Toxic Waste, "admissions for cancers rose by 40%" in the southern Lazio

The allegation of the enviromental organisation Legambiente. The Valle del Sacco is in full environmental emergency: incinerators and pollution sites are out of control and serious diseases are on the rise. As one  doctor, Natalia, puts it: "281% more than the national average of tumors to the brain and 174% of malignant tumors of the lymphatic system for boys from birth to 14 years"

If the Caserta is the Land of fire, we are the Land of poisons. "Cemetery of Sgurgola, southern Lazio, here we talk about Olga Kožárová, a Polish citizen living in Italy for twenty years. This is the highest point in the country, behind us lie the dead, in front of us the Sacco valley with its factories, incinerators, the river stinks with the off-limits areas where even the grass is dead, like plants and the animals that eat it, as the river water and the wells. "These factories once wore work and a bit of wealth in our families, today they give us only diseases and unemployment." A modern Middle Ages, with its miseries and its plague.

The eyes of Olga, who for this land that is not hers has been fighting for years together with mothers, environmentalists, and ordinary people who want to know and understand are red with indignation. It has been a hundred years that poisons have been produced in this part of Lazio. There is everything. In Colleferro weapon factories since 1912, where it has been producing gas for colonial wars, and now missile systems, which ended up in the sight of the UN and pacifists on suspicion that they were used by Saddam Hussein as carriers for chemical weapons. In the other sites of industrial illusion, drug factories, cement factories for the manufacture of insecticides. "All industries have been discharging their waters into the river Sacco,"  says Anna Natalia, a member of the environmental coordination of Anagni.

There are more than 80 industrial outlets in the river, we read in the files of the environmentalists: "just come at night on the shores to feel the smells." In the villages of Ferentino , Anagni , Colleferro Morolo  a few years ago  6,000 heads of cattle had to be killed. They ate polluted grass and drank polluted water, their milk was poison, their flesh rotting. "The food chain is largely impaired,” says Dr. Massimo Natalia of Anagni, “we have been analyzing for years the increase of cancer, I do not know anymore how many young patients I had to cure for prostate cancer." The official figures are alarming. According to a 2012 study on childhood cancer in the Valle del Sacco spread by the environmental organisation of Legambiente, in Colleferro, Swgni and Gavignano hasrecorded a 40% increase in admissions for tumors in the  group from birth to 14 years; in Paliano, Anagni, Ferentino, Sgurgola, Murolo and Supino, the percentage of "hospitalization" of children of the same age group is 18% higher than the regional average. Appalling data in Anagni: 281% higher than the average of tumors to the brain, and 174% of malignant tumours of the lymphatic system for males aged from birth to 14 years. “And they have also closed the hospital. Diseases increase and the most important health center of the areas is shut down in order to save," says Dr. Natalia.

We are just at the entrance of the once hospital of Anagni, seen from here (the home of Franco Fiorito, the former leader of the PDL in the region, who has become a living icon of the squander of public money by the parties), the story of the savings is really surreal. The hospital has brand new operating rooms that have been sealed, tap water has the color of rust, but here once  were state-of-the-art units. Meanwhile, €4 million  have been thrown to the wind to design the airport of Frosinone, estimated cost of €90 million, a toy that has served only to local election campaigns of local ras, ended up under investigations and scandals. And the disease goes on. A recent study from the Department of Epidemiology, of the Region Health Service of Lazio, says that the presence of significant levels of hexachlorocyclohexane (a byproduct of the production of insecticides used until 2001) in the waters has been recorded – a powerful poison that causes damage to kidney function, changes in the cognitive system and to sex hormones in women. "And to think that even in the face of  this data, the Environment Ministry has decided to downgrade the entire valley of the Sacco from site of the national interest to site of regional concern. This means less money for land reclaim and a loss of national attention,” claims Parlati Lorenzo, president of Legambiente Lazio.

Not only industries but also landfills and incinerators have played their part. "The official landfills,”  points out Alberto Valleriani, “from the network for the protection of the Valle del Sacco – and especially the clandestine ones. Here in the past number of years were buried toxic and hazardous wastes under the sheds of the factories: the cows died in 2005 were poisoned by cyanide, and there has never been a culprit; at the time the companies involved were acquitted of all responsibility. Processes, one for the pollution of the Valley, and the other for the incinerator in Colleferro, are slow, and are constantly postponed, run the risk of prescription. "Before leaving the valley we look out from the bridge of Sgurgola above the river Sacco, it rains and the water is black.  “Come at night or on days of festivity,” says a farmer, “the water disappears and in its place there is only yellow foam. It is our plague.”

Translated by Francesca Vantaggiato from http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/film-tv/en-dodsbra-punkhistoria/

Article by Andreas Nordström o Dn.se

Brothers David , Bobby and Dannis Hackney in the band Death photographed in the early 70s.


With " A band called Death" has punk got its own "Searching for Sugar Man" . Tonight , Friday , the acclaimed movie will be screened at the Rio Cinema in Stockholm .

The American documentary that was made by Mark Covino and Jeff Howlett tells of three black teenagers , priest sons and blood brothers. In 1971 they founded the band Death in Detroit. The trio plays raw and primitive punk  some years before the Sex Pistols and the Ramones defines the genre.

Contemporaries , who in the early 70's are busy with  the gentle humming choruses of Earth Wind & Fire , take nothing. When a large company Arista still shows a received lukewarm interest calls for the group to change its name . But David Hackney , the mastermind behind Death , refuses. It would be to sell the group's soul.

The band's long road to restoration is such a dizzying unlikely story that sounds as if concocted by a wily PR agency .

- I know ! When Mark called and nagged that we need to make a documentary about the band so I told him to go to hell. I was convinced that it was all a fake, says director Jeff Howlett .

