Sopranos Among Us

Manny,
Seriously, get over yourself.

Really. It may be true that "it's not television, it's HBO," but geez, it's a still a fictional TV series that just happens to enjoy immense popularity.

As an Italian American whose grandparents emigrated to this country from Sicily, I have to say that Manny's position seems like a huge over reaction.

...And it goes without saying that his "Italian American One Voice Coalition" does not speak with one voice for all Italian Americans.

Sicily, where the Mafia got its start...

Of course I meant "immigrated".

Yeah it is just a TV show Pisan. But I guess everyone needs a hobby.

I always have trouble w/the emigrate/immigrate thing so I looked it up. Emigrate from Sicily is correct; but it should be immigrate TO the United States. So here is the full story:

Emigrate or Immigrate?

The prefix e- (or ex-) usually means "out of" or "from." The prefix im- (or in-) often means "in" or "into."

Therefore, emigrate means "to move out of" and immigrate means "to move into."

Correct: They emigrated from Rwanda and immigrated to Gabon.

Note: The prefix e- comes from the Latin word e, such as we see in the motto of the United States: "E pluribus unum" (Out of many, one).

As for the Sopranos thing, I agree with all who say it is a huge overreaction on the part of Mr. Alfano.

Kaufman told of a 1978 meeting that pitted Chin Gigante against Joseph Macaluso, whose son owned Statewide Environmental in New Jersey, the company that held a garbage contract at Ford's plant in Edison.

Gigante was seething over Macaluso's "theft" of a Ford garbage contract.

"Chin Gigante puts a gun to Joe Macaluso's head," Kaufman recounted. "He says, 'Are you going to give up Ford, no more fooling around?'

"Joe Macaluso says, 'Let me tell you something. If you shoot me or you hurt any of my sons, the war would never end.'"

Macaluso soon gave back the contract. Charles Macaluso, who served as an honorary co-chairman of the 1976 Democratic National Convention, had close ties to the Genovese crime family, according to a congressional report on organized crime in the hazardous waste industry.
Macaluso pleaded guilty in 1984 to bribing a Wanaque official to fix a garbage contract. He died in 2000. His father, Joseph, died in 1998.

ima gonna be in the soprannnoooooooos

I think Manny is just ridiculous. It would be defamation if mobsters were never Italian! And discrimination if Italians were only ever shown (on the Sopranos or elsewhere) as nothing more than mobsters - which they aren't. Italians, who aren't immigrating in droves as they once were, and aren't being segregated into slums and ghettos as they once were, etc., hardly have anything to complain about any more (I am part Sicilian myself). They are not an oppressed group.

The biggest problem is people like Manny who look at that show and say, it "portrays Italian Americans as...XYZ" I'm sorry. It doesn't portray "Italian Americans" -- it portrays Mosbters, most of whom are Italian American. And it is a fact that you can't tell a genuine mob story without the mobsters being Italian -- if, of course, you want to be even slightly historically accurate.

And it's just silly to say that discrimination against Italian Americans is the most tolerated. What group of people doesn't say this? I believe Catholics were the most recent. But, legally speaking, you can't fire someone or kick them out of your restaurant for being italian. You can, however, legally do so if they are gay.

aayyyy...i got your defamation right here...

aayyyy...i got your defamation right here...

Manny should pick up a copy of "The Honored Society," Brit writer Norman Lewis's study of the Mafia in Sicily and its global tentacles. Especially one of the updated editions with the added chapters.

A) It'd put the relatively gentle treatment of organized crime in "The Sopranos" in some historical and sociological context.
B) It might also make him grasp that any exposure the Mafia gets of its nefarious doings, here or elsewhere, is all to society's good, and hardly constitutes "defamation" given the brave Italians and Italian-Americans who've resisted and continue to resist all these creeps stand for.

The only real worry is that some will mistakenly identify with the lice who constitute LCN, find them "cool" somehow or even persecuted. Defamation, however, is never at issue, unless, as Manny apparently thinks, others are as dumb as he probably is. (Anyone else remember the old "Italian-American Civil Rights League," which was a front of the Colombo crime family, but for a while gulled a lot of well-meaning people into joining and supporting it?)

Sopranos...daily now on Baristanet? A lot of us REALLY don't care about it.

You Italian-Americans who support the Sopranos are worse than the despicable characters portrayed in the show. Apparently you are unable to gather information and analyze it logically.

