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#8556 From: "manny alfano" <mannyalfano@...>
Date: Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:10 am
Subject: Press Release: UNICO NATIONAL TARGETS THE GAP, T-MOBILE, AND LG ELECTRONICS 		eaa097
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Friday, December 11, 2009

For immediate release

Contact: Sebastian D’Elia

Communications Director

UNICO National

Office: 973-808-0035

Cell: 908-770-3662

UNICO NATIONAL TARGETS THE GAP, T-MOBILE,  AND LG ELECTRONICS AS PRIMARY “JERSEY SHORE” SPONSORS FOR SUPPORTING SHOW THAT SLURS AND STEREOTYPES ITALIAN-AMERICANS


 McDonald’s, Burger King, Papa John Pizza, Cisco,

 Nivea and Palm among others named


Fairfield, NJ - After enduring the second week's installment and a recap talk show of the controversial MTV series “Jersey Shore,” UNICO National President Andre' DiMino is specifically targeting three high-profile companies that sponsored the program.

"Why would The Gap, T-Mobile and LG Electronics support such a discriminatory, insulting and Italian-bashing program," stated DiMino after viewing last night's episode.  "It is unconscionable for any responsible corporation to be involved with the negative stereotyping of Italian Americans in trash television such as Jersey Shore.”

DiMino added that Cisco (owner of Flip camera), McDonald’s, Nivea, Palm, Burger King, and Papa John Pizza were also among the sponsors featured during the follow-up talk show recapping the series.

“I am urging our supporters to call these sponsors and demand they pull their advertising from Jersey Shore,” DiMino said.

DiMino, the President of UNICO National, has been leading the charge as an outspoken critic of the new series since prior to its debut earlier this month.  In response to thousands of calls, emails, blogs and complaints and a world-wide media firestorm of coverage spurred by UNICO’s criticism,  MTV officials did remove the pejorative terms "Guido" and "Guidette" from their promotional clips and web site after DiMino spoke with MTV executives just prior to the debut.

Nevertheless, MTV has refused to pull the show from its schedule as DiMino had originally requested of MTV CEO Judith McGrath, ironically a former winner of an EMMY award for “taking a stand against discrimination.” Many UNICO members have called on McGrath to return her EMMY award as she has chosen to air a program that openly and continuously slurs and stereotypes Italian-Americans. 

"If they won't pull the show, then we have to get the sponsors to stop supporting this attack on our heritage and ethnicity," commented DiMino. 

A number of Italian American groups have joined with UNICO in the protest as well as thousands of individuals, both Italian-American and non-Italian Americans. 

 DiMino and UNICO National have received many emails and calls of support and have identified a Facebook group called "Real Italians Against MTVs Jersey Shore" which has well over 1,300 members and growing.

UNICO National, the nation’s largest Italian American service organization, with local chapters throughout the United States, was founded in Waterbury, Connecticut in 1922.  Its’ volunteer members support charitable, educational, and community service projects while promoting Italian heritage and combating negative stereotyping.  For information or to join UNICO National call 973-808-0035 or visit  www.unico.org.

                                                            --30--


Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#8555 From: "manny alfano" <mannyalfano@...>
Date: Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:48 am
Subject: The ALFANO DIGEST dEC. 12, 2009 		eaa097
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The Alfano Digest  … an independent publication  

Statements contained herein are presented as information and not necessarily supported by the staff.

Executive Director, Dr. Emanuele Alfano, mannyalfano@...
 

"Say Nothing … Do Nothing … Then we will surely Become NOTHING!”

 

 

Italian Americans can no longer tolerate being mistreated by the entertainment and the advertising industries, which have constantly, portrayed us as buffoons, bigots, bums, bimbos and mobsters. No other group would stand for this.

 

We can no longer sit back. It’s time to act if not for ourselves than we better act for our children and grandchildren

  • here is a CNN clip of joy behar, Linda Stasi and two other panelists discussing Jersey Shore on CNN, some sharp opinions plus Stasi accuses us of being too mild

 

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/12/10/joy.jersey.shore.cnn?iref=allsearch

 

People could listenlisten online via www.wdel.com

He did a great job!

 

  •  

 

 


I will be live on CNN Headline News today at about 5:40 PM on the show Prime News.  According to the producer that booked me, this will be a "lively" panel discussion about my opposition to the Italian-bashing MTV series, Jersey Shore.  Therefore, I have no idea what is in store for me and whether they will have opposing guests.

 

 

 

Dear Mr. Alfano:

 

It does not surprise me that MTV ignores our legitimate requests to cancel South Shore.

 

Italian Americans should be aware that Viacom and CBS are both controlled by National Amusements. Viacom through comedy central has a history of denigrating Italians, rural Americans, or anybody who is not seen as "progressive". IOne of your readers has sent you a tape of a comedy central show with Jon Stewart, where Italians are portrayed homophobic, beer drinking , non intelligent loafers. Comedy Central is of course a Viacom show.

 

Recently, BNET, a CBS subsidiary, published an article which argued that yes, the show perpetuated stereotypes but then asked the reader to decide if Italians are not clowns anyway. Perhaps not in those exact words, but the author was pretty clear that Dominos was wrong to cancel its sponsorship of South Shore.

 

These talents at Viacom and CBS like to pretend they are progressives. CBS, for example, thinks its funny to attack Sarah Palin and her family by airing the teenage father of Palin's grandson to discuss such political topics as whether or not Palin sleeps with her husband.

 

They , like all media cowards, hide their affiliations. I would urge all Italian Americans to boycott CBS, Viacom, and cancel Showtime- operated by CBS. In fact, I would urge all Americans to become aware of how MTV tries to manipulate young people into believing in class prejudice.

.

National Amusements is so highly leveraged that this would put a real dent in their cash flow operations.

 

Maybe then MTV could do a reality show about financially struggling producers( with no real talent,), having to sneak into Nobu, or shoplifting expresso.

 

Sincerely,

 

Gregory Tartaglia

Rye, New York

 

Great job Andre’.

 

I read in today’s Record that American Family Life and Domino’s already dropped their sponsorships.

I told Manny last night that we should denounce the actual actors too for their behavior!

 

Regards,

 

Mike

 

 

 

E-mail MTV AND CONTACT THE SPONSORS

See below for contacts

UNICO,

On behalf of myself and many others to whom I have spoken to, I'd like to thank you for taking a stand against the slanderous, brazen, anti-italian american rhetoric displayed by MTV with its new "Jersey Shore" series. As a 22 year old, this portrayal of italian-americans can not be further away from how I feel that my demographic should be represented. Also, as a university student, I live in a proverbial melting pot of cultures. My friends are made up of students from all over the country, from california, to texas, to kentucky, to my home state, new york. The most discouraging part of this new "guido" trend occurs when my friends ask me if this is really what it's like in New York, New Jersey, etc., or if "this is what it's like in Little Italy,[New York]". I could go on expressing my disgust, but that would draw attention away from the primary purpose of this e-mail, which is to thank your organization for voicing the objection of millions. I believe that if enough attention is brought to this, advertisers will continue to drop, which of course would lead to MTV dropping the show. I will do my part in my community, albeit small. I wish you all the best, and happy holidays.

Sincerely,

Jack Terranova

 

]Jersey Shore on CNN Headline News Today at 5:40

 

Dear Andre”

 

I have call Comcast and complained.

 

Keep up the great work and we look forward to seeing you on the 10th of March

 

 

Regards

 

 Larry

 

North Andover, MA  01845

 

Jersey Shore

 

Thank you for the stand you’ve taken against MTV’s “Jersey Shore” series.

I’m Italian-American & at times not too politically correct, but the few scenes I saw from this horror  were truly offensive & not at all representative of the Italian or Italian-American culture.

Molte grazie!

 

Sandra Savino

 

 

http://tv.yahoo.com/jersey-shore/show/45540/news/tv.tvguide.com/tv.tvguide.com-mtv-exec-bums-me-out-people-are-offended-jersey- 

 

Keep up the fight.This show is way over the top.MVT

Good morning Andre’!

 

I am so excited to see how many advertisers have pulled out of Jersey Shore! Can you believe we posted another one today?

http://www.tmz.com/2009/12/10/jersey-shores-advertising-woes-fuggetaboutit/

I was hoping to get a comment from you in regards to all of the sponsors that have pulled out, as well as the supposed death threats that MTV is getting-- http://gothamist.com/2009/12/09/mtv_receiving_threats_from.php

 

Thank you so much Andre’! I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sincerely,

 Stephanie Wilburn

Gentlemen:  Congratulations on the great work you have done in raising the profile of Italian American opposition to the MTV Jersey Shores program.  The Inside Edition program last night was great, however minimal the amount of time devoted to the interview.  And I look forward to the CNN coverage.  The important thing is that you have elevated the issue of Italo-bashing (my new word), not only on this show, but across-the-board, to a national audience.  Bravo!  This is very significant and should not be taken for granted.  It is a clear victory and finally, we are all hearing about discrimination against Italian Americans in this country. . Way to go - drop the show!  And to think that I was excited two decades ago when MTV debuted!  Let's keep up the pressure!  Kudos to Domino's Pizza too!

 

In gratitude for your vigilence, 

 

Valeri DeCastris, M.S., Rockford, IL

 

Manny - feel free to post the above on your site...no problem.

 

 

Hello Paola:

Your words of support in Italian are so beautiful!  Thank you!

I feel it is my duty, not only as the National President of UNICO, but as a proud Italian American, to fight this continual bashing of our great heritage and culture.  The Jersey Shore is a horrendous and blatant attack on Italian Americans and gives the world such a terrible and stereotypical portrayal.  That is what the media does - we are either mafioso/mobsters or bimbos and buffoons - like the 8 ignorant youth on Jersey Shore - terrible!

Again, thanks for your kind words!

Ciao!

Andre'

   ==========================================

Signor Andre:

 

I commend you for the good fight you are putting up in regard to the onslaught of stereotypes.however it may be too little too late.

 

I think we need to combine ALL our organizations as ONE and we need more money..where are those wealthy Italian-American benefactors ? And have a national day of enough is enough !

 

The message you should strongly underscore is how come the "Golden Rule" is not bestowed upon Italian-Americans ?

 

The same people that besmirch us would dare NOT do it to any other groups, like Asians, African-Americans, Jews, Hispanics etc.....so why in this age of political correctness are we considered the ONLY fair game ?

 

Grazie mille,

 

Walter Santi

Bloomingdale,Il

RESPONSE

 

Hi Walter:

Thanks for your email and your kind words of support!

I know you have diligently communicated about negative stereotyping for quite some time and I commend you for that.  However, I am not as pessimistic as your comments seem to be - I don't really think my effort over the past several weeks is "too little, too late."  I have gotten significant media exposure about our opposition to Jersey Shore and there does seem to be a greater groundswell of support from Italian Americans (and non-Italian Americans, as well) across the country.  Of course, there are still a few that don't think we should be waging this fight - but I am convinced they are the minority.  The vast majority of those of Italian heritage are being awakened by this fight.

So, Walter, please, don't give up - continue to work with us in going after Jersey Shore and any other negative portrayal of our great heritage.  I want to be able to count on your continued support and your accurate arguments in favor of our position.

Grazie!

Andre'

      Andre' DiMino
           President
    UNICO National


--

 

Here’s Andre’s well-produced NBC link

 

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/34342785#34342785

 

Here’s today’s Star Ledger editorial page blog:

 

http://blog.nj.com/jerseyblogs/2009/12/jersey_shore_bloggers_on_wheth.html

 

CHECKTHIS OUT… IT NEVER ENDS

Click here: YouTube - MTV True Life - Jersey Shore Time Share 2

 

 

This is entertainment ?  What a sick world this is becoming !

 

Walter

 

 

  • CLICK HERE to view Saturday Night Live’s Gossip Girl: Staten Island
  • CLICK HERE to view MTV’s Jersey Shore
  • CLICK HERE to view ABC’s Desperate Housewives

www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-15-2009/long-island-wants-to-secede

 

I was sent an wmv video file that said... Mafia.wmv

with a comment that said GREAT Commercial.

 

I check it out and it is still on a site called funzu.com which

also contains tons of Nissan ADs, so I am sure Nissan

is still aware of it, even though I believe it was made in 2008.

 

Check it out at this link.

 

http://funzu.com/index.php/crazy-video/nissan-mafia-commercial-cool.html

 

Joe De Felice

 

Manny,

 

Take a look at this.  It appears that MTV and SNL aren't the only ones that want to bash Italians.  Comedy Central and the today show jumped on the bandwagon with this segment.  I can't believe this.  I am becoming more and more irate.  I sent an email to the Sons of Italy organization as well, but I have not yet heard a response.  This mockery of Italians has got to be stopped.

 

-R.A.B.

 

: MTV Show Jersey Shore

 

I love that show!! It is entertaining and educational!  Thanks to your organizations whining I think the shows ratings will be even better now!  Well I'm going to sit down with a big a pizza pie and watch the show!!  Arrivederci!

 

Buone Natale!--
C.A. Perkins

caperkins@...

 

 

Manny

 

                               Regarding the segment "Gossip Girl- Staten Island" which ran on Saturday Night Live, the executive producer of SNL is Mr. Lorne Michaels. I recently sent you an email regarding an episode of "30 Rock" which was highly offensive in it's portrayal of an Italian-American character. The executive producer of that show is also Lorne Michaels. Do you detect a pattern here??

 

Frank Travisano

Waterbury, Ct.

 

Dear UNICO Members:

 

Thank you so much for pressuring Domino's to pull their ads for the 'Jersey Shore" reality series. This in addition to these ads: 

 

  • Cheerios mobster ads pulled
  • Denny's mobster ads pulled
  • Carl's Junior mobster ads pulled

 

Next please contact Mark Cherry the writer and producer of Desperate Housewives. In this week's episode, a nurse asks actress Drea de Matteo if she is in the witness relocation program, because, "you are Italian and have no insurance" so I just assumed. This is a complete outrage and a disgrace to our beautiful heritage. I am so outraged that this is allowed on TV.

