International Laughingstock.

The "make your nation a global laughingstock" competitions are always highly competitive, but Italy has shown a Lance Armstrong like dominance in recent history. Their latest entry consists of convicting some seismologists of not predicting an earthquake.

I predict that it will be a long time before any scientific seismology or other predictive science gets done in Italy.

To fill in the gap, let me just add my own prediction: Italy is a very seismically active region. It will have earthquakes. If you build crappy buildings with heavy walls and little or no earthquake resistance they will fall and kill people. Nobody knows when.

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