Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), the famous physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher - was born in Pisa, Italy.
(The term 'physicist' BTW makes me sometimes smile . There's a young physicist in our family and people always ask his mother the same old question. Why not doctor or lawyer, why did he 'waste' his talents on this stuff, physics? His mother fights back trying to justify her son's choice of profession by telling those people that her son the physicist is... A b o v e doctors and lawyers, he's a S c i e n t i s t and their question is a stupid, primitive question...,OH, WELL).
entrance to the Tower
Pisa. This town became worldwide known not through Galileo Galilei, not even through the young, blind lyrical tenor Andrea Bocelli who was born in the region and studied Law and Music in Pisa, but through its leaning Tower. The Tower is a major tourist attraction, and rightlly so.. Once you got to the top of it, you're rewarded with a splendid panoramic view of Pisa and its surroundings (weather depending of course).
the leaning Tower of Pisa
When I look now at the tower in the picture, I see... the american Economy ( no offence intended. After all, we are all in the same boat) . There's much talk about 'crisis', 'slow down', 'recession'. Well, I think none of these terms is correct. The correct term, I believe, should be Decline. It's a natural Decline occurring after long decades of living much ,much beyond means. Next phase (if nothing is done about Decline), could be, God Forbid, Collapse.
at the top of the Tower
In 2001, something was done to prevent the further leaning of the Tower of Pisa and, as far as I know, it ended up quite successfully. There's only one thing that can be done to prevent further decline of America's economy - and that's a process of re-education of the nation in the spirit of' 'live within your means'. But, unfortunately, this is something almost impossible for any government to carry out. So, our american friends shoud better adopt the attitude of those living under the active Vesuvium volcano. The people in those flourishing villages & towns under the volcano, know that it could errupt any moment and bring about Collapse of the whole region, and yet they believe, this moment will never come. It is this Belief that helps them carry on quite well with their lives. Think positive.