Archeologists on Saturday discussed new findings from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/history">ancient</a> city of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/selfie-snapping-american-tourist-follows-dropped-phone-into-legendary-volcano-mount-vesuvius">Pompeii</a>, shedding light on life in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/italy">Roman</a> city before it was destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption.
According to the archeologists, the excavation of one home they had been working on since 2018 revealed how ordinary people lived in the city before it was destroyed by lava and volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.
“In the Roman empire, there was an ample chunk of the population that struggled with their social status and for whom ‘daily bread’ was anything but a given,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the archeological park at Pompeii. “A vulnerable class during political crises and food shortages, but also ambitious about climbing the social ladder.”
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Nuove scoperte a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pompei?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pompei</a>. La vita immobile di Pompei che riaffiora alla luce: ultimi istanti di vita fotografati negli arredi sconquassati dall’eruzione del 79 d.C. <a href="https://t.co/X6FlYdL88C">pic.twitter.com/X6FlYdL88C</a>
&mdash; Pompeii Sites (@pompeii_sites) <a href="https://twitter.com/pompeii_sites/status/1555864374337757184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The home being worked on was known by researchers as the &#8220;Larario house&#8221; because of the idols (Lares) stored in the home, <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/pompeii-discoveries-shed-light-middle-161203042.html">according</a> to Reuters.
&#8220;The owners of the Larario house in Pompeii had been able to decorate the courtyard hosting the Lares site and a well with outstanding paintings, but evidently they didn&#8217;t have enough money for all of the rooms,&#8221; Zuchtriegel explained.
He added that “the pleasurable life depicted in the courtyard was probably more of an aspiration than their everyday reality.”
Findings in the home included everyday objects like the remains of a bed frame, pillow fabric, a wooden trunk, an oil lamp with the image of Zeus on it, an incense burner, and other objects.
When Mount Vesuvius erupted, it destroyed the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The eruption led to the deaths of up to 16,000 people. It is still considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world due to its proximity to populated areas, including Naples, that contain more than 700,000 people.
The volcano has not seen any major eruptions since a 1944 blast, but is considered active and still belches out steam and gas on occasion. The crater summit is particularly dangerous because its walls are comprised of steep cliffs and volcanic rock fragments of rocky debris.
Pompeii remains one of the most popular tourist sites in Italy, and visitors can also travel to the volcano and Herculaneum. Over two million people per year <a href="http://pompeiisites.org/en/archaeological-park-of-pompeii/visitor-data/">normally</a> visit the ancient city, though numbers were down in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID pandemic.
Greg Wilson contributed to this report.

Interior Of Old Building

Discoveries At Pompeii Give New Details About Life In City Before Famed Volcanic Eruption

History

Italy

Natural Disaster

A stash of ancient <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/italy">Roman</a> coins buried throughout eastern England&#8217;s farmland has raised questions about the coins&#8217; history. 
In Norfolk, a rural county on the eastern coast of England, at least 11 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/history">ancient</a> gold coins linked to Rome have been found by metal detectorists, a collective find known in the area as the “Broads Hoard,” because of local rivers and lakes. 
“The coins were found scattered around in the plow soil, which has been churned up year after year, causing the soil to be turned over constantly and led to them eventually coming to the surface,&#8221; Adrian Marsden, a numismatist (coin expert), <a href="https://www.livescience.com/roman-gold-coin-hoard-discovered-uk">told</a> Live Science. 
Experts question how the coins ended up where they did because they were made before the Romans invaded and conquered Britain from roughly 43-84 A.D. Early theories suggest that the coins could have been part of a religious sacrifice or a trade deal of some kind.
&#8220;It&#8217;s apparent that [the coins] went into the ground before the invasion,&#8221; Marsden said. &#8220;It&#8217;s possible that they could&#8217;ve been part of some type of offering to the gods, but more likely someone buried them with the intention of recovering them later.”
“Gold was often used as trade, so it&#8217;s possible that a local tribe could&#8217;ve gotten ahold of the coins and perhaps planned to use them for other things, such as melting them down to make jewelry,” he added. 
Back in 2017, the first coins were discovered by locals Damon and Denise Pye who were going through fields after they were plowed up by farmers after harvesting their crop. Marsden said that he expects more coins to be discovered as people continue to go through the fields hoping to be the next person to find a piece of ancient history. 
In an article for The Searcher, Marsden <a href="https://www.academia.edu/75407475/THE_BROADS_HOARD">detailed</a> the specifics of the coins, several of which bear the image of the grandsons of Caesar Augustus. Augustus was the first emperor of Rome and largely responsible for turning Rome into an empire. 
&#8220;In the second half of Augustus&#8217; reign, when his position was consolidated, the types [of coins] with dynastic reference increased as an indication of his succession, as is the case here with the extensive coinage for his grandsons, Gaius and Lucius Caesar,&#8221; Marjanko Pilekić, a coin expert told LiveScience. 
The coins found to date, worth about $25,000 collectively, have been placed in an exhibit in the British Museum. Other artifacts, like Roman copper coins and brooches, have also been found in the region.

