Chazz Palminteri is taking his "A Bronx Tale" on a 30 stop nationwide tour, spurred after a successful Broadway run two years ago. The play has resonated with audiences in Chicago, Philadelphia and Austin alike. After Providence, he'll hit Las Vegas. On stage, he will inhabit all 18 characters in a 90-minute span.
"I wrote 'A Bronx Tale' as a tribute to the working man," he says. "People always think that Italian-Americans are in the mafia. It's just this aberration in communities. The real Italian-Americans are the cops, the firemen, the bus drivers. Like my father."

In 'A Bronx Tale,' Palminteri Inhabits the Characters That Shaped Him
South Coast Today; By Alexis Hauk;  April 10, 2010; newsroom@s-t.com

One thing's for sure: No one can accuse Chazz Palminteri of false advertising. The Oscar-nominated actor, famed for portraying complex mobsters in "Bullets Over Broadway" and "Analyze This," was only 9 years old when he witnessed his neighborhood "capo" killing a man.
"Do I know mob guys? Yes," he says. "Do I hang out with them? No."
The experience of being close to the mob, but managing to escape unscathed, provided Palminteri with the real-life basis for his coming-of-age story, "A Bronx Tale," perhaps best known for its film version. That movie, released in 1992, was the directorial debut of Palminteri's friend, Robert DeNiro — no stranger to mob roles himself.
Palminteri arrives Thursday for a four-night run of the original play version of "A Bronx Tale," directed by Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks at the Providence Performing Arts Center. On stage, he will inhabit all 18 characters in a 90-minute span.
Such a feat requires no small amount of stamina, and the 58-year-old actor says he prepares by doing yoga, eating right, and staying out of smoky bars (although he once worked at such establishments).
The story deals with racial tensions and organized crime in the tumultuous '60s, as seen through the eyes of an Italian-American boy named Calogero — which happens, conveniently enough, to be Chazz's real first name.
Many of the events in Palminteri's young life happened "exactly the way the movie happened," he recalls. The shooting serves as a catalyst for both tragedy and redemption, with the father-son relationship at its heart.
"My father always said, 'You can be friends with them, say hi, that's it,'" Palminteri says. "'Sooner or later you'll get in trouble.'"
The play began off-Broadway in 1990. Although Palminteri wasn't exactly drowning in money at the time, working as a nightclub bouncer, he says he turned down million-dollar offers from several studios to turn his script over to them.
Luckily for him, DeNiro came to see the show and approached him with an offer that, well, he couldn't refuse. DeNiro wanted to direct "A Bronx Tale," but, Palminteri says, he also wanted to respect Palminteri's right to the story.
DeNiro also cast Palminteri in the role of Sonny, the murderous but honorable capo, while himself tackling the role of Calogero's father, an ethical bus driver who tries to steer his progeny straight.
So how did the elder Palminteri feel watching the Raging Bull fill his shoes?
"How did you think he would feel?" Palminteri says. "He loved it."
Palminteri's visit to Providence is just one of around 30 stops on a nationwide tour, spurred after a successful Broadway run two years ago. With its themes of family and social upheaval, he says the play has resonated with audiences in Chicago, Philadelphia and Austin alike. After Providence, he'll hit Las Vegas.
Though he lives in upstate New York now, Palminteri says he visits home frequently. He has witnessed the changing demographics that have altered the Bronx he once knew, particularly around his old turf, 187th Street and Belmont Avenue.
With an influx of residents from Latin America and Eastern Europe, the neighborhood is "more a melting pot. When I was growing up, it was all Italians. It doesn't exist the way it was in 1968, but it's still wonderful, still thriving."
His next project will be behind the camera, directing "Mob Street," a film about the mob in the 1990s. While Palminteri emphasizes that mob characters may have made him famous, they're certainly not the full picture of Italian-American life, nor of the play itself.
"I wrote 'A Bronx Tale' as a tribute to the working man," he says. "People always think that Italian-Americans are in the mafia. It's just this aberration in communities. The real Italian-Americans are the cops, the firemen, the bus drivers. Like my father."
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/
pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100410/LIFE/4100316
 
 

Thursday, April 15, 2010  
Health Care Reform in Italy: Public vs Private
 
Even the Ultra Right Wing Murdoch's Wall Street Journal has high praise for Italy's  Health Care System.  
 
