In a sleepy town resting next to the Illinois River, there sits a Nativity scene on the courthouse lawn. I saw it today as I drove to the little Chinese restaurant to get the best General Tso’s chicken ever. It struck me as odd that a Nativity would suddenly be resting on the courthouse lawn as never before a Nativity sat. But there it was: a lit up Joseph, Mary and Jesus.

This sleepy town in its day was famous for its fishing hatcheries, backroom gambling and drinking during prohibition and was even the location that Al Capone would hide out when in trouble in Chicago. This sleepy little town has a reputation that precedes it as the town is notoriously bigoted. Lifers of this town call Sand Lake Road Nigger Lake Road because well that’s what their daddy’s called it. The Folklore is that if an African American was caught in town after dusk they would be taken out to this road and hung. Weather that’s true or not, I don’t know, but having grown up there, I wouldn’t put it past anyone.

So upon the thought all this, I pondered the scene of the Nativity setting on the courthouse lawn.

There are fourteen churches in this town and I think sixteen bars (been awhile since I counted)-but this sleepy little town isn’t known for its Christianity: its known for its mischief and random murders that the police rule suicides even though the victim was shot in the back of the head with a 22 gage shot gun.

I wondered if the out of place Nativity had been placed by some poor misguided soul who truly believes some irresponsible parents laid their son in a manager, or if this was a poor attempt by the chamber of commerce to make the town’s image seem somehow better.

Either rate: I found the Nativity offensive: not so much for what the scene stands for as I can tolerate the message of peace on earth and good will towards men: but when hypocrites and bigots are putting up such scenes it’s frustrating because I know they have done nothing to spread the message of peace and good will. If anything their religion has inspired genocide, intolerance and mistreatment of other human beings.

Now that I think about it, I suppose the Nativity is perfectly placed in this little town. A little town known for its bigotry and intolerance rather than acceptance and brotherhood should be represented by the birth of the founder of its faith…all fourteen of them-and yet no one seems to really understand the meaning of life.

Frank ‘the Enforcer’ Nitti”

Mars Eghigian’s book about gangster Frank Nitti came out in 2006.

Because of it, Mars, a mild-mannered financial planner from Belleville, will appear in an A&E TV biography on the Chicago mob boss who was associated with the infamous Al Capone.

“I got a call out of the blue from Towers Productions,” said Mars. “They had been contracted to do six biographies of gangsters. One was Frank Nitti. They said, ‘You wrote the book. You

There’s a pretty good Thai-Japanese place a few blocks from where I live, and for downtown Chicago, the prices are very, very reasonable. It also tastes pretty good, albeit the dual cuisine a little strange, but nonetheless their Pad Thai and sushi are well-portioned and delicious. I also found out today that the food tastes better in the evening than it does during lunchtime, so I think they have the more experienced chef working there during later hours, which makes sense because more people dine out at night.

I used to think Chicago nights were so dangerous, that I wouldn’t dare be out alone past 8pm. I’ve read some history about Al Capone and all the gangster stuff that happened in Chicago’s history, so my extra caution is quite reasonable, until I found out that it’s actually pretty safe, up till around 11pm or 12am. I do remember a few occasions when I would be up working late hours, when I hear someone screaming outside. It was quite disconcerting, and being naturally inclined to have a wild imagination, I was this close to phoning security. Sometimes it would turn into some drunken yell or outrageous laughter. It’s hard to tell, especially when so many things that are opposite can sound the same, e.g. hysterical laughter and agonised wailing/crying. I usually have to dissuade my fears the next morning by reading the news.

Back to the topic of food, I really, really like sushi. No clever reason this time; all a matter of opinion. It’s also healthy and packaged into convenient mouth-sized bites, plus they’re not too difficult to make with a little practice. Sometimes, eating food that’s so good makes me wish I could turn back time and eat it all over again. Those moments are rare, but very much worth experiencing at least a few times during our short stay on earth.

More chills and thrills in-store for Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango along with their investigators-in-training on this week's Ghost Hunters Academy. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel

SPOILER ALERT!! - Things heat up on Ghost Hunters Academy as the group heads to Philadelphia to investigate the place where Al Capone did time at the Eastern State Penitentiary. The jailhouse has been around since the 1800s and certainly has seen it all. From inmates dying in the hospital ward to prisoners going crazy in solitary confinement. The dark dreary cell blocks may be filled with spirits simply trying to plead their case.

Many claim to have heard footsteps and voices nearby as well as seen shadows lurking in the halls. But the students may be shaking in their boots from more than just ghosts this week. Steve and Tango make an addition to the class. A new investigator-in-training arrives, causing some dissension among the group. Will she be able to make the cut and send someone packing, or will the original team remain intact? Find out in this dramatic episode of Ghost Hunters Academy. Back to Basics airs Wednesday, November 25th @ 10 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel.