Gold coins

Mystery Emerges After Ancient Roman Gold Coins Discovered In Farmland

England

An American tourist cheated death at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/italy">Italy</a>’s legendary Mount Vesuvius after he dropped his phone into the volcano while taking a selfie and then fell in while trying to reach it, according to <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/tourist-rescued-after-falling-into-mount-vesuvius-while-trying-to-reach-phone-12650076?awc=11005_1657630487_cb2bf3fa59c4d61ba529d708e5ecf706&amp;dcmp=afc-103504-na-na-longtail&amp;dclid=COHypuOy8_gCFTqXAAAdl2EJHg">reports</a>.
The 23-year-old tourist was pulled out of the once-fiery hole and treated for minor injuries, but now faces charges for being on a path that was closed off. Local guides had to rappel down to get him, and a chopper was also used to take him for treatment in the July 9 incident.
Three relatives who were with the man also face charges for “invasion of public land,” after they allegedly climbed to the top of the 4,000-foot volcano without tickets  and then took a path that was clearly marked as forbidden. <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-tourist-23-falls-into-mount-vesuvius-crater-after-taking-a-selfie-e2-80-94-and-survives/ar-AAZuriH">Reports said</a> the man was taking a selfie when he dropped the phone.
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Tourist rescued after falling into Mount Vesuvius while trying to reach phone <a href="https://t.co/n1SnhwvqLs">https://t.co/n1SnhwvqLs</a>
&mdash; Sky News (@SkyNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1546508826920222723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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When Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year 79, it destroyed the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. It is still considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world due to its proximity to populated areas including Naples that number more than 700,000 people.
The volcano has not seen any major eruptions since a 1944 blast, but is considered active and still belches out steam and gas on occasion. The crater summit is particularly dangerous because its walls are comprised of steep cliffs and volcanic rock fragments of rocky debris.
Volcanoes don’t have to erupt to be deadly. In 2017, an 11-year-old boy and his parents all died when they fell into the crater of Solfatara di Pozzuoli, one of several volcanoes in the Campi Flegrei area near Naples. The boy reportedly fainted from gas fumes and fell in and when his parents tried to save him, the crater collapsed.
In 2019, a 32-year-old man was badly hurt after climbing over a barrier around the crater of Hawaii&#8217;s <a style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;" href="https://www.livescience.com/27622-kilauea.html" data-component-tracked="1">Kilauea volcano</a>. He lost his footing and fell some 70 feet down, where he was rescued. And in January, a 75-year-old man fell into the same crater and died.

(EDITORS NOTE: Image depicts death.) The skeleton of a male

Selfie-Snapping American Tourist Follows Dropped Phone Into Legendary Volcano Mount Vesuvius

American Tourist Follows Dropped Phone Into Mount Vesuvius

Rescue

“Black Widow” actress <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Florence Pugh</a> has a message for anyone who recently took issue with her wearing a <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nudity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealing dress</a> with no bra: “grow up.” 
The 26-year-old British star caused a stir by wearing a sheer, hot pink Valentino gown at the fashion house’s haute couture show Friday in <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/italy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rome</a>. She notably chose not to wear undergarments, which made her breasts visible.
Pugh wrote a lengthy social media post defending her decision to wear the dress. It included the hashtag, “#f***ingfreethef***ingnipple.”
“Listen, I knew when I wore that incredible Valentino dress that there was no way there wouldn’t be a commentary on it,’” she shared on <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf1ly-aILtc/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a>. “‘Whether it be negative or positive, we all knew what we were doing. I was excited to wear it, not a wink of me was nervous. I wasn’t before, during or even now after.”
Pugh equated going topless with having <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/body-positivity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">body confidence</a>. 
“What’s been interesting to watch and witness is just how easy it is for men to totally destroy a woman’s body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see,’” she continued. “It isn’t the first time and certainly won’t be the last time a woman will hear what’s wrong with her body by a crowd of strangers, what’s worrying is just how vulgar some of you men can be. Thankfully, I’ve come to terms with the intricacies of my body that make me, me. I’m happy with all of the ‘flaws’ that I couldn’t bear to look at when I was 14.”
The actress said, “I’ve lived in my body for a long time. I’m fully aware of my breast size and am not scared of it. What’s more concerning is…. Why are you so scared of breasts? Small? Large? Left? Right? Only one? Maybe none? What. Is. So. Terrifying.”
The “Don’t Worry Darling” star said she grew up in a family of “very strong, powerful, curvy women” who discovered “power in the creases of our body.”
She went on to insist that going topless was her right as a woman.
“It has always been my mission in this industry to say ‘f*** it and f*** that’ whenever anyone expects my body to morph into an opinion of what’s hot or sexually attractive,” she continued. “I wore that dress because I know.”
Pugh concluded: “If being loudly abusive towards women publicly in 2022 is so easy for you, then the answer is that it is you who doesn’t know. Grow up. Respect people. Respect bodies. Respect all women. Respect humans. Life will get a whole lot easier, I promise. And all because of two cute little nipples&#8230;.”

