Leona Lewis: First Brit in Two Decades as No 1 in the Billboard Hot 100; Gets Good Looks from Italian Ancestry

Leona Lewis the 2006 Winner of the "X Factor", the Brit version of "American Idol" became the first British woman in more than two decades to top the US singles chart. She has embarked on a US /World Interviw Tour, that started with Oprah Winfrey, and NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and will include Regis & Kelly, Ellen DeGeneres Show, ABC's Good Morning America and Jimmy Kimmel's late night talk show.

Leona was born in the London district of Islington to mother Maria Lewis, a social worker of Italian-Irish descent, anf father Aural Josiah, a Guyanese Afro-Caribbean youth worker. At the age of five, she attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School, and later the Italia Conti Academy, and the BRIT School.

^{You Tube : Bleeding Love : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-ctIC65PV0&feature=user}

^{Leona Lewis My Space Page:} http://www.myspace.com/leonalewis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leona_Lewis

The Oprah Effect: America's Next Big Thing

Leona Lewis, the TV talent show winner from Hackney, yesterday became the first British woman in more than two decades to top the US singles chart

Independent - London,England,UK
By Ciar Byrne
Friday, 28 March 2008

"Wow, wow, wow... Talk about a star is born. You're the real deal, girl." It was with these words that Oprah Winfrey bestowed her blessing on Leona Lewis.

Following a live performance on her chat show last week by the talent show winner from Hackney, east London, the all-powerful Winfrey advised viewers they could download Lewis's single "Bleeding Love" from iTunes, or buy it from Target record stores.

Americans did so in their droves and yesterday Lewis's single shot to No 1 in the Billboard Hot 100, knocking Usher from pole position " the first British woman to top the US singles charts since Kim Wilde in 1987 with her cover of The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On".

Lewis, 22, a former receptionist and pizza waitress, who has earned comparisons with Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion, is also the first winner of The X Factor to make it big on the other side of the Atlantic.

When she won the ITV talent contest in 2006, the judge Simon Cowell said, in an uncharacteristically gushing critique: "For every little girl who dreams about being a pop star while they're working in an office, you're a role model."

But British music critics have not always been so kind, dismissing Lewis's music as too mainstream. Despite being nominated in four categories at the Brit Awards last month, Lewis walked away empty-handed.

The Billboard endorsement might force some of those who have sneered at Lewis's success in the UK to revise their opinion.

Only two other UK female artists in history have topped the US chart with their debut release - Petula Clark in 1965 with "Downtown" and Sheena Easton in 1981 with "Morning Train (Nine to Five)".

Lewis has even trumped Amy Winehouse, who, despite winning five Grammy Awards, has not yet achieved a No 1 in the US. It is Cowell's involvement above all which has helped to catapult Lewis to fame in the US.

As a judge on American Idol, the US version of The X Factor, Cowell is one of the most high-profile Brits in America. Through his record label, Syco, in tandem with Sony BMG, he has the first option on all winning acts to emerge from The X Factor.

While previous winners have sunk without trace, Cowell spotted something different in Lewis, describing her as the most talented singer he has heard in more than a decade, and did the groundwork for her to become a global star.

In 2006, Lewis enjoyed a Christmas No 1 hit with "A Moment Like This", which broke the world record by selling 50,000 downloads in its first half-hour on sale and went on to sell 600,000 copies in its first week.

Realising that her success was dependent on the right material, Cowell contacted Clive Davis, the founder of J Records – also part of Sony BMG – and told him: "You might have the next Whitney Houston on your hands."

Davis, the man who discovered Houston and Alicia Keys, agreed with Cowell's judgement: "I was immediately knocked out by her range, her versatility, and the pure beauty of her voice. She is an artist who will be a true star for many years to come."

Lewis signed a recording contract with Syco in the UK and with J Records and Syco in the US, earning a reputed ?5m advance, and started work on her debut album, Spirit, working with musicians who have previously played with Madonna, Gwen Stefani and Beyonc?.

For nine months, Lewis went quiet as far as her fans were concerned. Then, in September 2007, she re-emerged at a VIP music industry event in London, where she previewed some of her new material, including the single "Bleeding Love". She went on to premiere the single on her old stamping ground, The X Factor, on 20 October last year. Two days later, the track became the biggest-selling week-one single of 2007, shifting 218,805 copies in seven days.

In November, Lewis's Spirit was released in Britain and became the fastest-selling debut album of all time in the UK, with 375,872 copies sold in its first week, breaking the previous record set by the Arctic Monkeys, who sold 363,735 copies of Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not in January 2006. This week's Billboard triumph suggests that when Spirit is released in the US on 8 April, Lewis will enjoy a similar level of success.

As Lewis told Winfrey, she was always destined to sing. "I remember singing into my hairbrush and every chance I could I'd be doing a show or performing in the front room for my family."

Tall and slender, with a tousled mane of brown hair and sultry green eyes, Lewis's stunning looks come from her half-Italian, half-Irish ballet teacher mother and her Guyanese father.

As a young girl in Hackney, Lewis already had one eye on stardom. She attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School and later the Brit School in Croydon, a crucible for the current generation of young British music talent – the state school counts Kate Nash, Adele Adkins and Winehouse among its alumni. At the age of 15, she sent a demo tape of herself singing Minnie Riperton's "Loving You" to Sony in America, but at that time the record giant failed to sign her up. After leaving school, Lewis worked as a waitress at the Stamford Hill branch of Pizza Hut and as a receptionist, to earn money to pay for studio time.

A teetotal, animal-loving vegetarian, Lewis still lives in a rented flat in Hackney with her boyfriend Lou Al-Chamaa an elctrician. But for the rest of 2008, Lewis is unlikely to be spending much time at home. She kicked off her assault on the US last month with a performance at Clive Davis's pre-Grammys party, which won her critical acclaim and a profile in US Weekly.

Over the next few weeks, she will continue her promotional tour of the US, which has already included an appearance on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno, with interviews scheduled for The Ellen DeGeneres Show, ABC's flagship breakfast programme Good Morning America and Jimmy Kimmel's late night talk show. Then it is on to Australia, one of the 10 other countries where "Bleeding Love" has topped the charts, followed by Asia.

All the overseas attention will do Lewis no harm back in the UK. An HMV spokesman, Gennaro Castaldo, said: "There was always a slight cynicism over artists that emerged through the reality TV process, but they've developed a truly global star here, not least because Simon Cowell has such a massive profile in the States that he really can open doors. Few people would dispute that she does look amazing; she has an incredible voice; and she's working with the right recording industry people over there, so if you give her the right material, that's a winning formula in the US.

"It's a virtuous circle which will then spill back to the UK. If there's anyone with an outstanding cynical attitude towards her, this will convince them she is more than an X Factor winner."

Despite finding her music "very safe" and "overwhelmingly mainstream", the Billboard contributor Paul Sexton agrees that Lewis has undoubtedly hit the big time. "There's no denying she's a big star now," he said. "Getting to No 1 in America is a very big endorsement, whatever you think of her music."

He was surprised that Lewis did not win at the Brits. "What that did is emphasise that the Brits are not stage-managed. Everyone expected her to walk away with at least a couple of awards. The performance she gave was powerful on the night."

Of Lewis's US success, he added: "Simon Cowell has become a huge celebrity in his own right on American Idol; that has got to be a huge factor in promoting a new act."

Cowell said he was "incredibly proud" of Leona. "What she has achieved in the last year is simply amazing." Speaking on Winfrey's programme, Cowell described his prot?g?e as "one of the nicest people I have ever met in this business".

In the first of a series of blogs on the US teen website Cosmogirl, Lewis lived up to this description with a breathless account of her US tour. "I'm so excited to be able to spend some time in the US and showcase my work to everyone here. It's been a dream of mine ever since I was a little girl and I just can't wait! Thanks to everyone for the support so far. It's just incredible and I appreciate it so, so much."

She may have been compared with some of pop's greatest divas, but, thus far at least, Lewis exudes the charm of a pleasant and modest young woman, albeit with a star quality and stunning voice that has propelled her to international fame.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-oprah-effect-americas-next-big-thing-801760.html

Venice St Mark's Campanile to Topple?

Affectionately nicknamed El Paron de Casa (The Gaffer), the bell-tower, or 'campanile', was first built in 1156-73 on the site of an older tower dating back to around 900 AD. After suffering structural damage, the tower was rebuilt in the 16th century, but the campanile collapsed completely in 1902. The much-photographed current tower was built in 1912.

The 99-metre bell-tower is sloping by seven centimetres, a year - due to its foundation consists of thousands of wooden posts driven into the water logged ground under Venice and its Canals The Restoration work which started this week will depend on a titanium belt that will be wrapped around its foundations two metres below ground and will be invisible from the outside.

Thanks to Pat Gabriel

Work begins on Venice bell- tower

Titanium belt to prevent St Mark's campanile from toppling (ANSA) - Venice, March 27, 2008

Work began in Venice this week to fit a titanium belt to one of the city's most famous landmarks, the bell-tower in St Mark's Square. Experts were called in after a survey revealed the 99-metre bell-tower is sloping by seven centimetres, a sign that its foundations - thousands of wooden posts driven into unstable ground - are failing to provide adequate support. Surveyors also reckon the foundations of the tower are cracking by a millimetre a year. To prevent the tower from toppling over, the titanium belt will be wrapped around its foundations two metres below ground and will be invisible from the outside. Consorzio Venezia Nuova (CVN), the conservation group in charge of the restoration, has warned that the picturesque square - a must on Italy's tourist trail - will be covered in scaffolding for the next two years while the belt is fitted. Work will also be carried out on the Ducal Palace and the Ponte della Paglia in the square, CVN said. Affectionately nicknamed El Paron de Casa (The Gaffer), the bell-tower, or 'campanile', was first built in 1156-73 on the site of an older tower dating back to around 900 AD. After suffering structural damage, the tower was rebuilt in the 16th century, but the campanile collapsed completely in 1902. The much-photographed current tower was built in 1912 at a cost of 500,000 lire and commands a magnificent view over the city and its lagoon.

Amaro: A New Sweetheart from Italy

Bitters Making a Happy Ending
By Jim Clarke

Gentian. Angelica. Centaurea minor. What place do these obscure plants and herbs have at the bar? Juniper. Coriander. Some of them sound familiar, but their real home is in bitters. In the Middle Ages, monks began uncovering the techniques of distillation from Arabic science. Given the primitive technology, these distillates were probably pretty rough, and the monasteries - except in Germany, for some reason - didn’t consider the resulting concoction a beverage but more of a medicine. They began to infuse the aqua vitae with various herbs – also thought to possess healing properties - to create a medical potion, and the combinations eventually grew in diversity and complexity. St. John’s Wort. Each monastery developed a jealously guarded secret recipe for their cure-all, and as the art of distillation became a more secular affair after the Renaissance, these recipes began to pass from their hands to the pharmacists. The pharmacists’ recipes from the 19th century are today’s bitters.

Prior to the 1800’s if you needed a healthful tonic you went to your local pharmacist and bought his private blend, but by the end of the century many enterprising apothecaries began bottling their production for sale elsewhere. Quinine. At the same time, their supposed medical virtues were beginning to fade from public belief; nonetheless, even today many Italians still swear by the drink’s power to settle the stomach and aid digestion. In other European countries single, national brands have tended to monopolize the market - think of Germany’s Jagermeister, or Unicum in Hungary - but Italian production remains diverse. Most Italian bars sport several varieties of bitters - amari, in Italian - and just over twenty different brands are currently available in the U.S.

What’s in the bottle

Interest here is growing, but many people would like to know exactly what’s in the unfamiliar bottle in front of them - especially since some producers have created some unusual labels and intriguingly-shaped bottles to show of their product on the shelf. It starts with a distillate, usually a grain-based alcohol, but sometimes brandy, grappa, or, in the case of the Fernet products, fermented and distilled beet molasses.

A secret mix of herbs, roots, and flowers is then infused into the distillate - sometimes as many as forty ingredients. Each producer has its own recipe, protected as carefully as the formula for classic Coca-Cola. Bitter orange peel. Prime components almost always include something vegetal for bitterness plus botanicals to provide aromatics. Lavender. After this the drink is aged to allow the flavors to blend and soften. Some producers even age in oak casks to introduce wood and oxidizing elements. The amaro is then ready for bottling.

What are bitters not? Vermouth? No. Vermouth is a close cousin, infused with many of the same herbs and roots, but is an undistilled wine. As an aside, this means vermouth can turn; if you’ve ever had a manhattan made with vinegared sweet vermouth, you know what I’m talking about. Rue. Being stronger in alcohol, bitters generally last a lot longer on the shelf. Bitters are also not gin; gin avoids the bitter components, favoring botanicals, and is re-distilled after they are added, so the flavoring and color is much lighter.

What to do with it

If I’ve gotten you past the name - which puts a lot of people off - then how should you drink your bitter? The classic Italian way is straight up at the end of a meal, either with or after coffee. Some even add it to their espresso to make a "café corretto" To broaden their market some bitter producers have been encouraging drinkers to try this classic digestivo as an aperitif by serving it on the rocks with seltzer, and with some bitters this is pretty successful. A few restaurants have even developed cocktails that highlight their bitters selection " Mario Batali’s “Lupa," for one. Mario’s partner, Joe Bastianich, developed Lupa’s collection of bitters, originally to give the bar a distinctive look with the less-familiar labels. Lupa spurred New Yorkers’ interest in bitters, and Bastianich himself recently bought two secret recipes with the aim of eventually producing them himself. Sage. Elder. Patrick Bickford, the Beverage Director for the restaurant group "Off the Menu," made an exciting bitters selection part of their new restaurant, "Cesca," and is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable promoter of bitters with his guests.

What it tastes like

Bitters were originally produced more in the north of Italy, but are now made throughout the country. Because the original creators had to use herbs and botanicals that were available locally, there are some faint regional characteristics, but there are almost as many exceptions as there are examples. Northern producers tend toward alpine and menthol notes, the Santa Maria al Monte being perhaps the most extreme example; it’s from the Valle d’Aosta, a valley nestled in among the Alps near the French border. Cora is made nearby in Piedmont and is less extreme; floral aromas come together with some cinammon - rather like red hot candies - finished with a note of orange peel.

Lombardy, to the East, is home to two of the amari best known to Americans: Ramazotti and Fernet Branca. The former shows notes of cola, vanilla, and a light pepperiness. Fernet Branca is more intense, with strong herbal qualities over a licorice note buttressed by a warming alcoholic burn. The same company makes Branca Menta by adding mint to the recipe; toned down and more caramelly than its brother, this was once so popular in the U.S. that they even produced it here for a while. There is another Fernet, Fernet Luxardo, from the Veneto, which gets downright aggressive with its herbal qualities and finishes with cleansing menthol and eucalyptus notes. "Fernet" in the name indicates that the liquor was distilled from beet molasses.

There is a "Luxardo" in the Veneto as well, the Luxardo Abano. Medium-bodied and rounder in the mouth, its herbal qualities are toned down and complemented by an aroma of white pepper. Nearby, Nardini, a grappa producer, also makes an unusual bitter that will appeal to tawny port drinkers; the herbs come primarily on the finish, while the mouth and nose encounter mocha, toffee, and baking spices. In Friuli another grappa producer, Nonino, uses a brandy as their base and ages their bitter in barrel for five years, yielding a smooth, elegant amaro.

Moving south to Bologna, Montenegro is a light-bodied amaro characterized by orange peel, and makes a good start for people new to bitters. Another that Americans might find familiar-tasting is Cio Ciaro, from Lazio, the area around Rome; it calls up root beer and sassparilla and has a touch of sweetness to it. Meletti, made in the Marche on the far coast, offers an array of baking spices as well as saffron and caramel, with a white pepper note that builds through the finish. Meanwhile further south in Basilicata – the arch of the boot – the Lucano adds nutty aromas to herbal notes, to create a complex, totally dry beverage that is one of the most popular in Italy. Using a recipe which the firm’s founder bought from monks in Friuli in the north, Sicily’s Averna makes a rich, full drink with cola, licorice, vanilla, and cinnamon, the bitterness balanced by stewy fruit flavors.

What are the exceptions?

Americans might find two noticeable absences above: Campari and Cynar. These are often omitted from the list of amari because of their original intent: they were conceived of as aperitifs, to stimulate the appetite, rather than to aid digestion. Nevertheless, they are produced in very much the same way as the digestivos. Campari has found a place in a number of cocktails, including the classic Negroni, and Cynar enjoys a certain notoriety because the idea of an artichoke-based liqueur seems to get people’s attention. A lot of thought actually went into using that ingredient - experiments had shown that artichokes contain a chemical called cynarin that makes anything eaten immediately after the artichoke taste sweeter, a trait which Cynar’s creator thought would be commendable in an aperitif (as a side note, cynarin generally wreaks havoc with wine, giving it a tinny, metallic taste).

Cascia bark. Radicchio. Agarico Bianco. You won’t see these names at the bar. Nux Vomica. Coriander. But they’re there, in digestivi with history, complexity, and class.

http://starchefs.com/wine/features/html/bitters.shtml

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U.S. Bartenders Have a New Sweetheart from Italy: Amaro

Houston Chronicle - United States
From The Washington Post By Jason Wilson March 24, 2008

An amaro (meaning "bitter" in Italian) is a bitter herbal liqueur that Italians sip after dinner. There seems to be some validity to its therapeutic reputation; a 2001 study published in a Swiss journal said herbal bitters "sensorially stimulate" stomach secretions and digestive glands "at even very small concentrations."

Digestion aside, there's the issue of the bitter taste (think eucalyptus), which might politely be termed "challenging" for the American palate.

Bartending logic being what it is, that challenge makes amari perfect for cutting-edge mixologists, and plenty have been experimenting with them.

Most amari are in the 40- to 60-proof range, lower in alcohol than many spirits.

Averna is the amaro of the moment, and it's popping up all over the country. It's even used in a new manhattan variation, called a "black manhattan" (two parts rye whiskey, one part Averna, a dash of angostura bitters and a maraschino cherry). Averna is quite assertive when mixed with stronger spirits, such as whiskey or cognac, or with syrupy, flavorful liqueurs.

Or you can just drink it neat. And when you make that bitter face, just remember: At least your digestive tract is smiling.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/food/5644082.html

Dandelions are an Italian Salad and Wine Delicacy

Dandelion Wine Remains Popular as Weed Declines

The Daily Journal- Vineland NJ

By Joseph P. Smith, Staff Writer
jsmith@thedailyjournal.com
March 26, 2008

BUENA -- Ada Quarella really was on to something with her dandelion wine. It just took a few generations for her family to rediscover it for commercial purposes. The Quarella family's Bellview Winery now counts dandelion wine among its regular spring wine releases. "My great-great-aunt had always made it around the farm," Lee Quarella said recently. "When we were cleaning out the winery, we found some bottles she had made all the way back to the '50s. "And they turned out to be really good, so we decided to make it," Quarella said. "At that time, my aunt was still alive. She told us her recipe." The first vintage of Aunt Ada's formula sold 50 cases, or 600 bottles, two years ago. The business is flowering, mostly from local interest. The 2007 vintage, which is out this weekend, will have more than 1,200 bottles at $24.99 each. "It's definitely a niche wine," said Quarella, whose parents, Jim and Nancy, opened the winery in 2000. The family, vegetable growers for several generations, grows its own dandelions next to the winery. Only the dandelion's yellow petals are used. "We have 26 different wines we do here," he said. "This one is sort of in memory of Aunt Ada. It's something a lot of local people are looking for, and it's actually fun to do." While the general population may know dandelion as an annoying and persistent lawn weed, generations of area residents have given it a place of honor on the dinner table. It is a common ingredient in Italian cuisine in particular. Farmers start cutting spring dandelions in March. The 2008 harvest has been showing up at restaurants and in private homes as a salad for weeks. The greater Vineland area is a particular stronghold of consumers because of its large numbers of Italian-Americans. Dandelion is a shrinking delicacy even here, however. The market started declining around 1990, and the trend continues. The New Jersey Farm Bureau produce directory for 2008 lists only eight farms in the state growing it for general sale. Five of those are in Vineland or neighboring Buena Borough or Buena Vista Township. The Farm Bureau listed 19 growers statewide as dandelion growers in New Jersey in 1995. Wes Kline, a Cumberland County Extension Service agent, said dandelions recently were drawing $15 per crate in Philadelphia. Kline said no one tracks how much dandelion is grown in New Jersey, but the amounts are very small. "It makes sense to have something to come in early, so you have some money," Kline said. "I think there is more market for what they call 'summer dandelion' than for the true dandelion because you can grow it all through the summer." One issue for would-be dandelion growers is finding seed. None is sold commercially and fewer growers bother with it. "The person who is selling dandelion is saving their own seeds," Kline said. "That's not the reason there is less and less," he added. "The price hasn't been there. It's essentially an Italian specialty, and that market is getting less and less." AT A GLANCE The dandelion, part of the chicory family, arrived from Europe and spread rapidly except in southern states. It has been a source of not only food and drink, but folk medicines. About 3 pounds of seed sows an acre. Planting is in the fall for the spring dandelion. The roots are dug up in the second season after planting. The name dandelion comes from the French dente-de-lion, or lion's tooth, because of its jagged leaves. The plant has gone by many other names, including blow-ball, cankerwort, doon-head-clock, fortune-teller, horse gowan, Irish daisy, yellow gowan and one-o'clock. Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

http://www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080326/NEWS01/803260319/1002

"Sicilian Crossings to America .." Exhibit at Stony Brook U.

The exhibit is comprised of 120 panels. Through photographs and narratives - in English and Italian - it tells the story of one of the largest groups of immigrants to come through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924. The pieces explore the economic and political reasons that Sicilians came to America during this period, depicting the life they left behind, their journey across the Atlantic, their adjustment to the New World and how they established ethnic communities in the United States.

So many Italians came to America between 1880 and 1913 partly because of the invention of the steam boat, which cut travel time down from a month to about 10 days. There was also an economic crisis in Sicily at that time. The grape vines had been destroyed by disease, so there was a "force of expulsion, but there was also the force of attraction - the myth of America," he explained. "There was no television, no radio back then. Many of the people couldn't read or write so they just heard myths about great opportunities.

Currently, approximately 28% of the people in Suffolk County are Italian. The hamlets and villages in Brookhaven with the largest number of Italians are Lake Grove with 41%, Selden with 40%, Nesconset with 38%, and Rocky Point and Mount Sinai, each with 37%. All the towns in Brookhaven are at least 20% Italian

Exhibit Highlights Sicilians' Journey Suffolk Life. long Island

By:Karen Forman 03/26/2008

A number of people on Long Island can trace their heritage back to Italian roots. In recognition of the contributions Italians - particularly Sicilians - have made to the area, the traveling exhibit, "Sicilian Crossings to America and the Derived Communities" will be arriving at Stony Brook University's Wang Center this April. The pieces have been on display at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum and spent the past two months at a public library in Boston.

The exhibit is comprised of 120 panels. Through photographs and narratives - in English and Italian - it tells the story of one of the largest groups of immigrants to come through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924. The pieces explore the economic and political reasons that Sicilians came to America during this period, depicting the life they left behind, their journey across the Atlantic, their adjustment to the New World and how they established ethnic communities in the United States.

The event is the brainchild of Marcello Saija, who organized the exhibition. He is the director of a network of Sicilian museums and also a professor at the University of Messina in Italy, with which SBU has an exchange program. Back in 1996, Saija met Mario Mignone, who now chairs SBU's Italian studies program. They kept in touch and, in 2004, Saija became a visiting professor at Stony Brook. During this time, Saija did research on Italian immigration, interviewing more than 600 Italian Americans with the help of a group of students from Sicily. According to Mignone, Saija also researched and collected a lot of relevant material, as well.

There are many beautiful panels in the exhibit, according to Mignone. One particular favorite of his contains a "moving poem" by an immigrant who came to Ellis Island from Italy and saw the Statue of Liberty, which he calls an "American Madonna."

Mignone said that so many Italians came to America between 1880 and 1913 partly because of the invention of the steam boat, which cut travel time down from a month to about 10 days. There was also an economic crisis in Sicily at that time, according to Mignone. The grape vines had been destroyed by disease, so there was a "force of expulsion, but there was also the force of attraction - the myth of America," he explained. "There was no television, no radio back then. Many of the people couldn't read or write so they just heard stories about the possibility of making good money in America."

In the beginning, Mignone said, males mostly immigrated alone. "They came here to work and then hoped to go back once they made money," he stated. "They had nostalgia for Italy. But many of them stayed here and sent for their families. My grandpa came here at age 16."

Another immigrant who came here alone during that time period - Rocco DiVirgilio - came over to America in 1916, when he was 16 years old. He was the second brother to come over, explained his niece, Ann Fabrizio.

"Each brother sent for the next brother when he turned 16. He sent for my father, Donato, in 1918," she said. DiVirgilio got a construction job in Brooklyn before moving out to Suffolk County in the 1940s. "I remember taking the Long Island Rail Road from Brooklyn out to visit [my uncle] after the war when I was about four years old," Fabrizio said. "The trip seemed to take a whole day. And when we got to Lindenhurst, it looked like there was nothing there but my uncle's house, which he'd built himself. There were just farms. I didn't see any stores."

All the brothers were skilled carpenters and were in the construction business. Rocco DiVirgilio and his brother Donato belonged to the United Brotherhood of Carpenters union, which is still in existence today. Donato originally worked in the coal mines in Pennsylvania when he first came to the United States, and then became a carpenter in New York City, where he worked on the Empire State Building, the old and new Madison Square Garden buildings and many other important New York City landmarks, according to his daughter.

"Then he opened the first canning factory in Brooklyn," Fabrizio explained. "My mother made the sauce, and did all the cooking. But their business partner wanted to drop out and my father didn't want to run the company without him, so he sold the whole business. The new owners renamed the company Chef Boyardee."

Many Italians played an important role in helping to create the Long Island we see today. According to Mignone, when Italians immigrated to this country, "a great number of them ended up in New York City, Brooklyn and the Bronx, and then made their way out here. Many of them were in the construction business. A lot of the big construction firms on Long Island today are still run by Italians."

In fact, Mignone said that approximately 28% of the people in Suffolk County are Italian. The hamlets and villages in Brookhaven with the largest number of Italians are Lake Grove, with 41%, Selden with 40%, Nesconset with 38%, and Rocky Point and Mount Sinai, each with 37%. All the towns in Brookhaven are at least 20% Italian, he stated.

The exhibit will be coming to the Charles B. Wang Center at Stony Brook University on April 4 and will run through April 13. Viewing hours will be Monday through Friday, from noon to 4 p.m., and on weekends from 1 to 4 p.m. The exhibit is free to the public. For more information, call 632-7444 or visit www.stonybrook.edu/sb/crossings.shtml.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19424605&BRD=1776&PAG=461&dept_id=6363&rfi=6

No Ban on Italian Buffalo Mozzarella, Only Media Hype.... or Hoax ?

When Investigative Journalism descends into Tabloid Sensationalism !

There is No Ban on Buffalo Mozzarella, Only Media Hype

(AGI) - Rome, March 26, 2008

"There is no ban on mozzarella from the Campania region by Asian countries, not even from North Korea", and " Japan has not stopped its importation at customs". This comes from General Saverio Cotticelli who is the head NAS of the health watchdog section of the police force.

This news was released after a long meeting with the Minister of Health in order to address the alarm which has grown up about the presence of dioxins in the mozzarella coming from Campania. He added " the analyses have not yet been completed but will be made public soon and in accordance with the deadline".

According to the General, " there is a lot of panic which is exaggerated and which will have serious consequences on the economy of a region already under stress. It is just media hype", said Cotticelli. He also added that "everyone must remain cautious and await the results of the tests because up until now everything has been based on hypotheses and theories."

Italian Men Revere Mamma in Song

I'm not sure that ANY other country in the world can count so many songs that praise Mom on their top 40 lists, as Italy. Here are just five.

You may hear a rendition of any of the songs by going to You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/ and inserting the name of the Song in Search.

Italian Songs for Mamma

Sons who are about to marry have a slew of songs from which they can choose to dance with their beloved mother

Italians R Us
Our Paesani

by Francesca Di Meglio

March 23, 2008

Italian moms tend to have a tight bond with their sons. That's why when many Italian men get married, their moms tend to be a bit sad. But good Italian boys never forget their mamma - and they are sure to reassure her on their wedding day. Often, Italians living abroad - especially in the United States, where it's tradition for the groom to dance with his mother at the wedding - call on Italian songs to say what's on their mind. Indeed, I'm not sure any other country in the world can count so many songs that praise mommy on their top 40 lists, but Italy sure can. Here are some of Italy's most popular songs about le mamme:

Le Mamme

I still remember Toto Cotugno performing this song on RAI International when I was a young girl. He was able to capture in his words the entire culture of Italy. This song in particular rings true with almost all Italians. It is an anthem honoring all Italian mothers. He recognizes the mother's humanity -- "Le mamme, sognano, invecchiano, le mamme, si amano, ma ti amano di piu" or "Mothers, dream, get older, the mothers, they love, but they love you the most". Indeed, Italian mothers are known for putting their children above all other love. That's why many Italians have such a strong bond and reverence for their mothers.

Mamma

One of my favorite versions of this extremely popular song was sung by the late Luciano Pavarotti and Ricky Martin. It is the ultimate love song from son to mother. Here, the singer says that his songs only fly for his mother and that he will never leave her again. It is devotional. There is a sense that mothers are pure and loyal and the only woman a son needs. Italian mothers are big fans of this song. I think this is probably the most popular song for mother and son to dance to at Italian American weddings. (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vZqq0Sqk_yM)

Portami a Ballare

This is the song that my mother and brother danced to on Oct. 27, 2007, when he got married. The lyrics to this song also play a bit like a love song. Luca Barbarossa, as the son, asks his mother to bring him to dance (that is what ?portami a ballare? means) in an old-fashioned way that no one else even remembers. Then, he tells his mother that he is happy and fulfilling her wishes for his life.

Ciao Mamma

Jovanotti's high energy song has him telling his mother how much fun he is having performing concerts and playing his music. It's a great song to dance to if you're looking to pick up the pace and party. It can be used at a wedding if you look at it metaphorically, where a son is simply explaining to his mother that his life is full of music and joy in this moment. ?Ciao mamma, guarda quanto mi diverto!? or ?Hi mom, look at how much fun I'm having!?

Viva La Mamma

Another high tempo beat, "Viva La Mamma" is a fun little tune sung by Edoardo Bennato. Mothers and sons who want to bop into the reception will love this one, which shows reverence for mom. - Long live mom - is the basic meaning of the title. Then, throughout the song, Bennato expresses how wonderful mothers are for their affection and sincerity, their ability to be strong in the face of hardship, and their devotion to their children.

Di Meglio is the guide to Newlyweds for About.com, where you'll find advice on everything from saving up for your dream home to communicating better with your spouse. You can also find more information on all things Italian at www.francescadimeglio.com.

http://www.italiansrus.com/articles/ourpaesani/mammasongs.htm

Italians to Build Russian New Supercity "Globe Town" for 500,000 Residents

Italian architects are to build a new futuristic metropolis the size of Manhattan in the Volga region of Russia, across the river from Russia's third largest city, Nizhni Novgorod, that will cost 100-billion-euro, and be named "Globe Town"

The city gets its name from what will be its signature building - a huge transparent, illuminated globe 120 metres in diameter that will house a theatre, museums, a cinema and shopping centres. Globe Town will also have a public park four times bigger than New York's Central Park as well as stadiums, hotels, sports centres and a large river port on the banks of the Volga.

Italians to Build Russian New Supercity for 500,000

Futuristic Volga city will feature massive illuminated globe

(ANSA) - Rome, March 25, 2008 Italian architects are to build a new futuristic metropolis the size of Manhattan in the Volga region of Russia. Milan-based firm Dante O. Benini won a tender earlier this month to build the urban complex across the river from Russia's third largest city, Nizhni Novgorod. The firm pulled out all the stops to meet the deadline for the design of the 100-billion-euro city. ''It took us just two months to come up with the master plan with a team of 50 people working round the clock,'' said Luca Gonzo, Benini's senior partner. Globe Town will replace the small, run-down town of Bor and will feature skyscrapers in glass, aluminium and steel arranged in ascending and descending order of height to create an undulating skyline. The city gets its name from what will be its signature building - a huge transparent, illuminated globe 120 metres in diameter that will house a theatre, museums, a cinema and shopping centres. Globe Town will also have a public park four times bigger than New York's Central Park as well as stadiums, hotels, sports centres and a large river port on the banks of the Volga. The regional government of Nizhni Novgorod hopes the new complex, which will provide housing for 500,000 people, will act as a spillover for the crowded industrial city. Streets as wide as motorways will allow 250,000 cars to circulate in the city, which will be connected to Nizhni Novgorod by four bridges and an underground tunnel. Snow covers the area where the city will be built for half of the year, and the site is also vulnerable to being swamped by the Volga river. ''To overcome the problem of flooding the water will be channelled into canals, while four million square metres of land where we're going to put the buildings will be raised eight metres above ground level,'' Gonzo explained. An underground system will pump hot water to heat the houses in winter and will store cold water and ice to cool the city in summer. To make the city eco-friendly, the architects will use 'smog eating' material - photocatalytic asphalt and cement that gobbles up pollution from the air - and will also build a gasifier to convert household rubbish into fuel. Green spaces will cover around 15 million square metres, or around half of the city's total surface area. Nizhni Novgorod's regional government has already stumped up 20 billion euros, which will include the creation of an underground train system that will cross the Volga river through a tunnel. The remaining 80 billion euros will come from private investment. Work on the city is set to begin in 2010, with completion slated for 2020. Benini, 61, studied in Venice, London and Sao Paulo in Brazil, where he was taught by the great Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. He has designed industrial buildings, pharmaceutical laboratory complexes, family homes, showrooms and shops in Italy and abroad, including projects in New York, Japan, Hong Kong and Turkey.

Shakespeare May Have Visited Venice After All

It is not unusual for Shakespeare to have Italy as the setting for one third of his works, since Northern Italy was considered the global centre of Western Civilization in the 16th century. The only question is whether Shakespeare was able to be so accurate in his portrayals merely by meticulously gleaning information from Italian merchants visiting London on business, or can attribute it part to the fact that Shakespeare had a working knowledge of Italian, and that one of his friends was the Anglo-Italian translator and lexicographer John Florio, who lived from 1553 to 1625.
Italian Scholars in a new book 'Shakespeare in Venice' argue that the Bard's information was based on a first hand account - his own.

