Blogs
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Of oranges, carobs and loose alliances
No, I am not going to engage on a tirade against Archbishop Charles Scicluna. But I have to say, his analogies need a bit of polishing. His take on oranges and carobs is faulty to the extent that here we are talking about fruit, at the very least...
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“Kulħadd irid jiekol”
My car was forced to a standstill as a heavy vehicle bulldozed its way into the street through a cloud of dust, belching noxious fumes in its wake. A flimsy steel fence separated a gaping deep hole in the rock face from several stranded drivers...
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An unsavoury defence
Former GWU boss Tony Zarb has branded Opposition MEPs discussing Malta and the Panama Papers in the European Parliament as ‘traitors’. But over the last year, the same Panama Papers, politicians and advisors, have been discussed endlessly in the...
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Small dogs, big dogs and silly laughs
While Joseph Muscat, his followers and his many admirers gloat and plan more good times for all of us, the PN are seemingly at a low ebb not imaginable even in the worst sadist’s thoughts. The PN did not only lose the election, they were...
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A Republic in abeyance
It would be a disaster for the Labour Party to think that there is nothing to learn from its second landslide in a row. Likewise, it would be fatal for the Nationalist Party to think that somehow things are the same as they were a few weeks ago,...
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Busuttil: a principled leader
These last four years I was fortunate enough to come to know Dr Simon Busuttil quite well. He is an honest man and a good leader. Soft spoken he truly is, but determined, strong and principled he is much more. I have heard of several examples of...
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Two Labour victories and the politics of modesty
Now that the British general elections are sealed by leafy Kensington turning to Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, one might start to make some sense of what could be said about last week, which, between Malta and Britain, saw two Labour victories...
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Media personalities, switchers and controversy
The final results are seeping through our complex electoral system, revealing who our MPs will be. Besides the overall party majority, individual candidate preferences also reflect the mood and trends of the electorate. Some candidates tend to...
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My first time
Voting. Back when I was simply excited to finally obtain what I believed to be a degree of influence on the way my country is run (disillusion followed fast). And back to when I probably voted for all the wrong people for all the wrong reasons.
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Master Crooks
Malta’s Destiny had a chance of pushing our international musical reputation sky-high but alas she lost out even if she gave a superb show and should have been a winner. Malta does shine in many aspects of life. We have seen...
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It is not Sophie’s choice
As the day of reflection draws closer I thought I’d write about the profound choice we’re all facing come election day. Voting is personal and I’m not a big fan of all these statuses on social media which give a run down of voting intentions. This...
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Have a good look
Pick up a hard copy of the Times, or take a look at the PDF version online. Count the number of column inches that exhort you to vote to rid our country of Premier Muscat and his pocket-lining buddies. Now do the same with the ones that suggest...
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We do have a choice
Wednesday morning Martin Scicluna told readers of the Times of Malta that, poor fellows, they have a Hobson’s choice in the coming election. And if Scicluna says so who is to say otherwise? My friend Prof Joe Pirotta dares to think differently. He...
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In stark simplicity
Leave aside the awesome stench of corruption that is fouling the air that you breathe. Of course, unless you're an octogenarian self-obsessive who simply will not admit he was massively wrong four years ago, or an equally obsessive media operator...
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10 (depressing) things learnt from election 2017
Gripped by Panamagate amid warnings of Armageddon, the 2017 election campaign has been a four-week binge of mudslinging, venom, misinformation and mass hysteria. So what have we learnt? 1. We have failed abysmally on critical thinking. Critical...
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Corruption: The story will continue
There could still be more upsetting revelations before next Saturday, swinging some straggling voters one way or another. But overall the mood is set. Whichever way you look at it, the story of this election is corruption. The outcome is still in...
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Pots rest on three legs
I couldn't resist using the "fuq tlieta toqghod..." saying, after Friday's Xarabank wipeout of Premier Muscat at the hands of Simon Busuttil. This is not because of the popular perception that there are three musketeers involved in the shenanigans...
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Buffoonery has no place in politics
In a world where some laughs are in order and disorder seems the order of the day, a politician with a great sense of timing and humour sounds like fun. But politics is not fun and when politicians are funny in a very sad way then they should be...
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Refusing to jump on the bandwagon
This election has let many down in terms of what was expected to be a calmer state of affairs. Its circumstances were unwarranted and here I hasten to add that this is not because the Prime Minister called an early election, but — and here I have...
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Naivety or a distraction from the real issues?
A few weeks ago, a US-based group calling itself Veri Cattolici bought newspaper space for a full page advert saying that our bishops are unorthodox and are risking eternal damnation. Over the weekend another far-right and ‘Catholic’ conservative...