Valentino Haute Couture Fall/Winter 22/23 – Front Row

‘Why Are You So Scared Of Breasts?’ Florence Pugh Wears Sheer Dress, Calls Critics Prudes Who Need To ‘Grow Up’

Florence Pugh Wears Sheer Dress, Calls Critics Prudes Who Need To 'Grow Up'

Body positivity

Celebrities

Entertainment

Hollywood

Nudity

Researchers say a marble head of the legendary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/greece">Greek</a> and Roman hero Hercules has been recovered from a 100-year-old archeological site off the coast of an island in Greece. 
The head was recovered at the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shipwreck-credited-with-inspiring-the-goonies-found-off-oregon-coast">wreck</a> of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/italy">Roman</a> ship that went <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/know-your-ocean/ocean-topics/ocean-human-lives/underwater-archaeology/antikythera-shipwreck/">down</a> about 2,000 years ago in the Aegean Sea off the island of Antikythera, which is close to Crete. The ship, believed to be some kind of a trading or cargo ship, was first found in 1900, but archaeologists continue to uncover artifacts from the sea floor. 
“In 1900, [sponge divers] pulled out the statue of Hercules and now in all probability we’ve found its head,” archaeologist Lorenz Baumer<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/21/marble-head-of-hercules-pulled-up-from-roman-shipwreck-site-in-greece"> told</a> the Guardian. “It’s a most impressive marble piece. It is twice lifesize, has a big beard, a very particular face and short hair. There is no doubt it is Hercules.”
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Missing head from Hercules marble statue found at the antikythera shipwreck. Press release here: <a href="https://t.co/m3GGb36m6Q">https://t.co/m3GGb36m6Q</a> <a href="https://t.co/PYvA8WRCc1">pic.twitter.com/PYvA8WRCc1</a>
&mdash; Antikythera Research (@antikytherateam) <a href="https://twitter.com/antikytherateam/status/1538852571481264128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Hercules, a mythological strongman, was required to do 12 near-impossible tasks by the gods to atone for killing his family after he was put into a frenzy by Hera, the wife of Zeus.
These labors included things like killing monstrous lions and hydra-creatures as well as cleaning the horrifically dirty stables of a local king by using his brawn to reroute two rivers. A sculpture of the legend&#8217;s body was previously recovered from the shipwreck during a previous expedition more than a hundred years ago. 
Now, researchers just <a href="http://antikythera.org.gr/2022/06/20/2888/">completed</a> another survey of the sea floor, finding several key artifacts, including the marble head of Hercules. It was the second phase of a five-year underwater exploration of the wreck, which is scheduled to last between 2021 and 2025.
The time the crew could spend excavating was limited as they were more than 150 feet under water. 
“It’s so deep they can only be down there for 30 minutes,” Baumer said, according to the Guardian. “But now we have an idea of what has been hiding under those rocks … each find helps us piece together more context in our understanding of the ship, its cargo, the crew and where they were from.”
In addition to Baumer, the project has involved the efforts of Dr. Angeliki G. Simosi of the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece, as well as the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, a government agency. The president of the Hellenic Republic has also provided funding for the project. 
Other objects found during the May 23 to June 15 expedition included human teeth, a lead anchor collar, bronze and iron nails, and the plinth of a marble statue. 
Baumer said the shipwreck was an “extremely rich” site with a lot more possibility in future expeditions.
“You never know what archaeology will deliver tomorrow, but what we do know is that the Antikythera wreck is an extremely rich site, the richest in the ancient world,” he said.

Kamarela a wild rocky beach with beautiful rocks complex and turquoise sea waters in Antikythera island in Greece