 

When my fellow American’s ask me why I am so sensitive to all of this, being portrayed either as a Mafioso or a Guido (i.e. a low-life buffoon) I reply by saying, “the KKK is alive and well in the USA".  "How would you as an American like to travel abroad and the only thing they know or ask about your American heritage is, do you burn crosses on your lawn"? "Does your little Johnny have a little pointed white hat that fits him?” Have any of your relatives ever lynched a black person?"  These are realities in the USA, but being portaged as this when so many of Americans feel the KKK is a disgusting disgrace, is the same way I feel about my Italian heritage being stereotyped as low life buffoon’s or mafia murders.

 

PLEASE continue the great work you have done and best of luck with Desperate Housewives.

 

BTW this is a commercial you may have seen of my daughter Francesca Angelucci-Capaldi. She is the 4 (now 5) year old little red-head.

 

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwxTY5l9zj0

 

Cordiali saluti,

Anthony Capaldi

San Diego, CA

Bravo & Buona Fortuna

 

Thank you for your efforts to quash sickening and self deprecating television programs like "Jersey Shore", "Growing Up Gotti", etc.

Italian-Americans, like Catholics, always are made the butt of jokes or the subject of the worst negative stereotyping.

The unfortunate reality is that as a bloc, we just don't have the political prowess to keep this kind of trash away from the American mainstream.

I would be hard-pressed to believe that the same kind of stereotyping would occur to blacks or Jews.

Because these groups have established a well entrenched political and social network that would cause the producers of these programs to think twice about the ramifications of such programming.

Unfortunately we don't.

"Political correctness" it seems, need not apply when it comes to us.

Our culture is based on "family first", and everything outside of the core family are "strangiere". If something did not affect the family directly, it was none of our business.

It is this deeply engrained belief that kept Italian-Americans from becoming absorbed into the American mainstream at an accelerated pace. We should be far and away further along politically than we are.

The rest of the country perceives us as either criminals, brutes or greasy, uneducated "guidos", and it just seems like we're powerless to stop it.

We emanated from the same roots as Rossini, Michelangelo, Meucci, Fermi, Sinatra, Iacocca, Talese and yes Madonna.

We have nothing to be ashamed about, nothing to run from. We should revel in what our culture brought to the world, instead of cringing at the sight of these disrespectful and insulting programs.

My grandparents like yours, came to this country to make a better life for their children. They worked hard, learned the language and raised their children to respect authority. All this country gave them was the opportunity to better their lives and those of their children.

My grandfather enlisted in the American army and fought in WW 1, and my father was a sailor on the USS Bunker Hill in WW11, and survived kamikaze attacks during the last months of the conflict.

My uncle Angelo was wounded by rocket shrapnel in Korea, and my Uncle Frankie served in the Navy and my Uncle Vito in the Army in the 1950's.

They loved this country and believed in what being an American meant. They are the personification for the "American dream".

Not one of my family were engaged in any criminal activity, arrested, received government assistance (disgraziata) did drugs or became alcoholics. Certainly not the ingredients of any "reality show" these days.

The prior generations of my family didn't have to teach me what it truly meant to be Italian-American. They lived it. My tribute to them is to raise my kids in the same way they raised me.

I am encouraged by the fact that my family's history in this beautiful country is shared by countless other Italian-Americans.

 

Grazie and keep up the fight.

John Lore

 

Jersey Shore

 

I am a young Italian American who's grandparents and uncle immigrated here after world war two and settled in Corning NY and still live there to this day. they had several more kids and started and still operate their family owned business.  i have always been proud to call myself Italian and love everything about it.  even here in Wisconsin where i live i get comments by some who tell me i should go back to where i came from so i find this show Jersey Shore to be very negative toward the image of Italian Americans because their is still a prejudice out there.  it shows us in a very bad light and makes us seem to be disrespectful, mean, rude, obnoxious, and so many more things that i find that we are none.  i find this show very offensive and thank you for trying to get it off the air because i would not like to see a distasteful and stereotypical show as which this show is.  i do not think that all are like that and this show should be pulled because all other races and ethnicity's have been addressed and shown light upon besides Italian Americans still nothing has been done for us.

 

Annalisa Valli

 

UNICO - MTV
 

Richard,

 

I hope this email finds you well. 

 

My co-workers have told me about a show on MTV that is degrading Italian Americans.  I have not seen the show, however I know UNICO is one of the forces behind the show's cancellation.  Not knowing much about UNICO I'd like to learn more about what the organization does here in Chicago.   Is there an event in the near future that I can attend?

 

Best,

Joe

 

Joe Amara

 

MTV Show

 

To the President:I recently saw your interview on a local Philadelphia station concerning MTV' s program  about New Jersey "Guidos" and your objection thereto.I could not agree w/ you more.Quite frankly I am sick and tired of the typical media portrayal  of Americans of Italian descent. To the media we either mobsters or morons and dollars in their pocket. I believe that organizations like Unico are absolutely right in publicly condemning this show and making a point of just how derogatory it is and how it affects all of us in real life. Please fight this until the show is removed and if you need public support , count me in .I will write and call. If you are disseminating info on your fight including boycotting those that advertise on this show, please include me on your list. Thank you, Michael Tinari

 

Michael V. Tinari, Esquire
Leonard Sciolla Hutchison

 

 

MTV Sponsors of Down the Shore

 

 

Who are the sponsors of the show, The Jersey Shore?   I recently read an article in which UNICO advised of the blatant bigotry portrayed in that MTV-produced show and asked readers to complain to the show's sponsors.  Please advise as to the show's sponsors, and I will be happy to call and/or email those advertisers to sound-off about that racist show and their sponsorship of it.  

Best regards,

Greg Spincola

 

Dear Folks:

 

Could somebody please give me a list of MTV advertisers...all advertisers, not just Jersey Shore advertisers...so I can start boycotting their products and tell them so? Thank you.

 

Jim Vespe

 

ACT NOW… CONTACT MTV

Send Your Comments To MTV…Call …Write… Fax

Phone 212 258-8000   Fax 212 846-1804

E-mail address Judy Mc Grath’s. executive assistant is Kristen Mullarkey

Her email address is Kristen.mullarkey@...

She told me to direct emails here…

 We also have Judy McGrath E-mail

 

judy.mcgrath@...

 

Letter:

Judy McGrath                                                                                                 

November 24, 2009
Chairman and CEO
MTV Network
1515 Broadway
New York, NY  1003

 

LET THEM KNOW WE'RE OUT THERE!
[Manny Alfano] 

==================================================================================================

 

 

 

 

 

Companies who Choose to Support Bigotry through Advertisement

 

The following companies voluntarily chose to advertise during the premiere of ‘Jersey Shore’ on December 3, 2009.  By advertising for the reality show ‘Jersey Shore’, these companies support ethnic slurs and negative stereotypes that demean Italian-Americans.  Below is contact information for companies that support the blatant defamation of Italian-Americans:

 

-BodyHeat Cologne:                          1-800-887-2738

 

-American Family Insurance:                 1-800-692-6326

 

-Lionsgate  (‘Brothers’-movie):        310-449-9200

 

-Macy’s:                                              1-800-659-6229

 

-Sony (PSP):                                       1-800-345-7669

 

-Subway:                                              1-800-888-4848

 

-First Response:                                1-800-524-1328

 

-Zappos:                                              1-800-927-7671

 

-Verizon:                                             1-800-922-0204

 

-Rhapsody:                                           212-391-6668

 

-McDonalds:                                      1-800-244-6227

 

-Sprint:                                     1-888-211-4727

 

-Nintendo:                                          425-882-2040

 

-T mobile:                                             1-877-453-1304

 

-Chili’s:                                               972-980-9917

 

-FLO TV:                                            858-651-7334                                    

 

-Taco Bell:                                          1-800-TACO-BELL                          

 

-Victoria’s Secret:                                1-800-411-5116

 

-Best Buy (Rihanna):             612-292-6397             

 

-Microsoft:                                           1-800-MICROSOFT                                                 

 

-GAP:                                                  1-800-GAPSTYLE

 

 

Please contact these sponsors

 

Domino's Pizza needs a thank you! 

click here ... https://info.dominos.com/dominos_pizza/contact.nsf/frmContact?openform

customercare@...  

 

 

 

Domino's Pizza pulled its ads once they saw MTV's Real World Jersey Shore.  So did American Family Insurance - David R. Anderson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

1-800-MYAMFAM (1-800-692-6326

 

If you want to help, call or e-mail MTV & these companies and let them know that you support a boycott of the advertisers below. This was the best info that I could find. If anyone has better contacts, let me know. - Manny

 

 

 

Sony  Customer Care (800)222-7669 www.esupport.sony.com

also Ana Reyes - http://news.sel.sony.com/en/corporate_information/emailcontact.php?exename=Ana_Reyes

 

Macy's - Jim Sluzewski, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications & External Affairs  jim.sluzewski@..., 513-579-7764

 

Best Buy  - Public Relations Phone: 612-292-NEWS (6397)
Public Relations E-mail: newscenter@...

 

)

 

First Response - James R. Craigie - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

http://www.econsumeraffairs.com/churchdwight/us/contactus.htm?F1=WEBCP

 

Taco Bell - owned by Pepsico -  pepsicomediarelations@...

 

Victoria's Secret - Tammy Roberts Myers, Jennifer Ortiz Brown, Robin Hoffman
Telephone:  800-945-5088  ExtComm@...


Honda Sara Pines,
Honda Public Relations
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
(678) 339-1385 (ph)
(310) 433-3026 (cell)
310) 783-3170

 

T-Mobile  -   mediarelations@...  or via phone at 425-378-4002.


Chili's -  Douglas H. Brooks Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brinker International, Inc. 6820 LBJ Freeway Dallas, TX 75240    (972) 980-9917

http://www.brinker.com/contact/comments.asp

 

Subway - Annie Smith Subway® Public Relations (800) 888-4848, ext. 1329

smith_a@...

 

Sims 3 (EA Games) 

Wendy Spander - Sr. PR Manager, Events and Media, Corporate Communications

Wendy Spander, EA SPORTS
650-628-7929
Remi Sklar
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
(818) 977-3023
remi.sklar@...

 

Verizon       brenda.raney@...

 

Zappos.com 

© 1999-2009 - Zappos.com, Inc., 2280 Corporate Circle, Henderson, NV 89074

Contact Us At 1-800-927-7671 For Assistance 24 Hours A Day 7 Days A Week

https://secure-www.zappos.com/contact

 

Kristen.mullarkey@...   Phone 212 258-8000

judy.mcgrath@...    CEO

Tamika Young  1515 Broadway I New York, NY 10036

Ph: 212-846-7625  ViewerServices@...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#8554 From: "WHOSE" <whosedisonaol@...>
Date: Fri Dec 11, 2009 9:58 pm
Subject: THANKS to UNICO National www.unico.org 		whosedisonaol
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Advertisers pull out of 'Jersey Shore' ... sort of

by Jennifer Armstrong
Categories: News, Television

MTV's Jersey Shore has lost a bit of advertising after concerns were raised over the reality series' depiction of Italian-Americans. But Domino's, which decided not to run ads on the show after appearing in one spot on the Dec. 3 premiere episode, says the decision wasn't due to Italian-American organization UNICO National's complaints. The pizza chain also says it will continue to buy time on the network, just not specifically on Jersey Shore: "Our third-party media buyer, after reviewing the show, told MTV Friday morning that the content wasn't right for Domino's," a spokesman said. "The request to keep our spots from future episodes took place in the morning, well before we received any complaints or inquiries from anyone. We make our ad buy decisions internally, not due to any outside influences. We have no issue with MTV, and we haven't pulled our advertising from the network. We just don't want to be on that particular show." American Family Insurance also stopped running spots during the controversial show, but for strictly technical reasons, a spokesman said: The company had "a very limited association" with the show, with promos for special safe-teen-driving webisodes running during the premiere, but set to end when the online series ended on Sunday. "The only action we took was to ask them not to run the promos during the Jersey Shore reruns this weekend," the spokesman said.


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#8553 From: "WHOSE" <whosedisonaol@...>
Date: Fri Dec 11, 2009 9:56 pm
Subject: Advertisers pull out of 'Jersey Shore' ... sort of 		whosedisonaol
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Advertisers pull out of 'Jersey Shore' ... sort of

by Jennifer Armstrong
Categories: News, Television

MTV's Jersey Shore has lost a bit of advertising after concerns were raised over the reality series' depiction of Italian-Americans. But Domino's, which decided not to run ads on the show after appearing in one spot on the Dec. 3 premiere episode, says the decision wasn't due to Italian-American organization UNICO National's complaints. The pizza chain also says it will continue to buy time on the network, just not specifically on Jersey Shore: "Our third-party media buyer, after reviewing the show, told MTV Friday morning that the content wasn't right for Domino's," a spokesman said. "The request to keep our spots from future episodes took place in the morning, well before we received any complaints or inquiries from anyone. We make our ad buy decisions internally, not due to any outside influences. We have no issue with MTV, and we haven't pulled our advertising from the network. We just don't want to be on that particular show." American Family Insurance also stopped running spots during the controversial show, but for strictly technical reasons, a spokesman said: The company had "a very limited association" with the show, with promos for special safe-teen-driving webisodes running during the premiere, but set to end when the online series ended on Sunday. "The only action we took was to ask them not to run the promos during the Jersey Shore reruns this weekend," the spokesman said.

 

 


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#8552 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Fri Dec 11, 2009 12:47 am
Subject: Italy: New pizza and kebab shops banned in Venice 		insubria87
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Italy: New pizza and kebab shops banned in Venice




Venice, 7 Dec. (AKI) - New pizza takeaways and kebab outlets will be banned in the historic centre of the northeastern Italian city of Venice for the next two years in a bid to safeguard the city's cultural heritage. The city council has ruled against the issue of any new licences for takeaway food outlets in an area from St Mark's square to the famous Rialto bridge until December 2011.

