The Defiant One

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.

Or do as I did, beat the system: 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?

When you kill an innocent civilian in Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:58:00 +0000

...just leave a "drop weapon" on his corpse.

Those are the orders.

Lead us by example

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:21:00 +0000

Excerpt from TimesOfMalta:

Lawyer and family offered Gozo rape girl €7,000 deal

Two other lawyers, priest involved in the case

A lawyer and close relatives of the men accused of raping a 14-year-old girl persuaded the alleged victim's family to sign a contract stating they would not testify in court in return for €7,000 in "psychological support".

The girl's mother told The Sunday Times that she signed the contract under intense pressure from the group and out of fear of exposing the issue to the Gozitan community. But she regretted it immediately and together with her daughter forged ahead with the complaint.

The defendants, brothers Peter Paul and Josef Said, stand accused of raping the girl, while Mark Lorry Said and Peter Paul Debono were charged with her defilement. They are all under house arrest.

However, the girl's mother said her family had to withstand pressure from a number of people before the case reached the courts.

She said they were approached by close relatives of the Said brothers and a priest, who acted as an intermediary, shortly after the rape and defilement allegations were made last month...

Life on a pig farm

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:31:00 +0000

WARNING: VIDEO FEATURES SHOCKING VIOLENCE TOWARDS ANIMALS

Who's the animal?

Moving towards dystopia

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:10:00 +0000

...and nobody's doing a damn thing about it.

There'll be lots of talk but no action

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:49:00 +0000

Front Page of In-Nazzjon (01/08/2008):

"Dak li jdgħajjef jew ikisser iż-żwieġ għandu konsegwenzi serji" - Isqfijiet Maltin

As Saviour Balzan said on MaltaToday, "The fact that the statement was given such front-page prominence on the PN organ In-Nazzjon goes to show that the powers that be consider any reference to divorce to be anathema to their values."

Dalli wants to talk about divorce. Gonzi will let him in order to give the impression than PN, like MLP, wants to do something about the lack of this social right. But forget about divorce being introduced under the administration of the ex-head of Azzjoni Kattolika, nephew of the bishop tal-Interdett.

An earthquake of change

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:11:00 +0000

0.000001 on the Richter scale.

When a new shop opens in Malta

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:16:00 +0000

MARINTON
Fetah hanut gdid, Kuncett.

KUNCETT
Tlaqna, Marinton!

Keep their heads ringing

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:14:00 +0000

For whom the bells toll...

A Senglea resident has filed a judicial protest in which she complained about the “intolerable and unbearable” chimes let out by the clock in the parish church’s belfry every quarter of an hour.

...Ms Spiteri filed the protest, in the First Hall of the Civil Court, against the church’s Archpriest Joe Grech, Archbishop Paul Cremona, the chairman of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, the Environment Minister, and Joanna Drake as the head of representation of the European Commission.

...Ms Spiteri elaborated that she had appointed engineer Albert Sacco to examine the sound intensity of the chimes. He reported that the average sound levels in the Senglea square ought to be between 53 and 60 decibels. This was exceeded by 25 to 30 decibels whenever the clock struck.

...In the protest Ms Spiteri argued that the loud chimes were in breach of the EU directive on noise levels according to which Malta ought to have established noise strategic maps by June last year.

______________________________________________________________________

I remember spending a weekend in Gozo last year where the church bells would start ringing at about 5am, would ring every 15 mins and simply wouldn't stop. That shit drives you insane.

With regards to the jesus-freak comment-posters under the timesofmalta article, one shouldn't have to soundproof his house for anyone, kappillan included.

The Simshar tragedy

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:01:00 +0000

Before we put all the blame on the AFM...

What about testing the life-raft regularly?

Were there any life-jackets on board?

Was the boat equipped with a VHF radio?

Cruising in Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:06:00 +0000

Roadside IED almost takes out Humvee.

Iran's missile tests

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:23:00 +0000

Was this image really photoshopped?

Was Godzilla really there?

