Deep Space

Far far away....

About global warming and ocean rising (not)

here's a very interesting (and most important, scientific!) study about ocean rising...

http://www.jcronline.org/doi/pdf/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-10-00157.1

The German campaign of Berlusconi's image

I really hope that the Italian government issues a strong protest against the campaign that the German televisions ARD and ZDF have started to promote "fair information ad objectivity" during some local election and, mostly, to invite people to pay their annual fee "to guarantee independence of information". In this campaign the Germans don't miss a chance to show the racism they still deeply cultivate and use the image of the Italian prime minister (who happens to own three television and a couple of newspapers) to picture what would Germany be without media freedom and independence. Now, I think every Italian should feel deeply offended by this step forward of the German racism, that starting from calling Italians spaghetti eaters has now become Italians stupid puppepts in Berlusconi's hands. Now it's clear that blinded how they are in their feeling of superiority, those teutonic Kartoffeln eaters didn't bother to come down to the third world country (Lago di Garda is far enought) and look around, use that thing called TV remote control or buy a couple of newspapers to realize that things are not exactly the way they depict in their advertisements. Or, maybe, they actually crossed the border, and watched the third channel of the public TV, or they bought the newspaper Repubblica, or L'Unita', or il Manifesto, just to give some examples.... and they found a detailed description of how the Italians lack of media freedom and all the relevant complains and protests.... duh.

About paying an annual fee to a TV to guarantee it's independence, we have the blatant example of the public TV RAI, where the first channel has always been asserved to the government, whatever it is, the second has been asserved to the socilaists for long time, and now is not clear (at least to me) where it stands, while the third channel has alwas been asserved to the far left (current, ex, or post, whatever definition you like best). So if you really want a bad example of the Italian TV look at the public netowrk, that is paid by people's money, not at the private TVs that are paid by their owner's money. If you don't like what the owner of the private TV has to say on his TVs, you have a tremendous power to make him shut up in your house. It's called remote control.

Please German fellows, go back to call us Spaghetti Eaters, we are used to that and is much more in line with your intellectual level. Don't try to appear what you are not.

Arte Moderna ... o no?

About awaresness and knowledge and japanese radioactivity

The aboslutely immotivated and insane reaction of a part of the Italian people is another blatant example how they are aware but not knowledgeable. There is no whatsoever dangerous level of radiation coming to Italy from Japan, never the less they act like it is a deadly cloud. Someone could please explain to them how things are in  reality?

Cuore di pietra

Oggi ho verificato con mano che le pietre hanno un cuore durissimo. Tentando di scavare una traccia per passare un filo elettrico in un pilastro di cemento armato, i sassolini annegati nel cemento erano la parte più dura da rompere! Non uno che con un po' di buon cuore si offrisse di farsi da parte senza tante storie... Li ho dovuti cacciare a martellate uno per uno!

Knowledge is more important than awareness and other things about Italy

I was watching the news on TV during my stay in Italy, and people were rallying to defend the constitution from the government which is attacking it and try to change it. If you put it in this way, one could be reasonably worried about democracy in Italy. Fortunately for Italy and for it's inhabitant things are not exactly how the people at the rallies were saying. First of all, the constitution itself describe the procedures that need to be followed in order to change it. The government is following step by step those procedures, and proof is that the President of the Republic approved both the method and the content of the changes, which is to say the changes proposed still are in line with the constitution spirit.
That made me think... do these people really know what they are rallying for? They are aware that a change in the constitution is under development but they don't know how that works and what they mean. So they are aware but not knowledgable. This leave space for some interested politician to use the people's good faith to show that "the people is defending the constitution against those who are attacking it".
Thinking about it, this is very common in Italy. People are very eager to be aware of what is going on around them (and that is very good) and are also willing to do something in order to defend what they believe in (and this is very good as well) but unfortunately they usually do not take the time to get a deeper knowledge of the things they are aware of. It doesn't matter if it is the GMO or the Nuclear Energy, the war in Afghanistan or the workers unified contract, the gobal warming or the poles melting. They are aware of it and therefore they feel the need to do something. But because they don't have the right knowledge, in the best case they limit their action to pointless rally, in some other cases (for example in the case of the nuclear poll years ago when the majority of Italians chose to stop the development of nuclear power plants) cause a big harm to their country. Just to stick to the example, stopping the development of nuclear plants is causing huge energy bills today, that surely worsen the already not so bright economic situation.... So the suggestion is, my dear Italian fellows, before you go to the streets and protest, try to get some knowlegde. Be aware is good but not enought... 

