Gardjola.org

A J'Accuse Website Review
As I.M. Beck tends to say, the Maltese radical right can be quite revolting. There are some individuals however whose ideas verge on the rightist while they labour under some illusion that they are centrist. I do not mind another individual having ideas different to mine nor do I mind the fact that sometimes it is evident that our ideas are so different that like parallel lines they will run on eternally and never meet. What I do look out for is people to have an interesting clash of ideas with without descending into the offensive, the personal and the banale. Hence Fausto (right?) and Mark (somewhere on the left) and others.

And it is Fausto who first flagged the new blog called Gardjola.org. The first thing that struck me was the Friends of Israel badge. It struck me as a pity for it throws a lense on whatever is said. It transforms potential debate into veritable propaganda. Because a friend of Israel will incessantly see faults in Arab nations and never believe that Zion is in the wrong. So loads of minus points on bias. Then again there is the reference to "The Clash of Civilisations on Your Desk". Credit where credit is due... at least we know where the three contributors are coming from.

Unfortunately the contributors are anonymous (like our friend Fausto). It would seem that the choice of anonymity was not exactly an easy one and that they were forced to do so because of their positions as employees of the State. Hard luck. Graphics wise I am sure that the site will improve from its current yellow blue basics in time and possibly long posts will be paragraphed. All in all I promise to maintain a curious interest in the writings of Deepdiver, Miles Melitensis and White Knight.

I cannot not comment on some issues of presentation. Take this as constructive criticism. Deepdiver ok. I read the bio and see where he is coming from. My dirty mind does worry about sexual implications but then it is me and my ramblings and tendency to like cheap dirty jokes. But Miles Melitensis and White Knight. Miles the latin for soldier. There you are - the right and militancy. If that is not enough you get a Knight... and he is (surprise, surprise) White. Explanations are given for each moniker in the FAQ section but first impressions are painful. What I am getting at is the fact that while the writings of the three individuals seem to be an honest attempt at reasoning out international relations from an intelligent perspective (albeit one which I do not fancy much), they have unfortunately thrown in a few clichè symbols that tend to inevitably water down anything they have to say.

And then they chose a Watchtower for their symbol... reminds me of that Jehovah's Witness magazine....

What next fire and brimstone?

J'Accuse Verdicts: 2.5/5
readability: Malta Independent ***
content : Subversive Journal **
openness to discussion : still to see but looks good ****
visual impact : not Dickie England's Love Monument but very Paceville Church *
Gets added to our blogroll! Hurrah!