The Defiant One

Of Pasta and Horsepower in Malta

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:01:00 +0000

Years ago, a Maltese man opened a pasta factory. Given the country pasta is usually associated with, he chose an Italian name for this company: phonetically pronounced "leh roz-eh" which translates to "the roses." I bet he felt smug about it. That is, until the first idiot pronounced it "leh rows" and it stuck. For decades ALL Maltese people called it so.

Centuries ago, the world felt the need to create a unit to define engine power. Since everyone knows what a horse is, they calculated that a horse develops 735 watts of power. A unit, horsepower (HP), was born. Fast-forward to the 20th Century Malta. Cars became all the rage and people who knew how to fix them found they could make a living out of it calling themselves mechanics. These mechanics wanted to use the cool-sounding "horsepower" unit, but didn't have a clue as to what 735 watts were. Not a problem - the first idiot told his cronies that a 1000cc (1.0 litre) engine developed the same power as 10 horses. No physics, no science behind it - NOTHING. But it stuck. "Is your car a 20 horsepower petrol? It must cost you a fortune in fuel!" Boy, would I love to see 20 horses pulling a 2 ton car up a hill at 120 km/h! As we can see, 200 hundred years after a unit was created, the Maltese people had to start using it and made a mess of it all. I therefore dub this unit "Maltese horsepower."

It's common knowledge that once word gets around in a village, it sticks. This blog post isn't about pasta or horsepower. This post is about small-town mentality and small-town behaviour taking over an island of 450,000 people. We can call Malta a country all we want, but we know that really and truly it's an over-populated town.

Just look at the Prime Minister. He's a glorified mayor at best. It's not like he's got a finger on the nuclear button. Elections are won over some power station, or some bridge, that kind of trivial stuff. We have extremely high voting turnouts, but few people understand what politics is about. Few understand what the left-wing and right-wing really are. They understand red and blue: the colours of the party they vote for. The party one belongs to depends on brainwashing, indoctrination, and 30-year-old experiences. Thankfully, which party is in power nowadays makes relatively little difference.

It doesn't take a genius to know that small-town mentality coupled with tribal behaviour can lead to no good.

More often than not it will turn out the person you're speaking to is uninformed. Don't take anyone's word for anything. Stop. And think. Use your own brain to figure things out. Information is much, much, much more accessible nowadays, but you have to be smart. Want to know what the USA and Europe are doing? Watch RussiaToday. Want to know what Russia and China are doing? Watch CNN. This is the age of the internet - you don't need to take a bus to the library. Double-checking the facts from various trustworthy sources doesn't take much time. Don't be lazy. Nobody has the right to be ignorant anymore.

Franco Debono and the Free Vote

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:43:00 +0000

What, with the impending Eurozone collapse and the Yellowstone caldera cracking the planet in half, don’t we have enough to fret about this year? Enter Franco Debono.

The current administration has been a train crash from the get-go, but Debono’s antics have stood out. He seems intent on going down in the history books one way or another, and from the looks of it bringing down the government is fair game. Though the anarchist in me is grinning, I’ve kind of grown tired of this whole scorpion-and-the-frog scenario by now. Just because one has the nuclear codes doesn’t mean he has to constantly threaten to press the button. I can understand those who criticise him and his actions - he has indeed been behaving like a honey badger on acid.

My main peeve though is with the Nationalist MPs who are also lambasting the free vote concept per se. They would have us believe that all those who don’t toe the party line are evil. Nonsense. The free vote itself can be very beneficial for a country. If it brings instability it's either because the government:

1) can't agree on issues - in which case it’s pathetic and has it coming, or

2) doesn't have a big enough parliamentary seat advantage - and for that nobody but the party in power is to blame for not winning enough people over at the last elections.

Having said that, I’m afraid the free vote has no place in Malta at the moment.

For years I’ve wanted a third party with a seat in parliament; someone who could steal a bit of the Big Two’s thunder. We now have someone within a big party acting as if he were a third party. That makes it sound like a parasite, and parasitic it is because nobody voted for this third party.

Surely if Debono got elected it means people voted for him, didn’t they? Maltese people don’t vote for people, they vote for a colour. They get the ballot sheet, scroll down to the colour they want, and vote for the doctor who cured them when they had gonorrhoea. Those who ticked Debono’s box didn’t do so for his ideologies. They voted because they liked PN’s electoral program. Scratch that, they voted for PN and that’s it, because that’s what they’re programmed to do. Different kind of program, you see.

