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So, this is my Blog, my thoughts / feelings / ideas. You may comment if you like. If you attack me, I come back at you with reckless / racist / suicidal abandon. If you compliment me, I thank you. If you don't ever visit again I don't care. Other than that, just enjoy what I write, or not.
Salagatle!


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Monday, November 20, 2006

Me, the Mafia, and I.......

I have friends in high places, well, some are only acquaintances I suppose. But they have friends in high places, and right now two of my "friends" are "missing in action" due to the fact that they are friends of Glenn Agliotti! (Refer one of my previous posts).

Interesting. However, knowing the bloke does not make you an accomplice, but now I hear one of my other friends, who has done very well for himself thank you, was friends with Brett Kebble! (look it up). Now this is worrying....

So it would seem that I, as an Italian, and NOT linked (not yet) to the Mafia in any way, have friends who have friends who may be linked to the Mafia in some way, which means that we can conclude that I may, indirectly have links to the Mafia. Interesting.

Salagatle!

6 comments:

Divemaster GranDad said...

Yo...Massimo...it's your Cod..umm...Godfather here. What size shoes do you take? I got some new ones here for you, my boy, made by Holcim...when you want me to come deliver them? Huh?

LOL....

Seaman R/Bay said...

So you want to join the family ? Are you sure, once you are in you leave via the body bag.

Seaman R/Bay said...

Mafia: An Overview
Today, the word "mafia" is used to refer to almost any organized crime group, and in some cases is even used to describe groups completely unrelated to crime. In this article, we will focus on the traditional meaning of "mafia": organized criminal organizations of Italian or Sicilian heritage.




In organized crime there is a hierarchy, with higher-ranking members making decisions that trickle down to the other members of the family. The Mafia is not a single group or gang -- it is made up of many families that have, at times, fought each other in bitter, bloody gang wars. At other times, they have cooperated in the interest of greater profits, sometimes even serving on a "Commission" that made major decisions affecting all the families (more on the Commission later). Most of the time, though, they simply agree to stay out of each other's way.

Mafia-dom is neither a political nor a religious affiliation. Because of their Italian roots, many Mafioso are Catholic, but part of the oath a mobster takes when he becomes a "made man" -- a member of a Mafia family -- is that the Mafia comes before birth family and God.

Wreckless Euroafrican said...

My personal slogan is "OMERTA".
Look it up....

Salagatle1

Seaman R/Bay said...

Omertà is a popular attitude, common in areas of southern Italy, such as Sicily, Calabria and Campania, where the criminal organisations like the Mafia, 'Ndrangheta and Camorra are strong. Omertà implies never collaborating with the authorities, the police in particular. It can be intended also as a vow of silence among mafiosi. A common definition is the "law of silence". Within mafia culture, breaking the oath of omertà is punishable by death.

The origin of the word is often traced to Spanish word hombredad, meaning manliness. Omertà is base partly on fear and partly on idealism – it is an extreme form of loyalty and solidarity in the face of authority. One of its absolute tenets is that it is deeply demeaning and shameful to betray even one’s deadliest enemy to the authorities.

Observers of the mafia debate whether omerta should best be understood as an expression of social consensus surrounding the mafia or whether it is instead a pragmatic response based primarily on fear. The point is succinctly made in a popular Sicilian proverb: "Cu e surdu, orbu e taci, campa cent'anni 'mpaci" (He who is deaf, blind and silent will live a hundred years in peace").

In recent years omertà has been broken by mafiosi. Joe Valachi was one of the first person to betray the omertà when in 1963 he publicly spoke out about the existence of the Mafia, when he testified before the United States Congress. In Sicily, the phenemon of pentito (Italian he who has repented), broke omertà in the 1980s.

Among the most famous Mafia pentiti is Tommaso Buscetta, the first important pentito who helped judge Giovanni Falcone to understand the inner workings of Cosa Nostra and describing the Sicilian Mafia Commission or Cupola, the leadership of the Sicilian Mafia. (A predecessor, Leonardo Vitale, who gave himself up to the police in 1973, was judged as suffering from 'mental illness' led to the conviction of himself and his uncle only.)

In English, it is often rendered omerta, without an accent. This accent in Italian and Spanish means that the final a is stressed.

Omertà likely influenced the recent movement of Stop Snitchin', which works the very same way.

Solomonster said...

Who the hell is Seaman R/Bay - the friggin encyclopedia britannica?

And yes, that is a RHETORICAL question.