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Howdy, FReepers, Below are some pix I shot of the two "Bumper Stick-a-thons" that our local Republican club had here in Venice, Florida yesterday, Saturday, 10/9/04. I apologize for the low quality and size of these -- I just got this camera a few days ago and haven't had a chance to experiment with it much. Our first set of pictures is on the main street through town, Business Hwy. 41, or "Tamiami Trail". This location was right in front of our HQ.: A happy sign-waver! You can't read it ('cuz of my lousy photography!), but the sign above the...

VENICE (Reuters) - "Vera Drake," Mike Leigh's tough tale of a working-class mother who is caught performing illegal abortions in 1950s England, scooped up the prizes at the Venice Film Festival Saturday, including the coveted Golden Lion.

VENICE (Reuters) - While stars sip martinis poolside at the Venice Film Festival, down the beach hundreds of activists are staging a "camp-in" to protest against Hollywood blockbusters and high ticket prices at the competition. The T-shirt and flip-flop wearing crowd has stormed the red carpet twice, marched down the Lido's main avenues in anti-war protests and on Sunday night they occupied the exclusive terrace at the Excelsior Hotel where actors go to see and be seen. "That was our masterpiece, our crowning achievement so far," said Luca Casarini, an anti-globalization activist and one of the organizers of the anti-festival...

VENICE, Italy (AFP) - US actor Tim Robbins took the film version of his ribald anti-Bush play "Embedded/Live" to the Venice film festival, while audiences delighted in Indian director Mira Nair's colourful adaptation of Thackeray's classic novel "Vanity Fair". Robbin's angry satire about the Bush administration's war in Iraq (news - web sites) and the complicity of the mainstream US media in its reporting from the early days of the war is the polar opposite of Nair's sumptuous examination of race and class. "Embedded" was born as a play in a 30-seat theatre in Los Angeles in July 2003 and...

Over the centuries the belief lingered on that here had been a great, wealthy, powerful commercial city that dominated the mouth of the Po and the shores of the Adriatic, a city of luxury and splendor, a kind of ancestor and predecessor of Venice, founded more than a thousand years later. Classical scholars also knew about Spina, for ancient literary sources indicated that there must once have existed a thriving maritime trading settlement of great economic importance, until the Celtic invasion of the Po valley destroyed it... The final key to its ultimate discovery came from aerial photography. Some...

Italy nabs eight new al Qaida suspects By Eric J. Lyman From the International Desk Published 7/13/2002 10:34 AM ROME, July 13 (UPI) -- Italian police said Saturday they had arrested eight men suspected of providing logistical support for Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network, as local authorities tightened security in Rome, Florence and Venice amid reports of possible additional attacks. The suspects -- all but one of whom are North African Muslims -- were apprehended Thursday after a sting operation in Milan. A ninth suspect eluded police and is being sought. In a statement released Saturday, police said...

Ghost fleet 'shows Pisa was an ancient Venice' By Bruce Johnston in Rome (Filed: 22/11/2003) The chance discovery of a Roman "ghost fleet" buried in mud just outside Pisa has led experts to conclude that the city was built on a lagoon much like an early Venice. Archaeologists believe that traces of a community dating back to a pre-Roman era, a sort of "Etruscan Venice", may lie beneath the ships. The end of the lagoon civilisation may also offer clues to the fate of modern Venice - the waterways were silted up by violent floods over a long period. "The...

Italy Kicks Off Venice Flooding Project VENICE, Italy - Premier Silvio Berlusconi inaugurated an ambitious $4 billion project to ease the flooding that regularly deluges this celebrated canal city. The "Moses" project — named after the Biblical figure who parted the Red Sea — is expected to take about eight years. Hinged barriers will be built on the seabed just off Venice and will be raised when high tides threaten the city. "Venice is magnificent, the pride of all Italy," Berlusconi said on Wednesday as officials prepared to lay the first stone of the project. "Attention to saving this patrimony,...