Just look at the USA. While their system is different, they only have two big parties, like Malta. But they aren’t tribal about it. Legislators are free to vote as they wish. I don't even want to think of what their congress would be like without outspoken people such as Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul. Here’s the difference: the voters want them in congress regardless of which party they belong to.

I’m all for the free vote when we learn to vote for the individuals we want.

The Pussification of the World

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:07:00 +0000

I keep meeting people who do not know what being "liberal" is all about. Personally, I want women, homosexuals, people from all races and creeds, divorcees, and so on to have equal rights. In certain circles that makes me somewhat liberal.

But that does not mean I have to absolutely love everyone like Barney the fucking Dinosaur with his politically correct, ethnically diverse friends. Being liberal also includes letting people be at liberty to think and say whatever they want (within reason). If a grumpy old man believes in equality of the sexes yet dislikes women in general, that does not make him conservative. Since when does “liking” have anything to do with it? I find no problem with people attending hedonistic bunga-bunga parties, but this does not mean I have to partake, or even like the people who do.

Like a ship without sails, we continue to drift towards exaggerated political correctness because society tells us to. Where is the freedom, the liberty in that? So much so that a liberal is already being confused with a “bleeding-heart liberal” who takes hobos into his house to show that he cares about their plight. They are not one and the same - the line between the two is not blurry. You can stay liberal without following blindly all this political correctness bullshit. All you need is a brain of your own.

At this rate, I will soon be considered conservative by society’s sheeple. That just means I did not keep up with the pussification of the world.

Malta, I brand thee!

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:56:00 +0000

For the last 3 years I have been working mostly with foreigners. Suffice to say that for the longest time I was the only Maltese person working on my floor at the office. The general consensus amongst foreigners living in Malta, given that they RARELY venture outside the Sliema area, is that Malta is a block of concrete in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea with a couple of nice beaches in the North. Period. Some Maltese people - the younger crowd mostly - seem to agree with them.

I'm sure quite a few people out there (like me) are tired of countless debates on the subject. So here's my 2c on the matter: I made a video to shut these people up, and in the process...

TSSSSssss

I stuck a photo camera to my car's windshield, set it to take a photo every second, left from Wied iz-Zurrieq at dawn and got to Armier a couple of hours later passing from as little civilisation as possible. i.e. Wied iz-Zurrieq - Ghar Lapsi - Fawwara - Dingli Cliffs - Mtahleb - Migra Ferha - Bahrija - Fomm ir-Rih Bay - Gnejna Bay - Mgarr - Manikata - Mellieha Bay - Armier Bay.

Watch on YouTube in HD quality
During the trip I saw quite a few rent-a-cars driven by tourists. Those people saw more of Malta in a couple of days than a lot of people who have lived in Malta for decades ever will. Food for thought.

VIDEO INFO:

7,772 photos taken at 1fps played at 24fps

Trip duration: 2hours 10minutes (6.00am to 8.10am) of non-stop driving
Distance covered: 40miles / 64kilometers
Average speed: 18mph / 30kmh

More of my work here.

Divorce movement wins

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Sun, 29 May 2011 13:24:00 +0000

The Maltese sheeple have proved me wrong. Malta has now entered the 1960s.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

China in the mediterranean

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 16:53:00 +0000

as appeared in The Times of Malta 20/01/2011

Promotion of civil rights and popular dissent

Two years ago Unifaun was forbidden by the authorities to perform a controversial theatre play. Last year, a couple of students were put on trial for writing and publishing a short story about a sexist individual. Last week, some classics by D.H. Lawrence and Voltaire were banned from secondary school libraries and TV programme VIP Xow (by comedy troupe Zoo) was axed from TVM for its satirical nature. Artists are not allowed to exhibit paintings that contain nudity and wearing carnival costumes that make fun of politicians will land you in jail.

One has to ask: What’s next?

Telling us what to think has now evolved into telling us what to say and do. This catastrophe can only stop when ultra-conservatives will cease to be afraid of people who are different from themselves. These bigots perceive such people as unpredictable and fight their fears by imposing their beliefs and rules upon everyone.