Hercules’ Marble Head Found At Site Of Ancient Roman Shipwreck

Hercules' Head Found At Site Of Ancient Roman Shipwreck

Greece

Italy&#8217;s second most wanted mobster has been extradited from Brazil after hiding in South America for decades.
Rocco Morabito, the &#8220;cocaine king of Milan,&#8221; arrived in Rome on Wednesday after 28 years on the run from the law.
Morabito, 55, was second on the list of Italy’s most wanted and dangerous mobsters and was regarded as one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world. Italian authorities had been looking for him since 1994, and he was convicted in absentia by a Milan court in 2001.
&#8220;He was a major architect in the internationalization of the [crime] gangs and became the king of cocaine brokers,&#8221; Nicola Morra, the Italian senator who heads the anti-mafia commission, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ndrangheta-mafia-kingpin-returns-italy-serve-30-year-sentence-rcna36928">wrote</a> on Facebook.
Morabito was a leading member of the &#8216;Ndrangheta, which has in recent decades become even more powerful and widespread than the infamous Sicilian mafia, especially in the cocaine business.
The mafia don was finally arrested last year in May, the result of a joint operation by Brazilian and Italian police.
He had been previously arrested in Uruguay in 2017, but Morabito escaped from prison two years later when he and three other inmates climbed through a hole in the roof, evading custody until 2021.
Last year, authorities finally located him again in João Pessoa, a port city in north-eastern Brazil. He had adopted a fake identity with a fake Brazilian passport, going by the name Francisco Capeletto.
Morabito was arrested there along with another &#8216;Ndrangheta mafia member, Vincenzo Pasquino, who has been sentenced for drug trafficking to the tune of 17 years behind bars.
Morabito will serve 30 years in prison for drug trafficking. He has also been convicted of mafia association.
His extradition to Italy was approved by Brazil&#8217;s federal supreme court last week.
Morabito rose to prominence as a young mafia associate by forging what are now major cocaine smuggling routes from South America to Milan. He was eventually caught on an audio recording attempting to make deals relating to importing more than a ton of cocaine along one of those routes.
In Uruguay, Morabito had lived large, collecting art and sometimes throwing big parties for his friends. Police began tracking him in South America when he registered his daughter at school under her real name.
During his arrest in 2017, police found a 9mm firearm, 13 cell phones, cash, a Mercedes coupe, and 150 photos of Morabito in different disguises that appeared to be meant for passports among his belongings.
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86" data-component="text-block">
<div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1">The top most wanted mafia boss in Italy is still Matteo Messina Denaro, who is regarded as the most powerful boss of Cosa Nostra in Sicily. He has been on the run from authorities since 1993.</div>
<div></div>
</div>
<div>Besides Cosa Nostra of Sicily and the &#8216;Ndrangheta from Calabria, the other major mafia group in Italy is the Camorra from Campania, also known as the Neapolitan mafia.</div>
<div></div>
<div>In the U.S., Cosa Nostra is split into many different families, including the powerful five families of New York, the Gambino, Colombo, Bonanno, Genovese, and Lucchese families.</div>

BRAZIL-ITALY-MAFIA-MORABITO-ARRESTED

Italy’s Number Two Mobster Extradited From Brazil

Italy's Number Two Mobster Extradited From Brazil

Brazil

Crime

Mafia

Protesters reportedly associated with the radical environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion blocked one of the main roads in Rome during rush hour by sitting in the middle of the highway.
Drivers then exited their cars on the Grande Raccordo Anulare, which encircles Rome, walked over, yanked the protesters and threw them to the side of the road.
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Roma, attivisti bloccano GRA in protesta contro gas e carbone, automobilisti inferociti tentano di rimuoverli <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/granderaccordoanulare?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#granderaccordoanulare</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/extinctionrebellion?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#extinctionrebellion</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/localteam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#localteam</a> <a href="https://t.co/hVmgdZihhV">pic.twitter.com/hVmgdZihhV</a>
&mdash; Local Team (@localteamtv) <a href="https://twitter.com/localteamtv/status/1537333254835019776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“The adolescent demonstrators were members of an Extinction Rebellion offshoot organization called the ‘Last Generation’ movement, according to Italian magazine Corriere Dello Sport,” tdpelmedia.com <a href="https://tdpelmedia.com/last-generation-movement-protests-by-blocking-a-major-highway-in-rome">reported.</a>
In October 2019, protesters from Extinction Rebellion <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-50079716">climbed</a> on top of trains in Stratford, Canning Town, and Shadwell during rush hour; service on the Jubilee Line and Docklands Light Railway was temporarily suspended.
At the Canning Town station, a few furious commuters yanked two of the protesters off train cars.
“The two activists used a ladder to climb up onto the carriage, causing passengers to begin shouting at them to get down before launching a physical attack,” Metro <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/17/angry-commuters-drag-xr-protesters-off-tube-try-glue-10933003/">reported</a>. “A man was seen throwing a bag of crisps at the pair, while others chucked their drinks and bits of cardboard as the number of people on the platform grew.”
In October of last year, an English woman trying to transport her ailing 81-year-old mother to a hospital tearfully cried at a group of eco-activists that blocked streets in London for over four hours, “How can you be so selfish?”
The unidentified woman was videotaped lashing out at members of the Extinction Rebellion splinter group Insulate Britain as she was blocked at Blackwall Tunnel from getting her mother to a Canterbury hospital, the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10056407/Now-eco-mob-block-Blackwall-Tunnel-Insulate-Britain-launch-ELEVENTH-day-protests.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline">Daily Mail</a> reported.
“Insulate Britain — which is demanding the Government pay for all homes in the country to be insulated by 2030 — has brought major roads to a standstill with eleven protests in less than three weeks,&#8221; the outlet reports. &#8220;Around 450 arrests have been made so far.&#8221;
The woman cried, “She&#8217;s in there. She&#8217;s going to a hospital in Canterbury. Do you think I&#8217;m stupid? &#8230; Please move your cars. Please. &#8230; This isn&#8217;t okay. This isn&#8217;t okay. &#8230; How can you be so selfish? How can you be so selfish? &#8230; My mum is 81 and she&#8217;s going to the hospital.&#8221; 
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Florida GOP governor Ron DeSantis has made it clear he will not tolerate protesters blocking roads. He <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/07/15/desantis-tells-protesters-not-to-block-traffic/">said</a> in July 2021, “We can’t have that. It’s dangerous for you to be shutting down a thoroughfare. You’re also putting other people in jeopardy. You don’t know if an emergency vehicle needs to get somewhere, and then obviously it’s just disrespectful to make people stand in traffic.”
“It can’t be where you shut down commerce or you shut down the ability to use these arteries &#8230; especially in a place like Miami where the traffic can be very bad,” he added.

