What the hell is up with the cast from The Sopranos?

It is interesting how life sometimes mirrors fiction. I was looking at the news this week and read about Lilloo Brancato Jr.’s murder acquittal and was thinking about the fact that this is not the first time I have seen someone in the news from The Sopranos lately. Here is a quick rundown of what has been going on since the show began a few years ago:

In 2008 John Costelloe was found dead, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Lilloo Brancato Jr. was acquitted of the murder of a police officer, but found guilty of the lesser charge of attempted burglary for a botched robbery involving drugs 3 years ago. . (One might also note that he was arrested a few years ago for heroin possession.) Also Joe Pantoliano spoke out about depression while promoting an organization he founded two years ago to address the stigma attached to mental illness. His group is called: “No Kidding, Me Too!”.

This was all preceeded by the arrest of John Ventimiglia on charges of DUI and cocaine possession in 2006 and the arrest of Louis Gross same year for assaulting a Manhattan merchant.

In 2005 Vincent Pastore plead guilty to assaulting his girlfriend. Not to be outdone, Louis Gross found himself in trouble with the law for breaking and entering.

In 2002, Robert Iler, who plays Tony Soprano’s son plead guilty to robbing tourists.

Possibly most interesting, Tony Sirico, who played Paulie Gualtieri has been reported to have been an associate of the Colombo crime family prior to working as an actor. While that is not a proven fact, it is well known that he has a record including 28 arrests and served 13 months in prison for felony weapons possession.

So I have to ask myself once more: “What the hell is up with the cast of the Sopranos”.
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Turks apologize for Armenian massacres

You might wonder why I would be bringing this up in a forum for people in Buenos Aires. Although the United Nations acknowledge the genocide of the Armenians in 1973, calling it "The first genocide of the 20th century" and U.S. Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan acknowledged it, in 1985 Argentina became the first country to acknowledge the genocide of the Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917. Additionally, as of 2007 there are about 130,000 Armenians living in Argentina making it the 8th largest group outside of Armenia.

Here is an article I read this evening:

Turks apologize for Armenian massacres
Prominent intellectuals show regret online for World War I-era atrocities

ANKARA, Turkey - A group of about 200 Turkish intellectuals on Monday issued an apology on the Internet for the World War I-era massacres of Armenians in Turkey.

The group of prominent academics, journalists, writers and artists avoided using the contentious term "genocide" in the apology, using the less explosive "Great Catastrophe" instead.

"My conscience does not accept that (we) remain insensitive toward and deny the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected in 1915," read the apology. "I reject this injustice, share in the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers, and apologize to them."

The apology is a sign that many in Turkey are ready to break a long-held taboo against acknowledging Turkish culpability for the deaths.

Historians estimate that, in the last days of the Ottoman Empire, up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks in what is widely regarded as the first genocide of the 20th century. Armenians have long pushed for the deaths to be recognized as genocide.

While Turkey does not deny that many died in that era, the country has rejected the term genocide, saying the death toll is inflated and the deaths resulted from civil unrest during the Ottoman Empire's collapse.

Online apology
Nearly 2,500 members of the public also signed the online apology, giving their support to the intellectuals.

Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted after he commented on the mass killings in 2005. Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian journalist was shot outside his Istanbul office in 2007, following his prosecution for comments he made about the killings of Armenians.

Turkish nationalists have criticized the online apology and on Monday a group of some 60 retired Turkish diplomats described the move "as unfair, wrong and unfavorable to national interests."

"Such an incorrect and one-sided attempt would mean disrespecting our history," the diplomats said.

Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Action Party said: "No one has the right to insult our ancestors, to present them as criminals and to ask for an apology."

By late Monday, there were no public threats of legal action over the petition.

"Many in Turkey today, in good faith, believe that nothing happened to the Armenians. For many years, the official line has been that this was a secondary event that occurred in the conditions of World War I. But the truth is not so," Cengiz Aktar, a professor at Istanbul's Bahcesehir University and one of the petition's organizers told Vatan newspaper in an interview.

Voice from the conscience
"It is a voice from the conscience. Those who want to apologize can, those who don't want to don't have to," he said.

Gila Benmayor, a journalist and columnist for Turkey's mass-circulation Hurriyet newspaper said she signed the petition because she believes "the time has come for change."

"Some things need to spoken, need to be discussed and expressed in an open way," she told The Associated Press.

She said she did not hesitate to sign the petition because the wording was not controversial.

"The words were carefully chosen so as not to upset any side," she said. "We are not betraying anyone. We are merely telling the Armenians that we share their grief."

The apology comes at a time when Turkey and Armenia have taken steps toward repairing ties. The two neighbors have no diplomatic relations and their shared border has been closed since 1993, when Turkey protested Armenia's occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey backs Azerbaijan's claims to the disputed region, which has a high number of ethnic Armenian residents but is located within Azerbaijan's borders.

In September, however, President Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia, where he and Armenian President Serge Sarkisian watched their countries' football teams play a World Cup qualifying match. Read more!

Argentine Strikes Destroying Tourism?

Well it seems that a blend of the world's economic times, routine Kirchner government incompetence and public revolt are now destroying the stability of the tourism industry here.

Strikes in particular are expected to create many issues with tourists. On Thursday the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires advised tourists to take the massive demonstrations here into account when making travel plans.
As many of you know, yesterday the subway workers were on strike for higher wages. Gas station owners and over 100,000 bank employees are expected to go on strike next week. Taxi drivers have announced that they are going to strike on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

With the seizure of the nation's pension fund, inflation sitting just about at 30% and annual growth of only about 1.5% (as contrasted to the 8% the last several years) and an estimate by UBA economist Jarvier Kulesz that the economy will only grow by about 0.3% next year, I would imagine that this is merely the beginning.

Hang on, it should prove to be an interesting ride. In the mean time I hear the beaches in Uruguay are great this time of year, and guess what.... no Kirchners, no D'Elia and no strikes......... Read more!