Officials say Italy catching up on Y2K readiness

October 15, 1999 Web posted at: 12:21 PM EDT (1621 GMT)

ROME (Reuters) -- The Italian government said on Thursday that it had moved late to tackle the millennium bug, but that the country could prove highly resourceful when under pressure.

"We were late in starting compared with other countries, but in Italy it often happens that an initial delay is followed by a great ability to recover," said cabinet undersecretary Franco Bassanini.

"Some sectors are okay; others will require a final rush. As a whole Italy has made net advances in terms of Y2K readiness compared with a few months ago," he told a news conference on Italy's "Millennium Bug National Crisis Unit."

Ernesto Bettinelli, chairman of the government's Year 2000 Committee, dismissed a U.S. Senate report which claimed Italy was likely to have significant Y2K problems, saying "the report dates back to June 1999, but things have changed since then."

"Most of the operations to prepare computers for the new millennium have been done, and we are at a good point in taking emergency measures so that problems can be handled easily," said Bassanini.

He said the crisis unit would ensure a continuous supply of essential services such as energy and hospitals, communications and transport.

The crisis unit is monitoring state departments and local authorities. Essential services such as hospitals have been alerted and will face the turn of the millennium under the coordination of the unit, which will be connected with a network of similar agencies worldwide to be better prepared for emergencies, said Bettinelli.

In June, Bettinelli warned that the Italian state sector was way behind the banking system and stock exchange in dealing with any potential Y2K problems.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), October 28, 1999

Answers

I live here in Italy. It's not true. Italians are very good at shading the truth and lying outrightly.....What you read is simply not the case at all.

They are however excellent at workarounds. If the pumps fail to work, somebody's brother will remove it and siphon the stuff out. Nothing works well here anyway and they are used to it.

I expect major problems here in Italy and lots and LOTS of workarounds wherever possible. I also expect services to stop abruptly and stay broken for lengthy periods...

Maybe the mafia will step in...if so, the things will work again in fairly short order. No kidding, they are VERY good at getting things done!

-- Ynott (Ynott@incorruptible.com), October 28, 1999.

Sure they are. They'll catch up with Y2K about the same time I finish organizing and cleaning 10 acres, the two-story house and 5 outbuildings. Fat chance.

I wonder if the Mafia does farms? Anybody have their number?

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), October 28, 1999.

As always, it is simply, gosh, I don't have the word, "wonderful", "amazing", "remarkable," and, I should almost have said, "unbelievable" how advanced software engineering is around the world compared to the United States.

Gee, at the beginning of 1999, even Koskinen was saying that Y2K AT THAT POINT would have been disastrous for us. Yet ..... here are entire countries that hadn't even begun (!), but now they have essentially caught up to us.

Memo to Bill Gates: hire some Italians ASAP.

Also hire programmers from Venezuela, Germany, France, ... , heck, hire programmers from EVERYWHERE outside the U.S. I guess Ed was right about the "decline" of the American programmer.

..... NOT grinning as he writes this.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), October 28, 1999.

A standing joke here is:

"A description of Hell would be German police, British chefs, and Italian mechanics....Heaven would be British police, French chefs, and German mechanics"

Now what does THAT tell you about their ability to prepare for Y2K?

You should see the cars here! Nothing and I mean absolutely NOTHING gets fixed around here until it breaks and then, only the part broken even gets looked at. I go in for my brakes and they replace one....Two weeks later, I go in to get the other replaced. When I bought windshield wipers, did I really want two?

Oh SURE, they've nipped Y2K in the bud.....I BELIEVE THAT!

-- Ynott (Ynott@incorruptible.com), October 28, 1999.

Ynott - a question - since you are there in Italy. My Dh works for the American divison of a Belgian based manufacturer. A vendor of a single part that is vital to the completion of any machine is in Italy (can't be shipped without it). What are the chances this company will be able to continue making this part made of sheet metal? Thanks.

-- April (Alwzapril@home.com), October 29, 1999.

April, sorry to hear that. I am no expert, though I hold a degree in engineering and understand the problem.

Let's see, first, is the plant North of Rome or South? Italy is really two countries. If it is in the northern section, then it stands about as good a chance as modernized Europe in being able to accomplish its manufacturing goals...whatever capability they have, that is...If the plant is in the southern part of Italy, well, unless the Mafia also feel it is necessary, forget it. Southern Italians are notorious for not being able to get things done. The mafia is actually a godsend to those people. If not for them, NOTHING would ever get accomplished down there!

Best answer is to ask him/her. Wish I knew more, If I hear of Italy related stuff here, I will post it, but quite frankly, it NEVER hits the papers here....The stuff Old Git posts is usually from an international paper picked up back home or over the net. If it is published here at all, it is in the back sections.