Italian flag

Viva Italia: Italian Commuters Drag Off Protesters Blocking Main Rome Road

Protesters

Back in 2018, Laura Young <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/06/us/roman-bust-goodwill-san-antonio-museum.html">went</a> to an Austin, Texas, Goodwill store and picked up a small bust that cost $34.99. Little did she know it was an ancient artifact that historians believe Allied soldiers took in Germany during World War II.
“I got it outside in the light,” Young said, reflecting on when she first purchased the statue. “He had chips to the base. He had clear repairs. He looks old. I’ve been to museums. I’ve seen Roman portrait heads before.”
She said that the statue was “pretty dirty” once <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/05/04/roman-bust-germany-goodwill-store-texas-restitution">she</a> found it, and had a worker carry the 52-pound bust out to her car.
Now, the 2,000 year old Roman artifact will be sent back to Germany after an investigation into its origins.
“There are plenty of Roman portrait sculptures in the world. There’s a lot of them around. They’re generally not in Goodwills,” art history professor Stephennie Mulder <a href="https://www.kut.org/life-arts/2022-05-04/so-the-35-sculpture-you-got-at-an-austin-goodwill-was-looted-from-a-museum-during-wwii-now-what">told</a> Austin’s NPR station. “So the object itself is not terribly unusual, but the presence of it here is what makes it extraordinary.”
According to historians and researchers, the bust is probably the Roman general Drusus Germanicus or Pompey the Great’s son, and was kept in the villa of a Bavarian king. Drusus Germanicus was a Roman political and military leader who conquered portions of modern day Germany who lived from 38 to 9 B.C. 
Some Americans, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/06/arts/design/returning-the-spoils-of-world-war-ii-taken-by-our-side.html">during</a> fighting in Germany in 1945 took artifacts like paintings, Bibles, and exquisite chests were taken from German castles and museums. This has led some to theorize that the Roman bust ended up in the hands of an American soldier during fighting in Aschaffenburg, Germany. A bust of Drusus Germanicus had been on display at the villa of Ludwig I, who replicated a Roman villa on his property. 
“US law doesn’t recognize the transfer of title when theft is involved,” said Leila Amineddoleh, who has worked as Young’s lawyer during the negotiations over the artifacts future. “I advised Laura not to sell it, either publicly or privately, that is, on the black market. She risked expensive legal battles or criminal penalties if she tried.”
It will be returned to Bavaria where it will go on display at a museum after negotiations over ownership of the head. However, for the next year, the bust will be able to be seen at the San Antonio Art Museum.
Young said she was disappointed once she found out that the Roman bust legally did not belong to her. 
“Immediately, I was like, ‘OK, I cannot keep him and I also cannot sell him,’” she said. “It was extremely bittersweet, to say the least. But I only have control over what I can control, and art theft, looting during a war, is a war crime. I can’t be a party to it.”
Questions still exist about how the bust ended up in a Texas Goodwill, but the going theory is that an American soldier took it with him coming back from Europe, though it might have been difficult to take such a large object back discreetly.
Looting was banned by Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower and most of the stealing was done by the Nazis, but some Allied theft did take place. 
“What is very unusual is that most instances of looting were committed by the Nazis—it is estimated that 20% of all the art in Europe was looted by the Nazis,” Amineddoleh said. “However, this bust of Drusus Germanicus was most likely looted by a member of the Allied forces.”
While the investigation into the true nature of the marble bust was ongoing, Young kept the bust in her living room across from the TV.
“It was on a small credenza close to the entryway of our house. Facing the TV. So you could see his reflection in the TV when you&#8217;re watching TV,” she <a href="https://www.kut.org/life-arts/2022-05-04/so-the-35-sculpture-you-got-at-an-austin-goodwill-was-looted-from-a-museum-during-wwii-now-what">said</a>, according to Austin’s NPR station. “Every time you walk into the kitchen, you pass the head. Every time you walk into the house, he greets you. He&#8217;s there. He was a constant presence.”
She nicknamed the bust “Dennis,” after a character in the TV sitcom “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.”
“It hurt a little bit. It was bittersweet. Like, it&#8217;s nice that there&#8217;s a resolution to it and that it&#8217;s working out for the best,” she said. “It&#8217;ll be a little bittersweet to see him in the museum, but he needs to go home. He wasn&#8217;t supposed to be here.”
This isn’t the first time that Young has picked up something valuable at the thrift store. She says previously scooped up a Chinese painting worth $63,000 for barely anything. It’s anybody’s guess what she will pick up next time she goes thrift shopping.