Click the following link for a preview of this episode – https://rcpt.yousendit.com/778538154/13b756d01f10ab7605619b646397be0a

As noted above, photo copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Pot smoker in Mexico City. Mexicans consume an estimated 342 tons of marijuana a year. Photo by Castillo / AP.

Legalization is the only answer…
Mexico’s massive drug problem

As poet Juan Pablo Garcia posited long ago in his 1985 Pacheco (marijuana user) Manifesto: ‘drugs don’t make us criminals but laws against drugs do.’

By John Ross / The Rag Blog / November 9, 2009

MEXICO CITY — Mexico has a 10,000 ton monkey on its back and its name is Washington D.C.

While U.S. drug enforcers gloat that 15-foot walls, high tech sensors, drones, blimps, spotter planes and rampant militarization have put a significant dent in the flow of cocaine across its porous southern border, drug use escalates exponentially south of that border. The reason: Colombian-Mexican cartels are now holding their loads longer in Mexico, waiting for the appropriate arrangements to be made to move the blow into El Norte.

Inevitably, the cocaine and to a lesser extent crystal meth and heroin (marijuana is readily available in the U.S., the world’s largest producer of the weed) leak into the Mexican street where fierce competition for sales and consumption is out of control. As a result, over 13,000 lives have been lost since President Felipe Calderon went to war with the drug cartels in December 2006, many of them in turf battles over trans-shipment routes and retail sales in Mexican cities.

Moreover, in the three years of Calderon’s drug war, which is being underwritten by $3,000,000,000 in Washington’s Merida Initiative funds, the number of “addicts” on this side of the border has risen by 460,000 and now totals almost a million, according to the estimates provided by the National Council on Addictions, and first-time users have jumped from 3.5 million to 4.5 million — some drug experts calculate that 10 million would be closer to the mark, depending on definitions of “user” and “addict.” One dangerous corollary: the Mexican prison system is bursting apart at the seams and lethal violence is on the rise.

Among long-time observers of Mexican drug wars, there are some, this writer included, who suspect that Washington’s militarization of the border and the consequent user boom here was a well-thought out strategy concocted by U.S. drug fighters to force its proxies in this distant neighbor nation to engage and confront the cartels. Viewed from this perspective, the thousands of dead on the ground here are simply cannon fodder in the U.S. War on Drugs initiated by Richard Nixon in 1969, officially declared by Ronald Reagan in 1985, and zealously executed by four U.S. presidents ever since. Barack Obama, a prohibitionist who likens Felipe Calderon to Al Capone’s nemesis Elliot Ness, is only the latest puppet-master in this grotesque dance of death.

Partners in the Drug War: Presidents Calderon and Obama.

With jails exploding — prison riots are reported at least once a week — the Calderon administration has moved to tamp down dangerous overcrowding by “decriminalizing” the possession of small quantities of illicit drugs. This past August 21st, the Mexican president signed off on legislation that gives users and “addicts” (as health officers prefer to lump them) the option of treatment or prison if arrested with small amounts of drugs for personal use — two grams of marijuana (about four skinny joints), a half gram of cocaine, 40 milligrams of meth amphetamines, and 10 milligrams of heroin. Instead of immediate imprisonment, the drugs will be confiscated and the user/addict booked and fingerprinted and their biometrics recorded in a national registry of “addicts.”

Those pulled in are then released with the obligation of enrollment in government treatment programs that are still not operational. If the user/addict fails to show up for treatment or is arrested a third time, prison time is prescribed.

Those nabbed with larger amounts, calculated at a thousand times the minimum quantities, are automatically assigned to terminally overcrowded state prisons as “traffickers” — “traffickers” arrested with any amount over the higher quantities are sent to maximum security federal penitentiaries as kingpins.

There is no middle ground in this schema notes science writer Javier Flores in the national daily La Jornada: one is either a user/addict or a narcotraficante.

The Mexican congress passed similar legislation in 2006 during the waning days of Vicente Fox’s presidency but when the measure hit his desk, the red telephone rang and George W. Bush was on the line threatening grave repercussions if Fox did not veto the decrim bill – which, of course, he did.

What has decrim meant on the streets of Mexico City? A few weeks ago, my friend Xochi (not her real name), a street dealer who makes house calls, and this writer visited a sick friend — Xochi brought along a bag of medicinal marijuana and I some cannabis cookies. The conversation turned to Calderon’s recently promulgated decrim and we consulted our offerings to determine if we were users, “addicts,” or kingpins. It goes without saying that we were criminally over the limit but fortunately the local gendarmes did not bust down the door.

According to Xochi, decrim is turning into a bonanza for Mexico City cops who have taken to carrying scales to weigh confiscated drugs and shaking down those “criminals” who exceed the decreed limits. Shaking down small-time users and dealers is nothing new in this the most corrupt, crime-ridden, and conflictive city in the western hemisphere. Indeed, crooked cops have been planting drugs on unwary citizens as long as cops have patrolled these mean streets. Long before decrim was a gleam in Calderon’s eye, those “found” with drugs in their possession did not immediately go straight to jail if they could come up with the “mordida” (literally “bite” or bribe) to get the cops off their backs.

