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Scientists Who Failed to Warn of Quake Found Guilty of Manslaughter
An anonymous reader notes that the BBC reports "Six Italian scientists and an ex-government official have been sentenced to six years in prison over the 2009 deadly earthquake in L'Aquila. A regional court found them guilty of multiple manslaughter. Prosecutors said the defendants gave a falsely reassuring statement before the quake, while the defence maintained there was no way to predict major quakes. The 6.3 magnitude quake devastated the city and killed 309 people." The scientists were first charged more than two years ago.
A misleading summary? On MY Slashdot?!
the third funiest legal system (after U$A and UK)...
All the doctors in Italy will have to tell their patients they are going to die and then all the priests will tell them they are going to hell to avoid prosecution.
No good deed goes unpunished.
How will this ruling affect earthquake predictions from this point on?
"Scientists predicted that sometime this week a massive earthquake will cause all of Italy to break off and fall into the ocean, killing everyone. This marks the 27th week in a row that scientists have made that prediction. When asked about the failure of the previous 26 predictions to come true a lead scientist replied 'It's always possible we're in error and the earthquake might be a little smaller, and might not kill everyone, and possibly might not happen at all. But better safe than sorry. We're sticking with our prediction, so don't say we didn't warn you.'"
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
You can now be tried for NOT yelling FIRE in a crowded theater.
s/[stupid comments]/[intelligent discourse]/gi
We should start somewhere a little more predictable, like economists.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
We in the USA feel a bit better now that there is another "developed" nation that is more fscked-up regarding science than the USA.
Table-ized A.I.
No you cannot prove a negative assertion.
Why should I believe that you cannot prove a negative assertion?
~Loyal
I aim to misbehave.
You mean that we cannot guarantee that the product does not contain nuts, even though the factory only makes sewing machines.
Whoa whoa whoa, are you actually insinuating that the Italian goverment is corrupt? How dare you sir
Whoa whoa whoa, are you actually insinuating that the Italian goverment is corrupt? How dare you sir
For a nominal fee to a certain benevolent society, the insinuation could be overlooked.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
The lesson is to not ever go to italy at all, ever, no matter who you are. They have a judicial system that produces results that are clearly insane.
Need a Python, C++, Unix, Linux develop
They have a judicial system that produces results that are clearly insane.
But they also make insanely great coffee, and have really nice shoes. It's not as simple as you make it out to be. You might end up in jail, but have you seen those uniforms? Fabulous.
Do prisoners get gelato? If so, I'm forecasting quakes!
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. There known knowns and there are known unknowns, but there are also unknown unknowns, things we don't know that we don't know!
Donald Rumsfeld, philosopher.
You are right!
To begin with, they don't speak English! And adding to that, they do not use dollars as their currency!
Why can't