According to the local daily Il Gazzettino, Venice mayor, Massimo Cacciari, a former communist, said a proliferation of pizza and kebab takeaway outlets was contributing to the "impoverishment" of restaurants and affecting the quality of the architecture in the city's historic centre.

The council said its decision is designed to preserve the historic and artistic heritage of the city and the future of its precious tourism market.

But it is certain to provoke more debate in Italy where conservative government ministers have already backed a campaign against ethnic food elsewhere in the country.

Earlier this year Luca Zaia, minister of agriculture and a member of the Northern League from the Veneto region surrounding Venice, applauded local authorities in the northern city of Milan and the Tuscan town of Lucca for restricting non-Italian food outlets.

“We stand for tradition and the safeguarding of our culture,” he said.

The Venice measure was proposed by Giuseppe Bortolussi, the councillor responsible for local commerce, and approved by the city council last week.

It will affect half the 24 commercial zones in the city of Venice.



 
 

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#8551 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Fri Dec 11, 2009 12:47 am
Subject: MIDEAST: 10 MLN CONTRIBUTION FROM ITALY FOR PNA, FRATTINI 		insubria87
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MIDEAST: 10 MLN CONTRIBUTION FROM ITALY FOR PNA, FRATTINI
(ANSAmed) - RAMALLAH - ''Italy is ready to contribute additionally to the PNA budget'', as part of the European Pegase aid project'', said Foreign Minister Franco Frattini during a press conference in Ramallah with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The new Italian contribution, according to diplomatic sources, is 10 million euros, added to the 220 million given over the last decade (80 million just in the 2008-2010 three year period), of which 273 have already been spent or earmarked. The foreign minister explained that the contribution are need to support economic growth in the territories and strengthen security conditions and praised the ''efforts and results reached'' in this sense by Fayyad and PNA president Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). Europe, concluded Frattini, ''has confidence and believes'' in the Palestinian government. (ANSAmed).
 
http://www.ansamed.info/en/top/ME11.XAM17515.html

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#8550 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Fri Dec 11, 2009 12:47 am
Subject: Egypt: 'Italian child' appears in Cairo after 22 years 		insubria87
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Egypt: 'Italian child' appears in Cairo after 22 years




Rome, 8 Dec. (AKI) - An Italian child allegedly kidnapped by his father when he was five years-old has resurfaced in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, after 22 years living under a different name. Alex Anfuso reappeared via the internet social networking site Facebook looking for his Italian relatives.

"My name is Alex. I am looking for my family. I am looking for my mother," wrote Alex Anfuso on Facebook, in a bid to find his relatives.

On 17 March 1987, the father of the then five year-old child Alex Anfuso reportedly asked a friend to kidnap his child from Guidonia, a town on the outskirts of Rome, and to bring him to Egypt, where the father lived.

At the time of the kidnapping, his mother, Silvana Anfuso was in Rome's Rebibbia prison jailed in relation to drug-related crimes.

Before going to jail, the child was left in the house of one of Silvana's friends, who also ended up in jail a short time later.

At that time, Anfuso was transferred to the brother of Silvana Anfuso's friend, who then took legal action in a bid to adopt the child. He disappeared a few days later when he was playing in the street outside.

"One day, a man comes and tells me: I am your father, someone will come and pick you up. Follow them," Alex - now called Ali Mohammed - told an Italian TV show on Monday.

Alex was picked up and driven away. He was given a new hairstyle and new clothes and taken to Cairo.

He then met a woman whom he calls 'Grandma' who took care of him and he began speaking Arabic. He later fell out with his father.

Alex - who does not have an Egyptian birth certificate or residency in Egypt - is now 28 years old.

Alex decided to search for his Italian relatives by searching on Facebook for anyone with the last name 'Anfuso'.

He sent a message to many people, including Pino Anfuso, a TV technician who works for state broadcaster RAI in the southern city of Reggio Calabria.

Although Pino Anfuso is not a relative of Alex, he decided to share the story with the popular TV show "Chi l'ha visto" or "Who has seen them?" and Alex went on air to tell his story.

According to inquiries conducted by the show, Alex's mother Silvana died before she could see him again.


 
 

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#8549 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Fri Dec 11, 2009 12:47 am
Subject: Clooney in 'heaven' ad row 		insubria87
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Clooney in 'heaven' ad row

Lavazza to appeal to watchdog over Nespresso spot

10 December, 17:07
 
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(ANSA) - Turin, December 10 - George Clooney is at the centre of a coffee advertising row in Italy over a new campaign where he visits heaven.

Italian firm Lavazza, which has been running award-winning heaven-set commercials for 15 years, is threatening to report Nespresso, the Swiss-based firm whose coffeemakers have been popularised by the Hollywood star.

In the new ad, Clooney is hit by a piano and goes to heaven only to be sent back to earth after John Malkovich, as God, takes a shine to the Nespresso machine Clooney is carrying.

One scene with the two stars sitting on a sofa amid swirling white smoke appears to echo the Lavazza ads fronted by Italian TV personality Paolo Bonolis.

"It's weird, I've never seen anything like it in my 40 years in the industry," Lavazza CEO Gaetano Mele said Thursday.

"It's hard to believe they haven't copied us. It's all the same, the setting is identical and the idea of coffee in Paradise".

Mele said he was confident Nespresso would realise its "mistake" and pull the ad but if it didn't Lavazza would appeal to Italy's advertising watchdog.

"Let's hope it won't get that far," he said.
 
 
 
http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2009/12/10/visualizza_new.html_1645198454.html

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#8548 From: "manny alfano" <mannyalfano@...>
Date: Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:14 pm
Subject: Press Release 		eaa097
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From Manny Alfano

For immediate release
Contact: UNICO NATIONAL
908-808-0035

UNICO National Combats Italian Negative Stereotyping with new
2010 Italian American Heritage Calendar

Make a statement against stereotypes and negative portrayals in the media and celebrate the richness of Italian and Italian American heritage and culture by
owning one today!

FAIRFIELD---Supporters of Italian American heritage are urged to celebrate the positive accomplishments of this incredibly rich culture through the new 2010 Italian American Heritage Calendar now available through UNICO National, President Andre’ DiMino announced today.

“Unlike what we’ve seen on MTV and other media which may portray negative and stereotypical images of Italian Americans, our Italian American Heritage calendar celebrates the richness, diversity, and brilliance of a vibrant culture that continues to transform the world,”said UNICO National President Andre’ DiMino. “The calendar is also a powerful educational tool that helps promote and recognize the accomplishments of our culture and forebearers.”

Throughout history and continuing today, Italians and Italian Americans have made incredible contributions to world culture in all fields, including Science, Entertainment, Business, the Arts, Sports, Religion, Cooking, and so much more.  Some of the names featured in the calendar say it all: Dante Alighieri, Leonardo Da Vinci, Columbus, Maria Montessori, Yogi Berra, Galileo, Antonio Meucci, Samuel Alito, Nancy Pelosi, Sgt. John Basilone, Enrico Fermi, are among the many featured.

In fact, the calendar highlights 365  Italians and Italian American who’ve had an impact our world, past and present.  It features important Italian American heritage historical events, births, deaths, coats of arms from the regions of Italy and more.  The beautifully printed, keepsake wall calendars were produced through the efforts of UNICO’s Anti-Bias Committee, and sell for $6 plus postage. The calendar may be purchased by calling the UNICO National office at 908-808-0035.  A fundraiser/bulk discount rate is also available.

They also make a great gift for the Holiday season.  The richness, diversity and brilliance of the culture makes the 2010 UNICO Italian Heritage Calendar a must to have on a daily basis! 

UNICO National, the nation’s largest Italian American service organization, with local chapters throughout the United States, was founded in Waterbury, Connecticut in 1922.  Its’ volunteer members support charitable, educational, and community service projects while promoting Italian heritage and combating negative stereotyping.  For information or to join UNICO National call 973-808-0035 or visit  www.unico.org.

                                                            --30--

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#8547 From: "manny alfano" <mannyalfano@...>
Date: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:48 pm
Subject: REMINDER: Jersey Shore on CNN Headline News Today at 5:40 		eaa097
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The Alfano Digest  … an independent publication  

Statements contained herein are presented as information and not necessarily supported by the staff.

Executive Director, Dr. Emanuele Alfano, mannyalfano@...
 

"Say Nothing … Do Nothing … Then we will surely Become NOTHING!”



Hello:

I will be live on CNN Headline News today at about 5:40 PM on the show Prime News.  According to the producer that booked me, this will be a "lively" panel discussion about my opposition to the Italian-bashing MTV series, Jersey Shore.

I am committed to keeping the pressure on because, as we have seen over the past week, the bashing and stereotyping is not only continuing - it is accelerating.  Saturday Night Live, Desperate Housewives, The Daily Show and, of course Jersey Shore - have spewed their stereotypical depictions and denigrations of Italian Americans in just the past 7 days!  Incredible.

Ciao!

Andre'

      Andre' DiMino
           President
    UNICO National
    The Largest Italian American
   Service Organization in the US
           andre@...
         Follow me on Twitter -
 www.twitter.com/andreUNICOprez
       
          www.unico.org
            973-808-0035

 

--
      Andre' DiMino
           President
    UNICO National
    The Largest Italian American
   Service Organization in the US
           andre@...
         Follow me on Twitter -
 www.twitter.com/andreUNICOprez
       
          www.unico.org
            973-808-0035


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#8546 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Thu Dec 10, 2009 5:10 pm
Subject: Italy to Send 1,000 More Troops and Rethink Afghan Strategy 		insubria87
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Italy to Send 1,000 More Troops and Rethink Afghan Strategy

America’s attitude has changed. Italy now participant in joint operation instead of mere agent

 

ROME – Minister La Russa, will Italy send 1,500 more soldiers to Afghanistan?
“I don’t know where that number came from. I can say that it is a hypothesis, a maximum figure which we are not going to attain”.

So what will Italy’s actual contribution be?
“Final agreement on numbers will come in the next few days at a meeting between our foreign minister, Franco Frattini, and the American secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. But we’re below that figure”.

Can we say that reinforcements will total 1,000 troops?
“Let’s say yes”.

Sending a thousand extra troops will mean substantial costs.
“Yes, but there are other missions we can shift resources from. I’ve drawn up a readjustment plan. When [economy minister Giulio – Ed.] Tremonti saw it, he said it was perfect”.

And where are you going to get the extra men from?
“About 1,000 soldiers will be coming home from Kosovo during 2010. And we’ll get at least 200 from Lebanon. But it’s not the odd hundred soldiers that are important. The crucial thing is the new strategy. Till now, the Americans thought that areas had to be made safe before starting reconstruction. Now they’ve come round to the view that both operations should be carried out in parallel. Which is what the Italians have always done, delivering security and benefits at the same time. We agree with the plan and the American attitude has changed. We are no longer mere agents; we are co-participants in a joint operation.

What’s the time scale for sending reinforcements?
“There will be only minor adjustments in the first half of 2010. We can say that the bulk of the increase will come in the second half of the year. The Senate has just approved funding for the mission for the last two months of this year in an almost unanimous vote. The IDV [Italy of Values] abstained only in order to distance itself from the PD [Democratic Party]. In January, we’ll be voting on funding for six months and for a further six months in June. And that will include funding for the extra troops”.

Can you tell us how the decision to send reinforcements to the mountains of Afghanistan was reached?
“As a result of several meetings. First, Berlusconi’s meeting with Obama. Then I went to Washington, where I met the US defense secretary Robert Gates, who told me what Obama had in mind. I talked this over with President Napolitano at the last meeting of the supreme defence council. But the meeting at which numbers started to be bandied around was the one a few days ago with NATO secretary general Rasmussen, when he visited Rome”.

Was he the one who asked for 1,500 more soldiers?
“No. He said that within the NATO framework, he was looking for a contribution of at least 5,000 troops from Europe. It’s a question of sharing out this number among several countries”.

Except France, which said no.
“France is thinking it over. I think it will contribute. Currently, we have 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. There are three battle groups at Herat, which we are looking to increase to four, to enable a step change in operational activities”.

What do you mean?
“So far, control has been implemented by Afghan regiments accompanied by small units of Italians. Action has to be on the basis of equality: 500 Afghans and 500 Italians to ensure complete control of the territory, to police areas that have been made safe to prevent insurgents from taking them back”.

This assumes the Afghans are capable of handling major tasks.
“They have to take over their own country. Currently, the entire responsibility is on Karzai’s shoulders. He has to enable the creation of a solid Afghan army and a well-trained police force. We have sent 60 Carabinieri to train Afghani police officers. We have made another 140 available to bring the total to 200 but we are unable to send them because Karzai can’t find enough men to train or anywhere to train them”.

Karzai hasn’t been up the job so far.
“I don’t know whether anyone else would have done better in his place. I don’t want to make judgements. Of course, now it’s up to him to put in place a serious campaign against corruption and opium production. We Italians have always been reluctant to take part in the destruction of poppy crops. The Americans and British did the job but it’s wrong-headed. For centuries, the farmers have been making a living from the crop and if you destroy it, you become their enemy. The Afghans should be doing it. It’s Karzai’s duty”.

Obama hopes so. He wants the Afghans to be able to look after themselves so that he can start bringing troops home.
“This is the surge phase. The aim is to settle things quickly and prepare a gradual pull-out over the next two or three years. A small international contingent might stay in place for a further ten or 15 years, as in the Balkans. But in a pacified situation”.