As poet Juan Pablo Garcia posited long ago in his 1985 Pacheco (marijuana user) Manifesto: “drugs don’t make us criminals but laws against drugs do.”

Overwhelmed by millions of users, addicts, narcotraffickers, and kingpins, Calderon has turned to God for relief. Young people who use drugs do not have God in their (miserable) lives, he explained to Catholic bishops attending a family crisis conference last month, citing the recent death of pop idol Michael Jackson as an example — although there is no evidence that Jacko did not believe in God or was even a user/addict (the official autopsy concluded that Michael was overdosed by a doctor with a lethal anesthetic.)

The president’s hypothesis was promptly shot down on editorial and op-ed pages all over the country. Aside from increased availability in Mexico thanks to Washington’s worldwide crusade against demon drugs, critics pinned the dramatic increase in users-”addicts” on a battered economy in which more than 2,000,000 workers have lost their jobs in the past year as a more pertinent explanation of the boom. With nearly a million young people entering the job market each year, Calderon, who once billed himself as “the president of employment,” has floundered badly as a job creator. On the other hand, drug cropping and retail street dealing (“narcominudeo”) provide gainful employment for millions of kids without jobs.

Prison riots are reported at least once a week. This one, in Tijuana on Sept. 18, 2009, left 19 killed and a dozen wounded.
In fact, there are multiple indicators that drug users, dealers, “addicts”, and kingpins do have God in their (miserable) lives. “We, the Marijuanos, are Guadalupanos (devotees of the Virgin of Guadalupe) not goddamn communist whores,” Juan Pablo Garcia wrote in his Pacheco Manifesto. Narcotraficantes are celebrated for their devotion to their faith, buying Masses, hiring priests for baptisms and weddings and funerals and even building churches. Drug money — “narco-limosnas” (drug alms) are a significant component of Church finances, concedes Bishop Carlos Aguiar Retes, president of the Mexican Bishops Conference (CEM.) For the Catholic Church, explains Aguascalientes bishop Ramon Godinez, turning illegitimate gains into good works is perfectly pardonable.

Although cocaine and meth (Mexico does not produce much heroin) are considered to be killer drugs, reefer madness is alive and kicking south of the border. Mexicans consume 357 tons of drugs annually, advances Secretary of Public Security Genero Garcia Luna, of which marijuana accounts for 343. Marijuana is considered a dangerous drug by crusaders like Garcia Luna and his boss Calderon and those who use it are considered “addicts” in need of “treatment” — actually Mexican marijuana is typically punchless and low in THC content when compared to hot house-grown, high-potency strains in the U.S. where cannabis is considered to be medicinal in some states. What makes treatment propositions even more absurd is that there are no treatment centers to accommodate newly decriminalized pot smokers.

For hard-core addicts desperate to get off the crack pipe or the needle, public detox clinics have been stripped back to the bone. While wealthy user/”addicts” sign themselves into deluxe spas to detox, the poor have few options. Like every other public service the Calderon government is charged with providing, drug treatment has been privatized under the prevailing neoliberal economic model.

Evangelical churches run treatment programs in many working class colonies that force addicts to go cold turkey. Corporal punishment and the Word of God are means of coercion to get young people off drugs.

The drug gangs themselves run their own treatment programs for street dealers that get hooked on the goods they push according to one Ciudad Juarez pistolero Julio Cesar Aleman, a member of a hit squad known as “The Artists of Assassination,” enforcers for the Sinaloa cartel, who are charged by federal authorities with a total of 45 killings — 28 of them at two treatment homes in that Gran Guignol border city. La Linea (a rival drug gang) gets them off drugs, fattens them up, and sends them back out on the street to deal,” he explained to police agents to justify the homicidal assaults.

Decriminalizing drugs in a country through which 80% of the U.S. cocaine supply passes (Drug Enforcement Administration estimates) changes little in Mexico so long as it borders the biggest drug market on the planet. Even as decrim takes root north of the border, more than 800,000 Americans were arrested for possession of marijuana in 2008 according to Ethan Nadelman of the Drug Policy Alliance. Legalization and not decrim is the only answer.

Drug reform is catching on in Latin America. In addition to Mexico’s feeble and misplaced efforts at providing alternatives to incarceration, Argentina courts recently ruled that personal possession of marijuana is not criminal. In Colombia, decriminalization of small amounts of cocaine has been the law since the 1990s. In Bolivia, President Evo Morales champions the medicinal properties of the coca leaf, the source of powdered cocaine, and endorses the industrialization of the plant. At a 2008 drug policy conference in Brazil, former presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Cesar Gaviria of Colombia, and Ernesto Zedillo, the squarest Mexican president to ever administrate the affairs of this country, declared that the prohibitionist approach had failed.

