miramarco @miramarco@octodon.social

Hello to all newcomers! I see everyone is doing #introductions again — mind if I join?

I am a 28-year old cishet guy living in #Milan, #Italy. I graduated in #math and ended up doing #programming for a living. I discovered Mastodon though #metafilter almost a year ago.

Some of the stuff I'm interested in: #photography, #travel, #flânerie, #geocaching, #publictransport, #cinema (especially the oldies), #reading (mostly nonfiction), #podcasts, #selftracking, #geography, #linguistics, #typography

I am listening to the latest episode of the Futility Closet #podcast, and it’s about Nancy Wale, also known as the White Mouse, an Australian journalist who joined the French Resistance and fought against the Nazi. Her bravery is amazing: I highly recommend the episode (and the whole podcast if you are into #history).

(CW: War, violence, death)
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2018/06/18/podcast-episode-205-the-white-mouse/

My theories are:

(1) Berlusconi's desire was to be seen not as a tough person. He played with your selfish desire to be wealthier rather than with your anger. Salvini doesn't care.

(2) Berlusconi lived in a pre-Internet era, so most information was delivered by old media, which were filtered to avoid alienating audiences and to respect decorum. Social media do not have such a limit.

(3) Berlusconi was toast after the 2008 financial crisis. Salvini's #Italy is in a worse position.

You may think that this strategy comes from Trump.

Well, Trump's administration is kind of doing that, but it's less effective because (1) Trump and his cronies usually *react* to stuff that is in the news, while Salvini can direct the discussions by choosing a new topic, and (2) journalists in the US are way more critical and competent than in Italy.

Salvini is actually achieving the dream Berlusconi has had for 20 years. How did he manage to do so? I'm still not quite sure.

I won't keep you updated about the latest horrible statements from Salvini, our Minister of the Interior, because it's utterly depressing.

I'm not sure if he believes in what he says; surely he believes in the power of his words. Every day he says something outrageous because he knows that the opposition is getting tired, weaker, and powerless, and that the bar keeps lowering.

It's not just about empowering racism in #Italy – it's also about defeating the opposition by wearing them out.

So my email to the Italian MEP in the JURI commission got wasted, as he voted in favour of the articles 11 and 13 😠😠😠
#DeleteArticle13 #SaveYourInternet

The people at #AtlasObscura added a few Amsterdam locations to their collection, and now the tally of curious places I have visited in my life is over 100 🗺️

(And the list of places I'd love to visit is close to 1000. Oh the wanderlust!)

I love the handwringing of those people who are battling for “the purity of the Italian language” and have to deal with the fact that people need and use foreign loanwords, which eventually enter the dictionary. They’d have better chances if they were fighting against windmills.

Good morning everybody! Enjoy the new season ☀️☃️

I just noticed the “State of the Site” post on #MetaFilter: https://metatalk.metafilter.com/24814/State-of-the-Site-Metafilter-financial-update-and-future-directions

Even if you are not a #mefite but enjoy their content and their community – one of the best-moderated spaces of the Internet – please consider helping them out with a subscription or a one-time donation.