Author: Jacques René Zammit

Well, I’m back in the Duchy and still adjusting to the abrupt shift in weather conditions. Most days it’s raining and the early morning cacophony of the building site that is Paceville has been replaced by a much more pleasant yet still sleep inhibiting – a thunderous wake-up call by one of the monsoon-like storms. To someone used to the warmth and comfort of the Mediterranean summers this weather is definitely abnormal. I’d go so far as to say it’s immoral.

Of course by saying that it is immoral I do not mean that the invisible hand behind the weather is violating society’s current accepted standards and ethics, but rather simply expressing my dissatisfaction metaphorically. I would however be joining a growing trend among politicians in using the words “moral” and “immoral”.

Yep. It seems that “morals” and “morality” are the hip words in our political community. Suddenly, there has been a paradigm shift in the measure of a politician’s competence and accountability. It begins with an assault on “the law” because it is “an ass” – it can no longer cater for the hungry needs of the politicians. “The law” we are told, is either outdated or administered by inefficient bureaucrats unable to feel the pulse of the needy and see the light of reason. The “law is an ass” and along with the ass we throw out of the window the whole system of checks and balances on which our Res Publica should be built.

Clinton says North Korea has no friends (reuters). Pyongyang to explore openings on Facebook.

Karozzini fight ADT to retain Valletta business (TOM). Must involve a huge amount of horse-trading.

Microsoft finishes Windows 7 and releases code to manufacturing (pcpro). Previewers think it’s quite a bundle.

Valletta FC on the brink of making club history (indy). It’s all due to a good dose of dutch courage.

CoE to baptise children as parents are married (Times). If you can’t beat them (to hell) join them (and get them to join you).

inspired by the original www.spinoza.it

Not since the days of Alfred Sant’s “konvinzjoni morali” have morals been so much at the forefront. At the time Sant’s “moral conviction” was bandied around in areas where proof was hard to come by – some would say it was an unfounded allegation dressed up as faithful conviction. Nowadays the word “morals” pops up more often than not and J’accuse is noting an alarming shifting of goalposts – more particularly because the “moral standard” is hard to define unless of course you have the conviction that your morals are better than those of others.

Take Roberta Metsola TT. The candidate funding saga is not the first time she has almost become an authority on morals. We all remember that in full election swing, both as a candidate and as a proto-candidate (before registration), she called on the government’s “moral obligation” to pay back the registration tax even if the letter of the law did not, eventually, oblige it to do so. At that point, Metsola’s moral compass was firmly in favour of reading the law in all fairness to the citizen and the taxpayer. Accountability must have featured somewhere along the lines too. Morality would trump the (unfair) letter of the law and get people their dues (and Metsola her votes). Funny how she has not come up with a “moral” reading of the law regulating electoral spending limits this time round. If not “moral” at least “purposive” which is probably what the Times editor probably means by “the spirit of the law” in today’s editorial.

Then there was the moral ping pong between Victor Scerri and Lawrence Gonzi. We almost heard the words “moral responsibility” which were beginning to sound like some kind of judgement issued outside the jurisdiction of our courts. Extra iure if you will. Morals are a tough line to thread. Laws are supposed to be as close an embodiment of the collective morals as is human and democratically possible. The good mores of the societas are reflected in the codification of positive law. Legal and philosophical theorists have long quizzed themselves as to the perfect formula for the crystallisation of society’s morals into a code that could be applied fairly and justly to all citizens. Contrary to what Lawrence, Victor and Roberta may be believe there isn’t more than one body of  laws governing the running of tis Republic. We cannot afford to temporarily suspend the application of the laws in such a manner as to please the moral whims and fancies of individuals who happen to be members of the party in (relative majority) power.

Legal loopholes aside, resorting to the “moral” trick can only work in this country where we like to think we are all holier than the pope and where the words “kelma ta’ ragel” (word of a man – especially when well marketed) or “mhux fair” (it’s not fair) have wrongly been distorted as having more importance than the proper interpretation and application of the rule of law.

In my book that’s beckoning anarchy, but so long as it is PLPN then it’s ok I guess.