So has decrim. The 10,000-ton monkey is not going to get off Mexico’s back until drugs are legalized everywhere in the Americas, including the United States. As the godfather of Jamaican ganja reggae Peter Tosh croons “Doctors smoke it, nurses smoke it, even judges smoke it, and lawyers too: Legalize It! Don’t Criticize It! Legalize It! Don’t Criminalize It!”

Or decriminalize it either.

[John Ross will present his just-published (Nation Books) cult classic, the monstrous El Monstruo -- Dread & Redemption in Mexico City, Friday the 13th at Northtown Books in Arcata, CA (7 p.m.); Wednesday, Nov. 18th at Modern Times Bookstore in San Francisco's Mission District (7 PM); and Nov. 19th at UC-Berkeley's Center for Latino Policy Studies (3:30 PM.) Admission to all three events is gratis.]

 Jake Lingle  spent lavishly and hung out with the city’s elite, including Al Capone. His murder in a passageway under Michigan Avenue outraged the city, until the truth emerged—that he was corrupt to his core.

Though Jake Lingle, in the words of one colleague, “never mastered the art of writing,” he was a star of the Tribune newsroom thanks to his well-placed connections—including both Al Capone and Chicago’s chief of police. 

I am a Slayer fan. Have been since I first held onto the Show No Mercy album and stared at the artwork in frozen awe. I bought that Slayer album back in 1984, back when I was picked on for the music I liked by the kids wearing turtle necks, with a stupid alligator on them. The Izod kids… they were so convinced that Slayer was not going to be around in five years. That same Izod crowd all were convinced that Metal Music was for the troubled kids, listening to Slayer is what made us trouble. Really, that junk was thrown at me about Slayer and I never flinched. It’s funny now as I look back on those ridiculous high school years, the hurtful remarks and snotty attitude that I put up with from so many of my peers are now a humorous memory for me. I’ve turned out alright for myself since 1984, I am proud of my life’s accomplishments thus far. I’m not about to reveal every good deed I have done throughout my life, it really would be boring to read. Being a Slayer fan and fan of Metal Music is a part of me, take it or leave it.

Contrary to so many of the Izod kids, the religious right and the PMRC, (The Parents Music Resource Center), I and countless other Slayer fans never became Satanists or serial killers. Nope, the Thrash Metal of Slayer never made me commit a crime. I know this probably disappoints some of the Izod crowd out there, yet Slayer never influenced me to become a lifetime criminal. To compare Metal Music to violent behavior is such a waste of time, there is no correlation. Drugs and/or mental illness is the obvious incubus for violent behavior. How do I know, you may ask? Well, for one, Charles Manson was a Beach Boys fan… Thrash, Death and Black Metal never existed when Charles Manson was roaming the streets. Anyone would be wrong to connect The Beach Boys to violent behavior as well. To say that even The Beach Boys provokes violent behavior is ludicrous and/or irrational. What type of Metal Music did Al Capone listen to? How about Napoleon Bonaparte? I have made my Metal point here… feels good too.

I always express just how thankful I am that so many veteran Metal bands are still around making music. Slayer is the Thrash Metal cream of the crop for three decades running. On the eve of their new album releasing on November 3, 2009, I am excited to say the least. I have deliberately not listened to any of their new songs from World Painted Blood… I want to be surprised and psyched – the old school way. Back in the early ’80’s, unless you worked for IBM, the internet was a foreign word, hearing a new album meant listening to it once the purchase was made on release day. I did listen to Megadeth Endgame on their MySpace Music page before I bought it on the respective release date… I don’t regret that move, still some of the fun was taken away for me, once I had the Endgame CD in my hands. (I already knew what I was going to here, nonetheless, Endgame is a Thrash Metal powerhouse of an album).

So, tomorrow I will make my Metal journey to most likely… f.y.e. and make that Slayer World Painted Blood purchase. I will then go to my car, unwrap the annoying plastic wrap and NASA glued anti-theft sticker off of the CD and crank it louder than all hell. I will smirk all the while, knowing that I am a proud middle aged Metalhead, doing alright and still following Slayer in the year 2009. SLAYER RULES and Metal Music Lives.

