J'accuse » Zolabytes

There’s always a first time

Jacques René Zammit — Mon, 16 May 2011 19:50:22 +0000

Lady Chatterley started blogging on The Malta Chronicle. She’s got some points to set straight about marriage and blogging… not in that particular order.

I wonder whether the same rules apply here and whether I should wait till I’m married before I start blogging. Well, that may never happen, which would be a real waste. So here I am. About to consummate my relationship with the blogosphere and press send. I didn’t wait for marriage to have sex either. If I had, I’d be a 37 year old virgin and that’s pretty sad, even Kate Gonzi would probably agree. I mean, imagine the spots. Imagine how angry I’d be all the time.

Instead I have a 12 year-old, and I’m only angry some of the time. Like now, because we’re doing Maltese homework and it’s that time of the year, when the horrible word ‘revision’ comes home to roost.

But I’m here to talk about divorce. I was having a chat with a guy last night on facebook and he gave me the ‘between you and me, I’ll be voting against divorce’ spiel. I replied with my best ‘each to his own, different strokes for different folks’ all embracing response and tried to sound like I meant it. And yet after I logged off, I couldn’t help but wonder, how someone so bright, so young, so cool and so with it I suppose, could miss the point so ferociously.

You see, what he effectively told me, was that his reservations stemmed from the fact that divorce offered people an exit, which would make people leave marriages with greater alacrity. So then I gently pointed out that separation offered people a very real and valid exit too, which was also resorted to, with reckless abandon. So no difference there, right.

Then he said that people would shack up with other people with greater ease, and once again, I came back with more or less the same argument – that today people are free to leave their original spouses, shack up with new partners, have children outside of wedlock. It happens all the time.

And if they really want to seal the deal, then they usually try and wrangle an annulment, unless they’re lucky enough to create a domicile in an estranged land. And if and when that happens, they’re laughing. Then they can even remarry, which until that point, was the only thing that differentiated separation from divorce.

So all we are arguing about here is one thing – that divorce will facilitate re-marriage. Facilitate NOT bring about. That is the only novelty it will bring about. Divorce will not be the catalyst for marriage breakdown, for children suffering, for depression, mental breakdown. It will not be the cause of anything we don’t already know. It will just facilitate a remedy which to-date is also available, admittedly from the back, not the front door.

That is basically it. We’re essentially arguing about exit via a back or a front door, about semantics. Annulment is divorce by any other name (oh not legally I know that, God forbid!); separation is as heart wrenching and traumatic as it’s twin brother divorce or twin sister annulment; annulment permits remarriage; re marriage is available to the people who want it badly enough via annulment or overseas divorce. And on and on it goes. And we’re still talking about it.

And I’m actually blogging about it. Yes, there’s always a first time.

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Zolabytes is a rubrique on J’accuse – the name is a nod to the original J’accuser (Emile Zola) and a building block of the digital age (byte). Zolabytes is intended to be a collection of guest contributions in the spirit of discussion that has been promoted by J’accuse on the online Maltese political scene for 5 years.
Opinions expressed in zolabyte contributions are those of the author in question. Opinions appearing on zolabytes do not necessarily reflect the editorial line of J’accuse the blog.
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J’accuse: Far from the madding crowd (akkuza.com)

Dars, Pogguti u Bghula

Jacques René Zammit — Thu, 05 May 2011 19:32:32 +0000

Mark Vella (formerly of Xifer… il-blogg mit-truf) was provoked into writing this post in reaction to the “Pogguti” billboard:

Jacques talabni nikteb, imma għidtlu li mhux interessat u li kull ma rrid nitfa’ l-vot u nitħalla bil-kwiet. Forsi dan kull ma jrid min biħsiebu jivvota IVA, wara kollox: jitħalla jgħix ħajtu kif irid hu, fil-limiti tar-responsabbiltà adulta u l-legalità.

