whitebeard

Don't curse the darkness, light a candle.

posted by: Whitebeard at 15:31 | link | comments |
iraq, us, civil rights, war

25 June 2007

Information with silencer

Antonio Di Pietro is coming out against the intercept law and he has written me a letter. By now we are reduced to getting judicial information to find out what is happening. And they even want to take that away from us. The Prodi government was born dead with the abortion of the nomination of Mastella at the Ministry of Justice. Even the bosses of Cosa Nostra are against the Pardon.

"Dear Beppe,
I am writing to you to denounce the attempt to put a gag on information with the law against the intercepts that is soon to be voted on in the Senate.
Italia dei Valori will put forward some amendments to change the law. If they are not accepted we will vote against it even if the government makes it a vote of confidence. Our amendments are aimed at eliminating heavy sanctions, even criminal ones against journalists who are the weak link in the chain, and to guarantee the possibility of getting access to the intercepts during the preliminary investigations once they have been made available to both sides and recognised as relevant to the criminal proceedings.
With the new law, because of the duration of the trials, in Italy nothing would ever be known. For example, we wouldn't have found out about the conversations between Fazio and Fiorani, and Fazio would still be Governor of the Bank of Italy.
The politicians are trying to protect themselves, thus denying the right of the citizens to have the possibility of checking up on their "political" conduct and I emphasise "political" and not criminal. The intercepts of D'Alema and Fassino, like those of the politicians connected to Berlusconi, have in fact a "political" significance and for this reason, they cannot and must not be removed from the scrutiny of the voters. However I find it depressing that politicians are taking an interest in banks and not in the problems of the citizens.
Even the European Court of Human Rights has given its full support to our decision to not vote for the intercept law in the Senate. It has done this with a recent decision that has condemned France for violating the liberty of expression in relation to the conviction by French courts of two journalists for the publication of a book on the illegal intercept system during the Mitterrand presidency.
Whereas the French judges gave priority to the secrecy of the proceedings, the European Court reinforced the role of the press in making known relevant facts and particularly where politicians were involved.
The European Court said it is legitimate to protect the secrecy of the proceedings, but that the right to information has priority over that. Furthermore, the application of a penalty (even if it is a monetary one) and the affirmation of the civil responsibility of the journalist has a clear dissuasive effect on the exercise of the freedom of the press.
This is why we are committed to preserving this freedom in the Justice Commission at first and then in the Senate, where we will present rigorous amendments to stop information from being gagged.
Apart from our opposition to the law, and I hope this will come from others as well, what is needed is strong popular support to maintain the freedom of information, or at least to not see it gagged even more.
This is why I am appealing to you and to your readers and I am inviting you all to come to the public event on Monday 25 June 2007 "La scomparsa dell'informazione" {The disappearance of information} in Milan, at 8.45pm, Camera del Lavoro, Corso di Porta Vittoria with myself, Beha, Gomez, Kort and Pons. Greetings."

Antonio Di Pietro

posted by: Whitebeard at 08:46 | link | comments |
civil rights, italy, censored news

28 June 2007

European Parliament and V-Day

In preparation for Vaffanculo day, or V-day, I’ve been to the European Parliament to explain the quagmire that Italy finds itself in and to look for some consensus. The place was full. No one knew anything. They thought I was a Martian. They didn’t believe what I was telling them. I gave a taste of European populism. Today I’m publishing a brief film clip from Brussels.
Tomorrow a video that’s a summary as well as the whole thing. Here’s an extract of what I said.

“Putin reminded us, after the murders of journalists and those who oppose his government and some feeble denunciation by our government, that Italy is the land of the mafia. On this point, I’m partially in agreement. The mafia, well really the mafias, each with a regional identity, are a minor problem in my country.
The real problem is the Italian Parliament that contains a number of individuals who have been on trial, about seventy and 25 who have been convicted, enough to make Al Capone and Don Corleone both feel faint.
If Putin is listening to me, he could say that it was the mafias that got them elected or the vote of the citizens who are favoured by or in collusion with organised crime. Not at all. Perhaps the international press doesn’t yet know, but two years ago, in Italy there was a coup d'état.
The electoral law was changed to prevent citizens from being able to vote for their candidate. The parties, not more than 12 people, decided who was to be a deputy and who a senator. The law was one that Berlusconi wanted, the opposition opposed it, then when he was in government, Prodi confirmed it.
It’s better, much better for the parties to be set up for election by their employees than to have representatives of the citizens in the Parliament.
Better convicts than free citizens. Putin undervalued us, the mafias in Italy count for less than the parties and they are more honest. They don’t say that they are democratic and on the side of the citizens.
Italy is a nation with a Parliament not elected by the citizens, more similar to a place of punishment than to a place where the future of the nation should be decided.
I’m appealing for the restoration of the liberty to vote and the liberty of information in Italy.
On September 8, I will organise a demonstration in every Italian city. I’ve called it Vaffanculo day. It’s half way between D-day of the Normandy landings and V for Vendetta.
On that day, Italians should take back their country into their own hands. It has been destroyed by decades of partyocracy, of P2 free masonry, of intrigues between banks and mafias, of Vatican interference in public affairs, from State information and Berlusconi, of conflicts of interests. The London Stock Exchange and the Italian are to merge. I would like to ask the English: but are you sure?
Do you want to be associated with the biggest conflict of interest in Europe?
In which the reference man is the well known convict Cesare Geronzi, involved in almost all of Italy’s financial scandals and then convicted for bankruptcy? The Italian Stock Exchange should be closed. It shouldn’t infect the rest of Europe.
It’s a place where Unicredit-Capitalia has the relative majority in Mediobanca and has the relative majority in Generali which is one of the main shareholders of IntesaSanpaolo, its most important competitor. It’s the place where a person like Tronchetti passes himself off as an industrialist destroying the value of Telecom and of Pirelli together, with 0.11 per cent of the share capital of Telecom.
Italy is the country of Valentino Rossi and of the greatest number of deaths from road traffic accidents. The land of sunshine without equipment for using solar energy. The country of art with rubbish tips and incinerators and regasifiers like nowhere else in Europe.
The country of Roman Law with 350,000 laws that cannot be used and in conflict with each other. The little bit of freedom of the press that remains, is in danger. In July, Parliament will vote for a law that will prevent the publication of the intercepts organised by the magistracy and relating to politicians.
Lads and lasses, if I don’t succeed on September 8, I’ll come and ask for political asylum.”