It is a product of focusing on the Fundamentals. The state  has the power to adopt quality standards, to set its own reimbursement rates, to decide which hospitals qualify for public funds, and to withhold reimbursement if hospitals don't meet the proscribed standards.  The Private hospitals, rather than paying more attention to charging what the Market will Bear, and Profits, have  become more efficient, and have been able to compete.  
 

Journal Report
Read the full Health Care report .
With the U.S. searching for ideas about how to make health care more affordable, he said during a speech, "I hope we have a situation where the federal government?looks at the entire world, including this region here."
As the U.S. debates the proper roles for the public and private sectors in health care, Italy's Lombardy region suggests a way that encouraging competition between the two can improve health care overall. For the past 10 years, public and private hospitals in Lombardy have competed directly for patients, and in doing so have created what is considered by many to be one of Europe's most efficient health-care systems.

Walk-In Service
Like other European countries, Italy offers universal health-care coverage backed by the state. Italians can go to a public hospital, for example, without involving an insurance company. The patients are charged a small co-pay, but most of the bill is paid by the government. As a result, the great majority of Italians don't bother to buy private health insurance unless they want to seek treatment from private doctors or hospitals, which are relatively few.
Offering guaranteed reimbursements to public hospitals, though, took away the hospitals' incentive to improve service or rein in costs. Inefficiencies were rampant as a result, and the quality of Italy's public health care suffered for years. Months-long waiting lists became the norm for nonemergency procedures "even heart surgery" in most of the country.
Big changes came in 1997, when Italy's national government decentralized the country's health-care system, giving the regions control over the public money that goes to hospitals within their own borders. The money still comes from the central government, which also determines what methods and drugs must be included in various treatments in order to meet national health-care standards. But each region now has the power to adopt additional quality standards, to set its own reimbursement rates, to decide which hospitals qualify for public funds, and to withhold reimbursement if hospitals don't meet the proscribed standards.
In much of the country, regions have continued to use the standards of care and reimbursement rates recommended by Rome. Some also give preferential treatment to public hospitals, making it more difficult for private hospitals to qualify for public funds.
Lombardy, by contrast, has increased its quality standards, set its own reimbursement rates and, most important, put public and private hospitals on an equal footing by making each equally eligible for public funds. If a hospital meets the quality standards and charges the accepted reimbursement rate, it qualifies. Patients are free to choose between state-run and publicly funded private hospitals at no extra cost. Their co-pay is the same in either case. As a result, public and many private hospitals in Lombardy compete directly for patients and funds.

Commercial Spirit
One reason Lombardy took this path: Italy's prosperous North traditionally has had a more commercial spirit than the rest of the country. Indeed, many of the regional governments, by contrast, have an ideological prejudice against private health care. "When it comes to health care, there are still people who think public is beautiful and private is evil," says Walter Ricciardi, a professor of health-care management at Rome's Sacro Cuore University.
Around 30% of hospital care in Lombardy is private now?more than anywhere else in Italy. And service in both the private and public sector has improved. Patients in Lombardy receive among the widest array of treatments in Italy, and are covered for a longer list of prescription drugs than almost anywhere else in Europe. Waiting times were slashed, too. 
"Up to 10 years ago my patients had to wait months for heart surgery," says Ottavio Alfieri, a surgeon at Milan's private San Raffaele hospital and formerly in a public hospital. "Now, in Lombardy, it can be done almost immediately, in both state-run and private hospitals."
Marco Cozzoli, a top health-care officer in the regional government, says the public hospitals had to improve because they were no longer the only players on the field. Rooms and food were upgraded, for starters. At Milan's state-run Niguarda Hospital, for example, patients are no longer crammed into six-bed hospital wards, but stay in double rooms. As Pasquale Cannatelli, the head of the hospital, says, "People have certain expectations of services in private hospitals. State-run hospitals should be no different." 

Private Upgrades
But private hospitals, too, upgraded services in order to qualify for reimbursements. Some built maternity wards, for example, with staffs of midwives and pediatricians, and delivery rooms with carefully monitored temperature and humidity levels. Other hospitals added emergency rooms "which are particularly costly" to earn additional payments.
Still, Lombardy has kept its health-care costs down, even with the additional services and upgrades. While most Italian regions tend to overspend their health-care budgets, Lombardy over the past six years has underspent its annual budgets by a total of more than ?200 million ($270 million)?money that the regional government has partly used to improve its health-care infrastructure further.
Lombardy's public hospitals were under the most pressure to cut costs. In fact, this is the only region in Italy in which managers of public hospitals can be fired if they go over budget. Dr. Cannatelli says Niguarda Hospital no longer requires patients to stay overnight for routine surgery, such as cataract removal. This helps reduce costs.