Shakespeare May Have Visited Venice After All
ANI
Tuesday 25th March, 2008

London, Mar 25 : For decades, scholars have thought that William Shakespeare described Venice so vividly in his plays thanks to information he gleaned from Italian merchants visiting London on business. Now however, Italian academics have challenged this notion.

Shaul Bassi, a lecturer at Venice University, and the writer Alberto Toso Fei have penned a new book 'Shakespeare in Venice' in which they argue that the Bard's information was based on a first hand account - his own.
"Most scholars believe that what Shakespeare knew about Venice must have been the fruit of wide reading and his contact with Italians," Times Online quoted Mr Bassi, as saying.
"But the local references -- implicit as well as explicit -- are so numerous they point to an alternative hypothesis: what if he did come here after all?"
About a third of Shakespeare's works are based in Italy, or have specific references to events and locations in the country which was a global centre in the 16th century.
As there is no concrete proof that the Bard ever travelled outside England, scholars usually agree that his source of information were the traders who came to London.
They also believe that Shakespeare had a working knowledge of Italian, and that one of his friends was the Anglo-Italian translator and lexicographer John Florio, who lived from 1553 to 1625.
Though they agree that some references in his plays did not prove that Shakespeare had visited Italy, others like giving the name "Gobbo" to Shylock's in 'The Merchant of Venice' - a reference to the carved figure of a hunchback (Il Gobbo di Rialto) on the Rialto Bridge - would not be known outside the city.
Such references, they say, can also be seen in other plays like 'Othello' in which Shakespeare uses local words such as gondola and gondolier.

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=341052

"Ibiz" - From Laborer Lunch Bag to Chic Hand Bag

There was a time when Florence was the place for leather,but then people sold all their shops to foreigners make big money.
That was part of Italy's richness, and it's gone. Italians were good with their hands. It was part of what made Italy special. Now, to start something like this, it's quite impossible. How to even begin with all the bureaucracy today It can't be done.

Interestingly enough, Ibiz was founded by Fulvio and Simonetta Nepi as a part time hobby when they were college students in 1972, making what were the equivalent of laborer's lunch bags that turned out to be popular satchels for young trekking foreigners, who couldn't resist a Nepi original for 11,000 lire - about $10.

Elisa, the daughter elevated the "Ibiz" brand by designing classic womens hand bags in brilliant hues, and the world started to take notice.

LETTER FROM ROME

Handbags - By Hand

The Tribune's Christine Spolar finds one of the few remaining family leather shops in Rome, where daughter takes over from father with an eye for style

ChicagoTribune Tribune correspondent Christine Spolar is based in Rome. March 24, 2008

ROME- Elisa Nepi knows, with every stitch and soft-leather skin she touches, that she and her family are holding tight to a fast-disappearing art.

She and her father are among the few in this city who still hold the key to a family-run studio for leather craft. Every day, the two sit, with hammer or needle in hand, and pound out a living.

Italy was once known for such handmade leather goods. Today, as Chinese imports flood the market and Chinese immigrants fill factories commissioned by Prada and other designer shops, the Nepis' small shop is a reminder of the back-alley enterprises that once thrived in Rome and Florence.

"There was a time when Florence was the place for leather," said Nepi, a bright-eyed 31-year-old. "But then people sold all their shops to make big money. They sold those shops to strangers. ...

"That was part of Italy's richness, and it's gone. … [Italians] were good with our hands. It was part of what made Italy special. Now, to start something like this, it's quite impossible. How to even begin with all the bureaucracy today … It can't be done."

The store at Via dei Chiavari 39, near the famed fruit-and-flower market of Campo dei Fiori, was born before Nepi was. Her parents, Fulvio and Simonetta, were college students in 1972, landing back home in Rome after a summer vacation on the island of Ibiza. Wandering one day, they noticed a small olive oil store up for rent for the equivalent of $40 a month. On a whim, they plunked down the rent and figured, between sociology classes and study, they could fashion themselves as leather craftsmen.

Within a few months, the young couple realized that their skill could be much more than a hobby.

Fulvio, now 57, spent his time working the natural rawhide leathers wildly popular in the 1970s and then selling them on the street. He made his mark stitching what were essentially sturdy lunch pails for Italian laborers, bags that turned out to be popular satchels for young foreigners. Thousands of Americans who were trekking through Italy for the first time, in the breakthrough era of cheap airfares, often left with a modest Nepi original for 11,000 lire - about $10.

The Nepis rented the one storefront and eventually bought the slightly larger one next door. Their store, named Ibiz, evolved as something akin to an extra living room for the Nepis' two children, and a place where neighbors came to chat and passersby could buy an authentic if somewhat predictable leather bag.

Until the day their daughter Elisa did something totally unpredictable. She failed her university entrance exam.

Suddenly, the young woman who had expected to study physical therapy"she liked to work with her hands" had lots of time on her hands. She turned to Ibiz with new purpose. She learned how to tramp the pedals of the store's old sewing machine and master the finer points of stitch. (No simple task there: The 50-year-old machine was once owned by a costume-maker who stitched sandals and belts for the movie "Ben-Hur.") She embarked on leather-buying trips with her father, who knew the best tanneries in Tuscany.

Nepi soon realized she loved the work, but she also wondered whether she and the store had a future with leather craft.

Six years ago, designer bags were all that Italian women wanted. Even sales among young tourists were in decline. Nepi made a deal with her parents: She would take over the store and take on the challenge of trying to survive as a Roman artisan.

The younger Nepi wandered the fashion streets of Rome - she still walks down and around Via del Corso every Sunday - and noticed how women of every age rely on handbags. She thought they wanted classics and colors " modern colors that could go from day to night. Bright blue, maybe. Orange, well, why not? Details on an Ibiz handbag had to be distinctive" bits and pieces of real handiwork - but not overwhelming. Gold chains, she said, were never an option.

Nepi followed her father's first idea: Good leather would always sell. But she had a fresh and keener eye for what makes a high-quality Italian borsa. Supple skins only from Tuscany, which she and her father believe produce the most elegant leather in the world, were a necessity.

The storefront expanded into chairs " made-to-order pieces for the discerning buyer" even as handbags held priority. Belts, wallets and key chains were salvaged from handbag remainders. Durable cotton thread, nothing else, bound all.

"Every morning, I come in and I check the bags. I think: When people enter the store, what they see is mine," Nepi said. What they also see is a remarkable display of workmanship. In a city of over-the-top price tags, Ibiz has found a way to produce handbags in brilliant hues" yellow is a color of this summer" and of notable quality and value.

Others have noticed. Ibiz now is part of the Japanese shoppers' circuit and listed in top tourist guides. This year, Ibiz rates a mention by some tony American guides, including the discerning Context Travel. Nepi is learning to gauge how and when shoppers buy. The Japanese can take two hours to choose a bag. Americans "far fewer in number because of the falling U.S. dollar and a disastrous exchange rate" take about 15 minutes.

When asked how long she expects the good times to last, Nepi shrugs. She can only vouch for the handbags - and those, she bets, will be around for another generation.

"Twenty-five years, at least," Nepi said. "That's when the cotton stitch might go. The leather should last."

Tribune correspondent Christine Spolar is based in Rome. cspolar@tribune.com

www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-rome-leathermar24,1,5948099.story

Olive Oil in US: No Self-Respecting Italian Would Consume

While olive oil dates to antiquity, truly fine oil only came about in the last few decades, as Europeans revolutionized production with clean, modern techniques. Stainless steel spinners and decanters sped-up the process that eliminated fermentation.The result was an entirely new "authentic" taste that captures the fresh fruit flavor of the olive.

But few in this country have learned to appreciate this fresh taste. Just as post-Prohibition Americans happily drank wine of such poor quality it could not be sold today, so do many contemporary Americans make their salad and pasta with olive oil no self-respecting Italian would consume. What Americans think of as good oil is rancid, fermented or riddled with flaws that consumers would easily detect if their palates were more sophisticated.

Olives have been growing in California for more than a century, but most of the state's 600 oil makers are of recent vintage. Collectively, they produce 500,000 gallons of olive oil each year, a tiny fraction of the 75 million gallons Americans consume.California's output is expected to increase fivefold in the next five years, as several thousand acres of "super high density" olive groves come into production using mechanized pickers that vastly speed up the process.

California University Launches Center to Nurture Emerging Olive Oil Industry

International Herald Tribune

From The Associated Press

Friday, March 21, 2008

SACRAMENTO: After the U.S. repeal of Prohibition in 1933 let alcohol flow legally again, the University of California, Davis established a research department that led to the flowering of the California wine industry.

Now, it hopes to do the same for olive oil.

The challenges to the emerging industry are significant. They include finding economical ways to produce fine oil, dealing with unscrupulous importers and educating unsophisticated palates.

While California olive oil makers have begun to use fine techniques developed in Europe to capture the pungent taste of fresh olives, not all American palates may not be ready for it.

"This is the big challenge for all of us here in California ? to expose people to this fresh fruit juice olive oil and not have them gag on it," said Paul Vossen, a formative figure in the nascent world of California olive oil who is affiliated with the new UC Davis Olive Center.

The center opened in January under the umbrella of the university's Robert Mondavi Institute, which also houses the campuses' Department of Viticulture and Enology, the scientific names for grape-growing and wine-making.

That is where UC scientists showed California winemakers how to replant vineyards that had been ripped out during Prohibition and taught them how to make fine wine.

Olives have been growing in California for more than a century, but most of the state's 600 oil makers are of recent vintage.

Collectively, they produce 500,000 gallons of olive oil each year, a tiny fraction of the 75 million gallons Americans consume.

California's output is expected to increase fivefold in the next five years, as several thousand acres of "super high density" olive groves come into production using mechanized pickers that vastly speed up the process.

The potential U.S. market for olive oil is huge. America is the fourth largest consumer, after Italy, Spain and Greece. Consumption has doubled in the last decade, but the average American still uses relatively little - about the equivalent of a bottle of wine each year.

The olive center's executive director, Dan Flynn, said the center will be a resource to delve into essential questions about olive production and consumption. Undergraduate courses may come later.

Contributing faculty include researchers from the UC Davis Medical Center, who are studying the health benefits of antioxidants in olives.

Others already have done work on genetic fingerprinting of olive varieties and how irrigation affects growth.

Researchers also make and sell oil from the 1,500 olive trees on campus and are launching this year's oils with a party on Wednesday. The proceeds will make up half the olive center's budget. The rest comes from industry and the university.

Charles Shoemaker, a food scientist who is a co-chairman of the olive center, said a possible topic of research - preventing oxidation, which ruins the taste - could benefit olive oil lovers around the world.

In most of the restaurants he visited were serving rancid or oxidized oils.

"It's not just a new challenge in California," Shoemaker said. "It's a challenge the world needs to take on."

But the answer, he said, may be as simple as selling the oil in smaller bottles.

Fine olive oil is a relatively recent phenomenon anywhere in the world, said Vossen, who teaches an olive oil tasting seminar to the general public through UC's extension program. He also helped develop California's first panel of expert tasters.

While olive oil dates to antiquity, Vossen said truly fine oil only came about in the last few decades, as Europeans revolutionized production with clean, modern techniques.

Stainless steel spinners and decanters replaced the old, smelly mats that had been used to drain oil from paste made of crushed olive pits and meats.

The sped-up process eliminated fermentation, along with odors that had seeped into the mats from farm animals and the fires workers used to warm themselves in mill houses.

The result was an entirely new taste that could be as spicy, peppery and pungent as the olives from which it was made.

"The new olive oil industry of the world is capturing the fresh fruit flavor of the olive," Vossen said.

But few in this country have learned to appreciate this fresh taste. Just as post-Prohibition Americans happily drank wine of such poor quality it could not be sold today, so do many contemporary Americans make their salad and pasta with olive oil no self-respecting Italian would consume.

Vossen and others say most of what Americans think of as good oil is rancid, fermented or riddled with flaws that consumers would easily detect if their palates were more sophisticated.

In his tasting classes, Vossen teaches how to discern the mellow flavors of oil made from ripe olives, such as nutty, floral, buttery, tropical, banana and spices such as cinnamon.

He also introduces the pungent flavors of oils made from green olives, including those of fresh-cut grass, artichoke or even straw. As his students' palates grow more complex, he says, they quickly develop an appreciation for bitter green oils, which are rich in antioxidants.

It is a leap he hopes the greater American public will one day, as well.

http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=11307534

Alitalia Takeover Becomes 'Cause Celebre' in Italy, with Elections Looming

The Air France-KLM possible "Takeover" of AlItalia has now taken on Election implications, in addition to (1) the blow to National Pride, (2) Regional "bickering" with Northern Italians concerned that many flights might be diverted to Rome from Milan's Malpensa, (3) the Union of AlItalia workers objecting to job reductions in the 11,000 workers (7,000 claims union, 2,000 claim Air France).

Berlusconi has featured himself as a "white knight" in requesting a government "bridging" loan to enable him to put together a "consortium"

to "save" this National symbol. Silvio's alleged banker has stated "nothing is on the table".

Walter Veltroni, Berlusconi's rival, and head of the new centre-left Democratic Party, thinks Berlusconi's actions constitute a cynical election "ploy", and said Alitalia should be kept out of "the electoral meat grinder," adding: "I don't want to see a consortium that vanishes after the elections."

With Elections Looming, Alitalia Takeover is Cause Celebre in Italy

ATP March 23, 2008

ROME - An "arrogant" takeover bid by Air France-KLM for the near-bankrupt Italian flagbearer Alitalia has become a cause celebre in Italy's election campaign with the vote just three weeks away.

Conservative opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi -- tipped to win the premiership for a third time in next month's polls -- jumped into the fray after talks collapsed between the European giant and Alitalia unions last week.

Berlusconi, a self-made billionaire, branded the Air France-KLM offer as "arrogant" and said that if elected he would reject the sale out of hand.

Air France-KLM has said that it would not go ahead with the deal without the approval of the unions as well as the government that will emerge from the mid-April elections.

Berlusconi revived the idea of a "Made in Italy" rescue plan for Alitalia, suggesting that his sons could take part in a consortium to keep the national symbol in Italian hands, and asking outgoing prime minister Romano Prodi to approve a bridging loan while details are worked out.

Berlusconi claimed that Intesa Sanpaolo was willing to back a bid by an Italian consortium to rescue Alitalia, but the Italian banking giant's CEO Corrado Passera quickly remarked that nothing was "on the table."

Undeterred, Berlusconi said Friday: "I've appealed to the pride of Italian entrepreneurs who think as I do that we shouldn't be colonised."

He said that in three or four weeks a group of Italian investors would make a "definitive proposal which, I hope, will resolve the situation."

Berlusconi's rival Walter Veltroni, head of the new centre-left Democratic Party, said Alitalia should be kept out of "the electoral meat grinder," adding: "I don't want to see a consortium that vanishes after the elections."

The Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore also took a dim view of Berlusconi's move, calling it a "very dangerous" blend of politics and business in an editorial on Saturday.

Infrastructure Minister Antonio Di Pietro even accused Berlusconi of trying to manipulate the volatile Alitalia share price with his statements, Il Sole reported.

Unions -- which have been asked to approve the Air France takeover terms by March 31 and walked out of initial talks last week -- are set to meet on Tuesday.

Alitalia, which has lurched from crisis to crisis for years, is now close to bankruptcy, losing around one million euros (1.6 million dollars) a day.

A senior Air France-KLM executive on Friday insisted that Alitalia had to take a decision now and not after the elections.

Prodi's centre-left government approved the purchase of the state's holding of 49.9 percent in Alitalia by Air France-KLM last Monday in a share swap valuing the Italian airline at 140 million euros.

Air France-KLM chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta warned on Wednesday that there was little room for manoeuvre in the negotiations, and insisted that the takeover plan would involve only 2,100 job cuts from the 11,000-strong work force.

Trade union leaders say the takeover would lead to 7,000 job losses.

Milan Polytechnic transport economist Marco Ponti told AFP: "This last-minute Italian solution seems too late, but nothing is impossible.

"The problem is that Alitalia is worth nothing commercially," he added. "It loses money every time a plane takes off."

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hF05WKCVeLtZYz_07U3zb3ZMSHkg

Italy's Sorrow: A Year of War, 1944-45 by James Holland - Was it worth it?

The Italian Campaign cost 536,000 German casualties, 313,500 Allied ones and a grim total of over one million Italians.

The additional pity of the war beyond the devastation of the entire Italian peninsula was beyond comprehension, as was the 700 atrocities that resulted in the massacre of 20,000 Italians by the Germans, and the savage French Moroccan Goumier troops (who raped and murdered 3,000 Italians in hot blood) with the consent of Allied Command.

To this day, Historians question the Strategic wisdom of this campaign, when the the Invasion of Normandy commenced before the Italian Campaign was half completed. The Long narrow peninsula was an enormous advantage for the German Defenders who set up a continuum of defensible fortified lines that were a nightmare for the allied Invaders.

Was the Italian Campaign Worth It?

Italy's Sorrow: A Year of War, 1944-45 by James Holland

Reviewed by Andrew Roberts

Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
March 23, 2008

'It was mind-numbing!' recalled Private Stan Scislowski, of the Canadian 11th Infantry Brigade, of the opening Allied barrage against the Senger Line south of Anzio at 6am on 23 May 1944. 'It was a cross between a howling coyote, a car running on its rims, and the banshee wail of a London Blitz air-raid siren.'

Scislowski is only one of many witnesses whose superbly well-expressed emotions bring alive James Holland's history of the last year of the war in Italy. Interviews with British and US veterans, hours trawling through the archives at the Imperial War Museum and the Second World War Experience Centre at Leeds, weeks spent walking the battlefields (Holland is a badged member of the highly respected Guild of Battlefield Guides), combined with a fascination with the campaign from the often-overlooked German point of view, has produced a work that is the Italian version of Armageddon, Max Hastings's history of France and Germany between D-Day and VE-Day.

The Senger Line was only one of many defensive lines that the Germans threw up to try to halt the Allies as they fought for every mile from Salerno, south of Naples, in September 1943 up to the River Po by the end of the war. Those that stretched all the way across the wasp waist of Italy acted like giant tourniquets across the country and saw fighting at times as attritional as in the trenches of the First World War.

When Churchill told Stalin and Roosevelt at the Tehran Conference that 'He who holds Rome, holds the title deeds of Italy', he was wrong. The Allies took Rome on 5 June 1944, the day before D-Day, but it merely won them the title deeds to continue fighting on up to Tuscany and beyond.

Holland is refreshingly revisionist in his estimation of the two senior Allied commanders, General Sir Harold Alexander and General Mark Clark, seeing much to admire in both, in a way that few recent military historians have done.

Of Alexander he writes: 'The enormous difficulties facing him, the repeated cuts in manpower and equipment, and the vast challenge of bringing a polyglot force of 17 nations together, are often forgotten.' Clark meanwhile is accused of arrogance and ambition - neither of which preclude military greatness - but he adds: 'Not only was he tough, forthright, and prepared to make difficult decisions, his operational planning was always superlative.'

Yet was that also true of the Combined Chiefs of Staff of the Western Allies, who at the Casablanca Conference of January 1943, chose Italy - a thin, mountainous, highly defensible peninsula far from Berlin - as their main offensive of that year?

Holland fails to engage in the great debate that has been raging ever since the end of the war. In the introduction to his seminal Hitler's Mediterranean Gamble, Douglas Porch concluded that although the Mediterranean was not the decisive theatre of the war, it was none the less the 'pivotal' one. Holland's views on the macro-role of the Italian campaign would have been equally welcome.

Holland does tell us that it cost 536,000 German casualties, 313,500 Allied ones and a grim total of over one million Italians.

The pity of the war as it affected Italian non-combatants is an ever-present feature of this profoundly decent and occasionally moving book. When he visits mountain cemeteries, he tells us: 'These are beautiful, yet haunting, places, melancholy dripping from the abundant oaks and chestnuts all around.'

They would not be such full places had Hitler not demanded the fanatical defence of every inch of Italian soil, even when tactical withdrawals would have suited Germany's overall planning better. The German commander-in-chief in Italy, Air Marshal Albert Kesselring, was, in the author's view, 'no less impressive' than Alexander and Clark as a general, and his frustration at having to follow his Führer's absurd, ideologically driven orders of 'no retreat' was evident. Holland does not fail to detail the 700 atrocities that Kesselring's troops carried out against partisans and innocent civilians, however, for which the jovial 'Smiling Albert' should have been hanged as a war criminal at Nuremberg.

Holland is particularly good at telling the story of a nationality through a few interlocutors, including New Zealand Maoris storming Monte Cassino, Polish infantrymen, volunteer South Africans, French mountain corps, savage Moroccan Goumier troops (who raped and murdered 3,000 Italians in hot blood), German Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers), British squaddies and their officers, such as the gentlemanly ADC Ion Calvocoressi.

All are portrayed with a remarkably engaging touch, yet the sorrow is ultimately reserved for the poor, un-martial Italians whose ancient towns and villages were laid waste by both sides.

Was it worthwhile to carry the war north of Rome - let alone all the way to the Po - after the Allies had successfully landed in northern France and taken the direct route to the heart of the Third Reich? We are not told.

Can all that mud and blood, all those civilians massacred in reprisal for partisan ambushes, those mountain cemeteries, rats in foxholes and viciously contested river crossings, as 'the Allies clawed their way up the peninsula', actually all have been a catastrophic waste of lives and effort after June 1944?

Perhaps even now it's best not to know. [But it seems as if the obvious answer is that it was one of the bigger dumber strategic blunders of the war]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/03/23/bohol123.xml

Mario Cuomo: Views on the Election Process

Cuomo thinks the country needs a new type of political debate. The problem is that "party political conventions are purely theatrical". "You exaggerate your virtues and the other team’s vices," "But it’s a con game. What I would like to see is an unconventional convention."

Cuomo’s vision of an "unconventional convention" is that, a few weeks before the general election, each presidential candidate, and his or her team of potential cabinet secretaries, should come together for an entire weekend and discuss the big issues facing the country in marathon series of televised debates. "We want their prepared answer," a goal that jars with my journalistic instincts, "we don’t want to catch them off guard. What we want is the truth."

Cuomo lists "the big issues", as the war in Iraq, healthcare, education, the environment and nuclear power, the national debt and the weak economy. He has some interesting views on the influence of the President on the US Economy. I only partially agree.

Lunch with the FT: Mario Cuomo

Financial Times By Chrystia Freeland March 21 2008

Mario Cuomo knew exactly where he wanted to have lunch with the FT - "Piano Due", a restaurant a few steps from his law office....and this comfortable dining room is a favourite because it is Italian in a way that is familiar and important to him.

“Manhattan’s Italian food is northern Italian, fancy Italian," he tells me. "But most of the Italian Americans, came here for economic reasons", and so most of the Italian Americans are from south of Rome and that’s Naples, Salerno, Sicily, all of those places. That food is more robust, more flavourful.

At a moment when US politics is focused on race, gender and class, this reference to the subtler distinction of ethnic community is a useful reminder that "white", “African American" and "Hispanic" are not the only self-definitions which matter to Americans.

Once Cuomo organises our lunch, inevitably, the next thing on the menu is the election, a subject Cuomo, who used to be mooted as possible presidential candidate himself and who gave the speech nominating Bill Clinton at the 1992 Democratic convention, is following avidly. He starts by telling me that he has advised Chris Matthews, the MSNBC anchor who has been one of the more prominent chroniclers of the race [full disclosure - I sometimes appear on his show], to "stop drinking that black coffee".

I brace myself for an anti-journalist diatribe. But Cuomo surprises me, going on to say of Matthews: "I love him, I think he’s a great guy, he’s very smart." He also turns out to be a fan of NBC’s "excellent" Washington bureau chief, Tim Russert: "They [both] really love the game and that shows in the way they go at it. There’s no smooth aloofness in what they do."

In Cuomo’s view, "if you want somebody to get the information out of someone, Tim does that as well or better than anybody", a skill that was on display during a recent Clinton-Obama debate when Russert raised tougher issues than either of the candidates. It turns out that the television journalist cut his teeth in politics working for Cuomo: "He was my counsel and he was my first PR guy, but it would have been an insult to call him a PR guy."

What Cuomo really wants to talk about, though, is not pundits or PR, but "the issues" and his belief that more "truly big ones" will be at stake this November than in "any presidential campaign in modern history since Kennedy/Nixon". For that reason, Cuomo thinks the country needs a new type of political debate. The problem, he says, is that "party political conventions are purely theatrical". (Our lunch took place before it became clear that a "purely theatrical" convention might become a highly desirable, and possibly unachievable, dream for Cuomo’s Democrats.) "You exaggerate your virtues and the other team’s vices," Cuomo told me. "But it’s a con game. What I would like to see is an unconventional convention."

Cuomo’s vision of an "unconventional convention" is that, a few weeks before the general election, each presidential candidate, and his or her team of potential cabinet secretaries, should come together for an entire weekend and discuss the big issues facing the country in marathon series of televised debates. "We want their prepared answer," Cuomo says, a goal that jars with my journalistic instincts, "we don’t want to catch them off guard. What we want is the truth."

I am not the first journalist Cuomo has shared this proposal with and he tells me, with real surprise, that when he described the idea to a cable television executive his retort was, "well, how do you pay for this?" Cuomo knows for sure that wouldn’t be a problem: "Are you kidding? You think the first time, you don’t think everybody would want to be involved in it?" Fortunately for me, this turns out to be a rhetorical question.

Before long, we are back on the safer ground of how the political battle is actually being waged. Cuomo reminds me several times that he hasn’t endorsed anyone, although he says the Clinton campaign called seeking his support. But given his historic ties to the Clinton family and his dynasty’s endorsement - in the person of his son Andrew, the New York attorney general - of Senator Clinton, it is hard not to suspect that the former governor leans in that direction, too.

He permits himself a moment of regret for Clinton’s poor performance in the 11 contests she lost between February 5 and March 4. "She’d be ahead now, I’m sure, if she’d just shown up in all those races," he tells me. Like many of Clinton’s public supporters, he also can’t resist criticising the strategy that kept her from effectively competing in so many places: "What struck me and a lot of other simple-minded people was how come you’re not contesting all of these states? Why is he there and you’re not there? Why does he have money and you don’t?"

Executive ability has been an important issue in the race so far, and Barack Obama has told his backers to judge his potential for the Oval Office in part by how he manages his effort to get there. But Cuomo is quick to insist that Clinton should bear no personal blame for her campaign’s stumbles. "You don’t manage your own campaign," he tells me. "So no, I wouldn’t say it has anything to do with her."

[RAA: But Mario, Hillary chose the people who did manage the campaign. What does that say about her judgment???]

Cuomo is getting animated, but he is also enough of a politician to realise this isn’t at all what he wanted to talk about. He firmly steers us back to his preferred subject of "the big issues". He runs through the list: the war in Iraq, healthcare, education, the environment and nuclear power, the national debt and the weak economy. It is a familiar list, but Cuomo offers a few twists. My favourite is his admission, offered almost in passing, that no political leader can make his country rich. "No president creates economic prosperity," Cuomo says. "Roosevelt didn’t end the depression with his ‘alphabet program’. The war ended the depression. The almost inevitable irony is that if you are a president or for that matter a governor you get credit for whatever happens while you’re there and you get blamed for whatever happens while you’re there."

One of Cuomo’s most famous political lines is his assertion that "you campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose". It is a phrase a lot of people are quoting at the moment, including the man who coined it. The line is apt today, Cuomo believes, because the nation is hungrier than usual for political poetry. And Obama, Cuomo concedes, is doing a great job crafting it.

“Obama can give a speech," Cuomo tells me. '"He’s very, very strong personally. His persona is wonderful, just like Reagan. Reagan went out there and said, ‘Morning in America’ [his campaign message], we’re going to change everything. That’s all he had to say because everybody was unhappy with the previous period. So they’re unhappy with the previous period now." But, in an argument that is not a million miles away from Clinton’s "solutions, not speeches" line of attack, Cuomo thinks poetry without prose is dangerous for America: "Nobody promised better than Reagan and what he offered us was an utter failure."

Instead, Cuomo thinks American voters are ready for a politician prepared to diagnose the country’s ills and offer specific remedies, even if they don’t taste very good: "I’m hoping that we don’t have another ‘Morning in America’ situation. I’m hoping we have a general election in which Clinton or Obama say, ‘look, we’re going to offer details and specifics. We’re going to trust the American people to reward us for our honesty and our candour. And here’s the price you’re going to pay, Mr and Mrs America’. It may be about time we started paying a price.’’

...I take my chance to ask Cuomo one of the big political questions of the year " whether race or gender will determine the election. Cuomo’s answer is instant and enthusiastic: "I honestly, objectively conclude, a good Greek-American could have won: Dukakis. A good Italian could have won: Giuliani - given the correction of certain moves. A good Irishman: obviously Kennedy. A good black " I don’t think there’s any question." A woman? "Absolutely."

This cheerful certainty that America "is open to excellence of all kinds" leads us back to where we began our meal " the importance of immigrants and their communities. "The greatest gift the country has had is waves, generations of immigrants, who came here from all over the globe, all of them bringing their own special gift," Cuomo tells me. He is not one of the people who thinks the resulting multiculturalism is a dirty word: “They called the United States the melting pot for the newcomers. Presumably a melting pot was supposed to somehow boil away their cultural distinctions and produce some kind of bland uniformity " I always thought that the better analogy would be to the mosaic, a church window."

It is a good moment to conclude, because Cuomo turns out to be working on a series of children’s books about the cultures of America’s different ethnic communities. After lunch, he steers me to his nearby office to give me two copies of another children’s book he has written, which he signs for my young daughters....

Chrystia Freeland is the FT’s US managing editor

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a007de8a-f3bd-11dc-b6bc-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

Venice - Raise the Bridge or Lower the River ????

Operation "Rialto" actually is more like Raise the Buildings rather than Lower the Canals. Seriously, engineers are planning to lift buildings by up to one metre (3.3 feet) using piston-supported-poles to be placed at the bottom of each structure. This will take around a month per building if each structure is raised by eight centimetres (3.14 inches) a day.

This is in addition to Project "Moses", which began in 2003 and is due to end in 2012. "Moses" is expected to cost around four billion euros (six billion dollars) under huge plans to build 78 mobile barriers at a stretch of two kilometres (1.2 miles) by the lagoon's entrance.

Venice was flooded 50 times between 1993 and 2002. That's five times a year!!!!!!!!!

Venice Plans to Raise its Sinking Buildings as Sea Levels Rise

Terra Daily
by Staff Writers
Venice, Italy (AFP)

March 21, 2008

Venice is planning to raise its buildings to protect them against rising sea levels, daily Italian newspaper La Stampa said on Friday.

Local officials and engineers are planning to lift buildings under operation "Rialto" by up to one metre (3.3 feet) using piston-supported-poles to be placed at the bottom of each structure. This will take around a month per building if each structure is raised by eight centimetres (3.14 inches) a day.

The mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari, said: "We're pursuing this proposal with great interest."

This project is an alternative to a previous one nicknamed "Moses", which began in 2003 and is due to end in 2012. "Moses" is expected to cost around four billion euros (six billion dollars) under huge plans to build 78 mobile barriers at a stretch of two kilometres (1.2 miles) by the lagoon's entrance.

Those in favour of "Rialto" claim the project, with an estimated cost of 2,500 euros (3,800 dollars) per square metre, will allow Venice, which sank by 23 centimetres (nine inches) in the last century, to regain its original look and to preserve its buildings.

Venice was flooded 50 times between 1993 and 2002. The worst recorded high waters were in November 1966 when the city was submerged by 1.94 metres (6.3 feet) of water, as the rest of Italy was also battling heavy floods.

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Venice_plans_to_raise_its_sinking_buildings_as_sea_levels_rise_999.html

Italian Porcelain, the First of European??

When we think of European porcelain, we are more likely to think of the Germans and the French than the Italians. Yet the Italians were among the first to make porcelain in Europe, and according to some speculation, they may have been the very first.

Italian Porcelain . . .The story of Richard Ginori

Cape May County Herald - NJ, United States

By Arthur Schwerdt

Friday, March 21, 2008

The Italians were among the first to make porcelain in Europe, and according to some speculation, they may have been the very first.

When we think of European porcelain, we are more likely to think of the Germans and the French than the Italians. Yet the Italians were among the first to make porcelain in Europe, and according to some speculation, they may have been the very first.

I have only heard about them and read about them, but there supposedly are a few porcelains on display in Florence that belonged to the Medici family and reputedly were made in Italy during the late Renaissance using information garnered from Marco Polo's trip to China. These pieces would pre-date the generally acknowledged beginnings of European porcelain in Dresden in 1708 and the first factory in Meissen in 1710.

If this is true or not, the Italians were not far behind the Germans. In 1737, Carlo Gonori opened a porcelain factory on his estate in Doccia just outside Florence. The Ginori family were wealthy merchants, primarily in wool, and were long influential in the precarious world of Florentine politics. Carlo Ginori was simply expanding the family enterprises. Why just sell porcelain when I can make my own?
Using his vast wealth, Ginori began buying classical statuary and ordering casts be made of famous marble sculptures.

Florence had been a city of artists since the days of Michelangelo, and Ginori?s enterprise would revive this Tuscan legacy.
Carlo Ginori left his business to his son Lorenzo, who left it to his son, Carlo Leopoldo. Ginori porcelains would be collected not only by the Medici, but by all of Europe?s aristocracy, including Napoleon. It also became an important souvenir of Grand Tour visitors to Italy. But there was no Richard Ginori.

In 1896, the Ginori company merged with Richard Ceramics, a Milanese manufacturer, and became Richard-Ginori. It is still in business today.

Appraisals: It is difficult to find a piece of Ginori of any age under $100. Most standard vases, jardinieres and figurines fall in the $150-$450 range.

Today?s most sought-after and expensive Ginori pieces are not the oldest. They are the Art Deco pieces made between 1923 and 1930 and designed by Gio Ponti, who was the company's art director during that period. Most of these pieces are in the $1,000 to $6,000 range, although you may be able to find a Ponti mug or cup and saucer here and there for about $125.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is author of "The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things," and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Direct your comments and appraisal questions (with photo) to him at aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.

http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/article/26107-italian-porcelain-story-richard-ginori

Obit: Anthony Minghella, 54; Director, Won Oscar for 'English Patient'

Anthony Minghella was born Jan. 6, 1954, on England's Isle of Wight, the son of parents of Italian descent who owned an ice cream factory.

