{"product_id":"the-murderous-sea-john-hartig-9798335464048","title":"The Murderous Sea: Gateway to Freedom","description":"Headlines are full of things happening in the Middle East, north Africa and the Mediterranean Sea. Tunisia and Libya especially are escape routes for \"boat people\" who desperately dig into their last savings to buy their way to freedom across the Mediterranean for a better life in Italy or somewhere in Europe. They use the magic words \"asylum seekers\" in their quest, maybe as a password which will be accepted by rich countries to let them in.\u003cbr\u003e The reality of life is that hopes are dashed when these boat people are fleeced from their life's savings in boat rides which often end in tragedy. Storms and hurricanes can batter these vessels in the murderous Mediterranean Sea where asylum seekers hoped for a gateway to freedom, for a better life. These vessels are most often not seaworthy and end up as derelicts on a little island called Lampedusa. It's Italian territory but its detention center is not equipped to handle the huge numbers of asylum seekers crossing the Mediterranean Sea illegally.\u003cbr\u003e There is an ironic connection between the asylum seekers and the inmates in Italy's Milan prison. The island of Lampedusa has a whole scrapyard of old boats abandoned by asylum seekers. The wood from these derelicts is scavenged and shipped to Milan prison where inmates use the wood to make violins, violas and cellos.\u003cbr\u003eThe unusual thing about the instruments that inmates produce is that the paints with which the boats had been painted remained in the wood which gave the instruments when finished a distinctive rainbow appearance. The instruments produce a pretty haunting sound when played.\u003cbr\u003eThe Milan prison has a rehabilitative program in woodworking where inmates can make something beautiful out of the derelict boats that asylum seekers used to get to freedom where they might start a new life.\u003cbr\u003e It's a shame that supply and demand has created an unfair economy where poor people are terribly taken advantage of. The huge numbers of asylum seekers has brought out smugglers, pirates, bribery, corruption and detention centers unequipped with handling such numbers. It seems the Mafia also works hand in glove with ISIS, all wanting to take a piece of the profit in this new enterprise cashing in on desperate people. Governments do not have the money, nor the will among nations, to co-operate and solve the problem while poor people continue to suffer and to be killed on the murderous Mediterranean Sea. For many, they will never get across the gateway to freedom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e John Hartig\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798335464048\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/09\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 124\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.39lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.26d","brand":"John Hartig","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48800902381823,"sku":"9798335464048","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-murderous-sea-john-hartig-9798335464048","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}