Will Travel
Another reason Lombardy's per capita health-care costs are lower: Italy's other regions help pay the bills. The high quality of Lombardy's hospitals is known throughout the country, and Italians can seek medical care in any region they choose. While patients must pay their own travel costs, the home region pays their medical bills. This regional migration is greater in Lombardy than in any other Italian region, officials say: Around 10% of Lombardy's hospital patients come from elsewhere in the nation.
Some experts say giving patients this freedom "and placing health care in the hands of regional governments in general" creates disparities between hospitals in the rich North and poorer ones in the South.
"It means fewer treatments" in the South, says Dr. Ricciardi, the professor in Rome. "When patients get sick, you can't respond properly. The rich and better organized regions benefit from the system, while the poor and less organized ones are harmed by it."
Without question, hospitals in Lombardy have benefited?both public and private. In 2009, Niguarda brought in Euro 26 million ($36 million) for treatment of patients from the rest of Italy, money it then reinvested in its facilities. The privately run San Raffaele earned Euro70 million.
It is patients, however, who have the most to gain. Today, it's difficult for people in Lombardy to even tell the difference between public and private hospitals. "Patients don't care whether hospitals are public or private?not at all," says Renato Botti, head of San Raffaele hospital. "All they want is good health care." 
Ms. Stancati is a Wall Street 
Journal staff reporter in Rome. She can be reached at margherita.stancati@wsj.com
 
 
 

April 15, 2010
UK Wants to Keep Receipts of Sale of 'Looted' Italian Treasures..... to Pay Tax Bill

Britain has long been the greatest recipients of "Looted" Treasures worldwide, made easy because of its former Empire, and their ownership of Colonies. British Museums are NOT full of British Artifacts, but  "looted" artifacts from Egypt, India, China, Italy, Africa, etc
 
Britain's audacity to claim a "looted artifact" (from Italy) to pay a "looters" back taxes is indefensible!!!! 

UK Accused Over Sale of 'Looted' Italian Treasures to Pay Tax Bill
Rome wants back the 3,000-year-old Etruscan artefacts that came into the hands of a dealer - but ministers aim to sell them 
The London Guardian; The Observer;  Dalya Alberge; Sunday  April 11, 2010 
An Etruscan bronze mask of Acheloos that is among the items that belonged to Robin Symes. The Italians say it is a vital part of their heritage
Ministers have been condemned for forcing through the sale of up to 1,000 antiquities allegedly stolen from Italy, in order to pay the debts of a bankrupt private collector.
The Home Office has sparked outrage by allowing Roman bronzes, Etruscan gold and other treasures to be placed on the market by liquidators acting for the government in an attempt to recover unpaid taxes from the former owner, Robin Symes, a dealer with alleged links to the smuggling trade and a UK prison record.
Lord Renfrew, a Cambridge archaeologist, described the handling of the case as a "scandal" and called for action to end London's reputation as "a clearing-house for looted antiquities".
The controversy comes after officials from 20 countries met last week in Egypt to discuss how to recover ancient treasures that may have been stolen or looted. Britain has been involved in long disputes with Egypt and Greece over artefacts held in the British Museum.
In documents seen by the Observer, Paolo Giorgio Ferri, the relevant prosecutor in Rome, has repeatedly asked Britain to return the Symes antiquities to their "rightful owner". The UK government has caused fury by stating that the antiquities could instead be bought.
Symes's collection includes objects dating back 3,000 years, which Rome says form a vital part of Italian heritage. Ferri said: "It's like the Italian government making a profit from the mafia selling drugs."
Renfrew said: "These illicitly exported objects are being sold to pay Robin Symes's debts, which means that they are being sold for the benefit of the British government. This does reflect unfavourably on the British Treasury and Revenue and Customs, as they are encouraging the sale of material that the Italians say is looted.
"Many of the antiquities are Etruscan and could only have been found in Italy. They left Italy illegally because they would require an export licence. I can't see how the Home Office can dispute that."
The Italians said that requests to the Home Office asking for details on how the antiquities arrived in Britain, which must be given under international law, have been frustrated by "unhelpful", delaying responses. For its part, the Home Office has asked Italy for evidence that the artefacts "were in fact stolen".
The Symes treasures include Etruscan gold and amber necklaces, lead figures of warriors and a bronze mask of Acheloos, a river deity. There is also an Attic cup decorated with dolphins and a Roman bronze statuette of a bull. Many are still soil-encrusted, a sign of recent illegal digs, according to the Italians. Some belong to important known pieces in Italy and offer "evidence" of smuggling. One of the fragments with the liquidators comes from a looted vase that has been returned to Italy by the Getty Museum – "an absurd situation", as they belong together, Ferri said.
The collection is expected to raise well over ?100,000.
Fabio Isman, an Italian authority on looted art, said: "These objects were excavated illegally and are now being sold. It's terrible – terrible for culture and for the country from where the objects came. It's a scandal."
A controversial figure, Symes built up a dealing company once valued at ?125m. Selling antiquities to collectors and museums, including the Getty in Los Angeles, he lived a life of luxury. He went bankrupt after a legal dispute with the family of his late business partner. Aged 65, Symes was sentenced to two years in prison in 2005 by a high court judge.
The liquidator, BDO Stoy Hayward, declined to comment. A Home Office spokesman said its policy is "to neither confirm nor deny the existence of a request to the UK, or to comment [on it]".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/
apr/11/robin-symes-italy-antiques-looted
 