Force this equality to take away freedom from thy fellow neighbour and you have weaker antagonists for generations to come. Hence, the reason why we are an object of ridicule all around the world for not having introduced divorce yet. We should be in the streets shouting “I’m mad as hell and I won’t take this anymore!” but, instead, we allow anyone and everyone to stomp on our civil rights as the country falls deeper into disgrace. What will it take?

Salary Raises in Malta

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:22:00 +0000

A lot of people in this country don't realize how important a job interview is vis-a-vis future salary. Can you believe I worked for a company where often a new employee would say he/she took the job without knowing what the salary was?

Salaries in Malta aren't only about what you're getting paid to do the job now, but also about what you're EVER going to get paid, period. Unless you get a promotion, your salary will stay the same. So when you're being interviewed, you better negotiate and get the best deal possible, because you're gonna be stuck with it forever.

To beat the system you have to work for one of the handful of foreign companies based here. They treat their employees right. Their employees enjoy working there. Their employees are motivated, more effective and efficient. As a result they make the company earn more money. But you cannot expect Maltese employers to know that, can you?

I offer my solution to the Transport Federation abuse

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:17:00 +0000

Out of the past (updated)

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:49:00 +0000

Enough already about the damn Mintoff era.

What follow are comments I posted under Bocca's latest blog post and replies to my comments.

KEITH CHIRCOPYou are right about one thing for sure: My generation is sick and tired of hearing 2 or 3 decade old horror stories from the Mintoff era. I can understand how you cannot put those years behind you, but don't expect me to rule out voting for MLP simply because of those campfire tales. That's exactly what they are to us since we didn't experience those years, and when MLP was in government between 1996 and 1998 we didn't see any truckloads of dockyard workers wreaking havoc. By the next elections we'll be in our mid-thirties and your generation will be in your fifties, if not sixties. To the new voters, these stories will seem like "stejjer tan-nannu". So please criticize Joseph Muscat and his party all you want, but all this talk about MLP being undemocratic based on incidents which took place in 1979 or 1981 or whenever don't help your cause any. Ask anyone of your students, bocca. The same goes to those labourites who still mention the interdett. Enough is enough.

JOE MARTINELLIKeith Chircop, simply because you are too young to have experienced that Socialist era does not mean that what some people who experienced the nastiness and deprivation of those times are narrating "stejjer tan-nannu" or "campfire tales'. Those stories are real and documented and no Joseph will make them go away. The problem with the MLP is that they can never have a true 'new beginning' because to do so is to dissolve the party, purge the radical old timers, rename the new party and start fresh with young capable people with modern ideas. Present day MLP is a mere clone of the old party and unwilling to change.

KEITH CHIRCOPAre you still scared of the Germans, Mr Martinelli?

FRANCO FARRUGUIAKeith Chircop, there is no way one can compare what happened during the Mintoff regime here in Malta with WW2, simply because in WW2, the enemy was outside our shores; while, during the Mintoff regime, the enemy was within our shores, our neighbours, our next of kin, even. So, please, stop trying to sound cool and young and if thank your lucky stars you have what you have today, because Mintoff took away our youth! No education, no freedom ... what else is there to deny a man? Cadbury? We didn't have that either! And by the way, for the old man, computers were anathema, because they took jobs away! Pffft!

KEITH CHIRCOP@Franco Farrugia: As a matter of fact, I will not vote for Dom Mintoff or Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici any time soon. Catch my drift?

JOE MARTINELLINo need to answer your inane comment. Franco Farrugia was quicker on the draw and responded in excellent fashion. Now go and get a (Maltese) history lesson, will you?

KEITH CHIRCOP@Joe Martinelli: You hit the nail right on the head. That's exactly what they are: history lessons. History lessons we are tired of hearing. You think people around the age of 30 don't know what went on 20-30 years ago? We didn't vote for Sant for various reasons. The Mintoff/KMB era wasn't one of them. How about YOU get some lessons on how young people feel when you bang on and on about these age-old horror stories?

JOE MARTINELLIMy answer is: "LUCKY" - that how they feel. The reason why the MLP stays in opposition is because many of those who were Mintoff's buddies are still very much around and conditioning the younger prospects to the same way of thinking. No thanks - that's what the voters say - election after election!

