The Authorities (capital A) have decided that the status known as Temporary Humanitarian Protection N(ew) – THPn in short – will no longer be renewed for what seems to be hundreds of migrants living in Malta. You may have seen stories in the press by now about Malta-born kids to...
That’s justice...
posted by Jacques René Zammit
On the day that Labour’s former deputy leader Toni Abela and former Gozo party president Grazio Mercieca joined the judiciary, Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri warned against bashing and ridiculing judges and magistrates. There is no doubt that the judiciary is not a sector of...
The Land in Question...
posted by Jacques René Zammit
“(Finally), in the early morning hours of November 20 (1969), the fourth attempt coalesced and more than 90 Native Americans landed on Alcatraz. The island’s caretaker, Glenn Dodson, who was 1/8 Cherokee, told the landers that they were trespassing, winked, and then showed the...
Ban the Bikinini
posted by Jacques René Zammit
A French court has given some reprieve to the burkini craze that struck the last part of the crazy summer news. After several French beach-side resorts had banned the wearing of the burkini at the beach things had gotten even hotter with a few incidents of aggression. We had also seen...
Lessons in Fear (aft...
posted by Jacques René Zammit
It’s a new thing now. Not Pokemon I mean, but this habit to drop “and Munich?” in conversation without as much as a semblance of intent to actually engage about the matter beyond signalling a mutual acknowledgement of the existence of yet another horrible event marking the...
Morning-after: Musca...
posted by Jacques René Zammit
Malta cannot stop a company from importing a morning-after contraceptive pill that has EU approval, Joseph Muscat said this evening. Speaking at one of the meetings in the Gvern li Jisma series, the Prime Minister said he was not in a position to make moral statements, but to speak to the...
Be Deutsch, Fcuk Far...
posted by Jacques René Zammit
Jan Böhmermann hit the international news by offending Turkey’s Erdogan. The Turkish leader had requested that Angela Merkel prosecute Böhmermann under an outdated German law for having dared make fun of him in public. Merkel acquiesced causing widespread indignation among the...
Behind Brexit
posted by Jacques René Zammit
We’re still sitting back and processing the news. Right now there is a shit-storm of cliches being bandied about the place like there is no tomorrow. Post-fact politics reigns supreme and social media banter has definitely taken the upper hand over reasoned discourse. A referendum result...
Killing in the name ...
posted by Jacques René Zammit
In the wake of the Orlando massacre in which a gun toting madman entered a nightclub and coldly killed 49 other persons much debate has centred around “intent” and “motive”. One particular morning show on Sky UK featured a walk out by an angry guest columnist who was...
Fawlty Towers
posted by Jacques René Zammit
Today there are new reports on the latest crazy plan to build another tower in Malta. This time it seems that the Villa Rosa developers are intent on transforming Saint George’s Bay (bayside) into some sort of futuristic megapolis. The artist’s impressions show that most of the...
Yours insincerely
posted by Jacques René Zammit
Yesterday evening’s cabinet reshuffle came out looking like some kind of blitz. Timing is crucial in the business of politics and rest assured that the “when” of this announcement is just as important to Muscat as the “how” of the reshuffle itself. After months...
Lessons in the Prese...
posted by Jacques René Zammit
Muscat is still holding the fort on Panamagate. In an earlier post I had suggested that his strategy would be that of buying time and if that is still the case then we have entered the fatigue stage where, after having weathered the bulk of the storm, Muscat will be counting on the inability...