Imma l-kartellun tal-bgħula u l-poġġuti laqatni wisq. L-ewwelnett, lingwistikament. Hija kampanja kuraġġuża, forsi anki inġenwa, dik li toħroġ għonqha bi kliem iebes bħal dak. Lili darrsitni, ikolli ngħid, għax mill-ewwel laqtitni bħala kontroproduċenti, u eku ta’ dan ġa qrajnih f’diversi interventi ta’ Daphne Caruana Galizia. Ħsibt ukoll li l-kampanja forsi clever wisq għax-xena politika Maltija, bil-ħbit tal-LE u l-IVA fl-istess stampa, u fil-kuntest ta’ pubbliku elettorali li ftit jew wisq iħobb kampanji pożittivi b’kartelluni ta’ tfal u familji hienja jiġru fuq il-ħaxix tar-rebbiegħa.

Argumentajt ukoll ma’ sħabi li l-kliem goffi għaliex m’għadhomx jintużaw, u dan kien ukoll argument tal-kamp tal-LE. Xi ħadd qalli, iżda, li jista’ jkun is-soltu preġudizzju lingwistiku u n-nuqqas ta’ kunfidenza f’ilsienna u fil-mod kif nesprimu rwieħna, għax tgħid ma jkunx effettiv kartellun Londra b’mara msawta fuqha u bil-kliem ‘She is not your bitch’, nagħtu każ? Minnu, imma għalija poġġuti u bgħula jibgħatuni lura għal dinja agħar, dinja ta’ kattiverja u preġudizzji li bdejna noħorġu minna milux. Illum, kważi kważi, il-kunċett ta’ poġġut bilkemm jiftiehem, u ftit jafu li oriġinarjament kien aktar jintuża għan-nisa appoġġati jew mantnuti mill-maħbub tagħhom, speċi ta’ sugar daddy. Anki bgħula ħadd m’għadu jgħidha, ħlief fid-dagħdigħat privati ta’ xi familji meta jinqala’ għawġ bħal dan. Trabbejna slavaġ, imma mxejna ‘l quddiem, u għalhekk dawn iż-żewġ kelmiet idarrsu u jissugraw, forsi mhux itellfu l-voti, imma jdallmu xi ftit il-kredibbiltà ta’ moviment progressiv u magħmul minn nies ta’ rieda tajba.

Imma ġieni f’moħħi wkoll li dan il-messaġġ qawwi huwa s-sintomu ta’ kemm din il-ġlieda saret waħda emozzjonali, u kemm xi elementi tal-Knisja u tal-kamp tal-LE ppreċipitaw din is-sitwazzjoni, mhux bil-fehma leġittima tagħhom imma bl-istrataġemmi offensivi li jużaw u billi jżeffnu, fl-istil tal-interdettijiet, lil Alla fi ħwejjeġ Ċesri. Din saret ġlieda storika daqs il-kwistjoni politiko-reliġjuża tas-Sittinijiet, u għal daż-żmien essenzjalment ġlieda mhux partitika imma bejn il-konservattiżmu fanatiku u progressiżmu li jrid joqgħod attent milli jittappan u jitlef triqtu.

Ġieni wkoll f’moħħi li wara kollox, u wara kemm wieħed jipprova jistħarreġ u jirraġuna, forsi l-IVA kellhom raġun jagħtu xokk bħal dan. Għax l-ipokrezija li rajna mill-kamp tal-LE wieħed jista’ jaraha wkoll fit-tessut tas-soċjetà Maltija, għaliex anki jekk tgħallimna nkunu nies, mhux bilfors li aħna. Ma nafx jekk hux każ ta’ ħmar il-magħkus li jdur għalih id-dubbien, iżda bħal xi ħadd li għadda minn żwieġ li falla, kien hemm waqtiet fejn qlajt kummenti bla ħniena, għax hemm il-fatt li mhux biss hemm min ma jridx id-divorzju, imma hemm min jitkaża wkoll b’min tkissirlu ż-żwieġ. Ma tirbaħ qatt. Snin wara u ħajja ġdida, kien hemm ukoll min sejjaħli poġġut. Wieħed biex jitkessaħ, u qala’ xebgħa lsien bi kliem wisq eħrex minn tal-kartellun. Ieħor ħafna akbar minni, imrawwem professjonalment fil-PN (seta’ kien partit ieħor: dan biss bħal sfond), Kattoliku devot, omofobu u konservattiv tradizzjonalist. Għal darb’ oħra, deskrizzjoni ta’ sfond għax kulħadd ifassal lilu nnifsu kif irid. Madankollu, bejn b’nofs ċajta jew forsi għax beżaqhielu l-inkonxju, qalli poġġut, għax waqt li qed niċċajtaw dwar it-tfajliet sbieħ u ħelwin, għidltu li issa ma tantx nista’ nħares għax m’għadnix single. U billi għadni fil-limbu tar-relazzjonijiet skont kif jarahom hu, waħħalli t-tikketta.

