Yayablog

I’m confused.Just read one of an article on yahoo.it that lists “The Dirty Dozen”, the 12 most dangerous fruits and veggies for human consumption, because of the quantities of poisonous pesticides used in the cultivation of the products. The list is published by the US Dept of Agriculture.

So, the Department of Agriculture allows the production and distribution all over the country and world of countless tons of these toxic food items, and then warns us not to eat them??? I mean we are not talking about wild mushrooms or blowfish here, but of products that we render toxic through our intervention. Wouldn’t it be more logical to prohibit the massive use of these dangerous pesticides? This is a clear example of the governmental process gone wrong. Because of lobbying powers, the legislative process, etc, this seems the most logical solution, or the only viable solution, and frankly it is insane.

Oh the Twelve most dangerous vegetables in your supermarket according to the US Department of Agriculture are: apples, peaches, celery, potatoes, spinach, lettuce, bell peppers, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, nectarines and grapes.

I just opened my yahoo account, which is a yahoo.it (for Italy) address. There, on the top right corner I saw an advert that blew my mind, from a website that apparently sells used stuff called secondamano.it. The ad appears on the “risposta inviata” or “message sent” page. The company alternates between two ads. One is this:

There is a young couple sitting on a couch surrounded by old objects. She is a pale blond, he is a Black guy with short dreads. These “sold” signs start appearing on all the objects, ending with one popping up on him, saying “tutto puo essere venduto” or “everything can be sold”.

Wow.  The Black guy can be sold.  Is there any other country in the world that would find that sort of “humour” acceptable let alone funny, and think this is a good way to promote one’s web site?

Most times you see a Black model being used in an advertisement in Italy, it is a direct reference to his colour, so chocolate, a dark soda, an oreo-like cookie.  That  is embarrassing enough, but this one really breaks new ground in openly racist humour and poor taste. My complements to secondamano.it, to whom I have written directly, for representing Italy, with its already tarnished image in the field of racism, as a country where this sort of thing is acceptable.

an update on this story: Yahoo pulled the advertisement on Sunday. I contacted a freind who works at Yahoo, who was able to contact the right people w/in their massive advert department, who reacted promptly. I had also contacted the office of the Italian ambassador in DC, NAACP in DC and of course secondamano,it, none of whom responded.