Am comentat în urmã cu câteva zile pe blogul lui Madi despre filmul California Dreamin’: (Http://madimcm.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/california-dreamin/) . Reaminteam  cã,   în dorinta de-a scapa cumva de Ceausescu, multi l-am fi acceptat pe fiul acestuia, Nicu. Visam româneste, în spirit traditional dinastic (!). La intrebarea lui Madi, referitoare la   conducatorul  potrivit  acum Romaniei, am rãspuns: printzesã sau  printz, dar fãrã de neamuri printre autohtoni…Madi a replicat cã ar trebui sa ne conduca tot ceva de poveste: Muma Padurii! Peste cateva zile, pe blogul lui Snake, (http://lorylex.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/cadou-naturisto-ecologic-de halloween), înainte de ample extrase din Emil Cioran, apare o foarte reusita Muma  a Pãdurii, care trage complice cu ochiul… La grãdinita, nepotul meu a desenat de Halloween o clãdire cu multe ferestre înguste. N-a vrut sa spuna ce este, decât la urechea fiicei mele: puscãrie. Probabil cã trãind in orasul lui Al Capone, s-o fi rãzbunat pe colegii inspirati de marele evazionist…

Un éditeur italien, encore “anonyme”, aurait lancé une négociation avec la maison Arthaud (Flammarion) pour acquérir les droits du livre “HORS LA LOI – Anarchistes, illégalistes, as de la gâchette….ils ont choisi la liberté” de Laurent Maréchaux. Mais selon le quotidien La Repubblica* l’éditeur italien a une condition: pouvoir inclure Silvio Berlusconi dans la liste des hors la loi.

Hors la loi de L. Maréchaux: “Ils se sont révoltés contre toutes les formes d’injustices, ils se sont révoltés contre le monopole des grandes puissances maritimes, contre l’avènement du monde industriel, ils étaient nostalgiques des grands espaces vierges. Plutôt que de perdre leur liberté, ils ont préféré se diriger vers une mort certaine, anticipant avec sang-froid une issue inéluctable.”

Le titre du livre, qui traite des “assoiffés de la liberté”, semble effectivement coller au personnage du Cavaliere, au moins dans les mots. Personne plus que Berlusconi n’a utilisé (politiquement) le terme “Liberté” en Italie. Casa della Libertà et Popolo della Libertà sont les noms de ces deux dernières formations politiques (après Forza Italia). “Festa della Libertà” celui de la fête du parti, ce que personne ne semblait savoir lorsqu’il proposa depuis Onna (L’Aquila) ce 25 avril 2009 de rebaptiser la fête de la libération italienne (du nazifascisme) en, tiens donc, “fête de la Liberté”. Un vrai petit VRP de la liberté.

Et pour ce qui est du terme “Hors la loi”… Beh, sans s’appesantir sur les (derniers) scandales en cours -l’affaire Mills où la sentence l’a défini corrupteur de Mills ou l’affaire Mondadori où son groupe Fininvest a été condamné à 750 millions d’euros d’amende-, ni sur le procès pour mafia et collusion avec Cosa nostra de son bras droit Marcello Dell’Utri où apparaitra bientôt le reprenti Gaspare Spatuzza (et ÇA c’est un GROS problème pour Silvio), on se limitera à reporter les mots prononcés par le président du Conseil aujourd’hui, comme reportés par la Stampa il y a quelques minutes:

“Si j’étais jugé coupable par la sentence de tels procès, nous serions ainsi témoins d’un tel bouleversement de la vérité qu’il ne ferait qu’augmenter mon sens du devoir quant à résister, restant à mon poste, pour défendre la démocratie et l’état de droit” (Silvio Berlusconi)

Plus clairement: “Même si je suis condamné, je ne démissionnerais pas”. Ah, pour ce qui “d’anticiper avec sang froid une issue inéluctable”, on attend à la fenêtre avec (im)patience.

aEc

* Édition papier du samedi 31 octobre 2009

Ieri guardavo distrattamente uno scorcio di “Nulla di Personale” la trasmissione su La7 condotta dallo pseudo badolatese Antonello Piroso. Tra gli ospiti c’era il giornalista del Corriere della Sera Pierluigi Battista. Battista (tra colleghi lo chiamano “Pigi”, quello grassoccio, capapelata, occhialini e baffo) è il tipico esempio del giornalista ignavo. Anzi, come si suol dire oggi, “terzista”.

Pierluigi Battista

In tempi di guerra per bande giornalistiche, si definisce “terzista” un cronista o editorialista che non prende posizione sui fatti. Si limiti a prendere atto del loro semplice esistere e non si schiera in termini di opinione, ramazzando qua e là le ragioni ed i torti dell’uno e dell’altro. Nè a favore nè contro. Un pò a favore un pò contro.  In mezzo, così si nessuno si lamenta. E a chi non capisce una mazza delle cose in discussione piace pure di più!

Repubblica? Sta con De Benedetti!
Libero, Il Giornale? Stanno con Berlusconi!
Corriere, Il Messaggero, La Stampa? Ecco…loro son terzisti.

Magari Repubblica fa solo un discorso serio, senza separare fatti ed opinioni. Facendo quello che tutti i giornali del mondo fanno, guardando all’Italia. Tanto che Repubblica fa incetta di premi e riconoscimenti all’estero per la propria azione giornalistica. Solo chi non legge questo giornale può pensare che sia asservito ad una parte politica o all’editorie di riferimento.

Solo chi non lo legge non sa cosa e come scrivono i migliori giornalisti italiani: Giuseppe D’Avanzo, Carlo Bonini, Attilio Bolzoni, Curzio Maltese solo per fare alcuni nomi.

