Free Republic

Italian Americans in Syracuse will gather in Columbus Circle Monday, to pay tribute to the Italian explorer, possibly for the last time. And they're not happy about it. After years of controversy and discussion, Mayor Ben Walsh made the final decision on the future of the controversial statue last week. The statue will be coming down. "The city of Syracuse will move forward with steps in local and state law, to remove the Columbus statue, the heads of Indigenous people of the Plains, the bas relief plaques, and have them removed to a private site," Walsh said during a press...

It’s unfortunate that this year’s Columbus Day Parade was canceled because of the pandemic. But it’s even more unfortunate that in recent years, an anti-Columbus movement has risen up attempting to eradicate history. Columbus Day is not a day to honor an individual, but rather a day to remember a courageous voyage, the catalyst that initiated over 500 years of immigration to the Americas by people from every corner of the Earth, all of whom were seeking better lives for their families. It’s also unfair to apply today’s political norms to a man who lived 500 years ago. If modern...

Who Is Saint Rocco? Saint Rocco was born of noble parentage about 1340 A.D. in Montpellier, France. At birth it was noted that he had a red cross-shaped birthmark on the left side of his chest. As a young child, San Rocco showed great devotion to God and the Blessed mother. At an early age, his parents died leaving him an orphan under the care of his uncle, the Duke of Montpellier. Soon after, San Rocco distributed his wealth among the poor and took a vow of poverty. San Rocco dressed in the clothes of a pilgrim and departed...

After statues of Christopher Columbus were defaced around the country this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that he supports keeping Manhattan’s statue of the Italian explorer, saying it represents “the Italian-American legacy” in America. Asked by a reporter at his daily coronavirus press briefing whether it is time for the 14-foot marble statue in Columbus Circle outside Central Park to go, Cuomo responded that while he understands the feelings surrounding the controversial historical figure, he supports keeping the monument. “I understand the dialogue has been going on for a number of years,” Cuomo said. “The Christopher Columbus...

Away it goes. To recap: At 3 p.m., Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington told reporters the State Patrol knew a group planned to tear down the Columbus statue. At 5 p.m., it happened. State Patrol gave no resistance despite advance warning. By 7 p.m., the statue is gone. WATCH.......

Italian Navy aircraft carrier ITS Cavour on July 20 entered a dry dock at the Taranto navy yard to receive upgrades that will allow it to operate F-35B jets. The 244-meter Cavour is currently undergoing an extensive overhaul after ten years of service. All works on the ship are expected to be completed by the spring of 2020, when the ship’s crew is set to start training for a summer deployment to the US East Coast and shipboard trials with the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter. In addition to the F-35A version, Italy...

They are under investigation for manslaughter and for causing injury to 197 others. Survivors said panic spread after the pepper spray was unleashed. The victims were five teens, ages 14-16, and a 39-year-old mother who had accompanied her daughter Follow up to: "6 dead, more hurt in nightclub stampede in Italy" December 8, 2018 https://nypost.com/2018/12/08/6-dead-dozens-hurt-in-nightclub-stampede-in-italy/

In American culture, we believe that men can never be entirely trusted in the realm of the physical. We collectively suspect that, given the opportunity, men will collapse into the sexual at a moment’s notice. That men don’t know how to physically connect otherwise. That men can’t control themselves. That men are dogs. There is no corresponding narrative about women. And where does this leave men? Physically and emotionally isolated. Cut off from the deeply human physical contact that is proven to reduce stress, encourage self esteem and create community. Instead, we walk in the vast crowds of our cities...

We knew pretty early in our 14-month relationship with this Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio that we weren't going to be able to make a clean break from it. This was not that kind of relationship. And it is not that kind of car. No, instead we would continue coming back to the Giulia, no matter how it betrayed us. Mostly that's because we were obligated to finish this 40,000-mile test. But we also just couldn't give up on it. Rarely have we hoped for a car in our possession to succeed more than we did for this Alfa. And rarely...

A mysterious 600-year-old manuscript that has been deemed "unreadable" by the world's top cryptographers has finally been deciphered. That's the claim by one Bristol academic who has cracked the legendary Voynich manuscript and revealed its secrets. Dr. Gerard Cheshire believes that the document is written in a dead language called proto-Romance. By studying the letter and symbols through the manuscript, he was able to decipher the meaning of the words. According to the linguistics buff, the Voynich manuscript contains sex tips, info on parenting and psychology, and herbal remedies. "I experienced a series of 'eureka' moments whilst deciphering the code,...