The guerillas have taken over

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:44:00 +0000

Rush on Castille

Stoppage by coaches from tomorrow

Strikers disrupt visitors' sightseeing tour

Coach driver beaten

Emergency transport service stopped due to safety fears

Ferry service suspended after threats

Barklori service also stopped after threats

______________________________________________________________________

To quote Spencer Tracy in Bad Day at Black Rock, "the rule of law has left here and the guerillas have taken over."

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.

Monkeys are racist

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:07:00 +0000

USA

A black woman looks at the cover of a comic book (depicting the famous Mexican character Memin Pinguin) and sees a kid who looks like a monkey.

She decides this is racist towards black people, complains to a community activist, and this leads to WalMart pulling the comic book off their shelves forever.

Excuse me?

She's the one who associates monkeys with black people!

She's the one who's racist towards her own race.

What's next, banning monkeys from the fucking zoo?

The character of Memin Pinguin is a Cuban-Mexican, to boot...

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 flea the country).

The Safinator is back

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:01:00 +0000

The Pete Townshend of tennis made it to the semis at Wimby.

He demolished Sampras on hardcourt at the 2000 US Open final.

He beat Federer on hardcourt at the 2005 Australian Open and went on to win the slam.

Both Sampras and Federer were in top form but could do nothing against the Russian. He's rarely "in the zone", but when he is, he's unstoppable.

Way too much booze and crumpet brought him down to #75 on the ATP tour.

Now he's back on his feet again, and will face Federer in the Wimbledon semi-final.

Is Safin in the zone? Or is this just a flash in the pan?

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.

Would you kill to protect your neighbour's property?

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:00:00 +0000

Excerpts from CNN.

Ever since [Joe Horn] saw two burglars crawling out his neighbor's window on November 14 and gunned them down, Horn has been in legal limbo, unsure if he was going to have to defend himself and his actions or go free.

Monday, a Texas grand jury chose not to indict Horn in the deaths of Hernando Riascos Torres and Diego Ortiz, meaning he can live his life without having to explain before a jury of his peers why he chose to be judge, jury and executioner of the two.

Horn did what any of us would do in that situation: He called 911 to report the crime, and was told officers were being dispatched. But he was so incensed with what was taking place he told the dispatcher he was going to kill the men. No amount of pleading could get him to stop. On the audiotape of the incident, we can hear Horn racking his gun, firing two shots and killing Torres and Ortiz.

...Two men (both illegal immigrants and one of them with a conviction for selling drugs) are dead for stealing some personal effects, and we are supposed to welcome this vigilante justice?

Yes, the law was on Horn's side, whether he knew that or not when he fired. But when does our core decency come in when we make such life-altering decisions in a snap? Don't you think making the choice to kill someone should be based on something more dire, such as if your life is in danger?

At no point was Horn's life in danger. We also know that his neighbor was out of town and no one was at home. So don't try to bring up the various hypothetical situations that could alter the basic facts of the story.

Two sorry men who already broke the law by coming in the country illegally chose to hasten their fate by robbing the wrong house with the wrong neighbor watching.

______________________________________________________________________

Is he, by any chance, related to Tom Horn?

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.

The United States of Europe (part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:18:00 +0000

Today the Times of Malta published an excellent letter by Jean Govè (of Sintezi) about the reaction to the Lisbon Treaty referendum result. Check it out.

Read also: The United States of Europe (part 1)

Beds and blowjobs

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:20:00 +0000

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary being vulgar and sexist.

Only men use business class, right?

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.

Artemisia Gentileschi

noreply@blogger.com (KEITH CHIRCOP) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:30:00 +0000

In 1612, despite her early talent, Artemisia was denied access to the all-male professional academies for art. Therefore, her father hired the Tuscan painter Agostino Tassi to tutor Artemisia privately. During this tutelage, Tassi raped Artemisia and was reported to the authorities.

During the trial Artemisia was tortured using a device made of thongs wrapped around the fingers and tightened by degrees — a particularly cruel torture to a painter. This was done to corroborate the truth of her allegation, due to the belief that if a person can tell the same story under torture as without it, the story must be true.

Her next painting, Judith beheading Holofernes:

...has been interpreted as a wish for psychological revenge for the violence she suffered.

From Wikipedia.