BELLACIAO - EN

The picture that shames Italy (video)

anonymous — 2008-07-24T12:15:24Z

By Peter Popham in Rome

It's another balmy weekend on the beach in Naples. By the rocks, a couple soak up the southern Italian sun. A few metres away, their feet poking from under beach towels that cover their faces and bodies, lie two drowned Roma children.

The girls, Cristina, aged 16, and Violetta, 14, were buried last night as the fallout from the circumstances of their death reverberated throughout Italy.

It is an image that has crystallised the mounting disquiet in the country over the treatment of Roma, coming after camps have been burnt and the government has embarked on a bid to fingerprint every member of the minority. Two young Roma sisters had drowned at Torregaveta beach after taking a dip in treacherous waters. Their corpses were recovered from the sea – then left on the beach for hours while holidaymakers continued to sunbathe and picnic around them.

- contributions / Edito, Discriminations-Minorit., Italy

Exposing Bush's historic abuse of power

anonymous — 2008-07-23T05:32:14Z

Jul. 23, 2008 ; The last several years have brought a parade of dark revelations about the George W. Bush administration, from the manipulation of intelligence to torture to extrajudicial spying inside the United States. But there are growing indications that these known abuses of power may only be the tip of the iceberg. Now, in the twilight of the Bush presidency, a movement is stirring in Washington for a sweeping new inquiry into White House malfeasance that would be modeled after the (...) - contributions / Police, Governments, USA

Catch 23

anonymous — 2008-07-22T16:05:11Z

By David Glenn Cox

Probably the most profound statement made by a US President in the last fifty years was “It all depends on what your definition of is, is.” We no longer have Presidents who make profound statements, they would be lost over the heads of the masses and so the old axiom kicks in: If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.

Fox News claims the recent drop in oil prices is due to President Bush lifting the executive order banning coastal drilling. Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens says, “We can't drill our way out of this.” But the story illustrates what I call Catch 23. The famous Catch 22 says you can't be insane if you know that you are insane. So, if you know you're insane you are, hence, sane. Catch 23 says that if you believe that you are insane just by simply pointing out how much more insane the rest of the world is than you, you are therefore sane.

“It all depends on what your definition of is, is!” You can make the news whatever you want it to be. When the media says entitlements, they are talking about something that belongs to you! When the media says cut the growth of entitlements, they are talking about taking away something that belongs to you! When the media says pro-growth agenda, they are talking about giving advantage to some over others, but theirs is an agenda while yours is an entitlement. Theirs is something that must be done, yours is just a drag on the economy (...)

- contributions / Edito, Economy-budget, USA, Daveparts

Democrats Voted For FISA Out Of Fear

anonymous — 2008-07-21T17:14:44Z

It was not the fear of terrorist attacks by Islamic fundamentalists that motivated Barack Obama, many Democratic senators and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to grant President George W. Bush expanded powers to wiretap Americans in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Instead, it was the fear of Republican campaign operatives who paralyze Democratic lawmakers with these words: "My Democratic opponent is weak on terrorism."
The advice that Washington wise men give to Democratic incumbents (...) - contributions / Attack-Terrorism, Governments, USA

N.H. will accept free oil from Chavez after all

anonymous — 2008-07-21T12:27:19Z

N.H. will accept free oil from Chavez after all
With fuel prices rising, N.H. decides to accept free oil from Chavez's government after all
NORMA LOVE AP News
Jul 18, 2008 14:47 EST
Two years ago, New Hampshire refused to accept heating oil from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the pro-Castro U.S. critic who once called President Bush "the devil." But with fuel prices rising, well, free oil is free oil.
With the state's blessing, New Hampshire residents will be receiving some of the fuel (...) - contributions / Governments, Energy, USA, Latin America

Marina Petrella: not the only former Red Brigade militant facing extradition

anonymous — 2008-07-21T12:05:45Z

Sign the petition

A former member of the Red Brigades, Marina Petrella was convicted in absentia in 1992, and sentenced to life in prison. An Italian court found her guilty of the murder of a police chief in Rome in 1981, and the kidnapping of a magistrate.

She was arrested in December 1982 and gave birth to her first daughter in prison a year later. In 1986, however, after being granted bail, she fled to France.

Like other fugitive far-left activists, she benefited from a policy of former French president Francois Mitterand.

In 1985, the president said he would not extradite former terrorists who have renounced violence.

With this promise, numerous fugutives, including the writer Cesare Battisti, were able to start new lives in France. They had no fears about arrest until 2002, when the Italian government accused Paris of protecting terrorists. A dozen extradition requests started to arrive in France (...)

- contributions / Edito, Extraditions, France

Israeli soldier shown shooting at blindfolded Palestinian (video)

anonymous — 2008-07-21T10:32:04Z

JERUSALEM

A video clip released Sunday showed an Israeli soldier shot a rubber bullet at a blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian young man in what the army described as a "grave" incident, local daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

In the video clip, an IDF soldier was filmed shooting at close range at the Palestinian youth whose eyes were covered with a strip and whose hands were bound behind his back, while another soldier was holding the victim's right arm beside a jeep.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) immediately launched a probe into the incident.

The Palestinian victim was identified as Ashraf Abu-Rahma, who said the rubber bullet hit his left toe and that he received treatment from an army medic and was then released by the soldiers (...)

- contributions / Edito, Wars and conflicts, International

How Odd ! Nelson Mandela is no longer a terrorist !!

anonymous — 2008-07-21T08:37:42Z

How Odd ! Nelson Mandela is no longer a terrorist !!
By Bouthaina Shaaban
17 July, 2008
Did you read this most important news item which is that the American congress had made the decision on Thursday June 26/2008, to drop the "terrorist" label off the name of the most important world hero of struggle for freedom and justice, the past president of the Republic of South Africa, Mr. Nelson Mandela? This means, of course, that for almost half a century the National African Congress and its (...) - contributions / Attack-Terrorism, USA

160 years of labor struggle for shorter hours

anonymous — 2008-07-21T08:06:28Z

By Michel Etiévent

As far back as 1848, the employers opposed the reduction of the work day from 14 to 12 hours because “it would trigger a series of bankruptcies.”

June 1936. The bosses are in a panic. The work week has fallen to 40 hours. The metal trades bosses thunder against the “law instituting laziness” : “Our companies are lost. How is the nation to recover if our workers, who are used to piece-work and are proud to do it, work half as much ? France is headed for disaster. And all of us will lose from this excess of laziness !” The bosses' song and dance against reducing working hours is an old one. In fact, it's as old as capitalism itself.

Over the centuries, the same arguments crop up in the archives. The year : 1848. Thanks to the workers' struggle, the working day in the Lyons textile industry has just fallen from 14 to 12 hours. For the silk bosses, catastrophe has struck. They address a supplication to the prefect [in France, the local representative of central government] to condemn the danger and amorality of the new law : “We draw your attention to the serious consequences for our industries if this law is enforced (...)

- contributions / Edito, Un/Employment, History

Why Was JFK Murdered?

anonymous — 2008-07-19T11:15:57Z

“Which forces are in control, the public or shadow powers?”
Peter Dale Scott, author, essayist and poet.
What made John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) such a threat to the “Shadow Government” that he had to be murdered? To begin with, he was an “American” in the finest sense of that word; a student of history and of the classics; and a lover of the Republic. JFK represented the best of the post-WWII generation. He put the U.S. first in all things, (...) - contributions / Governments, USA, History