Italy Charges Seismologists With ‘Manslaughter’ for Not Predicting an Earthquake
- Posted on May 27, 2011 at 8:54am by
Mike Opelka
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At first glance, I suspected this to be a story from The Onion, but it is quite real.
Earthquakes are usually not a matter of “IF” but “WHEN.” But Italy is blaming a group of six seismologists and a government official for not suitably predicting a deadly earthquake.
Most scientists believe that earthquakes are inevitable, but it is virtually impossible to predict when they will occur. However, Italy has charged a group of seismologists with manslaughter because they did not adequately predict the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake that killed 308 people.
Yahoo news reported the story of the indictment;
The decision to try the six members of a committee tasked with determining the risk of an earthquake in the area (along with a government official) was announced on Wednesday (May 25) by Judge Giuseppe Romano, according to a news article from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
More details are also posted on the AAAS webpage;
The seven were placed under investigation almost a year ago, and today L’Aquila Judge Giuseppe Romano Gargarella announced that they will be tried. According to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Gargarella said that the seven defendants had supplied “imprecise, incomplete and contradictory information,” in a press conference following a meeting held by the committee 6 days before the quake. In doing so, they “thwarted the activities designed to protect the public,” the judge said.
The scientific community has searched for indicators of coming earthquakes for centuries, monitoring everything from small quake “storms” to animal behavior in the hours and days before big quakes have hit. To date, nothing has delivered data that would be considered valid or a reliable indicator of a pending quake.
The trial starts in September and could last between six months and two years.
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Comments (78)
TROLLINGTHEVOID
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 10:33amTards
Report Post »Nervous Investor
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 10:29amHey Bhaub – go check out Italy and Italians in their home environment ….. pretty Red (as in pro Communist) over there …. and in France too.
Report Post »Bhaub
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 10:49amEr, okay… so Italy is full of Communists? And Communists are progressives? So blue is red, I guess.
Anyway, Italy is a parliamentary, democratic republic with a president. I don‘t see why you’re claiming it’s a Communist thing…
Report Post »TheGreyPiper
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 1:06pmOh bullshirt, you think the USSR was a real democracy too, so you have ZERO FFNNG CREDIBILITY, YOU STUPID (UNTRAG!!!
Report Post »powhatan
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 10:27amAmazing…Truly Amazing. I guess Satan is alive here on earth.
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 10:20amCrazy people, crazy times.
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 10:20amItaly has always been a nation of crazies- act first, think later. We should be suprised? Nuttiness is in the air!
Report Post »JQCitizen
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 10:14amWell, you can’t blame them. If scientists can “invent” the theory out of whole-cloth that carbon is a pollutant, then we should demand ANYTHING from them. They are the magical genie-puppets for whatever the powers-that-be want.
Report Post »no_more_harkin
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:58amI refuse to believe humans could be this stup!d. Wait, I was just over at Huff Po, nevermind.
Report Post »MOPatriot
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:42amCould the reason simply be to attack the intelligentsia? Make it so no one questions the official statement/information or else have the fear of prosecution? Another mechanism to control dissemination of information?
Report Post »shirelover
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 12:14pmvery good points!
Report Post »GoingBeck
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:38amSeismology majors all over the world are looking for a new curriculum.
Fear and loathing in Obamerica.
Report Post »clingingtogodandguns
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:33amwell let’s see “imprecise,Incomplete and contradictory information” sounds just like all the global warming idiots on the left.Let the trials begin.Let’s start with bo, nancy and biden ,oh but leftisy idiot joe klein from Time mag has to be first.please let me be on the jury.Guilty, penalty kicked out to their buddy in cuba or their other budy hugo chavez.
Report Post »starman70
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:30amThis is the height of stupidity. Italy, the home of some of the world’s most evil mobsters charging scientists for not predicting an earthquake? Why are they wasting time on this? Why are they not investigating La Costra Nosa?
Oh, I forgot. Italy is another European super leftist, socialist and progressive government teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. In order to change the focus of attention of the populace from the liberal’s failures, they trot out such inane charges hoping the Italian people will forget politicians failures.
We, in America, are seeing the same thing. The Mainstream Media are running stories which constantly try to change the focus of Americans from the immenent bankruptcy of the country and glororify the leftists.
As glenn Beck says: WATCH THE OTHER HAND.