posted by: Whitebeard at 08:35 | link | comments |
civil rights, italy, censored news, vatican

June 29, 2007

Friends,

This is it! Two years in the making! The day that our new film, "Sicko," arrives in theaters all across North America! Click here to see where the nearest one is to you.

After you go, let me know what you think. Oh, and send us a photo or a video from your cell phone to show us what it looked like at your theater. We'd love to post a photo from each of the 440 movie theaters showing "Sicko."

To read more about the movie, you can go to www.michaelmoore.com.

Here's what this morning's review in the L.A. Times said: "It's likely his most important, most impressive, and most provocative film." Okay, what do they know? I prefer to trust the assessment of E! Television Online: " 'Sicko' - the best movie ever? Maybe." Maybe? MAYBE?! When will they ever give me a break?

It's been a weirdly funny week. First Larry King bumped me for Paris Hilton. Then today, when CNBC invited me to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for an interview, the stock exchange said I was barred from the building. On top of that, Tony Blair is gone, Cheney says he's no longer answerable to anyone's elected government, and I simply don't want an iPhone. Just another week in America.

Hope you enjoy the movie!

Yours,
Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com

posted by: Whitebeard at 08:30 | link | comments |
us, civil rights, war, censored news

Dear peace activists,

We have been invited to speak at a presentation of the new documentary
on September 11, "Zero -- the Investigation into 9.11"
http://www.zerofilm.it/
by the Member of the European Parliament Giulietto Chiesa, known for the
very serious questions he has raised about what really happened on
September 11th, 2001.

The film is still in production but a rough cut of about 20 minutes will
be screened, followed by a discussion.  The journalist Franco Fracassi
and the film's distributor Roberto Di Palma will also be present.

The film is, for the most part, in English with Italian subtitles. The
discussion will be in Italian. The screening is being organized by
MegaChip (http://www.megachip.info) and Centro Umanista "La proposta"
and will take place Saturday June 30 from 10:30 am to 1pm at the
Biblioteca Comunale "Basaglia" in Via Federico Borromeo 67 (quartiere
Primavalle). You can get there by metro A line to Battistini then the 46
bus or the 46 bus from P. Venezia.

If you are interested in speaking and representing our group at this event
-- or if you have any questions about it -- please get in touch with us as
soon as possible:  info@peaceandjustice.it

U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice - Rome info@peaceandjustice.it
http://www.peaceandjustice.it

posted by: Whitebeard at 08:48 | link | comments |
us, war, censored news, nineleven

click on the photo
Ann Wright  Yesterday in Florence.

We will not be silent (writing on the vest).

posted by: Whitebeard at 09:15 | link | comments |

New York Times Full Page Ad:   The week of June 18, World Can’t Wait will publish an ad with the text of our Call, and new prominent signers.  The ad will promote town meetings.

Ad headline:  What Harm Can Bush do before 2008? 

• Bomb Iran?
• Appoint another Supreme Court Justice?
• Continue with impunity the war crime of torture in an unjust war? 

2008 is too late! The World Can’t Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime !

posted by: Whitebeard at 20:06 | link | comments |
us, civil rights, war, torture, censored news

Enquête
Enlevé par la CIA, torturé en Egypte
LE MONDE | 07.06.07 | 14h41  •  Mis à jour le 07.06.07 | 15h28
LE CAIRE ENVOYÉE SPÉCIALE 

Quarante-quatre ans à peine, mais l'homme en paraît soixante. L'imam égyptien Oussama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, plus connu sous le nom d'Abou Omar, se décrit lui-même comme un "vieillard brisé, le corps en ruine", un homme qui "mange trop, ne désire plus sa femme, gavé aux tranquillisants". Pas une nuit sans qu'il ne se "réveille en hurlant", réminiscence du cauchemar bien réel, commencé avec son enlèvement dans une rue de Milan, en Italie, le 17 février 2003, et qui s'est poursuivi par d'interminables séances de torture, durant quatre ans, dans les geôles égyptiennes
 
Continue on "Le Monde"  (french)

posted by: Whitebeard at 16:04 | link | comments |
us, torture, censored news