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Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
Italy's greatest treasures are its undiscovered villages – and I should know
I was born in a little town by the sea, between Rome and Naples. This is the English sentence I uttered the most throughout my school years and later in my academic life when, as a young mathematician, I used to leave the Università di Napoli for summer schools and conferences abroad. The scholars I met never knew the name of my town, Scauri. Some had heard about nearby Gaeta (because of the prison, and the Nazi who was imprisoned there, and his escape in a suitcase), but no one knew Scauri. Scauri is a hamlet in the district of Minturno, a coastal town at the very edge of the province of Lazio. As I write these lines, there is no Wikipedia page about Scauri in English. Nor is there an English page about Minturnae, Minturno's ancient ruins. Both sit along the Via Appia, the main artery of Roman Italy – the Romans called it regina viarum, the queen of all roads. You may not have heard of them, but it is these tiny, barely noticed places which remain the heart and soul of Italy – and to visit them remains the finest way to get beneath my country's skin. Anyone who spends a morning in Scauri will be captured by the disjointed grace of this place – my place. As if on a chessboard, you will find: a Saracen tower (Torre Saracens), black and white horses galloping on the shore, pawns strolling on the boardwalk, sometimes a bishop – and definitely nuns: there are two churches. And, of course, countless people who see themselves as kings and queens, probably as a consequence of the fact that Scauri's roots stretch back to ancient times, to Roman antiquity, when Gaius Marius himself had sought refuge from Silla's hitmen in Minturnae. Scauri is a gulf, a curve: six miles of sand and sea, with a tiny marina and various little beach-side restaurants scattered along it. The water is not just blue or green, but blue-green-brown, due to the winds and currents, and the heights of pines that mirror themselves in the waves at both ends of the gulf. The Caribbean, this is not. Of course, the Italians have known about Scauri's charms for centuries – even now, it grows exponentially from winter (6,000 inhabitants) to summer (100,000 inhabitants, plus commuters from Napoli and her suburbs). It is a vacation spot and has been since the Roman Empire. But what draws these visitors? The history, for one. You will find Roman ruins here, even pre-Roman walls – the cyclopic walls of the ancient port of Pirae, Villa di Lucio Mamurra (a villa with an ancient cistern in the Parco di Gianola Riviera di Ulisse), Castellum Acquae (once a water source) – as well as Roman bricks and marbles re-used in contemporary houses and apartments. There is also a well-preserved Roman pier and, of course, Roman bones six feet under. And it's not only ancient history. Explore outdoors, and you'll find criss-crossing hiking trails all across the lovely Parco di Gianola e Monte di Scauri, or take a catamaran tour to the blue waters of Grotta Azzurra, a sea cave. We have amazing food here, too – from Locanda Rusticone's pizza (735 Via Appia) to Cardillo's pastries (1120 Via Appia), and fresh seafood at Angeli & Marinai (14 Piazza Marco Emilio Scauro) – spaghetti alle vongole; a thick, rich guazzetto; salt cod in a light tempura. You can spend lazy hours on the sand (Spiaggia di Scauri is well loved, but Lido Aurora has a beach club and playground), then stroll to an obliging ice-cream stall, or to Lo Scoglio (7 Via Porto Scauritano) for a cold, crisp beer with views of the bay and live music. The Little I Knew is my first novel to be translated into English, and I'm very happy that it is, even though I can write and think only a little in English myself. It is a novel based on and bred in Scauri; a love letter to the comforting claustrophobia of small-town life. During my youth, I learn that a tiny town is the perfect place to practice tolerance and mediation, because you see everybody all the time, every day. You live with these people – and the familiarity can be a relief, or they can annoy you to your wit's end, even if you love them. But you cannot hate them, because tomorrow you'll see them again. This is the ultimate social network – a strongly interwoven place where lives overlap. Visit and you will see a place that is truly real – a window into a culture that you will not find in Italy's big cities, or even its towns. It is a network which has died out in much of the world, but one which is alive and well in its small, ancient villages. Little, undiscovered places, like Scauri. Essentials Ryanair flies from London to Naples from £148 return; easyJet flies from London to Naples from £173 return. Trains from Naples run to Minturno-Scauri, costing from £3 and taking approximately one hour.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New fed prosecutor may be obstacle for supervised drug use sites
BOSTON (SHNS) – Boosting primary care investments, overhauling insurance requirements for medical treatments, and embracing the long-debated idea of supervised drug use facilities top the list of actions Massachusetts physicians want lawmakers to take this term. Doctors affiliated with the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) detailed the group's legislative priorities Wednesday, including action to create a legal framework for the launch of overdose prevention centers — an idea the Bay State's new federal prosecutor has vowed to oppose. Dr. Jessie Gaeta, an addiction medicine specialist who practices with the Boston Health Care for the Homeless program, said policymakers need to 'go beyond' existing opioid crisis response strategies and allow medically trained professionals to monitor street drug use, then intervene and prevent an overdose from turning fatal. At a State House briefing hosted by MMS, Gaeta recounted an experience with a 26-year-old man who fatally overdosed, a story she said is 'happening on repeat in my practice.' Last summer, the man — whom she referred to as Derek — walked into the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Clinic certain he would relapse that day after six weeks of sobriety. A nurse offered to connect Derek to treatment, but he said he wasn't ready. 'What he wanted, simply, was accompaniment while he used. His quote was, 'I'm just looking for a buddy to be with me. I don't want to die,'' Gaeta said. Staff provided Derek with a naloxone overdose reversal kit and urged him to keep his drug dosage small because his tolerance for fentanyl would be lower after six weeks sober. But they could not allow him to stay and use drugs under their watch. 