Michael "Bullet-Dodger" Falzon

Have a look at this article on MaltaToday.

Has Falzon been marked for political death by Jason Micallef? He's out there dodging bullets coming from all directions.

New Tribe Discovered in the Amazon

Voting for a party whose ideology you disagree with

Don't you hate that political orientation in Malta is all screwed up?

MLP, should have removed the word "Labour" from its name when Sant took over back in '92. When MLP was elected in '96 it didn't do a damn thing for the lower class. That government collapsed in '98 for this reason. Their 2008 election proposals promised absolutely nothing to that social class either. You can call Sant whatever you want, but you can't possibly call him a socialist.

In the last 10 years, the PN has moved so much to the left to win over votes from the lower class the MLP forsook, that it should ditch the word "Nationalist" from its name once and for all.

So we're left with 2 centrist Demo-Christian parties, with MLP slightly further to the right than PN. I can't help but feel sorry for those Torca-reading haddiema who think an MLP government would have led their class out of fascist hell and into socialist heaven.

A liberal party that can govern is nowhere in sight. Not only that, but the last election has shown that no member of a small party could ever get elected i.e. no small party will ever grow. Now that is totally fucking sad. What's the use of voting for a small party ever again? One cannot deny they are very effective as pressure groups though. Nowhere as effective as the Church, but effective nonetheless.

I am a liberal, and hence a floating voter. I don't say this with any pride - it would be great if PN and MLP weren't so damn conservative. But they are. I simply don't comprehend supporting a party when you don't agree with its ideology, unless the other option is much, much worse.

Recent events have shown us this may well be the case. The way Labour MPs have been acting in the last 2 weeks have been a total revelation. I thought Sant and his buddy Jason were the main problems with the MLP but it is evident now that they were just the guys taking all the heat. The entire MLP administration is fucking crap. The previous sentence summarizes their 100-page report on the election defeat. The country needs to be governed by organized people, first and foremost, whether there is corruption or not. What's the use of a government with zero tolerance towards corruption when it's fucking incompetent at everything else?

So what does this leave liberals with, the option to vote for the conservative PN party hoping it will become more liberal? Tough chance when it's led by Mr. anti-divorce, ex-head of Azzjoni Kattolika, nephew of the bishop tal-Interdett.

Malta: heaven for staunch conservatives (jesus-freaks who want to impose their lifestyle on everyone), hell for everybody else.

Humanitarian aid workers trade food for sex with 6 year olds

Excerpts from CNN.

Humanitarian aid workers and United Nation peacekeepers are sexually abusing small children in war-ravished and food-poor countries, a leading European charity has said.


Children as young as 6 are among those who have been forced to have sex with aid workers and peacekeepers in return for food and money, Save the Children UK said in a report released Tuesday.

After interviewing hundreds of children, the charity says it found instances of rape, child prostitution, pornography, indecent sexual assault and trafficking of children for sex. "It is hard to imagine a more grotesque abuse of authority or flagrant violation of children's rights," Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children UK, said.

In the report, "No One To Turn To" a 15-year-old girl from Haiti told researchers: "My friends and I were walking by the National Palace one evening when we encountered a couple of humanitarian men. The men called us over and showed us their penises. "They offered us 100 Haitian gourdes ($2.80) and some chocolate if we would suck them. I said, 'No,' but some of the girls did it and got the money."

Save the Children says almost as shocking as the abuse itself, is the "chronic under-reporting" of the abuses. It believes that thousands more children around the world could be suffering in silence. According to the charity, children told researchers they were too frightened to report the abuse, fearful that the abuser would come back to hurt them and that they would stop receiving aid from agencies, or even be punished by their family or community. "People don't report it because they are worried that the agency will stop working here, and we need them," a teenage boy in southern Sudan told Save the Children.

The future of big cars

Excerpts from CNN.

LOS ANGELES, California -- Jorge Fernandez strolls across the used-car parking lot littered with dozens upon dozens of sport utility vehicles the size of small tugboats. With gas at $4 a gallon, many have sat there since last summer.


The really large [SUVs] with V-8 engines that can get as little as 12 miles per gallon in the city -- like the Cadillac Escalade, Ford Expedition and Chevy Suburban -- are dropping in value by the thousands.

The No. 1 reason for the sales slump is soaring gas prices, says Peter Brown, the executive director of Automotive News, the trade newspaper for the North American car industry. For the first four months of this year, truck and SUV sales are down a collective 24.8 percent. SUV sales plummeted 32.8 percent while pickups dipped 19.9 percent, he says. "If gas prices stay where they are at or continue to rise, the body-on frame SUV is an endangered species and the pickup truck as a personal car is an endangered species," Brown says.

How do owners react when they're told their once-$40,000-plus vehicles are now worth less than half that?

