Mishmash Musings

This sounds like something out of The Godfather or The Sopranos, which is probably why the story is making such a big splash online. The daughter of Salvatore Toto Riina, a vicious Mafia godfather who has been behind bars in Italy since the mid-’90s, was married in Corelone, Italy on Wednesday. The bride was given away by her brother Giuseppe, one of the few family members not in jail right now.

The wedding received lots of attention from mainstream Italian and international media, but didn’t sit well with the families of victims of “the Beast,” as Salvatore Riina was known. One victim’s daughter expressed disbelief and outrage that Riina’s daughter and son-in-law didn’t try to distance themselves from the Beast, choosing instead to thank him.

Just how ruthless was the Beast while he was at the height of power? He was convicted of over 100 counts of murder, and is currently serving several life sentences in prison.

It looks like families in this area are still struggling to pay their mortgages every month, and are either moving to cheaper digs or are losing their homes to foreclosure. It’s getting to the point where I can barely go five or six blocks without seeing one of those big moving pods sitting in the street in front of a house with a “For Sale” sign planted in the lawn. It’s getting to be pretty depressing.

I don’t know how long it’s going to take the country to recover from this foreclosure mess, but I hope it’s not a long, drawn-out process. I miss the strong economy, I miss low prices, I miss the stability we once had… You can bet I won’t take those things for granted ever again!