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Linda Blatnik's avatar

Actually, the Venetians protesting Bezos' wedding are delightful. That prick ruined my favorite newspaper ( the Washington Post).

And yes, I'm disappointed in extremely wealthy people.

My CPA told me I donate more $$ than some of his richest clients. SAD as shit.

I like what you are doing.

Thanks for this article.

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K.R. Byers's avatar

I appreciate you always being willing to talk with me Linda. You consistently commenting means the absolute world to me, and I always look forward to what you've got to say.

Yes, wealthy people are often times very greedy.

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Optimistic's avatar

I was not aware of the UN high seas treaty, but that is of great interest for me. Thanks and more of that please. Bezos should be boycotted completely, but people are hooked on Amazon, I am not. I actually will go to the company and order directly from them and sometimes it’s actually cheaper, and the company does not have to lose a percentage to him. But I am not a big shopper anyway. I want less stuff, not more. I enjoyed this post thanks. 😊

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K.R. Byers's avatar

Thank you! What an absolutely wonderful compliment to receive. I will do my best to continue bringing articles like this, and better as time goes on as I intend to always be improving.

Thank you for your comment, have a good day!

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Mark Hayes's avatar

There are some important things to take into account when it comes to Venezia.

The city sits on a very fragile eco-system that makes the city itself fragile.

The Venetians, fleeing from some rather not nice people ended up in a swamp and seeing a couple of advantages literally built the city on top of the swamp using some engineering that was way beyond what anyone should have been capable of at the time. What they did was basically clear a forest and and use the tree trunks to sink piles into the silty sand of the bay that they were in, they literally made a solid base of tree trunks, packed tightly and then they started laying massive slabs of marble on top of the pilings in layers (so many layers) and built the city on top of it, creating a mini, man made archipelago.

This, while amazing and kind of perfect at the time, is now becoming more and more precarious. The canals themselves are a fragile eco-system and, because of close to 1,500 years of human habitation, having been used as a midden for the City (garbage, sewage and anything else disgusting that you can think of) are now basically toxic.

One of the measures the city started taking decades ago is a very strict speed limit on the canals in order to minimize the agitation and surfacing of the silt. Do you really think Bezos, et al will think that applies to them?

Another issue facing Venezia is, obviously, climate change, sea water rise, especially. The Piazza San Marco was famous for flooding for a few weeks in the fall for decades — now it's months. You can imagine how awful that flood water is. Where Venetians use to laugh about it and set up planks to walk on, now they're in full on crisis mode.

The combination of the sheer weight of the city constructed on tree trunks and marble slabs has caused the city to slowly subside over the centuries and when you add in all the waste, much of it toxic, deposited over centuries (and ad in modern toxicity like petrochemicals) in a very concentrated area, the Venetians are realizing that they're in the middle of a disaster scenario of their own making.

They're literally in the process of construction an artificial levee system to completely surround Venezia.

At one point they were the greatest maritime trading city in Europe and had a navy that was feared throughout Europe, now they're completely reliant on tourism.

Bezos and his rich friends descending on this fragile city and deciding the laws don't apply to them is potentially an apocalyptic scenario for Venezia.

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K.R. Byers's avatar

That is absolutely brilliant, hu?

I am forever fascinated by the ingenuity of our ancestors.

This wedding is a farce. Fucking joke.

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Wiliard Luca Hommes's avatar

It's not advisable for the UN

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K.R. Byers's avatar

Protecting the sea isn't advisable?

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Kimberly Parker's avatar

Is the United States one of the countries that has signed the United High Nations Sea Treaty? I’d sure like to see our oceans protected more than they are now.

Why are the citizens of Venice upset that Bezos is getting married there? Sure, Venice is a popular tourist attraction, so isn’t it expected to attract big names and events?

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