Blumudus

Trump won next Tuesday’s election

people endorsing Clinton and Trump. Notice Chuck Norris

Come to terms with it. Ok, this is a public service post; it won’t get to many people but I hope it will help some friends to soften the blow. Better get used to it gradually. Initially you’ll probably mumble, with a condescending air, that there are too many idiots (myself included) insisting on a Trump victory. Then you’ll begin to realize, feeling a cold sweat, that maybe they are not really idiots… And then afterwards… Uh oh…! Ooops, it happened… Chuck Norris: when he gets to the polling station, suddenly all the within a 500 miles range spontaneously self-combust. Seriously, this is not about the joke meme…

Martin Luther a sort of Christian Icon? Not In My Name

What would you say if you were a Lutheran? Today in Catholic countries we celebrate All Saints’ Day. Yesterday the Pope went to Sweden to open this ill-fated year of celebrations for the 500th of the so-called Protestant Reformation. As a Catholic representative, of course. Now, to better grasp how absurd all of this is, try to put yourself in the shoes of a Lutheran (if you are not already a Lutheran, that is). Please appreciate the behavior of the Pope and his entourage of sycophants/commentators/self-appointed-spokespersons, as seen from the perspective of someone who’s coming from a distance. Consider the implications of the photo I put here above. This is not…

Beware of heat waves, drink lots of fluids!

Bonus tip: go for a swim right after meals, it’s good for you! It’s sort of a tradition for Italian newscasts (and I guess not just in Italy): during the summer, on a slow news day, expect a breaking news report for which they clearly didn’t break a sweat, rehashing the usual slush about the most predictable hot topic. Temperatures! Dear listeners, it’s hot out there! Drink lots of fluids, prefer light meals and avoid leaving the house in the central hours of the day, especially if you are elderly. Thanks a lot, you saved my life once again, just as last year. Actually I don’t watch TV at…

My 1st Twitter block! (Anti-Trump fanatics)

Recently I decided to give Twitter a go. It’s part experiment, part connecting with people and cracking sarcastic jokes, part self-promotion. This far, I can say it doesn’t look promising, to say the least. I feel blessed my brain development happened on other decades, long before this mess. Here’s a teachable moment about the dismal state in which “dialogue” lays nowadays. As if you needed any confirmation. Trump vs. Clinton Disclaimer: I am biased in favor of Donald Trump, due to the fact that I think he is one of the best possible choices for US President, and also because I’m obtaining a monetary gain if he wins. Background: as…

A new beginning

Ok, I’m determined to develop this blog properly, and this time it’s for real. It stayed put as a stealth website for years, semi-abandoned and without publicity, needing a layout overhaul and shamelessly sporting outdated code. Mea culpa. Such a long time… An example to put things in perspective: I chose the domain blumudus.net instead of the obvious blumudus.com, but I cannot even remember why. (From now on the .net redirects to the English version website.) World events are now unfolding rapidly (and I wasted enough time already): Erdogan’s Turkey is completing a transition into a full fledged dictatorship, Islamic terror attacks are becoming ever more frequent, not to mention…

When your wife is so into you that she wants you to live with her!

The destruction of the very concept of family, transformed into a sort of tacky, creaky old hat, is facilitated by a thousand bureaucrats who were just following orders. Freshly married, starting a new life, I’m waiting for an opportunity to sell my former home. In order to obtain a simple change of legal residence I’m asked to return a second time to the Ufficio Comunale (Municipal Office), bringing with me a written declaration signed by my wife: she must give an explicit assent to include me in her stato di famiglia (record of family status, a document listing family members living together). After all it’s the very same Municipal Office…

Airplane meals and decadence

Signs of the times. We are going to fly Qantas. On the airline website you have the opportunity to file any special meal request. Having no peculiar needs, I had never considered this option before. I expected to find a list of meal types aimed at people with health problems and related dietary restrictions, including allergies/intolerances (nickel, crustaceans, nuts…), low sodium meals… But I failed to anticipate that problems come mostly from the mind, not from the body. Of course you get at least the diabetic and coeliac options, plus, unexplicably, babies from 0 to 11 months and from 2 to 11 years (sounds like toddlers between 11 and 24…

From abortion to chemtrails, it’s only a small step

OK, let’s complain about idiotic, fake news memes making the rounds on social networks. I bet you too got a good excuse to lose your temper when you faced a scenario like the following one. An excited/indignant friend sharing on Facebook the n-th conspiracy theory/sensational fishy news bite/”anti-establishment” petition. Showing no self-awareness whatsoever. Spewing answers without ever seriously asking questions. Like saying that next week Mars will appear in the sky as big as the Moon, or that Facebook is becoming a pay service, or that you should rail against the Parliament for a new outrageous law that turns out to be imaginary, drafted by a non-existent Representative. That we…

Is Coca Cola harmful? Bad journalism, questionable science.

“Journalism” Journalism is garbage, period. But then, not all journalists are created equal. Some employ subtlety, others are more pedestrian and careless. Quality is visibly declining. Many Italian newspapers came out with this gem of professional reporting, with pieces similar to the one linked below. Coca Cola is worse than cigarettes, it destroys DNA and causes a 4.5 years ageing (in Italian). Enjoy the fantastic claim from the incipit: “Coca Cola seems to be quite noxious for your health. Just like cigarettes.” (Already a little subdued, compared with the incredible title…) According to said article, the claim comes from “the latest scientific studies”(!) published by the American Journal of Public…

Google and the power to distort

Some religions are more equal than others Talk about distortion. Let’s say you are looking for information about the following topic: violence against Jews. I just discovered that even the autocomplete function on Google is biased… After you type violence against it suggests women with a few variants (ok, feminism and stuff, par for the course). Adding the letter J the suggestion turns to journalists. Typing the E brings us the surprising bit jehova witnesses …you see, it’s a major crisis, with all those attacks on Jehova Witnesses you hear about every day… (?) Finally, adding W causes Google to stop suggesting anything at all… evidently violence against jews is…

The Pope from the end of the world. And a Catholic Church split between doomsayers and downplayers

…But today Catholics are facing a new fear: the idea that there’s no path for resistance, that things have changed so much that this time the Church isn’t gonna make it. This would be a sign of the End of the World; a world so profoundly corrupt it cannot function anymore. There are two distinct, disturbing trends developing. On opposite sides, and yet showing a striking similarity in a crucial element: fatalism. Two models we could describe as follows: A. Downplayers: “move on, nothing to see here” types, who insist there’s nothing you should do, beyond praying of course. B. Doomsayers: those who can find the Antichrist anywhere and everywhere……

Bethlehem: Christians abused by Islamists, but keep it to yourself…

Here’s a thought-provoking link. (Notice that my original Italian link was from a different source, but it takes literally 0 seconds to find a different independent report that connects the inevitable dots getting to the same conclusion.) Christians flee from Bethlehem. Media sources will blame Israel again, but they mostly emigrate due to Islamists. Bethlehem! This article strikes a chord with me because I was visiting there in September, and I noticed the puzzling zeal with which the Franciscan Friars of the Custody of the Holy Land jumped at the opportunity to blame the Exodus of Christians on the economic crisis (!) I was appalled at their promptly applying the…