Back to work. Sort of. There is the usual Inbox to empty (I forgot to leave an Out of Office message). There is the pile of documents and the To Do list to tackle. Most of all there is the freakish Luxembourg weather to cope with. The icon on the iPhone weather program shows a thunderstorm. The temperature forecast is high of 28 and low of 18 (currently 20). Outside there is a freakish sunny sky with scattered clouds. It’s not summer – it’s more like WTF kind of weather, with the clouds thrown in as a question mark.

We notice with extreme pleasure that bloggable news items are not rare. Top of them all must be the RMTT not-so-purposive interpretation of electoral law as backed by Rule of Law-Rence Gonzi. Another intelligent guess is coming true – they WILL sweep it under the carpet with the delicacy of an Association of Latter Day Mugabes. I am not a candidate until I am officially a candidate… all that public prancing before the date of official candidacy does not count. You see… they DO think we are all stupid.

Elsewhere the battle of reckoning which of the two parties most abused the farce that is MEPA rages. Did Joseph Muscat get his permit (in 1998) faster than Victor Scerri (in 2008)? Doesn’t his wrong make Victor Scerri’s very, very right? And more importantly… isn’t it all Astrid Vella’s fault? Again. We must be a nation of dumbasses if we willingly participate in this race to the bottom. Mediocrity rules.

Then there was the Marsa locker room fire where we discovered (!!) that a building with a wooden roof sited 200m from a firework launch ramp (or whatever they call it) was a disaster waiting to happen. You want a disaster waiting to happen? Just wait for the next round of national elections and the rules that will be reformulated for the PLPN happy bunch. Remember… as J’accuse always hates to remind you… the joke’s on you!

Finally a note to Ettore. I did not fence-sit just because I said I am neither for or against Astrid. Astrid leads an NGO of sorts. She is loud and makes a lot of noise. Like many of her detractors for what matters. My issue was with the underlying rules within which the NGOs, the Government, the parties and the unaffiliated citizens operate. They suck. Astrid or no Astrid – that’s not fence-sitting.

That’s it for now. Over and out from sunny-with-threats-of-thunderstorms-Luxembourg.

It’s a day for travelling. Not that I feel like but needs must that I get on the plane and the various buses to return to the tropical weather of the north. It’s not been enough, thanks to the bloody cold that conditioned most of my stay. Let’s hope that my next August visit will be better. Get ready for some midsummer blogging – Luxembourg does not have half the distractions there are here. Next on the leisure agenda: Snow Patrol in concert this weekend. A minor consolation.

A bien tot!

This article and accompanying Bertoon appeared in yesterday’s edition of The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Mediterranean stock

I often worry that I will someday lose my mediterranean toughness – that capability to withstand extreme heat conditions with relaxed nonchalance, as well as the thick-skinned resistance to high levels of UV radiation (perceived – not real: do not try this at home or on the beach: use sunscreen). Extended living abroad might be beneficial to one’s cultural improvement but it could also have detrimental effects on your health.

There’s no doubt that my general get-up has still not been sufficiently altered to the point of qualifying for the dubious category of Aryan übermensch (I could easily get away with the identity of an Iranian dissident for example), but my general capability to obtain an honest-to-god tan and not sweat like a pig when exposed to temperatures above 28 degrees has been severely tested of late.

This week’s stay on the island has provided the latest slap in the face to my received perception of being of mediterranean mixed-breed stock (the purest you can get) when I succumbed to the travails, aches and pains of what is vulgarly called a chest cold soon after landing on the beloved shores of the island. My being a Grade A hypochondriac visiting an island bang in the middle of the spread of a swine flu pandemic did not help matters any further. With my family doctor out of order I was forced to err on the side of caution (as per governmental instructions) and request the presence of a doctor from the Gzira Health Centre at my domus in order to verify that I had not become another number in the Swine Flu Pandemic.

I take this opportunity to thank Dr RX (that’s the signature on the prescription – I never got to know his name) for braving the sweltering heat and facing the extreme driving and parking conditions of midday traffic in Paceville (plus two flights of stairs) to confirm that this hypochondriac was only suffering the effects of a very, very irritating chest cold. Apologies for the trip Dr X but if it is of any consolation, I am still very much under the bloody weather a couple of days later.