"When they find out what you think their truck is worth, they think you're trying to rip them off or something," says Fernandez. "Small cars are gone within a week; SUVs are sitting here since last summer."

Stories of owners ditching larger vehicles for smaller ones have started to become widespread. Owners say they're tired of spending as much as 80 to 100 bucks to fill up their tanks. Some CNN.com users recently shared their stories of buying used Geo Metros -- the oft-maligned, snail-sized car from the 1990s that gets gas mileage similar to a hybrid of today for a fraction of the sticker price. "I used to be a car snob, and I used to be too vain to drive anything that doesn't shine," said Marci Solomon, an electrician who has a 100-mile commute to and from work. "But now it's about, do I want to eat, or do I want to make it to work? I want to do both."

Toxic Vomit

Excerpt from CNN.

TOKYO, Japan — Fifty-four people were sickened by toxic fumes at a hospital in southern Japan Wednesday when a man vomited after drinking pesticide to commit suicide.

An official with Red Cross Hospital in Kumamoto said the 34-year-old man later died while the people who were sickened were “progressing favorably.”

___________________________________________________


Just leave it to the Japanese to invent new kamikaze techniques.

Gynaecologist perforates patient's colon during op and keeps it secret

Excerpts from maltastar.com:


Gynaecologist Dr Astrid Camilleri was earlier this week found guilty of causing debility to a patient and ordered to pay €96,000 after suffering possible puncturing which resulted in a perforation of her colon during a medical intervention (hysterectomy) by the gynaecologist.

It later transpired, after further medical checks, that in the operation conducted by gynaecologist Astrid Camilleri, the paintiff, Tessie Ellul, had her colon punctured.

The consequence was that Ms Ellul suffered serious damage in her internal organs and that there is a 60 per cent chance that she will never be cured from the damage suffered.

The case goes back to May 1998 when Tessie Ellul had to undergo a medical intervention to remove her ovaries... seventeen days after the operation, Ms Ellul had to be hospitalised urgently after feeling serious stomach pains.

Based on the experts’ advice and the testimony of various professional medics who gave evidence in the court proceedings, the court decided that it is positive that the medical intervention by Dr Astrid Camilleri had damaged the plaintiff’s colon.

Boycott Public Transport

Excerpts from timesofmalta.com:

Bus drivers threaten to strike over emission tests



Public transport may grind to a complete standstill if an "industrial dispute" between bus owners and the Malta Transport Authority over emission tests escalates. The Public Transport Association has directed members not to permit their buses to be tested for emissions.

The PTA demands the bus drivers themselves and not the ADT officials to handle the buses during the tests.

The ADT spokesman said that, over a period of 12 weeks, a total of 108 complaints about emission had been received on just one bus. Between January and March this year, 98 tests were conducted on buses and 58 failed. Owners were fined €46 (Lm19.75). Bus drivers who fail the test are ordered not to use the bus until they pass another test, which is normally held on the same day. The spokesman appealed to the PTA not to enter into disputes that could only harm the service.

PTA president Victor Spiteri said that, "if members are intimidated in any way, either through citations or by being prevented from operating after they obey the directive, the PTA would be constrained to stop the public transport service."

___________________________________________________


The bus drivers say they're being "intimidated... through citations" because their buses give out loads of toxic fumes. Do they think playing the victims will work? We are the victims. Their victims. We pay their subsidies with our taxes, and what do they do? They poison us.

"The ministry is amazed with the PTA's attitude on the matter." No shit.

These people, if you can call them that, are putting our lives, those of our families, and especially our children at risk so they can save a buck. They may have a stranglehold on the government, but we have a stranglehold on them. We just don't seem to know it.

I, for one, am going to boycott public transport until they give in and shape up like everybody else. Or better still, till the public transport system is liberalised in the year 2158. In other words, I won't use the bus to go to Valletta, regardless of how long it will take me to park. I know it's not much; I already don't use public transport often - sue me. Pollution-wise, 2 cars on the road will be worse than 1, I know, but I just can't give them the satisfaction.

As a whole, companeros, we have to get our retaliation in first... if they go on strike first, it will be too late. How much could they gain from a strike if the only customers are turistas? Try to get your amigos to give you a ride to work or wherever for a while. That will teach them a leccion. We don't need no stinking buses! Viva la revolucion! Patria or muerte, companeros!

Of course that could never happen. The average Maltese Joe whines and whines about how much cancer there is in this country, but does nothing about it when the opportunity comes up.

But you can't blame the people, right? You can't expect this to be as successful as an SMS boycott. There aren't any quarters of cents at stake here. It's only our health.

Something in return for nothing

Why do some people expect something in return for nothing? You know who I'm talking about: egoistic folks who never do shit for you but expect you to do shit for them. Not 'would like' you to, expect you to.

It may be a politician who expects people to vote for him even though he didn't do jackshit in the 5 years he had a seat in parliament.

