MAFIA, THE ROTTEN OF ITALY…

Originally posted by Lorenzo Petrilli, the author of  “ON THE CREST OF THE WAVE” blog

Nowadays, Italian mafia has an economic capital that turns pale the GDP of most countries; its turnover of 130 bln of euro represents the 6% of the Italian GDP. Nevertheless you must be careful with the numbers.

The reference is to the Saviano Roberto’s words

(always and in any case he remain the writer that more than all, uses his words and his investigations against mafia) in accordance with him:

”only with cocaine, mafia have a yearly turnover 60 times Fiat and 100 times Benetton”.

Well, when we speak about numbers and about facts, we have to know them and we have to know how to analyze them; this, was done by Luca Ricolfi and his result is this:” from several years Roberto Saviano tells to his interviewers :”cocaine business is certainly, the more profitable italian business, only with coca mafia have a yearly turnover 60 times Fiat”. Unfortunately Fiat yearly turnover is about 50 billion of euro, and 50 X 60 = 3.000.000.000.000 of euro, this is a number that is more big than the italian GDP (1.500 bln) and that exceed the complete national debt. Nevertheless, once again, no interviewer, no reader or no proofreader has perceived the absurdity, and let alone they have tried to compare the number that was denounced by Saviano, 3.000 bln, with the most influential valuations on cocaine traffic, all less than 30 bln”.

One of the main issues that weaken the Italian society is the organized crime that spread to the whole country in the last years. Italy is threatened by four autochthonous criminals formations: Cosa Nostra from Sicily, the ‘Ndrangheta from Calabria, Camorra from Campania and the Mafia pugliese. In Italy it is denominated as ‘quarta mafia’. Indeed, in accordance with the annual report of the DNA (Direzione Nazionale Antimafia) “isn’t an unitary association but a whole of different criminal groups, it acts with mafia methods and pursues mafia purposes”.

Creative AD, India

Almost tear shedding. Created by Wieden + Kennedy Dehli Agency
Not a bike's AD but India's AD, isn't it?

The Work of Stereotypes

Mnaku Mbari, a business journalist in Tanzania, made an accurate observation in his interview to IJNet.

"Getting fat has often been viewed as a good thing in many Tanzanian communities, but since the release of the article — which showed the health dangers of obesity — some people have really changed their lifestyles and eating habits".

For years on end people all over Europe, States and Russia in past years fighting the problem zealously, wasiting money, creating entire industires..
While in other parts of the world, or better socity, the image of fat man is still a dream or at lest a reason to be jealous...

Jew affected

It was about 10 years ago or more when we, 40 young girls from Russia, stand still in front of the gates of Aushwiz. The concentration camp of World War II build by Nazis in Poland. 


It was after after midnight. The gate keeper was astonished to see such a huge group in the dark of the late autumn night.
The wind was freezing cold.

We told we were from Russia, Leningrad. The old man pulled out a grunting "I see" from his sleepy mouth and opened the gate.
The moon was deathly bright.

We were allowed to stand near the gate. The old man showed us the couple of barracks where the Jews used to live, sleeping on cold plank beds, and die. He also pointd to the high tower. That was the crematoreum where the Jews used to be burned alive.

The ringing in the ears was like a mass hallucination. Nobody believed that any bells could ring in the middle of the night. We almost ran to the bus in silent fear.

It was on the way to Germany. Our choir used to go there once a year or two for 2-4 weeks to give several concerts, each in a new town. On reaching on of next stops, a small town Weimar, which is well known for being home for Goethe, Shiller, Herder, Liszt, Bach and Strauss, we made a small stop at another bloody spot of the planet .

Buchenwald concentration camp, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.
It was evening again. The high tower of crematoreum. Dark memorial columns with small candels at the foot of each. No barracks left.
The Weimar town at the foot of Ettersberg mountain was shining treacherously.

Nearly 8 years later I saw a dream where me and my choir mates in our concert dresses are queueing up to the gass chamber...

There are only two reasons why i'm remembering that experience right now.
First, I watched a good documentary "Pizza in Auschwitz" directed by Moshe Zimmerman from Israel.

The Holocaust was the systematic murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. 1.5 million of these being children.

The documentary is about a Holocaust surviver Danny Chanoch who was 8 years old when the World War II began. He was sent to his first camp Auschwitz at the age of 9. It was first of total 5 concentration camps where the child was held. Now he's 74 (the movie was shooted in 2008) and he makes a 6-day trip with his two grown up children to show them all those places (or their remains) where his life was broken. Though, the last statemt is quite questionable.


You can have a look at the movie's web page

Second thing why I'm wasting your time right now is that..
my grandma is Jew. According to Hebrew's law I'm a Jew also. And all my daugters will be.
Probably I'm feeling something more than an affected TV viewer today.
 

P.S. Photo source:
The Jewish Virtual Library http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/aupictoc.html
http://www.debbieschlussel.com

Tags Work: Me and Sheikh Hasina in a row

Just found accidentally :D 

1 year after explosions. Does anybody feel more secure now?

http://rian.ru/trend/anniversary_terakty_moskva_metro_29032011/

Today in Moscow Ьetro people left flowers and tears remembering those who died in last year terroristic attack. On 29th March, 2010, two explosions rocked the Moscow Metro (“Park Kulturi” and “Lubyanka” metro stations) claiming 40 people dead, more than 90 injured.

