Yesterday’s denial by Fiorentina’s Pantaleo Corvino seemed to be nothing more than a depistage. This morning, Tuttosport was the first to announce that an agreement seems to have been reached for the transfer of Brasilian midfielder Felipe Melo de Carvalho to Juventus for the fee of €25 million. According to the first information available the bianconeri will be dishing out €20 million plus the transfer of the full ownership of Marchionni (€5 million) to cover the €25 million buy out clause.
This purchase will make the current Juventus team the most Brasilian in its long and prestigious history. It goes without saying that as a supporter of both Juve and the national sides J’accuse is over the moon. Now for the summer imagination to be let loose – will young coach Ferrara transform Juve into a 4-2-3-1 impenetrable goal machine?
(yes, Patrik G. definitely a good time to be a Juve and Brasil fan!)
The swine flu virus has hit the island and the daily reports of new cases have led the quickfire comment crowd to increase the signs of alarum. The latest cases were reported at a village festa in the tiny Gozitan village of Gharb. The general cannons and guns are now pointed on the Isle of MTV music festival or whatever that is being held sometime this week. Big acts like the Black Eyed Peas are expected to entertain thousands for free but some naysayers are calling for a cancellation of the event.
Here is one of the online comments (Warning: Humble Opinion Advisory):
So a simple village feast caused 3 infections as far as we know. What about the Isle of MTV? @Roy C I agree that life must go on, but precautions need to be taken. In my opinion the Isle of MTV is going to be one of the main causes of a major spread. This is only my humble opinion and I am not attending that one for surely. If you agree with me then do not go, if you do not then go.
There you go. This comes hot on the heels of the Roman Catholic Church ordering communion by hand (not in the mouth) – for once the church had in mind the earthly measures for the prevention of the spread of disease and influenza (well, so long as its not a rubber johnny). Some thought that this would not be enough:
[T]his goes to follow.Churches are crowded places too ,and moreover it is an enclosed space. People should be told to refrain from attending Mass . Communion by hand is not enough (D.Vella)
Yep. Refrain from attending. Funny how people do not refrain from typing before processing their thoughts. No wonder sometimes you have to bring in comment moderation. The alarmist crowd should think of what went on at the annual Glastonbury Festival in the UK. 177,000 revellers and three (3) swine flu cases.
Festival spokesman Christo Hird said: “Three unconnected people were taken off-site, straight to an isolation unit on the advice of the doctor and have now gone home.” He added: “They presented with symptoms. All medical staff have been fully brief. The view of the chief medical officer is that they had this before turning up. “This was anticipated. There is no more risk here than anywhere. The figure of three in 177,000 people is regarded as very low.”No other revellers had presented with symptoms, he said. A medical team of 600 is on hand to deal with medical emergencies. (The Scotsman)
I’d be happier if we would be calling for proper medical and security stand-by staff at the Isle of MTV rather than having the usual crowd of fatwa yielding plonkers.
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Well silly me if for thinking that the subject would not be interesting to some. I forgot the Golden Rule – no, not brevity is a form of wit – but shit and gossip sells. A reader got inspired by the latest repartees on married vs single life and sent me a link to this youtube vid. Interesting.
It’s been fourty years (in fifteen days’ time to be exact) since we put a man on the moon. Neil Armstrong took his giant leap for mankind on the 20th of July 1969. At that time the phrase “global village” was in its infancy having only just been coined by Marshall McLuhan a few years before. In his books McLuhan described how distances in the world were shrinking thanks to the advances in electronic technology and the rapid exchange of information and the term would stick until the advent of the “information superhighway” and internet.
The phrase “global village” is now mostly used to refer to the internet itself and the manner in which exchanges thereupon have made the world a much smaller place. What is interesting is that recent studies are finding that the internet’s contribution to the formation of a “global village” may still be only an illusion and that many people still think in very “local” terms. These studies are based on the use of emails. Apparently the frequency of emails diminishes in proportion to the distance between sender and receiver. We are likely to send more emails to people living close to us and our community than to someone far away.
It’s weird isn’t it? You have technology at your disposal that allows you to remain in close contact with people in Canada, Ecuador and Laos at the same time but a very, very high percentage of the emails that you send are sent to your office mates within the same block or people in the same town. When I came across this fact I was a bit diffident but then I reflected on my own emailing habits and noticed that it is very true.
Not only that, my internet habits are very “local” themselves. Morning coffee is normally drunk while browsing online Maltese newspapers first, my blog-roll second and then the less local (but not too distant) “foreign news”. Current foreign favourites include Turin based La Stampa, Milan based La Gazzetta and of course good old BBC. It’s not like I am taken to reading the Boston Herald or the India Times on a daily basis. News aggregators usually do the trick for that by pointing out the main headlines around the world in an instant.
Having trouble dealing with “the people”? An ungrateful electorate has just given you a right royal whupping at the polls? Is your electorate in need of a timely distraction? No plans and nowhere to go? Having trouble roping in your colleagues in cabinet? Has every news topic been a points killer at the opinion polls? Are your spinmeisters doing a shit job at reigning the people back behind you in adulating crowds?
No worries. The solution is a just round the corner.