Marco Nese
03 dicembre 2009

03 dicembre 2009

English translation by Giles Watson

www.watson.it

Article in Italian

 

http://www.corriere.it/International/english/articoli/2009/12/03/la_russa.shtml


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#8545 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Thu Dec 10, 2009 4:57 pm
Subject: Frattini reports on Afghan mission 		insubria87
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Frattini reports on Afghan mission

Stabilization needs political solution, foreign minister says

10 December, 16:48
 
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(ANSA) - Rome, December 10 - The planned military surge in Afghanistan will not be enough to stabilise that country because what is needed there is a political solution, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Thursday.

Speaking before a joint session of the lower house foreign and defense committees, Frattini added that the final aim of the allied effort in Afghanistan "is to hand over to the Afghan people the control and destiny of their own country".

The increase in forces decided last month by the United States, NATO and other countries present in Afghanistan, the foreign minister observed, "is not an end in itself. There is no such thing as a military solution for stabilization. the only solution possible there is a political one".

According to Frattini, a political solution may will involve dialogue and accords with the Taliban "but only those who are not linked with al Qaeda and who are ready to renounce violence and accept the new Afghan constitution".

Italy, the foreign minister said, "fully supports any political initiative which leads to full national reconciliation in Afghanistan".

In order for such an initiative to have success, he added, "the insurgents must be guaranteed employment in return for returning to the rule of law".

Frattini confirmed that allied forces in Afghanistan will initiate their disengagement in July 2011, a date set by US President Barack Obama, but added that "what we need now a clear road map with a timetable and benchmarks which must achieved". Aside from participating in the military surge, Italy also intends to bolster its civil commitments in Afghanistan "which will continue even after the military effort is over," the foreign minister told the MPs.

These include aid and assistance to agriculture, in order to offer Afghan farmers an alternative to opium production, and training programs run by Italy's Finance Guard for Afghan border and customs police.

DEFENSE MINISTER LA RUSSA PUTS 4,000-MAN CEILING ON CONTINGENT. Also appearing before the committee joint session on Thursday was Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa who said that Italy's increased military presence in Afghanistan will never be more than 4,000 men and should average out at 3,700 soldiers by the second half of next year.

Last month Italy agreed to boost its troop strength in Afghanistan by some 1,000 soldiers plus 200 members of the Carabinieri police corps, from its current level of 2,795.

According to the defense minister, NATO had initially asked Italy to send an additional 1,600 men to Afghanistan.

La Russa confirmed that the additional forces will be found by reducing Italy's role in international missions in Lebanon and Kosovo. By October of next year, the defense minister told the MPs, Italy will cut its presence in Kosovo by some 1,300 men while 200 soldiers will be withdrawn from Lebanon.
 
 
 
http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2009/12/10/visualizza_new.html_1645197498.html

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#8544 From: "manny alfano" <mannyalfano@...>
Date: Thu Dec 10, 2009 3:37 pm
Subject: The ALFANO DIGEST Dec. 10 part II 		eaa097
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The Alfano Digest  … an independent publication  

Statements contained herein are presented as information and not necessarily supported by the staff.

Executive Director, Dr. Emanuele Alfano, mannyalfano@...
 

"Say Nothing … Do Nothing … Then we will surely Become NOTHING!”

 

NOTHING NEW…SAME OLD SAME OLD

 

The following 'excerpted' from Marvin Kitman's Newsday column 5/11/97 was sent to us

  in order to give some 'perspective' to people who may not realize that this has been an ongoing assault....from a major columnist who obviously isn't of Italian extraction

but sees the issue for what it is...defamatory and discriminatory.

 

Some comments from the article by Marvin Kitman...Newsday  5 / 11 / 97

     Speranza  archives...

 

 CBS wins the brotherhood award for continuing the defamation and slurring of

Italian-Americans with its presentation of Mario Puzo's..The Last Don..a six hour

mini-series starting Sunday at 9 on ch. 2..continuing at 9  tues. and weds. This is a great step forward in sensitivity..however..compared to NBC's presenting 'The Godfather' on

Columbus Day in 1983.

 

Kitman includes in his commentary......'the nine hour..four night extravaganza that began it

all in November..1977..what NBC called Mario Puzo's..'The Godfather'....the complete

novel for television. It consisted of the original 1972 blockbuster movie and the 1974 sequel

pasted together with material from the cutting room floor..with an unusual advisory..

which stated in part..' The Godfather ' is a fictional account of the activities of a small

group of ruthless criminals. The characters do not represent any ethnic group..and it would be erronoeus and unfair to suggest that they do '

   Apparently the character names in the dramatic telethon...Corleone (all six of them)..

Clemenza..Barsini and so on ..were a coincidence.If anyone persisted in thinking that

" The Godfather " was about Italian-American families..they would kill them.

 

What a sick joke that was: Here was a movie that discredited and slurred Italian-Americans for nine hours..that was bad enough...but NBC wouldn't even give credit to the Mafia types

who are excellent businessmen..or whatever Francis Ford Coppola thought was the point

of his movie.

The wrinkle this time around is that this sounds like the last of Mario Puzo's shameless strip-mining of his Italian heritage...what could be called..Don-o-Mania. Puzo..the faithful

soldier who has done more to perpetuate and maintain the image of the Mafia on TV than

even Coppola...Martin Scorsese or Nick Pileggi...is going home to Sicily..metaphorically

speaking.

 

TV's portrayal of one ethnic group in a degrading manner for 20 years is unfair and discriminatory....Marvin Kitman.................................

 

 

Italian Americans can no longer tolerate being mistreated by the entertainment and the advertising industries, which have constantly, portrayed us as buffoons, bigots, bums, bimbos and mobsters. No other group would stand for this.

 

We can no longer sit back. It’s time to act if not for ourselves than we better act for our children and grandchildren

 

E-mail MTV AND CONTACT THE SPONSORS

See below for contacts

 




 

 

Here’s Andre’s well-produced NBC link

 

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/34342785#34342785

 

Here’s today’s Star Ledger editorial page blog:

 

http://blog.nj.com/jerseyblogs/2009/12/jersey_shore_bloggers_on_wheth.html

 

CHECKTHIS OUT… IT NEVER ENDS

Click here: YouTube - MTV True Life - Jersey Shore Time Share 2

 

 

This is entertainment ?  What a sick world this is becoming !

 

Walter

 

 

  • CLICK HERE to view Saturday Night Live’s Gossip Girl: Staten Island
  • CLICK HERE to view MTV’s Jersey Shore
  • CLICK HERE to view ABC’s Desperate Housewives

www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-15-2009/long-island-wants-to-secede

 

Manny,

 

Take a look at this.  It appears that MTV and SNL aren't the only ones that want to bash Italians.  Comedy Central and the today show jumped on the bandwagon with this segment.  I can't believe this.  I am becoming more and more irate.  I sent an email to the Sons of Italy organization as well, but I have not yet heard a response.  This mockery of Italians has got to be stopped.

 

-R.A.B.

 

: MTV Show Jersey Shore

 

I love that show!! It is entertaining and educational!  Thanks to your organizations whining I think the shows ratings will be even better now!  Well I'm going to sit down with a big a pizza pie and watch the show!!  Arrivederci!

 

Buone Natale!--
C.A. Perkins

caperkins@...

 

 

Manny

 

                               Regarding the segment "Gossip Girl- Staten Island" which ran on Saturday Night Live, the executive producer of SNL is Mr. Lorne Michaels. I recently sent you an email regarding an episode of "30 Rock" which was highly offensive in it's portrayal of an Italian-American character. The executive producer of that show is also Lorne Michaels. Do you detect a pattern here??

 

Frank Travisano

Waterbury, Ct.

 

Dear UNICO Members:

 

Thank you so much for pressuring Domino's to pull their ads for the 'Jersey Shore" reality series. This in addition to these ads: 

 

  • Cheerios mobster ads pulled
  • Denny's mobster ads pulled
  • Carl's Junior mobster ads pulled

 

Next please contact Mark Cherry the writer and producer of Desperate Housewives. In this week's episode, a nurse asks actress Drea de Matteo if she is in the witness relocation program, because, "you are Italian and have no insurance" so I just assumed. This is a complete outrage and a disgrace to our beautiful heritage. I am so outraged that this is allowed on TV.

 

When my fellow American’s ask me why I am so sensitive to all of this, being portrayed either as a Mafioso or a Guido (i.e. a low-life buffoon) I reply by saying, “the KKK is alive and well in the USA".  "How would you as an American like to travel abroad and the only thing they know or ask about your American heritage is, do you burn crosses on your lawn"? "Does your little Johnny have a little pointed white hat that fits him?” Have any of your relatives ever lynched a black person?"  These are realities in the USA, but being portaged as this when so many of Americans feel the KKK is a disgusting disgrace, is the same way I feel about my Italian heritage being stereotyped as low life buffoon’s or mafia murders.

 

PLEASE continue the great work you have done and best of luck with Desperate Housewives.

 

BTW this is a commercial you may have seen of my daughter Francesca Angelucci-Capaldi. She is the 4 (now 5) year old little red-head.

 

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwxTY5l9zj0

 

Cordiali saluti,

Anthony Capaldi

San Diego, CA

Bravo & Buona Fortuna

 

Thank you for your efforts to quash sickening and self deprecating television programs like "Jersey Shore", "Growing Up Gotti", etc.

Italian-Americans, like Catholics, always are made the butt of jokes or the subject of the worst negative stereotyping.

The unfortunate reality is that as a bloc, we just don't have the political prowess to keep this kind of trash away from the American mainstream.

I would be hard-pressed to believe that the same kind of stereotyping would occur to blacks or Jews.

Because these groups have established a well entrenched political and social network that would cause the producers of these programs to think twice about the ramifications of such programming.

Unfortunately we don't.

"Political correctness" it seems, need not apply when it comes to us.

Our culture is based on "family first", and everything outside of the core family are "strangiere". If something did not affect the family directly, it was none of our business.

It is this deeply engrained belief that kept Italian-Americans from becoming absorbed into the American mainstream at an accelerated pace. We should be far and away further along politically than we are.

The rest of the country perceives us as either criminals, brutes or greasy, uneducated "guidos", and it just seems like we're powerless to stop it.

We emanated from the same roots as Rossini, Michelangelo, Meucci, Fermi, Sinatra, Iacocca, Talese and yes Madonna.

We have nothing to be ashamed about, nothing to run from. We should revel in what our culture brought to the world, instead of cringing at the sight of these disrespectful and insulting programs.

My grandparents like yours, came to this country to make a better life for their children. They worked hard, learned the language and raised their children to respect authority. All this country gave them was the opportunity to better their lives and those of their children.

My grandfather enlisted in the American army and fought in WW 1, and my father was a sailor on the USS Bunker Hill in WW11, and survived kamikaze attacks during the last months of the conflict.

My uncle Angelo was wounded by rocket shrapnel in Korea, and my Uncle Frankie served in the Navy and my Uncle Vito in the Army in the 1950's.

They loved this country and believed in what being an American meant. They are the personification for the "American dream".

Not one of my family were engaged in any criminal activity, arrested, received government assistance (disgraziata) did drugs or became alcoholics. Certainly not the ingredients of any "reality show" these days.

The prior generations of my family didn't have to teach me what it truly meant to be Italian-American. They lived it. My tribute to them is to raise my kids in the same way they raised me.

I am encouraged by the fact that my family's history in this beautiful country is shared by countless other Italian-Americans.

 

Grazie and keep up the fight.

John Lore

 

Jersey Shore

 

I am a young Italian American who's grandparents and uncle immigrated here after world war two and settled in Corning NY and still live there to this day. they had several more kids and started and still operate their family owned business.  i have always been proud to call myself Italian and love everything about it.  even here in Wisconsin where i live i get comments by some who tell me i should go back to where i came from so i find this show Jersey Shore to be very negative toward the image of Italian Americans because their is still a prejudice out there.  it shows us in a very bad light and makes us seem to be disrespectful, mean, rude, obnoxious, and so many more things that i find that we are none.  i find this show very offensive and thank you for trying to get it off the air because i would not like to see a distasteful and stereotypical show as which this show is.  i do not think that all are like that and this show should be pulled because all other races and ethnicity's have been addressed and shown light upon besides Italian Americans still nothing has been done for us.

 

Annalisa Valli

 

UNICO - MTV
 

Richard,

 

I hope this email finds you well. 

 

My co-workers have told me about a show on MTV that is degrading Italian Americans.  I have not seen the show, however I know UNICO is one of the forces behind the show's cancellation.  Not knowing much about UNICO I'd like to learn more about what the organization does here in Chicago.   Is there an event in the near future that I can attend?

 

Best,

Joe

 

Joe Amara

 

MTV Show

 

To the President:I recently saw your interview on a local Philadelphia station concerning MTV' s program  about New Jersey "Guidos" and your objection thereto.I could not agree w/ you more.Quite frankly I am sick and tired of the typical media portrayal  of Americans of Italian descent. To the media we either mobsters or morons and dollars in their pocket. I believe that organizations like Unico are absolutely right in publicly condemning this show and making a point of just how derogatory it is and how it affects all of us in real life. Please fight this until the show is removed and if you need public support , count me in .I will write and call. If you are disseminating info on your fight including boycotting those that advertise on this show, please include me on your list. Thank you, Michael Tinari

 

Michael V. Tinari, Esquire
Leonard Sciolla Hutchison

 

 

MTV Sponsors of Down the Shore

 

 

Who are the sponsors of the show, The Jersey Shore?   I recently read an article in which UNICO advised of the blatant bigotry portrayed in that MTV-produced show and asked readers to complain to the show's sponsors.  Please advise as to the show's sponsors, and I will be happy to call and/or email those advertisers to sound-off about that racist show and their sponsorship of it.  

Best regards,

Greg Spincola

 

Dear Folks:

 

Could somebody please give me a list of MTV advertisers...all advertisers, not just Jersey Shore advertisers...so I can start boycotting their products and tell them so? Thank you.

