The EU and the UN are looking into alleged ties between Italian OC., especially the Camorra, ‘Ndrangheta and La Sacra Corona Unita, and Somali Pirates.

Seems like they supply weapons to Somalian Warlords, and in return they get permission to dump toxic waste from Italy in Somalia.

http://shabelle.net/2012/06/20/eu-studying-links-between-italian-mafia-and-somali-pirates/

When we Americans think of pirates, we think of a guy with an eye patch saying "aaaaargh." So I'm just trying to picture Carlo Gambino with a doo-rag and an eye patch .

There's actually a funny South Park episode about that PB. The boys want to become pirates, take a trip to Somalia, and think they're going to and up like Jack Sparrow . Instead, they end up in Somalia. Which is like hell on earth.

Still, the Italians dumping tons and tons of toxic waste into the ocean over there is a serious threat and health hazard for the whole world.

You're preaching to the choir, Chopper. We live in Florida about 3 months a year, and, well, just Google The Everglades + toxic waste, and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about. We've donated both time and money to restoration projects over the years.

I have a pretty even-tempered disposition, but litterbugs drive me around the bend (I know, not what you'd expect from a 50+ year resident of New York City ).

Of course, the Camorra is fine with dumping hazardous waste right in it's own backyard. Read about the "Triangle of Death" or watch Gomorrah.

Yes. The problem with the "garbage industry" in and around Naples is a perfect example of how corrupt the Italian society is. Several companies (which are most probably Camorra linked) recieves money from government funds in order to deal with the waste problem. This money is supposed to go to improvement of waste facilities, infrastructure, trucks etc. None of it ends up where it´s supposed to end up. Instead the Camorra is pocketing the money.

Chopper and HairyKnuckles, can I ask how your English is so perfect? I'm guessing it isn't your first language? Its extremely impressive, makes me feel lazy as an English person! We expect the rest of Europe to speak it!

Thank you, Nicky! Well, my english is not perfect. But I do find languages easy to learn. I speak several pretty good. One half of my brain (that deals with languages) is much stronger than the other half I guess.
Please don´t ask me what 2 plus 2 sums up to!

BTW, there was a Russian guy on here who used to post some months ago. I can´t remember his nick right now. But his english is very impressive!

I can't speak for Hairy Nick, but my country has always been an internationally orientated country. We trade with the rest of the world, nobody speaks Dutch, so we profit from learning other languages. Next to my own language, I speak English, German and a little bit Spanish and French. Next to school, I picked up English mostly from watching a lot of movies with subtitles when I was a kid .

Still, Dutch comes in handy abroad though. When I travel with friends or with my girl and we speak it, nobody has any idea what we are talking about, which comes in handy.

Naples Fascinates With Garbage, Mafia, Ruined Glory
By Manuela Hoelterhoff
June 21, 2012

After a brief visit to Naples decades ago, I spent a week recovering on the Lipari Islands.

What a stressful city this is: Vesuvius looming in the distance, disappearing garbage collectors, crumbling monuments and a hydra-headed mafia.

Once a must-see city on the Grand Tour of the cultivated gentleman, Naples could use a few more friends these days.

“Naples Declared: A Walk Around the Bay,” an engaging travel history by Benjamin Taylor, brings out the darkness and light of a death-defying city glinting under the grime. I was happy to visit vicariously.

We spoke at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters a few days before he was off to France to start a new book on Marcel Proust.

Hoelterhoff: Say I want to go back to Naples. What’s your favorite hotel?

Taylor: I often stayed at Grand Hotel Parker’s, which was the headquarters of the German high command.

A more famous hotel on the water is the Excelsior, which is in many movies like “Dodsworth.” You can see the smoking volcano in the background as he drives along the via Partenope.

Berlin Orders
Hoelterhoff: What about the Nazis?

Taylor: They decided not to fight for Naples but to leave. A specific order came from Berlin to destroy the medieval archives and the Germans sent a detachment to burn these documents in the last days.

As so often in the Third Reich, there was a passionate attention to symbols.

Hoelterhoff: It reminds me of Hitler’s order to burn Paris -- the vindictive obsession to eradicate the past if you can’t own the future. Yet Naples was badly destroyed.

Taylor: Yes, by the Allies, though I never heard any local utter a bitter word.

Hoelterhoff: What’s your first memory of Naples?

Taylor: Like so many, I came to go elsewhere: to see Pompeii and Capri. Then I met the author Shirley Hazzard, who said: “What’s the most interesting is what is hidden here.” That intrigued me.

Hoelterhoff: And what was that?

Taylor: These are a people for whom the tragic nature of history is simply a given. Events are not favorable to you. In a sense, it’s the opposite of what it feels to be a fortunate American. I was impressed by the deep civilization inherent in ordinary people.

What Happened?

Hoelterhoff: Yet for a long time, Naples was considered one of the great cities of Europe.

Taylor: The second city of Europe after Paris. The Grand Tour culminated here. Then with the unification of Italy, the standard of living doesn’t change in the south. But the north has a different trajectory.

Hoelterhoff: I liked the cameos, whether of the repulsive Tiberius or the strangely chic opera lover, who turned out to be a cross-dresser.

Taylor: She was treated as if she were mentally ill. The south is more conservative in our sense.

Hoelterhoff: La Camorra. Is it visible?

Taylor: Invisible but everywhere. The shops, the hotels, all are paying protection. The Camorra controls the political economy. I think the Camorra accounts for one third of the southern GDP.

It’s sophisticated and internationally ambitious. They take their ill-gotten gains and put them into legitimate companies.

Hoelterhoff: So they are behind those periodic garbage strikes?

The Garbage
Taylor: They are not exactly strikes, but a demonstration of power. It is announced that “the receptacles for garbage are full.” They are not.

The Camorra is misunderstood as a family like the Gambinos. It’s a network of several hundred families with spheres of autonomy and interest and occasional turf wars. It’s involved in all forms of trafficking including bodily organs.

You see the young members in the restaurants. They’re profoundly influenced by the “Scarface” movie and love to go tanning and wear their pants high. They’re repulsive.

Hoelterhoff: Were you ever scared?

Taylor: Not for a minute. But I wasn’t writing about crime in Naples. I was there to sing the song of praise to its immense antiquity.

“Naples Declared” is published by Marion Wood/Putnam (205 pages, $26.95). To buy this book in North America, click here.

(Manuela Hoelterhoff is executive editor of Muse, Bloomberg’s arts and culture section. Any opinions are her own. This interview was adapted from a longer conversation.)

Muse highlights include Jeremy Gerard on theater and Lewis Lapham on history.

To contact the writer of this column: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeffrey Burke in New York at jburke21@bloomberg.net.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06...glory-interview