It could be an employer who expects underpaid employees to work after hours regularly free of charge, and/or expects them to work there forever.

Or an ex-friend who backstabbed you and demands forgiveness from you so that he/she can stop feeling guilty.

And so on.

I've met a bunch of people like that throughout the years. I never managed to figure out why they are suprised when you turn them down. What?! You're not going to bend over backwards for me? Why the hell not? I can accept them being self-centered, nobody's perfect, but why do they get pissed off when you don't give in to their demands? Nobody wants to be a slave, a flunky, or a doormat. Don't they know this?

I guess they don't.

The relative cost of living

The following is a simplified example. It doesn't take into consideration the resale value of the motor vehicle. Neither does it consider costs of other items/bills eg. property/renting property.

A car in Malta costs Lm8000.
The same car in the UK costs Lm6000.

In Malta, the car costs 33.33% more. Or does it?

If, in Malta, a buyer saves up Lm200 a month, it would take him 40 months to buy the car.
If in the UK, another buyer (same job, higher wage) saves up Lm350 a month, it would take him 17 months to buy the car.

The car costs the Maltese person 135% more time saving up.

After 40 months, the Maltese buyer will have finished saving up and will finally have a car.

When the Maltese buyer will finally have the car, the UK buyer will have had the car for 23 months and apart from buying the car Lm2000 cheaper, he will also have saved up a further Lm8050. That opportunity cost adds up to more than 33.33%.


Read also Standard of Living in Malta and Chaaarge!

Movie reviewers

Eric German has left the Sunday Times for the MaltaToday. I was quite pleased with this because he was replaced by Tony Cassar Darien. I have to say I like Tony's reviews much more. The problem a lot of people have with German is simple: he rarely likes a film. Most films released nowadays are total crap, but German trashes way too many films.

That's not the problem I have with the man. Whether you agree with a critic or not, you should still enjoy reading the review. I corresponded with Roger Ebert about this once and he agreed. For example, I loathed Natural Born Killers, Ebert loved it. But there's no denying his review is excellent. This is what keeps the readers coming back for more. I never enjoyed reading German's reviews, even when I found myself in agreement.

The daily Times has Johan Galea, who is an asset in my opinion. However, last week Johan must have been busy because a newcomer called David Pisani reviewed some films instead of him. I'm not going to go into detail about why I don't like this new guy at all - just click here.

MLP Leadership

Out ot 920 delegates, 793 were present at the general conference to decide whether to open up voting for leadership to paid-up members or not.

There were:
620 who voted against the motion (78%)
165 who voted in favour (21%)
7 invalid votes (what the fuck?)
1 abstention

I've already made my opinion on this issue clear.

With regards to the upcoming leadership election...

Who will the delegates elect? Joseph Muscat.

Who would the party members have voted for? According to this survey, Joseph Muscat. Why? Because tesserati think what the party machine wants them to think. They do what the party machine wants them to do.

Who do floating voters (the only voters who really count) like best? George Abela.

This leadership contest was doomed from the get-go.

From now until the 5th of June there won't be any more posts on this subject from my part.

Driving in Malta

I am sick and tired of foreigners complaining about how Maltese people drive.

"The Maltese are the worst drivers in the whole wide world."
"It's every man unto himself on Maltese roads."
"They all oughta be fookin' nicked, I'll tell you that!"

...to which some feeble-minded Maltesers reply:
"In Malta, we don't drive on the right or on the left, we drive in the shade."

First of all, fuck the lot of you. Especially my compatriots who relish being looked down upon by foreigners: "Yes massah, me no drive good. Me stupid Maltese of Mintoff time."

Second, travel the damn world. If we're the worst you've seen, you ain't seen shit. Check out India where on the road, might is right. But you don't need to go so far to find worse drivers than us. Go to Palermo where drivers see pedestrians on zebra crossings as prey, where motorcyclists do the slalom with pedestrians on pavements. Then tell me how you like them apples.

According to Drive Safe, in Malta:
Speed Limit in Towns 50kmh (30mph)
Speed Limit on Open Roads 80kmh (50mph)

The average Malteser drives at 50-60kmh in urban areas and at 70-80kmh on long straights. Therefore, it's not a matter of us exceeding speed limits.

"You drive recklessly"

How a person drives depends on many factors, one of which is the number of cars on the road. Population density-wise, Malta is comparable to a busy city, not to a country. The same goes for traffic. Hence, driving here is just as chaotic as it is in London, Rome or New York. A lot of Brits have no problems driving on British motorways and country roads but would rather take the tube in London. New Yorkers take taxicabs. If you avoid driving in London, Rome or New York... why do you drive in Malta, to nag, nag, nag?

UPDATE: Clarkson on driving in Italy

Site update

Below the archive on the right, you can now find a link which leads to a gallery of photos of the Maltese islands I took over the last couple of years.

Have a look.