Author: Mario Ragazzi

Energia sostenibile per chi? Questione ambientale tra ottimismo fallibilista e moralismo malmostoso

Posted on by Mario Ragazzi

Il concetto di sviluppo sostenibile entra nella sfera politica globale nel 1987 quando le Nazioni Unite presentano la relazione della Commissione mondiale sull’ambiente e lo sviluppo presieduta dalla ex primo ministro norvegese Gro Harlem Brundtland (Gruppo di studio sull’ambiente 2012). E l’energia è un fattore determinante dello sviluppo economico stesso, se possibile più del capitale stesso che senza di essa è inerte (Giraud Read more about Energia sostenibile per chi? Questione ambientale tra ottimismo fallibilista e moralismo malmostoso[…]

WebTorrent integration with WordPress

Posted on by Mario Ragazzi

Distributed audio content (podcasts) generated by users and shared via peer-to-peer (P2P) architectures and protocols can lower the entry barrier for community based radios that at the same time are wary of the privacy implications of the free offerings by commercial centralised platforms. Although not a P2P architecture itself, a website is a useful way Read more about WebTorrent integration with WordPress[…]

State policies as combinatorial algebra

Posted on by Mario Ragazzi

There are moments in history when policy reversals seem so neat at first glance that can be described as simple combinations of vectorial repertoires. With some disturbing constants, though. In this example I consider Iranian state policy governing the apperance of women’s heads as decreed first by the Shah in 1936 and then by Khomeini Read more about State policies as combinatorial algebra[…]

Photo by Scott Dougall on Unsplash

Banal power for totalitarian systems

Posted on by Mario Ragazzi

Hannah Arendt’s famous thesis is as often quoted as misunderstood. While she was proven wrong in assessing Eichmann’s historical role and personality, even where she erred, she did it in a creative, felicitous way. Eichmann’s evil deeds were indeed banal if we refer to the feudal autonomy of agency enjoyed by castellans in the banal regime of 9-10th century Read more about Banal power for totalitarian systems[…]

LÉ Róisín Rescues 371* Migrants in Three Separate Search and Rescue Operations 37 Nautical Miles NW of Tripoli, taken on June 27, 2016, (CC) Óglaigh na hÉireann

Death and rescue in the Central Mediterranean: overcoming the limits of private outsourcing

Posted on by Mario Ragazzi

The search-and-rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean were overall successful in saving thousands of lives in the years 2014-2017. Compared with the previous years, the rescues reduced and stabilised the fatality rate for the persons attempting a dangerous sea crossing. Several NGOs contributed significantly to this joint effort coordinated by the Italian Coast Guard’s Maritime Read more about Death and rescue in the Central Mediterranean: overcoming the limits of private outsourcing[…]

Sirius

Barabbas’ version: analysis of a major terror attack in Rome, A.D. 64

Posted on by Mario Ragazzi

(C) NASA/IPAC Our correspondent reports from the great city of the Caesars. A few months ago, on 19th July of the tenth year of divus Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, DCCCXVII a.U.c.,1 a raging fire destroyed large swathes of the city of Rome. To undiscerning eyes it looked like any of the previous fires that Read more about Barabbas’ version: analysis of a major terror attack in Rome, A.D. 64[…]

Participation without power and property in new governance models

Posted on by Mario Ragazzi

Everybody wants more participation, not less. But the current social project for Europe ultimately offers a kind of feeble, diluted participation that we will affectionately call le objet petit p: a participation without effective decision-making powers, that does not affect social property relations. An ancient form of collective property still practiced in Northern Italy suggests Read more about Participation without power and property in new governance models[…]

Emperor Babur laying a garden

A user’s vision of a libre, decentralised Internet

Posted on by Mario Ragazzi

In order to make the Internet a freer, more decentralised, less oligarchical place, users should have full control on their online identity and this should be separate from other online services like email, instant messaging, microblogging, social networking etc. Online services, in turn, should be based on open standards, yes like good old email and Read more about A user’s vision of a libre, decentralised Internet[…]

Version control and editorial workflow in Ghost

Posted on by Mario Ragazzi

Ghost2Git — Version control and editorial workflow management for multi-author blogs in Ghost, sort of   Ghost offers a great platform for blogging. It’s nimble and neat, a welcome break from WordPress especially if what you want to do is focus on blogging and content and you do not need a general purpose CMS. Ghost Read more about Version control and editorial workflow in Ghost[…]

Referendum costituzionale 2016: essere indecisi è paradossalmente normale

Posted on by Mario Ragazzi

Essere confusi e non riuscire a scegliere tra il SI e il NO nel referendum di conferma della riforma costituzionale del 4 dicembre in Italia è normale perché la differenza tra gli effetti delle due opzioni sul funzionamento dell’ordinamento della Repubblica nel medio e lungo periodo è minima. O così dice il paradosso di Fredkin. Sul referendum Read more about Referendum costituzionale 2016: essere indecisi è paradossalmente normale[…]

Colombia: referendum, low turnout and activist minorities

Posted on by Mario Ragazzi

After 52 years of civil war and four years of negotiations, a wafer thin minority of Colombian voters rejected the historical peace agreement with the FARC-EP guerrillas. If the president and his adviser were searching for popular legitimacy, they miscalculated. One decision in particular seems ill advised, the lowering of the minimum threshold of votes Read more about Colombia: referendum, low turnout and activist minorities[…]