 

Jim Vespe

 

ACT NOW… CONTACT MTV

Send Your Comments To MTV…Call …Write… Fax

Phone 212 258-8000   Fax 212 846-1804

E-mail address Judy Mc Grath’s. executive assistant is Kristen Mullarkey

Her email address is Kristen.mullarkey@...

She told me to direct emails here…

 We also have Judy McGrath E-mail

 

judy.mcgrath@...

 

Letter:

Judy McGrath                                                                                                 

November 24, 2009
Chairman and CEO
MTV Network
1515 Broadway
New York, NY  1003

 

LET THEM KNOW WE'RE OUT THERE!
[Manny Alfano] 

==================================================================================================

 

 

 

 

 

Companies who Choose to Support Bigotry through Advertisement

 

The following companies voluntarily chose to advertise during the premiere of ‘Jersey Shore’ on December 3, 2009.  By advertising for the reality show ‘Jersey Shore’, these companies support ethnic slurs and negative stereotypes that demean Italian-Americans.  Below is contact information for companies that support the blatant defamation of Italian-Americans:

 

-BodyHeat Cologne:                                 1-800-887-2738

 

-American Family Insurance:                     1-800-692-6326

 

-Lionsgate  (‘Brothers’-movie):            310-449-9200

 

-Macy’s:                                              1-800-659-6229

 

-Sony (PSP):                                       1-800-345-7669

 

-Subway:                                              1-800-888-4848

 

-First Response:                              1-800-524-1328

 

-Zappos:                                              1-800-927-7671

 

-Verizon:                                             1-800-922-0204

 

-Rhapsody:                                           212-391-6668

 

-McDonalds:                                      1-800-244-6227

 

-Sprint:                                     1-888-211-4727

 

-Nintendo:                                          425-882-2040

 

-T mobile:                                             1-877-453-1304

 

-Chili’s:                                               972-980-9917

 

-FLO TV:                                            858-651-7334                                            

 

-Taco Bell:                                          1-800-TACO-BELL                         

 

-Victoria’s Secret:                          1-800-411-5116

 

-Best Buy (Rihanna):                  612-292-6397                    

 

-Microsoft:                                           1-800-MICROSOFT                                                

 

-GAP:                                                  1-800-GAPSTYLE

 

 

Please contact these sponsors

 

Domino's Pizza needs a thank you! 

click here ... https://info.dominos.com/dominos_pizza/contact.nsf/frmContact?openform

customercare@...  

 

 

 

Domino's Pizza pulled its ads once they saw MTV's Real World Jersey Shore.  So did American Family Insurance - David R. Anderson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

1-800-MYAMFAM (1-800-692-6326

 

If you want to help, call or e-mail MTV & these companies and let them know that you support a boycott of the advertisers below. This was the best info that I could find. If anyone has better contacts, let me know. - Manny

 

 

 

Sony  Customer Care (800)222-7669 www.esupport.sony.com

also Ana Reyes - http://news.sel.sony.com/en/corporate_information/emailcontact.php?exename=Ana_Reyes

 

Macy's - Jim Sluzewski, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications & External Affairs  jim.sluzewski@..., 513-579-7764

 

Best Buy  - Public Relations Phone: 612-292-NEWS (6397)
Public Relations E-mail: newscenter@...

 

)

 

First Response - James R. Craigie - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

http://www.econsumeraffairs.com/churchdwight/us/contactus.htm?F1=WEBCP

 

Taco Bell - owned by Pepsico -  pepsicomediarelations@...

 

Victoria's Secret - Tammy Roberts Myers, Jennifer Ortiz Brown, Robin Hoffman
Telephone:  800-945-5088  ExtComm@...


Honda Sara Pines,
Honda Public Relations
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
(678) 339-1385 (ph)
(310) 433-3026 (cell)
310) 783-3170

 

T-Mobile  -   mediarelations@...  or via phone at 425-378-4002.


Chili's -  Douglas H. Brooks Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brinker International, Inc. 6820 LBJ Freeway Dallas, TX 75240    (972) 980-9917

http://www.brinker.com/contact/comments.asp

 

Subway - Annie Smith Subway® Public Relations (800) 888-4848, ext. 1329

smith_a@...

 

Sims 3 (EA Games) 

Wendy Spander - Sr. PR Manager, Events and Media, Corporate Communications

Wendy Spander, EA SPORTS
650-628-7929
Remi Sklar
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
(818) 977-3023
remi.sklar@...

 

Verizon       brenda.raney@...

 

Zappos.com 

© 1999-2009 - Zappos.com, Inc., 2280 Corporate Circle, Henderson, NV 89074

Contact Us At 1-800-927-7671 For Assistance 24 Hours A Day 7 Days A Week

https://secure-www.zappos.com/contact

 

Kristen.mullarkey@...   Phone 212 258-8000

judy.mcgrath@...    CEO

Tamika Young  1515 Broadway I New York, NY 10036

Ph: 212-846-7625  ViewerServices@...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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#8543 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Thu Dec 10, 2009 3:09 pm
Subject: ENVIRONMENT:RARE COLONY OF 'ALBINO' CORAL FOUND IN CALABRIA 		insubria87
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ENVIRONMENT:RARE COLONY OF 'ALBINO' CORAL FOUND IN CALABRIA
 
(ANSAmed) - CATANZARO, NOVEMBER 25 - A rare colony of the white variety of Red Coral (Corallium rubrum) has been found in the waters between Palmi and Bagnara Calabra (Reggio Calabria). The news was announced by photographer Roberto Sesso, who made several photos of the colony after hearing about it from local divers. The coral was discovered near Capo Barbi, under a rocky overhang of mount Sant'Elia, by three divers of the Costa Viola diving centre in Palmi. So far there had been few reports of the presence in the Mediterranean and in other seas of this "albino" variant of the red coral, which can be found on several locations in the Mediterranean basin. The species belongs to the class of Anthozoa, the family of corallidae and the order of gorgonacea, and lives at a depth of at least 100 metres, where water temperatures are lower. In the past months, in the context of a project to monitor marine biodiversity, 30,000 colonies of black coral were found, the largest forest of black coral in the world according to experts. (ANSAmed).
2009-11-25 18:24
 
http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME06.XAM18242.html

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#8542 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Thu Dec 10, 2009 6:53 am
Subject: AGRICULTURE: SICILIAN GRAIN AND LEGUMES IN TUNISIA 		insubria87
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AGRICULTURE: SICILIAN GRAIN AND LEGUMES IN TUNISIA
 
(ANSAmed) - MAZARA DEL VALLO (TRAPANI), DECEMBER 4 - By midway through December, in Tunisia several experiments will be underway with a variety of Sicilian grains and legumes. The initiative is the result of a collaboration between the two countries, whose foundations were laid today in Mazara del Vallo in the province of Trapani as part of the 4th Fishing Forum, which included delegates from the Mediterranean region. "We have to use history as a point of departure," said the President of the Sicily Grain District, Biagio Percorino, "to build relations between the two shores of the Mediterranean in the agricultural sector." The President of the grain association of the Tunisian city of Beja, Baraket Youssef, took part in the conference. "Tunisia," he said, "intends to increase its grain production to become a platform for other Mediterranean countries for grain exports. We are ready to development your grain varieties in our country." (ANSAmed).
2009-12-04 18:05
 
http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME02.XAM18043.html

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#8541 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Thu Dec 10, 2009 6:53 am
Subject: FISHERIES: SICILY, ACUACULTURE SECTOR GROWING 		insubria87
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FISHERIES: SICILY, ACUACULTURE SECTOR GROWING
 
(ANSAmed) - CAMPOBELLO DI MAZARA (TRAPANI), DECEMBER 7 - Sicilian aquaculture of bass and gilthead produces 4,000 tonnes of fish per year, 25% of national output. To this number should be added the 1,300 tonnes of tuna fished and raised in the sea. These figures are some of those reported by the director of the Trapani Marine Biology Institute of the university consortium, Andrea Santulli, in the closing remarks of the VI Forum on Fishing held in Campobello di Mazara. Taking part in the forum was the Egyptian deputy minister of the sector, Mohamed Fathy Osman, who said that "this topic is of great interest for my country. Fisheries have limited resources and therefore it is necessary to look to other supply sources. I would suggest looking more thoroughly into these matters in Egypt in the coming months." According to the scientific committee of the Fisheries Observatory of the Mediterranean, a Sicilian boat brings in an average of 166 kilos of fish per day, higher than the national average (145 kilos per day and 24 tonnes per year). (ANSAmed).
2009-12-07 10:25
 
 
http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME02.XAM10251.html

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#8540 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Thu Dec 10, 2009 6:52 am
Subject: BOOKS: STORY OF ITALIANS IN MOROCCO 		insubria87
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BOOKS: STORY OF ITALIANS IN MOROCCO
 
(ANSAmed) - BOLOGNA, NOVEMBER 20 - Travellers, artists, emigrants: Italians who have lived in Morocco during the ages and leaving traces of their presence. Their memories and journals, their stories and the result of 6 years of research to reconstruct a largely unknown history have been collected in the book "Schegge di memoria-Gli italiani in Marocco" ("Fragments of memory - Italians in Morocco") by Roberta Yasmine Catalano, the Lebanese writer born in Rome in 1975 who has lived in Morocco for 15 years. The book was published recently but will unfortunately not be distributed in Italy. It will be presented tomorrow in Bologna by a Moroccan woman who has lived in Italy for a long time, Khadija Madda, teacher of the Arabic language and president of the Italo Calvino association in Bologna. She will discuss the book together with the writer and the immigration councilor of Bologna, Simona Lembi. The book tells the story of Italians in Morocco from the start of the 12th century. It tells the story of the first great emigration of Italians to Morocco early in the 20th century, looking for a better future, of their dramatic experiences in the French and American prisoner camps in WWII, and the contribution the Italians have given to Moroccòs economic development after its independence, also thanks to Enrico Mattei. The book offers a unique opportunity to get to know the stories and viewpoints of the Italians who have lived in Morocco between 1600 and 2000 and who have had an inevitable impact on the development of the country. (ANSAmed).
2009-11-20 16:51
 
http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME09.XAM16510.html

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#8539 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Wed Dec 9, 2009 11:03 pm
Subject: Naples pizza gets EU laurel 		insubria87
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Naples pizza gets EU laurel

Accolade will protect it from inferior clones

09 December, 14:57
 
Guarda la foto1 di 1
 
(ANSA) - Brussels, December 9 - Real Naples-style pizza on Wednesday received a European Union quality seal protecting it from imitations.

The EU's quality food board awarded a long-sought TSG (Traditional Speciality Guaranteed) label to Naples' gift to food lovers.

"By protecting pizza we have safeguarded the history, culture and tradition of the Neapolitan people," said Rosario Lopa, president of a committee that has lobbied for the laurel. ''This is a historic result for the Naples economy,'' Lopa added.

Antonio Pace, President of the Real Neapolitan Pizza Association, called the TSG laurel ''a milestone and, above all, a way to stop stuff that isn't really pizza being touted as such,'' he said.

He stressed the importance of making sure that the accolade only covers 'Pizza napoletana prodotta secondo la tradizione napoletana' (Neapolitan Pizza Made According to Neapolitan Tradition).

''The produce that goes into it, the ways of making and baking it, the whole process of assembling the finished package must be rigorously verified,'' he said.

''We'll have to be very careful about that''.

The recognition will be valid in all EU countries and ''anyone who claims to be producing real Neapolitan pizza will be subject to strict inspections,'' he said.

''Too many people have been setting themselves up as pizzaiuoli (pizza-makers) without the proper training. That's caused huge market problems,'' Pace added.

Neapolitan pizza-makers have been fighting for 25 years to have their unique product put on the EU's list of protected foods.

"Europe has finally rewarded the tenacity of the Naples producers," said Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia.

"It is a symbol of Neapolitan tradition that has, for far too long, been the subject of dreadful imitations".

Italian farming association Coldiretti stressed the importance of the laurel in helping fight pizzas produced with "cheese from Eastern Europe instead of traditional mozzarella, Chinese tomatoes, Tunisian or Spanish olive oil and Canadian or Ukrainian flour".

It noted that pizza was the best-known Italian word abroad followed by cappuccino, spaghetti and espresso. The pizza from the southern Italian city is universally recognised as the benchmark for pizza everywhere.

The leader of the Neapolitan association of pizzaiuoli, Sergio Miccu, said in the run-up to the award: ''Ours is a job that takes a year or a year and a half to learn and only by sticking close to people who can hand down all the secrets of this art,'' he said.

The lobbies and city authorities said there would be a "huge" pizza party to celebrate Wednesday's long-awaited news.

Miccu said: ''It's going to be unforgettable''.

The campaign to give Neapolitan pizza a seal worthy of its renown began in 2000 with then farm minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio who set up a committee of experts to lay down what should go into the world-famous dish and how it should be made.

THE RIGHT STUFF.

True pizza, they concluded, must be made only of durum wheat flour, fresh yeast, water and sea salt, with a topping of olive oil, San Marzano tomatoes (in slices no thicker than 8mm) and mozzarella di bufala, the fresh cheese made of buffalo milk.

The tough specifications obviously rule out a vast array of foods that pass for pizza around the world.

Pizza is one of the few foods composed almost exclusively of the region's three PDO (Protected Denomination of Origin) products as already recognized by the EU: San Marzano tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil from Campania, and mozzarella di bufala.
 