Our ongoing Venice Rally resumes this Sunday with an exciting addition. I received the following email from the President of the Vietnam Brotherhood: On Sunday we are leading a large group of motorcycles from Biscayne Baptist Church in North Port to Englewood via Venice. We are leaving at 1pm and will be coming through your intersection to show our love & support. I have asked the President of the Vietnam Brotherhood, to invite the Nan Knights Motorcycle Club to join us to show support for our troops. VENICE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS RALLY When: This SUNDAY, APRIL 27 at 1-2:30 PM....

We had the largest turnout and most appreciative response from motorists yesterday! At the peak over 40 people were on the four corners of US 41 Bypass & D. Venice Ave. between 1-3PM. The safe return of seven POWs on Palm Sunday morning added to our feelings of joyful thanksgiving. We brought large yellow bows and tied them to the four traffic light posts on the four corners. We also gave away over 200 yellow ribbons to the drivers stopped for red lights. Some returned later to drive by and show the ribbon tied to their radio antennas. Several people...

The on-going SUPPORT OUR TROOPS RALLY held EVERY SUNDAY in VENICE FL from 1-2:30 PM got a great plug this morning on The DINER SHOW when I called PHIL PALEOLOGOS on WIBQ 1220AM. Phil broadcasts from a diner in New Bedford, MA and is heard in Sarasota and many other cities. A few days ago, I had sent email to Phil asking him to announce our RALLY and got a response saying he'd be happy to do so but would also like me to call him. When I called in about 7:30 AM, Phil was interviewing Ciff May, a Republican...

Many local & seasonal patriots stood with us at 41 Bypass & East Venice Ave. yesterday! This was the largest turnout so far! At the peak time, we had between 7 & 10 Patriots on each corner! The car horns, cheers, thumbs up & smiles demonstrated just how happy the many passing motorists were to see us. We were visited by SNN 6 TV & a Sarasota Herald Tribune reporter. Joe Brower gave an excellent interview which was repeated on their newscasts all day today. This was a successful Rally as Joe noted that we were still getting 'honks' as...

There will be another SUPPORT OUR TROOPS RALLY on the FOUR CORNERS at the intersection of Rte 41 Bypass & Venice Ave. this Sunday April 6 at 1 PM. I have contacted Talk Radio host Phil of the Diner Show on WIBQ 1220AM daily from 6-8 AM and asked him to announce our Rally. In addition, I am giving a Community Notice & Press Release to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Venice edition). And I will call other media while we are LIVE and ask for coverage. Please bring signs, flags & try to wear yellow ribbons. Much better weather is predicted...

Sunday in the Sunshine State on the Suncoast dawned dreary, cloudy with a forecast of storms and increasing winds. Despite the gloomy skies we can report: Mission Accomplished!!! We gathered on the 4 corners of the busiest intersection in Venice, FL. and we got on local comcast SNN6 TV station! About 30 Patriots led by 2 Freepers, Joe Brower & your reporter waved signs & flags for almost 3 hours at Rte 41 Bypass & Venice Ave. while passing cars honked, cheered and gave 'thumbs up' signs to show their approval. I had collected email addresses of people who attend...

After the Support Our Troops Rally in Venice at Patriots Park, about 30 people joined my husband & I in demonstrating in support of our troops on Rte 41. Before we left I passed around a piece of paper and collected email addresses. Many expressed a desire to 'do it again'! Most everyone was on the internet. Now I have organized another Rally for this coming Sunday by sending the following email to those people and others who live in the area. *************************** "You are receiving this email because you met me on Sunday at the Venice Veterans Rally for...

VENICE, Italy (Reuters) - Venice is on high alert with small submarines patrolling the city's lagoon and police sealing off its ancient Jewish ghetto following reports of a possible al Qaeda attack. Police were giving away no details of the operation on Thursday, but said it was necessary to prevent "anything untoward happening". "There's an alarm in general, but I don't want to say anything more than that," Venice Chief of Police Domenico Bagnato told the ANSA news agency. On Wednesday, Italian newspapers reported that Italian investigators had uncovered a plot by al Qaeda operatives who last year planned to...