Category: Uncategorized

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.

This blogger is off for a two day visit to the home island. San Gorg beckons as does a little visit to the different haunts around Calyp. I am fully equipped for the expedition – including an ultra-kitsch answer to the hundreds of I LOVE MALTA t-shirts that can be seen around Malta: I made my own I LOVE GOZO t-shirt (at Go Bananas! Paceville) complete with “Yes, We Tan” slogan on the back. It’s Geek mode all over – my gf will not be seen dead beside me when I have it on… she might have a point.

Anyways. Gozo Channel it is. See you all on Sunday. And don’t miss out tomorrow’s article on the Indy where we discuss Astrid Vella and the price of fish as well as a very special Bertoon.

Sahhiet.

I think that technically I should be able to get out of the house at this point. Any delay in doing so is really based on excessive caution on my part, particularly by trying to avoid screwing up the last three days of my supposed holidays in the sun before returning to the carribean excesses of Luxembourg. The thermometer gauge finally returned a constant result of 37 degrees on the celsius scale and the dry cough has relented in the last few hours – I even got a good’s night sleep after dozing off at the end of another wonderful episode of the Big Bang Theory.

In the world of news the greatest football club ever to grace the turf of grounds around the world has completed its trio of Brasilian superstars by finally announcing the official transfer of Felipe Melo from rivals Fiorentina. Also, Captain Del Piero has put pen to paper and will end his football playing days with the team that acknowledges his status as one of the greatest players of all time.

I notice from today’s paper that I am not the only one who is alarmed by the further transfer of power to the Prime Minister. The MEPA reform has lit a few alarm bulbs here and there – not in its direct substance  but rather due to the long-term repercussions it may have. Others seem to blame Astrid Vella and the FAA for the unfortunate turn this reform has taken but they are far off the mark. Astrid or no Astrid the reform would have gone Gonzi’s way anyway. Astrid Vella has as much to do with the accumulation of power under Gonzi’s wing as she does with the price of fish.

J’accuse has long written that the state of affairs of Maltese politics and the dearth of competent individuals and policies can only lead to a gradual disintegration of whatever was built in the early nineties. The legal framework for a series of competent authorities might have been put in place with the intention to safeguard the individual through the proper application of the rule of law. What happened next though was that this very framework was assaulted by the woodworm of corruption, nepotism and political careerism from day one. Combine that with the spineless political class that works on marketing (disguised in “results driven” bullshit) and you end up reaping what you sow – a disaster after another.

You need not look as far as MEPA to get an idea of what a testicle-less authority is like. The whole issue of the Oaths by MEP Candidates will turn out to be an example of deference to a mouldy political class that has thrived on its ability to clone itself in all quarters while being ably marketed by today’s real thugs: those who will silence any criticism through personal assault and an infinite series of argumentum ad hominem. Next time Gonzi takes on another power under his wing, don’t blame Astrid… blame your voting habits.

Teb day’s  holidays but three days out. I’ve been trying to get rid of this bloody flu but it just won’t go. To make matters worse that great family M.D. Briffa is also out of order so I had to get an on duty doctor from Gzira Health Centre to perform the perfunctory home visit. I would have gone myself but the instructions for anyone displaying flu symptoms were quite clear – stay home and ask the doctor in. Been there, done that. My diagnosis was confirmed: it’s just a pesky chest cold that just will not budge and insists on ruining my holiday. I’ve had enough. I want out. I came to Malta for the sun and the sea. Another PS2 game or website and I will go crazy.