 
 
http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2009/12/09/visualizza_new.html_1644427015.html

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#8538 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Wed Dec 9, 2009 10:55 pm
Subject: MIDEAST:FRATTINI IN ISRAEL AND TERRITORIES,BUT PEACE FAR OFF 		insubria87
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MIDEAST:FRATTINI IN ISRAEL AND TERRITORIES,BUT PEACE FAR OFF
 
(ANSAmed) - ROME, DECEMBER 8 - Italian Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, enters into a very tense environment dominated by reciprocal mistrust and serious objections when he arrives to Israel and the Palestinian Territories tomorrow, for a quick visit of just a few hours, during which he will meeting in Ramallah with Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, and then in Jerusalem with Israeli Premier, Benyamin Netanyahu, and head of diplomacy Avigdor Lieberman. Frattini, said the ministry, will try to encourage both sides to resume negotiations, stalled for months due to the issue of new Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. However, his visit is coming the day after a stance was taken by the EU foreign ministers on the status of Jerusalem (it should be negotiated as capital of both states, urged Brussels today, citing the 1967 borders), which made neither side happy. Too weak a position according to Palestinians, who hoped that the Swedish draft in which East Jerusalem was explicitly mentioned as "the capital of the future Palestinian state" was included. Too strong for Israel, which considers the eastern part of the city (occupied in 1967 and formally annexed in 1981 despite international protests) part of its "eternal and indivisible capital". Italy, together with a group of European countries closer to Israel's needs, worked to undermine the draft presented by the Swedish presidency, which angered Israel, reaching what Frattini called a "balanced" compromise, avoiding inopportune "European interference" on the outcome of negotiations: "Deciding here in Brussels what the status of East Jerusalem should be would spoil the purpose of negotiations," commented the head of Italian diplomacy. However, the margins for Europés mediation (and that of other countries) in the region are meagre to the point that the U.S. State Department is waiting for more favourable conditions for a new mission to the area by U.S. special envoy to the region, George Mitchell. The openings left by the previous government of Ehud Olmert on East Jerusalem have been closed by the new Netanyahu administration, taking a rigid position on key topics such as borders, the settlements, and water resources. The recent announcement of a 10month moratorium on the development of settlements in the West Bank (which excludes settlements in East Jerusalem, natural growth, and public buildings) was greeted by some as a step forward, but, according to the Italian Foreign Ministry, it does not seem to set forth sufficient conditions to return to the negotiating table. (ANSAmed).
2009-12-08 19:44
 
 
http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME01.XAM19441.html

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#8537 From: "manny alfano" <mannyalfano@...>
Date: Thu Dec 10, 2009 5:04 am
Subject: The ALFANO DIGEST Dec. 10, 2009 		eaa097
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The Alfano Digest  … an independent publication  

Statements contained herein are presented as information and not necessarily supported by the staff.

Executive Director, Dr. Emanuele Alfano, mannyalfano@...
 

"Say Nothing … Do Nothing … Then we will surely Become NOTHING!”

 

 

Italian Americans can no longer tolerate being mistreated by the entertainment and the advertising industries, which have constantly, portrayed us as buffoons, bigots, bums, bimbos and mobsters. No other group would stand for this.

 

We can no longer sit back. It’s time to act if not for ourselves than we better act for our children and grandchildren

 

E-mail MTV AND CONTACT THE SPONSORS

See below for contacts

 

Hi:

I was just advised that the CBS Network News program The Early Show should have the segment with my interview tomorrow morning sometime between 7 and 9 am Eastern (more likely to be in the 8 to 9 am hour).  They said that they were going to have my statements about the blatant and insulting stereotyping of Italian Americans by MTV as well as cast members of Jersey Shore and how they are defending their behavior on the series.  This should be interesting!

Sorry for the late notice but they advised that with the continually evolving Tiger Woods story it is difficult to confirm when my interview will definitely be on.

Ciao!

Andre'

--
      Andre' DiMino
           President
    UNICO National
    The Largest Italian American
   Service Organization in the US
           andre@...
         Follow me on Twitter -
 www.twitter.com/andreUNICOprez
       
          www.unico.org
            973-808-0035

 

 

 

Here’s Andre’s well-produced NBC link

 

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/34342785#34342785

 

Here’s today’s Star Ledger editorial page blog:

 

http://blog.nj.com/jerseyblogs/2009/12/jersey_shore_bloggers_on_wheth.html

 

CHECKTHIS OUT… IT NEVER ENDS

Click here: YouTube - MTV True Life - Jersey Shore Time Share 2

 

 

This is entertainment ?  What a sick world this is becoming !

 

Walter

 

 

  • CLICK HERE to view Saturday Night Live’s Gossip Girl: Staten Island
  • CLICK HERE to view MTV’s Jersey Shore
  • CLICK HERE to view ABC’s Desperate Housewives

 

 

Manny

 

                               Regarding the segment "Gossip Girl- Staten Island" which ran on Saturday Night Live, the executive producer of SNL is Mr. Lorne Michaels. I recently sent you an email regarding an episode of "30 Rock" which was highly offensive in it's portrayal of an Italian-American character. The executive producer of that show is also Lorne Michaels. Do you detect a pattern here??

 

Frank Travisano

Waterbury, Ct.

 

ACT NOW… CONTACT MTV

Send Your Comments To MTV…Call …Write… Fax

Phone 212 258-8000   Fax 212 846-1804

E-mail address Judy Mc Grath’s. executive assistant is Kristen Mullarkey

Her email address is Kristen.mullarkey@...

She told me to direct emails here…

 We also have Judy McGrath E-mail

 

judy.mcgrath@...

 

Letter:

Judy McGrath                                                                                                 

November 24, 2009
Chairman and CEO
MTV Network
1515 Broadway
New York, NY  1003

 

LET THEM KNOW WE'RE OUT THERE!
[Manny Alfano] 

==================================================================================================

 

 

 

 

 

Companies who Choose to Support Bigotry through Advertisement

 

The following companies voluntarily chose to advertise during the premiere of ‘Jersey Shore’ on December 3, 2009.  By advertising for the reality show ‘Jersey Shore’, these companies support ethnic slurs and negative stereotypes that demean Italian-Americans.  Below is contact information for companies that support the blatant defamation of Italian-Americans:

 

-BodyHeat Cologne:                          1-800-887-2738

 

-American Family Insurance:                 1-800-692-6326

 

-Lionsgate  (‘Brothers’-movie):        310-449-9200

 

-Macy’s:                                              1-800-659-6229

 

-Sony (PSP):                                       1-800-345-7669

 

-Subway:                                              1-800-888-4848

 

-First Response:                                1-800-524-1328

 

-Zappos:                                              1-800-927-7671

 

-Verizon:                                             1-800-922-0204

 

-Rhapsody:                                           212-391-6668

 

-McDonalds:                                      1-800-244-6227

 

-Sprint:                                     1-888-211-4727

 

-Nintendo:                                          425-882-2040

 

-T mobile:                                             1-877-453-1304

 

-Chili’s:                                               972-980-9917

 

-FLO TV:                                            858-651-7334                                    

 

-Taco Bell:                                          1-800-TACO-BELL                          

 

-Victoria’s Secret:                                1-800-411-5116

 

-Best Buy (Rihanna):             612-292-6397             

 

-Microsoft:                                           1-800-MICROSOFT                                                 

 

-GAP:                                                  1-800-GAPSTYLE

 

 

Please contact these sponsors

 

Domino's Pizza needs a thank you! 

click here ... https://info.dominos.com/dominos_pizza/contact.nsf/frmContact?openform

customercare@...  

 

 

 

Domino's Pizza pulled its ads once they saw MTV's Real World Jersey Shore.  So did American Family Insurance - David R. Anderson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

1-800-MYAMFAM (1-800-692-6326

 

If you want to help, call or e-mail MTV & these companies and let them know that you support a boycott of the advertisers below. This was the best info that I could find. If anyone has better contacts, let me know. - Manny

 

 

 

Sony  Customer Care (800)222-7669 www.esupport.sony.com

also Ana Reyes - http://news.sel.sony.com/en/corporate_information/emailcontact.php?exename=Ana_Reyes

 

Macy's - Jim Sluzewski, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications & External Affairs  jim.sluzewski@..., 513-579-7764

 

Best Buy  - Public Relations Phone: 612-292-NEWS (6397)
Public Relations E-mail: newscenter@...

 

)

 

First Response - James R. Craigie - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

http://www.econsumeraffairs.com/churchdwight/us/contactus.htm?F1=WEBCP

 

Taco Bell - owned by Pepsico -  pepsicomediarelations@...

 

Victoria's Secret - Tammy Roberts Myers, Jennifer Ortiz Brown, Robin Hoffman
Telephone:  800-945-5088  ExtComm@...


Honda Sara Pines,
Honda Public Relations
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
(678) 339-1385 (ph)
(310) 433-3026 (cell)
310) 783-3170

 

T-Mobile  -   mediarelations@...  or via phone at 425-378-4002.


Chili's -  Douglas H. Brooks Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brinker International, Inc. 6820 LBJ Freeway Dallas, TX 75240    (972) 980-9917

http://www.brinker.com/contact/comments.asp

 

Subway - Annie Smith Subway® Public Relations (800) 888-4848, ext. 1329

smith_a@...

 

Sims 3 (EA Games) 

Wendy Spander - Sr. PR Manager, Events and Media, Corporate Communications

Wendy Spander, EA SPORTS
650-628-7929
Remi Sklar
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
(818) 977-3023
remi.sklar@...

 

Verizon       brenda.raney@...

 

Zappos.com 

© 1999-2009 - Zappos.com, Inc., 2280 Corporate Circle, Henderson, NV 89074

Contact Us At 1-800-927-7671 For Assistance 24 Hours A Day 7 Days A Week

https://secure-www.zappos.com/contact

 

Kristen.mullarkey@...   Phone 212 258-8000

judy.mcgrath@...    CEO

Tamika Young  1515 Broadway I New York, NY 10036

Ph: 212-846-7625  ViewerServices@...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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#8536 From: "WHOSE" <whosedisonaol@...>
Date: Wed Dec 9, 2009 10:39 pm
Subject: www.NIAF.org 		whosedisonaol
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NATIONAL ITALIAN AMERICAN FOUNDATION

www.niaf.org

 


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#8535 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Wed Dec 9, 2009 3:39 pm
Subject: Italy: PM and transsexual prostitutes in nativity scene 		insubria87
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Italy: PM and transsexual prostitutes in nativity scene




Rome, 25 Nov. (AKI) - Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, his estranged wife Veronica Lario, transsexual prostitutes and Pope Benedict XVI are among figurines featured in a mock nativity scene in the southern city of Naples. The nativity scene shows Berlusconi kneeling in front of Lario, while Noemi Letizia - an 18 year old lingerie model and aspiring actress linked to the premier - is seen behind him.

A figurine of Patrizia D'Addario, the prostitute who claims to have slept with Berlusconi in exchange for money and favours, is also featured in the nativity scene.

Pope Benedict XVI, is shown in the nativity scene wearing a plaster cast, after he fractured his right wrist in July in a fall during his summer holiday in the Alps.

The nativity scene also features the former governor of the Lazio region, Piero Marrazzo, who is at the centre of a scandal involving transsexual prostitutes, blackmail and drugs.

He is reportedly on a spiritual retreat at a monastery outside Rome.

Figurines of transsexual prostitutes are also seen next to a figure representing Marrazzo.

The nativity scene's figurines were made by one of Naples' best-known nativity scene makers, Marco Ferrigno, who is exhibiting his creation at a famous street in Naples - Via San Gregorio Armeno.

The street is known for its many shops selling imaginative nativity scenes.

Ferrigno said the three wise men are represented by Berlusconi, the Italian civil protection agency chief Guido Bertolaso and the head of Italy's tax police school in the town of Coppito, Fabrizio Lisi.

"These three characters did all they could for the drama that struck the city of L'Aquila," Ferrigni told Adnkronos adding that US president Barack Obama will feature as one of the shepherds.

He was referring to the devastating April earthquake which killed nearly 300 people in the central Italian Abruzzo region surrounding L'Aquila, and left some 50,000 homeless.

According to Ferrigni, the nativity scene will be auctioned and the money will go to charity.


 
 

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#8534 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Wed Dec 9, 2009 3:40 pm
Subject: Italy: Transsexual may have been 'silenced' 		insubria87
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Italy: Transsexual may have been 'silenced'




 
Rome, 20 Nov. (AKI) - Italian politicians have raised doubts about whether the death of a transsexual prostitute at the centre of a major sex, drugs and extortion scandal was a suicide. The Brazilian prostitute, known as Brenda, was found dead after a fire broke out at her apartment in northern Rome early Friday.

The transsexual was allegedly involved with Piero Marrazzo, who resigned as governor of the Lazio region surrounding the Italian capital, when news of their relationship broke in October.

"Evidently, someone wanted to silence her to prevent her from saying what she knew," said Paolo Ferrero, secretary-general of Italy's Communisty Refoundation Party.

"It is clear that not only Marrazzo frequented Via Gradoli (the address of Brenda's apartment).

The deputy president of the centre-left Italy of Values party Fabio Evangelisti said that criminal organisations linked to government institutions could have taken part in Brenda's death.

"It is evident that the hand of criminal organisations is behind this intrigue," said Evangelisti. "I do not exclude the responsibility of people within government institutions or with links to them."

The regional councillor of the Lazio region Alessio D'Amato, from the main opposition Democratic Party said that the transsexual's death was an "obscure event, worthy of a thriller by (Swedish writer) Stieg Larsson".

Media reports said that Brenda had suffocated from smoke inhalation and her body was not charred.

Investigators said that Brenda's laptop computer had been submerged in water before the fire.

Questions have been raised about whether the computer was submerged to prevent it from being destroyed in the fire, or that someone wanted to destroy the contents of the computer's hard drive.

As speculation continued about the prostitute's fate, Italy's interior minister Roberto Maroni on Friday declined to comment on Brenda's death.

Meanwhile, Rome's transsexuals said they feared for their lives after the prostitute was found dead.

Transsexuals in the area rejected claims that Brenda committed suicide.

Brenda made headlines after allegedly having more than one sexual encounter with the former governor of the Lazio region Piero Marrazzo in an extortion, sex and drugs scandal, which led to the governor's resignation in October.

Authorities are treating the case as murder, court sources said.