Repubblica resta l’unico giornale che fa davvero riflettere dopo un qualsiasi articolo di approfondimento politico. Poca cosa invece quello che leggo sul Corriere. Articoli ed editoriali ovvi. Banali.  Comodi comodi. Grigi. Ogni volta che ne leggo uno ho sempre l’impressione di aver perso tempo. Non si scava nella realtà di cui si parla. Si sta in superficie. Non si forma una coscienza civico-politica in chi legge. Ignavia.

Questa incapacità, o non volontà, di andare a fondo sulle cose mi è tornata in mente ascoltando Battista alla trasmissione di Piroso. Di fronte alle tante nefandezze che circondano il soggetto che abitualmente dimora a Palazzo Chigi, Battista si è lasciato andare allo sfogo del giornalista che invece di scoprire come stanno realmente le cose (magari bene per l’inquilino di Palazzo Chigi), si adagia sulle impressioni e dissocia completamente i fatti dalle opinioni. Elencando i reati ed i processi subiti da Berlusconi “se pure fossero la metà di quelli che lamenta il premier stesso”, dice Battista, saremmo di fronte ad un caso enorme: “Berlusconi? E manco fosse Al Capone!” ha esclamato Battista.

Azz! Pigi l’ha tirata forte stavolta. Altro che “terzista”. Ha detto proprio Al Capone!

Allora mi sono chiesto…ma se Al Capone fosse diventato premier…che cosa cazzo avrebbe fatto?

Mumble mumble…che paragone forte. Ma accetto la sfida! Devo cercare di capire che cosa avrebbe fatto Al Capone se fosse stato il nostro presidente del Consiglio.

Dunque..Al Capone presidente del Consiglio in Italia…mumble mumble…allora:

- innanzitutto avrebbe cercato di bloccare i giudici che indagavano su di lui! Prima con le buone. Avrebbe cercato di corromperli, ecco…

- Il buon vecchio Al, condannato per evasione fiscale in USA,  sarebbe intervenuto sui processi per i suoi conti esteri e le società off shore create appositamente per farci transitare i soldi per pagare politici, giudici corrotti ed avvocati mazzettari, magari già condannati con sentenze passate in giudicato assieme agli uomini del “presidente”?
Beh..banale. Sì…Al Capone lo avrebbe fatto.

- E se poi gli fosse andata male e lo avessero condannato lo stesso? Beh avrebbe sputato fango ed ingiurie sui giudici e pubblici ministeri. Come si vede nel bel film “The untouchables” (Gli intoccabili), avrebbe cominciato ad accusare i giudici che gli stavano addosso: “Tu sei solo chiacchiere e distintivo! Tu in mano non hai niente, tu non hai niente! Non hai niente, sei solo un povero stronzo, con me non ce la fai! Non hai un bel niente, buffone!” (Buffone? E pure comunista!)

- Altro? Vediamo…magari, visto che, come detto, Al Capone non era stato preso dalla giustizia americana per i reati più gravi che gli venivano contestati (non si riuscivano mai a provare) ma fu messo in gatta buia per evasione fiscale (!)…pensa in Italia) che altro avrebbe fatto? Magari un pacchetto di norme che alleggerissero i suoi reati finanziari?

Ecco, buona idea! Magari una legge che depenalizzasse il falso in bilancio!
No, meglio ancora…un bel condono fiscale!
E se avesse fatto affari fuori paese? Allora meglio ancora…una bella legge che avesse coperto il rientro di capitali illecitamente portati fuori dal paese!

Sì…lo so. So cosa mi si potrebbe obiettare: ma ti pare che Al Capone, per quanto circondato da azzeccagarbugli, (qualcuno magari pure in parlamento e fatto ministro) si sarebbe scervellato a fare tutte ste norme? Mica era uno che ci andava tanto per il sottile lui! Un taglio netto e via. Avrebbe fatto da subito una bella leggina semplice semplice. Chi fa il presidente non può essere condannato. Anzi. Del tutto “non può essere proprio processato”…ok?

Ecco cosa avrebbe fatto Al Capone. Battista non ci ha pensato ma se qualcuno glielo andasse a dire questo piccolo elenco di cose io lo so già come risponderebbe. Lo so perchè lui è terzista:  “Al Capone? Fa’ tutte ste cose? E manco fosse Berlusconi!”

posted by Nicrix
(Bαd Dεmoκrατs)

Badolato, 31 ottobre 2009

FARE dodgers and council tax evaders could have their homes searched and cash seized by council officials under tough “Al Capone” laws.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson will let town halls tackle small-time offenders with powers designed for police to use on crime bosses

     When I was younger, my grandmother gave me a poem that had appeared in “Dear Abby”, that basically says that a man’s good name is the only thing that one has to pass on to his son. With that in mind, the following two stories were sent to me, and they relay the “Measure of a Man”:

STORY NUMBER ONE 

Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. Capone wasn’t famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder. 

