Blogs
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Manichaeism, trees, and frozen embryos
If you have strong feelings about either frozen embryos or trees, I advise you to stop reading now. I would respect you for it, and I would respect you more if you don’t give me the usual litanies, from which, frankly, we all need a break. First,...
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Confessional and parochial responses to risk management
The confessional model is increasingly being used as a vehicle of risk management in the global service and knowledge-based economy. Thus, in preventive and remedial healthcare, in education, banking and insurance, prospective services’ end-users...
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The 'influss' hypocrisy
If you ever wondered what's really wrong in the state of Malta, then look no further than Net News's reportage of Joseph Muscat's Sunday sermon about the "need" for more foreign workers. In a nutshell, the Prime Minister made his argument why...
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No to a watery grave
At the time of writing the crisis around the migrant rescue ship Aquarius is still ongoing. It is a sign that the migration honeymoon between Malta and Italy is about to end. Thanks to the informal agreement that existed between prime ministers...
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John Suda wins another big award
A few days ago, journalist blogger Manuel Delia listed his most read blog posts. Some were quite obviously top of the pops material. Then you go higher and you get to number one, which has attracted most interest and hits. And it hits you in the...
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Prime Minister, we need to chat
I must confess I liked Joseph Muscat's Facebook interview with Katriel, the brave young man who suffers from a rare form of Lupus. Katriel asked the questions children his age would typically ask the prime minister: which cuisine do you prefer?...
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Educating post-millennials
Most of us know that educational success is no guarantee of wellbeing in adulthood. Fewer of us are familiar with the debate on how educational success is related to precariousness. This is particularly relevant in Malta, where parental concern...
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Free votes and unanimity
In the last few weeks Adrian Delia, leader of the Nationalist Party, gave his group free votes on two bills presented in Parliament. The Prime Minister did not feel the need to do the same. Regarding the vote on the second reading of the so-called...
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Because football matters
The World Cup will soon kick off. Hurrah—what marvellous news. What a breath of freshest air. We can now get down to a serious and profound discussion of things that really matter for our lifeblood. Out with the garbage about freedoms and rule of...
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The Montebello debacle
Sunday started with a concentrated barrage against the Archbishop. It-Torċa fired the first volley, though truth be told It-Torċa’s editorial did not mention the Archbishop. Then the social networks went on fire: “Scicluna is the Grand Inquisitor.
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The Weakened Embryo Production Act
One hundred professors and lecturers from 14 faculties of the University of Malta are the latest in a long list of experts that have condemned the amendments the government seems determined to make to the Embryo Protection Act. The academics...
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IVF: Will Joseph Muscat ignore the President as well?
Will the government heed the appeal by the President about the IVF debate, after having ignored appeals made by many, including George Vella, former deputy prime minister and deputy leader of the Labour Party? The President in a statement on...
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Oh my Malta, indeed
I’ve been on sabbatical from my writing and on April 21 it will have been six months since I felt the urge to write. The events which unfolded after October 16 2017 made me reconsider why I write and why I put myself out there, not just on this...
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Jason and the Whatnots
You have to hand it to him, Jason Micallef sure knows how to stir up publicity for himself and V18. And surely that must be a good thing, right? So, when I read on social media that Jason had said that a certain person who had offended public...
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Daphne's laptop: Why the fuss?
I am finding it very difficult to find a shred of logic behind the motivation of this sudden “Where is Daphne’s laptop” political campaign. I can totally see why access to the murdered journalist’s laptop would be likely to shed light on the...
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The music did not die
A day after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia six months ago, Times of Malta titled its editorial “the day the music died.” This evoked Don McLean’s song about the death in a plane crash of rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie...
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Lest we forget and we be damned
Six months ago a journalist’s murder shook the world. The world and a few of us, a poor deranged few of us, are still in shock. But on the whole life in Malta goes on as usual. We, the few, sound like old, battered records going on and on.
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6 things I learnt from the cartoon saga
A cartoon by Seb Tanti Burlo commenting about the Żurrieq double-decker bus tragedy in a very brutal manner opened the floodgates of popular opinion. The whole thing fast descended into mass hysteria, as is the wont of many things that slightly...
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Charles Scicluna to the pillory
Those who these days surf on the Kingdom on Inanities (Facebook) will be inundated with a tsunami of Happy Easter messages, Easter bunnies, figolli, Easter eggs and all that jazz. Some will try to uplift the mood by posting intelligent sayings and...
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Isn’t incest illegal?
Malta's Finance Minister declared that the rate of corruption today is no higher than it was in the past. I have no clue how the honourable gentleman worked this out but, whatever method he used, this conclusion is still shocking. It is shocking...