X’tagħmel? Tieħu għalik? Le. Anki jien, ta’ sensittiv u bużżieqa li jien, ma tantx tatni ġewwa. Anzi, rikbitni mewġa ta’ maħfra Nisranija għax ma kienx jaf x’inhu jagħmel, u anki ta’ ħasra għal moħħ li baqa’ ċkejken. U kull m’għidtlu ‘iva, u wliedi bgħula. Rajtha qalbek’, u ħallejtu jiħmar u jistħi u jigdem ilsien li kien ħallih jaħrablu.

Mela fors l-IVA kellhom raġun, sew għax nies li ġarrbu u sew għax nies li jifhmu s-sitwazzjoni. Forsi huma wkoll, bħali, raw tassew qalb in-nies li qed jikkumbattu kontrihom. U għalhekk raw li għal kull min jippuntalek sejf, sejf daqstant jaqta’ jrid ikun biex joqtlu.

The Absurdity of Football Time

Jacques René Zammit — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:13:37 +0000

Football fan Patrick Galea penned this piece as a facebook note. It could very well have been entitled “the Theory of Relativity as Applied to The Game”. He has kindly agreed for it to be reproduced here as a sporty/geeky Zolabyte. Cheers. (and Forza Juve of course)

It is not a secret to football fans that the working of the clock during a game depends entirely on how many times the goal nets have been favourably hit. And if your own team’s net is to be hit at all, just hope that at the very least it is hit favourably, that is, on the right side. The right side, as it turns out in these cases, is always the outside. The reverse applies to the other net, of course, and the inside of that net is where the biscuit is at. That’s football for you: try and score one more than them; and if you are a fan, hope that your team keeps your afternoon in tact and scores one more than the others, those gutless, hate-inspiring evil bastards.

And there’s 90 minutes of that.

Or so they say.

In truth, the time available for favourable net-hitting is like a new-age yoga instructor: exists in another dimension, and has a penchant for flexibility. Like the king of frustrating retorts when all you seek is a straight-forward answer: “it all depends”. It goes to show that whoever coined the term ‘like clockwork’ was not thinking of football time-keeping. Chances are he never watched a competitive football match either, because time during matches goes into Alice-in-Wonderland mode and changes its rhythm and tempo according to the digits on the scoreboard.

There is no news there. That the experience of time is subjective is hardly a Nobel-winning discovery. Indeed, this sentiment is captured easily enough by such common morsels of wisdom as “time flies when you’re having fun” and “clocks go slow at the place of work”. The ruling principle is obvious, time seems to speed up when you’re enjoying yourself, but drags on infinitely when you are not. But as well as this general idea has served the humans in their daily business, it just does not apply to football.

Masochistic tendencies aside, the general assumption underlying this point is that fans, being supporters of a team, should be enjoying themselves when their team is winning, and by obvious logic, should hate it when it is not. You would think then that a winning team’s supporters, being joyful of a favourable score-line, would hardly notice the time going by. But it doesn’t work like that. Time does not fly when your team is winning, especially when that winning margin is one measly frustrating goal and the contest has reached its final segments, around that 80 minute mark. No, time does not fly. It sticks. It lurks. It hangs around idling as if it were a sunny Sunday in a picnic park.