What the West should do about Libya

All the western governments are watching what is happening in Libya without a clue about what to do. They are horrified of the massacres that are going on there but they are scared of a military intervention that could have a negative impact on the arab masses. But of course someone in the Arab world, expecially the poor Libya citizen, will accuse the West to be inect and to have done nothing to stop the crazy guy.
There is a very simple solution to this empasse. The West, in particular the US and the NATO should offer their military power to the Arab league and/or the African Union and say something like "we are here available to do what you will ask us to do, bur we are not going to do anything if you don't ask us". That way the ball would be in Arabs' field, and nobody could accuse the West of stay and watch. The decision about an intervention would be all in the hands of the Arabs and at the same time they would not feel left alone.

Quando si perde il senso della dignita'...

Non so quali siano le motivazioni che hanno ispirato il vescovo di Padova. Voglio credere sia una deviazione di un pacifismo 'senza se e senza ma' che annebbia la mente e che non ci siano invece ragioni politiche nascoste...
Ma il Vescovo ricorda Papa Giovanni Paolo II che invocava il dovere della comunita' internazionale di intervenire per fermare il massacro in Bosnia? Mi chiedo se sia un atteggiamento davvero cristiano lasciare una popolazione indifesa in balia di terroristi spietati, soltanto per rimanere fedeli a un pacifismo "senza se e senza ma" e per non correre il rischio di sporcarsi le mani... o la coscienza... Mi sembra un atteggiamento egoistico, piu' che cristiano.

Ottima la risposta del presidente dell'Associazione Nazionale Alpini nella sua lettera aperta.

http://www.ana.it/uploads/lettera%20aperta%20Vescovo%20Padova%20gen%202011.pdf

Free Thoughts - Pensieri in Liberta': Berlusconi, the judges and other worries

Free Thoughts - Pensieri in Liberta': Berlusconi, the judges and other worries: "If I were Mr. Berlusconi I would be seriously worried. I am seriously worried even if I am not Mr. Berlusconi and I am 100% confident t..."

Berlusconi, the judges and other worries

If I were Mr. Berlusconi I would be seriously worried. I am seriously worried even if I am not Mr. Berlusconi and I am 100% confident that I never committed any of the felonies he is accused of. What worries me is the motivation that the investigation judges used to send Mr. Berlusconi to trial on April 6th. If one would waste some of his/her time ro read all the phone records, as well as the deposition testified by the involved girls, it would appear clearly that there is absolutely no proof that Mr. Berlusconi did any of the things he is accused of. All the involved girls always testified that they never had sex with the guy. Never in the phone records there is a person who admit to have been paid by Mr. Berlusconi to have sex with him, or even to have sex with him at all. The reason for the prosecutors believe he is guilty is based on the "logic conclusion" (that's what they say) that if he had these girls participating to his parties and he paid money and provided otehr benefits to these girls, that means they had (this is the logic conclusion) paid sex with him. Included Mrs Karima, AKA Ruby, who was a minor at the time.
Now, what worries me is the "logic conclusion" principle adopted by the judges. Based on the same princile, Hugh Hefner would be guilty. Any guy who has a girlfriend who is not working and he's providing for her (and have sex with her) would be guilty. If the generally accepted principle that all the people are equal before the law is still applicable. Clearly that's not the case. The "logic conclusion" principle is very very dangerous because can bring to conclusions that even if "logical" are not true. Just because it looks like something happened that doesn't mean it did. A very high level of "reasonable certainty" is required to condemn someone. Of course, this is what one expects in a democratic regime....