Manny Alfano is right to stand up for Italian-Americans. Those of you with Italian surnames who don't find the Sopranos despicable will change your mind when your children are made fun of in school.

The Sopranos is not just a TV show.

Many of my non-Italian friends in the 18-30 year old age range watch the Sopranos and have formed a stereotype of how Italian-Americans are. I am constantly asked, "...so is your dad a mobster?" Some will argue that this statement just comes from ignorance, but unfortunately I feel that it is television shows like "The Sopranos" that perpetuates a perverse and disgraceful view of what Italian-Americans are like.

We should be so proud to be Italian-American for all the beautiful things that come from Italy. And as much as people argue that it's just a television show, The Sopranos defames and debases our Italian culture to the millions of people who watch the show.

As an Italian-American, I agree that the Sopranos defames our culture and perpetuates a negative stereotype. Those that think we should "just lighten up" would never say the same thing to another ethnicity. Manny Alfano does not have a "hobby" as one poster eluded to. He's trying to educate and put an end to the negative stereotyping, as most people are totally ignorant when it comes to the history of anti-Italianism, discrimination and defamation of Italian Americans in this country. To Cathar (and anyone else that doesn't believe this is a serious issue) - you should pick up a copy of the documentary "Anti-Italianism: Discrimination and Defamation in the History of Italian Americas." It's available on Amazon.com.

Next thing your going to say there is no Mafia.

Thank you for proving my point - mention Italian and the first thing out of someone's mouth is "mafia."

Bravo, Manny is right - with all the amazing things the Italian culture has brought to the world, the only thing someone can bring up is the mafia or the sopranos - it's ridiculous already.

"Bravo, Manny," the problem with someone so small-minded as Manny is that he naively imagines others are as dumb as he presumes them to be, that they will automatically assume after simply watching a little tube that Italian-Americans are, if not actual made members, always "connected." (Then there are the "Guidos," not necessarily of Italian descent, who enjoy giving the impression they are in fact "connected.") Yet do you really wish someone so out of touch like that, so seemingly dense, representing you? Someone who doesn't even take the time to differentiate the Sicilian Mafia from its Neapolitan, Sardinian, Roman and even Corsican counterparts and rivals?

But Italian-Americans are in fact more decent and smarter than Manny is capable of imagining them, and they know better than he apparently does that only a very, very, wee percentage have ever been associated with the "honored society" (Norman Lewis says no real Sicilian ever uses the word "Mafia" and many wouldn't even recognize it). "The Sopranos" focuses on that very small grouping (though, oddly, it usually makes little of the Sicilian angle, save in those Sicily-set episodes when Tony unbelievably negotiated with a female crime boss). It makes no pretense whatsoever that most Italian-Americans are linked to ongoing criminal enterprises. So, really, it is Manny who does Italian-Americans a great disservice. As Joe Colombo did during the heyday of the embarassment known as the IACRL.

That so many groups merit reports on discrimination against them as a poster referenced above, too, does not indicate at all that the remedy is to ban works that, to some, sound as if they they only fan further "discrimination."

Manny Alfano is a distinguished Chiropracter who is a civic-minded benefacter of many charitable organizations, who cares about the negative effects of stereotypes against Italian Americans. And, for that, some cafoni on this board have the chutzpah to attack him?Nice try, attempting to shoot the messenger,dopes! Instead, you should wise-up to the message.When a sleazeball like Steven Spielberg concocted the Anti-Italian "Cartoon" named "A Shark`s Tale,aimed at impressionable young chidren,Manny was among the first to speak out.Where were the like s of some of you? Maybe it will take your kids coming home crying from school before this issue gets your rotten, selfish attention! "Manny, I`m with you 100%!

Maybe the reason that defamatory shows such as The Sopranos continue to proliferate is because so many Italian-Americans say "just lighten up." If we don't stand up for our own culture, who will? If you believe that TV shows which portray Italians in a derogatory light have no effect on public opinion, you are living in a dream world.

That Manny "spoke out" against "A Shark's Tale" merely indicates he is hyper-prone to over-reaction, a sort of lasermikey of the bone-pounding set. (And the American Medical Association might even suggest that no chiropractor can ever exactly be "distinguished.")

Really, "The Sopranos" is defamatory to Italians? As "The Departed" is to the Irish? As "Once Upon A Time In America" was to the Jews? Even as "Layer Cake" was to the Brits? This is just sputtering foolishness, another unfounded expression of the culture of permanent grievance.

Italian-Americans who see no harm in Sopranos don't smell the Gorgonzolla.