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#8533 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Wed Dec 9, 2009 3:38 pm
Subject: Minister's dig at archbishop 		insubria87
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Minister's dig at archbishop

League minister's remarks continue to draw criticism

08 December, 17:33
 
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(ANSA) - Milan, December 8 - Remarks by a cabinet minister suggesting the Archbishop of Milan Dionigi Tettamanzi should show more support for Christian Italians and less for foreigners and Islam continued to draw comment on Tuesday.

Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano voiced implicit support for Tettamanzi after the attack by Legislative Simplification Minister Roberto Calderoli, who criticized the archbishop's condemnation of the eviction of 250 Roma gypsies from their camp. Both opposition and majority politicians also expressed concern over the remarks by the rightwing Northern League minister, which appeared in Monday's edition of national daily La Repubblica.

Visiting Milan on Tuesday, Bertone urged ''respect'' for Tettamanzi, who he said was a ''great pastor of the Church and its people''.

Napolitano, also in Milan for celebrations marking the feast day of the city's patron saint Ambrose, said the Church and its ministers had an absolute right to comment on social issues. ''The Church's commitment to social issues is essential to Italian society,'' he said.

Program Implementation Minister Gianfranco Rotondi, a member of a different government party to Calderoli, expressed similar views to the president. ''A secular state means giving the Church the right to have its say,'' said Rotondi of the People of Freedom party. Senator Roberto Di Giovan Paolo of the largest opposition group, the centre-left Democratic Party, criticized Calderoli's Northern League party more generally. ''The League claims to defend religious values but every day it attacks the Church's social doctrine,'' said Di Giovan Paolo, who chairs the Senate European Affairs Committee.

The Senate whip of the centrist Christian UDC party, Gianpiero D'Alia, said the ''Northern League's 'religious teaching' should be met with laughter and catcalls''.

The House whip of the small opposition Italy of Values party referred to a controversial proposal by the Northern League following a Swiss referendum outlawing the construction of new Muslim minarets.

''Am I mistaken or didn't the League suggest adding a crucifix to the Italian flag a few days ago?'' asked Massimo Donadi. ''This day-on/day-off Christianity merely demonstrates the League's lack of responsibility and dangerous efforts to play to the crowd''.

The row was sparked by an editorial that appeared in the Northern League daily La Padania on Sunday, which asked whether Tettamanzi was ''the bishop of Milan or the imam of Milan'', in reference to his past defence of Islam. Defending the editorial, which also criticized the archbishop's condemnation of the recent gypsy eviction, Calderoli said Tettamanzi should pay more attention to Christian problems. ''Why has he never spoken out in defence of the cross?'' asked Calderoli, referring to a recent European Court of Human Rights ruling ordering the removal of crucifixes from Italian classrooms. ''Why does he only defend the Roma? Denying that people of a certain ethnic background carry out certain types of activity is refusing to recognize reality''. Monday's attack was not Calderoli's first on Tettamanzi, whom he described as a ''secret communist'' a year ago after the archbishop asked that Muslims be given prayer spaces in Milan.

There have also been series of disagreements between the Catholic Church and the Northern League more generally in recent months, usually over the issue of immigration or Islam. In August, League leader Umberto Bossi said the Vatican should ''open its doors'' to illegal immigrants if it didn't like a controversial government 'push-back' policy, under which migrant boats intercepted at sea are forcibly escorted back to Libya.

In November, the League and the Church were at odds again, this time over the outcome of the Swiss minaret referendum, which the League greeted with delight and calls for a similar vote in Italy. The head of the Vatican's Council for Migrants, Monsignor Antonio Maria Veglio expressed ''deep concern'' at the League's response, while an annoyed editorial in Catholic daily Avvenire urged readers to give the proposal ''short thrift'' and accused the party of exploiting religion for its own purposes.
 
 
 
http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2009/12/08/visualizza_new.html_1644362636.html

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#8532 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Tue Dec 8, 2009 11:14 pm
Subject: Fini’s Off-air Comment on Berlusconi – “Confuses Consensus with Immunity” 		insubria87
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Fini’s Off-air Comment on Berlusconi – “Confuses Consensus with Immunity”

Private conversation between Senate leader and prosecutor Trifuoggi recorded at Pescara

 

MILAN – Silvio Berlusconi “confuses popular consensus, which he obviously has and which gives him legitimacy to govern, with a sort of immunity from any other authority of guarantee or control, whether it’s the magistracy, the Court of Auditors, the Court of Cassation, the Head of State or Parliament. Since he was elected by the people...” The quotation comes from off-air remarks by Gianfranco Fini, recorded by Pacotvideo’s Vincenzo Cicconi without Mr Fini’s knowledge and picked up by Repubblica.tv. The leader of the Senate was talking to the Pescara public prosecutor, Nicola Trifuoggi, on the final day of the Premio Borsellino award held in Pescara on 6 November. He had no idea that the microphones on the president’s table were on and recording the private conversation.

“I TOLD HIM IN PRIVATE TO KEEP A LOW PROFILE” – In the course of his conversation with Mr Trifuoggi, Mr Fini said, again with reference to Silvio Berlusconi: “I told him. He’s got leadership mixed up with absolute monarchy. Then I told him in private to remember that they cut off that one’s head. So keep a low profile”, said Mr Fini replying to a remark by Mr Trifuoggi, who had said about Mr Berlusconi: “He was born a couple of thousand years too late. He should have been a Roman emperor”.

SPATUZZA – Mr Fini also discussed with Mr Trifuoggi the latest revelations by the Mafia informer Gaspare Spatuzza. “Corroboration of Spatuzza’s statements could open up scenarios... let’s hope investigators are so scrupulous that... because it’s a nuclear bomb”. Mr Fini says to Mr Trifuoggi: “You will already know but Spatuzza is speaking openly about Mancino, who was minister of the interior... One is deputy chair of the magistracy’s ruling council and the other is the prime minister”. The prosecutor notes that the investigation has to be carried through and Mr Fini replies: “And quite right, too”. But when the footage was made public, Mr Fini telephoned Mr Mancino to clear up the fact that he had confused Mafia informer Spatuzza’s statements with those of Massimo Ciancimino. The Senate leader explained that he had attributed to Spatuzza what Ciancimino, the son of the former mayor of Palermo, had said about alleged negotiations between the government and the Mafia.

IMMORTAL WIT – Mr Fini even joked with Mr Trifuoggi. The opportunity arose during the speech by Aldo Pecora, spokesperson for the anti-Mafia Ammazzateci tutti [Kill Us All] movement: “We are all just passing though. No one is eternal. We don’t live forever”, said Mr Pecora. At which Mr Fini quipped: “If the prime minster hears you, it’ll really set him off”. Mr Fini adds: “A few days ago, I was rereading a book on the Italy of Giolitti. One opposition politician said to Giolitti, who was regarded as the criminals’ minister: “He represents a past state, not the State with a capital ‘S’. Effective, wasn’t it?” The prosecutor replies: “It’s worth digging up again”. Mr Fini concludes: “Actually, I might just do that, quoting the source. Sooner or later I will”.

02 dicembre 2009

Translated by Simon Tanner

www.simontanner.com

Article in Italian


02 dicembre 2009

 

 


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#8531 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Tue Dec 8, 2009 11:14 pm
Subject: Italy: Mussolini 'sex video offered to Berlusconi' 		insubria87
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Italy: Mussolini 'sex video offered to Berlusconi'




 
Rome, 30 Nov. (AKI) - A sex video purportedly showing Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, was reportedly offered to Palazzo Chigi, the office of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. A report published in the Italian media on Monday said the video was offered for one million euros.

Alessandra Mussolini is an MP for Berlusconi's People of Freedom party or PdL.

Palazzo Chigi, located in the centre of Rome, is where the cabinet or council of ministers, led by Berlusconi meets.

Last week, the Italian daily Il Giornale - owned by the Berlusconi family - reported that it had been offered the video of Mussolini having sex with the leader of a small extreme right-wing party, Roberto Fiore, by a security camera at the headquarters of Berlusconi's defunct Forza Italia party in Rome.

The daily refused to buy the video, saying they weren't even interested in seeing it.

Fiore and Mussolini used to be political allies in the former far-right group called Alternativa Sociale, or Social Alternative, through which Mussolini was elected to the European Parliament in 2004.

Mussolini, a mother of three, called the existence of the video a 'ridiculous hoax' spread by an 'unreliable source'.

On Monday, Berlusconi's PdL party leader at the Italian senate, Fabrizio Cicchitto, said he wanted an end to the media attacks against Mussolini.

"Enough with the media attack against Alessandra Mussolini. What's happening is absolutely indecent and uncivil," said Cicchitto.

Reports about the Mussolini video surfaced a month after the former governor of the Lazio region Piero Marrazzo resigned from his post after a video emerged that apparently showed him with a transsexual prostitute.

Later, reports surfaced about another, longer and allegedly more compromising video of Marrazzo with cocaine.



 

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#8530 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Tue Dec 8, 2009 11:14 pm
Subject: Italy: Millions of taxes being directed to Catholic projects 		insubria87
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Italy: Millions of taxes being directed to Catholic projects




Rome, 17 Nov. (AKI) - Catholic churches and monasteries this year received 10.6 million euros from Italian taxpayers set aside for "humanitarian, voluntary work and non-religious purposes including cultural assets," according to figures published on Tuesday.

The Italian daily, La Repubblica, said the funds were for 26 church projects while another 19 million euros had been set aside for areas affected by earthquakes in central Italy.

Of that amount, 14 million euros have been allocated in the quake stricken region of Abruzzo.

But the report noted that almost all the funding requests preceded the devastating earthquake that struck the region on 6 April.

"The finance requests related to Abruzzo precede the earthquake of 6 April 2009 and so it would be timely to check these with the works sought after the earthquake," said Northern League MP and head of the budget committee in the lower house.

The funds are provided under a mechanism known as the "Eight per thousand", a decree under which the Italian tax payers can choose to allocate 8 euros out of every thousand euros of income tax they pay to the Italian state or to religious denominations for disasters, refugee assistance and cultural preservation.

The Catholic church receives more than 80 percent the income tax revenues allocated to religious dominations.

According to La Repubblica, the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome received 459,000 euros in 2009, while the Church of Saints Severinus and Sossio in Naples received 1.2 million euros for the restoration of frescoes and other work.

The list of projects in the decree fills 17 pages and and is signed by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Italian taxpayers paid close to 44 million euros to the Italian state under the "Eight per thousand" tax arrangement in 2009 and the funds were to be used for humanitarian or voluntary aid.
 
 
 

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#8529 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Tue Dec 8, 2009 11:13 pm
Subject: Pope to meet Irish bishops 		insubria87
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Pope to meet Irish bishops

Benedict to discuss child abuse report

07 December, 15:32
 
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(ANSA) - Vatican City, December 7 - Pope Benedict XVI will meet Irish bishops Friday to discuss the latest sex abuse scandal rocking the Irish Catholic Church, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said Monday.

"I can confirm that the Holy Father has invited Cardinal Sean Brady, president of the Irish Episcopal (bishops') Conference and the archbishop of Dublin, Msgr Diarmuid Martin...to assess the painful issue of the Church in Ireland following the recent publication of the Murphy Commission report," Lombardi said.

The papal nuncio (envoy) in Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, and the heads of the relevant departments of the Roman Curia will also be present, Lombardi said.

The Murphy report, released November 26, found that the Catholic church in Dublin covered up decades of sex abuse on children.

Four former archbishops of Dublin - three now dead and one retired - failed to report child sex abuse to the police from the 1960 to the 1980s, the report said.

The report listed 320 people who complained of abuse between 1974 and 2004 and said a further 130 complaints against priests in Dublin had been made since May 2004.

It said that it was only in 1995 that the archdiocese started notifying civil authorities.

In the wake of the report, the head of the Irish Survivors of Child Abuse group urged Benedict to go to Ireland and apologise for his clergy's behaviour.

The Murphy report is the second of two detailing abuse this year. In May the Ryan report published records of 70 years of abuse at orphanages and industrial schools run by Catholic religious orders across Ireland.

Since the mid-1990s the Catholic Church has been hit by child abuse scandals in the United States, Australia, Canada and Ireland.

The Church says some 80% of the estimated 5,000 priests involved acted in the US, where huge settlements have been made to victims.

In April 2008 Pope Benedict made a six-day tour of the US, visiting Washington and New York but not Boston, the epicentre of America's clergy sex abuse scandal.

However, he met and prayed with six Boston victims in Washington, saying "no words" could convey his shock and regret about the abuse.

During the visit, victims' groups reiterated their criticism of the Church's treatment of former Boston archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law who resigned in December 2002 when unsealed court records revealed he had moved paedophile priests among church assignments without notifying parishioners.

After his resignation, he was transferred to Rome where he now holds several authoritative posts including archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome.

The abuse scandal led to the bankruptcy of several US dioceses including Washington, Arizona and California.

POPE ASKED FOR 'EVERY EFFORT' TOWARDS TRUTH.

In June 2009, after the Ryan report, Benedict asked Irish bishops to make every effort to ''establish the truth'' and ensure ''justice for everyone''.

''The Holy Father once again urged the bishops and all in the Church to continue to establish the truth of what happened and why; to ensure that justice is done for all; to see that measures put in place to prevent abuse from happening again are fully applied, and, to help to bring healing to the survivors of abuse,'' said the Irish Bishops Conference.

Ireland, a nation that once looked to the Church for leadership, has seen increasing numbers turn from it.

Calls for criminal cases against priests have been made by the country's top politicians including President Mary McAleese.
 
 
 
http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2009/12/07/visualizza_new.html_1644246167.html
 
 

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#8528 From: "manny alfano" <mannyalfano@...>
Date: Tue Dec 8, 2009 10:01 pm
Subject: The ALFANO DIGEST Dec. 8, 2009 		eaa097
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The Alfano Digest  … an independent publication  

Statements contained herein are presented as information and not necessarily supported by the staff.

