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Italian Earthquake

Discussion in 'Alley of Dangerous Angles' started by Takara, Apr 6, 2009.

  1. Takara

    Takara My goodness! I see turnips everywhere

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    Remove all ads!
    I followed this from early today and read it's now at 150+ dead in central Italy :( I'm sure the numbers will climb overnight.
     
    Takara, Apr 6, 2009
    #1

  2. The Shaman Gems: 28/31
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    Quite likely. I feel for those families... It may sound a bit strange, but I find it hard to imagine that an earthquake in Italy could have that many casualties.
     
    The Shaman, Apr 7, 2009
    #2
  3. Takara

    Takara My goodness! I see turnips everywhere

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    I just read they've found a survivor or two which is great news. :) Still 179 dead :(
     
    Takara, Apr 7, 2009
    #3
  4. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    Earthquakes in Italy are rare (although certainly not unheard of), so perhaps a lot of the buildings were not designed to withstand a significant earthquake. This issue may have been exacerbated because many of the collapsed builidings were old - built before more recent engineering developments that allow buildings a better chance of surviving an earthquake.

    I agree that it is a tragic situation, with students among the victims.
     
    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot, Apr 7, 2009
    #4
  5. Takara

    Takara My goodness! I see turnips everywhere

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    297 dead now :( such an awful occurance
     
    Takara, Apr 7, 2009
    #5

  6. LKD Gems: 31/31
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    Natural disasters suck. Sadly, I'm sure they'll find some more bodies in the rubble. Has any International help been forthcoming?
     
    LKD, Apr 7, 2009
    #6
  7. Takara

    Takara My goodness! I see turnips everywhere

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    I'm unsure, but some might have, or will be. Maybe it was 207 not 297 and I misread. I hope so and i'm an idiot.
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2009
    Takara, Apr 7, 2009
    #7
  8. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    That clown Berlusconi in his usual bout of unbelievable arrogance declined all foreign aid at first, and only "caved in" somewhat later on after much criticism in Italy.

    “We have decided to say no thank you to all the countries that have offered to help because we can can deal with it ourselves, we are a proud country, with a strong welfare state.”

    Then he went on to say that the people now living in tents set up by the army have everything that they need and that they should feel like they were on a weekend camping trip.

    But hey, the Italian people willingly made Berlusconi CEO of their country a long time ago and they literally let him get away with murder, so jokes at the expense of people who have lost everything are the least of Berlusconi's concerns as far as political survival goes. But it's still very painful to watch a country with such historical legacy as Italy turn into a joke from Mussolini onwards...
     
    Taluntain, Apr 9, 2009
    #8

  9. The Shaman Gems: 28/31
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    True, although iirc Berlusconi owned about half the country (and much of the media) before he went into politics. It is ironic, really. I'm not sure where you found that quote of his from, btw - the most I have seen is a government spokesman saying the situation was under control soon after the Earthquake when the EU, Israel and Russia were reportedly ready to offer assistance; Berlusconi afterwards said he would seek assistance from the EU but I know of no mention of the other two. Not that that was not surprising and thick-headed - when there is an emergency political issues should not prevent saving lives and helping victims.

    @Aldeth: apparently some of the buildings, especially those in the villages, were built before the stricter anti-earthquake measures were imposed.
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2009
    The Shaman, Apr 9, 2009
    #9
  10. Takara

    Takara My goodness! I see turnips everywhere

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    This was SO sad and a bit shocking. I kinda expected 400 this morning. Heh, I was sad when I first read 14............ now over 250. I hope they can bounce back well. :(
     
    Takara, Apr 9, 2009
    #10
  11. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Well, yes, the fact that Berlusconi has controlled the majority of the Italian media for decades is probably the biggest reason why he'll rule Italy for as long as he lives... it's nauseating to think that something like that is possible in a supposedly "normal" European country, but Italy is far from it.

    Berlusconi says “no” to international quake aid

    You can google for "Berlusconi declines foreign aid" and similar and you'll find hundreds more hits.
     
    Taluntain, Apr 9, 2009
    #11
  12. Déise

    Déise Both happy and miserable, without the happy part!

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    Would it be possible, given obvious legal constraints, to expand on that? I've read a few pieces on Berlusconi but never anything that hinted at that?
     
    Déise, Apr 10, 2009
    #12
  13. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Let's just say that no one takes control of Italy to the point that Berlusconi has without the Mafia's OK... I'm not really qualified to say whether the list of Berlusconi's many crimes (which is a mile long) also includes murder (and I'm not implying here that he personally killed anyone), but with friends like that, it doesn't really take more than a hint to have certain inconvenient people permanently removed... but since even those crimes committed by Berlusconi that everyone knows about and are well documented can never be proven because he has the power to subvert and shape the legal system in such a way that he has practically granted himself immunity from prosecution, anything that can't easily be proven is even more pointless to discuss.

    This book describes it all and has actually made some impact in Italy. (Though I expect mostly of the "it's all lies!" kind - the brainwashed majority of Italians support him completely, after all.)

    Wikipedia also has a very extensive and well-researched article on Berlusconi.

    But we're going off-topic here...
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2009
    Taluntain, Apr 10, 2009
    #13
  14. Déise

    Déise Both happy and miserable, without the happy part!

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    Yeah, sorry, I took the 'literally let him get away with murder' line literally. I'm well aware he's a crook of the highest order who belongs in jail.
     
    Déise, Apr 11, 2009
    #14
  15. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Yea, I think that what he's been doing is worse than murder, hence the somewhat confusing wording...
     
    Taluntain, Apr 11, 2009
    #15
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