Holy Inquisition v.2.0

[ddstory]

L'Aquila quake: Italy scientists guilty of manslaughter
The prosecution argued that the scientists were "just too reassuring"

Jailing scientists for not giving sufficient warning of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake is a spectacularly stupid idea

I agree with the Telegraph blog piece. This verdict is absolutely appalling in its stupidity. Obviously it'll

Comments

[underlankers]

I can't believe this isn't from The Onion or Friday LULZ. O.O

[ddstory]

Nah, it's from Italy.

[underlankers]

I thought Italy was supposed to be a modern country. O.O

[ddstory]

Don't ever go to Napoli or Palermo, lest you want your worldview shattered.

[htpcl]

Seismic wave goes up, seismic wave goes down.

You can't explain it!

[abomvubuso]

And sometimes it goes sideways.

Ergo, ALIENS!

[sophia_sadek]

Bulgaria is full of aliens. Some are from the north and some from the south. The ones from the east and west are probably the biggest pain in the butt.

[papasha_mueller]

"Jailing scientists for not giving sufficient warning of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake is a spectacularly stupid idea"
Why's that?
We're jailing doctor for misjudgement if the patient dies because of it, ain't we?

[ddstory]

Really? This sort of false equivalency is the best you're able to come up with?

OK then.

[foreverbeach]

He's right that medicine is not a perfected science either. Look what John Edwards made his money when he was a lawyer. It's sickening.

[ddstory]

And yet, seismology is nowhere near the level of accuracy of medicine.

[mahnmut]

ROME, ITALY. Italian citizenry has rejoiced and covered the streets with confetti at the news that seven evil wizards have been convicted of deliberately inciting natural cataclysms and causing a deadly underground demonic assault on the people, with fatal consequences, for the purpose of showing off with their formidable magical skills.

[ddstory]

Must admit your version is way better. Would be great for a horror fantasy series.

[htpcl]

> While the trial was going on, the authorities commissioned those same construction firms that had built the bulk of the rickety residential buildings across the region (the ones that fell down life wafers during the shake-down), to construct a special jail from anti-magic bricks, with strange mystical runes and counter-spells sprayed all over them like graffiti, in order to keep those criminal wizards at bay for the duration of their 6-year sentence. A special squadron of specially trained monks will keep a vigil day and night outside the jail, chanting pious hymns, in order to prevent any further attempts of misuse of magic, aimed at jail-break.

This is full of win on so many levels.

[underlankers]

Gandalf actually looks pretty badass in that picture. ;)

[dexeron]

Reading the words of the survivors, this is all so obviously an attempt to find SOMEONE to blame for what was a horrible and hurtful catastrophe. Some things in life (like earthquakes) don't have answers (well, they DO, but not ones that are particularly soothing to grieving families) and finding someone to hold responsible for an act of nature is one of mankind's oldest pasttimes.

That's why, in our modern world, we're supposed to have impartial judges and judidial systems to shield the innocent from the vagaries and passions of mob justice. The judge's job here was to say: "I know you're hurting. I know you want someone to blame, but this was an act of nature, and you cannot blame these scientists for not being able to exactly predict whether you should have fled or not." The judge failed, spectacularly.

Like astronomer Mike Brown said earlier in the week: "To my Italian asteroid searching friends: avert your eyes from the sky NOW, or risk going to jail at the next meteorite strike."