Former Uefa president: England should be given the 2018 World Cup instead of mafia state Russia

Of course former Uefa president Johansson is right. The dictator of the mafia state called Russia, Vladimir Putin, should be denied the games due to massive corruption:

England should be given the 2018 World Cup instead of Russia, the former Uefa president Lennart Johansson has said.
Johansson, who lost the 1998 Fifa presidential election to Sepp Blatter, says the 2018 and 2022 World Cup awards should be reviewed in the light of the new corruption charges.
Johansson, 85, speaking after seven Fifa officials including two vice-presidents were arrested by police in Zurich for extradition to the USA, told the Swedish newspaper Sportbladet: “I expect they will reconsider the [World Cup] decisions. Blatter himself has said that the decision to go east wasn’t proper. I am sure the initiative will now be taken to make a new decision.
“England haven’t had it since 1966 and it’s considered ‘the motherland of football’, whatever we might think. They are worthy of the attention.”

The Mafia - and Greenpeace - way of approaching "clients"

"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse"

Don Vito Corleone

There have been a lot of reports about the Italian mafia entering the "green" energy business, favored by Greenpeace, WWF and other similar climate change lobby groups. However, it also works the other way around:

Here is a description of how the Sicilian mafia approaches its clients:

Mafiosi approach potential clients in an aggressive but friendly manner, like a door-to-door salesman.^[137] They may even offer a few free favors as enticement. If a client rejects their overtures, mafiosi sometimes coerce them by vandalizing their property or other forms of harassment.-

In many situations, mafia bosses prefer to establish an indefinite long-term bond with a client, rather than make one-off contracts. The boss can then publicly declare the client to be under his permanent protection (his "friend", in Sicilian parlance). This leaves little public confusion as to who is and isn't protected, so thieves and other predators will be deterred from attacking a protected client and prey only on the unprotected.^[139]

Mafiosi generally do not involve themselves in the management of the businesses they protect or arbitrate. Lack of competence is a common reason, but mostly it is to divest themselves of any interests that may conflict with their roles as protectors and arbitrators. This makes them more trusted by their clients, who need not fear their businesses being taken over.

Read the entire article here

Here are two descriptions of how Greenpeace approaches its "clients":

Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International, February 15, 2013:

"A few weeks ago, the McDonald's chief executive pulled out of the Natural Refrigerants Alliance. So to get them back in, I had two options: start another campaign against McDonald's – which eats up resource time – or use another route. So I had 15 minutes with Muhtar Kent, chief executive, Coca Cola, and I said he needed to pick up the phone and call the chief executive of McDonald's, who he is friends with, and he agreed to it. Also, I am able to call Kent and say "Listen, I understand that you are a part of this association at the state level that has been lobbying against climate, and you guys have to make up your mind which side of the fence are you on because it is inconsistent. You are doing some really positive things on climate action in your practice, but actually you're part of a business coalition that is pushing in the other direction."

Read the entire article here

The Coca Cola Company, January 2012:

The consensus on climate science is increasingly unequivocal -- global climate change is happening and man-made greenhouse gas emissions are a crucial factor.The implications of climate change for our planet are profound and wide-ranging, with expected impacts on biodiversity, water resources, public health, and agriculture.

As an extension of our efforts, The Coca-Cola Company co-founded "Refrigerants, Naturally!"with McDonald's and Unilever along with support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Greenpeace. This is an example of public-private collaboration on innovative solutions for climate protection.

Read the entire article here

Greenpeace, August 2009:

Kimberly-Clark has, as a result of public pressure, released a new environmental fibre policy that governs how it will help conserve forests and support sustainable forestry and use more recycled fibre.

Greenpeace's Kleercut campaign was launched in November 2004.

This campaign to help protect ancient forests in Canada and globally applied pressure on the company via the marketplace and its large customers and consumers. In order to highlight the issue, hundreds of protests took place globally, resulting in more than 50 activists arrested in acts of peaceful civil disobedience. Scientific and exposé reports, media mobilization and shareholder engagement were also an important part of the campaign.

This work and dedication reached a successful conclusion with Kimberly-Clark’s release of the strongest paper policy by one of the world’s top three tissue product manufacturers.

Read the entire article here

Kimberly-Clark, August 2009:

In 2009, Kimberly-Clark and Greenpeace, a leading environmental organization, began working together to reinforce the company's progressive fiber sourcing standards. The agreement has brought additional protection to special forest areas and clear targets for Kimberly-Clark to increase its usage of environmentally-preferred fibers in our North American tissue products. To further our stakeholder engagement, we have continuous dialogue with Greenpeace to gain their perspective on other important sustainability issues.

Read the entire article here

Putin´s and Assad´s "brotherhood" bonds

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is able to continue the mass killings of innocent civilians because of the support he receives from fellow dictator Vladimir Putin and China´s communist party authoritarians. 


The real reason for Putin´s support is the fact that he is afraid - even scared - of sharing the (coming) fate of Assad and all other evil dictators, who have been forced out of power. 


Putin also clearly acts in accordance with the old rules of the Italian mafia, as described in Letizia Paoli´s excellent book "Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style":


The strength and weakness of the two mafia associations lie in the brotherhood bonds through which their members are connected (p. 17). The rite of mafia initiation establishes not only a status as "man of honor", but also a ritual kinship, an almost religious communion (p. 76), that creates obligations of correctness and solidarity vis-à-vis the other members of the same mafia family and in principle also to all other mafia brothers (p. 81). These ties promote trust and provide a basis for specific purposive contracts (p. 89), even between members from different families who have never met before (p. 150). 

Why is there so little mafia activity in communist China?

I am probably not the only person who has been wondering why there are so few reports about traditional mafia operations in China. Is it because the communist regime is so effectively fighting criminality? Not really. The answer is to be found in Frederico Varese´s ( Varese is a professor of criminlogy at Oxford) book "Mafias on the Move":

 Given the shortcomings of the Chinese legal system, why haven't they permeated the People's Republic? The answer is simple: Corrupt government officials are performing mafia-like services so competently that the real mafias can't compete. Bribe-taking Communist Party cadres act as a "protective umbrella" for all kinds of businesses.

"Since any economic activity in China is subject to intrusive inspections and requires several permits, and independent courts are not effective in protecting the victims of officials' harassment, even entrepreneurs producing legal commodities, such as light bulbs, can benefit from entering into such arrangements," Mr. Varese writes. "The umbrella system ensures continued control over the economy by officials, albeit one that distorts incentives and produces significant waste."

That's not to say Chinese officials are shy about skimming from illegal activity too. Prostitution, illegal in China, is a prime example. Prostitutes are caught, judged and punished by the police under administrative law—they can be sentenced to severe fines or imprisoned without ever facing a judge. Practically, this means police protecting brothels can coerce prostitutes and brothel owners.

Read the entire article here

PS

In Russia we have a somewhat different situation, compared with China:

Russia and its intelligence agencies are using mafia bosses to carry out criminal operations such as arms trafficking, according to allegations contained in the US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks.

The Kremlin's spy agencies have such a close relationship with top organised criminals that Russia has become a "virtual 'mafia state'," the cables say. The gangsters enjoy secret support and protection and in effect work "as a complement to state structures".