Report Post »quicker
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:27amKinda like that new Italian tire ,they go in the snow ,they go in the mud when they go flat they Wap wap wap
Report Post »cntrlfrk
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:23amCan we charge and jail the Global Warming fanatics for their false claims of imminent destruction of the planet?
Report Post »SomaliVet
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:32amI was going to say that. But Hey, Having lived in Itly for 3 yrs. Them Italians are a little crazy. they recognize the communist party as ligitimate and back in the late 80′s they had one of their female porn actresses run and win a seat in Parliment.
Report Post »Cabo King
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:23amItaly—whats-a-matta-you
Report Post »dinadp
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:20amPorca miseria! Questo è pazzo!
Report Post »JimmyP
Posted on May 28, 2011 at 12:08amSi, Si!
Report Post »TexasStu
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:16amWow and I thought that we had a bunch of idiots in our government. Looks like so does a lot of governments.
Report Post »momsense
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:15amThis is the result of bunga bunga mentality. Diseased minds.
Report Post »The Gooch
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:15amSeems like a surefire way to make sure your country has NO seismologists. Brilliant.
Report Post »Maybe the Italians could be redirected towards some of the more unctuous climate change charlatans… er, scientists… who’ve been exposed as willfully manipulating and cherry picking data.
What about the politicians who continually foul up our lives by allowing financial systems to be gamed, failing to protect recognized borders and attacking defined rights? Above the law, right?
Damn, I do hate me some lawyers. Always the source of the majority of idiocy and woe imposed upon the world. The real question is: Why bother? What money or other gain is there to be had? Lawyers and politicians aren’t known for general altruism or concern for justice (which this action is in no way a pursuit of).
Wacky…
caprica
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:14amcharge the american whether dumb progressives tooo……they are bunch of coconouts ! being paid for nothing,,,,,american weather predictions are 99% wrong…because the liberal marxist graduates are just fuucked up in their heads as their marixsit communist freeloaders wacko george soros paid so call teachers, the public schools ARE INCUBATORS for Marxists, whinners, communsits, liberals wackos – totally fucccked uppp in their heads….agaist freedom and prosperity……these whinners whatn to live in Cuba and Iran like system……but they neve live USA,,,because USA is the only country where the stupid and the crazy liberals can say what they want ..they are real mental retards being used …..by the marxist propaganda admistration ! they turn the liberal wackos into like Hitler – brown shirts …..soon to be gestapo………unless we kick the marxist out of the White HOuse in 2012…….better ..calll your representaives ito impeach this jerk !
Report Post »heavyduty
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:07amCan we charge the Demos for falsely predicting that the unemployment rate going over 9%? Seems fair to me. Italy has never been accused of being smart.
Report Post »tommyg524
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:06amwow. yeah thats about right. man and his ego have no baoundaries. man, in this case a judge and his peers, actually thinkthat since the italians one day created a seismologist team ,they could fortell an ant farting in the next country. what a bunch of egomaniacs. every job ive ever worked at there’s always someone peering over your shoulder snooping around to try and nail you onsomething, anything to make them look bigger. I truly think the animal kingdom is more intelligent than man and his shallow ways, at least when an animal preys on its next meal, its out of a natural necessity process, which in balance respects nature. But man on the other hand, is greedy, purposely deceptive, sneeky, self serving, and spreads ego mania via corporations around the world. Look up “the corporation”, and you’ll see how we have allowed man to take advantage of man, and how it has become our very undoing
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:38amAnts Farting??
Report Post »Our problem is Univ Perfessers that study Ant Farting, stealing millions in taxpayers money. Our problem is the Fed Gov (Professional Politicians) stealing taxpayers money, giving it to their union cohorts, New ***** Democracy’s??, and Bosom -Buddy Dictators. Mostly Trial Lawyers get rid of Lawyers First. Our problem is no JOBS. Our problem is the Taking Class. (DEMOCRATS)
IAMMADDOG
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:04amJust wait until this country starts charging our weathermen for getting forecasts wrong and ruining a round of golf for Obomba (pun intended).
Report Post »Av8tor056
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 8:29pmThe secret service is already investigating the one that didn’t predict the rain storm that got poor little bo wet. Kidding but expecting it.
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:03amKind of like the Chinese emperor who executed his Astronomers for failing to predict an eclipse.