It is th sheer number of these manufactured gory crime scipts with Italian surnames that rings alame bells.660 films and counting since 1929.

Since the inception of movies Hollywood has demonized Italian-Americans in their mostly ficticious scripts as having a mononoply on crime.

Unfortunately many people can't separate fiction from the real world in our American mix.

Is it not strange that Hollywood has not equated crime with the ex-alumni of Murder Incroprated with names like Bugsy Siegal,Arnold Rothstein,Waxey Gordon,Ben Fein,Abe Bernstein, Legs diamond,etc. and the newly thriving "Kosher Nostra?"

What is even more pathetic than shows like The Sopranos that project negative images of Italians and Italian Americans? Italian Americans who are too blind or not bright enough to know when they are being put down! What does the village idiot do when somebody in town kicks him in the rear end? He laughs! He finds the kick hilarious and chooses not to think about his black-and-blue rear end.

Many of you ask the question, Does Manny think that people are really dumb enough to think that society doesn't know the difference between reality and fiction. There is no doubt that a large part of our population doesn't know the difference between reality and fiction. For example, society idolizes atheletes, actors and musicians. They are some of the wealthiest people in society because of it. They walk around being treated and tolerated as if they were some sort of God. Society not only allows this but promotes it. Half of these people couldn't graduate from the average university. We listen to them and take their side when they denounce our country and our government. Many of them don't even know what is like to like in the real world. For them, todays job is to play a childs game or pretend that you're a gladiator. These are the people a large part of society idolize. What about our teachers, those that protect us, those that invent drugs to keep us alive, people who help the poor and many more. How are they compensated. It is them and not Hollywood, sports and music that we should look up to.
That answers your question of public intellegence.
It is fairly correct to state that Hollywood as well as the media is strongly influenced by Jews. I ask you, what is the percentage of Jewish characters in the movies that are portrayed in a not to flattering manner?A significantly higher percentage of Hollywoods Italian characters either sell cheese steaks, are in the mob, work in not the most influencial jobs or are downright portrayed poorly. Melrose Place had an Italian as a doctor. But if you remember he was the derelict doctor. There is a definte and obvious trend. If you don't see it you have blinders on. Was Mel Gibson that wrong in principle? Lets see what happens to him.
Most of society are enablers. We sit back and watch, perhaps blow it off or just refuse to understand it. Italians are very discriminated against. Leave the NY metropolitan area and you will see it. We allow people like Al Sharpton to scream discrimination when many times discrimination has nothing to do with it. Michael Richardson was wrong and apologized for his statements. Al Sharpton And Jesse Jackson stated that that isn't good enough. Where was the apology and punishment for Al Sharpton when he ruined the police officers life in the Tawana Brawley case. She admitted that she lied and made things up. We all sat back and allowed that.
Over mans history, many of the greatest advancements in math, science, geography, political structure, architecture, art, exploration, and I can go on, came out of Italy or were from Italians. This is the message that we should be promoting. Unfortunately many Italians enjoy the whole mafia or mafia wanna be persona. This whole persona makes it difficult for our children to get into better universities and better jobs. During the upcoming election, let's see the connections that will surface between Rudy Guliani and the mob scaring his chance to be president. It happened quickly to Mario Cuomo.
I look up to guys like Manny Alfano who stands for what he believes is right regardless of some negative publicity by those who want to keep us down are just too ignorant (sorry to use a big word) to understand. He is a pillar of strenght to everthing being Italian stands for. It is people like him that we should idolize. He is obviously not doing this for the money like the people most of you idolize. He is doing it for for equality, our heritage and for you. It's unfortunate that many of you are not bright enough to see it.

Bravo Manny!

Walt, Legs Diamond, Waxy Gordon and Arnold Rothstein, for openers, had absolutely nothing to do with "Murder Inc.," which in fact was way after their own heyday. But the gentlemen who met at Apalachin (to plan a civic dinner for a friend, as I believe the ones who got caught told the New York State Police) were in fact of Italian, usually Sicilian, parentage. There were no Murphys, Kosiakowskis and Bernsteins present. And they certainly did not get together to discuss the glories of Italian civilization, it's doubtful such lugs could even appreciate them.

Philson, your post is simply wildly confused in its stabs at "logic." And as some have tried to suggest (if not blatantly enough for you), Manny seems to be doing, well, what he does out of like-minded confusion. (Which does not, by the way, excuse your ill-phrased remarks about Jews.)

