Description:
<p>Giuseppe Piero Grillo, better known as Beppe Grillo (born 21 July 1948), is an Italian activist, blogger, comedian, actor and politician, who also works in theatres and television.</p>
<p>Grillo was born in Genoa, Liguria. After receiving his degree as an accountant, Grillo became a comedian by chance, improvising a monologue in an audition. Two weeks later he was discovered and launched by Italian TV presenter Pippo Baudo. He subsequently participated in the variety show Secondo Voi for two years (1977-78). Later, in 1979, he participated in Luna Park by Enzo Trapani, and Fantastico.<br />In the 1980s his success rose further, thanks to shows like Te la do io l'America (1982, 4 episodes) and Te lo do io il Brasile (1984, six episodes). In these shows, he narrated his experiences of his visits to the United States and Brazil, with anecdotes and witticisms about the culture, lifestyle and beauty of these places.<br />As a result, his popularity grew more and more, and he became the protagonist of another show developed especially for him, called Grillometro (Grillometer). In 1986, he was the star of prize-winning advertisements for a brand of yogurt.<br />Soon after this, his performances began to be characterized by an increasing level of political satire, often expressed in such a direct way that he quickly offended a lot of Italian politicians.</p>
<p>Beppegrillo.it<br />He maintains a blog (available in Italian, English and Japanese) at beppegrillo.it which is updated daily. Comments to posts regularly top the thousands (in the Italian version). According to Technorati, the blog is ranked among the 10 most visited blogs in the world. He often receives letters of appreciation and support from prominent figures, such as Antonio Di Pietro (former Italian Minister of Infrastructures), Fausto Bertinotti (former President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies), Renzo Piano, and even Nobel Prize Winners (like Dario Fo, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Dalai Lama, Muhammad Yunus)[2].</p>
<p>On 1 September 2005, thanks to contributions from readers of his blog, Grillo bought a full page advertisement in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica in which he called for the resignation of the Bank of Italy's (then) governor Antonio Fazio over the Antonveneta banking scandal. In October 2005, Time chose him as one of the "European Heroes 2005" for his constant battle against corruption and financial scandals[3].</p>
<p>On 22 November 2005 Grillo also bought a page in the International Herald Tribune, again claiming that members of the Italian Parliament ought not to represent citizens if they have ever been convicted in a court of law, even in the first degree of the three available in the Italian system[4]. His blog now contains a regularly updated list of members of the Italian Parliament who have been convicted in all three degrees, in what he calls "operation Clean Parliament"[5]. Grillo claimed, in 2007, that data suggested that even Scampia, the most dangerous suburb of Naples and one of the areas with the highest crime rate in Europe, actually had a lower crime rate than the Italian parliament's membership[6].</p>
<p>On 26 July 2007 Grillo was permitted to speak to the members of the European Parliament in Brussels, where he drew attention to the dangerous, negative state of current Italian politics.[7]</p>
<p>In August 2008, Grillo was the subject of a report on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC-TV) international affairs program "Foreign Correspondent". Titled "The Clown Prince" the report profiled Grillo's life, political activism, V Day campaign, and use of the internet as a political tool.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/oldcontent/s2464639.htm">http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/oldcontent/s2464639.htm</a></p>
<p> <br />Beppe Grillo in Bologna speaking at V-DayOn this occasion, Grillo was able to officially promote the so called V-Day (Vaffanculo or "Fuck Off" Day) on 8 September 2007. V-Day, which was supported in more than 280 Italian cities as well as abroad, was organised by Grillo to persuade Italians to sign a petition calling for the introduction of a Bill of Popular Initiative to remove members of the Italian Parliament who have criminal convictions of any kind from their office.[8] According to Internet scholars, V–day was the first case, in Italian history, of a political demonstration developed and promoted via word–of–mouth mobilization on the blogosphere and the social web.[9]</p>
<p>This was followed by the second V-Day, an meeting happened on 25 April 2008, in Turin, S.Carlo square. This V-Day was dedicated to the italian press and its government financial support; Grillo heavily criticized the italian press for the lack of freedom; Umberto Veronesi (about his support for incenerators); NATO bases in Italy, the politicians (Silvio Berlusconi was recently re-elected) and Retequattro, still holding TV frequences already given to Europa 7 [2].</p>
<p>[edit] Legal Issues<br />In 1980 he was found guilty of manslaughter for a car accident in which he was the driver; three passengers lost their lives[10].</p>
<p>During his shows Grillo never hesitates to name firms and personalities he considers corrupt, always supporting his views with data and documents[citation needed]. For this reason he has been sued several times for libel by many people and organizations[who?] which he had exposed, such as Telecom Italia.</p>