Other acclaimed Films include "The Talented Mr. Ripley", "Cold Mountain", "Truly, Madly, Deeply", "Mr. Wonderful", "Breaking and Entering.", and "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency".

Starting out in British TV, he wrote for "Grange Hill," "The Storyteller" and the miniseries "Inspector Morse."

In 1984, the London Theatre Critics named him the most promising playwright of the year for three plays: "A Little Like Drowning," "Love Bites" and "Two Planks and a Passion." Two years later, the London Theatre Critics selected his "Made in Bangkok," which marked his West End debut, as best play of the year.

Anthony Minghella, 54; Director Won Oscar for 'English Patient'

From the Los Angeles Times

By Dennis McLellan, Staff Writer
March 19, 2008

Anthony Minghella, the Academy Award-winning director of "The English Patient" whose other acclaimed films include "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Cold Mountain," died Tuesday in London. He was 54.

Minghella died in a London hospital from complications of surgery for tonsil cancer a week earlier, Leslee Dart, his spokeswoman, told The Times.

He had not been ill before the surgery, she said.

The London-based writer-director's death came as a shock to friends and colleagues, who remembered him as a gentle, caring and intelligent man and an inspiring leader on a film set.

"The grace, joy and tenderness he brought to his films were symbolic of his life and the many people he touched," Harvey Weinstein, an executive producer of "The English Patient" and "Cold Mountain," said in a statement.

Producer-director Sydney Pollack, Minghella's partner in the production company Mirage Enterprises, described him in a statement as a "realistic romanticist" and "a sunny soul who exuded a gentleness that should never have been mistaken for lack of tenacity and resolve."

Minghella was a critically acclaimed playwright and a successful TV writer in England when he wrote and directed his first film, "Truly, Madly, Deeply," a 1991 British romance starring Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman that Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers called "the thinking man's 'Ghost.' "

That was followed by "Mr. Wonderful," a 1993 comedy romance starring Matt Dillon and Annabella Sciorra.

Then came "The English Patient," the World War II romantic epic that, as a London Independent writer once observed, "opened every door in Hollywood to Minghella."

The 1996 film dominated the Academy Awards for that year, winning in nine of the 12 categories it was nominated in, including director, picture and supporting actress for Juliette Binoche.

"Anthony possessed a sensitivity and alertness to the actor's process that very few directors have," Ralph Fiennes, who co-starred in the movie, said in a statement. "He directed most of 'The English Patient' with an ankle in plaster, never losing his gentle humor and precision. He delighted in the contribution of everyone -- he was a true collaborator."

Minghella received Oscar nominations for two screenplays: "The English Patient" (adapted from the Michael Ondaatje novel) and "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (adapted from the Patricia Highsmith novel), a 1999 drama starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law.

"He was a brilliantly talented writer and director who wrote dialogue that was a joy to speak and then put it onto the screen in a way that always looked effortless," Law said in a statement. Law also starred in 2003's "Cold Mountain" and Minghella's 2006 film "Breaking and Entering."

Directors Guild of America President Michael Apted said in a statement that he "truly admired" the director's "ability to take a world of epic proportions and make it intimate and personal."

"His films had grandeur and scale and big subject matter, yet there was always an emotion and an intimacy that served as the backbone of his work."

As a director, Minghella made an unusual professional departure in recent years: opera, a longtime passion.

At the invitation of the head of the English National Opera, who thought Minghella's talents as a writer, director and musician were well-suited for opera, he staged a successful production of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" in 2005 and directed it again a year later as the season opener of New York's Metropolitan Opera.

Minghella recently wrote and directed "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," an adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's novel about a Botswanan private eye. It is to be shown Sunday on the BBC and later on HBO.

"He was one of Britain's greatest creative talents, one of our finest screenwriters and directors, a great champion of the British film industry and an expert on literature and opera," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement Tuesday.

The son of parents of Italian descent who owned an ice cream factory, Minghella was born Jan. 6, 1954, in Ryde on England's Isle of Wight. As a child, he acted in school plays.

He majored in drama at the University of Hull in England in the 1970s. After graduating, he stayed on as a drama lecturer for several years before quitting in 1981 and spending the next decade writing for radio, TV and the theater. For British TV, he wrote for "Grange Hill," "The Storyteller" and the miniseries "Inspector Morse."

In 1984, the London Theatre Critics named him the most promising playwright of the year for three plays: "A Little Like Drowning," "Love Bites" and "Two Planks and a Passion."

Two years later, the London Theatre Critics selected his "Made in Bangkok," which marked his West End debut, as best play of the year.

"He was a brilliant writer and a lovely guy," British director Danny Boyle, who met Minghella when they were working on "Inspector Morse" and directed "Two Planks and a Passion," told The Times.

Like screenwriters Ronald Harwood ("The Pianist") and Richard Curtis ("Love Actually"), Boyle said, Minghella was able to write emotional, moving stories that never felt calculated and cloying. "That was what set him apart," he said.

Minghella is survived by his wife, choreographer Carolyn Choa; his son Max, an actor; his daughter Hannah, who was recently named president of production at Sony Pictures Animation; his parents, Gloria and Eddie; his brother Dominic; and his sisters Gioia, Lauretta and Edana.

dennis.mclellan@latimes.com

Naked News Hits Italy

Who wants to look at a bunch of Beautiful Naked Ladies Reading the News??? :) :)
Besides the service requires a Monthly Subscription of 10 Euros.


Naked News Hits Italy
The Globe andMail, Toronto, Canada
Eric Reguly
March 19 2008


I feel sorry for the cultural attaches at the Canadian embassy in Rome. Try as they might, it's hard to get Italians interested in Canadian culture. As far as the locals are concerned, Canada is little more than an open-air seal slaughterhouse, an exporter of maple syrup and the home country of Neil Young and Avril Lavigne.

Thankfully, Naked News has come to the rescue. Naked News -- "the show that has nothing to hide" -- is a proud Canadian media invention. It has set up outposts around the world since its launch in Toronto in 2000 and, last week, it finally came to Italy. The Italian version hit the web with a interview with Michela Fiore, a 25-year-old who said she was looking forward to her new career as a news reader who takes all her clothes off. "I find it a very interesting job which will undoubtedly contribute to my professional career," she said.

Naked News Italia has a target of 50,000 web subscriptions by the end of the year, at euros 9.99 a month. This sounds optimistic, if only because regular Italian TV already brims with nearly naked women, thanks to Silvio Berlusconi's babes-and-sports broadcast formula. Almost every show, from the dullest political blab-a-thon to family game programs, feature scantily clad eye candy. Tough competition indeed for Naked News.

No word from the embassy yet on how it plans to celebrate Canada's newest cultural export.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080319.WBwreguly20080319081030/WBStory/WBwreguly

Spain Overtakes Italy GDP, But Staring at a Crunch

There is a well-established pecking order of prejudice in western Europe. The British look down on the French, the French look down on the Italians, the Italians look down on the Spanish, the Spanish look down on the Portuguese - and everybody fears and ridicules the Germans.

But the Spanish have upset this xenophobic hierarchy. Spain is now richer, more fashionable and more dynamic than Italy. However, Spain, like the US, is going through the end of a housing boom and the start of a credit crunch. Unemployment - never below 8 per cent, - has risen for the past five months in a row. Much of the economic miracle has been driven by consumption and construction. A weaker economy threatens to expose unresolved problems, such as high levels of personal debt and low productivity.

The Spanish prime minister, José Luis Zapatero, has had the luxury of "identity " politics, has shown little interest in either foreign policy or economics. That is all about to change.

Spain, Italy and Identity Politics

The Financial Times By Gideon Rachman March 17 2008

There is a well-established pecking order of prejudice in western Europe. The British look down on the French, the French look down on the Italians, the Italians look down on the Spanish, the Spanish look down on the Portuguese – and everybody fears and ridicules the Germans.

But the Spanish have upset this xenophobic hierarchy. Spain is now richer, more fashionable and more dynamic than Italy. It boasts Europe’s most lauded chef (Ferran Adrià), its trendiest film director (Pedro Almodóvar) and its richest football club (Real Madrid). Barcelona has become Europe’s most talked about city – invoked longingly as a model by every run-down metropolis in Europe. Spain is chic now, just as Italy was chic in the 1960s.

These cultural changes reflect changes in the real world. In 2006 Spain’s per-capita gross domestic product overtook that of Italy. The average Spaniard is now richer than the average Italian – an unimaginable idea when the country was emerging from Francoist isolation in the early 1980s.

Spanish governance also looks like a model of staid predictability compared with the frenetic instability of Italy. José Luis Zapatero, Spain’s socialist prime minister, won re-election to a second term on March 9. By contrast Italian administrations still struggle to survive - let alone govern.

Next month’s Italian elections look likely to lead to the fall of a leftwing coalition, after just one term in office, and the return to power of Silvio Berlusconi – a flamboyant tycoon, who is regarded as a sinister buffoon in much of the rest of Europe. Mr Zapatero is not a big figure on the European stage – but at least he does not attract ridicule.

The Spanish prime minister’s low international profile reflects his intense focus on his own country. Mr Zapatero is an unusual political leader, in that he does not seem to be particularly interested in either foreign policy or economics. In his first term in office, he specialised in identity politics – encouraging the Spanish to re-examine the country’s civil war; legalising gay marriage and fast-track divorce; pushing through gender-equality laws. If there were a prize for the most politically-correct prime minister in Europe, Mr Zapatero would certainly win it.

When the going is good, there is plenty of time for identity politics. But the Spanish miracle is about to be put to the test, in ways that will demand that Mr Zapatero displays a more conventional set of political interests and skills

Like all politicians, the Spanish prime minister will have been buoyed by the ultimate accolade – re-election. But this month’s election might have been one that it was better to lose.

Spain, like the US, is going through the end of a housing boom and the start of a credit crunch. Unemployment – which never fell below 8 per cent, even in the good times – has risen for the past five months in a row. Much of the Spanish economic miracle has been driven by consumption and construction. A weaker economy threatens to expose unresolved problems, such as high levels of personal debt and low productivity.

Economic troubles will test the stability of the new Spain. The economic boom has sucked in an extraordinary number of immigrants from Latin America, north Africa and eastern Europe. In the past eight years, the Spanish population has risen from 39m to more than 45m. Mr Zapatero legalised 700,000 illegal immigrants in his first term in office. They are likely to be among the first to lose their jobs in a downturn.

The conservative opposition’s unsuccessful attempt to use illegal immigration against Mr Zapatero during the election suggests that the Spanish people are – so far – reasonably comfortable with rapid social change.

But the bitter tone of Spanish politics suggests the opposite – a society that remains deeply divided. William Chislett, author of a new book on the country, Spain: Going Places (Telefónica), observes that “parliamentary life has become vicious” over the past four years.

Some of this viciousness stems from the Zapatero government’s deliberate re-opening of debate about the legacy of the Spanish civil war. The other source of poison is the continuing argument over the terrorist bombings of March 2004, which killed 191 Madrid commuters. While al-Qaeda’s terrorism brought about a spirit of national unity in the US, in Spain the opposite happened.

The conservative Popular party blamed its defeat in the 2004 elections, which came just a few days after the Madrid bombings, on a backlash caused by terrorism. Many in the party continued to insist – against the evidence – that Basque separatists had played a role in the bombings. The PP leadership seemed to have trouble accepting the legitimacy of the Socialist victory in 2004.

The fact that Mr Zapatero has now won re-election may force the conservatives to recognise the government’s legitimacy without further equivocation. That, in turn, could help drain some of the bitterness from Spanish politics. If Mr Zapatero is now compelled to concentrate on the economy, rather than social issues, that too may help to normalise and banalise Spanish politics.

But, in other ways, Mr Zapatero’s second term looks like being much tougher than his first. For the past 20 years, successive Spanish prime ministers have been able to enjoy the domestic and international benefits of presiding over a national renaissance. Now, like the Italians before them, the Spanish are about to discover that la dolce vita does not last forever.

gideon.rachman@ft.com

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/12dd0ea0-f443-11dc-aaad-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

Sal Paolantonio: Professor, Renaissance Man, and Sportscaster Extraordinare

Sal Paolantonio (born June 13, 1956 in Queens, New York) graduated from the State University of New York at Oneonta in 1977 with a bachelor of arts degree in history. He also attended New York University, where he received a master's degree in journalism in 1978. Paolantonio served in the U.S. Navy from 1979-1983 where he was awarded the United Nations Meritorious Service Medal in 1983. He is married with three children.

Sal was a political reporter and Philadelphia Eagles beat reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer from 1993-1995. During that time he also served as a reporter for WPHL-TV nightly news show, Inquirer News Tonight and hosted Saturday Morning Sports Page on WIP (AM) sports radio. In 1993, he published his first book, a biography of Frank L. Rizzo entitled The Last Big Man in Big City America.

Paolantonio now is a Philadelphia-based bureau reporter for ESPN, primarily reporting on NFL stories. Since joining ESPN in 1995, Paolantonio has become a staple in their NFL coverage, as he contributes to shows such as SportsCenter, NFL Live, Sunday NFL Countdown (from a game site) and Monday Night Countdown (from the Monday Night Football site). In 2004, he added studio work to his duties, replacing Suzy Kolber as the host of NFL Matchup, an X's and O's football show, joining him are Merril Hoge and Ron Jaworski. His best known work for ESPN is covering the Terrell Owens saga with the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Sal has also been an adjunct professor at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia since 2001.

In 2007, he and fellow sports journalist Reuben Frank put out The Paolantonio Report: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players, Teams, Coaches, and Moments in NFL History, ISBN 1600780253. As of Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007, it was the best-selling NFL book in the country according to Amazon.com.

On Russian Czars and Rushing Yards: The Sublime Erudition of Sal Paolantonio

South Jersey Magazine

Volume 4 Issue 21

March 18, 2008

With a recently published book and another waiting in the wings, Moorestown resident, ESPN sportscaster, and Renaissance man Sal Paolantonio looks back on the smarter side of sports.

Look for the door. That's what Sal Paolantonio tells his journalism students. Look for the door no one is looking for. And when you find it? Walk through the opening. The answers you seek are on the other side, the things no one else sees, the information that sets you apart and makes the whole enterprise matter.

The others look, but they don't see. They don't peer behind the curtains. They don't bang down the walls. They don't dig and dig until the bare bones of knowledge jut out like preserved fossils. Sal Paolantonio is different.

He found the door and it opened, beckoning him like the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. In he went, and success awaited, step by every hard-earned step. Decorated serviceman. Premier political reporter. Noted author. Passionate professor. National correspondent for the worldwide sports media giant. Beaming father.

"Sal can sift through the conventional wisdom and know what's really going on," says Congressman Rob Andrews, a friend. "He's willing to look for the aspect of a story that isn't obvious but is very important."

Now, the Moorestown resident resides comfortably at the pinnacle. Need someone to go to the Super Bowl and cover the perfect team? Call Sal Paolantonio. Looking for a personality to host the most respected football show in the business? Sal Pal. Can't find the right author to legitimize your football book? Check The Paolantonio Report, available at all book stores.

So, here's the latest report: It's good to be Sal.

"There's 10,000 guys like you that want my job," the 51-year-old says, prodding me with a knowing chuckle. "I know there are, 'cause I go to college campuses all the time and talk to people, and they all want to be me. They don't get to be me."

It sounds like bragging" and maybe it is a little" but there are hard-won lessons behind that admission, and he unabashedly emphasizes the privilege of working for ESPN ("Print that," he insists). In Paolantonio's world, journalism is a sacred mission, a bond of trust between reporter and reader. To violate that agreement is to compromise yourself and, more importantly, betray the people you're meant to serve. "You have to practice responsible journalism in an aggressive environment," he explains about working in the national media spotlight. "Every day. Every day. Every day! The NFL doesn't sleep."

Dream jobs, on the other hand, apparently do. It's the door behind the door, and even the clear-eyed don't always see it.

New Year's Eve, 1988, and Sal Paolantonio is in a fog. But not the way you're probably thinking.

The Eagles are in the playoffs, and Paolantonio"ace political reporter—is dispatched to Chicago to do a rare sports piece on Bears coach Mike Ditka, who suffered a heart attack during the season. It is the same week Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer Jere Longman chooses to engage in a bitter feud with his editor. Harsh words are thrown around, the editor is called a "wire service hack," Longman is sent home, and the phone rings in Paolantonio's Chicago hotel room. It's sports editor Dave Tucker on the line: "We want you to stay out and cover the game." New Year's Day, 1989. The Fog Bowl splashes across the Inquirer's front page with Paolantonio's byline. A dream career is launched, except the writer doesn't know it. Football reporter? You got the wrong guy. There are still governors races to cover, presidential contests, a mayoral race so juicy that Paolantonio would eventually be compelled to write a book about it (Frank Rizzo: The Last Big Man In Big City America).

But football was always there, coursing like strands of DNA that bind the center. Sal, the high school football player. Sal, the kid who collected 50 cent sports bets in the lunchroom cafeteria. Sal, the fan who worshipped at the altar of Lombardi, just like his father Vito and thousands upon thousands of other Italian-Americans, the ones who became Packer fans instantly after the famed coach left the Giants' ranks. Sal, the Long Island boy who pedaled his bike next to his brother down Hempstead Turnpike and stepped onto Hofstra's campus to watch Joe Namath toss passes under the blazing August sun.

Paolantonio had the writing bug, for sure. That much was apparent, even before he earned his own sports column at the SUNY-Oneonta school newspaper. But a sports writer? For a living? It wasn't enough. "I wanted to be a journalist," Paolantonio remembers, and if the distinctions are blurred now, they were never so clear as they were then.
Yet, into the door he went.

Graduating after three years because there wasn't any money for a fourth.
Joining the Navy to honor his family's storied tradition of service and to satisfy the wanderlust of a kid insulated by the comfortable confines of New York for almost his entire life.
A masters of journalism at NYU, latching onto the Albany paper and bolting to the Inquirer two years later.
Marrying an incredible girl, Lynn, and raising three daughters all along the way.

Destination paper, destination career, destination life. A journalist had finally found a home. Then, eventually, the fog lifted. It was 1993 and the Inky was looking for a new Eagles beat writer. And Paolantonio was looking for a change.

"I absolutely loved it," he says about the move to the Eagles beat, and given the plaudits he quickly earned, so did much of the city. Clearly, this was a different breed of sports scribe, his talent honed for years under the big top of high politics. "He would always tell me," says friend Vai Sikahema, a local NBC sportscaster whose final season on the Eagles coincided with Paolantonio's first, "'You know, covering sports is no different than covering politics. The games are just different. The people are the same.'"

Those were tumultuous years for the Eagles franchise. Free agency descended on the league and defensive stalwart Reggie White bolted for Green Bay pastures. Coach Rich Kotite was severely underwhelming the notoriously fickle fan base. And maligned owner Norman Braman was in the process of selling the team to movie mogul Jeffrey Lurie. But Paolantonio's nose for news shone through. "Nobody could reach Jeff Lurie and nobody had any idea what was going on," recalls Burlington County Times football writer and Paolantonio Report co-author Reuben Frank about one instance while the team was being sold. "And I remember sitting in this little press room at the Vet, this tiny little room, and Sal just getting on his phone, and we hear, 'Jeff, it's Sal.'"

ESPN came knocking quickly. The network's blueprint called for targeting top newspaper reporters and allowing their instincts to flourish in the televised medium. Exciting as it was, Paolantonio had just a one-year contract, very little TV experience, and mouths to feed at home. "It scared the life out of me," he says about making the switch. "I didn't really think A) I could do it, or B) I was qualified."

Over a decade later, he's clearly dispelled both trepidations. In his time there, ESPN transformed from a growing television sports destination into a multimedia colossus, and Paolantonio went along for the ride, branching out into Web site and magazine writing, radio appearances and television hosting duties (since 2004 he's been the host of "NFL Matchup," the heaviest Xs-and-Os strategy show in the business). Turn on the TV during football season and it's hard not to catch a glimpse of Paolantonio, reporting ruddy-faced and smiling on a crisp fall day from the sideline of any number of Northeast gridiron epicenters.

"You have all these places where you can exercise all of the reporting muscles you want," he remarks. "And not every network correspondent can do that. Take a look at CNN. You don't see Wolf Blitzer writing too much stuff on CNN.com."

It's a high-profile existence, and it comes with its own unlikely celebrity. "You walk around at stadiums," he says, "and people are shouting your name like you're an athlete. And you have to sort of think, 'Okay, you're just a reporter. Let's not let this go to your head.' It's pretty powerful. With that comes a tremendous responsibility. You can't get stuff wrong."

So says the man whose work never felt so right; the journalist who found a home in the very place he never expected to be.

Vai Sikahema has a secret about Sal Paolantonio.

"He is one of the most well-read people I've ever met in my life, and on all kinds of subjects," he says.

I'm not a sportscaster; I just play one on TV. That could be Paolantonio, for his friends—without exception—swear by his versatility. The college history major is now the professor who strides into class and scrawls five book titles on the black board, a sampler cutting across all eras, genres and domains—not just sports.

Renaissance Man. That's what Congressman Andrews calls him. The kind of guy who's as apt to talk about Russian czars as he is about rushing yards: "He's one of the few people I know who can talk with interest and knowledge on a lot of subjects. I've never had a dull conversation with Sal."

Uncompromised Man. That's what Frank calls him. Someone who won't betray his convictions, be it pushing his book publisher to use a higher-quality stock of paper, or railing against "The Sopranos" for its portrayal of Italians (something Paolantonio did vocally earlier this decade when one of his ESPN televised reports was used in the show). "He's very forceful in fighting for what he believes is right," states Frank.

Family Man. That's what Sikahema calls him. The sort of person who eschews sports talk to ruminate on parenting. "There's one simple reason why Sal and I became really, really good friends. Because we're both good fathers, and we talk a lot about parenting."

Indeed. Paolantonio couldn't be more proud of his three grown daughters—the youngest now in college—and he acknowledges the toll a career spent on the road can sometimes take.

Nonetheless, he recites a proverb Sikahema taught him: "No amount of success in the world can compensate for failure in the home." Or, as he succinctly reconstructs it, "Shalom in the home." The awards and accolades can line up to the length of a football field, but there's one simple truth from the man who has spent his whole life in pursuit of them: "My daughters have been everything to me."

Super Bowl XLII is over, the season finished, an unlikely champion crowned. Some of the players and fans left while others stayed, basking in the glow of an upset for the ages. The media, diligently working late into the night, finished up their reports, the flicker of camera lights dwindling as they switched off one by one. Some go home, others to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. The work seems to never end.

But finally he returns, flying back to Philadelphia, driving his car across the Betsy Ross Bridge into South Jersey, into his neighborhood, onto his street, in front of his house. He reaches the door no one is looking for—not the fans, not the public, not the watchful eyes of television cameras—and he opens it and he steps inside. Sal Paolantonio is finally home....

Triumph Books was so pleased that it signed up Paolantonio for a second book: How Football Explains America. Previously unannounced, the book will examine the cultural history of the game in the United States and will be released in September.

Siena: An Italian City for Italians

700 years ago, Siena was a major military power in a class with Florence, Venice and Genoa, with a population of 60,000, it was even bigger than Paris.

Today, Siena's thriving historic center, with traffic-free red brick lanes cascading every which way, offers Italy's best Gothic city experience, and as the city that hosts Europe's most famous and frantic horse race, the Palio.

Siena: An Italian City for Italians

Find the nation's soul in Siena, home of the Palio

HeraldNet - Everett,WA,USA By Rick Steves, Tribune Media Services Sunday, March 16, 2008

Siena seems to be every Italy connoisseur's pet town. More than a sum of places to see, Siena itself is the sight.

Grab a gelato and join in the evening stroll. You'll end up at the town's glorious red brick main square, Il Campo. Lean up against a pillar as the setting sun plays games with the colors of the stone and the sky. At twilight, first-time poets savor that magic moment when the sky turns into a rich blue dome as bright as the medieval tower that holds it high.

Siena was a major military power in a class with Florence, Venice and Genoa 700 years ago. With a population of 60,000, it was even bigger than Paris.

To say that Siena and Florence have always been competitive is an understatement. In medieval times, a statue of Venus stood on Il Campo. After the plague hit Siena in the 14th century, the monks blamed the pagan statue.

The people cut it to pieces and buried it along the walls of Florence. The dirty trick didn't work, and the plague was disastrous for Siena. The city's loss became our sightseeing gain, as its political and economic irrelevance pickled it Gothic.

Today, Siena's thriving historic center, with traffic-free red brick lanes cascading every which way, offers Italy's best Gothic city experience. Most people visit Siena, just 30 miles south of Florence, as a day trip, but it's best experienced after dark. While Florence has the blockbuster museums, Siena has an easy-to-enjoy soul. Courtyards sport flower-decked wells and alleys dead-end at red-tiled rooftop views.

For those who dream of a Fiat-free Italy, this is it. Sit at a cafe on Il Campo. Take time to savor the first European city to eliminate automobile traffic from its main square (1966), and then, just to be silly, wonder what would happen if they did it in your city.

This great central piazza is urban harmony at its best. Like a people-friendly stage set, its gently tilted floor fans out from the tower and city hall backdrop. It's the perfect invitation to loiter. Think of it as a trip to the beach without sand or water. Don't miss the Fountain of Joy at the square's high point, with its pigeons politely waiting their turn to gingerly tightrope down slippery snouts to slurp a drink.

Siena's Campo gathers around its city hall, not its church. It was a proud republic and its "declaration of independence" is the tallest secular medieval tower in Italy, the 300-foot Torre del Mangia. (It was named after a hedonistic watchman who consumed his earnings like a glutton consumes food; his statue is in the courtyard.) The steps get pretty skinny at the top, but the reward is one of Italy's best views.

And if you are atop that tower on July 2 or Aug. 16, you'll see a vast square jammed with people, as the city hosts Europe's most famous and frantic horse race, the Palio.

During each Palio, 10 of the 17 neighborhoods compete (chosen by rotation and lot), hurling themselves with medieval abandon into several days of trial races and traditional revelry. Jockeys are considered hired guns, paid mercenaries. But on the big day, the horses are taken into their neighborhood church to be blessed. "Go and return victorious," says the priest. (It's considered a sign of luck if a horse leaves droppings in the church.)

On the big day, Il Campo is stuffed to the brim with locals and tourists, as the horses charge wildly around the square in this literally no-holds-barred race. A horse can win even if its rider has fallen off. After the winner crosses the line, a 17th of Siena goes berserk for the next 365 days.

In the Palio, the feisty spirit of Siena's 17 neighborhoods lives on. They celebrate, worship and compete together. Each has its own parish church, well or fountain, and even its own historical museum. Neighborhood pride is evident any time of year in the parades and colorful banners, lamps and wall plaques. (If you hear distant drumming, run to it for some medieval action, often featuring flag-throwers.)

While the actual Palio packs the city, you could day-trip in from Florence to see horse-race trials each of the three days before the main event (for details, visit www.ilpalio.org).

The Palio is not some folkloristic event kept alive for tour groups. It's a real medieval moment. When I considered filming it for my public-television show, local authorities said they'd rather not publicize it. If you're there for the race -- packed onto the square with 15,000 people, all hungry for victory -- you won't see much, but you will feel the spirit of Siena.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080316/LIVING05/902345565

Those Honey Bees are Most Likely Italian !! ??

Incredulously, considering the huge number of crops in the US that are entirely reliant on Honey Bees, they only made their first appearance in the U.S. just 100 years ago (The U.S. has no native honey bees - they are all imported from somewhere else).

There are considered to be 5 types (Races) of Honey Bees: The most Common is the Italian, yes from Italy. The other common honey bee race is the Carniolans, or Carnies. These honey bees originated in the mountainous parts of eastern Europe.

The other two races of bees ... the Caucasians and the Russians are somewhat different yet, though not very common And of course, there are the Africans .... and you don’t want those at all.

Italian Honey Bees: Active, And Very Demanding Pollinators

The Daily Green

March 15, 2008

By far the most common honey bee type, or Race, as they are called, are the Italians. Originally from, yes, Italy, they made their first appearance in the U.S. more than 100 years ago (The U.S. has no native honey bees - they are all imported from somewhere else). Semi-tropical in nature, their life style follows that type of environmental formula and they do best where there are early, early springs, and late, or even no fall and winter breaks, typical of the southern half of that Peninsular country. So they get busy very early in the season, and keep busy very late in the season. If you live in Florida, that’s a good thing. If you live in Ohio it can be a challenge because they don’t care if it’s winter outside or not when they begin raising young right about the first of the year, eating lots of food, and needing lots of room.

If you are a pollinator, or want to take advantage of early-season blooms in your area for a honey crop then these are the bees for you. Italians are, generally, what everybody thinks of when they think of a honey bee. Their color ranges from a bright yellow with light tan stripes, to a husky gold with black stripes but all forms tend toward the attractive side ... if you appreciate how honey bees actually look. The queens are especially attractive, with broad, golden abdomens, with few if any stripes. They stand out among their daughters and are easy to find in a hive full of bees.

However, because Italians rise early and stay up late, as it were, they can be very demanding for food. They will eat you out of house and home if there isn’t anything blooming when they get hungry in the spring, and they can eat everything in sight when they are cooped up for a long winter break up north. If you’re on top of them Italians are a good race of bees to have. If you get behind however, your bees can starve in a New York minute and you’re left with an empty stack of boxes and a mess. Living in the south, or being ahead of schedule all of the time is what is required to be successful with Italians.

Carniolan Honey Bees: Good in the Cold, But Often On Hold

The other common honey bee race is the Carniolans, or Carnies. These honey bees originated in the mountainous parts of eastern Europe, and as a result take a whole different slant on how they interact with their environment. Because spring comes fast in the mountains, and the summer that follows is just as fast, you have to be ready for Carnies to get going. But they can be just a bit too patient sometimes, keeping you guessing.

Because mountain winters tend to be long, cold, snowy and in general difficult, Carnies are really, really good at surviving in cold, winter locations. They don’t raise much, if any brood during the winter, thus conserving lots of food for the coming spring, and having it at the ready when needed in the spring. The queen will wait until resources are ready outside before she begins laying eggs but then will rapidly, very rapidly expand the brood nest and the population of the colony. If you are prepared as a beekeeper, this is an energetic race of bees and you need to have your equipment ready before they are ready, or they will swarm at the drop of a hat. That’s not such a good thing.

However, being resource aware if you have a drought or a long rainy spell in the summer they will then, too do the same thing...that is quit producing brood, quit using their stored food, and more or less go on hold.

As far as gentle goes ... Carniolans win hands down, but Italians are so very gentle that winning doesn’t mean much. Both of these races of bees are great to have in an urban setting, and will do well for you. One big difference you will not right off is the color ... Italians tend toward yellow/gold with brown/black stripes on the abdomen. Carniolans, on the other hand, are dark ... nearly black with only the hint of grayish stripes on their backsides. Queen, too are dark, making them stand out less from their daughters and a bit more difficult to find.

The other two races of bees ... the Caucasians and the Russians are somewhat different yet, though not very common we’ll cover those at a later time. And of course, there are the Africans .... and you don’t want those at all.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/bees/beekeeper-55031501

U.S. and Italy Break Austrian Stranglehold on Ski World Cup

US skiers Lindsey (Kildow) Vonn took the women's overall and downhill titles, while Bode Miller sealed the men's overall crown, and Ted Ligety also snatched the men's giant slalom globe trophy

Italy's Manfred Moelgg took Raich's slalom crown, Denise Karbon scooped a globe after an astonishing season in the women's giant slalom, winning five of the seven races despite a broken thumb.

Austria had to be satisfied with Marlies Schild retaining the slalom World Cup on Friday and Hannes Reichelt's triumph in the men's Super-G

U.S. and Italy Break Austrian Stranglehold

Reuters By Mark Meadows Sat Mar 15, 2008

BORMIO, Italy (Reuters) - Last season Austrian women claimed all the World Cup titles and Benjamin Raich won the men's slalom but in 2008 they were left trailing by the resurgence of American and Italian skiing.

Lindsey Vonn took the women's overall and downhill titles while Bode Miller sealed the men's overall crown after holder Aksel Lund Svindal was injured in November.

It was the first time since 1983 that Americans were overall winners in the men's and women's events.

Ted Ligety also snatched the men's giant slalom globe trophy for the U.S. on Friday after winning the season's last two races.

Vonn, formerly known as Lindsey Kildow, had an ominous warning for her Austrian rivals after claiming her maiden title.

"I have always dreamed of winning a globe. Those things continue to drive me. It's not going to stop," the 23-year-old told reporters at the joint men's and women's grand finals in Italy.

Last season's overall champion Nicole Hosp finished second after the final giant slalom on Saturday but in reality the Austrian barely challenged Vonn, who won the main title by a huge 220 points.

Vonn's best friend Maria Riesch of Germany won the Super-G title on Thursday and was the American's main threat, only dropping down to third overall after Vonn's win was complete.

SOME COMFORT

Marlies Schild gave Austria some comfort by retaining the slalom World Cup on Friday and Hannes Reichelt's triumph in the men's Super-G gave the team a nice surprise, especially as Didier Cuche of Switzerland threw away the cup.

"It's maybe the biggest mistake of my career. I was really mad about my race," said Cuche after being too cautious in Thursday's Super-G and losing the title by a point.

Third overall, Cuche earned consolation with a second downhill title in a row but second-placed Raich has nothing to show for his season for the first time since 2004.

Italy's Manfred Moelgg took Raich's slalom crown by finishing joint sixth on Saturday, having only won one World Cup race in his career at Kranjska Gora in Slovenia last week.

Moelgg, fourth overall and third in the giant slalom, was helped in the slalom by Jean-Baptiste Grange of France falling over just before the line with the title almost in his grasp.

Denise Karbon joined compatriot Moelgg by scooping a globe after an astonishing season in the women's giant slalom, winning five of the seven races despite a broken thumb.

Austria's Elisabeth Goergl, who won Saturday's race to finish second behind Karbon, was unperturbed by her team's woes.