'Without the legal authority to allow him to safely stay within our building while he used, our staff watched Derek walk out the door for the last time,' Gaeta said. 'When he was found an hour and a half later behind a bush in Clifford Park, virtually in the shadow of world-class medicine as well as our state's largest syringe access program, with naloxone at arm's length but by himself, we found ourselves agonizing again over the limits of our current options for helping people who either don't want or can't access treatment in this moment, and also who don't deserve to die.' Activists have been pushing for years for state government to pass a bill authorizing overdose prevention centers, sometimes referred to as safe injection sites or supervised consumption sites. Gaeta said the Mass. Medical Society first voted in 2017 to back the approach as a 'legitimate medical intervention.' The Healey administration announced its support for the idea in 2023, and the Senate approved language last year allowing municipalities to open the sites as part of a broader addiction and substance use bill. However, the House did not mirror that move, and legislative negotiators dropped the provision from the final measure. The Mass. Medical Society endorsed legislation this term (H 2196 / S 1393) that would include overdose prevention centers in a range of harm reduction services, extending legal protections to staff, clients and operators of those programs. 'Several communities across the state are interested in providing comprehensive harm reduction programming that includes overdose prevention centers, but legislation is needed to establish the legal and regulatory framework for us to do so successfully,' Gaeta said. 'Municipalities need to know the state will not stand in the way of local evidence-based public health efforts. Providers need to know that working in an [overdose prevention center] will not jeopardize our professional license. Participants need to know they will not go to jail for getting help.' Lawmakers over the years have hesitated to embrace the concept in the face of threats of federal prosecution, and that dynamic might come into play again. U.S. Attorney Leah Foley, who took office in January, told reporters last month she would oppose efforts to open overdose prevention centers. 'Safe injection sites is a misnomer,' she said, according to WBUR. 'You do not assist someone who is struggling with addiction by aiding and abetting. I believe that whatever resources would go into such sites should be diverted instead to treatment, to actually help these people — not to try to kill them.' Doctors with the Mass. Medical Society outlined three other priorities for the 2025-2026 legislative term: reestablishing payment parity for telehealth services (H 1130 / S 763), reforming prior authorization by health insurers (H 1136, S 1403), and expanding access to primary care (H 1370, H 2537 and S 867). Rep. Greg Schwartz, who was a primary care physician before joining the Legislature and filed one of the primary care bills, said Massachusetts faces a 'real crisis' as new doctors flow toward other specialties. 'What turns them off from [primary care] is not the salary, it's the lack of support, and when I say support, I mean administrative support in the settings that they're practicing,' said Schwartz (D-Newton). 'So often, they're the ones who are doing the prior authorizations … doing the forms, filling out the late-night answering of messages. It's actually overwhelming, and as a seasoned plus-20-years veteran of primary care, I can tell you that it continues to be a major drag on these professionals who really are not the right people to be doing some of this administrative work.' His bill calls for at least 12% of total health care spending in the next four years to go toward primary care, and it would also craft a payment floor designed to ensure community health centers do not get paid less from commercial insurers than they do from MassHealth, according to a summary. Health care watchdogs have flagged issues in primary care. A report published in January by the Health Policy Commission found Massachusetts has one of the lowest shares of physicians working in primary care, and wait times in Boston for a new patient appointment for a physical are among the highest in the country. Gov. Maura Healey this year signaled an interest in shifting more resources 'to the front lines' of primary care, and her ability to get the Legislature on board with that push is shaping up as an issue to watch this session. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Neo Cinema Content Distribution Platform and Creator Marketplace Escape.AI Debuts in Beta
a neo-cinema content distribution platform and creator marketplace founded by 'The Matrix' VFX Oscar winner John Gaeta, has debuted in beta. The aim of the platform is to allow filmmakers, digital artists, and game creators to showcase and monetize original content while offering audiences a curated viewing experience. It aims to attract content creators using generative AI, game engines and other emerging production technologies. More from Variety Magic Leap Hires ILMxLab Co-Founder John Gaeta National Film Registry names 25 titles How to spot the vfx pro's signature ' caters to a new generation of viewers looking to discover a new generation of bold, innovative stories and connect directly with the people producing them,' Gaeta said, adding that he hopes to attract interest from viewers who 'like edgy-fun shows like Love Death + Robots or the type of stories spun from game worlds.' Of the opportunity for content creators, he added, ' champions the autonomy and growth of the newest class of creators by removing old system obstacles, increasing visibility for new voices, harnessing emergent technologies and enabling a vibrant community between artists, fans and supporters. Previously, this combination of qualities was desperately lacking for audiences and creators alike.' is designed to help creators monetize their work through direct fan support, merchandise offerings, and creator-specific subscription options. Said Gaeta,' champions the autonomy and growth of the newest class of creators by removing old system obstacles, increasing visibility for new voices, harnessing emergent technologies and enabling a vibrant community between artists, fans and supporters.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Grammy Predictions, From Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar: Who Will Win? Who Should Win? What's Coming to Netflix in February 2025