Report Post »BetsyRoss1513
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:00amWow… That’s pretty “out there”.
Report Post »Silversmith
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:00amNothing crazier than a progressive except an italian progressive!!
Silversmith
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:03amSo they are being charged for failing to predict the unpredictable? Only indeed with Progressives will this happen, it sounds like a case of someone is seeking either a scapegoat or they are seeking to have revenge done onto one of them for private reasoning.
This case would be nuttier and scarier than anything; yet I would imagine it could happen even here if someone wanted it to occur bad enough to press a case.
Report Post »Obama Bin Lying
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:03amWell in america, you insult a cop, create a problem, get arrested…and you get invited to the White House for a beer
Report Post »Creestof
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:06amIt is all that pasta going to their brains. I wonder how many future seismologists just changed their field of study?
Report Post »Cemoto78
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:10amIs there anyway we can blame the recent tornadoes and flooding on Obama? just ask’n
Report Post »lovenfl3
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:22amWelcome to the land of the progressive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiuk0tLj-I4
Report Post »tarbush
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:26amI expect this in china, or the old USSR/EASTERN BLOC, but who would expect such a thing in italy.
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:29amTime to get them lousy weatherman arrested for not being able to predict the rain that stops the little league game????
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:32amThey forgot to mention that the seismologists neglected to use their ouija boards and chicken feet.
Report Post »If they had only used those, they wouldn’t be in this mess.
GIDEON612
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:33am@Cemoto78
Well since we are downwind of China, and if they was anything to this climate change THEORY, they are the biggest spewers of crap out side of the beltway and their lamstream media followers.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:35amWhy don‘t they sue women the world over while they’re at it?
After all, Hojjat ol-eslam Kazem Sediqi, a noted prayer leader in Tehran, said in April 2010, “Many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray and spread adultery in society which increases earthquakes.” And we ALL KNOW that a Muslim cleric is infinitely more knowledgeable about things like this than any seismologist on Earth.
So sue women and their mammary glands for exerting such vile force and pressure on those naughty tectonic plates. Jeez……. I never knew I had that much influence…..
Report Post »TexasCommonSense
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:49amCome on, Italy. Everyone knows the quakes were caused by man-made global warming. Just as the inverter of the Internet, Al Gore.
Report Post »TexasCommonSense
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:53amThat should be “inventor”.
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 9:56ammore proof the world has lost its collective mind…
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 10:03amThe STUPIDITY is breathtaking.
Report Post »http://guerillatics.com
Bhaub
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 10:25amWait, what? What does this have to do with “progressives?”
In fact, here: “So they are being charged for failing to predict the unpredictable? Only indeed with Conservatives will this happen, it sounds like a case of someone is seeking either a scapegoat or they are seeking to have revenge done onto one of them for private reasoning.”
Makes just as much sense now. And hey, since it’s charging scientists, it‘s even MORE logical that it’d be conservatives. Maybe even Christians! GASP.
Report Post »Beckofile
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 10:26amIf this case works out can we sue the Scientist that predicted Globull Warming? Bad science is bad science.
Report Post »sooner12
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 10:34amYou’ve got to be kidding me.
Report Post »Sam Brown
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 10:59amWell if scientist have been able to prove man caused global warming then they must be able to predict earthquakes. Same science, by guess and by golly.
Sam
Report Post »shirelover
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 12:09pmTexascommonsense
Report Post »I kinda like your typo…he may well have “inverted” the Internet… LOL
GODSAMERICA
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 2:44pmMaybe the Italian people need to charge their government for manslaughter of the people’s rights.
Report Post »chazman
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 4:16pmShould be an easy rap to beat, and the biggest embarrasment Italy will ever have to live through!!!
Report Post »avenger
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 4:54pmwhere is the godfather when you need him ?
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 6:55pmIs Italy learning from America???
Report Post »Paul -Indiana
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 6:57pmI didn’t know that Obama was an Italian!
Report Post »Av8tor056
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 8:27pmTexasCommonSense
Come on, Italy. Everyone knows the quakes were caused by man-made global warming. Just as the inverter of the Internet, Al Gore.
TexasCommonSense
That should be “inventor”.
I like inverter better.
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on May 29, 2011 at 1:33pmI like this. If the global warming zealots aren’t right about that theory, we should do the same thing.
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