 
 
 

Monday, April 12, 2010
The Untold Story of Jews in Italy During WWII - STILL Inaccurrate
 

UNICO's Hillside program attempts to correct Mis Impressions that the Jewish Community shows little Enthusiasm to present .Yet UNICO fails to include several important facts. 
1. Jews were a high % of the Fascist Party when Mussolini made his March on Rome
2. Jews held a ENORMOUSLY disproportionate number  of the High Official Positions, when there were 50,000 Jews in a country of 50 million, which was 1/10  of One Percent 
3. That which is referred to as Anti Semitic Legislation of 1938 were Actually RACIAL PURITY LAWS to Discourage Italian soldiers in Ethiopia from marrying local women that are unusually attractive. 
It also included Provisions that required Jews to sign Loyalty Oaths to Italy, because many Jews that were highly positioned in the Italian government were putting their loyalty to Zionism before their Loyalty to Italy, and had become pawns of the British Foreign Service in exchange for "favors" detrimental to Italy.
4. All of the 8,000 Jews referred to as Italians were Actually German, and Eastern European Jewish Refugees. 
NO ITALIAN JEWS WERE AT ANYTIME SENT TO GERMANY, for being Jewish. Yes Many Anti Fascists were.
5. Both Anti Fascist Jews and Jewish Refugees were Hidden and Protected by NON -Jews, when being discovered would  lead to the NON Jews death.  
6. Other Refugee Jews were held in Detention Camps that protected them from the Nazi SS, and were FAR more comfortable than the US Internment camps. There were Synagogues, Schools, cultural Entertainment, and FREE PASSAGE out of the Camp during the Day, and EVEN the visitation of Italians into the Camp for Medical Services
7. Trieste, ITALY  was the GREATEST Port of Disembarkation of German and Eastern Refugee Jews to Freedom than any place in Europe. 
Hillside Program to Focus on Untold Story of Italian Jews
The New Jersey Star-Ledger;  By Julie O'Connor; April 11, 2010
HILLSIDE -- Survivors and historians say it’s one of the most remarkable, but perhaps least known, stories of World War II: the high survival rate of Italy’s Jews, despite fascist dictator Benito Mussolini’s alliance with Adolf Hitler.
Roughly 80 percent of Jews in Italy survived the Holocaust, while elsewhere in Europe about the same percentage were murdered by the Nazis.
That impressive statistic has inspired a special program Monday on "Italians and the Holocaust," hosted by the Hillside chapter of the Italian-American group UNICO. 
Speakers will discuss the Holocaust, and the role Italy played in the survival of about 40,000 of its own Jews.
"Unfortunately, it’s really an untold story," Andre DiMino, the national president of UNICO, said yesterday. "I know a number of Italian-Americans who were not even aware this happened in Italy."
It’s also a story that must be balanced with tragedy: in total, about 8,000 Italian Jews were deported to Nazi death camps. In addition, Jews in Italy were confined to internment camps, their civil rights stripped away.
Italians were not blameless during the Holocaust and many were complacent, said Alan Brill, an associate professor at Seton Hall’s Graduate Department of Jewish-Christian Studies.
However, he said, "the bottom line is that for many reasons, Italy did not accept the Nazi genocidal plan. In other countries, almost everyone perished."
Anti-Semitism was less virulent [Wrong , It was almost begnign)in Italy than its Nazi form, he said. Most common Italians and lower-level government officials were opposed to targeting Jews. The Italian version of anti-Jewish legislation in 1938 had significant loopholes. And many Italian Jews who perished had been rounded up by the Germans in areas around Rome. 
During five trips to Italy, Vince Marmorale, a retired history teacher from Long Island, said he interviewed Jewish survivors about the Italian farmers, priests and neighbors who protected them. He will share clips from his documentary at the UNICO event, at 7 p.m. in the municipal building on Liberty Avenue.
"I wanted to tell the story of how ordinary people did the right thing," he said. "It’s an imperfect story."....
"Future generations should know that at the time, there were people who managed to rescue, to help," he said.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/
04/hillside_program_to_focus_on_u.html
 