Lest some brave soul dares suggest that the sudden decrease in the pace of time is merely an illusion brought on by a heightened awareness of the clock, I can assure them that it is not. Proof: when a fan’s team is losing by a goal to nothing, or an equally gut-wrenching goal difference, when every bad pass, throw-in, or a millisecond stop is followed by glances at the clock, when fans are basically watching more of the clock than the game, time does nothing that resembles slowing down. It goes faster than you can say “Is that five minutes already”? Hail the absurdity of football time. Unlike other life situations, favourable circumstances in football do not always make time rush, and unpleasant ones do not sedate time into co-operation.

Substituting hyperbole with a dose of realism for a second (or an hour, depending on the score), I guess that the absurdity of football time owes itself to the perennial contest between optimist and pessimist tendencies inside the football fan. Indeed, none of the above applies if your team has a cushion of several goals or if it is losing by some. And most definitely, none of the above applies if your favourite team is Manchester United, who are practically guaranteed to score in the dying minutes whenever they need to (Fuckheads!).

The hazy optimism of the possibility of scoring and the reality of diminishing time to allow it, as well as its counterpart, the persistent pessimism of conceding and the slow and ample time that makes it possible, are only triggered by a vague sense of realism that anything can happen in football. Indeed, the optimist and the pessimist inside the football fan eventually synthesize to become the realist, the fan who knows too well about the possibility, or the probability, that their team concedes in the dying moments of the match, who has surrendered all hope, who knows that the elusive last second goal that would win points for the team will only ever happen if it is immediately followed by a ridiculous raised flag on the side of the pitch. This is the beautiful game. A game which constantly pits pessimism against optimism and the umpteenth triumph of one over the other leaves the loser mysteriously unscathed.

Walk to feed Guatemala

Jacques René Zammit — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 08:30:26 +0000

A Zolabyte with a difference. A friend of mine has asked me to plug this event that is raising money to build a project to provide food in an area of Guatemala. It’s a long, long walk for a good cause. There’s all the contact details you need at the end of this post. Picture shows the route for the walk.

As though last year’s 24hour walk wasn’t ENOUGH, TOUGH AND GRUELLING, this year we will be organising and attempting an even longer walk on the

9th April 2011
27 hours non-stop!!!

So keep it free…

This year we will be walking to raise funds for a MEGA good cause. The funds will be used to build a project to provide food in an area of Guatemala, This will not only help to feed families in the area of Lake Izabal in Guatemala but will help to create jobs. This project will leave long term benefits, since it is sustainable and will help the community, help itself.

The two of us seasoned walkers, will be volunteering to walk 27 hours NONSTOP around Malta, covering an approximate distance of 130km!!! Longer than running 3 consecutive full marathons!!! A further 3hours on top of last years tremendous effort, which left us feeling knackered with a few nagging injuries which lasted a few months but feeling extremely exalted.. We have been training even harder than last year to ensure that we are physically and mentally fit for this challenge.

The walk will start at 9am near ITS in St. Julians and will end…
27 hours later back at ITS

You are all invited to WALK AS LONG as you like 10min, 30min, 1hr, 3hr 8hr, 27hrs )) or as much as you like. Get your friends to sponsor you for this mega good cause or register for €5. Click here to download the registration form.

Call us, Email us, or Facebook us for sponsor sheets and more info!!! If Walking is just not your piece of cake, you can just simply donate money by sending an sms on:

50618071 for a € 4.66 donation
50619203 for a € 11.65 donation

For more information contact us on:
email: 27hourwalk@gmail.com
facebook: 27 hour walk
mobile: 7994 2727

Please help us by inviting your friends to our facebook group, emailing this and passing the word around.

Looking forward to seeing you there, lets walk together for a good cause!

Lara Gerada & Brandon Pace

Donations may also be made at the following account:

HSBC ACCOUNT NO: 071017552051 /

IBAN NO: MT89 MMEB 4471 6000 0000 7101 7552 051

The Media and Egypt

Jacques René Zammit — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 10:21:35 +0000

ONE NEWS REPORTER Anthony David Gatt wrote this as a facebook note. J’accuse is posting it as a zolabyte with the author’s kind permission. It is his take on how the media – local and foreign – has dealt with the Egyptian uprising. As Anthony says, this note is a look at what is happening from the journalist’s point of view as well as at the effects of media. The floor is open for discussion.

