(nothing in excess)
A situation that has often been documented among us bloggers is that of Writer's Blog. Recently I have been experiencing an opposite feeling. The week of technological deprivation in a Maltese farmhouse/villa had a negative effect on my crave for blogging. A welcome break that is true but now the subjects to blog about are whooshing around my head like a cluster of bees in search of honey. What to call this feeling? OVERBLOG? Combined with the insanabile cacoethes scribendi the overblog can cause choking sensations to the brain. The end result is probably that most of the bloggable material will fly off into the space of the unwritten. This blog is an attempt to catch up. Consider it snippets of larger, longer, more tedious blogs that never were.
Eurovision
Chiara came second. Great. We had a whale of a time watching the results and clapped enthusiastically while waving the bicolour as the points poured out off the screen. Lovely. Majestic even. What I do not like is (un)Grace Borg's bad loser comments. Why should we be the whingers of the moment? Get the second place medal, clap our hands, come home to a euphoric airport-load of eurovision fanatics and that's that. Thank your lucky stars you did not win the bloody thing and force more money from ouor Culture coffers down the money guzzling monster's throat. Sad nul points goes to Alternattiva Demokratika (and MLP) for their congratulations to Chiara for her performance. Who cares? Do you get more votes for issuing a press release calling Chiara an Angel?
Abortion
Which reminds me. Naxxar Local Council seems to have issued a press release commending the Government stand on abortion. What is it with these organisations? Could anyone illuminate me as to what kind of relevance the stand of a Local Council of Bubaqra should have to the abortion debate. Should Local Councils be run like your average association � issuing press releases of congratulations? Leave that to the New SDM. It's all the young Christian Democrats seem to be able to do these days. Well done government for this, thank you government for that, thank you Jesus for this and well done AFM for soundly beating down a few good men.
So. Christian Democrats and abortion. The entrenchment of anti-abortion law in the constitution is bound to be a legal conundrum. The critics of this move are being criticised in their turn as being pro-abortionists. The holier-than-thou crowd is out en masse once again polishing their crucifixes and preparing their bales of hay for the expurgation of the heathens from this our Catholic Land. They just don't get it do they? It is not a matter of being pro-abortion. I am anti-abortion. Very anti-abortion. Being anti-abortion I would have thought that a proper interpretation of the right to life (already in the constitution) should more than suffice in Din l-Art Helwa. However some sanctimonious freak in L-Omm li Taghtna Isimha seems to be intent in writing it in the big book as some specific no-no. This mistake has been made before � entrenching particular laws in the Constitution and thus rendering them unupdatable and consequently redundant and unable to read the signs of the times. Look at what happened with the Unfair Practices.
Abortion should stay out. Out of the country. Out of its seas. More importantly� out of our constitution.
Constitution d'Europe
The frogs will soon be voting. Sunday next. They are still split in a very Maltese fashion down the bloody middle. On their vote will depend the Netherlands vote and the Irish vote. The Dutch have already pre-empted a sad result by saying that if No wins they will vote again. A bit like Berlusconi saying that the Champions league final should be replayed since Milan lost. Weird no? The said thing about these referenda is that the French voters are not voting about Europe. They vote about work, subsidies, immigration, Turkey's future membership and agriculture. C'est de la merde monsieur Chirac and I am not sure that you can get us out of it. La Repubblica carried an interesting article yesterday by Jurgen Habermas criticising the schizophrenic left's no to Europe. Ah La Gauche! (Apparently the German Left would like to create a German version of the Italian Ulivo � it's a matter of wait and see for Das Uliven). Not much can be said or foreseen about the forthcoming European votes. One interesting deduction though is the newfound interdependence of the European electorate. Eurosceptics may attack the project itself, but the very exercise at the bottom of it all has brought about a commonality of the demos that is sans pareil. In good or in bad Europe is really coming together.
The Demos at Home
Our very own electorate might be facing an interesting change in the way it elects its servants. The discussions regarding the revision of the electoral laws are underway with the usual (expectable) hiccups. I would place as a sine qua non the necessity of having an elected parliament that reflects the proportions of number one votes of the electorate (plus minimum national threshold). That way we avoid going down the British road and having a Blairite majority of the minority. Breaking up the Gozitan electoral district does not sound like a good idea to me. When will the Gozitans form their own party and elect some members to the palace to be able to squarely place their demands on the table and stop pandering to the latest lover who promises them the best fish of the catch? A new electoral system might (and I stress the might) give us a more representative Parliament. While it might be heady days for the first few governments it might help us to have a more realistic governing of our islands based on interests and needs rather than the opportunistic agendas that are the only thing the two behemoths seem to be able to churn out these days.
