Minister Mallia will in all probability not resign. He went on record during the “secret” negotiations regarding the IIP scheme that should a residency requirement be included then he would resign from his ministerial position. We are not supposed to know about it  because the...

The Russians had an interesting expression while under the communist rule. They would say that even the past is unpredictable – because it kept getting rewritten in order to better fit the needs of whoever was in power at some particular moment. I was reminded of this when I read about...

In the beginning was the Rome Treaty. 60 odd years down the line the visions that helped forge together that agreement need some new PR. The first steps of European integration were built on the idea that if the main strategic resources were pooled together (coal, steel, atomic energy) and if...

Inevitably, the shift of the “Citizenship for Sale” controversy to the European Parliament has brought along with it a severe case of tabloid-itis to the Maltese discussion fora and social media. The British tabloid press is hugely responsible for a variety of EU myths and thrives...

In an article entitled “Sharing explicit selfies without consent may be made illegal“, the Times reports that Social Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli has reacted to the current furore on selfies. Minister Dalli is quoted as saying that “the sharing of explicit material without...

Valérie Trierweiler has been hospitalised following revelations in the press that her companion – French President François Hollande – had been having an affair with actress Julie Gayet. This latest sex scandal in France involves an actress who had taken part in a promo video...

Joseph Muscat has reiterated his wish that Malta becomes a ‘leader’ in Europe. Muscat’s record of bravado and not too cleverly disguised machismo might still have some appeal with the sheep in his fold but the contradictions and cracks in the ably constructed mask  do not...

Malta might soon have to worry about a more real danger than Syrian refugees. Not that Syrian (or any other) refugees are dangerous. The boat carrying Syrian chemical weapons that left Latakia port on Tuesday carries a much more lethal threat than any amount of refugees could ever (even...

There were two news items on yesterday evening’s edition that struck me more than any other. It’s true that the nature of news reporting is such that you will inevitably get the worst picture of the nature of man. Crimes and wars are committed by man upon man. It is usually our...

The law students are apparently throwing some hissy fit and demanding guarantees that the reform of their degree will not entail the dropping of the “Dr” nomenclature for the law course graduates. Such big deal this “Call me a Dr” business. Or is it? It is quite...

I believe that I have referred to this idea at least once before. Magritte’s creation seems prima facie to be an inherent contradiction since he accompanies an image of a pipe with the caption “this is not a pipe”. In actual fact Magritte’s observation was more of the...

Is-sena intemmet bit-tajjeb. Intfejna xi ftit mid-dinja tal-opinjoni u intfajna xi ftit fuq ir-riflessjoni. Nifs ‘il ġewwa qabel ma terġa’ tibda tonfoħ. Kelli ċans nisma’ u ntaffi ftit mill-fatt li, issa li qed noqrob l-għaxar snin ‘il bogħod mill-gżejjer,...