Look up ansa in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Ansa or ANSA can refer to any of the following:

• Ansa, Queen of the Lombards, 8th century, wife of Desiderius, king of the Lombards
• Ansa (moth), genus of moth
• Ansa (Hinduism) or Aṃśa in Hinduism, a solar deity and one of the Adityas.
• ansa as part of Arabic words means "constant"

As the acronym ANSA:

• Agence nouvelle des solidarités actives, association créée en janvier 2006 par Martin Hirsch
• Afghan National Standards Association, the ISO representative organization for Afghanistan.
• Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, Italian news agency
  • Ansa Mediterranean or ANSAmed, section of the above
• Association of Norwegian Students Abroad
• Applied Neuroscience Society of Australasia
• Australian Network of Student Anthropologists, student-run arm of the Australian Anthropological Society.
• ANSA, an Italian manufacturer of OEM exhaust systems for automobiles.
• ANSA Pre-processor, commercial pre-processing software (Automatic Net-generation for Structural Analysis).
• The Planet of the Apes equivalent of NASA; it is never made clear in the movies what the letters actually stand for.
• ANSA Business, watch retailer based in The Netherlands

ansa is Latin for "handle". It has several uses derived from this meaning:

• In anatomy, the word is applied to nervous structures which resemble loops (for example the ansa lenticularis, ansa cervicalis, Loop of Henle (ansa nephroni) or the ansa of the tympanal organ).
• In archaeology it is used for the engraved and ornamented handle of a vase, which has often survived when the vase itself, being less durable, has disappeared.
• In astronomy, one of the apparent ends of the rings of Saturn as seen in perspective from the earth: so-called because, in the earlier telescopes, they looked like handles projecting from the planet.
• In chemistry, it is used to describe a bridge between two functional groups/ligands.
• In the plural ansae, in astronomy, compact nebulosities such as can be found in protoplanetary nebulae.

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Gabriele Paolini (Milan, 12 October 1974) is a famous Italian television prankster and condom advocate. He calls himself the "prophet of the condom" and "the prophylactic prophet." In Italy he is also referred to as a disturbatore televisivo, which means a television disturber. His antics usually involve exhibiting condoms in the background behind interviews or other unwitting live reporters. He has also been involved with singing contests and sporting events.

Overview[link]

Gabriele Paolini began his career as a "television polluter" when a friend of his died of AIDS at age 22, contracting the disease some years after unprotected sex with a prostitute. Paolini's reaction was to invade TV news reports wearing or waving chains of condoms. Sometimes Paolini also uses a photo of a politician or of the Pope.

The son of a retired general, Paolini is in the Guinness Book of Records for his more than 30'000^[1] very short appearances waving over the shoulders of hundreds of displeased TV journalists.

Over the years, Paolini has angered many in the media. During one interrupted interview, journalist Paolo Frajese began to kick Paolini. Journalists have asked the legal office of RAI TV in Saxa Rubra for a legal injunction to "eliminate the disturber." In response, Gabriele Paolini showed the media a list of interviewers who had in fact requested his presence. However, Italy's Supreme Court upheld a three month suspended sentence against him.^[2] TG5 editor-in-chief Salvo Sottile and communications expert Enrico Mieli launched a petition on Facebook to "abolish" Paolini from the Italian television due to his insensitivity.^[3]

On March 5, 1995, Paolini personally disguised a condom as a request in a paper and gave it to Pope John Paul II at a church in Rome.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, Paolini was sentenced to a 5-month prison term for offenses against the Pope, stemming from his actions in 2005 when he interrupted a live TV show of RAI TV insulting the Pope and the Italian premier.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Personal website of Gabriele Paolini
• "The prophylactic prophet". Guardian News & Media. 2002-09-27. http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-27-2002-27154.asp. Retrieved 2008-12-16. 

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