Category: Uncategorized

It’s a cruel, cruel world.  At midnight of the 10th of November 2009, just as the clocks of the world ticked on into Armistice Day, a very sly marketing ploy by computer game company Activision meant that the latest version of the first-person shooter series “Call of Duty” (Modern Warfare 2) was released to the trigger hungry public. The camapaign was complete with a launching event at the VUE cinema in Leicester Square in a very Hollywood style. Armoured tanks and fully armoured soldiers hung around London’s busy square announcing the arrival of the 18-rated shoot them-up thriller.

Sales promised to be massive, and they were, notwithstanding controversy regarding some scenes in the game in which the player joins a group of terrorists raiding an airport and killing civilians. A spokesperson for Activision was eager to point out that the player can “stand by and watch” rather than participate actively in the massacre by pulling the trigger. Big Brother mentality sells. Especially since this time you are placed at the heart of the gory and gruesome action of violence and shooting.

The game sold over 1.3 million copies worldwide on its first day of sales which happened to be Armistice Day (Remembrance Day). True, it may be virtual reality but it does fly in the face of the very concept of respect and Remembrance. The game might be wicked, technically avant-garde and set for a number of awards but the marketing campaign deserves a two thumbs down for insensitivity and crass disrespect.

Nuntio vobis magnum gaudium. Iifirhu il muntanii u igawdu l-iprem seraphini filuacht illi icapcpu ghaleniia l’allat tal-Olimpu Sportiv. Nannunciaulchom minn haunhecc illi ilbierah filghaxiia, geuua Casal Micabiba, l-scuadra mai doma tad-Deportivo Estudiantes ilbierah rebhu l-loghba taghhom chontra l-avversariu osticu ta’ Marsasclocc FC (u dan minghair l’ebda incentiv pecuniraiu offert). Uaslilna dlonc u hesrem il-missiv mill-corrispondent tal-bollettin sportiv tad-Deportivo – A. Von Tufen illi ghadu hiereg frisch frisch minn operattioni li tteiieb il-vista u minn haunhecc nauguraulu veduti mill-ohloc. Hawn hi l-ahhar edittioni tal-FVRIA NERA ghal godiment tal-fidili tal-iscuadra Olimpica tad-Deportivo Estudiantes.

Ngharrfu ucholl minn hawn ‘il-qarreiia li minhabba li inbeda officialment l-Inter Amateur 5-a-side Football LEague for Maltese Exiles in Luxembourg se tibda tintebah ucholl gurnal sportiv iehor sabiesc ihabbar risultati u eventi salienti f’dana il-ligg. Ghalissa inhallichom fl-idein capaci ta’ A. Von Tufen detto anche Eagle Eye Cherry (u anchi minn sci ilsna hziena Bet. E. Davis).

Dan l-articolu jidher ucholl fil-Bollettino della Sfi*a.

Aghfsu fuch READ MORE u ticcuntentau ruiehhchom (u b’scein).

The Maltese national collective is not exactly avant-garde when it comes to talking about sex. To say that sex is still a taboo in many ways is an understatement. Probe even further and you will find an outmoded application of laws and frequent crusades on “immoral” activities related to anything sexual. Add to the minestra a good dose of censorship and prudish control coupled with an overdose of mistaken Catholic identity (or should that be hypocritical) and you begin to understand where we are coming from (and I am not talking about the stork story).

You bought me a present? Why would you do such a thing? I know you think you’re being generous, but the foundation of gift giving is reciprocity. You haven’t given me a gift, you’ve given me an obligation. The essence of the custom is that I now have to go out and purchase for you a gift of commensurate value and representing the same perceived level of friendship as that represented by the gift you’ve given me. Ah, it’s no wonder suicide rates skyrocket this time of year. Oh, I brought this on myself by being such an endearing and important part of your life… – Sheldon (The Big Bang Theory)

This blogger is now officially 34.

Why wait for the Finance Minister to announce rises in utilities bills during his budget speech when you could read it all in the Daily Mail the next day? Actually what is reported in the Mail  is what one would expect in a normal country – and the leader of the opposition should know given his enthusiasm on regulators and consumer bodies.

The Daily Mail reports:

Families should brace themselves for steep increases in their fuel bills, Britain’s energy regulator warned last night. Ofgem boss Alistair Buchanan said he feared a crisis in Russian gas supplies will ‘push up prices’ in the next few years. The warning will worry millions of households, particularlyparticularly pensioners who are often forced to choose between heating and food, and families with young children who cannot afford to keep warm in the winter months.

The average gas and electricity bill, known as ‘dual fuel’, has more than doubled in the past five years from £580 to £1,240 a year – an increase of nearly 115 per cent. Mr Buchanan said he feared that bills could climb even higher due to Europe’s growing dependence on gas supplies from overseas, mainly Russia. The country’s giant Gazprom accounts for a third of western Europe’s gas imports. Last night, Mr Buchanan said: ‘Gas scarcity in Europe could push up prices for British consumers.’

It’s gas not oil but there you are. It’s a regulator giving the news and guess what – barring very unusual circumstances neither Labour nor the Tories nor the Libdems will be turning the inevitable rise in international prices (this time thanks to the Russian shenanigans – remember last winter?) into a national blame game.

The 2009 budget is out and we already have the first reactions. PL Leader Joseph Muscat predictably labeled this year’s budget as irresponsible, his main target being the fact that no indication has been given in this budget as to what the extent of the new raise in the utilities bill will be. J’accuse predicts the yawn inducing answer from the PN apologists: this is not a Mintoffian budget the Nationalists do things differently. Theirs it is not to quibble on the price of olive oil, tuna and sardines on budget day, theirs it is to outline grand plans and overarching measures.

Of course Inhobbkom Joseph is not appealing to any intelligent crowd in an effort of distracting them from their intellectual read of the day (before it gets confiscated by the Rector). This is the usual rant to the converted that includes criticism of the €10 million on an allowance to ease the impact of the tariffs because the government is still due to rake in €85 million from the tariffs. Which might (just might) be the final proof that Joseph is anything but on the left of the political spectrum. My guess is that the 10 million in question goes to ease the burden of those most in need – unless the nationalists are really out of their mind.

Distribution of wealth… sticking up for the weak? The Wall may have fallen 20 years ago but this New Labour is light years away from any semblance of socialist/social democrat politics. With progressives like these who needs conservatives?