 
 
 

Monday, April 12, 2010 
Matteo Manassero Continues to Amaze

Matteo Manassero of Italy, at 16 was the youngest player to ever be invited to the Masters Tournament, which was in itself amazing, but he then beat out 60 other participants, to make the cut after the first two rounds, tying eight others at a Tie for 40th at 3 over par with a 71 and 76 = 147.
 
Today, Matteo shot a 73 and 72 for a 145 for a grand total of 292, a 4 over par,  and good for 36th place, finishing 12  places ahead of those that made the Cut. 

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Whatever the high school equivalent of “show and tell’’ is in Italy, Matteo Manassero will bring quite a story back with him.
The 16-year-old schoolboy from Verona can show off the sterling silver cup given to the low amateur at the Masters, which he’s guaranteed to become today. He can tell about staying in the famed Crow’s Nest, of playing a practice round with Tom Watson, and proving that a teenager with big dreams can achieve some of them, even against the finest golfers in the world, when given a chance.
In Manassero’s case, he’s the one who created the opportunity. Based on what he’s accomplished the past 10 months, his favorite subject would have to be history.
“I never expected this,’’ he said. “I dreamed about being here, but never expected that I’d have the possibility to play in these events at 16.’’
Soaking up an experience that not even three back-nine bogeys could sour, Manassero had a hard time wiping the smile off his face yesterday. He shot 73, following rounds of 71-76, and his 54-hole total of 4 over par has him well off the lead, tied for 38th. But the simple fact that he’s here, playing in the Masters as its youngest competitor ever, and displaying the skills and maturity of someone years older, is turning plenty of heads.
“I think he’s got a big future,’’ Lee Westwood said earlier in the week. “There’s not many weaknesses. He’ll be around for a long time.’’
Perhaps, but his amateur days are numbered. Manassero will become a professional next month — he turns 17 on April 19 — and will make his for-pay debut in front of the paisans at the Italian Open. He plans on completing his schooling either online or with the help of a tutor, and said he has the support of his family.
He’s sought advice from others who made the leap at a young age, including Rory McIlroy, the 20-year-old from Northern Ireland who turned pro two years ago and is ranked 11th in the world.
“He said if I feel ready, there’s no problem trying to do that,’’ Manassero said.
He sounds sure of himself, but if he had been on the fence, his performance this past week has confirmed to Manassero that he’s ready.
“I’m comfortable playing with these guys, I’m playing OK, so I think I’m ready,’’ he said.
It’s been a whirlwind year for the teen. He became the youngest winner in British Amateur history by nearly two years — and the first Italian champion — by winning at Formby last June. A month later, playing in his first major championship at the British Open, Manassero overcame his nerves and finished in a 13th-place tie, earning low amateur honors.
That showing at Turnberry might have been a surprise. This one at Augusta National isn’t, despite it being a golf course that typically treats first-timers rather harshly. He’s kept up length-wise with everybody else and shown the ability to save par from tough spots around the undulating greens.
Kids his age usually worry about tests, flirting, and getting a driver’s license. And while he has other interests — “soccer, relaxing’’ — Manassero has been on the fast track toward a golf career since he began playing at 3.
That’s not to say he’s consumed with the sport. Asked after his third round if he’d watch a Spanish Premier League soccer match later in the afternoon, his eyes lit up.
“What channel is it?’’ he said. “Yes, I’ll watch.’’ 
http://www.boston.com/sports/golf/articles/
2010/04/11/student_passing_the_test/

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