"I think it is good for the whole World Cup there are even more teams doing well. It puts a bit of spice in the whole circus. I don't think we are doing worse. The others are just doing a bit better," said Goergl.

http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSL1506114820080316?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

No Job, No Money, Not to Worry says Berlusconi: Marry Wealth

Berlusconi later in response to criticism, said it was a joke. Well, many people unemployed, or without prospects don't find it very amusing. It's sort of like Marie Antoinette being told the people did not have bread. She said "Let them eat cake".

Not only "out of touch", But with NO compassion or humanitarianism.

Job Worries? Italy Ex-PM: Marry Money

Associated Press March 14, 2008

ROME (AP) Can't make ends meet? Marry a millionaire, says Italy's former prime minister.

That piece of advice was given by billionaire media mogul and conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi, the front-runner for his former post in elections April 13-14.

A young woman asked Berlusconi on a TV show Thursday night how young couples are supposed to obtain a mortgage or start a family without a permanent job.

"This is the advice that as a father I take the liberty of giving: you should perhaps look (to marry) Berlusconi's son, or somebody else who doesn't have such problems," he replied.

"With that smile of yours, you could even get away with it," he added.

Berlusconi's off-the-cuff remarks have landed him in trouble before. This time, critics accused of being disrespectful toward women and toward young adults who cannot plan their future because they cannot find permanent jobs.

Many Italian employers prefer to give short-term job contracts because Italian law makes it very difficult to fire long-term employees.

Berlusconi dismissed the criticism, saying it was only a joke.

The woman smiled as she listened to Berlusconi's answer and told Italian media she would vote for him.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jHjx9losA_KevPR9rgnnIr_C_1tgD8VDCD0O0

Emma Marcegaglia - Italy's First Woman 'Boss of Bosses' of Confindustria

Italy's First Woman 'Boss of Bosses'

Independent Online - Cape Town, South Africa

March 13 2008

Milan - Emma Marcegaglia was set on Thursday to be named the head of Italy's Confindustria national employers' association, in a major first for her country's male-dominated business elite.

Nicknamed the "Steel Lady" for her tenacity as the managing director of her family's steel company, Marcegaglia, 42, said she was "very moved" by her new job.

She succeeds Fiat chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo after having won a 95 percent landslide vote by Italy's captains of industry last month....

Women make up around five percent of the board members of Italy's listed companies and only nine percent of high-level management positions, according to a study by Milan's Bocconi

Marcegaglia will unveil her programme on April 23 before formally taking charge of the organisation at its May 21-22 general assembly.

Married with a daughter, Marcegaglia hails from Mantua in northern Italy.

She earned an MBA at New York University and went to work aged 23 for Gruppo Marcegaglia, where she is now in charge of administration and finances alongside her brother Antonio.

The company, which had a turnover of €4,2-billion last year, is Italy's 10th largest industrial group.

Known for her polite manner, Marcegaglia is a familiar face at Confindustria.

She became the first woman to head the federation's Young Businesspeople arm in 1996 and is currently vice president for energy, political, industrial and environmental coordination.

"She is very determined and has a great analytical capacity while knowing how to remain modest and attentive to others," her secretary of 17 years Patrizia Longhini said.

"And she never lets up. For her, giving her utmost is essential."

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw20080313140401677C137179

Forbes: From AP /feeds/ap/2008/03/13/ap4769337.html

Those Italians: Penchant to Forgive and Forget is Divine.

This British Expat Goes from Furious to Fawning over the Italian Bureaucracy.

Another amazing thing is that so many complain, BUT THEY STAY !!!!!!!!!!

Diary: To Err Is Human...

The AmericanMagazine.com

Clare Pedrick,

February 2008

I know I’ve been heard to say some unkind things about my adopted country. Since I’m in confession mode, I’ll admit that in my darkest moments I have used "Italy" and "Third World" in the same sentence. The thing is, it can be an infuriating place to live and it’s such an easy target " the services don’t work, the taxes are too high, the bureaucracy a torture, the newspapers a bore and the television unwatchable"

But though I sometimes, complain, there are occasions when I feel an almost visceral rush of love for this country. Minor twinges of affection tend to occur at airports where I’m always relieved to hear people gabbling away in Italian on my way back from a trip. And I love it when some of them break into applause on landing.

But the moment that I fully understood how much I feel for this wonderful, exasperating place came a few days ago when I found a parking ticket slapped on my windscreen. The episode certainly didn’t start off too well. Furious that I was being done for €36, I swore loudly, cursing the traffic warden for being so blind and not seeing my permit which was - er - not in its usual place on the dashboard but lying on the floor.

Later that day, still very cross, I looked around for the wretched fine so that I could pay it before I forgot and found myself having to fork out double. But it was nowhere to be found. In my rage, I must have dropped it on the ground. Now absolutely seething, I called my husband " always the butt of my anti-Italian spleen when things go wrong " and persuaded him to go to the polizia municipale’s office to get a copy of the fine.

He rang me a little later with more bad news. The fine hadn’t appeared on their records yet, so I’d have to wait till a copy arrived by post, which would cost an extra €14. I was livid. But worse was to come, and I must admit, it was brave of him to tell me. Examining the police computer record, he’d spotted another fine, which would be winging its way through my letterbox in the next week or so. This one was for a whopping €157. I’d driven through a red light, it seemed. They would also be taking six points off my driver’s license.

The air was now blue as I slammed down the phone. Idiotic Italian police. In all my years’ driving, I had never gone through a red light. My husband offered to take me to the police station, where I could see a video clip of the automatic camera that had snapped me. Grudgingly I agreed, seething that it would mean missing my class at the gym.

The policeman politely offered me a seat, but I was in no mood to be cajoled. He asked for my plate number and showed no sign of being ruffled when I tartly told him that I couldn’t remember it and suggested he look on the computer. I tutted impatiently as he struggled to pull up the clip on his screen. A colleague had to intervene, as he clearly didn’t know what he was doing. At last, up came the picture of my car at a red traffic light in Spoleto. Then came the second photo, of me turning right and the traffic light still red.

Aghast, I realized I was now in big trouble. Not only would I have to pay the fine, but six points would be docked from my license. Which would mean presenting the said license to the Italian police. Which would mean that they would find out that I have been driving around for all these years with a British license, instead of getting an Italian one, as I should have done. I swallowed hard and looked up to see the policeman smiling. "You’re not Italian, are you Signora? Would you mind telling me which driver’s license you have?"

“A British one," I murmured, bracing myself for the inevitable.

He held out his hand to shake mine.

“Congratulations!” he said, laughing out loud as his colleague smiled genially. "If you have a foreign license, we can’t take any points off it. Well done!"

He shook my husband’s hand warmly too. He was possibly even happier than we were that I had managed to beat the system. "And about that other fine. If you have a permit, it might be worth contesting," he said, still beaming.

“But if I were you," said his colleague, grinning broadly, "I wouldn’t say the permit dropped on the floor. It might be better to say that it was on the dashboard and the traffic warden can’t have seen it. After all, we’re all human."

http://www.theamericanmag.com/article.php?show_article_id=813

"Mafia For Tourists", Guide Book, by Sicilian Professor Corrects Distortions

"Mafia For Tourists" is authored by Philosophy professor Augusto Cavadi, a lecturer on the Mafia at Palermo University, and is seen as an expert on the Mob.

He says "In general foreign and Italian tourists have a stereotyped view of the phenomenon and I wanted to help people understand something that is very difficult to simplify." "Even (those who) live in Sicily, many have a distorted idea of the Mafia."

It's always important to keep in mind that the Mafia leaders, do not "strut their stuff" like they do in the US, (think Gotti), but live underground and "on the run", like Provenzano who had been on the run for more than 40 years.

The Mafia is very "picturesque", but if you think every country including the US, doesn't have it's corruption, with the collaboration of business and politicians, then you are very naive.

The New Italian Guidebook 'Mafia For Tourists' Flies Off the Shelves

The Daily Mail, UK

13th March 13, 2008

It's an offer you can't refuse if you're visiting Italy on holiday this year - a tourist guidebook on the Mafia.

The 55-page pocketbook hit the streets this week and they have been flying off the shelves.

Author Augusto Cavadi, 58, says his aim is to explain "everything you ever wanted to know about the Mafia but were afraid to ask."

The guide, called "Mafia For Tourists", costs £3.50 and has been published in English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.

If you want to know what the chances of finding a horse's head in your bed or whether the Godfather really looks like Marlon Brando then this is the book for you.

Cavadi explains the origins of Cosa Nostra on their island stronghold of Sicily and the grip the Mob has.

He explains what a Mafiosi looks like and whether it's true that the Mafia won't kill women, children or priests - which they have done in the past.

Philosophy professor Cavadi is a lecturer on the Mafia at Palermo University and is seen as an expert on the Mob.

He said: "For years I've been accompanying groups of tourists who choose to come here with the aim of understanding our land and our problems.

"They always ask me the same questions: the relationship between politics and the Mafia, and how it's possible that we can't get rid of the Mob when there are 5,000 of them and five million Sicilians.

"In general foreign and Italian tourists have a stereotyped view of the phenomenon and I wanted to help people understand something that is very difficult to simplify.

"Some teachers have asked me to distribute it in schools so that children can read it.

"Even though they live in Sicily, many have a distorted idea of the Mafia."

The book has won praise from critics with one saying: "Whoever decides to visit Sicily always asks out of curiosity or fear about the Mafia.

"How do they react? What damage do they do? To these and frequent other questions this book answers honestly, intellectually without hiding the brutality of the Mafia - a stain that blackens a beautiful island.

"But at the same time is shoots down some of the unfounded myths that people may have when walking the streets."

Within the last few years the Italian government has launched a concentrated effort on fighting the Mafia.

Two years ago Italy's most wanted Godfather Bernardo Provenzano who had been on the run for more than 40 years was finally captured.

While in the last three months several senior Godfathers have also been captured but Provenzano's replacement and the new Boss of Bosses Matteo Messina Denaro is still managing to elude the authorities.

At the back of Cavadi's book is recommended list of films on the Mafia which includes the Brando classic The Godfather.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=533130&in_page_id=1811

In the Rain, Rome is Fashionable and Gallant

Londoners will usually slog bareheaded, even coatless, through most any drizzle or downpour.

But Romans never carry rain shields below a certain standard of fashion. They also are gallant. (Read to end)

In Rome's Rain, a Moment of Galanteria

Chicago Tribune By Christine Spolar Tribune correspondent March 12, 2008

ROME

In a city with movie-set vistas, even rain falls with panache.

Facing winter's chill , Romans apparently would never dream of getting wet (in stark contrast to, say, Londoners who usually slog bareheaded, even coatless, through most any drizzle or downpour). Nor would Romans carry rain shields below a certain standard of fashion.

On the dreariest of mornings, deliverymen in blue overalls roll carts down cobblestone streets with one hand. In the other, they hoist matching blue umbrellas. Women head to work with pretty waterproof parasols festooned with prints of dogs, birds and buckles.Businessmen with nattily wrapped wool scarves at their throats embark on their journeys with wood-trimmed umbrellas in smart contrasting shades.
Mothers are by far the most precious of rain warriors. They grasp Mary Poppins-sized ombrelli, stand guard outside schools and push and shove as close to the entrance as they can. They call frantically to their over-dressed offspring who might suffer a drop of the element: "Non ti bagnare! - Don't get wet!"

A friend of mine tells me that rain in temperate Rome is actually imbued with superstition. Italians really believe it is harmful, she said, and walking without care in the rain is akin to walking barefoot in the streets.

You just don't do it.

I walk every morning for an hour--rain or shine--for exercise. I don't wear a hood; I can't imagine trying to work up a sweat with an umbrella in hand. I also realize that I am usually the only person marching ahead with a lost-in-a-lagoon look. The mustachioed barman at my local cafe looks alarmed whenever I stroll in for my morning cafe macchiato with raindrops rolling down my face.

But one morning this week, walking in the rain lived up to Rome's cinematic potential. Caught in a downpour, I was standing on a street corner near Piazza Navona, waiting for a traffic light to turn green. I blinked mistily to my left to see a crushingly good-looking man in a grey suit and bearing a nicely tartan-crested umbrella.

Self-conscious of my sodden state, I turned quickly away. Suddenly, I realized he had stepped next to me and had lifted his umbrella to cover us both. I looked up, a little wide-eyed. He shrugged, laughed out loud and maintained guard. When the light changed, we nodded, I chirped grazie and we, both smiling, turned to our separate paths.

A moment of Italian galanteria had graced the day.

www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-rome-rain-080312,1,5264856.story

"La Gazzetta dello Sport" Now Available in English for the First Time Online

Only for ALL the Important Italian Publications to be Published in English, for more of the World to be able to read the Italian point of view directly from their lips, rather than be interpreted by not so sympathetic eyes, or Not heard at all.

La Gazzetta dello Sport..it International

Its Comprehensive Online Sports Coverage Now Available in English for the First Time

From the Corriere della Sera.....

12 marzo 2008

La Gazzetta dello Sport.it has decided to invest in its international readers, those passionate fans of Italian sport all over the world who seek an authoritative website that keeps them up-to-date and informed of the latest sports news. We are therefore delighted to announce the launch of La Gazzetta dello Sport.it International, a website within a website, entirely produced in English.

La Gazzetta dello Sport.it International provides editorial content (including numerous multimedia features), in English, on football, motorsports and all other sports in which Italy is a major world force in terms of its stars, personalities and brands. La Gazzetta dello Sport.it International will be available in all four corners of the globe providing up-to-date news for the countless passionate fans of Ferrari and Ducati, Italian football and cycling, as well as for those readers keen to find out more about international tournaments or events taking place in our country.

Providing 24 hour-a-day coverage, the website’s editorial content will include not only specialist articles but also polls, results, tables and videos. Video content will comprise Gazzetta TV News, videos on the main sports headlines, basketball news (Euroleague), winter sports and Superbike.

La Gazzetta dello Sport.it is the leading online sports news information provider as the figures from February 2008 – our best ever figures – confirm: 5.8 million unique visitors, 29 million visits, 234 million page views (Nielsen SiteCensus).

This new editorial initiative is designed to increase international awareness of the La Gazzetta dello Sport brand, opening up to new audiences and increasing the number of international readers, who already log on in their tens of thousands to get the latest news in the Italian language.

http://english.gazzetta.it/ click here for English version

Francis Ford Coppola's "Tetro" Relishes New Career in Italian-Infused Argentina

Francis Ford Coppola says he has been set free. Free at last to make movies - one a year, he hopes - with full financial and artistic control, His focus now is on making beautiful, enduring films. "I want personally for people to say, 'God, that was beautiful!' "

Unfortunately, the five-time Oscar winner, best known for "The Godfather" trilogy about the Corleone Mafia family, is preparing to shoot a film about another although much different, but equally dysfunctional, Italian-immigrant clan.

"Tetro," follows two sons of a great but monstrously self-absorbed orchestra conductor in contemporary Argentina.

I would have liked to see Coppola show a little penance for being so instrumental in creating a Negative Italian American image.

Francis Ford Coppola Relishes New Start in Italian-Infused Argentina

Yahoo News From The Associated Press By Bill Cormier, Monday, March 10, 2008

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - In the trendy heart of Argentina's Italian community, Francis Ford Coppola says he has been set free.

Free at last to make movies - one a year, he hopes - with full financial and artistic control, taking advantage of Argentina's relatively low production costs and the creative inspiration he finds on the streets of its capital.

"After a while I realized that I was getting further and further away from what my original intentions had been," the 68-year-old filmmaker said in an interview with The Associated Press. "So at this age I decided, 'Well, why don't I make the kinds of films I wanted to do when I was 18? I'll just do it later in life.' "

The five-time Oscar winner, best known for "The Godfather" trilogy about the Corleone Mafia family, is preparing to shoot a film about a much different, but equally dysfunctional, Italian-immigrant clan.

"Tetro," for which Coppola wrote an original screenplay, follows two sons of a great but monstrously self-absorbed orchestra conductor in contemporary Argentina.

Much of the film will be shot in La Boca, a neighbourhood marked by the legacy of poor Italian immigrants who arrived by the shiploads in the early 20th century. Researching his tale, Coppola discovered many parallels between Buenos Aires and the New York he grew up in.

"Italian families emigrated to Argentina and the United States, and very often brothers in the same family would go two different directions," Coppola explains, relaxing in the courtyard of his new home and studio, which comes complete with the steel barbecue grill no self-respecting Argentine would do without.

Coppola, who splits his time now between the San Francisco Bay area and Argentina, says he felt immediately at home in this most-European of South American capitals.

He has been photographed walking alone among the shops and markets in chic neighbourhoods, a black beret pulled down over his greying hair.

"Buenos Aires is a big city like New York; it's full of life and it gave me a chance to put these characters in a slightly exotic setting where I would be free to work and pursue this more personal type of filmmaking."

Coppola has even discovered Argentina's biggest craze: attending soccer matches of the world-famous Boca Juniors team.

His stay hasn't all been pleasant - his studio was burglarized in September by thieves who stole computers and even his backup data system. Coppola made an unsuccessful public appeal for their return, but said his script for "Tetro" was never stolen, contrary to local press reports.

"They never stole the original script," he says. "They took the computers and the backup, but they only took photographs, only for the last year-and-a-half."

After a decade devoted to paying off creditors by focusing on less personal films, Coppola says he finally has the financial freedom to pursue his own projects with proceeds from his other businesses - including his California vineyard, an organic pasta business, and three luxury resorts in Belize and Guatemala.

And he continues to cast well known actors from outside the studio system.

Vincent Gallo of "Buffalo 66" and "The Brown Bunny" is the lead character in "Tetro," backed by Spanish actress Maribel Verdu of "Pan's Labyrinth" and Oscar winner Javier Bardem of "No Country For Old Men."

Newcomer Alden Ehrenreich, 18, will play a young man searching for the estranged older brother Tetro - a "tragic poet figure" who broke all family ties and moved in amid the Bohemian theatre, dance and artistic community of Buenos Aires.

Coppola said he is not unlike millions of tourists who rediscovered budget Argentina after the 2002 economic crisis.

"People are coming here, not unlike myself, because the dollar is less compromised than even in Europe or Brazil," he said.

Coppola has made fortunes on gambles like "Apocalypse Now," and lost them on commercial flops like "One from the Heart." Now he says he can finance his own movies, like "Tetro," for under $15 million.

He has even gained a decent command of Spanish, breaking into basic sentences with a clear voice.

"I feel people who come to the U.S. should definitely speak English, but I love the idea of the United States becoming a bilingual country," he explains.

At the same time, he says U.S. English speakers could benefit from learning more about Latin America's rich literary traditions.

With his 2007 film "Youth Without Youth," Coppola returned to directing after a hiatus of several years. He calls "Tetro" the "second film of my new career, so I'm just learning."

His focus now is on making beautiful, enduring films.

"I'm not really trying to make a lot of money off the movie business," Coppola said. "I want personally for people to say, 'God, that was beautiful!' "

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080310/entertainment/film_coppola_argentina

Italians Ready to Celebrate "Italian" St Patricks Day !!

Apparently few Italians and No Irish are aware of St. Patrick being of Italian (Roman) Heritage

Most Irish are wrapped up so in Mythology that they are unaware that St Patrick was born Maewyn Succat in Scotland, son of Calphurnius and Conchessa Succat, Maewyn's father was a ROMAN Citizen, and Highly placed Roman Administrator, when Britain was part of the Roman Empire.

Maewyn was kidnapped and taken to Ireland where he was a slave shepherd. After 6 years of thought and prayer he escaped, and briefly returned to his family, and then went to study for the ministry at Tours, in southern France, where his mother was well connected. He also studied at Lerins in Savoy, He was then promoted to the priesthood, and between time in Turin and Rome, he did missionary work in Britain, but felt his mission was in Ireland.

Pope Celestine I on the recommendation of St. Germain, Patrick's patron, that Patrick was given his wish of the Mission to convert Ireland, after the failure of Palladius.

Patrick never chased any snakes out of Ireland, because there were none there to start with. It was used as a metaphor for paganism.

The Irish and Italian Flags are very similar. Both are Tricolore.

The Irish Flag is Green, White, and Orange. The green color on the flag represents the native people of Ireland (most of whom are Roman Catholic). The orange color represents the British supporters of William of Orange who settled in Northern Ireland in the 17th century (most of whom are Protestant). The white in the center of the flag represents peace between these two groups of people.

The Italian Flag is Green, White and Red. Derived from an original design by Napoleon. Green was said to be Napoleon's favorite color.

We Italians should more celebratory about One of OURS and join in with the Irish!!!! See you at the Parade, with your Tricolore!!!!!

From New Advent The Catholic Encyclopedia

Maewyn Succat was born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 493. Other sources say 460 or 461 ?Ed.

He had for his parents Calphurnius and Conchessa. The former belonged to a ROMAN family of high rank and held the office of decurio in Gaul or Britain. Conchessa was a near relative of the great patron of Gaul, St. Martin of Tours.

In his sixteenth year, Patrick was carried off into captivity by Irish marauders and was sold as a slave to a chieftan named Milchu in Dalriada, a territory of the present county of Antrim in Ireland, where for six years he tended his master's flocks.

During his captivity, Patrick became very spiritual. prayed a great deal, acquired a perfect knowledge of the Celtic tongue. and, as his master Milchu was a druidical high priest, he became familiar with all the details of Druidism from whose bondage he was destined to liberate the Irish race.

After six years he fled and in a few days he was among his friends once more in Britain, but now his heart was set on devoting himself to the ministry. He studies at St. Martin's monastery at Tours, and again at the island sanctuary of Lirins Patrick put himself under the the guidance of St. Germain who a few years later promoted him the priesthood. Under St. Germain's guidance for some years was engaged in missionary work to Britain. Patrick's thoughts often turned towards Ireland.

Pope St. Celestine I, entrusted St. Patrick with the mission of gathering the Irish race into the one fold of Christ on the recommendation of St. Germain. Palladius (q.v.) had previously been unsuccessful.It was Celestine that gave him the name "Patercius" or "Patritius", not as an honorary title, but as a foreshadowing of the fruitfulness and merit of his apostolate whereby he became pater civium (the father of his people). Patrick on his return journey from Rome and turning aside to the neighboring city of Turin received episcopal consecration at the hands of its great bishop, St. Maximus, and thence hastened on to Auxerre to make preparations for the Irish mission.

It was probably in the summer months of the year 433, that Patrick and his companions landed at the mouth of the Vantry River close by Wicklow Head. The Druids were at once in arms against him. But Patrick was not disheartened. The intrepid missionary resolved to search out a more friendly territory in which to enter on his mission. First of all, however, he would proceed towards Dalriada, where he had been a slave, to pay the price of ransom to his former master, and in exchange for the servitude and cruelty endured at his hands to impart to him blessings

He continued his journey over land towards Slemish. He had not proceeded far when a chieftain, named Dichu, appeared on the scene to prevent his further advance. He drew his sword to smite the saint, but his arm became rigid as a statue and continued so until he declared himself obedient to Patrick. This was the first sanctuary dedicated by St. Patrick in Erin. It became in later years a chosen retreat of the saint. A monastery and church were erected there, and the hallowed site retains the name Sabhall (pronounced Saul) to the present day. Continuing his journey towards Slemish, the saint was struck with horror on seeing at a distance the fort of his old master Milchu enveloped in flames. The fame of Patrick's marvelous power of miracles preceeded him. Milchu, in a fit of frenzy, gathered his treasures into his mansion and setting it on fire, cast himself into the flames. An ancient record adds: "His pride could not endure the thought of being vanquished by his former slave".......

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm

Keep Attack Ads Clean says Court -'Miserable, Immoral, Sleazy Charlatan' ruled Offside

ANSA - Rome,

March 10, 2008

Using vulgar language to slam politicians isn't OK even at election time, Italy's top court ruled Monday.

Tough criticism is acceptable but not the use of ''extreme language,'' the highest court of appeals said.

The Cassation Court upheld a fine on a man, identified as Donato S., for handing out leaflets which were adjudged to have defamed a southern Italian mayor.

The leaflets called the mayor ''a miserable charlatan, power fanatic, wheeler-dealer and immoral political presence''.

Although these were not in themselves ''highly offensive,'' the Cassation judges ruled, they assumed the level of ''full-fledged, vulgar defamation'' when accompanied by adjectives such as ''ignoble'' and ''sleazy''.

Criticising an official's term in office was fine, the court ruled, as long as ''the language doesn't go over the top''.

It cautioned rivals in Italy's April 13-14 elections - at both the national and local level - to ''keep on the right side of the line'' during their campaigns.

Sicilian American Student in Syracuse Sicily Reports

Rachel Martin spent a semester in a study overseas program in her grandparent's city of Syracuse (English Siracusa,)(Italian) Sarausa (Sicilian) on the East Coast of Sicily, and one of the GREAT cities of Magna Grecia, and the Birth/Death place of Archimedes

Once described by Cicero as "the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all", the ancient center of Syracuse is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Syracuse was founded in 734 or 733 BC by Greek settlers from Corinth. Siracusa, for some time stood as the most powerful Greek city anywhere in the Mediterranean.

In the early 4th century BC, Dionysius built a massive fortress on the small island of Ortygia, which was the nucleus of the ancient city, and 22 km-long walls around all of Syracuse.The three Punic wars involved mostly the Carthaginians and Sicily.

The journalists describe Siracusa as a small town, but it has a population of 120,000.

Martin from her report stated "Studying abroad taught me so much about European culture and changed my views from ethnocentric to more global", but from her report she missed the incredible rich history of the City of Syracuse and Island of Sicily.:(

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syracuse,_Italy

An American Perspective on College Life in Sicily

The Tennessee Journalist

Knoxville , Tennessee

By Brigitta Andrews
By Tiffany Greaves
February 12, 2008

Some college students don’t make study abroad a priority. For senior Rachel Martin, it wasn’t even a question.

“I always knew I wanted to study in Italy because of my Italian heritage. I wondered how my grandfather lived. I wanted to immerse myself in another culture to effect and be affected by how they live," she said.

Martin spent last spring in Sicily, Italy where she felt she got to experience the life of true Italians. Living in an apartment in the small town of Siracusa with no television, internet or clothes dryer, she adapted to life as a college student in Italy.

Her classes varied from cooking, history of the European Union and Italian language, to political theory of Plato and Aristotle. Martin said she loved the cooking class because she learned to cook Italian food the way authentic Italians prepare it. She even learned to gut a fish.

Martin said her typical day began with a 20-minute walk to the market where she would buy food for the day. None of the students had vehicles, and there was no local public transportation in her area, so walking was the prime mode of transportation.

She would go to two or three classes before the town shut down for a two hour lunch break. Unlike America, every business and restaurant closed at 2 p.m. and opened again at 4 p.m. Martin used this time in the afternoon to nap or take walks along the clear blue water of the Mediterranean.

“Businesses over here would close in the afternoon," she said. "Everyone took naps. It wasn’t a big deal to re-open the businesses on time. It was something to get used to. Things there are about quality, not quantity."

A typical night would consist of a home-cooked dinner, soccer at a local park, studies or venturing out for some gelato. No television or internet made time for reading books, relaxing and building close relationships with friends and roommates.

One thing Martin noticed was the difference between young Italian girls and American girls. She said it was strange that Italian girls were nowhere to be seen. At night, bars were packed with Italian men and American girls. She said it was even accepted for an Italian man to have an Italian and American girlfriend at the same time.

“The men there are really assertive. College life is really different there than here. No one really lives on campus, they usually live at home with their moms," she said.

Martin also recalled being treated with kindness and respect. She said everyone in the town knew each other and treated her like family. Back in Knoxville for her last semester, Martin says she misses her time in Italy but is also glad to be home.

“Studying abroad taught me so much about European culture and changed my views from ethnocentric to more global. It taught me independence and how to figure things out on my own because I didn’t speak the language," she said.

http://tnjn.com/2008/feb/10/an-american-perspective-on-col/

Italians Subjected to Racist Graffiti at York University, Toronto, Canada

Those of you who like ostriches, hide your head in the sand, and think that there is NO Anti Italian effect from the torrent of Negative Stereotyping by the Media, may want to reconsider!!!!!!

Italians, Blacks, and Jews, Targeted

The Excalibur

York University, Toronto, Canada

Written by Renata Valz

Wednesday, 5 March 2008

Latest racist graffiti affects more groups on campus

Two weeks after hate crimes targeting black students popped up at York University’s Keele Campus, racist graffiti began appearing targeting Italian, Jewish, and Black people.....

Federazione Canadese Italiana (FCI) at York University sent out a formal statement to all club members on campus, stating that the door of their office in Vanier College "was defaced with racist graffiti."

“As a club, we are shocked and appalled that racist comments/graffiti even exist at an institution of higher education, such as York University. These acts are offensive and unacceptable. No individual or club, as a whole, should be subject to such acts," read the statement released by FCI (Ferazione Canadese Italiana) on Feb. 5.

FCI (Federazione Canadese Italiana) urged club members to celebrate diversity rather than condemn it.

“This is a friendly message, reminding clubs not only to be respectful towards each other, but also watchful for oppressive or racist comments and acts," the statement continued.

“As stated by Helen Keller, ‘Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.’

Frank Cappadocia, Student Community & Leadership Development (SC&LD) director, was responsible for forwarding the statement to campus clubs on Feb. 12.

"At Matt Fisico [FCI president (Federazione Canadese Italiana)] and the club’s request, this message was not sent out last week out of respect for the Multicultural Week activities underway," claimed Cappadocia in the email.

Matt Fisico, FCI (Ferazione Canadese Italiana) president, declined to comment further on the incident.

Twenty-four hours later, another set of graffiti was discovered on the first floor of the Student Centre in the men’s washroom beside the food court.

“It was hate graffiti of a kind of nature similar to what was on the YUBSA (York University Black Students Alliance) office a few weeks ago" said Rob Castle, Student Centre executive director.

Following this incident, Castle sat down with YUBSA and SC&LD to talk about the issues and YUBSA’s expectations.

The group was able to come up with measures, which included postering the Student Centre with official "hate graffiti alert" bulletins from Castle. The flyers stated that a new incident had taken place and condemned the "acts of hate".

Castle said that an investigation would be taking place and provided numbers for those who wanted to come forward with helpful information. ....

http://www.excal.on.ca/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5852

Milan Offers Drug Test Kit for Parents of Teens

A Terrific Idea !!!!

Milan Drug Test Kit Offer for Parents of Teens Stirs Dissent Europe World News Milan, Italy March 6, 2008 Milan's decision to offer parents of teenagers free kits to test their children for drugs has provoked controversy. Some 35,000 families with children aged 13-16 are set to receive by post coupons allowing them to collect the kits from hundreds of local pharmacies, the city's centre-right administration announced on its website Wednesday. Parents using the kit will be able to tell from urine samples whether their children make use of cocaine, heroin, amphetamines as well as marijuana and several other drugs. An accompanying letter provides toll free numbers for assistance. "Alarming" rates of drug abuse by young people had prompted the council to provide the kit which could also serve as a "deterrent and an "instrument of dialogue" within families, Milan's city councillor responsible for health, Giampaolo Landi di Chiavenna, said. The councillor cited research showing that 4 per cent of Milanese aged between 15 and 34 regularly make use of cocaine. By 2009 the use of this drug in Milan - Italy's second largest city and the country's financial capital - is set to increase "by between 40 and 50 per cent," said Landi di Chiavenna, a member of the right-wing National Alliance. But the "No to drugs - Let's talk about it in the family" initiative has been slammed by the centre-left opposition which points to what it says is the failure of a pilot project conducted last year targeting a single city district. Of the 3,887 Milanese families handed coupons, only 249 used them to collect the drug kits, the Corriere della Sera daily reported on Thursday. "From research done on the field what emerged is that (the kit) triggered great tensions within families," opposition Democratic Party councillor Davide Corritore said. "This operation which appears to be intended to favour pharmaceutical companies (that produce the kit) is totally inefficient," another Democratic Party councillor Marino Marilena Adamo said.

Obit: John Larner: Historian of Renaissance Italy, Columbus, and Marco Polo

John Larner was one of a group of post-war British and American historians who changed Western perceptions of Italy during the Renaissance.

Larner wrote "Italy in the Age of Dante and Petrarch, 1216-1380" (1980), a conventional textbook .Here Larner took on the difficult task of writing a general history of the whole peninsula, mainly from primary sources, and paying due attention to the lives of women, children and the poor. It was an intellectual tour de force and Larner was paid the compliment of having his book translated into Italian.

Larner wrote "Culture and Society in Italy, 1290-1420" (1971). The centrepiece of the book was a profound examination of "The artist and society". Here Larner displayed his full strength as a historian, combining a facility with archive material and administrative records with an extraordinarily deep knowledge of the arts, above all Italian literature. Through this he was able to appreciate not just the development of the individual genius and technique, but also the economic and political sinews which made it possible. For Larner the emergence of the state was crucial for the elevation of the artist through the transformation of the market for art and literature.

He then turned to the history of exploration and became an authority on Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus.

In "North American Hero - Christopher Columbus, 1702-2002", Larner visited archives in Spain and published a series of articles on Columbus, one of which,was to win the American Philosophical Society's prestigious Henry Allen Moe Prize in 1993. Larner was interested as much in the reception and use made of Columbus and his works as in the man himself.

His acclaimed "Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World" (1999) combined a study of the man and his journey overland to China at the end of the 13th century, with the history of the production of a text and an examination of its impact on the later world. Marco Polo's work has always puzzled historians; the Venetian traveller went east during the period of the Yuan dynasty, originally Mongols from the Steppes. During a stay of 17 years he claimed to have made a detailed study of the country and risen high in the Imperial government. Larner showed that crude theories of an elaborate hoax were simply wrong and that we have good reason to believe Marco Polo

Professor John Larner: Historian of Italy and Marco Polo

Independent , UK

Andrew P. Roach

Thursday, 6 March 2008

John Larner was one of a group of post-war British and American historians who changed our perceptions of Italy during the Renaissance. He then turned to the history of exploration and became an authority on Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus.

The adopted son of a schoolteacher mother and a father who worked as a park-keeper on Hampstead Heath, Larner was a grammar-school boy from suburban London who after National Service gained a place at New College, Oxford in 1951. His mother died in his first year there (he had lost his father at the age of nine) and it was a source of immense regret that he could never repay the sacrifices she had made for his education. Instead he threw himself into his work, received a first-class degree and was steered towards an interest in Italy by the seminars on the Renaissance of his tutor, Harry Bell. Considered gifted enough to pursue an academic career without a doctorate (commonly then considered an unnecessary inconvenience) Larner received a scholarship at the British School at Rome in 1954.