PJ MIFSUDKeith Chircop, recently past historically-documented facts that the over 40s have lived through can only be described as "campfire tales" and "stejjer tan-nanna" by immature and foolhardy minds - in the same vein as others who declare that the Holocaust is a figment of the imagination. The dictum that history repeats itself has been proved to be true in several cases. It is advisable for you to take Mr Martinelli's excellent piece of advice on this matter. To ignore one's history is simply inviting to be doomed to repeat it. The MLP must necessarily undergo a radical change, first and foremost, with regard to an outdated mentality. It has to purge the firmly-embedded ideologically radical-Socialist faction still very much in control, to be substituted by capable, forward-looking , non-ideologic politicians with a modern outlook on how modern democracies function. As rightly stated, the MLP is still a mere clone of the 70s and 80s Socialist Party (with the mob element removed) and seems unwilling to change. In my opinion, they missed the opportunity by just, for had George Abela been elected Party leader, this dream would have been possible to realise.

KEITH CHIRCOPPJ Mifsud: What's foolish is to expect people born after Mintoff's era to adopt your us-and-them mentality, simply because of what you went through. Whereas there's no doubt that making fun of Joseph Muscat's balding head and the colour of his ties is stupid, it is at least contemporary. So I'd rather read about that than see the "aristokrazija tal-haddiem" phrase being mentioned again.

TIM RIPARD@ Keith Chircop. You're sad, Keith. What you can't understand is that the MLP, in its vast majority is still made up of thousands of people who lust for what they consider the 'glory' days of the '70s-'80s regime. There are plenty of over-50 MLP supporters, I can assure you, as well as younger ones fully-indoctrinated to believe the same thing: an electoral victory is means it's time to grab what we can from 'our' government. Joe Muscat depends on the support of these people and will pander to their will, with some subtlety this time around, I'm sure, but pander he will and we'll all be the worse for it.

KEITH CHIRCOP@Tim Ripard: Not voting for a party because of the way you feel about its supporters is demented.

TIM RIPARDKeith, it's not the supporters per se, it's their behaviour I object to. (Read my comment again). What's so demented about NOT voting for someone whose behaviour you do NOT like?

KEITH CHIRCOPTim, do you think Joseph Muscat would let his supporters in the police force/army fire guns upon Nationalist crowds? You think he'd let the dockyard workers ransack the Curia building?

TIM RIPARDStop trying to put words in my mouth. This is the bottom line of my first comment: "Joe Muscat depends on the support of these people and will pander to their will, with some subtlety this time around, I'm sure, but pander he will and we'll all be the worse for it." As I said, there will be subtlety (i.e. no, I don't expect mob violence - though I can't rule it out) but I still fear chaos in education and health, corruption and a government that looks after its blue-eyed boys. I've had enough of trying to explain it in simple terms which you don't seem able to understand and will refrain from further comment on this subject.

KEITH CHIRCOPYou're not saying anything one doesn't hear the minute he steps into some kazin tal-PN. You think Joseph Muscat would let his supporters do anything they want (maybe not violence) because he needs their support, whereas Nationalists will become second class citizens once again. Your proof being that people like Joe Debono Grech and Mary Louise Coleiro are still around. Gee, didn't hear that one before.

Pornography in Malta

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:40:00 +0000

Four months after a woman got arrested for having (artistic?) nude photos of herself taken in the land of Jesus-freaks...

Sex film lands man in court

A woman was browsing a CD (which probably wasn't hers), supposedly containing photographs, when she suddenly came across a video clip of her former boyfriend performing sexual acts with a 17-year-old girl (is that even underage?), a magistrate heard.

She reported him to the police (hell hath no fury like a woman scorned) and Christopher Buttigieg (so they're publishing their names now?), 25, from Żabbar, was charged with shooting or permitting the shooting of the video recording (though shalt not shoot porn in Malta), defiling the girl (who by the age of 17 was probably as loose as a hippo's yawn), performing sexual acts with the girl, and offending public morals (by shooting a private video).

He was also charged with threatening his former girlfriend following the discovery of the video clip (find me a man who'd want a video of his naked ass in his ex-girlfriend's hands).

Mr Buttigieg pleaded not guilty (but guilty of being a horny guy). He was granted bail by Magistrate Silvio Meli against a personal guarantee of €10,000 (amateur porn filmmakers are well known to flee the country).

What's public online can go for print

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:37:00 +0000

They're doing it again. Write a comment on some website and you might find it on the newspaper the following day, alongside your name.