- After making several documentaries , I knew that it is a hopeless genre. Man loses money , gets depressed and no one sees your movie. But once I heard Death so everything changed. Then I understood - this is for real, continues Jeff Howlett .

Mark Covino laughs. He says that one of the most common questions when the two filmmakers show " A band called Death" at festivals is precisely if the story is fictional .

- Our ambition has been to spread the story around the world. We did not just turn to snow record collectors . Therefore , we have interviewed some unlikely names, such as Elijah Wood . But he loves the band , and you can get Frodo Baggins to participate in a film about punk and it's clear that you have to take a chance , says Jeff Howlett .

" A band called Death" is about brutal punk. But it is an unexpectedly hot movie .

- About halfway into the work we noticed that all participants speak so lovingly about each other. Bobby and Dannis Hackney in Death still lives in the same house . Bobby lives upstairs with his family. Dannis downstairs. And they have thus played together for 40 years, said Mark Covino .

What have you learned from working on the film ?

- I've always been a pathological pessimist. But the film has made me believe in myself and stop compromising . Nowadays I live by David Hackney Gospel says Jeff Howlett .

Translation article by Luca Pierattini on La Repubblica

http://www.repubblica.it/politica/2013/12/13/news/forconi_scoppia_il_cao_antisemitismo_gattegna_basta_parole_deliranti-73481890/?ref=search

The movement of the forconi : "Wednesday in Rome." The anti-Semitism case broke, Gattegna: "Delirious words"

The president of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities responds to the words of Zunino: "Statements powered by the most violent and sinister stereotypes that offend the democratic consciousness and memory of those who died as a result of Nazi ideology." Fifth day of protests, Ferro: "We will go on to the bitter end, we will not make a parade in the capital, but a permanent garrison"

ROME - Next Wednesday there will be a demonstration in Rome of the movement of forconi : "It will be a permanent garrison in a place that we will agree with the police , but will not be a procession to prevent infiltrators " announces Mariano Ferro, one of the leaders of the movement, in a press conference. The protests will continue “ to the  end in all areas of Italy" at least until Christmas : "We did this forcing of the democracy , because otherwise no one would have listened to us . Apologies to all Italians who have had to endure inconveniences, but we could not to do otherwise. " The head of the movement in Sicily attacks the unions that have joined the strike : " The unions CGIL, CISL and UIL have always been close to the government , they have always pretended to solve the problems."

At this time the " Coordination of  9th December ,"which brings together all the groups within the protest movement , does not  aim to a possible candidacy in the upcoming election. It takes instead distance even from the parties that in these days have neared the reasons for the protest , like Forza Italia or the Lega Nord: " We didn’t say that we wanted to meet with Berlusconi , is not he that didn’t want to meet us , we didn’t want to meet him ". The Coordination does not want to even hear about Movemento 5 Stelle: "Compared to Grillo we are pragmatic, we take actions."

Mr. Ferro’s announcement comes on the day when another case bursts within the movement : the accusations of anti-Semitism. The spokesman of the movement " 9^th December  " Andrea Zunino has defined Italy as a "slave of the bankers like Rothschild ." The coordination " 9^th December " has " categorically denied " the statements in the interview by Vera Schiavazzi . In the interview reported on 13^th December of the Italian newspaper Repubblica  he had referred tothe Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has a man who is ​​really is liberating his country and express concern about Jewish prominent leaders “ is curious that 5 or 6 of the richest men in the world are Jews, but it is something I need to look into. " He has also further commented “I have no evidence. But I think that Hitler was probably crazy, he avenged with the anti-Semitism of the about-face of his initial American lenders. Personally I do not care.. " The newspaper Republica confirms all of the content of the interview.

The accusation has been harshly criticized by the President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, Renzo Gattegna : " Delirious words reminding , without any shame and disgrace , a historical period characterized by death , violence, and denial of the most basic rights ." Gattegna stressed that these words are evidence of " a deeper sense of increasing unease ," powered by  " the most sinister and violent anti-Semitic stereotypes " that can only bring the mind back to the Nazi era , " Zunino not only offends the memory of millions of individuals who , in the name of Nazi ideology , died of the most atrocious suffering , but above all the intelligence , consciousness and democratic maturity of the Italian population whose instances he intends to represent , apparently improperly, in the streets and squares all over the country. " Also the president of the Jewish Community of Rome, Riccardo Pacifici takes distance from the statements of Zunino and prompts those in the streets to do the same : "We appeal to those in despair not to be lured by the ' glamor ' of ideologies we considered buried . We show the utmost respect towards those who protest these days , we need to grasp their cry of pain. "

The protest. Meanwhile, the demonstrations continue today. The platform of participants in the protests has spread like wildfire considering the origin of the movement, born in Sicily in January 2012 as a protest by lorry drivers and farmers. That movement, led by Mariano Ferro, has seen joining peddlers, temporary workers, students,  unemployed, immigrants, and even football hooligans  and right-wing extremists. A cauldron of angry people, united mainly by three objectives: the fall of Letta’s government, exit from the euro and the tax cut. The methods of intimidation, used mainly against the dealers to get them to close, the shutters and some of the statements and the violent tone of the statements, made unclear the reasons for the protest among the Italians. A of Agora on Rai Tre has revealed the fact that 79% of respondents did not understand why the forconi are on the streets since last Monday.

Meanwhile, not all leaders agree with the announcement of Mr. Ferro for Wednesday. Enrico Leoni, leader of the Roman movement of the "9^th December ," announced that the "official protest in Rome" will be held on Monday and will not be restricted only to Montecitorio, seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, but it will be a protest like wildfire in various parts of the city. "