By his own admission, Larner did little work there in his first two years. Instead he bought a scooter, explored Italy and enjoyed the constant round of parties which were a feature of the British School in those days. At the end of two years, just as he was allegedly considering a career as a fruit-and-wine importer, he was offered a third year's scholarship. The considerable amount of charm which must have been deployed to obtain that offer suggest that the Larner persona was now firmly in place. To the end of his life he exuded a warmth and vitality that disguised his immense capacity for hard work. He did not waste the chance he had been given.

The result was The Lords of Romagna, published in English in 1965 and translated into Italian in 1972. The regional study had become integral to research into Italian history: but Larner was original in moving away from fashionable Tuscany and Rome, to study the politics of a comparative rural backwater.

Many earlier historians saw the seizure of power by aristocratic families in the late 13th century as the antithesis of the allegedly "democratic" communes; Larner saw it as an inevitable part of state building in the late Middle Ages. As unsentimental about the signorie as he was about the commune, Larner nevertheless portrayed them as the result of a professionalisation of government rather than mere lawlessness. They also fulfilled an important aspiration for local independence, both from the ambitions of universal rulers such as Pope and Emperor, and also greedy neighbours. The work struck a chord in Italy and Larner became a minor celebrity, especially in Romagna.

By this time he had taken a post at Glasgow University. In the 1960s and 1970s it was the home of talented young medievalists, including Michael Clanchy, Patrick Wormald and J.A.F. Thomson. Larner was stimulated to produce Culture and Society in Italy, 1290-1420 (1971).

The centrepiece of the book was a profound examination of "The artist and society". Here Larner displayed his full strength as a historian, combining a facility with archive material and administrative records with an extraordinarily deep knowledge of the arts, above all Italian literature. Through this he was able to appreciate not just the development of the individual genius and technique, but also the economic and political sinews which made it possible. For Larner the emergence of the state was crucial for the elevation of the artist through the transformation of the market for art and literature.

This was followed in 1980 by Italy in the Age of Dante and Petrarch, 1216-1380, a more conventional textbook as part of a Longman series. Even here Larner took on the difficult task of writing a general history of the whole peninsula, mainly from primary sources, and paying due attention to the lives of women, children and the poor. It was an intellectual tour de force and again Larner was paid the compliment of having his book translated into Italian.

This work proved to be Larner's last on mainstream Italian history. In Glasgow he had met and married Christina "Kirsty" Ross, herself a distinguished historian of Scottish witchcraft with whom he had two sons, Gavin and Patrick (the latter was to die of meningitis aged only 30). The couple's hospitality and parties in the West End of Glasgow were legendary. But in 1983 Kirsty died of cancer, leaving Larner bereft. His subsequent relationship with Jane McCusker was a fresh start which culminated in a happy marriage.

Perhaps because of this as much as for any professional reason he decided on a drastic change of direction in his research. He visited archives in Spain and published a series of articles on Columbus, one of which, "North American Hero? Christopher Columbus, 1702-2002", was to win the American Philosophical Society's prestigious Henry Allen Moe Prize in 1993. Larner was interested as much in the reception and use made of Columbus and his works as in the man himself, and this laid the foundation for the reconciliation of his old and new research interests.

His acclaimed Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World (1999) combined a study of the man and his journey overland to China at the end of the 13th century, with the history of the production of a text and an examination of its impact on the later world. Marco Polo's work has always puzzled historians; the Venetian traveller went east during the period of the Yuan dynasty, originally Mongols from the Steppes. During a stay of 17 years he claimed to have made a detailed study of the country and risen high in the Imperial government. Yet during all that time he learnt little of the language and landmarks such as the Great Wall go unmentioned in his reminiscences.

Larner showed that crude theories of an elaborate hoax were simply wrong and that we have good reason to believe Marco Polo. During his stay the Great Wall was in ruins (most of what we see today is later rebuilding). A man from Italy surrounded by vast ancient classical debris probably thought nothing of it. Knowledge of Chinese was less important than that of Mongol, the language of the ruling class which Polo did learn. Larner also closely examined textual evidence of Columbus's knowledge of his forebear and concluded that while Columbus read Polo, it was not as a bookish would-be explorer making a scientific case for funding before his trip westward, but afterwards as a simple sailor trying to identify what it was he had discovered.

John Larner spent almost his entire career in Glasgow, a city he grew to love. The university benefited from the cosmopolitan perspective of a sometimes mischievous outsider. Only those familiar with the west of Scotland can appreciate just how audacious Larner was in finishing a lecture on Calvin half an hour early on the grounds that Calvin was neither interesting nor important.

He was a genial colleague and capable teacher and, although he could be critical, was unfailingly polite. His own loud snore made him very concerned not to fall asleep during research papers. During his colleagues' more tedious offerings he would therefore sometimes challenge his neighbour to a game of noughts and crosses. Deafness and an often stated opinion that increasing administration made the job too much like hard work led to his taking early retirement in 1994.

For all his modesty and self-deprecatory humour, Larner was an important scholar who knew his own worth. As an epitaph for himself he suggested updating the conclusion of Petrarch's last letter: "You will find me to the end with my pen in my hand (or in my case my fingers at the computer)." It was very nearly so.

John Patrick Larner, historian: born Southsea, Hampshire 24 March 1930; Rome Medieval Scholar, British School at Rome 1954-57; Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, then Reader in History, Glasgow University 1957-78, Professor of History 1978-94 (Emeritus); married 1960 Kirsty Ross (died 1983; one son, and one son deceased), 1991 Jane McCusker; died Stirling 24 February 2008.

Edoardo Mantelli of Tocca, Retreats to Tuscany Retreat in Hudson Valley on Weekends

Edoardo Mantelli, originally from Milan, he left Italy at the age of 23 to study fine art in Boston. He found himself working for the fashion photographer Richard Avedon, and in 1994 he embraced the business full on and set up the Tocca label. He counts Cate Blanchett and Julianne Moore among his fans.

Mantelli spends his working week at the company’s glamorous headquarters in New York’s West 22nd Street, but on Fridays he "emigrates" to "a little bit of Tuscany", a two-hour drive away in the Hudson Valley. Edoardo, his model wife Gabriella and their children Stella, 5, and Rocco, 4, slip into the leisurely tempo of rustic living, focused on their 18th-century wood-and-stone house near the colonial town of Hurley. "It’s unspoilt, with a wild, limestone landscape which in many ways reminds me of Tuscany. When we found the house here my heart missed a beat; it was just perfect."

Gabriella adds: "We discovered that the place had belonged to Joe Eula, a renowned fashion artist considered the fastest pencil in the field. He sketched for Halston and Yves St Laurent and his drawings were seen on the pages of The Sunday Times and American Vogue. With our background in fashion, it seemed like a sign that the house should be ours."

Little Italy

Fashion designer Edoardo Mantelli may work in New York, but at weekends he retires to his own patch of Tuscany in the Hudson Valley

London Times

Vinny Lee

March 8, 2008

Italian-born Edoardo Mantelli, creative director and chairman of the fashion label Tocca, spends his working week at the company’s glamorous headquarters in New York’s West 22nd Street, but on Fridays he "emigrates" to "a little bit of Tuscany", a two-hour drive away in the Hudson Valley. As skyscrapers and bumper-to-boot traffic give way to pastures and forests, Edoardo, his model wife Gabriella and their children Stella, 5, and Rocco, 4, slip into the leisurely tempo of rustic living, focused on their 18th-century wood-and-stone house near the colonial town of Hurley.

“I used to come to this area to go rock climbing," says Edoardo. "It’s unspoilt, with a wild, limestone landscape which in many ways reminds me of Tuscany. When we found the house here my heart missed a beat; it was just perfect."

Gabriella adds: "We discovered that the place had belonged to Joe Eula, a renowned fashion artist considered the fastest pencil in the field. He sketched for Halston and Yves St Laurent and his drawings were seen on the pages of The Sunday Times and American Vogue. With our background in fashion, it seemed like a sign that the house should be ours."

“This isn’t a pristine, tidy place - it’s full of spiders," says Edoardo as he walks up the steps of the porch to the front door. "There are no fancy modern bits here. The house was built in 1720 by two Dutch brothers and much of it remains as it was. The old smokehouse now contains the pump for the swimming pool, but the well has stayed and we drink the water from it. The wooden floors were historically repaired with beaten copper patches, and many of the windows have panes of original handblown glass".

“The second sitting room was Eula’s studio and has been left much as it was when he lived here. We seem to have similar taste, which was good for us because when he died his family had trouble selling the place. Other viewers were freaked out by the amount of work that needed to be done to make it into an ‘upstate weekend residence’, but we liked it just the way it was."

Although the bones of the house remain unchanged, much of its embellishments are Mantelli’s, and reflect his laid-back style. Originally from Milan, he left Italy at the age of 23 to study fine art in Boston. He found himself working for the fashion photographer Richard Avedon, and in 1994 he embraced the business full on and set up the Tocca label. He counts Cate Blanchett and Julianne Moore among his fans.

Mantelli’s own passions include a love of old leather, especially pieces with surface decoration of tool work and stitching. By the back door aged cowboy boots rest on a bench, and worn leather chaps hang on wooden pegs. Further along the passageway is the steamroom, furnished with a simple bench, scrubbing brush and pail. At the window of the adjacent drying area a length of embroidered white voile is casually pinned to the frame and a simple china jug rests on the sill.

In the entrance hall an old Stars and Stripes flag hangs on the mellow wood walls. Stairs with well-worn balustrades lead up to the bedrooms and bathroom. The four bedrooms are dressed with antique quilts and old linen sheets. Stone walls are left exposed or clad with broad wooden planks and painted white. The furniture is minimal, and of the homely, practical wooden variety.

Much of the Mantellis’ time at the house is spent outdoors. "There’s a river at one side of the plot and the garden is amazingly well planted," says Edoardo. Sitting around the scrubbed wood table by the raised open hearth, aromatic logs burning in the grate, it doesn’t take too much effort to imagine you are in a Tuscan farmhouse, enjoying la dolce vita.

www.tocca.com

http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/interiors/article3474494.ece

Lauren Ambrose (D'Ambruoso) from "Six Feet Under", with Two Emmy Nominations to "The Return of Jezebel James"

Lauren Ambrose, who was born in Connecticut with the last name D'Ambruoso, grew up in a food-centric household of Italian-Americans. Her father, she said, is a caterer at Amarante's in New Haven, "a big, Italian, wedding-extravaganza place."

She looks exactly like her paternal grandmother, a redhead, she said, adding: "There's red hair on both sides of the family. My mother made me promise to never dye my hair. 'It'll never come back,' she said.

Profile: Lauren Ambrose

Actress Switches Gears, Tries Her First Sitcom Role

Columbus Dispatch- Columbus,OH,USA

Sunday, March 9, 2008

By Jane Wollman Rusoff

New York Times News Service

Lauren Ambrose. Too passionate for her own good. Impatient. A pain in the butt.

To hear Lauren Ambrose describe herself, you would think she has no qualms about unveiling the woman beneath that mane of long, naturally red hair.

Think again. "I hate talking about myself," the 30-year-old actress said. "Interviews drive me crazy."

She has done her share, though.

Best-known for playing rebellious teenager Claire Fisher on HBO's,"Six Feet Under," which earned her two Emmy nominations, Ambrose has switched gears from drama to comedy, reversing the transition that took her first from big-screen comedy to small-screen drama.

On the Fox series "The Return of Jezebel James" she plays a drifter who agrees to be a surrogate mother for her older sister (Parker Posey), an unmarried corporate executive who yearns for a child but is unable to have one. Dianne Wiest co-stars as their mother.

The actress has been picky in accepting film, stage and TV roles since "Six Feet Under " left the air in 2005.

She currently co-stars with Frank Langella in "Starting Out in the Evening," playing an overly ambitious graduate student.

In the summer, she played Juliet in the New York Shakespeare Festival's Central Park production of "Romeo and Juliet " -- her first stage work since a London production of Sam Shepard's "Buried Child " in 2004.

She had never envisioned doing a sitcom, she said, but "The Return of Jezebel James " seemed like a fun job and a good bet because it was developed by Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino.

The show's premise is oddly serious for a sitcom: Posey's character, Sarah, plans to conceive a child with a sperm donor and her own egg, then have estranged sister Coco move into her Brooklyn loft and carry the baby for her.

Ambrose struggles to imagine being a real-life surrogate mom.

"Well, if the conditions were right," she said after a moment. "But I'd have to be pretty Zenned-out."

The actress acknowledges being intense and passionate by nature.

"Sometimes I'm, maybe, too passionate. And then I'm devastated by things and disappointed often."

Her latest devastation: learning that she is allergic to chocolate.

Ambrose, who was born in Connecticut with the last name D'Ambruoso, grew up in a food-centric household of Italian-Americans. Her father, she said, is a caterer at Amarante's in New Haven, "a big, Italian, wedding-extravaganza place."

She looks exactly like her paternal grandmother, a redhead, she said, adding: "There's red hair on both sides of the family. My mother made me promise to never dye my hair. 'It'll never come back,' she said. I don't know if I can live up to that -- actresses are always asked to do crazy things." So far, though, so good.

Ambrose, a fan of sitcoms, still enjoys "I Love Lucy " and "The Cosby Show", programs that inspired her to become a performer.

The notion of participating in a weekly sitcom, though, is "scary," she said.

"It's different from anything I've ever done. But that's what attracted me to the whole thing."

Not that she is new to comedy. She made her film debut in a comedy, "In and Out " (1997), and her breakthrough role came in "Can't Hardly Wait " (1998), a high-school comedy in which she and Seth Green stole the show from nominal stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ethan Embry.

She went on to "Psycho Beach Party " (2000), a black comedy based on an off-Broadway cult play. As a surfer chick with multiple-personality disorder, she recalled, "I had a chance to be really wacky and take risks."

Her decision to tackle "The Return of Jezebel James " stemmed from a desire to "try on those comedians' shoes and work in the way that they, like Lucille Ball, did."

Her take on the comedic arts falls in the classic vein.

"Comedy comes out of being truthful to the pain of the moment," Ambrose said. "The more pain you can be in, the funnier it is."

Despite her childhood fascination with sitcoms, Ambrose aspired to be an opera singer, studying voice for years. When acting jobs came calling, though, singing took a back seat, and she probably won't be getting back to it anytime soon: She has a full slate of upcoming movies, including "Cold Souls " and "A Dog Year, " in which she plays, respectively, the assistant to a mad doctor and the daughter of Jeff Bridges' character.

She'll also be heard in the big-screen adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic book, "Where the Wild Things Are," due next year.

http://dispatch.com/live/content/arts/stories/2008/03/09/1A_LAUREN_AMBROSE_ART_03-09-08_E1_PM9HOIO.html?sid=101

Italian "La Scala" Suffers From Foreign "Infiltration"

Since the departure of Riccardo Muti three years ago the great Milanese theatre, La Scala, has been run by foreigners: the sovrintendente is French, his artistic administrator is from the New World.

La Scala still manages to cast Italian repertoire with a reasonable quotient of Italian singers, in spite of an alarming shrinkage in the reservoir of voices suited to the Verdi/Puccini repertoire. There has been a stab at "creativity", but there has been a serious eroding of quality.

Authentic Italy goes Multinational

Financial Times By Andrew Clark March 9 2008

Il Trittico/Wozzeck

La Scala, Milan

For any non-Italian visiting the home of Italian opera, the expectation is that you will have the archetypal Italian operatic experience: rousing choruses, flamboyant singing, ardent expressions of love, revenge and death. And once you have taken in the aura of La Scala, with its red velvet boxes and magnificent central chandelier and sense of tradition (all of which, after nearly 30 years of visits, I still marvel at), you do invariably get a flavour of how the Italians understand their "lyric theatre" - as an integral part of national culture that extends beyond narrow interests and income brackets.

As for what takes place on stage, anyone expecting the archetypal Italian experience should think again. This season alone includes Lorin Maazel’s 1984 (a derivative musicking of George Orwell), Macbeth with a Japanese conductor, a Peter Stein staging of Bartók and a co-production with Berlin of Prokofiev’s The Gambler. Since the departure of Riccardo Muti three years ago the great Milanese theatre has been run by foreigners: the sovrintendente is French, his artistic administrator is from the New World.

La Scala still manages to cast Italian repertoire with a reasonable quotient of Italian singers, in spite of an alarming shrinkage in the reservoir of voices suited to the Verdi/Puccini repertoire - in direct contrast to those native singers now making international careers in baroque opera. And it still attracts Italian conductors of the calibre of Riccardo Chailly and Daniele Gatti, the two most obvious contenders for the vacant post of music director.

But there was nothing typically Italian about its latest productions of Puccini’s Il Trittico and Berg’s Wozzeck. Wozzeck, not exactly noted for bel canto, was treated to a seamless, uncluttered production that impressed above all for the way it profiled the aching lyricism of the music. The orchestra, responding to Gatti’s impassioned command, mastered Berg’s complex score as if it was in the blood. The performance ran without a break " no opportunity for Milan’s fashionistas to parade in the interval " but a packed audience listened intently and applauded enthusiastically, in spite of the absence of star singers.

All this was evidence that Milan has a distinguished, though largely unrecognised, tradition in German opera, nurtured in the postwar era by Furtwängler, Karajan and Sawallisch. If you wanted evidence of the enduring strength of this trans-Alpine attraction of opposites, Wozzeck provided it. In fact, Berg’s opera was performed at La Scala (with Tito Gobbi as Wozzeck) even before it reached Covent Garden in 1952, and Claudio Abbado conducted it there throughout the 1970s.

Jürgen Flimm’s 10-year-old staging, lovingly revived in the designs by Erich Wonder and Florence von Gerkan, is the most visually beautiful I have seen. A simple centrepiece of curved panelling, with a rear horizontal strip of changing colours, cradles every scene, while paradoxically hardening the expressionistic punch of Wozzeck’s downtrodden fate. The only false note was provided by Flimm’s bizarre decision to have the orchestra seated on stage in the inn scene. Georg Nigl was the appealingly young Wozzeck, Evelyn Herlitzius a heart-wrenching Marie, while the veteran Heinz Zednik provided a surprise cameo as the Fool.

The Trittico " a triptych of one-acters that runs from verismo melodrama (Il tabarro) through sentimental tragedy (Suor Angelica) to wicked comedy (Gianni Schicchi) " was, by contrast, stolidly staged, indifferently cast and tepidly received. At Thursday’s first night one of the singers was booed " Italian opera has its less attractive traditions " and it was nearly midnight before the final curtain came down.

Luca Ronconi’s staging makes no attempt at a radical update but has none of the charm of tradition. Il tabarro is tepid and un-atmospheric -Margherita Palli’s realistic Seine barge and Silvia Aymonino’s 1920s costumes don’t help - while Gianni Schicchi unfolds on a sea of crimson brocade, with everyone in mid-20th-century costume except, bizarrely, the rogue title character, dressed like a medieval Punch. At least La Scala had invested in three separate sets " it is false economy to dress this triptych in the same clothes " and Suor Angelica is easily the most eye-catching. A monumental statue of the Madonna lies prostrate across the stage, an apt symbol of sacrificial motherhood and the judgmental power of the Church, the two dominant themes of a work set in a convent.

Ronconi bathes the opera in unrelenting light, as if to starve it of sentiment, and the ending, in which Angelica commits suicide and is symbolically reunited with the deceased child she had out of wedlock, has more bathos than pathos. Chailly played a part in this by refusing to indulge the music. He then conducted a needle-sharp account of Schicchi - though overall the first night sounded as if the music still needed some bedding in.

Hearing Puccini at La Scala is always special, but you’re best to go for an opera with rousing choruses and a cast more distinguished than this. Paoletta Marrocu’s Giorgetta, the adulterous wife in Il tabarro, had clearly been chosen more for pouty looks than her modest soprano. Barbara Frittoli’s Angelica suggested that, for all her eloquent musicianship, hers is not a Puccini voice: "Senza Mamma" lacked bloom. The Schicchi was Leo Nucci - an unexpected triumph for a veteran baritone whose voice, always lean of timbre, sounded remarkably robust, an impression doubtless influenced by the old-school quality of his vocal acting. The Michele was the Spaniard Juan Pons, whose stage personality is no more imposing than when I first heard him at La Scala 25 years ago as a young Falstaff in the Strehler production. The other non-Italian principals were Mariana Lipovsek, a suitably chilling Zia Principessa in Angelica, and Nino Machaidze’s pale Lauretta in Schicchi.

It was fascinating to hear Gatti and Chailly on consecutive nights. Gatti conducts more from the heart, Chailly from the head. Both are seasoned theatre musicians. Gatti will preside over next season’s opening production of Don Carlo, with Tosca, Lulu and Falstaff to follow. Chailly has plenty of engagements in La Scala’s concert series. I wouldn’t bet on either getting the music directorship soon. The job has been watered down since Stéphane Lissner, La Scala’s sovrindendente, combined artistic and administrative power in his own hands. All this suggests that, for the foreseeable future, the archetypal Italian opera experience may exist more in the mind than in reality.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/8d34f310-ec65-11dc-86be-0000779fd2ac.html

Spanish Hate the Italians Because of Their Football.

If there's one thing the Spanish really, really hate, it's the Italians. In fact, it's become an obsession. Not because of the fashion, the impossibly perfect facial hair, or even the crazy driving and mopeds: Spain has got its own fair share of those. No, the Spanish hate the Italians because of their football.

You Only Win When You're Sinning

In the second part of our series, Sid Lowe finds the Spanish media desperate to put some kind of gloss on the unthinkable - that their rivals across the Med play better football

London Guardian

Sid Lowe

Thursday March 6 2008

As if going out of the Champions League was not bad enough, as if seeing the dream of a tenth European Cup disappear in smoke was not sufficiently painful, Real Madrid had to go out to a AS Roma, a team from Italy - that most bitter of Spanish rivals.

Because if there's one thing the Spanish really, really hate, it's the Italians. In fact, it's become an obsession. Not because of the fashion, the impossibly perfect facial hair, or even the crazy driving and mopeds: Spain has got its own fair share of those. No, the Spanish hate the Italians because of their football.

And Roma are not your typical Italian side because they attack, because they score goals, because they are worth watching. In Spain, where football has to be aesthetic as much as it is effective, your typical Italian side is plain dull, hideously defensive.

Few people were less impressed with Fabio Cannavaro winning the Golden Ball as European player of the year than the Spanish, even if he had just joined Madrid. "It's a miracle that he didn't boot it into touch when they gave it to him," sniped one columnist.

When Cannavaro played poorly, he was rubbish; when his partner, Sergio Ramos, played poorly he was suffering an injury, having an off day, too keen to win - or dragged down by the Italian playing alongside him.

Likewise, when Fabio Capello was sacked as coach of Real Madrid for being "too boring" despite winning the club's first league title in four years, ending the longest Santiago Bernabéu drought in over half a century, his "anti-football" - and, yes, that is what they called it - was seen as being the logical conclusion of his nationality.

And the day Claudio Ranieri was sacked as Valencia coach after not managing a win in six matches, it was treated as if the Mestalla had been delivered from evil. The Italian coach was a "dictator"; according to one report; Valencia had been freed from "the yoke of Ranierism".

Valencia won their first game after sacking him and employing Spaniard Antonio López. And the locals could hardly contain themselves, especially as López's tactic had been so simple: drop the Italians. By leaving out the Ranieri signings Marco di Vaio, Emiliano Moretti, Bernardo Corradi and Stefano Fiore, Valencia had, the sports daily Marca gleefully said, gone through a process of "de-Italianising" themselves.

Over here, people think Italian football is dirty, cynical, talentless and boring. Few Italians have succeeded in Spain because they are rubbish, they say, while few Spaniards have succeeded in Italy because the football is rubbish - and full of cheats.

When Real Madrid faced Juventus in the 2003 Champions League quarters, a Spanish television trailer used the music and opening credits from Star Wars to announce an apocalyptic clash between Madrid's galactic superstars and the "miserable football" of the evil empire from across the Alps. TVE waved off Madrid's Jedi knights with an Obi-Wan-esque, "May the goals be with you."

A few years earlier, after the Italian press complained about a blatant - and deliberate - handball goal by Raúl in the Champions League, the Spanish press got their knickers in a twist, screaming: "How dare you lecture us?!" The sports paper Marca published a "dossier" on the tricks of the trade of Italian football, "the most unsporting in the world" - tricks such as diving, fouling and, ahem, winning.

And that is, kind of, the point. Because perhaps the worst thing about the Italians is that they are successful, the current World Cup winners. Spain's only international triumph is the 1964 European Championships - a four-team tournament played in Madrid.

Italian football so perfectly fuels the schizophrenic Spanish psyche, that uneasy coexistence of massive superiority and inferiority complexes. The Spanish are convinced they are better than the Italians. But, deep down, they are also convinced the Italians will beat them. By foul means, not fair.

When Tassoti smashed Luis Enrique's nose - in the penalty area - in the last minute of the 1994 World Cup quarter-final, leaving Italy going through, Spain going out and Luis Enrique going to hospital, it was the perfect embodiment of Spain and Italy: one side played all the football; the other smashed an innocent man's nose all over his face - and won.

Those victories are illegitimate, whispered sins. Asked about Italian dominance of the Champions League a few years ago the Real Madrid defender Iván Helguera, a man who had played in Italy and a genuine Italophile, defended the country: "You know what? I'd love it if we [Spain] could say we had three teams out of four in the semis, plus success at international level. That's the bottom line. That's all that matters." The next day, his remarks were nowhere to be seen.

Just as this Madrid will be nowhere to be seen in the draw for the next round of the Champions League. Down to ten men with a contentious decision and out of Europe, slain by Italians once more, there is a familiar ache in Spanish hearts.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/06/spain.italy?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

Sicily, Heaven on Earth: Italian Screen Beauty Maria Grazia Cucinotta

For someone who has not been to Sicily, ALL of Sicily, and not seen the results of Magna Grecia, the Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Holy Roman Empire with the Capital in Palermo at one time, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, etc, they probably couldn't not understand.

Taormina, Mt Etna, Syracuse, Valley of the Temple Ruins, Cefalu, Palermo, Messina, etc. While somewhat arid now due to Climate Changes, Sicily was once the Produce Basket of the Mediterranean, while Egypt was the Wheat granary.

SICILY HEAVEN ON EARTH, CUCINOTTA SAYS

ANSA - Palermo, Italy

March 5, 2008

Italian screen beauty Maria Grazia Cucinotta says her native Sicily, for all its faults, is heaven on Earth.

The Messina-born actress, 38, said she had realised what a great place Sicily was on a recent return visit and decided to set her first film as producer there.

''It's no accident that I chose Sicily to shoot many scenes of the film. I left Sicily when I was a little girl to find paradise elsewhere only to realise, eventually, that this land is really heaven,'' she said on the Palermo shoot of L'Imbroglio del Lenzuolo (The Trick in the Sheet).

''Up till now Sicily has often 'worn' clothes that don't really suit it, which have not allowed it to be appreciated for what it is,'' said Cucinotta, who also acts in the film.

''Now it's time to change wardrobe and make everyone understand that Sicily is second to none.

''It's a queen among places and I, with great possessiveness and passion, will try to get everyone to see that through cinema''.

L'Imbroglio del Lenzuolo - whose title alludes to cinema's earliest days on the island, when films were projected onto white sheets - is set to wrap in the spring and scheduled for release in the autumn.

Cucinotta sprang to international prominence as thelove interest of Massimo Troisi in the late Neapolitan actor-director's last movie The Postman, which gained five Oscar nominations in 1996.

She played a Bond girl in The World Is Not Enough and also made a guest appearance on the hit US TV series The Sopranos.

Italian Cinema is Making a Remarkable Comeback

Following years of stagnation, Italian cinema is making a remarkable comeback with the emergence of new and talented film directors, as well as the reappearance of a generation of notorious directors who are now in their forties. Statistics reflect this trend. Italian films had become an insignificant niche within Italy’s film industry. Now, in 2007, they have conquered 30 per cent of the market, returning to a level of popularity that was last witnessed in 1987.

These figures are not simply the result of the regular ‘Christmas films’ – awful productions designed for the family, which are regularly box office hits. We have seen a series of quality films emerging from an intermediate generation, like Tornatore’s La Sconosciuta (The Stranger) or Giorni e Nuvole (Days and Clouds) by Soldini, as well as, most significantly, a wave of productions by young directors aimed at a young audience. ‘Italian-style comedies’ are being revived, and although they may not be comparable to those of the 1960s and 1970s (by Monicelli, Risi, De Sica, Scola, and many others who belong to that golden age), they are not at all bad. I am referring to films including Mio Fratello è Figlio Unico (My Brother is an Only Child) by Lucchetti, La Notte Prima Degli Esami by Brizzi, Zanasi’s Non ci Pensare and L’Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio.

Historical films are also worth mentioning. Foremost, due to its political resonance, is I Vicerè by Roberto Faenza, based on a famous 17th-century novel describing Sicily on the eve of Garibaldi’s arrival on the island. What strikes the audience is the analogy between the Italian ruling class at this historical moment and at the present time.

Moreover, it is interesting to note the increased focus in contemporary film on the sphere of work. This trend is led by women directors. In both Wilma Labate’s fiction, Signorina F (F stands for Fiat), and in Francesca Comencini’s documentary, In Fabbrica, factories and workers – which had become invisible in recent decades – come to the fore. These films also reflect workers’ consciousness and needs and their expression in terms of trade unionism. This is a sign of a revived form of communication between cinema and society, after several years of reciprocal neglect.

The Films We Miss And Why

The Red Pepper

March 7, 2008

There are some really interesting Italian films coming out – probably Hungarian, French and Polish ones too – but you’d never know it. We are still suffering the results of post-war agreements that gave the US film industry the power to dominate our culture as if films were like motor cars. The Italian champion of cultural rights, Luciana Castellina, describes what we miss and updates us on the global efforts to defend cultural diversity

Following years of stagnation, Italian cinema is making a remarkable comeback with the emergence of new and talented film directors, as well as the reapperance of a generation of notorious directors who are now in their forties. Statistics reflect this trend. Italian films had become an insignificant niche within Italy’s film industry. Now, in 2007, they have conquered 30 per cent of the market, returning to a level of popularity that was last witnessed in 1987.

These figures are not simply the result of the regular ‘Christmas films’ – awful productions designed for the family, which are regularly box office hits. We have seen a series of quality films emerging from an intermediate generation, like Tornatore’s La Sconosciuta (The Stranger) or Giorni e Nuvole (Days and Clouds) by Soldini, as well as, most significantly, a wave of productions by young directors aimed at a young audience. ‘Italian-style comedies’ are being revived, and although they may not be comparable to those of the 1960s and 1970s (by Monicelli, Risi, De Sica, Scola, and many others who belong to that golden age), they are not at all bad. I am referring to films including Mio Fratello è Figlio Unico (My Brother is an Only Child) by Lucchetti, La Notte Prima Degli Esami by Brizzi, Zanasi’s Non ci Pensare and L’Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio.

Historical films are also worth mentioning. Foremost, due to its political resonance, is I Vicerè by Roberto Faenza, based on a famous 17th-century novel describing Sicily on the eve of Garibaldi’s arrival on the island. What strikes the audience is the analogy between the Italian ruling class at this historical moment and at the present time.

Moreover, it is interesting to note the increased focus in contemporary film on the sphere of work. This trend is led by women directors. In both Wilma Labate’s fiction, Signorina F (F stands for Fiat), and in Francesca Comencini’s documentary, In Fabbrica, factories and workers – which had become invisible in recent decades – come to the fore. These films also reflect workers’ consciousness and needs and their expression in terms of trade unionism. This is a sign of a revived form of communication between cinema and society, after several years of reciprocal neglect.

Who will watch them?
But why should one hope for an English release of these films? Who will watch them? There is a very low likelihood that a German, French, Pole, Swede or any other European ever will. European movies hardly reach beyond their own country, where already only a low proportion of domestic films are watched, in comparison with American films. Audiences for non-national European movies barely reach 10 per cent of the market – and the UK’s 3 per cent is by far the worst.

The truth is that Europeans have a shared knowledge on the basis of American culture, with most people recognising US actors and images to a far greater extent than those from their own continent. Indeed, it can be said that Europeans communicate with each other through the American culture.

So although newly developed communication technologies have the potential of guaranteeing an extraordinary enrichment through cultural exchanges, we have become the victims of massive monoculturalism, whereby the multiplication of means of communication has gone hand in hand with a drastic reduction of sources from which content is generated. In Europe, for example, the whole of African, Asian and Latin American cinema is filtered through a hole as tiny as 1 per cent of the total market.

To make matters worse, 95 per cent of US movies are produced domestically in the US, with the result that my young nephew is likely to know more about Texas than about France. Meanwhile, an American kid his same age may not even be aware that Europe exists. One of the saddest images of the early days of the Iraq War was that of a young Yankee soldier, holding a gun and looking utterly lost upon his arrival in the ancient city of Babylon during the first days of the invasion.

Hollywood’s dominance
This is an old and painful story that has its roots in deeply entrenched structures. European cinema stopped being the leader in this field following the first world war, when the region was devastated by conflict and famous studios, including the French Pathé, were converted into weapons’ factories. In the post-war era, Europe witnessed a massive invasion of foreign films, increasingly popular with the advent of sound, while European productions weakened due to language differences.

From this moment onwards, Hollywood began to dominate the market. A lack of language barriers guaranteed domestic success, and films were distributed abroad only once production costs had been at least partially covered. As a result, distribution margins grew and with massive marketing capacities, thousands of copies were being circulated compared to a meagre number of local films.

To this day, the fractured European market cannot stand the competition. To make matters worse, Americans dub their movies to have a better chance at infiltrating the European market, but then refuse to dub European films, claiming their audience at home is too sophisticated to accept this method. Hence the use of subtitles becomes necessary but this fatally reduces audience numbers.

US dominance of the film industry has always been underpinned by strong government support. It is indicative, for example, that in the first mission sent by Washington to Europe immediately after the end of the second world war the Motion Pictures Association of America already had a notable presence; and that, subsequently, when it came to signing the Marshall Plan, the White House imposed a condition that countries would not receive aid unless their film industries granted complete access to American movies. These issues of the market versus the defence of cultural diversity re-emerged in the course of the GATS negotiations (General Agreement on Trade and Services) and are still open today.