Don't want some people finding out about your opinions (possibly on them) from the papers? Forget it. The way they see it, what's public online can go for print.

It had happened to me too during the elections period when the Malta Independent printed an entire blog post of mine without letting me know. Being the "Independent", they chose the only blog post I had written that week in which I criticized the MLP.

I was enraged and told the editor, in a not-so-subtle manner, to ask for my permission before printing any of my shit. I am not a Nationalist supporter and don't want people to think of me as one. I remember telling him "when I'll want to send you a letter to the editor, I'll do so." He never replied.

Besides, you like the way I wrote an article?
Would like to print it on your newspaper?
If I consent, you gotta PAY ME, BITCH!

They could fill an entire newspaper with blog posts and comments, and it wouldn't cost them a dime.

I followed Sandro's advice and put up that Copyright emblem you see at the top left. Let's hope it works.

Jacques had told me to start writing "Not to be published anywhere" under each comment I post online, which I never did. But it's a good idea.

Comments in particular are very easy to misquote. For instance, I could be replying to a comment made by Sandro in Jacques' blog and the newspaper guy might think I was replying to Jacques' blog post etc.

Case in point, just today this guy misunderstood a sarcastic comment I wrote in response to a letter to the editor of his, and wrote AN ENTIRE LETTER about it.

Re: Migrant beaten by cops

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:22:00 +0000

I refer to the comments section of the article on the migrant who got beat up, on the Times of Malta website.

Some people are saying the cops deserve our full support.

Puh-leaze.

On another note, I agree that nationalities shouldn't be mentioned when describing a criminal act as it may incite racism. A rapist is a rapist whether he's black or white.

The same goes for this situation. Stating the guy who got beat up was Sudanese can incite racism from the other side. The skin colour of a guy getting beaten to a pulp for no good reason should make no difference.

Two weights, one measure.

Victim describes himself in Hi5 as having nocturnal sadistic tendencies

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:24:00 +0000

A guy got stabbed a gazillion times by a jealous husband and survived. Lo and behold the latest development in the court case: the victim's Hi5 profile quotes a heavy metal song!

CRUCIFY HIM!
CRUCIFY HIM!
CRUCIFY HIM!

The title of this blog post appeared in (VERDANA FONT SIZE 72) today's Times of Malta newspaper.

The article also states there's a photo of a heavy metal album cover depicting a satanic symbol in the vitim's Hi5 photo gallery.

CRUCIFY HIM!
CRUCIFY HIM!
CRUCIFY HIM!

Tell you what, here are a few quotes from songs I like which you can use against me in court if somebody ever goes medieval on my ass:

"And my dick runs deep,
so deep, so deep - put her ass to sleep."
Ice-Cube (It was a good day)

"I’ve got something to say,
I raped your mother today."
Metallica (Last caress)

"I got blood on my hands,
but there's no remorse.
And got blood on my dick,
'cause I fucked the corpse."
DMX (Bring your whole crew)

I'd love to hear defense lawyer Gianella Caruana Curran quote the above in a courtroom.

Read about the West Memphis 3.

Wages vis-a-vis Productivity

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:20:00 +0000

Yesterday on Bondiplus, Joseph Farrugia of the Malta Employers Association said you cannot expect wages to rise just because the prices of food and oil are rising at rates never seen before; employees have to be paid solely according to their productivity.

He's absolutely right of course.

However, employees are NOT paid according to their productivity in Malta. As a result every minute increase in prices is felt twofold or threefold by the employee. Therefore, whereas employers obviously cannot be blamed for the rising costs, they have to shoulder some of the blame for Malta having such a high cost of living, which makes it so goddamn hard for employees to make ends meet now, let alone next year when oil will cost $250 per barrel.

Read also Chaaarge!

Chaaarge!

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:42:00 +0000

Lawrence of Malta confirms that an increase in the power surcharge is inevitable.

This news comes 2 days after we were told Malta's inflation in May was at a high 4.1 per cent and 2 weeks after we found out food prices in April rose by 9.7 per cent when compared to a year earlier.

Housing still costs as much as it does in Tinseltown.
Wages are still similar to those in Uzbekistan.

Can we stop acting like things are swell when they obviously aren't?
This country is in the shitter. Yes, it is.

Read also Standard of Living in Malta and Relative Cost of Living.