They devote the front sections of their papers to important stuff like affiars, sports...., and of course scandals...

-- Ynott (Ynott@incorruptible.com), October 29, 1999.

Say Ynott...

I'm Italian.

What's that about the cars?

Do you actually live and work in Italy, or just pretending?

-- Morgan (morgan96@netscape.net), October 29, 1999.

... and April, here's a thought.

This company you speak of, who are dependent on one single part from one single company... well, at this late stage in the game, if the procurement people have not by now sourced an alternate vendor for this most crucial component (sheet metal?), then I'd suggest a deeper look into how the company operates.

-- Morgan (morgan96@netscape.net), October 29, 1999.

and by the way, Ynott, you flubbed the joke... badly... no self- respecting Italian would dream of French food in heaven.

So, where do you live and work in Italy?

-- Morgan (morgan96@netscape.net), October 29, 1999.

(early morning, gmt +4)

No response from Ynott... easy questions, really.

-- Morgan (morgan96@netscape.net), October 29, 1999.

Still no answer. C'mon buddy, I for one like to hear more about how

Italians are very good at shading the truth and lying outrightly

Don't hold back now.

-- Morgan (morgan96@netscape.net), October 30, 1999.

Well, not a peep...

Ynott, looks like you're about as real as your e-mail address.

-- Morgan (morgan96@netscape.net), October 30, 1999.

Today's Electronic Telegraph:

Cancer increase blamed on Mafia's toxic dumping By Chris Endean in Caserta

TOXIC waste dumped by the Mafia is creating an environmental catastrophe in the southern Italian region of Campania.

A sharp rise in the number of tumours among the 200,000 inhabitants of the province of Caserta, near Naples, is being blamed on the local Mafia's growing monopoly of Italy's waste disposal business. A police investigation has found that organised crime is dumping 20 million tons of waste annually in more than 200 illegal landfill sites littering Campania's Domiziana coastal plain.

Donato Ceglie, a magistrate and a specialist in environmental crime, said at his office at Santa Maria Capua Vetere: "Campania has become Italy's dustbin. We are facing an environmental disaster. I am 99 per cent certain that several toxic waste dumps have provoked deaths among local residents."

Doctor Paolo Nappa, a medical consultant to the magistrate, said that since 1994 the number of tumours and cancer-related deaths around Caserta was two to three per cent higher than the national average. Dr Nappa, whose research shows a link with Mafia waste, said: "In an area with a population of 200,000, that's an enormous difference.

"I have discovered a definite cause-effect relationship. When there is a situation of industrial pollution, from toxins or even radioactive waste, the first biological warning is infection of the blood cells - in other words, tumours, cancers. There can be no doubt what's causing that in Campania."

With much of the waste buried in deep landfill sites, medical experts fear that chemicals are slowly seeping into the water table. In a special report, the Italian parliament's waste commission concluded: "Analysis carried out on crops at Villa Literno (near Caserta) has shown a concentration of heavy metals in levels greater than those allowed by law. As a result, some crops had to be burnt."

Aerial photography has revealed the appearance of 130 artificial lakes, never before registered on maps of the area. Subsequent inspections have shown that several lakes are filled with barrels of waste, possibly toxic. Wary of releasing the full details of his medical inquiries because it might prompt a mass exodus, Dr Nappa did admit: "This is just the beginning. Once cancer gets into the DNA, it will strike at second and third generations of our citizens."

The growing sense of panic has prompted many locals to break the silence that protects Mafia crime. Mr Ceglie said: "I am receiving more and more anonymous calls from people who have heard lorries dumping their deadly loads at night."

The Italian government has granted #202 million to fund soil analysis in the worst polluted areas, but this is a small amount compared with the #7,414 million which the Casertanese Mafia is estimated to make from its waste disposal operations. Mr Ceglie said: "It's now the local Mafia's biggest source of income. It's more than drugs, racketeering and arms put together."

Cancer increase blamed on Mafia's toxic dumping By Chris Endean in Caserta

Disposal of municipal and hazardous waste - Committe for a Safe Society The Mafia page - The JFL Index

TOXIC waste dumped by the Mafia is creating an environmental catastrophe in the southern Italian region of Campania.

A sharp rise in the number of tumours among the 200,000 inhabitants of the province of Caserta, near Naples, is being blamed on the local Mafia's growing monopoly of Italy's waste disposal business. A police investigation has found that organised crime is dumping 20 million tons of waste annually in more than 200 illegal landfill sites littering Campania's Domiziana coastal plain.

Donato Ceglie, a magistrate and a specialist in environmental crime, said at his office at Santa Maria Capua Vetere: "Campania has become Italy's dustbin. We are facing an environmental disaster. I am 99 per cent certain that several toxic waste dumps have provoked deaths among local residents."