Hegemony, ‘protectionism’ and diversity
The positions taken by some European countries towards their domestic film industries has often been disdainfully labelled ‘protectionist’. Such an accusation is ridiculous, when the figures reveal that American cinema dominates approximately 80 per cent of the worldwide audio-visual market, and benefits massively from the hegemonic influence that the United States exerts as a global superpower.

It is true that this cultural hegemony is the hegemony of a major cinematographic industry, Hollywood, which enjoys a form of extraterritoriality as the ‘fatherland of cinema’, or the ‘Detroit of feelings’. But the question is whether this attraction has purely cultural roots, or as a well-known New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman, once maliciously wrote: ‘McDonald’s cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas.’

Even if we were ready to accept market notions such as competition encouraging innovation and the related principle of ‘comparative advantage’ – meaning that it is more efficient to produce where levels of productivity are highest – in many spheres, these formulae cannot be applied to cultural products. A fridge or a car made in Los Angeles is more or less similar to a fridge and a car made in Beijing, Rome or Buenos Aires, but the same cannot be said for the movie industry. Films are about shared memories, the dreams, values and traditions of people within the culture into which they are born. They nourish our sense of social identity. To treat the film industry like any other industry would be passively to shrug off a terrible loss of cultural richness.

Following decades of struggle to assert the importance of a fair and varied film industry, these basic values have finally been introduced in Unesco’s recent Convention on the Defence of Cultural Diversity. They were approved unanimously, expect for two votes: those of the United States and Israel.

Unfortunately, unlike the WTO, UN institutions have no power to impose such reforms. The difficulty lies in making the convention prevail over the GATS agreements, which push towards a potentially devastating liberalisation even in the audio-visual sector. But if we want a chance to watch an Italian film (or a French or a Hungarian one, for that matter), we have to overcome this hurdle. It would be an illusion to think that now, thanks to the internet, we are able to watch whatever we wish. That freedom only exists if we are in the position to choose, both technically and culturally. This would require the net to remain truly free, which is an increasingly unlikely prospect.

http://www.redpepper.org.uk/article1118.html

Italy and the World Glued to US Primary Like at No Other Time

Around the entire World there has never been this level of interest in the Democratic Primaries as this year. They have little hope if Mc Cain follows Bush, because they are afraid of a continuation of the Bush debacle. The anti-Bushism turned into a broader anti-Americanism. So for many non-Americans this year's elections are the last-chance do-over.

"This is a vital election, more than normal, "It's vital for all of us, and for the Muslim world even more so. The new Administration will have to set a new world agenda because the Bush agenda is totally bankrupt. It's a landmark point for America and for people everywhere."

Hillary Clinton appeals to many who have fond memories of her husband's presidency, and those who would like to see a woman in the White House.

An Obama victory would fulfill everything the rest of the world has been told America could be, but hasn't quite been." In Italy, Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, a candidate for the position of Prime Minister, has taken to lifting lines from Obama, including repeated usage of "Yes we can" in three languages: English, Italian ("Sì, possiamo") and the Italian capital's local dialect ("Se po' ffa'"). In Hong Kong, prodemocracy parties are studying U.S. campaign techniques, in particular Obama's grass-roots youth organizing. "Everyone wants to study how he delivers his message," says Tanya Chan, a District Council representative from the Civic Party.

Feeling the Spirit

Time Magazine

By Simon Robinson

Thursday, Mar. 06, 2008

There was a moment in Barack Obama's speech in San Antonio on Tuesday night that encapsulated something important about this year's U.S. presidential primary season. On the night of the Iowa caucuses in January, Obama said, the grandfather of one of his young staffers had stayed up until 5 a.m., watching the returns. The man was 81 years old — and he was in Uganda.

He was not alone. In many U.S. election seasons, the rest of the world doesn't pay much attention to the strange hoopla until the two main candidates have emerged. Costly state-by-state elections to determine presidential nominees can appear like charming overkill, as if the U.S. is trying too hard to show the world what democracy should really look like. But this time is different. From Paris to Karachi, Canada to Turkey, interest in this U.S. election season began months ago. Libraries of new books on American politics and political figures have been flying off the shelves in Japan and Italy. Friends of mine (not all of them political junkies) from Australia, India, Ireland, Kenya, South Africa and Britain have all sent me e-mails in recent weeks about the primaries and how exciting they are. My father has been interested in American politics since 1960 and says he has never seen this level of interest so early in the race. "There truly has been nothing like the Democratic battle we are now experiencing," he e-mailed me recently. "Here [in Australia] wherever we go, people want to talk about the two candidates and are taking sides."

Naturally, if sadly, one of the reasons for the enormous attention this time around is George W. Bush. Since Bush's election just over seven years ago, and especially since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, global attitudes to the U.S. have worsened, in some places considerably. Before the 2004 presidential election, the accepted wisdom goes, the rest of the world focused most of its ire on Bush himself, figuring that he had somehow lucked into the presidency after a dodgy Supreme Court decision. But after 2004, that excuse no longer worked and there is some evidence to suggest that anti-Bushism turned into a broader anti-Americanism. So for many non-Americans this year's elections are the last-chance do-over. "This is a vital election, more than normal," says Pakistani journalist and author Ahmed Rashid. "It's vital for all of us, and for the Muslim world even more so. [The new Administration] will have to set a new world agenda because the Bush agenda is totally bankrupt. It's a landmark point for America and for people everywhere."

It helps that the election season has been anything but dull. The sight of a woman, a black man, a Mormon, a Christian preacher and a former POW slugging it out has been as fascinating to many of us out here as it is to American voters. Hillary Clinton appeals to many who have fond memories of her husband's presidency and those who would like to see a woman in the White House; McCain comes off as brave and decent; and in Barack Obama, a biracial son of an immigrant, millions see themselves. "Educated, international-minded Indians get a huge thrill out of Obama," says Shashi Tharoor, a former high-ranking U.N. diplomat and an author and columnist. "He is much more 'one of us' than any previous presidential contender ... An Obama victory would fulfill everything the rest of the world has been told America could be, but hasn't quite been."

But it's not just about personalities. The spectacle of the primary season itself may be helping to heal the rift between the U.S. and the rest of the world. The political process, with all its wonderful arcane subplots and cul-de-sacs, is a powerful reminder to people of how America, how its system, can be great. The incredible growth in television coverage abroad, especially in places with fast-growing middle classes such as China and India, is fuelling that interest. Even in developed countries like France this election season has been unusually compelling. "In 2000, there was very deep confusion in France about just how the American election system works," says Catherine Croisier, a professor and researcher at the Center for Trans-Atlantic Studies in Dijon, a unit within France's élite Sciences Po graduate school. "This time, people are getting interested in the race, and with far greater passion thanks to the tight battles and strong personalities involved."

In the continent where President Bush is more popular than anywhere else, Africans have another, more rueful reason to take note of electoral contests 10,000 miles away: the transparent and hotly contested race bears such stark contrast to recent elections in their own countries, which have been marred by opacity, vote-rigging and tribal politics. There has been widespread violence in the aftermath of Kenya's Dec. 27 poll, with the country split along tribal lines. Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times recently reported that members of Obama's Luo ethnic group are supporting him, while rival Kikuyus are vociferously backing Clinton. "People do stand back and are a bit agog about the competitiveness and openness of American politics," says Ross Herbert, a research fellow at the South African Institute for International Affairs. "In most of Africa people are chosen for party leadership behind closed doors."

Across the world, the techniques of the candidates are being copied. In Italy, Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, a candidate for the position of Prime Minister, has taken to lifting lines from Obama, including repeated usage of "Yes we can" in three languages: English, Italian ("Sì, possiamo") and the Italian capital's local dialect ("Se po' ffa'"). In Hong Kong, prodemocracy parties are studying U.S. campaign techniques, in particular Obama's grass-roots youth organizing. "Everyone wants to study how he delivers his message," says Tanya Chan, a District Council representative from the Civic Party.

While non-Americans have railed against U.S. policies over the past few years, much of the world has continued to love America, or at least the idea of America. A good part of the anger over the treatment of prisoners in Guantánamo Bay is explained not just by the fact that torture may have been used, but by the sense that the U.S. has failed to live up to its own ideals. For many non-Americans, the U.S. elections hold out the promise of change, of renewed leadership. "A lot of what French people identify as negative influences and trends do emanate from American society, but much of what French society strives for and aspires to often first takes root in the U.S. as well," says an adviser to the French government. "So, no, [French Socialist leader] Ségolène Royal didn't win the election. And, no, we don't elect enough minorities to office. But that's changing — and in part because we've seen that change elsewhere already, primarily in the U.S."

Big expectations can result in disappointment of course, and there's sure to be some of that next year no matter who wins the White House. In the euphoria of fresh elections it's easy to forget that U.S. Presidents pursue their own agenda first. Depending on who wins, the next Administration could press on with globally unpopular policies such as staying in Iraq, or throw up new trade barriers that would hurt the rest of the world. But for the millions who look to the U.S. as a model, a place of hope and transformation, the world seems a better place when liking America isn't something to hide.

With reporting by Bruce Crumley/Paris, Jeff Israely/Rome, Megan Lindow/Cape Town, Catherine Mayer/London and Andrew Monahan/Hong Kong

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1719887,00.html

First in Europe- Google Public Transit Itinerary- In Italy

Google Maps is introducing a service tor Public Transit Riders, as it now offers for Auto Drivers, a Personalized Itinerary from Start to Destination. However it is currently available only in Florence and Turin.

GOOGLE TRANSIT IN FLORENCE: THE CITY IN JUST ONE CLICK

ANSA - Florence, Italy
March 7,2008

Thanks to Google Transit - a new online service from Google Maps - it is now possible to create a personalized "public transportation" itinerary in Florence.
The service, complete with nearest stops and timetables, gives detailed information about how to get from one point to another by using public transportation.

All you have to do is insert your departure and arrival points and with a simple click you've got a map with bus changes and any walking you will have to do.

The service - launched in Italy before any other European countries - currently includes information for
Florence and Turin only. Google Transit is available for the Florence metro area, the Mugello-Val di Sieve area and the Chianti-Valdarno area, thanks to the collaboration of ATAF, Linea and Autolinee Mugello Valdisieve who furnished complete itineraries and timetables. The objective is to create an incentive to use public transportation but also to facilitate transportation for tourists in the city and surrounding areas.

Women Can Commit Perjury About Adultry, Italy High Court Rules.

A Married woman Lied "Under Oath" about her Affair with a Married Men, to Protect her "Honor", and the Italian High Court ruled she did not commit perjury. !!!!!!!!!!!! ????????

The woman committed a "dishonorable" Offense against her "Lover's" Wife, and a "dishonorable" Offense against her Husband, and she then commits Perjury. What Honor/ Reputation does she have to Protect ????

Then certainly Everyone should LIE about ANY Misconduct to protect their Reputation ?? Forget Truth, Trust, Loyalty and Honesty ??

You've Made Your Bed, Now You Can Lie In It

London Times

Richard Owen in Rome

March 8, 2008

A mistress may lie under oath without committing perjury in order to protect her honour, Italian judges have ruled.

The Court of Cassation, the highest appeal court in the country, has cleared a 48-year-old woman who was convicted previously of giving false testimony to police.

The woman, known only as Carla under Italian privacy laws, had denied lending her mobile phone to her lover, Giovanni. He was convicted of abusive behaviour after using the phone to make threatening calls to her estranged husband. His mistress was found guilty of conspiracy.

The ruling by a local court at Grossetto was overturned by the Court of Cassation yesterday, appearing to strike a blow for old-fashioned, Italian-style adultery. Judges ruled that "the fact of having a lover is a circumstance which causes injury to a person's honour in a family and a social context". It was, therefore, legitimate to lie "if the intention is to conceal an extra-conjugal relationship", even in a judicial investigation.

It is not clear whether the ruling also applies to men with mistresses.

The judges said that Carla, from Porto Ecole on the Tuscan coast, had lied not only to protect her honour but also because the revelation that she had a lover could have affected her legal battle with her husband over their separation. "You do not lend your mobile phone to someone unless you have a particularly close relationship with them", the ruling said.

The Court of Cassation, which is staffed mainly by elderly male appeal judges, has issued several controversial judgments on sexual and social mores in the past decade.

They include the ruling, which was rescinded after protests from Italian feminists, that a woman could not be raped if she was wearing tight jeans because the jeans could be removed only with her consent.

Last month the court ruled that men who touch their genitals in public are committing a criminal offence. Under an age-old custom Italian men sometimes grasp their crotches as a protection against bad luck and the evil eye, for example if a funeral procession passes by.

The judges, however, upheld a lower court sentencing of a 42-year-old workman from Como for indecent behaviour after "ostentatiously touching his genitals through his clothing".

The appeal court said that this was "an act contrary to public decency and potentially offensive to collectively held feelings of decorum". They ordered the man to pay a ¤200 (£155) fine and ¤1,000 costs and rejected the defence by his lawyer that he was only "adjusting his overalls".

In recent years courts in Italy have handed down a series of controversial and sometimes contradictory rulings on marriage and adulterous relationships. It is only three years since the repeal of a law that made adultery punishable by up to six years in prison, a law that, in practice, is applied to women only. Legal observers say that this possibly reflects the strong hold that older people, and thus outdated attitudes, have on Italian society.

Silvio Berlusconi, whom the polls suggest will be the next Italian leader, is 71 years old.

Those same courts can sometimes be surprisingly protective towards women who find themselves subject to harrassment. The Court of Cassation ordered an obsessively jealous husband not only to leave the marital home but also to move to another town to stop him trying to control his wife's every move.

The cost of infidelity

Adultery remains an offence in many states in the US. In Maryland it is a misdemeanour that is still punishable by a $10 fine and in New York the law "last used in 1944" allows for 90 days in prison and a $100 fine

A 28-year-old woman was put on trial for adultery in Wisconsin in 1990. She faced up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine

Seeing the extravagance and debauchery of his capital city, the Roman Emperor Augustus determined to clean things up by making infidelity punishable by exile, and by permitting fathers to kill their daughters and partners if they were caught commiting adultery. His resolve was tested when Julia, his daughter, was caught cheating. She was exiled to Pandateria, a barren island

Under the 1803 French Napoleonic laws, adultery was a ground for divorce for men but a woman could cite infidelity only if her husband brought his mistress to live inside the family home

Prenuptial agreements now often contain clauses stipulating penalties if a partner strays. Before her marriage to Michael Douglas, the actress Catherine Zeta-Jones reportedly negotiated a $5 million payoff if he cheated on her

Sources: Mount Holyoke College, UNRV History, Encyclopedia Britannica, Fox News

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3503999.ece

Italy's Latest Target is The 'Cleveland Museum of Art' re "Apollo, Lizard Slayer" by Praxiteles + 27 Items

Italy finally sickened of its patrimony being looted, and has started to fight back with amazing success!!!!!!

The Italian government is now putting pressure on The Cleveland Museum of Art to return a very rare, unique valuable statute "Apollo the lizard slayer" , created by Praxiteles in the fourth century B.C. The Greek sculptor was the first to craft a nude female body and the first to portray gods as intimate, human-like creatures. Praxiteles' work changed the direction of Western art - yet no living person had seen an original piece. Historians believed they perished long ago. Italy is also claiming 27 other pieces the Museum is having difficulty providing a valid provence for.

The antique world has always been "shady"and lucrative, with tomb robbers consorting with unscrupulous dealers who in turn dealt with museums that justified their "antiquities" purchases by stating that was their MORAL responsibility to protect art for future generations. In essence, they were its legal guardians. It mattered not where a piece had come from, just so long as it was safe. All LEGALITIES were secondary.

But the art world was forced to confront a new landscape with the fall of East Germany. That's when the West got its first glimpse of Nazi records, proving that many famous works housed in the world's museums had been stolen from Jewish homes. Holocaust survivors and their kin began a very public campaign to get them back.

Italian and Greek authorities jumped into the debate. They too believed that tombs had been raided and antiquities stolen from their soil. Suddenly, the conversation turned from preservation to rightful ownership. And museums, long seen as noble custodians, found themselves in the unfamiliar role of bad guys. "It became apparent that the museums were on the wrong side of the acquisitions debate,"

For dealers, there's always been an incentive to hide the history of a work. With fortunes to be made, many had adopted a don't-ask-don't-tell policy. Museums weren't particularly diligent either. In many cases, it was virtually impossible to prove that an item had been stolen.

Then suddenly there was. Police had long been suspicious of Giacomo Medici, was one of the world's most connected dealers, and they raided Medici's Geneva warehouse in 1995. There they found hundreds of photos, clearly showing that much of the work he sold had been stolen from Italian tombs.

One of Medici's closest associates was Robert Hecht, an American dealer who'd arranged hundreds of transactions between Medici and U.S. museums. In 2005, Italian police charged Hecht with conspiracy to traffic in looted art. It was the beginning of a massive treasure hunt.

Armed with tangible evidence and moral outrage, the Italian police started going after American museums, who could no longer feign ignorance. Mounting public pressure and the threat of massive lawsuits caused museums to react as they never had before.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York gave back 21 works, including a rare terra-cotta wine vase from 600 B.C. that had cost $1 million in 1972. The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles agreed to return 40 works. The Princeton University Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the University of Virginia Art Museum all returned pieces as well, along with many others!!

The museums had no choice, explains Princeton's Cass Cliatt. "We examined all the facts and circumstances surrounding the purchase of each item questioned by the Italians. Our assessment of the questions led us to the conclusion that rightful ownership should rest in Italy."

The country's cultural ministry was jubilant. "Italy has won, but the Metropolitan has not lost," minister Rocco Buttiglione told the AP. .In exchange, Italy agreed to loan the museums works from its national collection. But the Americans were still forced to stomach huge financial losses. Some of the pieces had been purchased for millions.

An Ancient Apollo Statue in Cleveland Touches Off an International Outcry

Cleveland Scene By Rebecca Meiser March 5, 2008

After three weeks in Europe, Michael Bennett was ready to come home. The curator had been visiting dealers across the continent, searching for new pieces for the Cleveland Museum of Art.

But as he was leaving Phoenix Ancient Art, an antiquities dealership in Switzerland, his eyes strayed to a pointy figure draped in black cloth. "What's that?" he asked Hicham and Ali Aboutaam, the shop's owners.

The Aboutaams smiled. It's our newest acquisition, one said. It's quite special.

The brothers whisked off the cloth. Bennett couldn't breathe.

On the table lay remnants of an ancient bronze statue. Even in fragments, he could see the outlines of a graceful adolescent. His back was strong and lean. His left leg curled behind his right. Wide almond eyes stared at the ground.

This wasn't just any sculpture. This was Apollo the lizard slayer, created by Praxiteles in the fourth century B.C. The Greek sculptor was the first to craft a nude female body and the first to portray gods as intimate, human-like creatures. Praxiteles' work changed the direction of Western art — yet no living person had seen an original piece. Historians believed they perished long ago.

Bennett instinctively thought he was looking at an original. And if it was indeed authentic, it was impossible to quantify how important the piece was. "It's as if there were no existing works by Michelangelo — then suddenly one appeared," he explains.

The curator immediately phoned Katharine Lee Reid, the Cleveland museum's director at the time. He had to act quickly. Reid gave her consent.

The Aboutaams and Bennett talked for hours. By the time they were done, the statue was promised to Cleveland.

On the plane home, Bennett couldn't sleep. Worry sank into his gut. It couldn't be this easy, he thought. The piece was too important. Something would go wrong.

He just didn't know what.

The art world had changed since Bennett's Harvard days in the '80s, when professors lectured about the importance of preservation. "We are mortal, but art is permanent," Bennett says.

At the time, budding curators learned that their principal responsibility was to protect art for future generations. In essence, they were its legal guardians. It mattered not where a piece had come from, just so long as it was safe.

So great discoveries like the Apollo were heralded, their finders dined and celebrated.

But the art world was forced to confront a new landscape with the fall of East Germany. That's when the West got its first glimpse of Nazi records, proving that many famous works housed in the world's museums had been stolen from Jewish homes. Holocaust survivors and their kin began a very public campaign to get them back.

Italian and Greek authorities jumped into the debate. They too believed that tombs had been raided and antiquities stolen from their soil. Suddenly, the conversation turned from preservation to rightful ownership. And museums, long seen as noble custodians, found themselves in the unfamiliar role of bad guys.

"It became apparent that the museums were on the wrong side of the acquisitions debate," says Jenifer Neils, a professor at Case Western Reserve.

The antiquities market boasts annual sales of $100 to $200 million. For dealers, there's always been an incentive to hide the history of a work. With fortunes to be made, many had adopted a don't-ask-don't-tell policy.

Museums weren't particularly diligent either. In many cases, it was virtually impossible to prove that an item had been stolen. Tomb robbers, after all, aren't prone to videotaping their raids. So there was rarely concrete evidence of a work's illicit travels.

Then suddenly there was.

Giacomo Medici was one of the world's most connected dealers, supplying the globe with classic Italian art. But Italian police had long been suspicious of Medici. With the aid of Swiss authorities, they raided Medici's Geneva warehouse in 1995. There they found hundreds of photos, clearly showing that much of the work he sold had been stolen from Italian tombs.

One of Medici's closest associates was Robert Hecht, an American dealer who'd arranged hundreds of transactions between Medici and U.S. museums. In 2005, Italian police charged Hecht with conspiracy to traffic in looted art. It was the beginning of a massive treasure hunt.

Armed with tangible evidence and moral outrage, the Italian police started going after American museums, who could no longer feign ignorance. Mounting public pressure and the threat of massive lawsuits caused museums to react as they never had before. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York gave back 21 works, including a rare terra-cotta wine vase from 600 B.C. that had cost $1 million in 1972.

After much debate, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles agreed to return 40 works. The Princeton University Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the University of Virginia Art Museum all returned pieces as well. Most of these works are now being displayed in Italy's Quirinal presidential palace.

The museums had no choice, explains Princeton's Cass Cliatt. "We examined all the facts and circumstances surrounding the purchase of each item questioned by the Italians. Our assessment of the questions led us to the conclusion that rightful ownership should rest in Italy."

The country's cultural ministry was jubilant. "Italy has won, but the Metropolitan has not lost," minister Rocco Buttiglione told the Associated Press after the first shipment. He was partially correct.

In exchange, Italy agreed to loan the museums works from its national collection. But the Americans were still forced to stomach huge financial losses. Some of the pieces had been purchased for millions.

Italy's success inspired other countries to make demands. And they would eventually find their way to University Circle.

Arriving back in Cleveland in 2004, Bennett felt understandably nervous. In this new world of paranoia, he was a suspect, not a hero. He hoped he was on solid ground, but the odds were against him.

Hicham and Ali Aboutaam readily admitted to gaps in the Apollo's ownership record. From what they were able to determine, the statue was owned by a German family in the early 1900s. World War II forced them to flee, leaving their belongings behind.

In the 1990s, a surviving member returned to the family estate after the fall of East Germany. In the backyard lay a pile of debris. He could only make out the bronzed head of a young man, a sculpted hand, the outline of a lizard.

The man vaguely recalled seeing the statue in the garden as a child, but he knew nothing of its history. Believing the cost of repair would be greater than its value, he sold the statue to a Dutch dealer in 1994, who in turn sold it to another collector, who then sold it to the Aboutaams in 2001 with the understanding that he'd remain anonymous.

"It's the sort of story that could be true," says David Gill, professor of ancient history at Swansea University in Wales. "But we also know from the Medici history that it's the same sort of story that was often invented to cover up."

Equally suspect were the Aboutaam brothers. The same year Bennett bought the Apollo, the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Hicham for trading in looted Iranian art. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and paid a $5,000 fine.

Then an Egyptian court convicted Ali in absentia, sentencing him to 15 years for smuggling art to Switzerland. Aboutaam appealed and the conviction was later dropped. But the stain on the brothers' name remained.

"The [Aboutaam] name regularly pops up in association with people I'd call suspect," says Neil Brodie, a Stanford historian. Most dealers, he says, would be acutely "suspicious" of anything that passed through the brothers' hands.

Bennett dismissed the allegations. He'd been dealing with the brothers for years. In his experience, they'd been nothing but forthcoming and ethical.

But to ease suspicion, the Aboutaams granted Cleveland a year to study the Apollo's history. The museum spent thousands on forensic tests, and allowed scholars and historians to examine the materials. The German man who found the statue signed an affidavit testifying to his backyard discovery. The International Art Loss Register in New York, which tracks stolen art, found no claims on the piece. And research revealed that the statue had been fitted with a new base in the past century, proving that it hadn't been recently lifted from a tomb.

The findings were definitive: The statue was authentic. "Short of finding a vase that says Praxiteles made this, I don't think you could get much more certain about its origins," says David Mitten, a Harvard art history professor. "I think it's the most important classical Greek sculpture to come to a museum since World War I."

Bennett was glad to be part of the process. "I feel humbled really that I had a role in bringing it to Cleveland," he says.

The museum paid a reported $5.2 million for the Apollo and placed it proudly in the middle of its interior garden court. Visitors from around the world came to witness the statue.

The Louvre even called, asking whether it could borrow Apollo for a Praxiteles exhibit. In the art world, there was no greater honor. Cleveland readily agreed, even putting off its own international symposium on the statue.

And that's when the grenade landed.

In December 2006, a French news agency quoted an anonymous source within the Greek Ministry of Culture, who claimed the Apollo had been stolen. The piece hadn't been found in a backyard in Germany, the official declared, but "was probably sold illegally after it was found in the 1990s by an Italian vessel in international waters between Italy and Greece." No other details were offered.

Bennett was astonished. The claim was "so absurd I had to smile about it," he says. The museum's research showed no sign that the statue had spent time underwater.

Cleveland offered to share its research with Greek officials, but they weren't interested, Bennett claims. Instead, they threatened the Louvre. If the museum showcased the Apollo, Greece would take back 19 pieces it was loaning for the exhibit.

It seemed the initial crusade over stolen art had turned into something of a strong-arm game. Greece was no longer interested in producing evidence to back its claims. Museums were in retreat, and the Greeks were prepared to capitalize for the audience back home.

"This debate has nothing to do with scholarship and real curatorial work," says Harvard's Mitten. "It's just political aggrandizement."

Art writer Guy Weill Goudchaux concurs: "Greek nationalism is now threatening the freedom of exhibition curators. This is surely intolerable. It is time that the great museums of Europe and America made a united stand against cultural blackmail."

But the Louvre bowed out. With apologies to Cleveland, the Praxiteles show commenced without the only work believed to have been rendered by Praxiteles' hands.

The defeat still causes Bennett to seethe. So when the Italians also came calling, asking for dozens of pieces back, Cleveland was in no mood for concessions.

The Carabinieri's Tutela Patrimonio Cuturale, the Italian police force charged with prosecuting art theft, were also playing hardball, using legal pressure, ultimatums, and threats of blacklisting against American museums.

"The Italians wanted to make it very clear that [curators] have totally ignored their professional responsibilities," says Gill, who supports Italy's quest. "They decided to take actions that reminded [museums] quite forcibly that there's been wrongdoings, that they hadn't been diligent in the way they acquired archaeological objects."

Others called it by a different name: bullying.

"Italy found a very advantageous strategy of intimidation," says Harvard's Mitten, who believes American curators acquiesced too readily. "They buffaloed and blackmailed museums for things they had no title to. The only way to deal with these people is to play hardball with them."

Even as the Tutela Patrimonio Cuturale, known as the TPC, went after the major players, there'd been rumblings that Cleveland was on its short list of targeted museums. During the trial of dealer Robert Hecht, the Italians cited eight pieces Hecht had sold to Cleveland. And after the Metropolitan Museum agreed to return six works, Maurizio Fiorilli, an Italian prosecutor, noted that his country's focus was moving toward larger museums in Ohio.

But while Princeton, Boston, and Virginia rushed to make conciliatory announcements, Cleveland was largely silent. "I think the whole issue with the Apollo might have something to do with how they're choosing to deal with this," says one insider with close ties to the Cleveland museum.

The art world could only guess which pieces the Italians might have in their sights. Topping the list was the Medea calyx krater, a vase created in the fourth century B.C., one of the few works to have survived the period.

Up until 1990, the vase was part of the private collection of brothers Nelson and William Hunt, whose family made its fortune in oil. In the 1980s, they'd been caught violating securities laws by trying to corner the silver market. Each was fined $10 million.

To help cover the bill, the brothers put the Medea up for sale. Cleveland jumped, allegedly paying $400,000. The problem, however, was that the Hunts had acquired the work through Bob Hecht.

Cleveland had also bought a fourth century B.C. oil flask from Hecht. The piece features the Greek god Pan presenting a hare to an elegantly dressed woman. During Hecht's trial, the Italians alleged that the flask was one of 94 pieces the dealer had illegally trafficked.

But Cleveland officials refused to publicly discuss Italy's inquiries. Then late last year, Suzan Mazur, an investigative journalist, received a list of the items the TPC wanted returned from Cleveland. It covered more than 27 works — including a marble bust of Emperor Balbinus from the third century A.D. and a bronze statue of an Etruscan warrior from around 500 B.C.

Also on the list was the Apollo. It seems the Italians believed that the statue was rightfully theirs, claiming that it had been recovered from its national waters.

If the list was accurate, it meant the TPC were hoping to secure millions worth of art from Cleveland, gutting the museum's modest Roman collection.

Cleveland refuses to comment, other than to say it's held discussions with Italy. "It's supposed to be a confidential document," says spokesman James Kopniske. "I don't even know what's on it."

But talking to Bennett, one gets the sense that the museum won't be quick to wave a white flag. "Our policy is really straightforward," he says. "Anyone at anytime" can protest an item's status. And "If someone has information that proves [the piece was illegally purchased], the museum has an obligation to look at that evidence . . . The Cleveland Museum of Art wants to know as much as possible about the items in our exhibits."

At the same time, Bennett claims that all pieces are vigorously researched. Just because a dealer is charged doesn't mean all his deals were tainted. Hecht's case is ongoing.

But it's worth noting that in the half-dozen or so instances that a work has been challenged, Cleveland has yet to return a piece.

Today, the Apollo rests securely in the nether regions of the museum. There it will sit until the doors open in 2010 to a new Greek and Roman exhibit.

Meanwhile, life continues in its normal frenzy for Bennett. Between organizing new exhibits, he's working on a book about the Apollo. And later this month, he'll be touring Europe again.

He's very excited. After all, he says, brown eyes sparkling like winter ice, you never know what treasures might be unearthed

http://www.clevescene.com/2008-03-05/news/an-ancient-apollo-statue-landed-in-cleveland-and-touched-off-an-international-outcry

Belusconi Slips From Top Italy Spot- Now Only Third Richest

Michele Ferrero, Nutella, chocolate spread and Tic Tac sweets mogul is now #1 with 11 Billion. Sunglasses king Leonardo Del Vecchio, whose company Luxottica boasts brands like RayBan is second. Silvio Berlusconi is in third with only 9.4 Billion :)

Italian fashion icon Giorgio Armani rates #4, and the Benetton family members are rated #5.

Berlusconi -- No Longer Italy's Richest Man

Reuters

Thursday, Mar 6, 2008

ROME, March 6 (Reuters) - Weeks ahead of Italy's election for prime minister, candidate Silvio Berlusconi lost a different kind of competition -- who has the country's deepest pockets.

The billionaire media mogul was knocked off the top of Forbes' list of the richest Italians by the man behind Tic Tac sweets and chocolate spread Nutella, Michele Ferrero.

Ferrero's $11 billion in wealth trumped the Berlusconi family's $9.4 billion.

The upset ended a 12-year run for Berlusconi, a two-time prime minister who stormed to the top of the Forbes' list in 1996, after building a business empire that stretched from the small screen to the soccer pitch.

Worse still, Berlusconi isn't even the second-richest Italian. That glory goes to sunglasses king Leonardo Del Vecchio, whose company Luxottica boasts brands like RayBan. "Berlusconi isn't King of the super-rich anymore," read the headline in left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper, a critic of the 71-year-old conservative politician.

Ranked the world's 90th richest man, down from 51st last year, Berlusconi is still nearly twice as wealthy as Italian fashion icon Giorgio Armani. He is three times as rich as any of the Benetton family billionaires, according to Forbes.

(Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSL0685922920080306

Italian Peace Keepers Capture Hearts of "Special Needs" Kids in Lebanon

The Italian Blue Helmets are military through and through, but their Mission in Lebanon is to keep the Peace, which they realize means Winning the Hearts and Minds.

Every Wednesday theTroops spend the day with 100 children with "special needs."at the Tyre Center suffering from Downs Syndrome, autism or multiple handicaps.

The article will wring your heart as you read about kids who blossom from deeply withdrawn and fearful...... to boisterous and joyful.

This was all accomplished by the Italians teaching the Kids how to make Pizza on their own, and then after learning to Sing Italian popular songs, literally gulp the Pizzas down,

"I'd like them to come every day," says 16-year-old Mustapha, a football fanatic. "The Italians are the world champions,"

"They give us a lot of love -- I adore them," says young Maysam, her eyes sparkling.