Liberal Hypocrites

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:41:00 +0000

How can you call yourself a liberal or a libertarian and then put down liberal parties whenever the opportunity comes up?

How can you call yourself a liberal or a libertarian and be a staunch supporter of an ultra-conservative party?

Can't people see through this kind of bullshit?

MLP deputy leaders

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:00:00 +0000

[scanned from MaltaToday]
Anglu Farrugia and Toni Abela have been elected deputy leaders for the Malta Labour Party.

First MLP had a horrible leader and two decent deputy leaders.

Now MLP has a decent leader and two horrible deputy leaders.

Can't they ever get it right?

I've got nothing against Toni Abela but I can't see him winning any votes from the younger crowd. Gavin Gulia would have been a big step in the right direction.

I thought the delegates chose Joseph Muscat as leader because he couldn't be linked to the terrible years of Mintoff and KMB. If so, why did the same people elect Anglu Farrugia?

Now Muscat will have to start preparing a MuscatMLP strategy i.e. hide these guys when he's in public.

Of platypi and men

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:01:00 +0000

Nationalist columnists have been speaking damagingly of Joseph Muscat since the day he announced his run for MLP leadership. Their popularity makes them think there are legions of people who agree with everything they say. Well, everybody in the USA listens to what Howard Stern has to say, so there.

Would these columnists have preferred Marie-Louise Coleiro to lead MLP? Most definitely not. They picked on Muscat simply because they knew chances were he was going to win. Why not denigrate the MLP leader before he is even made leader? They are staunch nationalist supporters so such behaviour is to be expected of them.

Did they honestly want George Abela to win? Yes. Then again, come election time, they'd remember he was a prominent member of the General Workers Union during the Mintoff/KMB years and find a way to use it against him.

Elections aren't won solely over charisma, but it is an important factor, and was a deciding factor last March. Is Joseph Muscat more charismatic than Alfred Sant? Yes, so is a platypus. Does Muscat have a greater chance of winning the 2013 elections than Sant? Yes, so does a platypus. Yet Alfred "the guy even labourites now hate" Sant was only 1500 votes shy of winning the elections three months ago. Therefore, it follows that a platypus leading MLP would have won.

Let's face it, PM Gonzi, a dead ringer for F. Murray Abraham (Salieri in Amadeus for the uninitiated), doesn't overflow with charisma. The nationalists didn't come up with the idea of GonziPN because Gonzi is a great leader, but to constantly draw a comparison with Alfred Sant who was a well-known liability to MLP i.e. Gonzi looked good compared to Fredu - who wouldn't? Do people look at Gonzi and see a born leader? He had bad competition on all fronts, and almost lost - surely not a good result for his first time leading the party through general elections.

Now Gonzi's competition got better. Couple that with the fact that Muscat can't look that bad in our eyes for the time being because he's replacing a sub-platypus and the competition gets even stronger just because. Check out Lou Bondi's child-like excitement for having an MLP leader who answers questions posed to him (WOW!) on his show to know what I'm saying. Anyone would look good after Fredu.

Muscat isn't as easy a target for denigration as Sant, which explains the extra effort put in by nationalist columnists. We'll wait and see how it plays out.

Voting for a party whose ideology you disagree with

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Wed, 28 May 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Don't you hate that political orientation in Malta is all screwed up?

MLP, should have removed the word "Labour" from its name when Sant took over back in '92. When MLP was elected in '96 it didn't do a damn thing for the lower class. That government collapsed in '98 for this reason. Their 2008 election proposals promised absolutely nothing to that social class either. You can call Sant whatever you want, but you can't possibly call him a socialist.

In the last 10 years, the PN has moved so much to the left to win over votes from the lower class the MLP forsook, that it should ditch the word "Nationalist" from its name once and for all.

So we're left with 2 centrist Demo-Christian parties, with MLP slightly further to the right than PN. I can't help but feel sorry for those Torca-reading haddiema who think an MLP government would have led their class out of fascist hell and into socialist heaven.

A liberal party that can govern is nowhere in sight. Not only that, but the last election has shown that no member of a small party could ever get elected i.e. no small party will ever grow. Now that is totally fucking sad. What's the use of voting for a small party ever again? One cannot deny they are very effective as pressure groups though. Nowhere as effective as the Church, but effective nonetheless.

