How's it Going, so far?

[Nardini]

With the "new" government back into the swing of things, how's it going so far?

Well, we have had the speaker of the Camera dei Deputati telling Di Pietro in answer to Di Pietro asking for the speaker to silence the cat-calls and shouts from the Berlusconi people, that he would do so only if he agreed with what was being said - "dipende da quello che si dice".

Next, we have a few background issues that haven't had pride of place in the Italian media.

The new member of the Italian contingency of MEP's is a chap called Roberto Fiore. He was convicted and sentenced to 9 years in prison for conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, after the Bologna bomb atrocity in 1980.

Afterwards, he moved to the UK where he lived for several years, becoming great friends with a chap called Nick Griffin. Yes, the BNP one.

After returning to Italy, he joined forces with one Alessandra Mussolini and her "coalition" called the Social Alternative when the European Elections were last held. They won one seat, which Mussolini took up as the leader of her coalition. With Mussolini entering the newly formed parliament, her seat became available for the next member of her coalition - which was Fiore.

Anything else? Well, I don't know about any other parts of Italy, but up here in Lombardy, we have been witness to a huge increase of military helicopter traffic. What are they doing, we asked ourselves? Well, it appears that they are creating up-to-date maps of all of the many small gypsy (Rom) camps that are dotted all over the countryside here. What happens next is going to be interesting - although not for the gypsies, I suspect.

The rubbish in Campania is still a problem, which Berlusconi seems not to have solved by holding his first cabinet meeting in Napoli. In fact, it was interesting to see that the rubbish problems in Napoli were not actually on the agenda for the meeting. However, we hear that the army will now be called in to clear the rubbish - again - and that the camorristi will use children to blockade the roads to prevent access to the "new" rubbish dumps - again. Nothing new there then.

The Messina Bridge is back on the agenda again though, after paying millions of Euro to contractors for breaking the contracts that were issued to them during Berlusconi's last stint. Also despite the fact that the Messina Straits is well known as being a very active area, seismologically speaking. More millions to various builders in both Sicily and Calabria then, for many years to come - again.

Over to you now...

[NickZ]

Originally Posted by Nardini

The Messina Bridge is back on the agenda again though, after paying millions of Euro to contractors for breaking the contracts that were issued to them during Berlusconi's last stint. Also despite the fact that the Messina Straits is well known as being a very active area, seismologically speaking. More millions to various builders in both Sicily and Calabria then, for many years to come - again.

Over to you now...

Did they actually break the contracts? RAI had a piece on this last weekend. Di Pietro said they didn't break the contracts so saving the fee. They just left it in the drawer

I thought the army was supposed to be guarding the new top secret dumps? How anybody thinks they can keep dumps secret is beyond me. I guess they'll use stealth garbage trucks.

[Noma]

Let's not forget-
-criminalizing undocumented immigrants
-sequestering apartments where undocumented immigrants live, with 3 years jailtime for the landlord
-starting to build new nuclear power plants despite the national referendum outlawing them
-violating the Schengen treaty by setting up passport controls for EU citizens at all border crossings

And that's only the past fortnight.

[Nielo]

Is a rubbish dump coming to a place near you?

ANSA.it - TopNews - Rifiuti: in Gazzetta i 10 siti

[juliancoll]

Originally Posted by Nardini

Anything else? Well, I don't know about any other parts of Italy, but up here in Lombardy, we have been witness to a huge increase of military helicopter traffic. What are they doing, we asked ourselves? Well, it appears that they are creating up-to-date maps of all of the many small gypsy (Rom) camps that are dotted all over the countryside here. What happens next is going to be interesting - although not for the gypsies, I suspect.

The rubbish in Campania is still a problem, which Berlusconi seems not to have solved by holding his first cabinet meeting in Napoli. In fact, it was interesting to see that the rubbish problems in Napoli were not actually on the agenda for the meeting. However, we hear that the army will now be called in to clear the rubbish - again - and that the camorristi will use children to blockade the roads to prevent.

Two points

1. How do you know they are creating up-to-date maps of all of the many small gypsy (Rom) camps that are dotted all over the countryside?

2. The rubbish crisis in Naples was very much on the agenda.

Originally Posted by NickZ

I thought the army was supposed to be guarding the new top secret dumps? How anybody thinks they can keep dumps secret is beyond me. I guess they'll use stealth garbage trucks.

Why do you say these new dumps were "top secret"? The dumps have never been secret - the local population have been demonstrating against their use ever since it was made clear they will be used. These dumps are in highly populated areas and are totally unsuitable for this purpose.

They are nothing more than a quick fix and the Italian government should be stopped dead in it's tracks for even considering such a feeble short term measure instead of utilising the new technologies that are already fully available and operational in other areas of Italy. These technologies are quick, sustainable, safe and economically viable.

[NickZ]

Originally Posted by juliancoll

Why do you say these new dumps were "top secret"? .

Because they are secret? They aren't opening all the potential dumps. They have picked a few and are keeping them secret. It forces the protesters to watch them all or to guess.

[Nardini]

Originally Posted by juliancoll

Two points

1. How do you know they are creating up-to-date maps of all of the many small gypsy (Rom) camps that are dotted all over the countryside?

2. The rubbish crisis in Naples was very much on the agenda.

1. Il Commissario Straordinario per i rom is collating the information and was reported on RAI 3 (as well as several other sources).

2. Not on the circulated, typed agenda of the ministers themselves, it wasn't.

[juliancoll]

Originally Posted by NickZ

Because they are secret? They aren't opening all the potential dumps. They have picked a few and are keeping them secret. It forces the protesters to watch them all or to guess.

If people know which areas are to be used as dumps, how are they secret? They are going to use an area called Chiaiano - read about this area in the link below.

specialechiaiano

Click on the underlined heading "Non idoneità ambientale delle cave a fossa di Chiaiano per la realizzazione di discariche.." to download a pdf file.

Any questions you may have - I'll try to answer.

[juliancoll]

Originally Posted by Nardini

1. Il Commissario Straordinario per i rom is collating the information and was reported on RAI 3 (as well as several other sources). .

Thanks

Originally Posted by Nardini

2. Not on the circulated, typed agenda of the ministers themselves, it wasn't.

Come on Nardini, it was common knowledge this would be discussed. It may not have been on the typed agenda, but it was on the agenda none the less - and it was discussed.

[Nielo]

The link in my post identifies the dump sites, so they are not secret anymore.