Earthquake Scientists Sentenced to 6 Years

[Gargamel]

http://news.discovery.com/earth/scie...ke-121022.html

Despicable ruling.

If I was the guy running the seismology center, I'd send out warnings every time there was a small tremor. Gotta CYA, ya know?

[CCIP]

Man, it sounds almost like a medieval inquisition trial or something

[Buddahaid]

Stupid. Might as well start a war with the Vatican as it was an act of God.

[Oberon]

Brought to you by the guys that imprisoned Galileo...

[eddie]

If they lock him up for 6 years, how long should these type of people be locked up for? Preying on the emotions of families scared to death, pathetic if you ask me!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49421831...?lite=obinsite

[Catfish]

Mr. Berlusconi, under which this earth quake happened to shatter the ground, cannot possibly held accountable for this, after he had economised lots of 'unimportant' scientific institutes, to have more money for faltering economics, and himself.

And this Mr. still owns all the media in Italy, and also has some judges in his pockets having been invited by him to one or the other of his 'Bunga-Bunga' (meaning f... young girls) parties.

What would one expect ? Democracy at work.

[JU_88]

Mean while, eselwhere six real criminals are probably given a slap on the wrist

[Aramike]

This ruling is OBSCENE. DEPRAVED. DICTATORIAL.

Suggesting that anyone is responsible for the failure of an inexact, barely understood science is so far beyond silly and oppressive, that I find it a violation of human rights.

This would be the kind of ruling I would expect from a theocratic kangaroo court, not from Italy. I suppose I shouldn't be suprised, though - the Italians haven't seemed to take their government seriously for years.

This is unreal, and I'm sickened by it.

[kranz]

Originally Posted by Gargamel

If I was the guy running the seismology center, I'd send out warnings every time there was a small tremor. Gotta CYA, ya know?

if they paid you for doing this, sounds like a good idea.

Have you ever wondered why they evacuate the whole block if they find a gas leakage in a single flat?

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

Stupid. Might as well start a war with the Vatican as it was an act of God.

huh?

Originally Posted by Oberon

Brought to you by the guys that imprisoned Galileo...

funny

Originally Posted by Catfish

Mr. Berlusconi, (...) 'Bunga-Bunga'

wrong thread.

Originally Posted by JU_88

six real criminals are probably given a slap on the wrist

I'm amazed by the ease with which you deny all the job done by the prosecutors only because it happened in Italy...
A few more quotes from a different article:

The experts (of Major Risks Committee oh wait, they were actually gathered in some institution being paid for taking responsibility)provided "an incomplete, inept, unsuitable and criminally mistaken" analysis oh wait, they were actually responsible for creating an analysis...).

Italy's top seismologists were called to evaluate the situation

so basically if they agreed to do the job, they should have been ready to take the responsibility for their decisions. If they were not sure, they should have resigned. Bear in mind, I'm not taking here about the sentence they got - I don't know if that should be 1 year or 101 years - I'm taking here about the sense of responsibility. (the argument that 'small tremors' may be harmless is invalid here bcoz of the example below):
my dad works in a coal mine. there is a special room, where people after 'geology-related' studies sit (and get a #$&*!load of money for doing this) and do 3 easy points:
1.watch the gauge.
2.if the pointer goes a millimeter beyond the permissible scale, they should call a guy who orders to evacuate miners.
3.coffee time.

the records are being recorded and saved. there were cases in the past that some people were scratching their butts instead of watching the dial. they got sacked, fined and got a lifetime ban of working in the coal industry. (by the decision of a court ofc). (and same goes for the gas levels in a mine).

back to the topic: I really see no reason why someone who was given a formal task (and was regarded as a "top expert"), was paid for doing this (probably) should get away with it.

The then vice-director of Italy's Civil Protection department, Bernardo De Bernardinis, told reporters the seismic activity in L'Aquila posed "no danger" and advised residents to relax with a glass of wine.

I hope he enjoys a glass of cold water in his damp cell.

[Catfish]

^Thanks for your profound insights on geology !

As unrelated as Berlusconi's stopped funding for seismic activity research (but right tool for predicting earthquakes):

@kanz if it was that easy to predict an earthquake no one would ever die again ,but seeing as there is no way to predict an earthquake ,(watching some pressure sensors in a mine are completely different to trying to predict an earthquake), or even have an idea how big one would be, people are always going to be caught out when one happens ,and all this stupidity has done is ensure scientists Wont make any comments or warning for fear of being sent to jail if there's a different outcome ,and more people will probably die now because of it.

[Jimbuna]

The first reported incident involving The Italian Inquisition?

Crazy

[kranz]

Originally Posted by Catfish

^Thanks for your profound insights on geology !

show me where I wrote anything about geology.

Originally Posted by darius359au

@kanz if it was that easy to predict an earthquake no one would ever die again

yet "someone" believed that there are "experts" who would "draw conclusions" (mind, I didn't say predict) from geological data.
If they agreed to give their opinions, they should face the consequences.

[Catfish]

1. You cannot predict an earth quake.
2. You cannot predict a Tsunami caused by an earth quake, due to #1.

What the scientists probably meant was that you cannot do anything than moving away anyway, so you can as well 'take a glass of vine'.
This is not cynical, but common sense.
Anyone wo settles in a geologically active area has to live with the possibility of earth quakes.

There is no one to blame but life (and death) as such.



OT regarding Berlusconi:
It sure did not help that Mr. Berlusconi stopped the funding for the seismic research, but even then the scientists would not have been able to predict this. But.

1. At the time of the earthquake Mr. B. was head of the state.
2. A few years before he had stopped funding all kinds of scientific state research to make up for the economical downfall, including the rescue of classic monuments in Rome, and seismic activity studies. Sure he does not want to make this public.
3. Almost all bigger media in Italy belong to Mr. Berlusconi.
4. One of the judges related to those court decisions may have been invited personally, to Mr. B.'s 'Bunga-Bunga' parties.

'Democracy' at work.
Make of that what you want.

[the_tyrant]

People need to understand that the best math and science is "inexact".

You know how on the weather report, they always say "percent of precipitation"? Its only a percent, its not exact at all.

It is impossible for anyone to know exactly. it is only a statistic.