Sliema Building
It would seem that Sliema's oldest building is up (or should I say down?) for destruction. Sliema's only Baroque building might make way for a block of flats. Sliema residents are up in arms. A case of too little too late maybe? Excuse my cynical approach but I would have given up on Sliema ages ago. Let us concentrate on the rest. Maybe designate Sliema, Bugibba and St. Julians as the last playgrounds for the concrete thugs (who unwittingly lessen their own returns by spitting in the water they drink from) while really getting serious about the remaining 90% of the Maltese islands.
Aurelie
A French intern at the Malta Independent is writing an article about the Maltese Blogosphere. We might be about to take off guys� get ready for more hits, more comments, more criticism. We might not be the "coward's escape route" (thanks Mona) after all. And oh� Aurelie� I was not serious about the frogs!
Malta Trip
I enjoyed my latest visit to Malta in the company of my cabinet colleagues. Again it inspired so much to say but I can only list a few of the things that come to mind.
- Why do most museums close at 4.30? (that's for Heritage Malta)
- While repaving Mdina� is it too much to spray the streets with water when the days work is done?
- Can il-Kartell restaurant at Marsalforn get any better than it already is?
- What the hell is so special about Riccardu's in the Citadella?
- Why is Ghadira Bay so beautiful and the sea so clear now? What do we do to it by August to make it so repulsive?
- Has Paceville reached its death-end?
- Why do certain shops still insist on overcharging anyone who seems like a tourist?
- I can't wait to be back!
A situation that has often been documented among us bloggers is that of Writer's Blog. Recently I have been experiencing an opposite feeling. The week of technological deprivation in a Maltese farmhouse/villa had a negative effect on my crave for blogging. A welcome break that is true but now the subjects to blog about are whooshing around my head like a cluster of bees in search of honey. What to call this feeling? OVERBLOG? Combined with the insanabile cacoethes scribendi the overblog can cause choking sensations to the brain. The end result is probably that most of the bloggable material will fly off into the space of the unwritten. This blog is an attempt to catch up. Consider it snippets of larger, longer, more tedious blogs that never were.
Eurovision
Chiara came second. Great. We had a whale of a time watching the results and clapped enthusiastically while waving the bicolour as the points poured out off the screen. Lovely. Majestic even. What I do not like is (un)Grace Borg's bad loser comments. Why should we be the whingers of the moment? Get the second place medal, clap our hands, come home to a euphoric airport-load of eurovision fanatics and that's that. Thank your lucky stars you did not win the bloody thing and force more money from ouor Culture coffers down the money guzzling monster's throat. Sad nul points goes to Alternattiva Demokratika (and MLP) for their congratulations to Chiara for her performance. Who cares? Do you get more votes for issuing a press release calling Chiara an Angel?
Abortion
Which reminds me. Naxxar Local Council seems to have issued a press release commending the Government stand on abortion. What is it with these organisations? Could anyone illuminate me as to what kind of relevance the stand of a Local Council of Bubaqra should have to the abortion debate. Should Local Councils be run like your average association � issuing press releases of congratulations? Leave that to the New SDM. It's all the young Christian Democrats seem to be able to do these days. Well done government for this, thank you government for that, thank you Jesus for this and well done AFM for soundly beating down a few good men.
So. Christian Democrats and abortion. The entrenchment of anti-abortion law in the constitution is bound to be a legal conundrum. The critics of this move are being criticised in their turn as being pro-abortionists. The holier-than-thou crowd is out en masse once again polishing their crucifixes and preparing their bales of hay for the expurgation of the heathens from this our Catholic Land. They just don't get it do they? It is not a matter of being pro-abortion. I am anti-abortion. Very anti-abortion. Being anti-abortion I would have thought that a proper interpretation of the right to life (already in the constitution) should more than suffice in Din l-Art Helwa. However some sanctimonious freak in L-Omm li Taghtna Isimha seems to be intent in writing it in the big book as some specific no-no. This mistake has been made before � entrenching particular laws in the Constitution and thus rendering them unupdatable and consequently redundant and unable to read the signs of the times. Look at what happened with the Unfair Practices.
Abortion should stay out. Out of the country. Out of its seas. More importantly� out of our constitution.
Constitution d'Europe
The frogs will soon be voting. Sunday next. They are still split in a very Maltese fashion down the bloody middle. On their vote will depend the Netherlands vote and the Irish vote. The Dutch have already pre-empted a sad result by saying that if No wins they will vote again. A bit like Berlusconi saying that the Champions league final should be replayed since Milan lost. Weird no? The said thing about these referenda is that the French voters are not voting about Europe. They vote about work, subsidies, immigration, Turkey's future membership and agriculture. C'est de la merde monsieur Chirac and I am not sure that you can get us out of it. La Repubblica carried an interesting article yesterday by Jurgen Habermas criticising the schizophrenic left's no to Europe. Ah La Gauche! (Apparently the German Left would like to create a German version of the Italian Ulivo � it's a matter of wait and see for Das Uliven). Not much can be said or foreseen about the forthcoming European votes. One interesting deduction though is the newfound interdependence of the European electorate. Eurosceptics may attack the project itself, but the very exercise at the bottom of it all has brought about a commonality of the demos that is sans pareil. In good or in bad Europe is really coming together.