I am a liberal, and hence a floating voter. I don't say this with any pride - it would be great if PN and MLP weren't so damn conservative. But they are. I simply don't comprehend supporting a party when you don't agree with its ideology, unless the other option is much, much worse.

Recent events have shown us this may well be the case. The way Labour MPs have been acting in the last 2 weeks have been a total revelation. I thought Sant and his buddy Jason were the main problems with the MLP but it is evident now that they were just the guys taking all the heat. The entire MLP administration is fucking crap. The previous sentence summarizes their 100-page report on the election defeat. The country needs to be governed by organized people, first and foremost, whether there is corruption or not. What's the use of a government with zero tolerance towards corruption when it's fucking incompetent at everything else?

So what does this leave liberals with, the option to vote for the conservative PN party hoping it will become more liberal? Tough chance when it's led by Mr. anti-divorce, ex-head of Azzjoni Kattolika, nephew of the bishop tal-Interdett.

Malta: heaven for staunch conservatives (jesus-freaks who want to impose their lifestyle on everyone), hell for everybody else.

Boycott Public Transport

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:01:00 +0000

Excerpts from timesofmalta.com:

Bus drivers threaten to strike over emission tests

Public transport may grind to a complete standstill if an "industrial dispute" between bus owners and the Malta Transport Authority over emission tests escalates. The Public Transport Association has directed members not to permit their buses to be tested for emissions.

The PTA demands the bus drivers themselves and not the ADT officials to handle the buses during the tests.

The ADT spokesman said that, over a period of 12 weeks, a total of 108 complaints about emission had been received on just one bus. Between January and March this year, 98 tests were conducted on buses and 58 failed. Owners were fined €46 (Lm19.75). Bus drivers who fail the test are ordered not to use the bus until they pass another test, which is normally held on the same day. The spokesman appealed to the PTA not to enter into disputes that could only harm the service.

PTA president Victor Spiteri said that, "if members are intimidated in any way, either through citations or by being prevented from operating after they obey the directive, the PTA would be constrained to stop the public transport service."

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The bus drivers say they're being "intimidated... through citations" because their buses give out loads of toxic fumes. Do they think playing the victims will work? We are the victims. Their victims. We pay their subsidies with our taxes, and what do they do? They poison us.

"The ministry is amazed with the PTA's attitude on the matter." No shit.

These people, if you can call them that, are putting our lives, those of our families, and especially our children at risk so they can save a buck. They may have a stranglehold on the government, but we have a stranglehold on them. We just don't seem to know it.

I, for one, am going to boycott public transport until they give in and shape up like everybody else. Or better still, till the public transport system is liberalised in the year 2158. In other words, I won't use the bus to go to Valletta, regardless of how long it will take me to park. I know it's not much; I already don't use public transport often - sue me. Pollution-wise, 2 cars on the road will be worse than 1, I know, but I just can't give them the satisfaction.

As a whole, companeros, we have to get our retaliation in first... if they go on strike first, it will be too late. How much could they gain from a strike if the only customers are turistas? Try to get your amigos to give you a ride to work or wherever for a while. That will teach them a leccion. We don't need no stinking buses! Viva la revolucion! Patria or muerte, companeros!

Of course that could never happen. The average Maltese Joe whines and whines about how much cancer there is in this country, but does nothing about it when the opportunity comes up.

But you can't blame the people, right? You can't expect this to be as successful as an SMS boycott. There aren't any quarters of cents at stake here. It's only our health.

Something in return for nothing

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Fri, 16 May 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Why do some people expect something in return for nothing? You know who I'm talking about: egoistic folks who never do shit for you but expect you to do shit for them. Not 'would like' you to, expect you to.

It may be a politician who expects people to vote for him even though he didn't do jackshit in the 5 years he had a seat in parliament.

It could be an employer who expects underpaid employees to work after hours regularly free of charge, and/or expects them to work there forever.

Or an ex-friend who backstabbed you and demands forgiveness from you so that he/she can stop feeling guilty.

And so on.

I've met a bunch of people like that throughout the years. I never managed to figure out why they are suprised when you turn them down. What?! You're not going to bend over backwards for me? Why the hell not? I can accept them being self-centered, nobody's perfect, but why do they get pissed off when you don't give in to their demands? Nobody wants to be a slave, a flunky, or a doormat. Don't they know this?

I guess they don't.

