italian-freemasons

"(Regarding the separation of careers between penal prosecutors and judges and its relatiosnhip with the "Plan for Democratic Rebirth) I am not familiar with the P2 plan. I can say that if Mr. Licio Gelli's interpretation, or rather opinion, was a correct opinion, there is no reason why it should not be followed just because he said so. Truths do not depend on who proclaims them, but on the objectivity they represent."

"The mindset of a magistrate is not that of a public administrator. [...] The idea that politics is unable to come up with a name from within its own ranks and must resort to a magistrate is a sign of a deep crisis."

"Legitimate choices are not necessarily appropriate ones. A magistrate must not only be impartial, but must also appear to be impartial."

"This book should be studied at the High School of the Judiciary (referring to the book entitled ‘'Il mostro’' by Matteo Renzi)."

"(About wiretaps) Their dissemination, sometimes selective and perhaps manipulated, is a deadly tool for personal and often political delegitimization. These are substantial, almost blasphemous violations of Article 15 of the Constitution, which establishes the secrecy of communications as an interface of freedom."

"I agree with the crisis in justice. Ninety percent of our work is useless because we have Byzantine procedures for prosecuting mountains of crimes. We are grinding water and this is frustrating."

"I believe that no magistrate should ever run for election, and even more so, a public prosecutor who has become famous for political investigations should not do so."

"Aiding and abetting does not exist as a crime; it is a creation of jurisprudence. That is, the Supreme Court, the judges, invented this rather evanescent formula, which, strictly speaking, I would call “Popperian,” is an oxymoron. Because the concept of external complicity is contradictory, hence the oxymoron, because if you are a competitor, you are not external, and if you are external, you are not a competitor. Of course, when you discuss all these things from a technical point of view, you find ideological and emotional answers. We do not want to eliminate it; we know very well that you can be a mafioso within the organization and you can be an accomplice outside the organization, but then the crime needs to be completely redefined, which at the moment does not exist either as a specific or a specific offense because it is not in the code. (July 11, 2023)"

"Wiretapping is absolutely essential in the fight against the mafia and terrorism; it is fundamental to understanding the movements of people suspected of serious crimes. Wiretapping mafia members helps us understand who they talk to and how they move. :*Paola Di Caro, Sì alle intercettazioni, non agli abusi, Corriere della Sera, January 18, 2023."

"Once there were deviant services, a deviant judiciary, and even deviant journalists, but now the situation is being reversed. The few magistrates who conduct investigations, the few journalists who write, and the investigators who do their duty are the ones who are deviant."

"Naples is a special city, and has been so throughout history. When the entire continent was experiencing periods of stagnation, Naples marked important accelerations in the world of culture. Its university, one of the oldest in Europe, was a point of reference when the rest of Europe was torn apart by internal wars. It is a city that never allowed the Holy Inquisition to act freely and unchallenged. It is a city that, under foreign and military occupation, liberated itself by autonomously surrendering to those who brought about the retreat of the Nazis in World War II."

"I hope that Ireland votes in favor so that the Lisbon Treaty can come into force and be a step forward for democracy in Europe, because the European Parliament will have more powers and greater importance, and it will not be the governments that are in charge but the people through their representatives in Parliament. In Ireland, Italian-Irish people also play a fundamental role."

"The Master q:it:Aldo Masullo, to whom we recently conferred honorary citizenship of Naples, has left this earthly life. One of the greatest philosophers of the late 20th century, with the highest ethical standards and profound intellectual rigor, we remember his lucid political analyses right up until the last few days. A beacon for many, a solid point of reference for Neapolitan culture."

"There is a new form of organized crime in Calabria, which is not only 'ndrangheta, which tends to manage public funds, those that have arrived, those that are arriving, and those that will arrive. This is the fundamental crux of the matter, because it is there that collusion between institutions, politics, business, and the banking system takes root, grows stronger, and increases."

"If half of the funds that arrived had been used, Calabria could have been a small Switzerland."

"(About Naples) I think it has such a magnificent tradition of hybridization in its nature that this discussionseems particularly fruitful to me, and also because Naples has always been very lively from a cultural point of view: I am thinking of the Aragonese cultural circle. Rome has hardly ever been a cultural capital, but Naples has. It also has very strong ties with the East, and there is a tradition of philosophical reflection on freedom. It is a capital of thought, and it is no coincidence that a free spirit like Leopardi chose this city. It has traditions that endure alongside extreme avant-garde movements."

"Cingolani's position on fourth-generation nuclear energy is similar to ours: that nuclear energy does not exist and there is insufficient data to determine whether it is a valid solution."

"Seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, innovators know that there are no shortcuts to hard work."

"As a father, professional, and citizen, I dream of a more precise Italy, one that does not die of imprecision."

"The world is full of radical chic environmentalists and it is full of extreme, ideological environmentalists, who are worse than the climate catastrophe we are hurtling towards if we don't do something sensible."

"I am a government employee, I do what the government tells me to do. The only thing they will never convince me of is that I should be a conscientious objector to those who pay my salary. That's nonsense."

"The incompetence of men in power is causing too much damage. We must no longer apologize for existing. We are more talented and more competent, and we demand power."

"We women must love Europe because it is the first and, for now, the only successful example of peaceful coexistence between nations to build a project of well-being and defense of fundamental values such as social and women's rights."