Doctor Paolo Nappa, a medical consultant to the magistrate, said that since 1994 the number of tumours and cancer-related deaths around Caserta was two to three per cent higher than the national average. Dr Nappa, whose research shows a link with Mafia waste, said: "In an area with a population of 200,000, that's an enormous difference.

"I have discovered a definite cause-effect relationship. When there is a situation of industrial pollution, from toxins or even radioactive waste, the first biological warning is infection of the blood cells - in other words, tumours, cancers. There can be no doubt what's causing that in Campania."

With much of the waste buried in deep landfill sites, medical experts fear that chemicals are slowly seeping into the water table. In a special report, the Italian parliament's waste commission concluded: "Analysis carried out on crops at Villa Literno (near Caserta) has shown a concentration of heavy metals in levels greater than those allowed by law. As a result, some crops had to be burnt."

Aerial photography has revealed the appearance of 130 artificial lakes, never before registered on maps of the area. Subsequent inspections have shown that several lakes are filled with barrels of waste, possibly toxic. Wary of releasing the full details of his medical inquiries because it might prompt a mass exodus, Dr Nappa did admit: "This is just the beginning. Once cancer gets into the DNA, it will strike at second and third generations of our citizens."

The growing sense of panic has prompted many locals to break the silence that protects Mafia crime. Mr Ceglie said: "I am receiving more and more anonymous calls from people who have heard lorries dumping their deadly loads at night."

The Italian government has granted #202 million to fund soil analysis in the worst polluted areas, but this is a small amount compared with the #7,414 million which the Casertanese Mafia is estimated to make from its waste disposal operations. Mr Ceglie said: "It's now the local Mafia's biggest source of income. It's more than drugs, racketeering and arms put together."

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), October 31, 1999.

Yo, Morgan -- or should I say Morganetto? Morganitio? So where are you from in Italy, Morgio?

It's been a long time since you were trolling. Did cpr call you in for the weekend shift or are you free-lancing now?

-- The Great Pumpkin (sittin'@the.patch), October 31, 1999.

Fuck off Morgan you spiteful good for nothing troll.

Ynott has more sense than to acknowledge scumbags like you.

two faced bastard.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), October 31, 1999.

Troll?

Nope, sorry to disappoint yall, but the spite (and spit) seems to be all on your side.

GP, what you should call me is simply Morgan this is both my father-in-laws and my sons middle name, and one that Ive adopted as a screen handle for some time. My street name is Andrew Fatone, and you can alternately e-mail me at andrew_fatone@hotmail.com (Im having a bit of trouble with netscape these days).

As for where Im originally from, I was born in Prato, 18kms north of Florence, same hometown as Roberto Benigni - you may remember he won two Oscars this year for his film La Vita E Bella. (Actually, hes from Vergaio, a suburb of Prato). I currently reside in Sharjah, UAE.

As for the It's been a long time --- been busy. New job. New baby. New house. I do occasionally lurk. This thread caught my eye.

Old Git,

Interesting. Campania is catching up to New Jersey.

Btw, some more examples of inaccuracy in the press, a topic widely bemoaned on this forum. The reporter could have made the subtle distinction between the Mafia, the Camorra, and the ndrangheda. The Mafia, or Cosa Nostra, is Sicilian. The ndragheda operates in the region of Calabria (the toe of Italy), and the Camorra is in the Campania region (Naples, Caserta, Pompeii, etc.). A small distinction, but he missed it.

Andy.. what can I say, youre one classy guy. Fuck you too. And if you got a minute, drop me a line, we can yak about old Jeddah days. Was recently there, and the sid still flows. Now, back to this Ynott character. From the vitriol hes poured out above, I doubt very much he (or she) lives and works in Italy, and is therefore, a mean-spirited fraud. Of course, he could be in the US military and based in Aviano or Signonella or other bases, but in that case he (or she) would be largely spared from the trials and tribulations of everyday Italian life. Anyways, all the foreigners that Ive met in Italy, while sometimes (OK, oftentimes) exasperated at the Italian way of things, are generally in love with the people and the place. What can I tell ya, part of the charm. This guy sounds like he hates the place. Well, if he really does, one word.: LEAVE!, ya whiner!

Simple way to find out. Im flying to Milan for a couple of days this Thursday, and staying at the Forte Crest in San Donato. Give me a buzz. If Im wrong because youre actually there, then Ill come by on this thread and publicly apologize. Of course, I may also invite you to come by and explain to me how Italians are very good at shading the truth and lying outrightly.

OK?

Saluti,

-- Morgan (morgan96@netscape.net), October 31, 1999.