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Prairie Gates

Prairie Gates's Journal
Prairie Gates's Journal
March 1, 2024

Meloni announces Chico Forti to be transferred to Italy after Biden meeting

President Biden met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House today. Meloni, from the far right Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, has proved an unlikely ally on European support for Ukraine, taking a strong pro-Ukraine stance both domestically and in the G7.

It's all over the Italian press that Meloni has announced the transfer to Italy of Enrico "Chico" Forti, who was convicted of murder in Florida and sentenced to life without parole. He is considered by many Italians the "Italian Amanda Knox," convicted and sentenced for a crime he did not commit (editor's note: he's almost certainly guilty).

Italy sought to have him transferred to an Italian prison in a deal that all but had him on a plane three years ago. However, it fell through because Miami-Dade prosecutors appealed to Ron DeSantis that his transfer would in essence amount to a sentence reduction because Italy at that time didn't have a life without parole sentence. (This was in 2020).

Meloni posted to Instagram today that they were now expecting him at any time in Italy, and thanking Florida and the federal government for working the deal. It is almost certain that he will be released soon by any Italian court, as it is the widespread belief in Italy that he was railroaded by Miami-Dade prosecutors. Also, Meloni's Twitter video is awfully welcoming for an convicted murderer. It's like "And now we're awaiting you in Italy, Chico." Yeesh.

March 1, 2024

Columbia Official Is Accused of Plagiarizing Dissertation From Wikipedia

Source: The New York Times

An official in charge of diversity, equity and inclusion at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center was accused this week of plagiarizing large sections of his doctoral dissertation, according to an anonymous complaint filed with the university.

The 55-page complaint accused the official, Alade McKen, of copying material in his 2021 dissertation at Iowa State University from more than two dozen other scholars and from Wikipedia, which is written and edited by volunteers from the general public.

The complaint was published online Thursday by The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative news website that led a campaign last year against the former president of Harvard University, Claudine Gay. She resigned in January following accusations of plagiarism and after her response to antisemitism on campus was criticized.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/nyregion/columbia-medical-plagiarism-wikipedia.html



If you're doing any kind of DEI work in academe and you're not squeaky clean, damn but they're coming for you.
February 27, 2024

Photofinish in Sardinian regional elections (Italia), with the left in a slight lead

Regional elections for Sardegna (Sardinia) were held yesterday, with vote counting still ongoing. However, it looks like it might be a surprise win for Alessandra Todde (5 Star Movement) over Paolo Truzzu, the FdI (Brothers of Italy) favorite and ally of Giorgia Meloni.

Think of it as essentially a governors and state house race in the US, where a region functions something like a state (not really, but close enough). The victory will make Todde the first woman President (governor) of Sardegna, as well as the first 5 Star Movement President of any region.

The center-left coalition is touting it as a major victory - the win is even bigger when the Greens and the other left parties are thrown in. Elly Schlein (PD - essentially the Democrats) showed up, as did Giuseppe Conti (5 Star Movement, former Prime Minister) to proclaim that the wind has changed in Europe's rightward lurch (Schlein: "Adesso cambia il vento" ), results in Portugal notwithstanding. It's probably an overly optimistic view, but let's take the wins when they come in.

February 3, 2024

With House Seat at Stake, Republicans Court Jewish Voters Rattled by War

Source: The New York Times

On the campaign trail, Mazi Pilip wears a Star of David around her neck. She speaks with a thick Ethiopian-Israeli accent. And when it comes to the Israel-Hamas war, Ms. Pilip, the Republican nominee in a special House election in New York, adds no political polish.

“Oct. 7 changed me forever,” she said the other day, her voice cracking, at a vigil for a local man who was taken hostage by Hamas. Ms. Pilip, an Israeli military veteran, called him “my brother.”

“The vicious attack of Hamas on my people, on my brothers and sisters, and our Jewish land — a vicious attack — we are never going to forget,” she said, as the packed gymnasium of the suburban Jewish community center nodded along.

