Most interesting is her interview with Liliana Merlini, a leader of the Women's Liberation Movement (MLD - Movi miento di Liberazione della Donna).

The MLD, formed in 1970, is currently petitioning to collect 50,000 signatures calling for women's right to abortion. The petitions will be turned over to parliament.

Although Loercher just touches on the question of divorce in her article, this is one of the most controversial issues in Italian politics today. Under a law passed in 1970 divorce became legal, but only after five years' official separation. Although still very restrictive, the law has generated tremendous opposition from the Catholic Church hierarchy, the fascists, and the Christian Democrats.

Antidivorce groups collected enough signatures last year to place a referendum on the divorce law on the ballot. The date has not yet been set for the referendum.

When the referendum does come up for a vote, there is sure to be a big battle between divorce opponents and supporters.

October 20, 1947
Truman's high-powered and costly propaganda campaign to reduce the food consumption of the American people - The "Eat Less-Waste Less" program - has quickly been revealed as a fraud.

The workers are eating less all right, but that's because prices have taken another spurt since Truman's much- ballyhooed program got under way. In the week ending Oct. 10, the Bureau of Labor Statistics general index of basic commodity prices rose another 1.1 points.

[Secretary of Agriculture Clinton] Anderson admitted that Truman's "Meatless Tuesdays" and "Poultryless and Eggless Thursdays" are pure ballyhoo. Anderson conceded, were "not primarily to save the foods themselves" but were "symbols of sacrifice."

The Truman administration wants to claim credit for trying to "do something" about high prices - everything, in fact, except halt the profiteering and price-gouging by the big food corporations and speculators.

The contention that higher wages and greater food exports are responsible for higher prices was further exploded by Secretary of Labor Schwellenbach, who on Oct. 9 put the blame for higher prices on speculation and profiteering. "As a matter of fact," he stated, "wages did not push prices up, but lagged well behind them."  
 
 
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