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What is the mafia? Todays mafia is a group of criminals organized into "families," and operating in different parts
of the world, The main idea of the mafiosi today is to make money,wether it be illegal or legit it doesnt matter. To make
money they do things such as money laundering to turn there dirty (illegal)money into clean (legititmate) money.Mafiosi of
today try to make contacts not enemies, though if anyone challenges their authority they are quickly and brutally erased.
where did it come from?
The mafia is a, criminally oriented society, ignoring all forms of authority except their own. Most common form of extortion
is the practice of handing out Black Hand notes, which had started in the 1700s. These notes, handed to wealthy citizens,
were polite requests for an amount of money in return for protection. Of course, the only people that these victims needed
protection against were the same criminals who handed them these notes. If their victims do not comply with their requests,
they and their family can expect violence, kidnapping, bombings, and murder to be used against them as convincing arguments.
Why is there a mafia?
Why is there a mafiosi? well
Vengeance was saved for a future time.
Through the chronic take overs the Golden rule
of "omerta"
(also roughly meaning honour) was born.The Siclians distrusted all forms of Government, thus an
unwritten rule to leave the government out of private affairs came forth. Vendetta served justice, for the Sicilians did not
trust the Government no longer. Thus the mafia came forth and from then to the present, it seems the mafia will never die...just
multiply
all information in white designed, authored and originaly changed, by me for you. Coppying my information can't be stopped,
but it is just an example of stupidity. I would appriciate it if i was aknowledged for my work on your page or whatever you
used it for.
ciao ~wizeguy~
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Over All history of the mafia
Let's begin with the word itself. Although the exact origin of the word "mafia" is uncertain, some believe it originated
in 1282 during the French invasion of Sicily and the saying, "Morte Alla Francia Italia Anela" (Death to the French
is Italy's Cry), or MAFIA. Then, eventually the word "mafia" came to mean "manly", in Sicily.
Another theory of the origin of "mafia" begins as early as the 9th century. During that period, Sicily was ruled
by Arab forces. The original inhabitants were oppressed, and desperately tried to escape and find refuge. In Arabic, the
word "mafia" means, "refuge." Sicily was invaded by the Normans in the 11th century and its people were
forced into labor and oppression once again. Every invasion of Sicily, thereafter, (French invasion in the 12th century,
Spanish in the 13th century, then Germans, Austrians, and Greeks) resulted in native tribes seeking refuge in the hills of
the island. The refugees eventually developed a secret society of unification intended to create a sense of family, based
on Sicilian heritage. The structure of the organization was built on the idea of family and had a strong hierarchical make
up. The "dons" were the family heads, in charge of the mafia in every village. They had to report to the "don
of dons", who lived in Palermo, the capital of Sicily.
The mafia grew large and strong by the 19th century.
By then it had become a vast criminally oriented society. They followed their own authority and rules and ignored any other
form of order. Joining the mafia was like joining a religion. It was a commitment for life. You could not retire from it
(and this still holds true today.) This was a serious "religion", even for the very young mafia members. They
were taught basic uses of the sword, knife, and rope, in order to be able to murder their victims. It would be a very violent
death to anyone who became an informant.
The American branch of the mafia, named "La Costra Nostra"
(LCN), is believed to have begun in 1893 when Don Vito Cascio Ferro fled to New York after the murder of banker Emanuele Notarbartolo,
in Sicily. More Mafioso fled to America during the 1920's, when Mussolini attempted to exterminate the mafia in Sicily.
The mafia saw lucrative opportunities in the United States. Thousands of gunmen and thieves came over. They were joined
by thousands of Italians and Sicilians who were looking for a better life in America.
By the early 1900's every
large city in the United States had its own mafia sanction. They concentrated on protection rackets. Soon they expanded
by racketeering in other areas, such as gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging. The Prohibition era (in the 20's) is probably
the most legendary era in gangster history. Mafia members basically declared their power and wealth openly. The mob flourished.
This began Al Capone's reign, (as portrayed in the movie, The Untouchables.) Alphonso Capone, "Scarface", was a
gangster in Chicago who amassed a fortune by selling alcohol and women. He also controlled every possible aspect of crime.
Capone was sent to Alcatraz in 1931, not for various killings and breaking the 18th amendment, but for income tax evasion.
When Capone was sent away, Chicago's "gangster" image began to fade. New York became the next big
mafia city - the city for the next generation of gangsters. Once prohibition ended, gangsters reorganized themselves in "syndicates"
or organizations which controlled gambling and prostitution, the distribution of drugs and new forms of "business."