The Art of Preparing Pizza: Italians Delight Handicapped Lebanese Naharnet Newsdesk Beirut, Lebanon February 21, 2008

Ali kneads pizza dough under the watchful eye of Corporal Domenico Magliocca, a U.N. peacekeeper and head chef teaching handicapped Lebanese the art of preparing the Italian specialty. The pizza apprentice is among some 100 youngsters aged between four and 25 who, suffering from Downs Syndrome, autism or multiple handicaps, have been trained since late 2006 by the Tyre Center for those with "special needs." Each Wednesday they have a party when the Italian Blue Helmets bring along not only their culinary skills but also their sense of fun to a group of young people otherwise largely isolated from the outside world. Ali, 25, follows to the letter the instructions from Magliocca and his colleagues Vincenzo Schettino and Basilio Sudano, who in turn are teaching him how to measure out the ingredients, garnish the dough and cook the pizza. "Yalla! yalla!" -- "Go on!" in Arabic -- one of them calls to Ali, amid applause. The Italians are members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which was charged with monitoring the truce between Israel and Hizbullah after the end of the 34-day July-August 2006 war. "When they see us the young ones cry out that the pizza men have arrived. This fills us with real joy. Our visits have become a tradition and created a special link between us," says Lieutenant Colonel Edi Codarin, head of the logistics brigade in the Italian UNIFIL contingent. "Those suffering from autism blossom in contact with these soldiers. It's very gratifying," adds the center's deputy director, Ria Berreti. "Each time you can see an improvement. At first when they saw strangers they would withdraw into themselves and try to hide. Now they no longer fear new faces." It is not just pizza that is on the menu on Wednesdays, as boisterous singing from the center's garden testifies. There the very young, carried away by the music, add their own cries to the voices and guitars of soldiers singing "Volare, Cantare" and other popular Italian songs. Young Hussein's face lights up when a soldier places his blue beret on the child's head. The tiny four-year-old, stricken with cerebral palsy, snaps a military salute and unleashes a round of clapping. "I'd like them to come every day," says 16-year-old Mustapha, a football fanatic. "The Italians are the world champions," he adds to approving nods and looks from the Italian troops. "They give us a lot of love -- I adore them," says young Maysam, her eyes sparkling. Songs apart, the high point of the day is still dinner -- time to savor the pizzas patiently prepared by the older ones. Youngsters and staff from the center sit together with the Italians in the large dining room where the pizzas are literally gulped down. "It's very touching to see these little ones devour the pizzas with so much pleasure and joke with my colleagues," an emotional Captain Gianni Salvatore says. "In the present context, and with all the problems which Lebanon has known, so much innocence is very moving."(AFP)

Crotch Grabbing - To Ward Off Evil - Outlawed in Italy

Italy's highest appeals court has ruled that it is a criminal offense for men to touch their groins ( "attributi") in public.

Aside from the fact that Italians show little regards for "trivial" laws, this appears to be:

A Restriction on the Right to Religion (Warding off Evil) A Restriction on the Free Speech ( I've often used it to tell people to F***k themselves!!!!!! ) A Restriction on the Right to Comfort ( Haven't Men often had to reach down and "adjust " their "strangulating" underwear?) A Restriction on the Right to Scratch an Itch (You don't get to decide where it itches)

Plus, This is Discriminatory !!! Do Women get to touch themselves with impunity ??? :) :)

Like Caressing their Breasts in a Seductive manner, or their Butt, Crotch, or Legs, or adjusting their Thongs or Bra Straps????

It's like any gesture. Most of us have a repetitive gesture - or two or three of these. It might be a nose scratch or a maybe just a hair twirl or an ear pull. In other cases for men, a crotch adjustment , licking one's lips, etc, etc, if they've been doing that for a long period of time [it is hard to stop].We don't really normally know that we're even doing these things."

Australians have even more of a problem, with their stubby shorts,which can be very uncomfortable so they're always adjusting them."....

This deserves serious discussion :) LOL

Can't Touch This

Why Italians Grab their Crotches to Ward off Bad Luck.

Slate By JulietLapidos - Tuesday,March 4,2008

Italy's highest appeals court ruled that a 42-year-old workman broke the law by "ostentatiously touching his genitals through his clothing" and must pay a 200 euro fine, the Telegraph reported Friday. The U.K. paper also noted that crotch-grabbing is a common habit among superstitious Italian males, who believe the gesture wards off bad luck. What does the crotch have to do with luck?

It's the seat of fertility. The crotch grab goes back at least to the pre-Christian Roman era and is closely associated with another superstition called the "evil eye"—the belief that a covetous person can harm you, your children, or your possessions by gazing at you. Cultural anthropologists conjecture that men would try to block such pernicious beams by shielding their genitals, thus protecting their most valued asset: the future fruit of their loins. Over the centuries, the practice shifted. Men covered their generative organs not only to defend against direct malevolence but also in the presence of anything ominous, like a funeral procession.

These days, an Italian man might also grab his crotch in risky situations, like a high-stakes poker game. In such cases, the grab isn't a defense mechanism against bad luck but rather a way to generate good luck. Once again, this practice relates to the folk belief that the phallus is auspicious because it's the source of masculinity and reproduction.

http://www.slate.com/id/2185740/nav/tap3/

Don't Mess with Texas ..Or Italian Women!!!!!

Two instances in one day!!

In one, a Mistress CASTRATES her lover with a knife, because he wouldn't leave his wife,

and in the other, an upset wife BIT OFF a piece of her husband's PENIS during supposedly "make up" sex !!

OUCH , Twice!!!!

Thanks to Pat Gabriel

LOVER CASTRATES MAN FOR NOT LEAVING WIFE

(ANSA) - Genoa, March 5, 2008

The frustrated lover of an Italian man castrated him in a fit of rage sparked by his refusal to leave his wife, Italian police said.

The unidentified man, a 40-year-old professional, rushed to an ER in this northwestern city with his right testicle ''hanging by a thread,'' doctors said.Doctors were unable to save the testicle and are now working on the other one, which is in a ''grave'' condition
after losing ''copious'' amounts of blood.

Deep knife wounds were found on the man's scrotum.The man initially said he had had an ''accident' but eventually admitted his lover had taken a knife to him in a ''fit of jealous rage''.

In a separate case in the northern city of Parma, a wife bit off a piece of her estranged husband's penis after pretending to agree to make-up sex.

When in Rome, say ‘Non Sono Americana’

Geo. Bush's policy of Colonialism and Imperialism has degraded the reputation of America and Americans world wide.

I have heard so often that Americans traveling in Europe claim to be Canadians rather than Americans.

This Yale student talks about her "required" pattern of strategic lying because most young Europeans feel America and its inhabitants are like its foreign policy - ignorant, pigheaded and rude, with nothing but misplaced priorities.

She admits that: The worst part is that the reputation isn’t entirely undeserved.

When in Rome, say ‘Non Sono Americana’

Yale Daily News

By Summer Banks
Senior Reporter

Friday, February 29, 2008

... Whenever I travel I tend to fall into a pattern of strategic lying.

My falsified past usually centers around my country of origin: Once I leave America, I have no ties to it. My command of Western European languages is just enough to pass for non-American - I claim to be German in Italy and Italian in Germany. Failing all else, I emphasize being from California, because strangely enough, it’s better to be from California than America.

One of the benefits of interacting constantly with strangers while traveling is that no one knows who you are, and it’s not your responsibility to inform them. The reality is that I haven’t lived in California for years, and I have absolutely no claim to Western European citizenship.

But that’s not important. For all they know I could be anyone and anything.

Why then do I take such pains to keep from being American? This country has done nothing wrong by me - with the possible exception of my public school education - and American citizenship is one of the most coveted in the world. But there’s still some part of me that would rather be German, English, Brazilian, Vietnamese or Palauan - anything before the dreaded "Ah-murh-i-cun"

Drinking wine in Rome Tuesday night thanks to my senior essay research, I met a woman from Amsterdam named Mareille who had deliberately never been to America. While traveling around the world seven years ago, she had deliberately rerouted her flight so that it wouldn’t go through America.

When I asked her why she’d taken such pains to avoid us, she explained that she thought most young Europeans felt the way she did: America and its inhabitants are like its foreign policy - ignorant, pigheaded and rude, with nothing but misplaced priorities.

No wonder I’d never wanted to be associated with America. Who wants to be burdened with that kind of reputation?

The worst part is that the reputation isn’t entirely undeserved. Even I " aspiring to a somewhat more worldly perspective" had no idea that Italy happens to be in the middle of a critical shift in government. America is gearing up for its regularly scheduled election charade, and therefore nothing else matters. Stereotypes hurt more when they happen to be based in truth.

So what exactly is a Californian-American with fading language skills to do? Eventually I’m going to have to own up to being an American when I’m in Europe, and maybe it won’t be as bad as I’ve made it out to be. Even Mareille confessed that meeting actual, live Americans helped replace her disgust with a more general mistrust.

Hopefully it’ll be strategic for me to stop lying about my country of origin someday. Until then, don’t believe me when I start telling you I’m German.

http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/23806

March 4, 1897: Italian Setback in Abyssinia Creates Remorse in England

Although Italy was an unified country only since 1870 (27 years prior), Italy obviously had already garnered deep respect in Europe,

despite what you have been taught in school or the media.

I personally was surprised that he UK was so morose, since I thought there was more competition for African Colonies, even though Italy already had Colonies to the north ( Eritrea) and (south) Somalia.

However, Abyssinia and Italy in May 1889 reached a Mutual Assistance friendly Uccialli Treaty. In February 1893, Menelek renounced the treaty, and then made incursions into Eritrea. General Baratieri after several smaller battles, on March 1, 1897 was lured into a battle near Adua (or Adowa), at the head of 13,000 men, against Menelek's army of 90,000, in adverse territory, divided his forces, lost the battle and over 4500 troops, that led to Italy's recognizing the absolute independence of Abyssinia. http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Abyssinia

Unfortunately at that time, Colonizing and "Civilizing" the African continent was considered admirable...sort of like now with Bush and his Foreign Advisors, all members of "The Project for the New American Century" that favors The New American Empire" and World Domination........ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century

On This Day: March 4, 1897: A Military Setback for the Italians and its Relevance to Britain

London Times

March 4, 2008

The news of the serious reverse sustained by the Italians in Abyssinia has been received in this country with keen regret and profound sympathy. Italy is a friendly Power in much more than the conventional diplomatic sense, and has always commanded the warm regard of the English people. Occupying as she does an important place in the general scheme of European politics, nothing that touches her interests can be indifferent to English statesmen. In Africa her interests are not less closely bound up with our own than in Europe, since she shares the work of carrying civilization into that continent. The British public will await with no common interest and anxiety details of the disaster which has overtaken General Baratieri.

As the earliest news failed to convey an adequate conception of its magnitude, so it is possible to hope that there is some exaggeration in the estimates now current. It seems clear that the Italian commander was induced to attack a strong position, in a formation dictated no doubt by the nature of the country, but open to the grave disadvantage of breaking up his force into columns incapable of giving effective mutual support. The enemy appear to have displayed unexpected vigour, and the whole Italian army has been compelled to fall back with heavy loss upon its headquarters at Adigrat.

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion "which is very freely pressed in Rome" that he acted with quite uncalled-for precipitation.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article3476461.ece

Italians in "The Ludlow Massacre and Class War" in So. Colorado- 1913-14

In one of thousands of examples, Italians, as the protagonists are easily identified as the miners who lived in a modern feudalist state.most of them fresh off the boats, were lured to the coal fields of southern Colorado with promises of good jobs and housing by the mine operators. The antagonists, then, are the industrialists and their managers, the mine managers, guards, corrupt local law enforcement, and eventually, the Colorado National Guard (CNG), whom were supposed to remain impartial while preventing strike violence, but whom quickly sided with the mine operators. It is worth noting in the politics of class warfare that many of the CNG troops and leaders were white and upper middle class, and as such, identified with the mine operators, and not the "south European barbarians," the ethnic profile assumed of the miners.

When the immigrants, many of which spoke little or no English, arrived to claim the "good jobs" they had been promised, they found themselves working for a company that owned or controlled every aspect of life in the mining camps, including medical care, law enforcement, and the only consistent supply of food - the company-owned store. Mine workers were paid not in cash, but in "company script" that was only redeemable at the company store. Because the mine operators controlled everything, they could inflate rent and food prices, and deflate wages so that the miners couldn't make ends meet, and incurred debt just keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads. Such a system was meant to control and subjugate the workforce, which it did, but it also created incendiary resentment and quite appropriate opprobrium for the mine operators.

"The Ludlow Massacre" aka The Colorado Coal War, the miners suffered mightly. They won the battle and the war, But, The industrial giants, led by the Rockefeller oil mob, absorbed the loss on the backs of its former workers, and trudged forward, continuing to trample the civil rights of the workers and their families. And it would be decades before the United Mine Workers of America would be fully recognized, and the system of feudal servitude known as "the company town" lasted until the 1950's in southern Colorado.

Blood Passion: The Ludlow Massacre and Class War in The American West (Book Review)

Natural News.com

By Luke J.Terry

March 3, 2008

In history classrooms the world over, schoolchildren learn about the important American wars, going back to the American Revolution. It seems that one important war, that occurred on American soil, has been largely left out of the history books. This war took place in southern Colorado in 1913 and 1914. Author Scott Martelle has written a definitive account of this war, with very complete documentation and more than a few photos from a variety of historical archives. The book, Blood Passion: The Ludlow Massacre and Class War in The American West (Rutgers University Press, 2007), is an engaging account of class warfare, a germane subject because it continues in subtle ways today.

Through concise writing and compilation of many accounts of the events of the war, Martelle documents the deaths of how 75 men, women, and children were killed, and dozens of buildings burned or dynamited. This war, a series of intense gun battles, bombings, beatings, assassinations, and outright murder, pitched the early labor unions against the powerful industrial elite, or more accurately, their henchmen, the mine operators and corrupt local law enforcement, and eventually a corrupted Colorado National Guard.

Is the omission of this war from our history, until this book, an unfortunate oversight of a minor historical event, or perhaps a more purposeful excision by the ruling class of business elite? After all, history is written by the conquerors.

Martelle, a veteran LA Times journalist, spends little ink editorializing the reasons for the omission of this war from the annals of American history. Rather, he has poured his prodigious storytelling ability into creating a concise and historically accurate chronology of this fight. Using a wide array of research sources, he has painstakingly reconstructed the events of late 1913 and early 1914, attempting to be as unbiased and objective as his journalistic training will allow.

This war could be called the Colorado Coal War. The conflict sprung from a potent brew of suffering, oppression, greed, and the human need for freedom and fair treatment. It began in the abject poverty and stark living conditions of the "mining camps" or corporate-operated hovels owned by Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, a holding of the Rockefeller family.

Though Martelle strained to eliminate any reference to the classical good-guy/bad-guy dichotomy, the protagonists are easily identified as the miners who lived in a modern feudalist state. Thousands of mostly Italian, Greek and Mexican immigrants, with a smattering of eastern European and Japanese, most of them fresh off the boats, were lured to the coal fields of southern Colorado with promises of good jobs and housing by the mine operators. The antagonists, then, are the industrialists and their managers, the mine managers, guards, corrupt local law enforcement, and eventually, the Colorado National Guard (CNG), whom were supposed to remain impartial while preventing strike violence, but whom quickly sided with the mine operators. It is worth noting in the politics of class warfare that many of the CNG troops and leaders were white and upper middle class, and as such, identified with the mine operators, and not the "south European barbarians," the ethnic profile assumed of the miners.

When the immigrants, many of which spoke little or no English, arrived to claim the "good jobs" they had been promised, they found themselves working for a company that owned or controlled every aspect of life in the mining camps, including medical care, law enforcement, and the only consistent supply of food - the company-owned store. Mine workers were paid not in cash, but in "company script" that was only redeemable at the company store. Because the mine operators controlled everything, they could inflate rent and food prices, and deflate wages so that the miners couldn't make ends meet, and incurred debt just keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads. Such a system was meant to control and subjugate the workforce, which it did, but it also created incendiary resentment and quite appropriate opprobrium for the mine operators.

The whole operation was industrial-strength indentured servitude -- a term that may not mean much to modern Americans, but one that refers to an illegal and shameful form of slavery, banned by our constitution, and inhumane by any standard.

At the time of these events in American history, rights that we take for granted today, like OSHA regulations and an 8-hour workday were still a far-off dream. The foreign-born laborers toiled for 12 to 16 hours a day, 6 days a week in subterranean mine shafts, engulfed in carcinogenic and highly flammable coal dust riddled with pockets of methane gas that could suffocate miners or explode without warning. Many miners of the day were killed in massive explosions and the resulting cave-ins. The miner's arduous and inherently risky labors were paid not hourly but by the ton of coal each miner extracted, a system easily cheated by mine bosses. The miners lived in squalor, while the mines generated massive profit, creating a pipeline of cash from the bowels of the Rockies to the concrete canyons of New York's financial districts.

The early labor movement was just starting to get organized to fight for safe, humane working conditions. It would be more than 30 years before the labor movement would be recognized. In 1913, labor organizers were underground, literally and figuratively, because if found out, the mine operators would eject them from the coalfields. In some cases, labor activists were taken at gunpoint by train deep into the deserts of the southwest, or far out on the Kansas plains, and left there, stranded.

Such conditions brewed deep unrest and resentment amongst the miners. Miners organized and formed picket lines to protest their inhumane treatment. The mine operators, who owned the local politicians and law enforcement, ruled with an iron fist. The situation was a powder keg, and early in the strike, when a local union activist was assassinated in a brawl in the streets of Trinidad, Colorado, the war was on. The mine operators saw only the loss of their profits, and ardently opposed the strike. To "break the strike," mine operators imported mercenaries from Baldwin-Felts, an East-Coast detective agency. The Baldwin-Felts organization was the Halliburton of its day in many ways. It employed many rough characters, convicted felons, veterans of foreign wars, and mercenaries who were hired to harass and intimidate the strikers. The Baldwin-Felts men, deputized by local sheriffs, attempted to break the strike through beatings, humiliation, and later through outright attacks on the miners. By this time, the striking miners had been evicted from their humble mine-owned houses by mine management for taking part in the strike.

The homeless miners set up in encampments of canvas tents, paid for by the unions, in meadows and fields near the mines, where they could set up picket lines. The miners and their families continued to suffer beatings and attacks at the hands of the mine guards and Baldwin-Felts thugs.

The Italian & Greek miners, some of whom were veterans of the Balkan wars of the late 1800's, armed themselves and struck back. The union bought guns, lots of them, and ammunition, and imported more miners and ruffians from other strike zones and other unions. With so many armed, angry men in southern Colorado on both sides, violence was inescapable, and the bullets began to fly with the murder of a union organizer in August 1913.

The war went on and on, from the fall of 1913 well into 1914 in the classic style of mob violence caricatured in mafia movies: "You send one of our guys to the hospital, we send one of your guys to the morgue." The violence escalated, tit for tat, throughout the winter, until the miners were dynamiting mines, railroad stations, and mine buildings, while the mine operators, who had by this time co-opted the Colorado National Guard, had begun strafing the miner's tent colonies with machine guns mounted on armored cars. The war pitched back and forth until April 20, 1914, the Colorado National Guard attacked and set fire to one of the tent colonies, killing 8 men, and 13 innocent women and children, the latter who were hiding in bunkers dug out under the tent's wooden floors. This historical mass-murder became known as the Ludlow massacre, named for the tiny village nearest to the meadow where the murders took place.

The murders created martyrs, and the miners struck back with vengeance. Fueled by rage, "Remember Ludlow" became a rallying cry for the miners, who rose up and rained down a punishing fusillade of bullets, dynamite and violence on the mine operators and mines all across Colorado, in a zone of destruction 225 miles long, from Longmont and Boulder, near Denver in the Northern Rockies, all the way to Trinidad, on the southern border, and deep into the mountains, as far west as Crested Butte.

The inspired fighting went on for 10 days, during which many mines and their adjacent processing centers and rail access points were destroyed, causing millions of dollars of destruction, at a time when a rifle could be purchased for a couple of dollars, and a cup of coffee was a nickel.

The inflamed miners were pushing back hard against the Colorado National Guard. The CNG had their hats handed to them, and were in the process of being routed and expelled from the strike zone, when the federal government finally stepped in. The situation was grave enough for President Woodrow Wilson to call in the regular Army, and call back the part-timers and corrupt weekend warriors of the CNG out of the strike zone. The US Army disarmed both the miners and the strikebreakers and local law enforcement, effectively ending the war after 9 long months and the deaths of at least 75 people from both sides.

Martelle weaves the narrative with precision and accuracy, gleaning details from historical archives of local and national news, personal diaries, court proceedings and the Congressional hearings that would follow in the months after the war.

The miners won the battle, even won the war, by any body-count method of war calculus, because fewer miners died than their persecutors. Yet in the most important analysis, the industrial political machine quashed the miners. The miners were left bereft, without homes or jobs, and the unions went unrecognized.

Yet the dead and wounded did not go down in vain, though this book doesn't cover the long-lasting reverberations of the war, instead offering a play-by-play recounting of the war itself. The industrial giants, led by the Rockefeller oil mob, absorbed the loss on the backs of its former workers, and trudged forward, continuing to trample the civil rights of the workers and their families. It would be decades before the United Mine Workers of America would be fully recognized, and the system of feudal servitude known as "the company town" would last until the 1950's in southern Colorado.

The story is a compelling look at class warfare, one that has great importance for readers today.

Reading between the lines, we can see this tale as an allegory, an epic that follows the money trail, indicting the industrialists who enslaved the people with a corporate system of industrial capitalist feudalism. It is far more than a cautionary tale. Willful readers with their eyes wide open, recalling Halliburton and the evils of corporate industrialism will see this book as a call to arms.

Martelle's tale of the immigrant miners who had the spine to stand up to the industrial tycoons should be an inspiration to us all. The miners had the backbone to go toe-to-toe with an exploitive and inhumane industrial system. They didn't break the industrial feudalist system, but we aren't working 16 hours and sucking down coal fumes, either, thanks in part to them. Readers who are interested in the politics of class war will find his book fascinating and compelling, as will readers who desire a modern story of an uprising against capitalistic greed and inhumanity.

It's also a great local interest story for those who have connections to, or have visited the magnificently beautiful vistas of southern Colorado, and are interested in the landscape that is still today dotted with historic buildings and hundreds, if not thousands of abandoned mines and the relics of the mining era.

http://www.naturalnews.com/z022756.html

"Soviet Jewry" is the New "Mafiya" in Chicago

The Chicago Sun Times may have finally overcome its singular obsession with an nearly extinct, and at its best merely petty Italian American crime involvement, and faced up to the other CURRENT THREATS that include the Columbian Cartel, Mexican Mafia, the Israeli "Kosher Nostra" and as below the "Soviet Jewry Mafiya"

One of the downsides of the "Save Soviet Jewry" in Russia campaign was giving "safe haven" to a substantial and significant criminal element that instead of immigrating to Israel, saw the US as "better pickings", but maintained their "contacts" in Russia

Thanks to Walter Santi

The Face of the New Mafia

Boris Stratievsky was a 'professor' of money-laundering for Moscow clients, according to his father, whose conversations were secretly taped by the FBI.

Chicago Sun Times

BY Steve Warmbir and Frank Main

Staff Reporters

February 24, 2008

Lev "Dollar" Stratievsky survived the Holocaust as a boy, came to Chicago and became a millionaire, going from driving a cab to driving a Mercedes.

Flush with success, he would hold court at a table in one of the restaurants he owned and, like any proud father, brag about his son.

"In his youth, Borya was very daring," Stratievsky once said. "He had attempted murders and s---."

The son, Boris "Borya" Stratievsky, also dubbed "Half Dollar," wasn't picky about the method, his father said.

"It's the same for Boris, whether to stab someone with a knife or shoot them," Lev Stratievsky explained.

His son had brains, too.

Boris Stratievsky was "a professor" of money-laundering, washing millions of dollars for shadowy Moscow clients, his father said, according to one transcript of many conversations secretly recorded by the FBI.

The father-and-son team were allegedly part of a growing threat in the Chicago area -- crooks coming from Russia, Poland, the Balkans and other parts of Eastern Europe, eager to make a buck any way they can: stealing luxury cars and heavy construction equipment and shipping them overseas, peddling drugs and guns to Chicago street gangs, committing mortgage fraud and health care fraud, and trafficking in fake IDs and young women.

"They're entrepreneurs," said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Kristi K. Johnson, an expert on the groups in Chicago.

"That's what it's all about -- the almighty dollar," said FBI Special Agent Michael D. Rollins, who leads a group of 14 agents targeting these new Chicago mobsters.

They aren't the Mafia. They're the new Mafiya.

While the FBI can't say exactly how many of them there are in Chicago, the problem of Russian and Eastern European organized-crime groups here "is continuing to increase, and I don't think that's going to change," said James Wagner, head of the Chicago Crime Commission and a former FBI supervisor who battled traditional organized crime in Chicago for decades.

Unlike the Chicago Outfit, in the new Mafiya, there's no single leader who calls the shots over the different factions, according to law enforcement experts. There's no burning of a holy card in the hand, no pricking of the finger, no loyalty oath. No "made" members.

But just because there's less of a formal structure doesn't make the groups any less sophisticated or dangerous, law enforcement officials said.

The criminal groups scoff at U.S. law enforcement officials, who often don't speak their language -- and don't beat them up, like the cops back home would.

Target their own people

These groups keep their circles of criminal associates tight, sticking to family members or people coming from the same city overseas.

And when they get arrested, they often just make bail and flee back home.

What's more, their threats and violence have an added dimension. The criminal groups often prey on their own people, not only menacing them with violence but also threatening to have their families hurt back home.

When one thug wanted to scare a woman he'd brought over from Latvia to be a stripper in Chicago, he ripped a charm from the woman's neck that had a picture of her mother inside. The thug, Alex Mishulovich, threatened to have his Chechen mob friends murder the woman's mother, according to testimony in a 1999 trial.

In another federal trial in Chicago, in 2006, this one involving a Russian enforcer named Israil Vengerin, a Russian businesswoman testified that two thugs with baseball bats savagely beat her, putting her in the hospital, after she refused to pay Vengerin a "street tax."

In a 2001 case, a man named Jacek Polszakiewicz, who sold fake immigration documents in Chicago to illegal aliens -- some of whom he believed to be Russian mobsters -- plotted the killing of a man he thought had ripped him off.

And Lev Stratievsky himself was caught on tape by federal authorities talking about how to kill a witness in a case involving one of his colleagues. Of course, if that colleague were to decide to cooperate with the FBI, Lev Stratievsky mused, he, too, would have to be killed, records show.

In neither of those two cases did the talk of murder ever become reality.

The recordings the FBI secretly made of Lev Stratievsky holding court and, to a lesser degree, of his son from 1999 to 2001, provide an unusual window into a world of two men authorities have called associates of Russian organized crime here.

Often sitting near Lev Stratievsky was a man with a reputation as a brutal loan collector. Lev Stratievsky sent the man out to collect his debts. But the man's true purpose was to collect Lev Stratievsky's words -- a torrent of talk swept up by a secret recording device the man wore for the FBI, court records show.

Lev Stratievsky was a Ukrainian who survived the Holocaust as a little boy, according to court filings. He came to this country in 1978, would be arrested in 2005 and died the following year in prison at the age of 67, his son's attorneys calling him a drunk who made up stories.

The son, Boris, 46, wound up facing charges, too, and has sat in jail awaiting trial since 2005, far from his $5 million Highland Park mansion with its indoor pool and a private walkway to the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Boris Stratievsky's attorney, Ed Genson -- who also represents R&B singer R. Kelly among other notable, affluent clients -- defends Stratievsky, calling him "a legitimate businessman."

However Boris Stratievsky made his money, he was successful. He co-owned a Boeing 707 and leased it to an airline. He and his father owned more than $15 million in real estate throughout the Chicago area. He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars decorating his home.

'That's 20 years in prison'

He had a secret room in his Skokie office, behind a bookcase, where he entertained out-of-town guests. And he had another secret room in his mansion, next to the wine room, where he kept his guns, court records show.

His taste for intrigue descended into paranoia.

He once had an employee check every roof tile at his office for a listening device. Unfortunately for Boris Stratievsky, the employee was snitching on him to the feds, court records show.

Boris Stratievsky warned his father about keeping incriminating records around, according to one FBI transcript. But the father confided to his muscle man -- the FBI undercover informant -- that he didn't listen.

"We have a closet, I have checks are lying [there]. ... If Boris finds out, he'll kill me. ... I have my illegal books, what I deal in. Get my little suitcase, that's 20 years in prison. I hope to God no one come to me tomorrow and asks me, 'Show me your books. How do you operate?' " Lev Stratievsky was caught on tape saying.

Lev Stratievsky worried that even a modest investigation of him could upend his world.

"If they investigate me . . . for the baby toe on my foot, the s--- will run out of me, damn it," he said on one tape.

Boris Stratievsky even warned his father's muscle man -- in reality, the undercover FBI informant -- that he had two cops on his payroll who could beat the man up and plant drugs on him.

The tough talk didn't deter the informant from helping the FBI build a case against Boris Stratievsky. The FBI's undercover man first tried to get Boris Stratievsky to wash $10,000 in illegal proceeds. In reality, it was money from the FBI.

Boris Stratievsky refused, saying the amount was too little and not worth the risk. So the amounts increased, with the informant washing about $200,000 through Boris Stratievsky, according to the indictment against him. In addition to money-laundering charges, Boris Stratievsky also is charged with having fake passports.

Boris Stratievsky's cut was 20 percent, federal authorities allege.

He had quite a money-laundering network, according to court records, with a Swiss banking contact and mail drops throughout Europe.

Authorities say they think Boris Stratievsky had some high-profile clients, including one who was a member of the Russian Duma, the equivalent of a congressman in Russia, according to court testimony.

Investigators say they think Boris Stratievsky plunged some of the money he laundered for his Russian clients into real estate, court records show.

Hauled into court by city

A Sun-Times review of real estate, court and corporate records found more than 30 companies were associated with one or both of the Stratievskys, who had more than $15 million in property.

Bankrolling many of their mortgages was Broadway Bank, owned by the family of Illinois state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. From 2001 to 2005, before the men were charged, the bank lent more than $10 million to companies tied to Lev and Boris Stratievsky, records show. A spokesman for the treasurer had no comment on the loans.

In many instances with their properties, Lev and Boris Stratievsky were not model owners, records show. The City of Chicago hauled companies tied to the men into court at least half a dozen times on different properties for multiple code violations. Despite the Stratievskys' continuing problems with the city, the 5th Ward alderman at the time, Barbara Holt, sent a letter to the city corporation counsel's office, vouching for Boris Stratievsky. The letter reads in part: "This property has been acquired by a developer that has done excellent work in the 5th Ward -- Interpacifica, Inc. I have been assured by Boris Stratievsky . . . that the property is boarded and secured."

Holt, who lost in the 1999 election, did not respond to a request for comment.

Diane Cosby lived in a roach-infested building in the 4500 block of North Magnolia that the Stratievskys owned through one of their companies, Interpacifica.

Cosby, 61, remembers three Russian tough guys pressuring tenants to move out in the mid-1990s to clear the way for a renovation of the apartment building into condos.

"They pulled the roof off the back part of the building, and it rained all over the people who lived there," Cosby recalled.

"They were the worst landlords I ever had," she said. "We always called them Russian mobsters. ... We did not know they were mobsters, but they sure looked like them."

''It's the same for Boris, whether to stab someone with a knife or shoot them.'' -- Lev Stratievsky, Boris' father

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/810284,CST-NWS-mafiya24.article

Italians Give French Food the Boot at EU Brussels Offices

The EU (European Union) Council Main offices in Brussels, Belgium has 3,000 civil servants from Finland, Ireland, Portugal and Bulgaria. It also feeds prime ministers and high-ranking foreign dignitaries during their official visits to Brussels. EU in wanting to promote a healthier diet among its civil servants decided to change from a French food supplier to an Italian food supplier that offers a low-fat, Mediterranean diet. Grilled vegetables are now available far more frequently than French fries.

Mediterranean Diet Conquers EU Bureaucracy

Expatica.com
February 29, 2008

Brussels --Food always brings a smile to the faces of Italians.
Al-dente pasta, smoked ham or mozzarella are cherished treasures in the Bel Paese. And now, they are also conquering the hearts of Europe's bureaucrats.
Since January, a small catering firm from the northeastern corner of Italy, Unijolly, has replaced a French giant as the main food supplier to the Council of the European Union, one of the main Brussels-based institutions.
On a typical day, Unijolly will serve about 3,000 hot meals to civil servants from Finland, Ireland, Portugal or Bulgaria.
It also feeds prime ministers and high-ranking foreign dignitaries during their official visits to Brussels.
Its top chef is Francesco Mammola, a handsome 32-year old from Rome who has made a name for himself by appearing on an Italian adaptation of the BBC television series Ready Steady Cook.
Mammola had already been working in restaurants as a teenager before becoming a teacher at Italy's prestigious Gambero Rosso cooking school and exporting his expertise to Russia and Asia.
"Catering for so many different palates is certainly a challenge. But television has taught me that if your dishes have vivid colors, a pleasant appearance and a good consistency, the job is already half done," Mammola told DPA.
But feeding Eurocrats is about much more than appearances.
Daniela Piussi, Unijolly's general manager, says that when council officials started searching for a new caterer, they weren't just looking for good food, they also wanted to promote a healthier diet among its civil servants.
"As we offer a low-fat, Mediterranean diet, we were well placed to win the bid," Piussi said.
Since taking over, Mammola and his international team of 37 chefs -- some of whom are French, Belgian, Slovenian, Spanish and German - have replaced butter with extra-virgin olive oil and stock cubes with real broth.
Grilled vegetables are now available far more frequently than French fries, while pizza is about to make its debut in the cafeteria of the Justus Lipsius building.
And while the antipasti may be typically Italian, Mammola's team try to offer a truly European variety of recipes -- from Hungarian goulash to Spanish paella. Their sausages come from Germany while the fish, fruit and vegetables are now imported from Spain.
Overall, clients appear to have responded positively to the change.
Joal Miranda, a council official from Portugal, said the soups had improved. And while his colleague Anna Lopes missed the grilled shrimps with white rice which she used to relish, Nora Kramer, an Austrian-born translator, praised Mammola's stuffed peppers and roast potatoes.
This correspondent found that the strozzapreti pasta in a courgettes and bacon sauce was perfectly al dente and remarkably similar to the one he used to enjoy in Rome.
Unijolly says the next step is to teach its clients to appreciate the richness and variety of Europe's regional foods, perhaps by describing a product's history and explaining why it tastes so.
"Too many bureaucrats grab the first dish they see and gobble absent-mindedly while reading the newspaper. We want to change that," Piussi said.

http://www.expatica.com/be/articles/news/Mediterranean-diet-conquers-EU-bureaucracy-.html

"Four Seasons" Musical Jersey Boys To Repeat US Success in Britain?

The English Backers are concerned if their audience will be able to relate to industrial wasteland of New Jersey, and its tainted backstory.

Can Four Seasons musical Jersey Boys repeat US success in Britain?