sculpture

The Story Of How A 2,000 Year Old Roman Artifact Ended Up In A Texas Goodwill

Woman Picked Up 2,000 Year Old Roman Artifact For $35 At Thrift Store

Germany

Readers Pass

Texas

World War II

After nearly 80 years, the U.S. Army is making up for lost cake.
On Thursday, soldiers from U.S. Army Garrison Italy <a href="https://www.army.mil/article/256190/u_s_army_garrison_italy_soldiers_return_italian_womans_birthday_cake_77_years_later">gave</a> a birthday cake to an 89-year-old Italian woman whose birthday cake was taken from her home by American soldiers during the final days of World War II.
The woman, Meri Mion of Vicenza, was only 13 years old when U.S. soldiers, on April 28, 1945, took her cake as they were fighting in the area and looking for something to eat. The army has now given her a new cake ahead of her 90th birthday.
“Sgt. Peter Wallis, a military police Soldier from Seabeck, Washington, presented the cake to Mion, with Col. Matthew Gomlak, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Italy. Hundreds of people – to include Italian soldiers, carabinieri, U.S. veterans and Italian veterans, plus many local residents, looked on,” the Army said in a press release.
Once the scene of fierce combat as soldiers from the U.S. 88th Infantry fought German soldiers in stormy weather became a peaceful scene as Mion was presented with a birthday cake 77 years after the fighting.
At least 19 Americans were killed or wounded while fighting German troops in the area, and the U.S. also lost several tanks during the campaign. Nevertheless, grateful Italians gave U.S. soldiers bread and wine after the region was successfully liberated.
Gomlak noted that the “warm welcome by the people of Vicenza continues to this day,” while Wallis said the ceremony “was a little awkward, but it makes me feel great to give her the cake.”
After a night of hiding from the fighting on their family farm, 13-year-old Mion was looking forward to enjoying her birthday cake but said she was disappointed when it disappeared.
“Her happiness turned into disappointment later when the resourceful American Soldiers made off with her birthday cake,” Gomlak explained. The American soldiers had taken the cake from the window sill.
However, she was happy that the army remembered and was grateful after being presented with the cake.
The American campaign in Italy lasted from 1943 to 1945, and the Allies met stiff resistance from German troops. An estimated 60,000–70,000 Allied soldiers died during the fighting, while roughly 100,000 Germans were killed during the campaign.
“Mountainous Italy was a hard place to fight and mistakes were made by both sides, even before the main focus of fighting in Western Europe shifted to France in June 1944. The result was that difficult, hardscrabble fighting in Italy lasted almost the end of WWII,” the American Heritage Museum <a href="https://www.americanheritagemuseum.org/exhibits/world-war-ii/italian-campaign/">explained</a>.
The U.S. maintains cemeteries in Italy for American war dead from World War II, including the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and the Florence American Cemetery.
The Sicily-Rome Cemetery, dedicated in 1956, has the graves of 7,845 soldiers and the names of 3,095 soldiers who were missing in action <a href="https://www.abmc.gov/Sicily-Rome">engraved</a> on the marble walls of a chapel. At the Florence American Cemetery, 4,392 soldiers are <a href="https://www.abmc.gov/Florence">buried</a>, and the names of 1,409 missing are also memorialized.