L-Egittu: rajnieh u wassalnieh

L-Egittu kien fuq fomm kullhadd fl-ahhar jiem. Habba li l-pajjiz huwa tant vicin taghna, minhabba ir-rappurtagg kontinwu fuq l-istazzjoniet tal-ahabrijiet u permezz ta-Twitter u Facebook, hassejna lilna nfusna eqreb tal-izviluppi. F’din in-nota tajt harsa lejn dak li qed jigri mill-lenti gurnalistika u l-effetti tal-midja.

Kardashians flok Tahrir

Wahda fost l-aktar mossi medjatici importanti f’dawn id-dimostrazzjonijiet kienet id-decizjoni tal-Al Jazeera English li jwasslu xandira diretta bla waqfien mill-Egittu. Dan filwaqt li l-istazzjonijiet l-ohra kollha, jew kellhom problemi biex jxandru jew ma tawx l-importanza li din l-istorja sthoqqitila mill-ewwel. Tant li fuq CNN fl-ewwel jiem tal-gimgha, meta kollox deher li beda jeskala, ghal xi hinijiet dehru l-Kardashians jitkellmu fuq fettuqiet flok iz-zghazagh Egizzjani jiggieldu ghal-drittijiethom. AJE tassew wasslu rappurtagg tajjeb u reali mit-toroq tal-Kajr, Lixandra u bliet ohra. Dehret id-differenza mill-midja l-ohra, kellhom iktar access ghal sorsi politici gharab ghaliex l-istazzjon ewlieni ta’ din n-network beda bl-Gharbi u huwa iccentrallizat mal-hajja Gharbija.

AJE

Dehret differenza wkoll bejn l-mod kif l-midja amerikana titratta l-korrispondenti ewlenin bhal Anderson Cooper u Hala Gorani tas-CNN. Il-kjass li qam meta gew attakkati, mhux ghax gew attakati gurnalisti u l-ghajb ta’ azzjoni bhal din, izda ghax gew attakati ismijiet kbar. Fuq huffingtonpost rajna artikli shah “Anderson Cooper attacked”, “Anderson Cooper admits he is afraid”, anke jien semmejt l-fatt li gie aggredit fir-rappurtagg tieghi. Izda minn jaf x’raw ma wicchom kemm l-gurnalist bla isem fl-ahhar jiem? Ghal AJE ma kienx importanti l-glorifikazzjoni tal-korrispondent daqs is-sahha tal-kontenut. In-newsanchor gieli inghaqdet ma korrispondent minn nofs pjazza Tahrir minghajr ma semmiet ismu. Forsi bhala mizura ta’ sigurta’, imma hi x’inhi kienet sistema li hadmet u li tat lill din in-network status qawwi tul ir-rappurtagg shih.

Internet bahh

Twitter rega ghamilha. Nies tweetjaw minn djarhom biex nbdew l-protesti, tweetjaw minn pjazza Tahrir, u mit-toroq tal-Kajr sakemm inqata l-internet. Hekk cum bum. Waqaf kollox. Jum minnhom qed niccettja ma kollega tieghi u qaltli ezatt x’ghaddiet minnu fil-jiem tal-protesti u l-ghada bahh. Fuq tweetpic rajt ritratt ta’ kif il-graph tat-traffiku tal-internet waqghet minn mija fil-mija ghal-tnax fil-mija. Izda Facebbok u Twitter fil-bqija tad-dinja baqghu ghaddejjin u whud mic-cellulari fl-Egittu kienu ghadhom joperaw wkoll. Allura zghazugh minn Kalifornja espert fil-qasam tal-kommunikazzjoni u li ghandu shabu fl-Egittu u kemm il-darba mar hemm, haseb sew x’jista jghamel u ghamilha! Talab lill kull min ried jikkomunika mill-Egittu biex jcempel u jghaddi messagg fuq sistema jew jibghat sms. Hu imbghad jaqlibhom fi tweets jew jahllihom bhala vuci. Il-bniedem rega dawwar il-bieb imsabbat f’wiccu tat-teknologija… f’id ta’ ghajnuna b’sahhitha u soda.