Executive Director, Dr. Emanuele Alfano, mannyalfano@...
 

"Say Nothing … Do Nothing … Then we will surely Become NOTHING!”

==========================================

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE DIGEST

 

Great job byAndre’ on Fox  “UNFAIR PORTRAYAL”

http://video.foxnews.com/12305965/unfair-portrayal

 

 

Hi Manny:

There will be a segment on MTV's Jersey Show on The Early Show on CBS Network tomorrow morning, 12/8/09 in the 8 to 9 AM (East) hour.  I was interviewed tonight by a producer who said they were going to include UNICO's position on the series as well as have interviews with a cast member from Jersey Shore.  Considering that it is an edited and produced segment, I don't know how it will end up.  I hope they give us a fair representation of our negative view of this insulting and reprehensible program!

Andre'

--
      Andre' DiMino
           President
    UNICO National
    The Largest Italian American
   Service Organization in the US
           andre@...
         Follow me on Twitter -
 www.twitter.com/andreUNICOprez
       
          www.unico.org
            973-808-0035

Hello:

I just returned from taping a segment that will be broadcast tomorrow morning on the Today Show on the NBC Network some time after 7 AM Eastern.  I was interviewed by NBC News Correspondent Jeff Rossen as we watched the tape of the debut of the Jersey Shore.  Yes, I had to suffer through it again - but was able to explain why this is such an insulting and discriminatory show and how Italian Americans are the last ethnic group that are "fair game" for media stereotyping and ethnic bashing.

Andre'

--
      Andre' DiMino
           President
    UNICO National

 

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/12/08/mtv-staff-getting-death-threats-jersey-shore/?test=faces

 

Updated December 08, 2009

By Hollie McKay

 - FOXNews.com

LOS ANGELES

A few MTV staffers are fearing for their lives after the debut of the controversial reality show

 MTV Staff Getting Death Threats Over 'Jersey Shore'

  •  

Decrease FontA A AIncrease Font

MTV

The ladies of the 'Jersey Shore' cast.

Just because “Jersey Shore” got hot ratings doesn't mean all of MTV was happy with the outcome.

Pop Tarts has been told that some MTV staffers connected with the show have reason to be pretty afraid since the controversial debut of “Jersey Shore” on Thursday night.

“The MTV building in Times Square was getting crazy threats and they are in the process of hiring more security in bodyguards,” an insider told Tarts, adding that individuals involved with the press component on the show were being bombarded with abusive emails, phone calls and facebook messages - many of which involved death threats.

“People were going totally crazy, it was a nightmare,” added our insider.

The “Real World” style show features a group of Italian-Americans in a summer house together in which they refer to each other as “guidos” and “guidettes” which has enraged other Italian-Americans.

SLIDESHOW: The Cast of the Jersey Shore

"Their behavior is reprehensible and demeaning in all respects," André DiMino, the president of Unico National, told the NY Times."I don't see any redeeming value in the show. They are an embarrassment to themselves and to their families."

Fox411: 'Jersey Shore' Glossary

Even the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau are hopping mad over the show.

MTV is providing a one-dimensional, dramatized version of a very small group of visitors’ summer experiences in one Jersey Shore town,” Daniel Cappello, executive director of the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau said in a statement. “We're flattered that MTV thinks we're an interesting enough destination to warrant an entire reality series,” said Cappello. “But the national TV audience is hardly getting the full story.”

Fox411: Jersey Shore Proves Critics Right

And even despite safety fears for their staff, public outcry and the fact that advertisers such as Domino's Pizza have already pulled the plug on advertising during the controversial series, MTV are not backing down.

"We understand that this show is not intended for every audience and depicts just one aspect of youth culture. Our intention was never to stereotype, discriminate or offend,” said an MTV spokesperson.

 

 

The Italian TV exec behind 'Jersey'

NY POST

Last Updated: 9:57 AM, December 8, 2009

Posted: 12:20 AM, December 8, 2009

·                                 ·             

headshotLinda Stasi

MTV refused to send out advance screeners for review. The show is not listed anywhere on its press site. And the man responsible for foisting the most hateful, anti-Italian-American show ever allowed on legitimate TV won't get on the phone to defend it.

Is MTV ashamed of what they've put on the air? If not, they should be.

Yes, I'm talking about "Jersey Shore," a show in which Italian-Americans are stereotyped (clearly at the urging of its producer) into degrading and debasing themselves -- and, by extension, all Italian-Americans -- and furthering the popular TV notion that Italian-Americans are gel-haired, thuggish, ignoramuses with fake tans, no manners, no diction, no taste, no education, no sexual discretion, no hairdressers (for sure), no real knowledge of Italian culture and no ambition beyond expanding steroid-and silicone-enhanced bodies into sizes best suited for floating over Macy's on Thanksgiving.

 

BEACH BIMBOS: MTV premiered "Jersey Shore" last week and has outraged Italian-American groups.

Tony DiSanto, MTV's Italian-American president of programming, who is responsible for this loathsome show, won't talk to The Post. He did, however, talk to an enraged Italian-American group last week.

"The cast takes pride in their ethnicity," he said. "In fact, it is a key driver of how they bond with each other and self-identify. They refer to themselves as 'guidos' in a positive manner." What?

Since he won't get on the phone with me, I will tell you publicly what I would have told him privately:

We Italian-Americans are not untrained house pets who exist for the amusement of others. Would that programming ever have been allowed if the group were African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Jewish people? Right.

Let me tell you about the Italian-American group with whom I self-identify: My daughter is a cum laude graduate of Wellesley College, award-winning CEO of her own tech company and a blogger for the Huffington Post; my brother is a scientist and engineer; my cousin was the active-duty, career Army officer who brought all the troops into Ground Zero on 9/11.

We do not say "fuhgeddaboutdit" nor are we in waste management. We are, however, very much a typical Italian-American family with not a gel-haired thug for miles around.

What criteria did you use for casting this show? Did you deliberately search out Italian-Americans who were born without the gene for shame?

No wonder you won't get on the phone. You must be -- or should be -- busy changing your last name to Smith.



Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/shore_fire_COTVF2zoFkfLnIhqGJnGNL#ixzz0Z75v4P6y

 



Dear Ms. Stasi:

Frank Cannata told me about your column today on the Jersey Shore!  BRAVO!!!

Since before this series debuted, I have been working on stopping it because of all of the reasons you have so eloquently and succinctly written in your column.  I feel it is my duty, not just as the President of UNICO National, but also as a proud first-generation Italian American.  You should be aware that I have had direct communications via email and phone conferences with Mr. Di Santo and several other MTV Execs (some others being Italian American as well!!!) who just don't understand the damage they are foisting on Americans of Italian descent.  It is incredible, frustrating and distressing!

I smiled when I read your comments about your own family.  Like yours, my family, and the families of UNICO members and Italian Americans across the country, have nothing, at all, to do with the insulting, stereotypical portrayal of these bimbos and buffoons on Jersey Shore.  And MTV's "defense" of the show, not being aimed at Italian Americans, is so hollow - one has to just look at how they festooned the bordello-like set house with Italian flags and red, white and green maps and how the edit includes so many Italian symbols and signs - it is a deliberate, blatant as well as subliminal message tying it directly to Italian Americans - what a disgrace!

Let me conclude by sending you my heartfelt thanks for your professional and expert way of assisting in the fight against this series and the irresponsible perpetrators who put it out.  I commend you for your words.  If you would be so inclined, I would be pleased to speak with you about this at any time.  I have attached my letter to the CEO of MTV as well as 2 press releases.

Sincerely,

Andre'

      Andre' DiMino
           President
    UNICO National

 

 

COMMENTS:

Judy McGrath

Chairman and CEO

MTV Network
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 1003

 

Dear Ms. McGrath

 

It seems that Viacom is in the business of promoting bigotry and hatred whether it be via HBO and its Sopranos Series and now MTV with the Jersey Shore series. You, an Irish person, should know better than to promote hate since your ancestors endured centuries of duress including ethnic cleansing at the hands of the British.  However since the mid-1800's the Irish have shown no tolerance of the Italians; mocking their food, language, religious ceremonies, appearance and taking an important role in the development of the concept of Eugenics that relegated Italians to a human subspecies. You probably would be proud of the story of my father, a rather dark proud Italian with an accent, who was not allowed into RYAN'S PUB to celebrate my birth 60 years ago because of his ethnicity.  His response, "Don't get mad, they don't know any better." 

 

This brings me your show of Italian "cafoni" at the Jersey Shore.  The only explanation for this show is that you are a racist, ethnic bigot and filled with hate for your fellow men and women.  When a chairperson of a major corporation, like yourself, with your education, experience and command of the media resorts to this type of disgusting stereotyping you are exposed as a bigot and racist against ALL people, not just Italian Americans (please don't attempt defend yourself by saying you performed an "offensive test" by conferring with a step cousin, ex-husband, the actors, etc, who may know someone who is Italian, and he/she was not offended).  You understand that you could not be a public bigot against any other group without getting fired (Think Imus). Yet those pent up racist and hate feelings you have inside against all other people like African Americans, Hispanics, Arabs, etc. are exposed when you take liberties against the Italian American because you, like a little kid, can get away with it against the Italian American, but not against the other groups.  

 

Many years ago a Italian American group I was with met with the JDL to get advice on this topic.  They said give it the smell test, namely, if you can't say it about any other group, THEN YOU KNOW THE AUTHOR IS A BIGOT/RACIST AND WE ALL, BLACK, JEW, HISPANIC, ASIAN, ETC., HAVE TO WATCH OUT FOR THAT PERSON.

 

THAT PERSON IS YOU. 

Angelo C. Morresi
Attorney at Law

 

Jersey Shore Protest

 

Dear UNICO,

 

     My very large, beautiful, educated and Proud Italian American family is OUTRAGED by this show on MTV!  Enough is Enough!  There MUST be something we can do to get this program off the air.  How dare they, and how sad that we, as Italian Americans, allow this program to be broadcast for even one more episode. You at UNICO must organize us and tell us the best way we can get our message across...and GET JERSEY SHORE off the air immediately! 

     I look forward to hearing from you as to any ideas or suggestions to get this done.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Dianne DiCerbo


--

Hi Manny, it was nice speaking with you earlier.  I wanted to know what I could do to help your group remove MTV’s Jersey Shore from the air.  Please give me the list of people that I should contact in order to voice my displeasure with this program.  Thank you sir and I appreciate you and your organizations efforts towards erasing negative ethnic stereotypes.

 

 

Respectfully,

Robert Scavo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IT DOESN’T END!

When Italian Americans are defamed, stereotyped and/or ridiculed by the media and the entertainment community, it’s called parody or a satire. When it’s another group, it’s called bigotry.

 

Mad TV - italian stereotype

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgTUF_7vRMI&NR=1

 

 

The MTV Show should be called “cafoni e p

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#8527 From: "insubria87" <insubria87@...>
Date: Tue Dec 8, 2009 4:00 pm
Subject: 'Bourbons' bid to boost South 		insubria87
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'Bourbons' bid to boost South

Dynasty fans to open 'parliament' in Naples

08 December, 15:59
 
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(ANSA) - Naples, December 8 - Admirers of the Bourbon dynasty that once held sway across southern Italy are bidding to restore its former glory with a 'parliament' in Naples.

The 'Neo-Bourbonic' Movement has declared its intention to move into Naples' famous Maschio Angioino castle, once home to the Bourbon kings, on January 16. Their resurrected government will appoint ministers for interior and foreign affairs as well as equal opportunites between northern and southern Italy, the movement's leader, Gennaro De Crescenzo, told Oggi magazine.

"We want to publicise our history, stir up rage, and turn it into pride," said De Crescenzo, whose group say they have tapped into longstanding southern resentment about the way unification was imposed on the South.

Although it is unclear whether Naples city council have been informed, De Crescenzo said he was determined to open the parliament to mark 150 years since the abdication of the last Bourbon king, Franceso III.

Italy is already gearing up to celebrate in 2011 the 150th anniversary of the end of the Risorgimento, the tumultuous and often bloody movement that led to Italy's rebirth as a single state in 1861.

Not everyone was happy with unification and some people in both northern and southern Italy think Italy should have stayed divided.

Both the Northern League, now a major political player, and the tiny Neo-Bourbons, who have been dismissed as a band of nostalgic dreamers, have played on anti-Rome sentiment.

But De Crescenzo told Oggi his group's initiative could not be dismissed as mere "folklore".

He stressed the members of the parliament would not be politicians but "professional people, the self-employed, lawyers, technical experts, university professors and businessmen". "We will train a new ruling class. We will analyse laws and measures to assess their impact on the South," he said, referring to legislation from the Italian parliament in Rome.

The Bourbon equivalent in the 13th Angevin castle will also have ministers for the economy, police, cultural heritage and communications, he said. But there would be no attempt to consult with Italy's established political groupings, De Crescenzo said. "We have no links to parties. The League tried, because of certain common issues, but then we didn't see them again".

Declaring that the assembly would help the South reclaim its "dignity", De Crescenzo stressed that while the Northern League's purported homeland of 'Padania' never historically existed, "the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was a united State for 13 centuries".

The Bourbons grew out of the French Capetian dynasty, founded in 987 AD, and eventually became Europe's biggest royal house, holding sway in France, Spain, Italy and Luxembourg.

Louis XIV, the 'Sun King' of France, was perhaps its most famous member.

The Spanish branch ruled southern Italy as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1734 till 1806, when Napoleon's troops were forced out of Naples, and from 1815, when the French emperor was defeated at Waterloo, until 1860.

The largest of Italy's pre-unification states, it is more commonly called the Kingdom of Naples.

photo: Maschio Angioino
 
 
http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2009/12/08/visualizza_new.html_1644338547.html

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