The Demos at Home
Our very own electorate might be facing an interesting change in the way it elects its servants. The discussions regarding the revision of the electoral laws are underway with the usual (expectable) hiccups. I would place as a sine qua non the necessity of having an elected parliament that reflects the proportions of number one votes of the electorate (plus minimum national threshold). That way we avoid going down the British road and having a Blairite majority of the minority. Breaking up the Gozitan electoral district does not sound like a good idea to me. When will the Gozitans form their own party and elect some members to the palace to be able to squarely place their demands on the table and stop pandering to the latest lover who promises them the best fish of the catch? A new electoral system might (and I stress the might) give us a more representative Parliament. While it might be heady days for the first few governments it might help us to have a more realistic governing of our islands based on interests and needs rather than the opportunistic agendas that are the only thing the two behemoths seem to be able to churn out these days.
Sliema Building
It would seem that Sliema's oldest building is up (or should I say down?) for destruction. Sliema's only Baroque building might make way for a block of flats. Sliema residents are up in arms. A case of too little too late maybe? Excuse my cynical approach but I would have given up on Sliema ages ago. Let us concentrate on the rest. Maybe designate Sliema, Bugibba and St. Julians as the last playgrounds for the concrete thugs (who unwittingly lessen their own returns by spitting in the water they drink from) while really getting serious about the remaining 90% of the Maltese islands.
Aurelie
A French intern at the Malta Independent is writing an article about the Maltese Blogosphere. We might be about to take off guys� get ready for more hits, more comments, more criticism. We might not be the "coward's escape route" (thanks Mona) after all. And oh� Aurelie� I was not serious about the frogs!
Malta Trip
I enjoyed my latest visit to Malta in the company of my cabinet colleagues. Again it inspired so much to say but I can only list a few of the things that come to mind.
- Why do most museums close at 4.30? (that's for Heritage Malta)
- While repaving Mdina� is it too much to spray the streets with water when the days work is done?
- Can il-Kartell restaurant at Marsalforn get any better than it already is?
- What the hell is so special about Riccardu's in the Citadella?
- Why is Ghadira Bay so beautiful and the sea so clear now? What do we do to it by August to make it so repulsive?
- Has Paceville reached its death-end?
- Why do certain shops still insist on overcharging anyone who seems like a tourist?
- I can't wait to be back!
7 commentaires:
Ghadira bay is my favourite place in the world. This is what happens there in summer:
Jetski's, paragliding, "sausage boat", small dinghies, big cabin cruisers, all of which discharge used fuel into the sea. Over and over and over from morning till sunset.
In some places, especially towards the sandy beach, the surface is like an oil slick.
Where's environmental protection when you really need it?
The best time to be out on the water is between sunrise and 8am or so, before the polluters get out there. The sea is dead calm, like a mirror, and if you look over the side you can see the bottom :-)
aurelie sent those questions to ALL THOSE who have their blog registered on aboutmalta.com. I think she will be writing a book and not a newspaper article.
ah well... all the better no?
Some interesting points here, Jacques:
1. So, for blogs to take off, they have to be written about in newspapers? I think that kind of reasoning defeats the whole reasoning behind blogging. As for blogs being the coward's escape route, I would disagree: I enjoy seeing people air their opinions as long as they don't hide behind anonymity and do it fairly.
2. I'd like to hear why you're anti-abortion. In detail please.
3. Your Eurovision argument sucks. Does someone actually spare any thought for the contestant when they make all these comments? Here is Chiara, singing her heart out and trying to win the bloody thing and you tell her to thank her lucky stars she did not? If she wins, Malta would have to lump it and come up with the money. If we don't have the money, then we shouldn't take part. I do agree with you about the unsporting comments of one Grace Borg but then what do you expect?
@ wwwitchie
"I enjoy seeing people air their opinions as long as they don't hide behind anonymity and do it fairly."
You talkin' to me? Well, who the hell else are you talkin' to?
Fausto, stop being paranoid :) although if you're the product of one Thomas Pynchon then I guess it comes with the naming game. I did have a few people in mind actually but for some reason it wasn't you. But I guess if the cap fits, etc. :)
"lessen their own returns by spitting in the water they drink from"
Next time put in the html tags ("irony" and "/irony") or I'll have you featured in "English as she is spoken".
P.S. "peeing in the water they drink from" would have been more graphic.
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