Soldiers In Rome Via Del Corso 1944

American Soldiers Ate Her Birthday Cake During The Liberation Of Italy. The U.S. Army Just Gave Her A New One

U.S. Army Gives Cake To Italian Woman 77 Years After Soldiers Took Her Birthday Cake During WWII

America

Military

U.S. Army

A man in Italy is being charged with fraud after attempting to get a COVID vaccine while wearing a fake arm.
Before administering the shot, a nurse noticed something strange — that the man’s veins weren’t appearing. “At first I thought I made a mistake, that it was a patient with an artificial arm,” Filippa Bua said, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/03/italian-man-tries-to-dodge-covid-vaccine-wearing-fake-arm">The Guardian</a>. “The colour of the arm made me suspicious and so I asked the man to uncover the rest of his left arm. It was well made but it wasn’t the same colour,” she explained.
The man, aged 50, then asked Bua, “Would you have imagined that I’d have such a physique?”
After becoming curious, Bua asked him to take off his shirt, which led her to discover the man’s fraudulent arm. The man then “tried to persuade the health worker to turn a blind eye.”
“‘The promptness and skill of the health worker ruined the plans of this person, who will now have to respond to the judiciary,’ Alberto Cirio, the president of Piedmont, said in a joint statement with Luigi Icardi, the regional health councillor.”
While it still hasn’t been reported what exactly the fake arm was made of, it’s clear that the man put a lot of thought into fooling medical professionals and attempting to get a vaccine passport without getting the vaccine.
“It is unacceptable in the face of the sacrifice that the pandemic is making the whole community pay for,” Cirio and Icardi said in their statement.
The attempted trick happened in the town of Biella, only “a week after Italy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/24/italy-poised-to-tighten-rules-for-unvaccinated-with-super-green-pass">announced measures</a> barring unvaccinated people from a host of social, cultural and sporting activities.”
The country’s vaccine mandate that went into effect in October is “one of the strictest in the world,” according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/09/24/1040550745/italys-new-covid-vaccine-mandate-is-one-of-the-strictest-in-the-world">NPR</a>. Italy also enforces vaccine passports. “Italy&#8217;s vaccine passport is called the green pass,” NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli reported. “It&#8217;s a digital or paper certificate of at least one COVID-19 vaccine, a negative test or recovery from the virus. Italy first required it for indoor dining, museums and gyms. It was then extended to high-speed trains, planes and ferries, triggering protests by anti-vaxxers.”
The government has gone a step further by issuing “super-green passes” that citizens will be required to obtain to enter “cinemas, theatres, gyms, nightclubs, ski-lifts and stadiums, as well as to be served indoors at bars and restaurants.” The passes will be required starting December 6.
NPR notes that Italy “has the second highest COVID-19 death toll in the continent after Britain, with more than 130,000 since early 2020. The impact on the economy, particularly on the crucial tourism sector, has been devastating.”
As of December 4, 73% of Italy’s population had been fully-vaccinated, reports <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-tracker.html">The New York Times</a>. On December 3, the country reported 16,810 new COVID cases, according to the <a href="https://covid19.who.int/region/euro/country/it/">World Health Organization</a> (WHO).
The Daily Wire is fighting Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate in federal court. Join us in this fight by <a href="https://lp.dailywire.com/osha-petition/">signing our petition</a> to OSHA, telling them that you will not comply with this mandate.

Senior adult man getting vaccinated in doctor`s office

Man In Italy Attempts To Get Vaccinated Wearing A Fake Arm, Facing Charges: Report

COVID-19 Vaccine

Protests erupted around Italy on Friday as the country&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, one of the strictest in the world, took effect.
Italy&#8217;s so-called &#8220;Green Pass&#8221; mandate took effect on Friday, meaning that workers must show proof that they are either fully vaccinated, tested negative, or recovered from COVID-19 within the past six months.
A Green Pass was already required in Italy to get into many indoor venues such as restaurants, museums, theaters, and some trains.
Now, both employers and workers face fines if they fail to enforce or comply with the mandate. Employers who fail to enforce the requirement may be fined 400 to 1,000 euros, and an employee who does not produce a Green Pass at work may be fined 600 to 1,500 euros, and will also be considered absent from work without approval.
The Green Pass program does allow for medical exemptions for people who cannot get the vaccine due to a proven medical condition, but those without an exemption must get tested for COVID-19 every 48 hours in order to be able to go to work. Workers must pay for the tests, which cost more than $17, themselves unless their employer is providing free testing since the government has not made testing free to all.
Two large protests occurred at two of Italy&#8217;s major ports, Trieste and Genoa, with workers shouting “No green pass” and “Freedom.”
Those protests and others in Rome and Milan were <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/italys-tough-workplace-covid-19-pass-a-harbinger-of-bidens-vaccine-mandate-11634300912">reportedly</a> peaceful.
In Italy, 85% of people over the age of 12 have received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine. In the U.S., 77% of people 12 and older have received at least one vaccine shot.
Last weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s (D-CA) trip to the Vatican, during which she visited Pope Francis, was <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/10/12/1045181390/pelosi-italy-trip-disrupted-by-green-pass-covid-protests">disrupted</a> by protests against vaccine mandates.
Pelosi had to be extracted from St. Patrick&#8217;s Church, where she was attending Mass, after about 10,000 Italians protested outside the church over the country&#8217;s new mandate. That protest turned violent, and at least a dozen protesters were arrested.
Some Italian lawmakers expressed their disapproval of the vaccine mandate on Friday as well.
Davide Barillari, a councilor from Rome’s Lazio region who is unvaccinated, &#8220;occupied&#8221; his office the night before the Green Pass mandate took effect, bypassing the requirement to show a Green Pass the next day.
“Oct. 15, 2021: History books will remember this day as the day of shame,” Barillari said in a video he posted on Facebook from his office.
“I am waiting for the police to tell me I can no longer stay in my office and work,” he said.
Last month, President Biden announced plans that companies with 100 or more employees must require all workers to get vaccinated or mandate that they get tested once a week. The president also said all federal workers must receive a coronavirus vaccine or face disciplinary action.
“We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us,” Biden said.

