News on Zio Ivan

Libya Hurra - News from the ground

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 12:33:50 +0000

A team of smart, young, tech-savvy Lybians have given life to an amazing little (but already growing) project: collect, translate and share news from the ground of Libya.

The project is this news/blog: http://www.libyahurra.info/.

Libya Hurra

I said smart. They have leveraged something that everyone of us (well, people of the world) have: friends from somewhere else. They asked friends to take on the easy task to translate some articles every day, and send back for publication on the blog. I’m giving a hand with the Italian translations every time I can.

Can Italy be trusted in building a Nuclear Reactor?

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 08:19:36 +0000

Japan is facing one of the worst crisis since WW2: An earthquake, a subsequent Tsunami and now, worsts of all, a nuclear power crisis. Thousands died, and millions are now in huge danger. Japan is indeed facing a tragedy.

The earthquake was not just a strong one: was the 6th in the list of most powerful earthquakes ever registered (i.e. since ~1900) - an incredible 8.9 Richter. And, bear in mind, the Richter Magnitude Scale is logarithmic.

11/02/2011 - It happened today

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 23:47:43 +0000

I’m impressed. Today a lot of important things just happened, and I think it’s work putting them down.

Tahrir Square pushes Hosni Mubarak down

After what he said yesterday night, I was not expecting this to happen so soon. Mubarak stepped down! In addition of being a great news for all my friends that are directly or indirectly related to Egypt, this is an INCREDIBLE news for something I tagged as “lost”: hope.

Culinary Nationalism

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:32:39 +0000

Only a country like Italy could do something stupid like this.

In english:

The Tuscan city of Lucca has imposed a ban upon foreign eateries in its historic centre, in a move described by critics as racism. The city council voted to deny new licences to bars or restaurants with a ‘non-Italian style of cooking’ within the boundary of the Renaissance walls circling the city centre.

Tuscany’s centre-left regional government warned against discriminatory measures “introducing hidden forms of ‘gastronomic or culinary’ racism.” “The defence of quality is one thing, discrimination is another,” said Paolo Cocchi, the regional councillor for commerce. Lucca’s town hall defended the new rules, saying they were meant to safeguard the city’s cultural identity and that they were also applicable to sex shops, fast food restaurants and take-away pizza parlours. “The ban targets McDonald’s as much as kebab restaurants,” said a spokesman. The spokesman also said that the four kebab shops already in the city centre would be allowed to continue operating as normal, while, “as an invitation, not an order", all foreign restaurants in the city will be encouraged to include at least one typical dish from the region. CP/The Roman Forum 06 February 2009 Photo:Flickr/IthakaLB, An Italian enjoying typical cuisine

Involuting Christianity

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:40:11 +0000

Once, in a very weird and dark nightmare, I read this letter from the Pope:

My dear Christians, The World is changing and a wave of new corrupted culture is establishing a new, different, atheist moral. Please, don’t join the World in it’s changing. Bear in mind that homosexuality is a Sin and an Abomination: I’m sure God is furious much more because of you loving your homosexual partner, than of the fact that you all are polluting the planet. So, please, stop bumping each other. Actually, I think would be way better if you were just raping your own sister! Being in this period of the year, bear in mind to destroy the Pagan beliefs of your kids: Santa Claus doesn’t exists. Only Jesus, with it’s collection of miracles, and it’s conception on the 8th of December and birth on the 25th of the same month, it’s real. Like Adam and Eva. Sincerely, your ~~Cultural and Religious Dictator~~ Pope