Capone had a lawyer nicknamed “Easy Eddie.” He was Capone’s lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie’s skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time. 

To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block. 

Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him. 

Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object. 

And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was. 

Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn’t give his son; he couldn’t pass on a good name or a good example. 

One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done. 

He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al “Scarface” Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. So, he testified. 

Within the year, Easy Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street . But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine. 

The poem read: 

“The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still.” 

STORY NUMBER TWO 

World War II produced many heroes.. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare. 

He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific. 

One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.
He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship. 

His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet. 

As he was returning to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet. 

The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn’t reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet. 

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber’s blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent. 

Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to fly. 

Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction. 

Deeply relieved, Butch O’Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier. 

Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told t he tale. It showed the extent of Butch’s daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft 
This took place on February 20, 1942 , and for that action Butch became the Navy’s first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Medal of Honor. 

A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man. 

So, the next time you find yourself at O’Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch’s memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It’s located between Terminals 1 and 2. 

SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER? 

Butch O’Hare was “Easy Eddie’s” son.

Esteem News – Esteem is inherent to human life

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Fox News is wing of the Republican Party

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Al Capone – The Untouchables

Rahm Emanuel on White House’s War with Fox News

Charles Freaking Krauthammer OBLITERATES Barack Obama’s War on FOX News — WOW!!!

Glenn Beck-10-23-09-A

Glenn Beck-10-23-09-B

Glenn Beck-10-23-09-C

Glenn Beck-10-23-09-D

Glenn Beck-10-23-09-E

Beck ’s beat goes on.

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 Bolshevik Bully Bitter

Background Articles and Videos

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Anita Dunn How We control news media!

Elliot Ness, where are thou? Rahm Emanuel’s Freddie Mac “Bonus”

“…In many ways, Chicago is still the city that Al Capone built; in today’s Chicago, the “mafia” is still raping the taxpayer and still paying off corrupt officials to look the other way, from top to bottom. For at least the last 50+ years, that “mafia” has been the exclusive domain of the Democrat “bosses”.

Not so long ago, Rahm Emanuel went to “work” for Freddie Mac–you remember them; they were one of the two organizations which almost single-handedly destroyed our economy by forcing banks to make loans to people who could not possibly pay them back. That is not “free markets”. That is abuse of power.

What the media goes out of its way NOT to tell you is that both Fannie and Freddie were run by Democrats who were being payed obscene salaries (funny, no outrage was being expressed in the Congressional witch hunts then…). Then these figurehead “regulators” in turn dutifully contributed heavily to Democrat candidates. In the mob they call this splitting up the loot.

In fact, paying Obama’s Chief of Staff $320,000 to do pretty much nothing is a perfect example of the kind of oversight the Democrats had over those agencies, try as the Republicans did to change that dynamic. Remember the name Franklin Raines?

I could go on, but you get the point; it kind of reminds me of the old days when college football players got paid hundreds of dollars by wealthy almuni for a summer job, for example maybe to water one bush in front of the stadium once per week (wink, wink…).

The Democrats are living The Godfather: destroying the economy is nothing personal; it’s just “business”. After all, if the economy had been allowed to prosper, the Democrats might never have gotten Obama (and Rahm) elected. Their core constituencies (the poor inner city welfare mother, for example) would not need them anymore were those constituencies to suddenly find wealth via initiative and hard work. In other words it can be said that–like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton–Democrats have a Vested Interest in keeping their core constituencies down. Because the minute these people become taxpayers, there would be many reasons to jump ship. The so called governmental “War on Poverty” has been going on since 1965 and LBJ’s “Great Society”. Don’t you think it is time that we bring the troops home; it has been 43 years now and from what I can see, the faster the government grows, the more the “insurgency” is winning.

But I digress. Here is the story of Mr. Emanuel’s excellent adventure at Freddie Mac, via the Chicago Tribune: …”

http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/2009/03/elliot-ness-where-are-thou-rahm.html#

Rahm Emanuel’s profitable stint at mortgage giant

Short Freddie Mac stay made him at least $320,000

By Bob Secter and Andrew Zajac Tribune reporters

“…In business as in politics, Emanuel has cultivated an aggressive, take-charge reputation that made him rich and propelled his rise to the front of the national stage. But buried deep in corporate and government documents on the Freddie Mac scandal is a little-known and very different story involving Emanuel.

He was named to the Freddie Mac board in February 2000 by Clinton, whom Emanuel had served as White House political director and vocal defender during the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals.

The board met no more than six times a year. Unlike most fellow directors, Emanuel was not assigned to any of the board’s working committees, according to company proxy statements. Immediately upon joining the board, Emanuel and other new directors qualified for $380,000 in stock and options plus a $20,000 annual fee, records indicate.