"I am attacked every day on social media with intolerable sexism and vulgarity. This is also because the degradation of language becomes physical brutality and real violence. It is serious that there is no punishment: verbal violence—even anonymous violence, which is even more cowardly—must be punished immediately, and we have all the tools to do so."

"I am appalled by rude and sexist politicians like Salvini who campaign in their underwear or Trump who say things like “you grab women by the p***y.” How can anyone think of entrusting the country to a man who has said such a thing? At the very least, he will mistreat women and citizens."

"It is no longer tolerable that so many important countries in the world, from the US to Brazil, are in the hands of an international group of misogynistic rednecks who harm not only women, but everyone."

"The three male “Vs”—vulgarity, violence, and visibility, the result of impotent and aggressive masculinity—must be replaced by empathy, diplomacy, and patience. Men must be re-educated. We have read many books about women who love too much or work too hard. Well, it's time for men who love too little or work too little to go back to school. Let them learn to be more feminine."

"I still remember a press conference in Amman with King Hussein of Jordan during the first Gulf War. I wanted to ask the king why he had grown a beard, but I was afraid it was a stupid question and didn't raise my hand. A colleague asked the question shortly afterwards and the king smiled and replied that it was to mask irritation caused by the stress of war. I was ashamed of my self-sabotage."

"The commentators represent different points of view, but they share the ability to offer original and non-trivial thinking. I find them well suited to an in-depth program."

"In the third grade classroom, on a day I will never forget, a nun came in and told us how evil the Germans were, that they killed ten Italians for every one of their soldiers who died, and then used the fat from their corpses to make soap. [...] And in the class, suddenly silent, a classmate pointed her finger at me and exclaimed: “You're one of them too, Gruber!”"

"In all democracies, starting with the American one, if someone lies about their private life, what kind of politician can they ever be?"

"Interviewer: You have identified a “Gruber style”: blunt, even aggressive responses. Did you study your character? Lilli Gruber: I never study characters. I just try to do my job with my back straight, without professional scoliosis. I could say that when women are determined, they become annoying and castrating, but when men are determined, they become decisive and virile. I'll leave it to others to judge the “Gruber style.”"

"You must say “not” to the men who deny you power, profit, and pleasure."

"I have great respect for journalism and journalists who do their job seriously. One of the fundamental principles of serious journalism is to distinguish information from entertainment. These two genres should not be mixed. Journalism is one thing, entertainment is another. For too many years now, we have been accustomed to seeing infotainment on TV, which has destroyed serious journalism. Be wary of those who want to sell you reality and information by entertaining you. But what does entertainment have to do with information and journalism? Nothing, absolutely nothing."

"The European Parliament is certainly a unique observatory where you often encounter the best and sometimes the worst of politics."

"In Scandinavian countries, but also in a large and important country like Germany, there are many women at the top of parties and institutions. As always, it is first and foremost a cultural problem and then a political one, which needs legislative incentives to evolve. Therefore, gender quotas, however odious from a philosophical point of view, remain a necessity for a transition period that should be as short as possible. Italy cannot afford the luxury of giving up the great resource that women represent."

"(About South Tyrol) I am convinced that this land, seemingly small and peripheral compared to empires and republics, has been an important crossroads, both for the history of Europe and for that of our country."

"The idea of borders and integration is in my DNA. [...] Precisely because, as a child, I was always considered “different.” At home, I spoke German, and our family traditions were decidedly Austro-Hungarian. But you can be different anywhere."

"(Speaking of propaganda during the Iraq War) Television fiction seems to be gradually replacing the reality of journalistic reporting. This is necessary to prevent public opinion from rebelling and putting pressure on governments that have already once ignored the protests of the majority of their citizens opposed to war in order to engage their country in a conflict with no way out. [...] Our leaders want us to live in the best of television worlds. Unfortunately, this paradise is the hell of democracy."

"The battle for women's empowerment goes hand in hand with the battle for the survival of the planet."

"Girls need to know that professional life is not a game of seduction. Would I dress sexy if I had a female boss?"

"I was seen as sour or aggressive, whereas if I had been a man, they would have said I was determined."

"Power may well be disgusting, as men keep telling us, but in the meantime, we want it."

"In Italy, there is also a sense of impunity: if you are a man, and especially a man in power, you are untouchable. Women do not have the courage to report abuse, or are often harsher on other women, and men are mostly complicit. We have wasted decades on useless debates, such as the one on quotas. You have to start with facts and figures: where women have been included, there has been a rebalancing and companies have improved. Often, the self-harming behavior of those who do not want to be judged as a panda category comes into play. But whether you like it or not, we are judged and treated differently from men."

"Never go against the flow, or you risk not reaching your goal."

"Lilli Gruber, Basta! Il potere delle donne contro la politica del testosterone, Collana I Solferini, Milano, Solferino, 2019. ISBN 978-88-282-0311-7"

"I felt, and still feel, the need to describe a very complex reality that is often reduced by the media to sterile clichés. This feeling has been reinforced by developments in relations with Islam since September 11, and the Iran issue is a striking example of this. Today, rather than proclaiming axes of evil, it is more important to build axes of good."

"Europe needs to be “fixed,” but not destroyed. For a thousand reasons, not least because it guarantees peace and democracy, two things that we, with our short memories, too often take for granted. The latest poll tells us that 8 out of 10 young Italians feel like European citizens. And that reassures me."

"I think it is unfair to attack Di Pietro and the Milan Pool, because these magistrates have done a great service to the country. (July 20, 1997)"

"Personally, I really like Berlusconi."