Cathar, In response to what you call my "Ill-phrase remarks about Jews". I was mearly stating facts. My beliefs nor the direction of my comments were not anti-semetic or anti-african american in nature. Just facts. To do so would be hypocritical. The point of the negative comments was directed to the thought process of people like you. You're the one who has used phrases like "Manny has done a disservice to Italian Americans, Manny's like-minded confusion, Manny s is hyper-prone to over-reaction, a sort of lasermikey of the bone-pounding set, the American Medical Association might even suggest that no chiropractor can ever exactly be "distinguished.", Bravo, Manny," the problem with someone so small-minded as Manny". These are quotes from your comments on this website. Who is the one really making ill-fated remarks and attacking someone in a public forum. I am curious to what your contributions to society are. You obviously are the one who has the privlege of attacking individuals. You also state that a chiropractor is not distinguished. Manny spent the greater part of his life as a teacher. If it wasn't for teachers most of us would not be where we are today. Except perhaps you because I get the feeling that you are special. As an adult Manny then went on to higher education which is not so easy to do. Now he gives of himself in pursuit of equality and anti defamation. Perhaps your comments should be directed at facts, concepts and not at Manny. Yes you are entitled to your opinion on the topic and I can even respect (even though I don't agree with) your opinion. But if you are going to repeatedly belittle Manny (and Chiropractors) in front of others, then you and your comments loose credibility. Why don't you enlight us all what rises you above the rest of us. The discusions are interesting, even your comments. The personal attacks should be left out.

At first, I thought the Sopranos were entertaining. ut, upon further review, it is nothing more then hype and promotion. Their shows are aimless, leaving the audiences most of the time saying "it stunk last night, maybe next week" But in reality, when it's not a whack which the audiences are looking for, it's a pure insult to anyone of Italian heritage. If kids were to act like that, ending up in jail, dead or bloody, i'm sure all of their parents would be ever so proud....especially at their funerals or lock-ups. For all that knock Mr. Alfano for his smarts and heart, I can only say that you don't have children and probably will always be working for someone other then yourself as you are now for HBO.

Yo cuz ehhh fanculo... Im going to miss them... =( wahhhhhh

Philson, yes, as it happens, I do view Manny as a harrumphing fool. It has nothing to do with his ethnicity but, rather, with his exceedngly ill-advised campaign against a tv show. The best way to rise above the kind of cultural defamation Manny sees in "The Sopranos" is to prosper in spite of it, not to stamp one's feet ineffectively. His howling out of Bloomfield amounts to very little in this case, whatever Manny does for a living. (But yes, the scientific jury has remained "out" for several decades already on chiropractic medicine, so if you're going to praise someone for being a practitioner you might logically expect some questioning of why such is "distinguished."))

In comparison, your own ramblings about Jews seemed to hint at something a mite more Semitically focused, but I could be wrong. And with "Bravo, Manny, I was in fact replying to a poster who chose that name.

No one forces any other ethnic or cultural group to watch or listen to anything else. (I personally can't stand The Geto Boys or salsa music.) That one group wishes to deny others the right to watch, or even produce, something else is very wrong-headed indeed. This is what Manny, who perhaps forgets that the Apalachin conference wasn't simply a happy confluence of Sicilians out for a ride in the upstate NY countryside, doesn't get.

Cathar.
Apparently your little cerebrum can't realize that your remarks about Sicilians and other Italians are blatantly hateful. Obviously you are Jewish (even though you may deny that fact) and like to deflect any wrong doing by your group to another ethnic group.
Louis Freeh ,a former FBI director, called the misnamed Russian mafia (almost 100% Jewish) the most dangerous organized crime syndicate in the world. This is true today even as the American mafia has been eviscerated.
Do some reading and you will learn that organized crime is one of the major problems in Israel.
If I were you, I would find another hobby to occupy myself because you are certainly inept at this one.

I don't see much sense in verbal warfare based on nonsense on this site where a few ill informed persons don't smell the Cappuccino.
The question is eally this:
Does Hollywood stereotype Italian-Americans?
Go to this web site and decide for yourself
STEREOTYPETHIS.COM

Actually, Len G, no, I'm not Jewish. "Obviously" or in any other way.

But I will stoop (out of my core kindness) to something I've never done before and in fact declaim in others (s'talker, if you read this, thou hast triumphed today!) and use profanity. You, Len G, are a shithead. This is true even as your own wits appear to have been "eviscerated."