On Emanuel’s watch, the board was told by executives of a plan to use accounting tricks to mislead shareholders about outsize profits the government-chartered firm was then reaping from risky investments. The goal was to push earnings onto the books in future years, ensuring that Freddie Mac would appear profitable on paper for years to come and helping maximize annual bonuses for company brass.

The accounting scandal wasn’t the only one that brewed during Emanuel’s tenure.

During his brief time on the board, the company hatched a plan to enhance its political muscle. That scheme, also reviewed by the board, led to a record $3.8 million fine from the Federal Election Commission for illegally using corporate resources to host fundraisers for politicians. Emanuel was the beneficiary of one of those parties after he left the board and ran in 2002 for a seat in Congress from the North Side of Chicago. …”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-rahm-emanuel-profit-26-mar26,0,5682373.story

Mayo Clinic

Narcissistic personality disorder

“…Narcissistic personality disorder symptoms may include:

• Believing that you’re better than others
• Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
• Exaggerating your achievements or talents
• Expecting constant praise and admiration
• Believing that you’re special
• Failing to recognize other people’s emotions and feelings
• Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
• Taking advantage of others
• Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
• Being jealous of others
• Believing that others are jealous of you
• Trouble keeping healthy relationships
• Setting unrealistic goals
• Being easily hurt and rejected
• Having a fragile self-esteem
• Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional

Although some features of narcissistic personality disorder may seem like having confidence or strong self-esteem, it’s not the same. Narcissistic personality disorder crosses the border of healthy confidence and self-esteem into thinking so highly of yourself that you put yourself on a pedestal. In contrast, people who have healthy confidence and self-esteem don’t value themselves more than they value others. …”

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/narcissistic-personality-disorder/DS00652/DSECTION=symptoms

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A fundamental principle of interventionism holds that one government intervention inevitably leads to more interventions, in order to “fix” the problems of the previous interventions. At the end of this road lies omnipotent government and the loss of freedom.

A good example of this phenomenon is being provided by a group called the Binational Task Force , whose co-chairman , Robert C. Bonner, is former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. The group, which also includes two former U.S. ambassadors to Mexico, wants to reinstate the assault-weapon ban that was enacted during the Clinton era.

Guess what the group cites as its justification for such gun control: the drug war. Yes, that war that everyone admits has failed to achieve its objectives despite 45 years of vicious warfare. The task force is saying that reenacting the assault-weapons ban will reduce the drug-war violence that now pervades Mexico.

If I were a believer in extra-terrestrial life, my question would be: What planet are these people from? Do they honestly believe that gun-control intervention is going to alleviate the horrific consequences of their drug-war intervention? Can anyone really be that stupid?

Not likely. My hunch is that these people are simply looking for new excuses for gun control and are latching onto the war on drugs to advance that agenda.

Let’s restate some important principles that are involved here.

The drug-war itself is the root cause of the drug-war violence in Mexico, the United States, and elsewhere. If there were no drug laws — that is, if drugs were legalized — there would be no drug gangs, drug cartels, and drug-war murders, assassinations, robberies, bribery, and the like. All the violence associated with the drug war would disappear for the obvious reason — there no longer would be a drug war.

The black market inevitably attracts an unsavory producer, one who has no reservations about employing violence and political corruption to expand his market share.

Making drugs illegal doesn’t cause consumers to stop desiring drugs. Making them illegal simply makes it more difficult and more expensive for the consumer to acquire them. Thus, oftentimes poor drug users resort to robberies, muggings, and thefts to acquire the money to pay the exorbitant black-market prices for the drugs they seek.

Rarely does this happen in a free and open market. Competitors compete against each other on the basis of such things as quality and price. Generally, prices are within reach of most everyone.

After all, when was the last time you saw Al Capone type of gangs distributing beer? When was the last time you saw a wino mugging someone to get the money to pay for a bottle of wine?

Prohibition-related violence disappeared with the repeal of Prohibition. That’s precisely what would happen if drug prohibition were repealed.

The statist notion — the notion being advanced by the Binational Task Force — is that by reenacting the assault-weapons ban, drug gangs in Mexico would no longer be able to acquire the weaponry to initiate drug-war violence.

That’s ludicrous. For one thing, the drug gangs can acquire weaponry from all over the world. For another, the assault-weapons ban didn’t really ban assault weapons — it simply required modifications of them, such as shorter clips or no bayonet. People could still acquire AR-15s, AK-47s, SKSs and other assault rifles.

What the statists fail to recognize — or perhaps not — is that a fierce war on guns — that is, one waged like the war on drugs — would do nothing more than produce the same type of violence, if not more, than that produced by the war on drugs.

The solution to the failure of interventionism is not more interventionism. The solution is the repeal of interventionism. Americans would be wise to reject the statist recommendations of the Binational Task Force. Contrary to what these people say, it’s not possible to fix their failed war on drugs with a war on guns or with anything else. The only way to end the drug-war violence is by ending the drug war.