Many politicians have rushed to stand by American Jews since the war began. But few have made the conflict so viscerally central to their political identity as Ms. Pilip, 44, a little-known county legislator whose remarkable personal story and unusual overtures to Jews across the political spectrum have propelled her into a dead heat with Tom Suozzi, a former Democratic congressman.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/03/nyregion/mazi-pilip-israel-suozzi.html



It's gonna be close.
February 2, 2024

Funny story out of Italy: Right wing jerk and undersecretary of the culture ministry resigns

After being accused of owning a ... wait for it ...

stolen painting

He was also charging conferences and festivals for his appearances, to the tune of $350,000.

Vittorio Sgarbi is an art critic and, quite frankly, well-known shithead who was buddy-buddy with Berlusconi and has been known to call women "bitches" and "whores" in public.

Italian story

Guardian story (English)

January 29, 2024

A U.S. drone was returning as another attacked the base, confusing air defenses.

Source: NY Times

Air defenses failed to stop a deadly attack on a U.S. military outpost in Jordan on Sunday because the hostile drone homed in on its target at the same time an American drone was returning to the base, two U.S. officials said Monday.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/01/29/world/israel-gaza-jordan-news#a-us-drone-was-returning-as-another-attacked-the-base-confusing-air-defenses



This is horribly bad luck.
January 8, 2024

American Company's Spacecraft Malfunctions on Its Way to the Moon

Source: The New York Times

The first NASA-financed commercial mission to send a robotic spacecraft to the surface of the moon will most likely not be able to make it there.

The lunar lander, named Peregrine and built by Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh, encountered problems shortly after it lifted off early Monday morning from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The launch of the rocket, a brand-new design named Vulcan, was flawless, successfully sending Peregrine on its journey.

But a failure in the lander’s propulsion system depleted its propellant and most likely ended the mission’s original lunar ambitions.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/08/science/nasa-moon-lander-malfunction-peregrine.html



Oh my.

January 5, 2024

Haley and DeSantis have been absolutely retail-level campaigning in Iowa

Trump...not so much.

Listen, it's hard not to defer to the polls and the experts here: of course we all expect Trump to clean up in Iowa. But it sure is interesting to see the commitment to being-out-there and doing the handshaking and meet-ups on the one hand, contrasted with the rallies and bluster on the other.

Will the ground-level approach move the needle at all? Iowa's always been an odd place when it comes to that sort of thing.

December 23, 2023

Chicago suburb restricts buses from dropping off migrants without notice

Source: CBS News Chicago

AURORA, Ill. (CBS) -- The Aurora City Council approved an ordinance on Friday aimed at preventing buses from dropping off migrants without any notice.

It came as the western suburb received its sixth bus of migrants in the past two days. Other suburbs have reported receiving buses with migrants.

As CBS 2's Asal Rezaei reported, another bus dropped off about 30 migrants at a Metra train station in Lockport without any notice yesterday. The migrants were later taken to Chicago.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-aurora-migrant-buses/



The most comical part of dropping migrants off in Aurora is that the mayor of Aurora (Richard Irvin) is a conservative Republican who ran a failed campaign for governor last year, being defeated by the Trumpy jackass who eventually got destroyed by Pritzker.

They also dropped off migrants at a gas station in Kankakee at 4:30 in the morning! So much for sending them to "sanctuary cities!"

Now all the Chicago suburbs will have to pass ordinances to assure the safety of these migrants and Illinois residents and first-responders. I like the Aurora ordinance: $1000 for every person on the bus! Good.
December 17, 2023

'Make more Italians,' Elon Musk says as star guest at PM's political conference

Italy has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, and Musk urged the crowd to “make more Italians to save Italy’s culture,” a particular focus of the Meloni government.

...

Meloni sat in the front row taking photos of Musk, who she personally invited. Meloni founded the Atreju conference in 1998, named after a character in the 1984 film “The NeverEnding Story.”

Meloni is a fan of fantasy and has been vocal about her love for J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” and during her youth, she attended Hobbit Camps, which were set up by the post-Fascist Movimento Sociale Italiano for young right-wing politicians like herself.

“Lord of the Rings” is often described as a pillar of Italy’s post-Fascist far-right parties.


Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/16/europe/elon-musk-italy-political-convention-intl/index.html

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