Perhaps you might even profit from sitting alongside lasermikey in that Reading Comprehension 1 course I always commend to him. By way of exercising your own, uh, "cerebrum."

Well, anti-Semitism has reared its ugly little shithead again in form of Len G.

Hey, Len G. Ween wrote a song about you called "Fat Lenny" and it refers to your head.

"It is fairly correct to state that Hollywood as well as the media is strongly influenced by Jews."

You know, maybe if you anti-Semites came up with some new material I would think you had an IQ slightly higher than a head of cauliflower.

Cathar, why do you have to mention me in every post. I don't know cathar, pretty gay. Does your wife know?

In any case, I think it would be in everyones interests to put away the racial finger pointing and mischaracterizations. Sensitivity train for the lot of you!

Oh yeah, Cathar, you need to mind your own connections to organized crime. I remember you spinning a motorcycle tail or two.

Mikey, I've never "spun a motorycycle tail" in my life. I did, however, have a '54 panhead for a long time, through which I met many interesting knights of the road.

As to why I mention you so often, well, it's simply that you've bcome (rather easily, in my view) the platinum standard of dumbness, silly! Kant had the categorical imperative, Hume the rational egoist, everyone else has laserboy.

Cather,
Let me see if I can understand this! Italians are sensitive if they object to media stereotyping, but if facts are mentioned regarding Jewish organized crime in the US and Israel, then that is anti-semitism!!
By the way, I knew that you would deny it.
And for your use of vulgarities, isn't that typical of you people?
When you can't refute the facts, then yell loudly "anti-semite" and then use vulgarities that you learned as part of your bringing up.

Pasta and Steak.....

Len G, as I often tell the bowling pin-like fellow above, it is best to cease your postings now. Lest you continue, for example, in the vein of your "you people" usage above and things get even more Himmler-ish.

"Jewish organized crime in the US and Israel"

Well, if you're gonna talk about organized crime then why not about ALL of it? Was there not Irish organized crime here at the turn of the century? What about the Colombian drug lords? Hardly the Boy Scouts. Then you have the Chinese Gangs in NYC...I could go on but I think you get my drift. Why tar just one ethnic group? Methinks you have an agenda, no?

Sorry, Cathar is right. You lost the arguement at "you people", Len.

I'm right! "You people" never argue with reason, you just resort to defamation and innuendo.
I won't waste any more time with ill behaved adolescents and so you can have at me without any fear of being exposed for the idiots that you are.

Len G: The tailor called. Your white sheet and hood are ready to be picked up.

Shame on you Italian Americans! Your ancestors would be so proud to witness your courage. The Italian immigrants suffered and worked so hard - for this characterization by the U.S. media? No wonder this defamation continues. This ethnic group will never get it, obviously! They should take a lesson from other groups, like the Jews, Hispanics, Blacks who actually stand up for one another in the face of discrimination. Thank God for Manny Alfano and the guts he has to stand up to to popular culture and for our people! Thank you Manny! I am with you 100%.

I agree totally with Manny and have to say, "YES", The Soprano's does stereotype Italian-Americans. You have to realize what this is doing to the Italian-American Society and I really pity those who do not understand. This is not an overreaction on Manny's part. The Sopranos degrades and defames Italian-Americans regardless of what people think. Think about how the perception of Italians have changed in light of this show.
So for those who say that it is only a show do not really understand the underlying issues here. It isn't about mobsters or killings, it is about the degradation of Italian-Americans. My question is, "Why don't they use the Irish, Polish or Jews as a character setting? Why use Italian-Americans. The answer is quite simple.......The media knows that Italian's won't get together and take a stand for what is important. Most Italians think it is a joke and laugh about it but in reality, they are poking fun at themselves while the multimedia is making a fortune at our expense. It is about time that we take a stand - "One Voice" and make a difference, a difference that will save and cherish our heritage.

As one whose ancestry is 100 percent Italian and having recently spent a year living in Italy, I read these comments with sad bemusement. The problem most Italian Americans have, whether they love or detest "The Sopranos," is that they know little about Italy, Italian culture, the Italian language, Italian history or Italian politics. Their entire reference is to their own family's experiences and folklore -- nothing more. As for "The Sopranos," which for all its hype is really a dreadfully written and poorly acted show, the problem is not that it exists but that normal Italians and Italian Americans are so rarely portrayed in films or on TV. If Italian media depictions reflected real Italian life, "The Sopranos" would hardly be a concern of anyone.

