JUMPER may have superpowers but he certainly is not a hero. I mean, what glory do you possess when all you do is brag your powers? But then again maybe he is. Not with bragging his powers at all but on another level. For Jumper (the movie)….well, about Jumper of course has been shot in Italy. In fact, it is the only movie production allowed to shoot inside the Colloseum, one of the well-known places in Rome. No Italian movie, television, documentary or video production can beat that. How come? Maybe because the Italian government of then Prime Minister Romano Prodi may be grateful enough to the Hollywood cast and crew who all trooped to Rome to shoot the movie. Through their consumer spending, they have helped stabilize the Italian economy into what it is today – shielded from repercussions of an impending United Stats recession across the Atlantic. And when Jumper will have its Rome premiere this Valentine’s, it will boost the economy of Italy more because of consumer spending from the people. And that what makes Jumper a hero. His heroism has definitely outlived Prodi’s government which is now in shambles after being taken over by the opposition.

But pretty soon or less than 24 hours in particular, the left will soon take over the reins of government led by another veteran political tactician, Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni. Long been a fan of the Hollywood shooting of Jumper here, the mayor is expected to have a key contribution in campaigning for people to show up in movieplexes once Jumper hits Italian cinemas this February. This is certainly not a romantic movie but in the name of love for country, Veltroni is expected to rally the people that shopping and spending will definitely be good for the Italian economy at this point in time.

But even as Italy is still installing Veltroni as interim prime minister in the meantime that elections are still a few months away with former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi expecting to make a political comeback, scientists and key government officials who are apolitical are already cooperating with their counterparts from the rest of the European Union members on policies to effect climate change in the country. Italy is expected to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 2012. Italy must also increase its renewable energy capacity and other alternative sources of power to 17 percent by 2020.

I believe that is achievable indeed since Italians are very environmental. In fact, they are so obsessed with taking care of the environment that they do not want their Mediterranean beaches to be littered and you cannot even take your car with muddy tires to the beach’s parking lot because you will just ruin the appearance of the paved parking lot. You can likewise drink the tap water by the beaches and each resort has is inspected quarterly by the European Union if they meet environmental safeguards.