an iconic Italian judge who was assassinated in 1992 as he waged legal war against the Mafia.

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., along with Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito Jr., Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden, Deputy FBI Director John Pistole, and former FBI Director Williams Sessions, spoke at the tribute, which was co-hosted by the Italian Embassy. Judge Arthur Gajarsa of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, who was a driving force behind the event, also spoke.

Falcone, instrumental in some of the most important prosecutions against the Mafia in the 1980s and early 1990s, was driving with his wife in Palermo, Italy in 1992 when lookouts spotted his car and triggered a bomb that killed them both along with three bodyguards. He was remembered Thursday for developing the "follow the money" strategy that helped expose Mafia operations.

Roberts opened the tribute, saying "Grazie!" when spectators applauded. "Many in America think the best things in life can be traced back to Italy," he said, citing Scalia and Alito as proof of that proposition. More seriously, Roberts said Falcone had "died in a very real struggle to protect the innocent and stop violence," and deserved to be honored.

Italian Ambassador Giulio Terzi called Falcone a "true interpreter" of the meaning of individual freedoms and the rule of law. "Italy has become a different country" in the years since Falcone's death, Terzi said, in part because of his legacy in reducing the influence of the Mafia.

Alito, who was U.S. attorney for New Jersey while Falcone was alive, remembered being briefed with a "glowing account" of Falcone's anti-Mafia tactics. "The international community lost a very great man" when Falcone was killed, Alito said. He accused the media of using the Mafia to "slander Italian-Americans." The justice took a swipe at the entertainment industry for the "perversely romantic" image of the Mafia it has "shamefully promulgated."

Scalia recalled meeting Falcone not long after he became a justice in 1986. "He was obviously a marked man, and he knew it," said Scalia. Falcone's death caused nationwide "revulsion" in Italy that spurred anti-Mafia efforts, Scalia said. He concluded, "Glory and honor to his name."

Gajarsa recalled Falcone telling him that "a country ruled by law will last forever, but a country ruled by man will crumble." Gajarsa announced creation of a new organization in Falcone's honor that will promote exchanges between Italian and American judges. The event at the Court was attended by several Italian-American leaders, including Philip Piccigallo and Joseph DiTrapani of the Order Sons of Italy in America, a national organization for people of Italian heritage.

Napolitano praised Falcone as a symbol that even in the face of the "most entrenched criminality," an individual can make significant inroads. She drew parallels between the Mafia and the Mexican drug cartels. Napolitano, who has been mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee, sat next to fellow Italian-Americans Scalia and Alito during the event.

Ogden said many colleagues at the Justice Department still have "extraordinarily fond and strong memories" of Falcone. His strategies have become even more useful, Ogden said, in the "unprecedented explosion" in the use by organized crime of technology and globalization in recent years. Ogden also paid tribute to the three Drug Enforcement Agency employees who died Monday in a military helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/10/justices-law-enforcement-officials-pay-tribute-to-assassinated-italian-judge.html

Italian Tax Amnesty Could Bring $150 Billion Home, But Some Complain about Leniency

Critics want Italy to ALSO collect Penalties, Interest and Fines. Philosophically that's true, but the TIME, consumed in creating Legislation, to determine the %s of each, and how much that would reduce Collections is also a consideration.

Italian Tax Amnesty Could Bring $150 Billion Home..........

Italy is giving tax evaders amnesty: a chance to bring their money home from tax havens at a cheap price. But critics worry the government is feeding a culture of tax evasion.

Christian Science Monitor; By Anna Momigliano - Correspondent ; October 20, 2009

MILAN, ITALY - When 50,000 Italians received a letter from the tax office last week, they breathed a sigh of relief. They weren’t being billed. Instead, they were given a gentle reminder that they had until Dec. 15 to declare any money illegally held abroad - or else.

The Italian government is desperate to attract capital home in a time of economic crisis, not least to boost tax revenue. The Scudo Fiscale (“fiscal shield”) program allows citizens to bring money from offshore tax havens while remaining anonymous and avoiding sanctions for past tax evasion. All they have to do is move their money to an Italian account within the next two months and pay a 5 percent fee.

But critics say the plan is the latest in a long line of amnesties that have created a culture of tax evasion for wealthy Italians.

“The idea, in theory, is to give people a last chance. It should be an emergency measure", says Paolo Guerrieri, who teaches international economics at La Sapienza University in Rome. "But in practice this is an incitement to tax evasion. Here in Italy these kinds of ‘emergency measures’ are so frequent that people know they can just wait for the next amnesty", says Mr. Guerrieri. "It’s an insult to honest citizens".

But those who do hold illegal foreign accounts may have an extra incentive to take advantage of the amnesty this time around, with Switzerland recently relaxing its banking secrecy rules, which increases the odds that Italian tax cheats will be caught. During the G20 summit in March, Swiss authorities agreed to cooperate more with other nations in tracking down tax evasion. The move came following pressure from the US and European countries worried about the impact of tax evasion on their economies.

Following this change in Swiss policy other European countries are also approving measures to bring capital back home. “Britain and France, for instance, are offering penalty discounts for those who transfer into local accounts money illegally held abroad,” says Guerrieri. “But they don’t grant anonymity, nor do they condone past tax evasion".

Most European nations need extra cash now, Geurrrieri says, but Italy’s situation is unique: "You can’t compare offering penalty discounts with condoning crimes", he says. "We’re openly surrendering the possibility to build a sound fiscal system [in exchange] for an immediate profit. And eventually we’ll pay the price. No wonder Italy has one highest tax evasion rates in the continent", he says.

Italian capital held illegally abroad is estimated at about 300 billion euros ($450 billion), according to government figures. At least a third of that money is thought to be in Swiss banks. Reportedly, 29 000 Italian citizens are formally residents of the so-called "fiscal paradises" like San Marino (a small independent city-State in central Italy) and Monaco.

Authorities say they they expect 100 billion euros ($150 billion) abroad to re-enter Italy with this special measure, which would mean an extra 5 billion euros ($7.5 billion) of tax income for the state.

The conservative government vowed to use this money to build infrastructure, including a mega-bridge that would connect Sicily to the mainland, to renovate the country’s two major airports and to partially reduce public debt.

“Many talk about all the things we can build with the fiscal shield", says Guerrieri, the economist. "But I also wonder about the infrastructure we will not be able build in the future because of the rampant tax evasion".

http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/10/20/italian-tax-amnesty-could-bring-150-billion-home-but-at-what-price/