The Frankie Valli musical has wowed audiences across the States, now the Four Seasons' story is heading for Britain

London Times

David Cote

March 1, 2008

First, a clarification: Jersey Boys has nothing to do with guys from the most southerly of the British Isles, just off the Normandy coast. The Jersey in this case is New, it is the opposite of picturesque, and its lads are the toast of Broadway. Since opening in 2006, Jersey Boys - the story of the 1960s pop sensation the Four Seasons - has netted millions of dollars at the box office. And the popularity isn't limited to New York (a short car ride from New Jersey, after all). There is a separate run in Chicago as well as a national tour. Now the blockbuster's producers are hoping to score with a different demographic when the show opens at the Prince Edward Theatre in London on March 18.

Conventional wisdom holds that for a musical to have long-lived international appeal, it should concern exotic subject matter. Set your show in a fantastic locale or in a distant period, and audiences can project on to its romantic strangeness. Witness classics such as Cats, Phantom of the Opera, even Fiddler on the Roof. Localism is a no-no. Jersey Boys flouts that rule, depicting four Italian-American youths from the mobbed-up industrial wasteland of New Jersey clawing their way to fame and fortune as the Four Seasons. It's a jaunty rags-to-riches story with catchy songs such as Beggin' and Can't Take My Eyes Off You - but will English audiences relate to it?

"Many of us knew the songs, but very few knew the story behind the songs," points out the director Des McAnuff. The man who brought The Who's Tommy to life on Broadway in 1993 certainly knows his way around a rock catalogue, and how to avoid making it look naff in a theatrical context. "You have these very recognisable tunes, and then bodies in trunks of cars. There is a weird juxtaposition."

McAnuff is referring to the extra spice that makes Jersey Boys stand out from the pack of nostalgic jukebox musicals: a true-crime backstory. Audiences who know the Four Seasons through their bubblegum hits showcasing Frankie Valli's stratospheric falsetto will be surprised to learn that the band hid a steamy past.

Before their Top 40 hit Sherry in 1962, the guitarist Tommy DeVito and the bassist Nick Massi had spent several years in jail for various petty crimes. In addition, the band maintained ties with Mafia mobsters. Even after the big hits Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry and Walk Like a Man there were troubles. In 1969, the band was out of favour with psychedelic listeners, and Valli and Gaudio discovered that DeVito had accumulated large debts. DeVito agreed to be bought out of the band and the remaining members had to work feverishly to pay off the money.

"If you pull the songs out, it's a play," McAnuff says. "And it's quite different from most American musicals. It is an unusual hybrid. I've described it as a musical for people who don't like musicals." McAnuff says that he isn't changing a thing for the London version, but he expects this production to be best in terms of acting.

When the director and his team were polishing Jersey Boys for its world premiere in La Jolla, California, in 2005, he was careful to cast actors with rock backgrounds. "We wanted to be sure we were portraying the evolution of a real band," McAnuff says. "We wanted that integrity. You saw the actors playing rock'n'roll, so the audience could invest in those characters and suspend their disbelief: those guys are the Seasons."

Achieving musical authenticity will be key. Charles Alexander, a former editor for Time magazine and an expert on all things Four Seasons (he contributed liner notes to the box set Jersey Beat), cites Britain as second only to America in terms of Four Seasons fandom. ?There aren't Beatles-size numbers of Seasons fans in the world, but whether they are in Teaneck, London, Montreal or Santiago, they are devoted,? Alexander says. ?Seasons fans tend to be fans for life. There is something about Valli's voice that is like a drug to a suscept-ible mind.? He also notes that the Northern Soul movement around Manchester in the 1970s helped to sustain Valli and the Seasons' popularity.

Another potential source of appeal is class, which gives the libretto much of its pathos and comedy. "The British are still very conscious of class, while we in America like to think that we've transcended all that," McAnuff says. "Class discrimination is supposedly illegal, but it still does exist," notes Glenn Carter, who plays the foul-mouthed ne'er-do-well Tommy DeVito. "It's impossible to avoid people's attitudes towards those who are more or less educated. Until everyone has equal access to education there is going to be a class system. And not even an invisible one."

For most Americans, New Jersey is synonymous with low class - an uncouth, culture-free zone of strip malls and civic neglect. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, when Jersey Boys begins, the Garden State didn't have quite the trashy reputation that it holds today, but it still lived under the shadow of neighbouring New York. It was a state in decline, riddled with corruption, rife with organised crime and ethnic tension. Of course, the upside to coming from the nastiest place on earth means that you can only go up.

Although Jersey Boys gets its spark from the love-hate interplay between its four male leads (who include Stephen Ashfield as Gaudio and Phillip Bulcock as Massi), there is no doubt that the vocal burden falls on Ryan Molloy playing Valli. This insanely demanding role requires a performer who not only has the acting chops to play Valli from about age 17 to 53, but the pipes to reach those falsetto highs in more than 20 numbers threaded throughout the show.

It's daunting stuff and Molloy is keenly aware of the vocal challenge. ?It's the most singing that anyone's done in a show, ever,? Molloy says after a rehearsal with a rueful laugh. ?It's a real Everest of a show.?

As for the characters' thick "dese, dem and dose" accents and "fuggedaboutit" manners, Carter doesn't foresee any cultural barriers. "We know our Goodfellas, A Bronx Tale, The Sopranos - it's all become part of our knowledge of American culture."

Molloy says that he can relate to Valli's youth, which started out in a low-income housing development. "I was raised in a North Shields council estate in a rough area," Molloy recalls. "It was tough living there. I used to hang out with my cousin a lot and he's done about 15 years in jail. He just got out this year."

If all goes well with Jersey Boys, the only thing Molloy will be stealing is hearts.

Jersey Boys, Prince Edward Theatre, Old Compton Street, London W1 (www.prince- edward-theatre.co.uk 020-7447 5400), previewing now, opens Mar 18

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article3439173.ece

Obit: Caesar Casale : A Rare Educator, Who Taught With Love and Dedication

After Caesar Casale's wife died during childbirth in 1963, he began teaching at the First Avenue Elementary School to be closer to his daughters, who were students there.

Long after his daughters moved on, and as Newark changed around him, Mr. Casale stayed on at the school he had thrown his arms around. He was a father figure to generations of students, first to the Italian-Americans and Portuguese-Americans of midcentury Newark, and then, after the 1967 riots, to the black and Hispanic children in the North Ward. As the city was remade, the changes meant little to Mr. Casale, his friends said: Children were just children, he believed.

“He could speak to a 5-year-old or a 95-year-old and make them feel comfortable", said Jetta Cioci, who started her teaching career at the school with Mr. Casale’s daughter Angela in her class. "He’d walk into the kindergarten class and blow the kids a kiss. They’d catch it. Then he’d teach the eighth graders history."

He became the vice principal and then the principal at First Avenue, just a block from where he had raised his children and where he lived until a few years ago. The new principal is his own nephew, who inherited Mr. Casale’s love of education.

As a City Was Remade, a Teacher’s Dedication Never Faltered

The New York Times

Newark Journal

By Kareem Fahim

March 1, 2008

NEWARK — There was no trace of thunder in his voice or malice in his rebukes, but somehow Caesar Casale led a school here for decades, transforming it into something like a family.

It was his own family that led him to the school to begin with. After his wife died during childbirth in 1963, he began teaching at the First Avenue Elementary School to be closer to his daughters, who were students there. Long after they moved on, and as Newark changed around him, Mr. Casale stayed on at the school he had thrown his arms around.

He was a father figure to generations of students, first to the Italian-Americans and Portuguese-Americans of midcentury Newark, and then, after the 1967 riots, to the black and Hispanic children in the North Ward. As the city was remade, the changes meant little to Mr. Casale, his friends said: Children were just children, he believed.

He became the vice principal and then the principal at First Avenue, just a block from where he had raised his children and where he lived until a few years ago. In retirement, he would return to the three-story school for assemblies or to read to the children on Dr. Seuss day; many of the teachers there now are his former students. He might just as well have handpicked the new principal: his own nephew, who inherited Mr. Casale’s love of education.

Mr. Casale died this week at 88. A trickle of older Italian-Americans walked past the open coffin on Friday in Totowa, then past the pictures of him as a young man when he was in the Army infantry with a head of thick, black hair, wearing fatigues. His funeral Mass was said in the North Ward, in a church where he had served as the head usher.

After the funeral, over a lunch of baked ziti and chicken Milanese, his colleagues said that Mr. Casale, who always wore a suit and a sweater vest and for years smoked a pipe, had created something unique at the school, which is now considered among Newark’s best. But he transformed the place quietly, leaving friends the difficult task of describing how he had done it.

Instead, they recalled his smaller graces.

“He could speak to a 5-year-old or a 95-year-old and make them feel comfortable,” said Jetta Cioci, who started her teaching career at the school with Mr. Casale’s daughter Angela in her class. “He’d walk into the kindergarten class and blow the kids a kiss. They’d catch it. Then he’d teach the eighth graders history.”

He raised his two daughters with the help of relatives who shared his three-family house (Mr. Casale’s son was raised by other relatives). His nephew, Anthony Orsini, who lived on the first floor of the house, said his uncle talked daily about the rewards of education. He talked about his beloved Yankees, too.

Mr. Casale never remarried, and sent heart-shaped boxes of chocolates to all the female teachers and staff at school on Valentine’s Day. He liked to go to the races. For a time, he drove a big Cadillac.

By the mid-1990s, Newark’s school system was in crisis. In 1995, a judge ordered a state takeover, finding that too many of Newark’s children failed statewide standardized tests. Mr. Casale was transferred to another school to become co-principal, Mr. Orsini said.

“It was painful for him" he said. "He never had an unsatisfactory rating, and test scores were good. They may have felt his time had passed."

Dianne Salandra, 49, who was taught by Mr. Casale as a child, and who returned to teach at the school years later, said that when Mr. Casale was transferred, it happened so quietly "that no one knew that he had left".

He went on to tutor students who were considering teaching careers, working into his 80s. Eight years ago, Mr. Orsini became principal at First Avenue Elementary.

Early on Tuesday, the news of Mr. Casale’s death reached teachers at the school, now in a new building a couple of blocks away. He had suffered from heart problems, and had recently received a diagnosis of cancer, his daughter Angela Gualano said.

Later on Friday afternoon, his friends and colleagues sat in Mr. Orsini’s office and recalled the way Mr. Casale would duck into classrooms, ask the teachers if they minded, then join in the teaching; or the way he would discipline students, delivering a sober lecture that would make students wish he had screamed at them instead.

And the way he marched his students around the North Ward at Halloween, on a winding route through his working-class neighborhood.

“He made sure everyone knew these were the First Avenue kids", Ms. Salandra said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/nyregion/01principal.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin

"Role and Contribution of Italian Americans" Include In Curriculum - Calif Assemblyman Anthony Portantino - AB 1863

California State Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, an apparently proud Italian American, has introduced AB 1863, which would require the state school board to "include the role and contribution of Italian Americans" in social studies courses.

Anthony J. Portantino (born January 29, 1961 in Long Branch, New Jersey), has represented California's 44th assembly district since December of 2006. He is a Democrat.

Assemblyman Portantino served two terms on the La Cañada Flintridge City Council from 1999 until 2006. He served as Mayor from 2001 until 2002 and from 2005 until 2006. In addition, he was President of the League of California Cities Mayor's and Councilmember's Department, Vice Chair of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory Committee and Board Member for the San Gabriel Valley Chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

Assemblyman Portantino graduated from Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania with a BS in Psychology/Business.

Assemblyman Portantino is married to Ellen Portantino who also graduated from Albright College. Ellen is a Vice President at the Walt Disney Company where she has spent the last 5 years working at the Baby Einstein Company. Assemblyman and Mrs. Portantino have two daughters in public school, Sofia, sixteen, and Bella Rose, five.

Portantino for Assembly, PO Box 93935, Pasadena, CA 91109-3935, Campaign (626) 405-8130, Home (818) 952-3432

http://www.portantinoforassembly.com/
Campaign Manager Timothy P. Wendler: timw@portantinoforassembly.com
General Information: info@portantinoforassembly.com
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Politics- What's Up

Sacramento Bee

Steve Wiegand

Saturday March 1, 2008

swiegand@sacbee.com

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/751628.html

Tony Nardi- My Hero - Stages His Rants

Tony Nardi has more than a few beefs, but the way he deals is by incorporating them into a series of plays he writes, directs, and produces,

Letter One, Letter Two, and Letter Three...and Counting.

His first play/rant "Letter One" was written in reaction to a script for the TV series Rent-a-Goalie, set in Toronto's Little Italy, sent to him for consideration. Nardi was born in Italy and raised in Montreal. He saw the Italian role he was being offered as stereotypical and offensive.

It wasn't a first. He could have shrugged it off with an, "I'm busy, no thanks, I'll pass," as he had often done before. But this time he couldn't take it anymore. He turned warrior.

"Where do we take responsibility for the crap that we put out there on TV?" he asked, rhetorically, over the phone. "Because we put out crap. I mean, everybody agrees. Notwithstanding the phenomenal talent, we strive for mediocrity." He wrote a lengthy diatribe and mailed it off to the Rent-a-Goalie producers. No reply. He started emailing it to friends. Then he developed it into a play, and began performing it for them.

"Letter Two" His next rant was set off by reviews of a commedia dell'arte play, Carlo Goldoni's "The Amorous Servant", and his problem with critics: "They pass off ignorance as knowledge of the art form."

If Nardi, 49, last seen at Centaur Theatre as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls in 1988, were not an established actor with a couple of Genie awards (best actor for La Déroute in 1999 and My Father's Angel in 2001) to his name, his letters/plays might have become career suicide notes. Instead, they have raised his profile and won him admiration.

Toronto Star columnist Joe Fiorito wrote: "Nardi uses dramatic acid to burn the rust off truth, and to blister complacency until it turns into awareness. He takes no prisoners."

A man of many rants

Tony Nardi Stages His Tirades - Letters - on The State of Canadian Theatre

Montreal Gazette - Montreal,Quebec,Canada Pat Donnelly

Saturday, March 01, 2008

The thing I love about cantankerous people is that you can get them started on just about anything.

So when I called actor Tony Nardi in Toronto to talk about his three controversial Letter plays, which decry the state of Canadian theatre, television and cinema, I thought I'd test him on the weather.

Sure enough, I got a tirade on the deplorable state of snow removal in Toronto: "It's pathetic. They don't clean sidewalks. When you think of the collateral damage. People break their necks."

Nardi, whom one Toronto journalist recently described as a man who could become our "most famous agitator outside of Don Cherry," cannot resist a chance to express his opinion.

"Wherever I see comic opportunities, I'm in," he admitted.

Enough with the weather. Exactly what is his main beef?

"The first two letters were really specific reactions to specific things," he said. The first was written in reaction to a script for the TV series Rent-a-Goalie, set in Toronto's Little Italy, sent to him for consideration. Nardi, who was born in Italy and raised in Montreal, saw the Italian role he was being offered as stereotypical and offensive.

It wasn't a first. He could have shrugged it off with an, "I'm busy, no thanks, I'll pass," as he had often done before. But this time (fresh in from Quebec after shooting an exciting film about the Oka uprising, Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis), he couldn't take it anymore. He turned warrior.

"Where do we take responsibility for the crap that we put out there on TV?" he asked, rhetorically, over the phone. "Because we put out crap. I mean, everybody agrees. Notwithstanding the phenomenal talent, we strive for mediocrity."

Nardi, who began his professional acting career in Montreal in 1978 in a searing play about Russian dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn, wrote a lengthy diatribe and mailed it off to the Rent-a-Goalie producers. No reply. He started emailing it to friends. Then he began performing it for them. Not everyone, he discovered, agreed with him. He incorporated some of their reactions into his script. "It became sort of a documentary, not only of my original letter but also the process of trying to create that letter," he said.

That was Letter One.

His next rant was set off by negative reviews of a commedia dell'arte play, Carlo Goldoni's The Amorous Servant, presented by Pleiades Theatre in Toronto. He now allows that the production, directed by a friend, wasn't very good. But the reviews added insult to injury, he said. His problem with critics: "They pass off ignorance as knowledge of the art form."

So he wrote a "mammoth" essay addressed to two Toronto theatre critics, Kamal Al-Solaylee of the Globe and Mail and Richard Ouzounian of the the Toronto Star. Besides setting out to "educate" these critics on the true nature of commedia dell'arte, Nardi attempted to throw light on the issue of ethnic stereotyping or "how we perceive and present and represent 'other cultures' in this Canadian landscape."

The problem isn't only the Italian, or French communities in Toronto, or the English one in Montreal, he said. "It's everybody. I don't think that English Canada in English Canada gets an authentic representation of itself. Nobody does."

The essay became Letter Two, his take on the Canadian theatre industry. And once again, as with television, the label was mediocre, with gutless and irrelevant thrown in.

According to Nardi, Canadian actors have been reduced to props, not allowed to develop their own voices. Quebec, he acknowledges, is another story, with more authentic voices. "But it's pretty well a very French, pure laine milieu," he said. Which is why most anglo and allophone actors, like Nardi, tend to head for Toronto.

Nardi described his third play "... And Counting!" as largely a post-mortem of the two previous ones, with emphasis on the issue of cultural funding.

In Montreal, for the first time, he'll be performing all three on consecutive evenings, beginning with Letter One on Thursday at UQAM, followed by Letter Two at McGill, on Friday, and the third one on Saturday.

If Nardi, 49, last seen at Centaur Theatre as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls in 1988, were not an established actor with a couple of Genie awards (best actor for La Déroute in 1999 and My Father's Angel in 2001) to his name, his letters might have become career suicide notes. Instead, they have raised his profile and won him admiration.

Toronto Star columnist Joe Fiorito wrote: "Nardi uses dramatic acid to burn the rust off truth, and to blister complacency until it turns into awareness. He takes no prisoners."

Nardi breaks all the rules of performance, too. He doesn't memorize his lines and he doesn't rehearse. "I read it off the computer," he said. "I stand at a podium with my laptop and read."

There's no admission charge for the Letter plays. And after the show, members of the audience get a chance to tell him off.

Theatre critics, too. Here's the catch: anything you say may end up in the next version of his script.

Tony Nardi's Letter One, will be presented Thursday at 6 p.m at UQAM's Studio-d'essai Claude-Gauvreau, Pavillon Judith-Jasmin, second floor, 405 Ste. Catherine St. E. Letter Two, on Friday at 5 p.m. at McGill's Moyse Hall, in the Arts Building, 853 Sherbrooke St. W. Letter Three, "... And Counting!", on Saturday, March 8, at 7 p.m. at McGill's Redpath Museum Auditorium, 859 Sherbrooke. St. W. Free. Visit www.twoletters.ca.

pdonnell@thegazette.canwest.com

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/arts/story.html?id=564ed18f-3701-42e0-a20f-77fc246614a6

Barack Obama Style: Sprezzatura ?? or Koolth ??

Erica Jong, Feminist considers Obamas' style as "sprezzatura " -- that gorgeous Italian word which means making the difficult look easy,

Koolth: What Barack Has

Huffington Post Erica Jong March 1, 2008

Ever since that last debate in which Hillary sounded like a scold and Barack came across as the prince of America, I've been trying to find a word for Obama's style. Koolth is what I've come up with.

I could have said sprezzatura -- that gorgeous Italian word which means making the difficult look easy, but Americans hate foreign words -- especially in campaigns and book titles. So I've coined koolth. What it means is: contemporary, relaxed, easy, breezy and sure. Obama exudes it. HRC seems as pissy and prissy and apoplectic as, say, Tim Russert. Yes, the press ganged up on her. Yes, she was one woman and a bunch of hostile guys -- as usual. But she should have kept her cool. Obama bested her with his divine koolth.

This is important because their positions are so similar. Health care, check. Out of Iraq, check. Pro-children, check. Anti-poverty, check. Anti-Repugnican tax-cuts for the rich, check. Worried about the deficit and plunging dollar, check. I could go on but I won't.

They are both Dems in a democratic year. And they both have similar views of the repugnican disaster that's undone our country in seven lean mean years. They are both competent and strong and hard-working. Either of them would be far better than Bomb Bomb McCain and his party of snaggle-toothed dinosaurs. But when substance is similar, style matters. And Obama has koolthwhile Hillary seems as pissed off and passe as Chris Matthews and Tim Russert. Not to mention Rush Limbaugh and all the other right wing radioheads. They are done for. It's a new century.

(By the way, Brian Williams also has koolth -- and a sense of humor.)

Is Hillary's scoldingness a woman thing? It doesn't have to be. Sure, you could see her frustration. Here I am tryin' to 'splain myself to the boys -- again!

But she should have practiced patience. If you are the queen, act like the queen. Don't let the bastards drag you down to their level.

As a feminist, I see clearly what we need: confidence that our positions are right and inevitable. Cool judgment that doesn't stoop to the level of our idiotic press.

We are smart. Deal with it. And we're not going down in the gutter with the gutter press. Tina Fey was right: Bitches get things done. Long live bitches who have the confidence of koolth.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erica-jong/koolth-what-barack-has_b_89334.html

WWII Brutally Mismanaged Italian Campaign Exposed by Bill Mauldin, Famous Cartoonist

Bill Mauldin, surely the finest artist to come out of World War II and one of America's most impudent postwar editorial-page cartoonists.

His favorite TARGETS, publicity-mad U.S. generals and rear-echelon soldiers far from battle. His LOVE -- there is no other word for it -- for the ordinary enlisted man exalted his art and tumultuous life.

Mauldin struck "a delicate balance between representing . . . the men of the lines -- and fulfilling his official charge to bolster morale." He couldn't tell the grisly truth about the brutally mismanaged Italian campaign. But in the fiercest fighting of 1943-44, when the infantry had to scale sheer cliffs under fire and cross rivers under Wehrmacht machine-gun fire, his panels "dripped with insinuations and veiled meanings." And "his fans in the foxholes read the truth between the brushstrokes."

BOOK REVIEW

A war cartoonist without peer

'Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front' by Todd DePastino and 'Willie & Joe: The WWII Years' by Bill Mauldin

By Clancy Sigal

March 2, 2008

"Bill Mauldin - A Life Up Front"
Todd DePastino
W.W. Norton: 370 pp., $27.95

Willie & Joe
The WWII Years
Bill Mauldin, edited by Todd DePastino
Fantagraphics: 650 pp., $65

Bill Mauldin, surely the finest artist to come out of World War II and one of America's most impudent postwar editorial-page cartoonists, was a born gut fighter. If he were alive today, this pint-size, waggle-eared, pugnacious correspondence-course cartoonist, who carried a rifle along with his sketchpad as a combat infantryman in Company K, 180th Regiment of the 45th ("Thunderbird") Division, would probably be drawing furiously behind some sandbagged outpost in Anbar province, not tormenting the Iraqi foe but poking fun at his favorite targets, publicity-mad U.S. generals and rear-echelon soldiers far from battle. His love -- there is no other word for it -- for the ordinary enlisted man exalted his art and tumultuous life.

As Todd DePastino writes in his deeply felt, vivacious and wonderfully illustrated biography, Mauldin's "morbid, angry, compulsive humor" was born of the frontline soldier's resigned sense that he was a walking dead man because "few would survive the war with anything less than a life-altering wound." Mauldin's native genius, like that of his predecessor satirists Hogarth and Daumier and today's Garry Trudeau, was to assimilate "the [enlisted] men's grievances into his own," which for a hungry kid from the Great Depression were many and intractable.

Laden with an M-1 rifle, grenades and a backpack full of drawing paper, brushes and ink he'd scrounged, Mauldin waded ashore with the 45th in bloody beach invasions in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and France. Close combat -- he was wounded by a mortar shell -- was the inspiration for his immortal "Willie and Joe" GI cartoons, which spread like wildfire among the troops and then, in newspapers and magazines, to civilians back home hungering for a grittier picture than the War Department's sanitized images.

Willie, fierce-beaked and tramp-like, and Joe, battle-weary and dazed-looking, were the war's Everymen. Top brass like Gen. Patton despised these defiantly low-class creatures for spreading "a cancer of insubordination." But ordinary soldiers came to love them -- and Mauldin -- because the kid cartoonist "came closest to representing the experience of combat." After all, his 170-man rifle company had suffered over 1,000% casualties.

Like Ernie Pyle, the beloved war reporter killed near Okinawa, Mauldin stuck close to the ordinary because he was ordinary. This "impertinent young squirt," as one admiring writer called him, was skilled at liberating wine (to mix with ink) and at pilfering engraving equipment to produce his "Willie and Joe" cartoons, first for the 45th Division News and later for Stars and Stripes. At 110 pounds (thanks to a childhood case of rickets), he looked boyishly innocent and he hadn't even begun to shave yet.

Mindful of military bureaucrats who regarded Willie and Joe as "unsoldierly," Mauldin struck "a delicate balance between representing . . . the men of the lines -- and fulfilling his official charge to bolster morale." He couldn't tell the grisly truth about the brutally mismanaged Italian campaign. But in the fiercest fighting of 1943-44, when the infantry had to scale sheer cliffs under fire and cross rivers under Wehrmacht machine-gun fire, his panels "dripped with insinuations and veiled meanings." And "his fans in the foxholes read the truth between the brushstrokes."

Readers can judge for themselves. In addition to Mauldin panels in DePastino's book, there's a terrific, new two-volume collection (edited by DePastino) that traces the artist's development from 1940 to the end of the war. With a few chiaroscuro strokes and a wry caption, Mauldin cuts to the bone. For example: Willie and Joe, unshaven, ragged and exhausted after a battle, look up at a clean-cut soldier swaggering toward them, fire in his eye. "That can't be no combat man. He's lookin' fer a fight," observes Willie. And when two officers on a mountaintop gaze at a gorgeous sunset, the captain says to the major, "Beautiful view"; below it a caption reads, "Is there one for the enlisted men?" In another, Willie and Joe, cowering in a ditch, mutter to a general standing upright, "Sir, do ya hafta draw fire while yer inspirin' us?"

DePastino suggests that Mauldin was so successful because, unlike other Army-oriented comics (such as "Sad Sack" and "GI Joe") that flooded the market after Pearl Harbor, "Bill's realism . . . suggested a fundamental respect for army life." For him, as for so many dirt-poor boys, the Army was a good deal (a steady $21 a month unless you got killed) and an education in diversity.

After the war, some critics expressed surprise, even dismay, at Mauldin's anti-racist, anti-Red Scare cartoons for the newspapers that had competed to hire the two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. Chalk it up to the 45th Division. Despite the Army's rule of strict segregation, his "was the most integrated regiment in the country" full of "rough and literate men who seemed to delight in defying stereotypes." His buddy Rayson J. Billey, a Native American, Shakespeare-quoting University of Oklahoma graduate, distinguished himself in ferocious hand-to-hand fighting.

Mauldin, "the angriest baby" his grandmother had ever seen, was born into a "weird bunch" in the bleak "Empty Quarter" of southern New Mexico. His alcoholic, drifter dad was a prairie orphan, part Native American and part Cajun, raised -- of course! -- by local prostitutes until the Mauldins adopted him. Mauldin Senior's lungs had been scalded by poison gas in World War I, and at home he liked lying in a bathtub full of beer, peeing in it and drinking from it. "[H]is parents' erratic behavior left [Bill] insecure, distrustful, and always braced for trouble."

A wild, fighting-mad desert child, young Bill was drawing before he could walk or talk. Well before his teens, he drank, whored and learned to smoke (if tobacco wasn't available, "coffee grounds mixed with dried horse manure" would do). His idea of art came from gag cartoons in magazines and newspapers. Desperately ambitious, he took learn-by-mail classes and drove himself hard to acquire a bit of the technique of "new pioneering adventure strips, led by Hal Foster's 'Tarzan,' Alex Raymond's 'Flash Gordon' and Milton Caniff's 'Terry and the Pirates.' "

LIKE so many GIs, including this reviewer, Mauldin had trouble finding his feet in peacetime. Babies, divorces (three) and quiet suburbia unsettled him. Being "the most famous enlisted man in the United States Army," then hailed as "the most important artist of his age," was disorienting. His books, especially "Up Front," became bestsellers and made him rich, but J. Edgar Hoover's FBI tagged him a dangerous communist because he criticized the House Un-American Activities Committee and spoke out against racial discrimination. Briefly, he became a Hollywood star, as the Loud Soldier in John Huston's masterpiece, "The Red Badge of Courage."

In the late 1960s, Mauldin grew his hair hippie-long, enjoyed the counterculture cartoonist R. Crumb and later got his nose broken by one of Chicago Mayor Daley's thugs. All along, unable to break his war addiction, or perhaps because he had always suffered from "survivor's guilt," he covered Korea, Vietnam (where his serving son turned him temporarily hawkish) and even the Gulf War for various publications.

At the age of 80, beset by Alzheimer's, Mauldin lay dying in a Newport Beach nursing home in 2002. Word spread. From across the nation, veterans from the 45th and other fighting divisions came in the hundreds "bearing relics of their youth: medals, insignia . . . folded (and faded) newspaper clippings." These Willies and Joes, now grandfathers or great-grandfathers, wept like kids as they filed past the forever-young cartoonist's bed, the impertinent squirt who had "fought the war with an ink brush." He was their guy, a rifleman like them, their champion against all forms of petty b.s. -- bad officers, poor chow and the random miseries of an ordinary infantryman. *

http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/books/la-bk-sigal2mar02,0,5537563.story

"Bianco e Nero" Italian Film re Interracial Love Is Surprise Success

Bianco e Nero (White and Black), is directed by Cristina Comencini. and has grossed £3m in six weeks - a hefty return for an Italian film.

The plot: Carlo works for a Rome-based charity, and Nadine, works for the Senegalese embassy. They meet and fall in love and leave their respective spouses, to a backdrop of family and friends all counseling against 'mixed marriage'.

The last count of marriages in Italy by ethnicity showed about 30,000 weddings in 2004 involved a bride and groom of different races, nearly one in 10 of all marriages in "supposedly" racist Italy and triple the figure for 1992.

In real life, at the Bar Max in Turin where some of the chatter is Arabic, at one of the tables Francesca Parente sits with her boyfriend Cheik Kone from Mali, a laundry worker. 'There's racism, but it doesn't affect me - as you can see!' jokes Cheik, while Francesca says: 'The only problem is that he supports Inter Milan.'

Italy's Young Lovers Mock Racist Agenda

Amid the anti-immigrant electoral rhetoric, a film on mixed marriages and sex is a surprise success

The Observer,UK Ed Vulliamy in Turin Sunday March 2 2008

When legal immigration quadruples over 15 years and reaches 3.7 million, as it has in Italy, people from indigenous and immigrant families are likely to start falling in love with one another. And in Italy, when right-wing parties shout that for every "regolare" immigrant there is a "clandestino", they are probably right, which makes the chances for romance, as well as tension, even greater.

This is the theme, poking fun at the wider nightmare of racism, of a film that has found a sudden and unexpected success in Italy in stark contrast to the anti-immigration rhetoric already howling through the general election campaign.

Bianco e Nero (White and Black), directed by Cristina Comencini, is about a liberal couple, Carlo and Elena. Elena, the daughter of a rabid racist, works for a Rome-based charity. Among her colleagues is Bertrand from Cameroon whose wife, Nadine, works for the Senegalese embassy. Nadine and Carlo meet and fall in love and leave their respective spouses, to a backdrop of family and friends all counselling against 'mixed marriage'. Elena is left with shattered values as she discovers her own racism - that of the white European do-gooder - as well as that around her.

It should be a fairly inconsequential film, mocking not only racism but also what the Italians call buonismo - the political correctness of people like Elena. But it has been anything but inconsequential. Bianco e Nero has grossed £3m in six weeks - a hefty return for an Italian film. It has generated debate well beyond its remit, academics using the opportunity to point out the lack of black faces on Italian TV or in Italian films.

Political columnists, however, say there are not enough black victims in the film, assailing it for treating the curse of racism with lightness of touch. The critics are left as amused as they are bemused, La Repubblica finding it 'difficult to reconcile the film's light tone with its didactic purpose', but in another article noting how Carlo was unable to resist a 'bit of exotic beauty'. A bold article in Corriere della Sera broaches an issue it calls 'the desire for the other skin'.

'It was not an easy script', says Comencini. 'Everywhere there was the likelihood of touching some prejudice or other. Paradoxically the Italians seem less guilty and angst-ridden, whereas in other cultures it might have been more difficult for a white director to make a film about blacks.'

The fact is that the entwinement between sex and race, and the racism of that 'exotic beauty', is overt in Italy, whereas in other countries it is more subtle. While prostitution of trafficked African women is hidden elsewhere, arteries into big Italian cities can be lined with black women selling themselves.

On Friday, at the English pub next to Turin station, troupes of punky Italian white girls demonstrated their rebelliousness by passing the afternoon draped over a crew of young men from Egypt and Cameroon.

Racism and organised fascism is endemic in Italy, with immigration a perennial theme in politics. But equally it boasts a vigorous anti-fascist movement. There are support centres for immigrants in Turin and in Brescia, where the left-wing mayor, Paolo Corsini, refuses to talk about multiculturalism but discusses 'conviviality' between peoples.

It was in Brescia that a Pakistani, Sali Saleem, on finding out that his daughter Hina was dating a carpenter called Beppe Tampini, slit her throat, yet was cleared of murder by the highest court in Italy because, the judges ruled, he was obeying an ethno-religious custom.

The last count of marriages by ethnicity showed about 30,000 weddings in 2004 involved a bride and groom of different races, nearly one in 10 of all marriages in "supposedly" racist Italy and triple the figure for 1992.

There were no couples of different colour watching Bianco e Nero at a Turin cinema on Friday, but in the Bar Max on Via Saluzzo the chatter is Arabic and there are the money transfer booths and long-distance phone cards for sale.

Farida Tazi from Tunisia and Stefano Sandri from Turin are having a beer and he strokes her cuff with one hand while filling in football pools with the other. 'I can't say most of my friends are with Italian boys,' says Farida, 'but more of them like to drink or dance and, even if their parents don't like it, it will happen'. 'It's nothing.' says Stefano. 'She's my beauty. My father employs her in his hair salon, and who cares what colour she is'. Neither had heard of the film.

At the next table Francesca Parente sits with her boyfriend Cheik Kone from Mali, a laundry worker. 'There's racism, but it doesn't affect me - as you can see!' jokes Cheik, while Francesca says: 'The only problem is that he supports Inter Milan.'

Both were dressed for the evening - her in high-heeled boots and him in a shiny jacket - to go to see Sweeney Todd, because Francesca fancies Johnny Depp and she's paying.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/02