A University of Bristol academic has succeeded where countless cryptographers, linguistics scholars and computer programs have failed—by cracking the code of the 'world's most mysterious text', the Voynich manuscript. Although the purpose and meaning of the manuscript had eluded scholars for over a century, it took Research Associate Dr. Gerard Cheshire two weeks, using a combination of lateral thinking and ingenuity, to identify the language and writing system of the famously inscrutable document. In his peer-reviewed paper, The Language and Writing System of MS408 (Voynich) Explained, published in the journal Romance Studies, Cheshire describes how he successfully deciphered the manuscript's...

The Colombo family boss Carmine "The Snake" Persico died last week. The last tie to the 'Golden Age' of the mafia is gone. And maybe so is the Italian mob's stranglehold on the American imagination. “Michael Corleone says hello.” That line from an iconic scene in “The Godfather 2” is uttered just before an attempted hit on the character Frank Pantageli. The garroting in a bar is broken up by a beat cop who just happens to walk in. The incident is not entirely fiction. In August 1961, Carmine “the Snake” Persico tried to take out Larry Gallo in a...

If this is the same Cesar Sayoc.....He’s a Demicrat Cesar Sayoc is 56 years old and was born on 3/17/1962. Currently, he lives in Aventura, FL; and previously lived in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Hollywood, FL and Edison, NJ. Sometimes Cesar goes by various nicknames including Cesar A Sayoc and Cesar A Sayol. His ethnicity is Caucasian, whose political affiliation is currently a registered Democrat Party; and religious views are listed as Christian. Other family members and associates include Madeline Giardiello and Christina Villasana. Learn More

Qamishli (Syria) (AFP) - Kurdish fighters in northern Syria detained an alleged Italian member of the Islamic State group as he was trying to flee across the border to Turkey, they said Thursday. The People's Protection Units (YPG) have captured several foreign IS fighters since the jihadists' so-called caliphate collapsed nearly a year ago. "On August 27, a mercenary called Semir Bogana was captured as a result of a special operation conducted by our Anti-Terror Units, when he was trying to flee to Turkey," said the YPG. It said Bogana -- an Italian citizen known also as Abu Hureyre al-Muhajir...

(snip) --- Francesco Molinari has held off a cast of golfing giants including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and defending champion Jordan Spieth to become the first Italian winner of the British Open in 158 years. Playing alongside the resurgent Woods in the final round, Molinari carded a nerveless two-under-par 69 to win the Claret Jug by two shots from McIlroy (70), English hope Justin Rose (69) and Americans Xander Schauffele (74) and Kevin Kisner (74). With a brilliant birdie at the last, 35-year-old Molinari's eight-under 72-hole total of 276 eclipsed Padraig Harrington's Carnoustie tournament record score from 2007 by a...

I like to joke that my dad is the most Italian man alive, but that would be inaccurate — he’s just a regular amount of Italian. But it wasn’t until later in my life that I realized that my dad wasn’t uniquely a pain in the ass about food, and that most Italians are insanely tightly wound about their cuisine. Last year, I came across a Twitter account that exemplifies that attitude, and it quickly became one of my favorite places online. Italians Mad at Food (@italiancomments) is a treasure trove of, well, Italians mad at food. The creator, who...

It’s not that Eric Schneiderman (the now-former New York attorney general accused of abuse by multiple women) pushed me over the edge. My edge has been crossed for a long time, before President Trump, before Harvey Weinstein, before “mansplaining” and “incels.” Before live-streaming sexual assaults and red pill men’s groups and rape camps as a tool of war and the deadening banality of male prerogative. Seen in this indisputably true context, it seems logical to hate men. I can’t lie, I’ve always had a soft spot for the radical feminist smackdown, for naming the problem in no uncertain terms. I’ve...

Just met the new Prime Minister of Italy, @GiuseppeConteIT, a really great guy. He will be honored in Washington, at the @WhiteHouse, shortly. He will do a great job - the people of Italy got it righthttps://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1005550889422110721

Italy’s populist parties would win an outright majority in parliament if new elections were held, according to the latest polls. The anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and nationalist Lega parties’ first attempt to form a coalition fell apart last week when President Sergio Mattarella vetoed their choice of finance minister, Paolo Savona, because of his eurosceptic views — but a populist government appears to be back on the cards now, with the two parties ready to put fresh proposals to the unelected president following polls showing fresh elections could make them even stronger.

The Kenilworth schools superintendent has been placed on paid leave after being arrested Monday on charges of lewdness and public urination/defecation in Holmdel, according to school officials and public records. thomas-tramaglini.jpgThomas Tramaglini Thomas Tramaglini, who makes $147,504 a year as superintendent, also faces a charge of discarding and dumping of litter, according to the state's municipal court database. He was taken into custody at 5:45 a.m.