Cathar, as a Physician, I can state that we have been working hand in hand with Chiropractors for about 20 years now.Your "AMA against Chirpractors" comment was not relevant to the present time but rather a clumsy allusion to the foolish bickerings between the two Professions of the past.So, are you against any ethnic group complaining or are you just against Italian-Americans who protest their belittling by the Media?Manny is not knocking any other group, but merely defending his own.As an American of Italian extraction,I commend Manny for his cataloging and publicizing the many examples of negative Italian stereotyping by entertainment and news media in this Country.

I must defend Manny`s position and I urge all of you to try to be more understanding of the sensitivity of Italian-Americans and other ethnic groups.But there are some in every ethnic group who care not for such topics until they are personally confronted with wounded feelings from members in their own families.Unfortunately, there are also a few from every ethnic group whom have earned the pre-fix "self-hating".I pray that you are never counted among the ranks of the self-loathing!Count this vote for Manny.

"Cathar.
Apparently your little cerebrum can't realize that your remarks about Sicilians and other Italians are blatantly hateful. Obviously you are Jewish (even though you may deny that fact) and like to deflect any wrong doing by your group to another ethnic group.
...
Posted by: Len G | March 22, 2007 10:12 AM "

Len G

why would anyone deny that they are Jewish?

Could it be that they don't look forward to being exterminated or called names?

Oh well, I guess you know us Jews no matter how well we try to disguise our Jewishness.

Guess what, cathar's not one of us.

Re: the previous poster. I too am Jewish, but it's people like you who make us look bad. If you're so adament about your position why don't you identify yourself instead of hiding?
What a bonehead!!!

The word is adamant not adament. Please try running a spell checker so you don't embarass yourself.

I won't stoop to your level by calling you names but I will say that I don't want to be associated with you. I can't believe you would identify with Len G's blatantly anti-semitic remarks.

"why would anyone deny THEY were Jewish"
Perhaps you need a spell checker more than I.
Don't worry, I don't want to associate with you so that possibility is out.
I don't agree with slander against any group and that's why I agree with Manny that the Sopranos is nothing more than slander. If you can't see that then maybe you're the bigot.

That's funny I didn't agree or disagree with Manny.

I objected to Len G's anti-semitic remarks.

Dear "Little Miss Spellchecker"
If you disagree with Len G, then you should agree with Manny. However, I must tell you that this intercourse with you has become tedious. Please go back to you sandbox and find another playmate.

You can't tell me who to agree or disagree with. That is my own choice to make.

We have had NO physical sexual contact involving the genitalia of at least one person here. I take offense at that statement.

Dear "Miss Spellchecker"
Take your mind out of the gutter if you are able. I was referring to verbal intercourse not the to filth that you refer.
By the way the correct phrase is "with whom to agree"
And why are you allowed to choose with whom to agree but I am not allowed the same privilege?
You really are a bonehead!!

I sincerely hope that you haven't passed on your DNA to anyone.

Italian-Americans who try to claim that Mafia references make Italians look bad deny history and are blowing things out of proportion. Are they saying that there were no Italian-American gangsters? Are they saying the Mafia never existed? If so, they should know that the Tony Soprano character said the same thing in an episode.
The fact is that anyone who tries to claim that all Italian-Americans are Mafia connected are just showing their own ignorance and stupidity.
Every ethnic group is attacked by ignorant people.

Why not a movie about the Jewish international criminal bankers who control the Federal Reserve, or the Jewish Bolsheviks who slaughterered 65 million innocent Christians in Russia/Ukraine between 1919 and 1940, or a tv series about the many many criminal gangs of Israelis who kidnap, rape and murder Eastern European children and sell these snuff films around the world?

I believe that Italian Americans are well aware of the Historical Sicilian Mafia, which is NOT the same as the American Cosa Nostra,Irish, Jewish,Russian, African American and Hipanic criminal enterprises. Furthermore,I feel their complaints are more than justified due to the media`s emphasis on organized crime figures with Italian surnames.What about emphasizing Galileo, Michelangelo,Enrico Fermi,Toscannini,Botticelli,Pirandello, Dante Alligheri,Guglielmo Marconi,Luigi Galvani and the real inventor of the telephone,Antonio Meucci(In most of Europe, this is acknowledged)In fact,Italy may be responsible for having more cultural contributions than any other nation on Earth.Take it from this Czech,soon to be naturalized American:Italian-Americans are more than justified in airing their grievances.