italy protests

Italy Erupts In Protests Over Vaccine Mandates

Vaccine Mandate

A man who worked as a safety officer at a hospital in Italy has been charged for multiple crimes stemming from his collecting $648,000 in salary over 15 years despite allegedly never going to work.
Italian news agency Ansa <a href="https://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_news/2021/04/21/no-show-worker-got-pay-for-over-15-years_a99a4a38-9525-4574-8d14-1751bee25e46.html">reported</a> that Salvatore Scumace, 66, is under investigation “for fraud, extortion and abuse of office” after authorities discovered he had been paid for 15 years without ever going to work. The outlet called him a “serial absenteeist,” adding that six of Scumace’s superiors are also under investigation for allegedly aiding in his deception by not taking action against him. So far, an investigation has found that Scumace was hired in 2005 and never showed up for work.
The Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/21/italian-king-of-absentees-allegedly-skipped-work-for-15-years">reported</a> that “king of absentees” Scumace never went to his job at Pugliese Ciaccio hospital. An investigation, codenamed Part Time, involved police gathering attendance and salary records while also speaking to witnesses. The investigation revealed that Scumace allegedly threatened the hospital director in 2005 to keep her from “from filing a disciplinary report over his absenteeism,” The Guardian reported.
“The director then retired and the man’s absenteeism continued unabated because his attendance was never checked by the director’s successor or the human resources department, police said,” the outlet reported.
The Guardian reported that this is not the first time the Italian government had uncovered information revealing rampant absenteeism in the public sector. From the outlet:
<blockquote>In 2016 the government tightened a law against the workshy after several high-profile police investigations revealed just how rampant absenteeism was across the public sector.
In <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/22/town-hall-staff-sanremo-italy-absenteeism-inquiry">one investigation</a>, police used secret surveillance cameras to ensnare 35 workers at Sanremo’s town hall who had been cheating the time management system for at least two years. The wives of two of the employees were caught using their husband’s staff cards to clock on for them, while other staff members clocked on before going canoeing, shopping or out with friends.
In another case, a traffic police officer who lived in the same building he worked in was filmed clocking on in his underwear before going back to bed.</blockquote>
Italy is not the only country with this problem, either. In 2010, the Virginian-Pilot <a href="https://www.pilotonline.com/government/local/article_6525d212-fe0b-5afe-9369-f873d747275e.html">reported</a> that a Community Services Board employee in Norfolk, Virginia collected a salary with benefits for 12 years despite never going to work. The employee was fired and an investigation was opened, though the employee’s name was never revealed.
In Spain, a building supervisor failed to show up to work for six years while still collecting a $41,500 salary from the local government, HuffPost <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/man-skipped-work-for-6-years_n_56c1d32ae4b0b40245c72512">reported</a>. The man’s deception was uncovered after he received an award for 20 years of loyal service. From HuffPost:
<blockquote>Joaquín García, 69, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35557725">was recently fined </a>$30,000 for the extended paid vacation from a water treatment plant in Cádiz — the maximum penalty government officials could deliver, the BBC reported.
According to deputy mayor Jorge Blas, it wasn’t until Garcia was due to be recognized for his hard work in 2010 that authorities realized his office was sitting vacant.
“I wondered whether he was still working there, had he retired, had he died? But the payroll showed he was still receiving a salary,” Blas told Spanish newspaper El Mundo, <a href="http://www.thelocal.es/20160212/spanish-civil-servant-takes-6-years-off-work-no-one-notices">according to The Local.</a>
“I called him up and asked him, ‘What did you do yesterday? The month before, the month before that?’ He didn’t know what to say,” Blas said.
Garcia’s water company coworkers thought the plant was being overseen by local authorities because they hadn’t seen Garcia in so long.</blockquote>

A view of the “Arnaldo Pugliese Ciaccio” Hospital in

Man Received A Paycheck For 15 Years Despite Never Showing Up For Work, Authorities Say

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