Today morning (symbolic as always) government news agency reported that according to Investigation committee’s representative Pavel Markin, all the organizers of the attack in Metro were identified. Six of them are killed, one is wanted by Interpol. The explosions were carried out by two female suicide bombers Sharipova and Abdullaeva (from Kyzlyar, Dagestan). They were conducted by 22-years old Hossain Magomedov (Dagestan). The organizer of the attack was Magomed Ali Vagabov, one of the leader of terroristic underground being active in Dagestan. The same group carried out explosions in Kyzlyar two days after the terroristic attack in Moscow Metro.

Making statements after the attack, President Medvedev asked officials to increase security on the public transport system nationwide.

Meanwhile, 10 month later a powerful blast ripped through an international arrivals hall of Russia's largest airport Domodedovo on January 24. More than 100 people were seriously injured, 36 died.

Making statements after the explosion, President Medvedev asked officials to increase security on the public transport system nationwide.

Metal detector gates appeared at all important airports and railway stations.

Today several news agencies reported that Doku Umarov, a militant from the southern Russian region of Chechnya who claimed responsibility for those blasts, was killed. Information have not been confirmed still.

I wonder does anybody feel more secure today?

My Nuclear Heritage

A great deal of talk about Japan and nuclear threat have suddenly reminded me where I had been living since I was born. Near a nuclear reactor!


This is The high-Beam Reactor PIK, situated in Gatchina town, 40 km from Saint-Petersbourg.
My grandmather and grandfather and many grandparent and parents of my friends are working there.
The city itself began developing since the reactor was build in 1978.
PIC is Russia's only really advanced neutron source of constant actionin. It is research reactor (the maximum neutron flux with the flow "n/sm2Chs 1015, the number of positions on the beams).

It is sad that experimental possibilities PIK reactor are unique, and in coming years anywhere in the world such reactors would not be created.
The reactor is still working these days descpite it had exceeded its limits years ago. The second ractor was built and officially was opened 2 years ago.
Only officially though.

Japan. No comments.

It is hell

Who are they, Russian Billionaires?

Forbes magazine today introduced its fresh rating Forbes 400, which seems to be the most respected rating of the richest people of the planet. According to Forbes, this year's list broke records in size (1,210 billionaires) and total net worth ($4.5 trillion). The number of Chinese billionaires on the 
Forbes list doubled to 115; the number of Russians grew to 101, Indians to 55 and Brazilians to 30. USA is still the first with its 413 billionaires.
So Russia is now 3rd among other countries. Though Moscow now has more billionaires than any other city – 75 people (only 58 in New York). In other words, now every 12th billionaire in the world has Russian passport.

The richest Russian billionaire is Vladimir Lisin, Chairman of the board of directors Novolipetsk Steel. Lisin owns $24 billion wich puts him at 14 place in common rating. He is the only one Russian in the TOP-20 Forbes rating.
Lisin is a proletarian success story, Forbes says. First job was as a mechanic in a coal mine. Then from steelworker in Siberia he moved towards dominating Russia's aluminium and steel exports along with group of traders called Trans-World Group. That was in early 90-s. Lisin managed the factories, and when the partners went their separate ways in 2000, Lisin got majority stake in Russia's giant Novolipetsk steel mill as his share.

Will Russia betray Gaddafi?

The developments in Libya continue the chain of bloody revolutions in Africa and Middle East of last months.  Libyan and other nations’ refugees are trying to escape, more than 140 000 people already left the country. The majority gathered at Tunisia’s border (it’s still open). Egypt border is closed.  Meanwhile today UN have suspended Libya's membership of the UN Human Rights Council.

According to BBC reports, witnesses said pro-Gaddafi forces tried to retake the western cities of Zawiya, Misrata and Nalut on Monday but were repulsed by rebels helped by defecting army units. Earlier France said there would be no international military action against Libya without a 'clear mandate' from the United Nations but US and Britain seem to be ready to  storm into the country.
While watching so-called king of kings, Mr Gaddafi’s interview to BBC,  one can only lift his hands. Either he is crazy or else world media is making him so, along with the whole situation around poor Libya.
Well, “poor’ in which sense? Millions of poor people, who have no job, education and social care, as it happens in most of African countries? Or maybe we should feel sorry for poor Gaddafi, as U.S. Treasury Department official said on Monday that about $30 billion of Libyan assets in the United States had been blocked from access by Libyan leader and his family.
Libya is a serious oil exporter. According to BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2010, oil production of Libya reaches around 75-77 million tons a year, and only 7-8 million Libya consumes itself, the rest goes for export to Europe and USA.
Sound good for such countries as Russia, for example. Analysts are waiting for new petrodollars maximums. If the civil war in Libya will last for more than 2 month (it has started about three weeks ago), the question of changing the supplier will soon arise. And not only Libya is involved, as all Middle East is boiling up.
On 1 March, Brent crude rose above $116 a barrel as supply disruptions persist and political violence spreads in the Middle East and North Africa. Meanwhile, at the same day an expert of Russian Finance ministry announced that the price of Russian crude Urals reached the level of $81 and this price will be considered in budget plans (earlier the price of $75 had been built into the state budget).
It should be noted that before today Russia was gentle, evaluating the developments in Libya. That’s not a secret that Russia signed several contracts with Libya, including $2 billion contract for arms supplement and a contract for rail road construction. Nevertheless, today evening the source of Interfax agency in Kremlin told that “Gaddafi is a live political dead body which has no room for him in the civilized world”.

Photo from: http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/events/details/2008/04/16_164138.shtml