<p>When Italian judges were investigating the Parmalat scandal, which was then the world's largest corporate bankruptcy scandal ever, Grillo was called to testify as he anticipated the imminent collapse of the dairy conglomerate in one of his shows. When he was asked by judges how he has been able to discover that, he simply said that Parmalat's financial holes were so evident that anybody who had enough ability to see them would see them, since the corporate accounting was easily accessible[11].</p>
<p>[edit] Criticism<br />Grillo is often criticized for his lifestyle. In particular, critics blame him for owning a motor yacht and a Ferrari sports car, both being in contradiction with his well known ecologist stance. In his blog he admits that he did, in fact, acquire both but has since sold them[10].</p>
<p>Grillo is also criticized for taking advantage of the Condono Tombale, a fiscal amnesty granted by the first Berlusconi government in 2001, which Grillo publicly opposed[12]. Grillo commented on this issue during the V-Day demonstration. He said that he had personally benefitted by only €500[citation needed].</p>
<p>Grillo has proposed that members of the Italian Parliament who have a criminal record should be barred from public office. As Grillo himself has been found guilty of Involuntary manslaughter caused by a car accident[10] his critics[who?] say he has no right to represent Italians either. Grillo has always stated that he is not interested in becoming a member of the Italian Parliament anyway[10]. Despite this, in July 2009 he publicly expressed his intention to present himself as a candidate for the PD's primary elections[13].</p>
<p>Another proposal of his is that members of Parliament be limited to two government terms of office after which they might not stand again. Detractors[who?] argue that this would shorten the political life of competent and expert politicians, usually drawing Alcide De Gasperi, Aldo Moro and Enrico Berlinguer as examples of brilliant politicians who served more than two terms. Marco Travaglio replied that, for that sake, also the political life of much less popular Clemente Mastella would have suffered[14].</p>
<p>Grillo is criticized as being a mere demagogue who attacks politicians on superficial issues and their private lives while unable to provide a valid alternative. For instance, Daniele Luttazzi, famous Italian satirist, criticized Grillo in 2007 in an open letter published on the website of the news magazine Micromega. Luttazzi accused Grillo of being a "demagogue" and a "populist", suggesting Grillo to choose between satire and politics, asserting the two are incompatible[15].</p>
<p>Grillo is an AIDS denialist [16].<br /><strong>Bebbe Grillo from </strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beppe_Grillo"><strong>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beppe_Grillo</strong></a></p>
<p><span id="Official_websites" class="mw-headline">Official websites</span></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external text" href="http://www.beppegrillo.it/english.php" rel="nofollow">The english version of Beppe Grillo's personal blog</a></li>
<li><a class="external text" title="beppegrillo.meetup.com" href="http://beppegrillo.meetup.com/about/" rel="nofollow">Beppe Grillo's fans meeting map around the world</a> </li>
<li><a class="external text" href="http://www.time.com/time/europe/hero2005/grillo.html" rel="nofollow">'Time' article about Grillo</a></li>
<li><a class="external text" href="http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=61655113e906fb9d92d2d0a0b0a5bcba203e3568" rel="nofollow">'New York Times' video about Grillo</a></li>
<li><a class="external text" href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/02/04/080204fa_fact_mueller" rel="nofollow">'New Yorker' Beppe’s Inferno</a></li>
<li><a class="external text" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDdmd9vCO_8" rel="nofollow"><em>The Beppe Grillo Story</em> YouTube Promo</a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.beppegrillo.it/en/">http://www.beppegrillo.it/en/</a></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0066cc;"><a href="http://www.beppegrillo.it/">http://www.beppegrillo.it/</a></span></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.terrareloaded.com/">http://www.terrareloaded.com/</a><br />Nuke is the nemesis of future. The most influent world experts, interviewed by beppegrillo.it, illustrate the reasons why to abandon the illusion of atomic energy and why to invest in a more sustainable future.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/StaffGrillo">http://www.youtube.com/user/StaffGrillo</a></p>
<p><a href="http://search.intelius.com/Beppe-Grillo">http://search.intelius.com/Beppe-Grillo</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.internazionale.it/beppegrillo/">http://www.internazionale.it/beppegrillo/</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.beppegrillo.it/eng/condannati_parlamento.php">http://www.beppegrillo.it/eng/condannati_parlamento.php</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.soaw.org/">http://www.soaw.org/</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.casaleggio.it/documenti/the_blogosphere_and_the_media.pdf">http://www.casaleggio.it/documenti/the_blogosphere_and_the_media.pdf</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.bing.com/news/results.aspx?q=Beppe Grillo">http://www.bing.com/news/results.aspx?q=Beppe Grillo</a></p>
<p><a href="http://beppegrillo.meetup.com/">http://beppegrillo.meetup.com/</a></p>
<h2>Marco Travaglio blog<br /><a href="http://www.voglioscendere.it/">http://www.voglioscendere.it/</a></h2>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marco-Travaglio/8387084989">http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marco-Travaglio/8387084989</a></p>
<p> </p>