After Capone's time a new gangster surfaced, Salvatore Lucania, better known as, Charlie 'Lucky" Luciano,
or "Boss of the Bosses" (Cappo di tutti cappi.) Unlike Capone, who only associated with Italians and Sicilians,
Lucky Luciano was ethnically liberal. He began to recruit Jews in his organization. (Similar to the movie, Casino.) Luciano
was close to his partners Benjamin "Bugsey" Siegel and Meyer Lansky. Bugsey Siegel built a super-casino in Las
Vegas, but was murdered before it became profitable. Within ten years of his death, Las Vegas became the major powerhouse
for gangster dealings, investments, and skimmings.
Luciano's gangs were always in conflict with the "pure
Sicilian" gangs of Giuseppe Masseria, "Joe the Boss" (the first boss of what is now known as the Genovese family)
and Salvatore Maranzano (head of the now Bonanno family), from the other side of New York. Luciano finally defeated Masseria
after many "mafia wars" known as the Castellamarse Wars. Luciano took over Masseria's organization and became a
powerful boss.
Before Masseria died, he took a man named Carlo Gambino into his group. When Masseria was killed,
Gambino shifted power under Salvatore Maranzano. However, it was a short stay for him. Maranzano died, Joe Bonanno succeeded
him, and Carlo Gambino decided to join a new commission, the "Young Turks." Gambino, along with his brothers-in-law
Peter and Paul Castellano, became united with Vincent Mangano. When Mangano mysteriously disappeared, Gambino pushed for
an alliance (peace agreement) with Charlie Luciano and his associate Frank Costello.
After Mangano's disappearance,
Albert Anastasia became the boss and appointed Carlo Gambino a boss, but no one took this seriously. Gambino was, at that
time, considered weak, taking put downs and ridicule from Anastasia. No other mafia member would have taken the abuse. Nobody
thought of Gambino as a threat, at that time, which made it very easy for him to do unexpected things.
In
1957, a man named Vito Genovese approached Gambino about getting rid of Anastasia. This would give Gambino top spot. Fed
up with Anastasia, Gambino did away with him. However, he could not stop there. Genovese was power hungry. He wanted to
rule all the families. He became ruthless and over-zealous. Gambino knew he had to put a stop to him before he got totally
out of hand. Together with his new allies, Luciano and Costello, Gambino set up Genovese in a narcotics scheme that landed
him in prison, sentenced to fifteen years.
Gambino continued to avoid the F.B.I. and C.I.A. Every time they
tried to deport him or put him on trial he would have a heart attack or somehow end up in the hospital. It was an ingenious
plan!
On the other side of New York, the Bonanno family didn't have much luck avoiding the authorities.
Bonanno member Philip "Rusty" Rastelli succeeded Carmine Galanto as boss. Two of Rastelli's top men were Dominick
"Sonny Black" Napolitano and Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero. They were portrayed in the movie, Donnie
Brasco, which was based on the true story of undercover F.B.I. agent, Joe Pistone ("Donnie Brasco".) Crimes committed
by "Sonny Black" and "Lefty Guns" were exposed. "Sonny Black" disappeared and "Lefty"
went to prison.
During the early 1970's, Joseph Colombo, head of the Profaci family, began bringing unwanted
national attention to the mob and those associated with it, by starting the Italian American Civil Rights League (IACRL).
Carlo Gambino confronted Colombo and asked him to stop the rallies because of the media attention it was developing. Colombo
refused. As the story goes, Colombo actually spit in Gambino's face. This infuriated Gambino. He approached the Gallo brothers
(Joe and Larry) to do away with Colombo. He wanted them to kill him at a nationally covered IACRL rally, in order to express
what will happen if you cross Gambino, and to ironically exhibit the association of violence and the Italian-American heritage
- the very heritage that Colombo was supporting through rallies. It was vengeance and punishment for disrespecting a don.
At the end of his life, Gambino appointed Paul Castellano as the new head of the family. Castellano was greedy
and was disliked. This caused conflict amongst Gambino's men. Castellano walked around more like a banker than a mobster.
Gambino thought it was a good idea to move the family into legitimate business, away from the streets. In 1985, Castellano
was killed by another young Turk, John Gotti, (a disciple of Dellacrose, boss under Anastasia who was skipped over when Anastasia
was ousted by Gambino.) Gotti was as loud and media exposed as anyone the mafia had seen since Albert Anastasia.
John Gotti was known as the "Teflon Don" for his three separate trial acquittals in the late 80's. Finally,
in 1991, the F.B.I. indicted Gotti, his underboss - Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, and Frankie Locascio on racketeering
and murder conspiracy charges. Gravano shocked everyone when he broke the omerta and testified against Gotti. Gravano was
placed into witness protection and served less than five years. John Gotti is serving a life sentence in a federal prison
in Illinois. His son, John Gotti Jr., is currently acting as boss of the Gambino crime family. However, a RICO case has
been developed against him.
(All information in yellow on this page has been taken from http://pros.at/mobham.....i
give credit where credit is due)
Money Is Power
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