Author: Jacques René Zammit

The Hollywood film is quite crap (just stick to the trailer – all the good jokes are there). It’s about a car salesman who would sell the devil his own trident. I am sure that in Malta we could boast many of these but I have rarely come across a funnier advert than this one. Thanks to K.S. who sent me the link on www.maltapark.com. Seller brian24 definitely has a way with words when selling his Mr2:

MR2 tan 92 ta’ Malta allura bla turbo. Tal-bidu allura bla a/c. GT allura bil leather seats u bit T Bar. Bit T-bar thossok tajjeb ghal min ma jafx. Tkun qisek tifel tal year 5 ghandu IPhone. Ili 6 snin kur**t taghha allura ha nbieghha. Immakulata allura toqghodux tokorbuli biex ninzel hafna ghax diga inzilt bizzejjed. Minn jixtieq ipartat ma Yaris mill godda he/she is welcome l aqwa li mhix 3 door, roza, vjola jew hamra. Jekk hemm xi tweety imwahhal naqilawh no problem. 99,900km allura ghal min ghandu mohh intelligenti bizzejjed biex jiehu n nifs u jteptep ghajnejh jirrealizza li ma tantx huma ghaliex minn tghallem in numri din fin 1992 harget mhux 2006. Ma tantx hawn bhala Malta allura ittik pjacir unlike il-pastizzi BMWs flooding Malta qishom il-virus ta’ l-Swine Flu H1N1. Min ma jaf xejn fuq MR2s ifittex fuq l-internet u min jaf ghidtilkhom bizzejjed. And its a must see. Mara tara live trid biex tkun taf x inhi, mhux tara ippuzata fuq facebook, timpressjonak ghax ghandna 1,342 friends imbghad tkun qisa xitla laqtita sajjetta. take care u il-paci maghkhom – 79031081 u tuni nifs ghax ma niflahx aktar.

The item has already been viewed 923 times in less than a month…  I just love it. With guys like these who needs Jeremy Clarkson?

Wankellectuals of the world unite! They’ve woken up and sniffed a vacuum. And they will battle to fill/void it in their very special way. The progressive intellectuals of New Labour started it, they did. Here is maltastar.com speaking of new “think tank” IDEAT that was probably the result of cell mitosis at Labour HQ. Coming from the worst English language newspaper online you cannot expect Oxford English but here are some excerpts anyway:

Labour Leader Joseph Muscat insisted that the think tank has “card blanche” on its policies and hoped it can influence not only the PL but also other parties. “I would not be surprised if other parties would take the ideas that will come forward from this think tank. The time of monopolies is over.”

“even though the Left-movement have been given a good momentum, it is still lacking to get its arguments across to the people and unless this is done, very little change can ever happen.”

“Politics is very similar to journalist. It is based on credibility. Thus, this think tank has to forget theories and be practical,” Grima said. He noted that while the country has economical improved, he questioned whether this society has become more open-minded.”

That was mainly Maltastar and I cannot find the original article that was rife with mistakes. It’s not the point though. What is interesting is this buzzword “progressive” that simply just cannot make the mark of itself. Just like Daphne’s “cool/uncool” classification the “progressive/conservative” divide falls flat on its face once you realise that beneath the shaky surface of pseudo-intellectualism lies a clear current of the Same Old Bull. It’s early days but the signs are there… More of this later on in J’accuse… but for now we ain’t impressed one bit.

Meanwhile the intellectual vacuum looks destined to be as undiscovered and unexplored as the remote corners of the multi-verse. Wankellectuals of the world unite!

There is nothing that surpasses ruling with benevolence. However, to put into practice enough benevolent governing to rule the country is difficult. To do this lukewarmly would result in neglect. If governing with benevolence is difficult, then it is best to govern strictly. To govern strictly mans to be strict before things have arisen, and to do things in such a way that evil will not arise. To be strict after the evil has arisen is like laying a snare. There are few people who will make mistakes with fire after having once been burned. Of people who regard water lightly, many have been drowned. – Tzu Ch’an (Hagakure – “In the shadow of the leaves”)

My attention has been drawn to the fact that last Sunday’s Sundays included a number of references to this blog – mostly thanks to the Great Issue of last week in which J’accuse explored the background and repercussions of Labours employment of Marisa Micallef. Unfortunately I was travelling for most of Sunday and therefore I failed to notice most of these references until of course my dad did point out a few of them, coyly remarking “So, some people DO read your blog after all!”.

Yes they do dad, and here’s the kind of collage that you enjoy so much … it should take your mind  off the gloating over Juve’s latest loss and Chelsea and Inter’s latest wins. For the two other readers of this blog, here is a roundup of J’accuse in the news. I will follow Marie Benoit’s advice and slap my left hand as an act of contrition. (Is it always the left that needs slapping Marie? Don’t bother answering, it’s a rhetorical question). Click to continue…

Labour leader Joseph Muscat yesterday said he would be asking people to take to the streets and stage a protest against the way the government was leading the country. (Times)

They’ll soon be telling you that you are not cool Joe. And they’d be right. You may gift wrap your “Issa Daqshekk” Union in new clothing all you like. You may walk like the nationalists and talk like the nationalists all you want. You may claim to be progressive until the cows (and undecided) come home. What you are doing though is simply proving, like others before you, that you are capable of being a protester – a noisy opposition.

“I would never leave the party. I am a fourth generation person. First generation was when an Arrigo was a speaker of parliament. (Talk of crossing to Labour) would come from some foul-mouthed people.” – Robert Arrigo (interviewed by Herman Grech on www.timesofmalta.com) 

Robert Arrigo must be cool. By his own admission he is an ongoing success story. No matter how constructively critical he is of the nationalist party and no matter how much his constructive criticism is not heeded he will not leave the party. Which is good. J’accuse likes the way Robert Arrigo thinks. Others might define Robert’s actions in a different manner. Nowadays it seems that there are two categories coming straight out of Scooby Doo cartoons of the sixties and seventies. Since the next election will be won or lost depending on the cohort of disgruntled 40 pluses I guess the language of “cool and hip” might hit home. Somewhere. Maybe.