The relative cost of living

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Wed, 14 May 2008 06:00:00 +0000

The following is a simplified example. It doesn't take into consideration the resale value of the motor vehicle. Neither does it consider costs of other items/bills eg. property/renting property.

A car in Malta costs Lm8000.
The same car in the UK costs Lm6000.

In Malta, the car costs 33.33% more. Or does it?

If, in Malta, a buyer saves up Lm200 a month, it would take him 40 months to buy the car.
If in the UK, another buyer (same job, higher wage) saves up Lm350 a month, it would take him 17 months to buy the car.

The car costs the Maltese person 135% more time saving up.

After 40 months, the Maltese buyer will have finished saving up and will finally have a car.

When the Maltese buyer will finally have the car, the UK buyer will have had the car for 23 months and apart from buying the car Lm2000 cheaper, he will also have saved up a further Lm8050. That opportunity cost adds up to WAY more than 33.33%.

Read also Standard of Living in Malta and Chaaarge!

Driving in Malta

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:39:00 +0000

I am sick and tired of foreigners complaining about how Maltese people drive.

"The Maltese are the worst drivers in the whole wide world."
"It's every man unto himself on Maltese roads."
"They all oughta be fookin' nicked, I'll tell you that!"

...to which some feeble-minded Maltesers reply:
"In Malta, we don't drive on the right or on the left, we drive in the shade."

First of all, fuck the lot of you. Especially my compatriots who relish being looked down upon by foreigners: "Yes massah, me no drive good. Me stupid Maltese of Mintoff time."

Second, travel the damn world. If we're the worst you've seen, you ain't seen shit. Check out India where on the road, might is right. But you don't need to go so far to find worse drivers than us. Go to Palermo where drivers see pedestrians on zebra crossings as prey, where motorcyclists do the slalom with pedestrians on pavements. Then tell me how you like them apples.

According to Drive Safe, in Malta:
Speed Limit in Towns 50kmh (30mph)
Speed Limit on Open Roads 80kmh (50mph)

The average Malteser drives at 50-60kmh in urban areas and at 70-80kmh on long straights. Therefore, it's not a matter of us exceeding speed limits.

"You drive recklessly"

How a person drives depends on many factors, one of which is the number of cars on the road. Population density-wise, Malta is comparable to a busy city, not to a country. The same goes for traffic. Hence, driving here is just as chaotic as it is in London, Rome or New York. A lot of Brits have no problems driving on British motorways and country roads but would rather take the tube in London. New Yorkers take taxicabs. If you avoid driving in London, Rome or New York... why do you drive in Malta, to nag, nag, nag?

UPDATE: Clarkson on driving in Italy

Alleged fatal police beating

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:47:00 +0000

Man alleges brutal police beating before dying

Fatal fall at police depot gives rise to questions

The victim's father says, "Lil ibni qatluh".

Video of the victim on his deathbed telling a journalist what happened.

According to the police:

A man with a clean police conduct was called to the police HQ over "familial issues".

Once there, he decides to take it on the lam...
[Does this make any sense?]

...by jumping off the bastions.
[And this?]

After being taken to hospital and coming to, he concocted a ridiculous tale about being beaten up and thrown out the window, just to entertain his loved ones on his death bed.
[AND THIS?]

Sexual / Physical Abuse by Clergy

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 07:53:00 +0000

A week after our Gozitan bishop apologized to the men and women who were physically abused by Dominican Sisters in Lourdes home when they were kids, the Pope called sexual and physical abuse by members of the clergy "a deep shame". All well and good...

Well, that's if you've forgotten that:

Pope 'obstructed' sex abuse inquiry: Confidential letter reveals Ratzinger ordered bishops to keep allegations secret.

Does the Pope think we forgot about that letter he sent to all bishops when he was still a Cardinal in May 2001? In the letter he referred to a 1962 Church law which describes a mandatory condition of secrecy for both the perpetrators and victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests. The Pope had reminded bishops that, according to that law, clergymen who speak out will be excommunicated, and victims who make a complaint to Church officials must take an oath of secrecy.

Pope Benedict's letter clearly shows the 46-year-old instruction was in force in 2001. It might still be in full force today while the Pope is busy apologizing to victims of sexual abuse by clergymen in the US.

UPDATE: those infamous Maltese nuns seem to be following the 1962 instructions alla lettera.