Ghax ma nintervistax lill Mubarak?

Impressjonajt ruhi wkoll bil-mument ta’ ispirazzjoni ta’ Christiane Amanpour li telqet mis-CNN u issa qieghda l-ABC. Kienet qed thares lejn l-cameraperson taghha bilqieghda qabel ma jintervistaw il-Vici President l-gdid, u hasbet bejna u bejn ruhha… ghalfejn ma nintervistawx lill Mubarak. L-iktar haga ovja u semplici, u fl-istess hin l-haga li qass tghaddilek minn mohhok f’miljuni ta’ snin f’dik l-atmosfera. Mubarak kien hemm biss biex jghajruh u biex jghati diskorsi mistennija b’herqa u jerga jghib. Mhux biex jkun normali u jitkellem ma persuna ohra, ma gurnalista! Ghodda ta’ propaganada jew le, ghalija l-intervista ghinitu, ghallinqas f’ghajnejja. Kif spjegajt lill Stephen Calleya, Kap tal-MEDAC, jien nhares lejh minn zewg perspettivi… minn naha bhala tirann kattiv kif pengewuli u lilna l-Egizzjan,i u minn naha l-ohra bhala statista li ghalkemm imperfett ghad ghandu f’qalbu lill dawk li forsi xi darba kienu uliedu u ma jridx jitfa pajjiz fl-abissi. Mghomi bil-biza tal-izlamizmu jrid jibqa fil-kariga u jiehu hsieb, mqar ghalissa.

Ovvju

Dan apparti li jkun superfluwu li nsemmu kemm gurnalisti tal-midja tradizzjonali gabu informazzjoni u vidjos minn fuq twitter u youtube bis-sahha tac-citizen journalists fit-triq. Dan l-fenomenu issa nafuh sew, kull ma nistghu nghidu hu li gie rikonfermat u issa zgur li m’hemm ebda dubju tas-sahhat ta’ din it-tip ta’ midja gdida.

Gurnalizmu bil-‘G’ kbira

Kellna wkoll l-interess rari tal-gurnalisti Maltin. Karl Stagno Navvarra ha d-decizjoni li insemmghu lehinnha ghal-kif shabna fl-Egittu qed jissawtu, jigu arrestati u mwaqqfa minn xoghlhom. Karl ghamel tajjeb. Izda l-’protesta’ quddiem l-ambaxxata Egizzjana saret f’hin hazin u mhux hafna minnha setghu jattendu. Whud li setghu m’attendewx, ghaliex forsi jahsbu li dan kollu teatrin ghalxejn. Forsi mhux kullhadd kellu l-kilba li jmur l-Egittu, forsi ghal hafna l-gurnalizmu ghandu l-’g’ zghira.

Mubarak loyalists beat journalists covering unrest (sfgate.com)
Anderson Cooper And CNN Crew Attacked By Pro-Mubarak Mob In Egypt (mediaite.com)
Anderson Cooper latest journalist to leave Egypt (hollywoodnews.com)
Jon Stewart Declares to Egypt “Hands Off Anderson Cooper!” (brainz.org)

Honoraria : What lies beneath?

Jacques René Zammit — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 10:22:56 +0000

Fausto Majistral is back with another Zolabyte. He gives us a no-nonsense analysis of the main issues that surround the whole ruckus about honoraria. It’s less about the politics and more about the constitutional issues.

Service as an MP in the Maltese House of Representatives is a part-time affair. “Part-time” is a misnomer, of course, because parliamentary work is not only attending sittings in plenary and involves all other sorts of things including constituents who could be quite demanding (to say the least) both in what they demand and the time at which they demand.

But we should not linger on this point: after all, nobody calls teachers “part timers” because the time they spend in the classroom is less than the usual annual average of 40 hours.

There were moves in the past, very discreet, to make parliament a “full time” affair. That would have meant, amongst other things, that apart from ministerial duties parliamentary service would have been to the exclusion of all other work (a condition which would have no justification for as long as being an MP was part-time). A significant advantage gained would have been that the risk of situations of conflict of interest would have been hugely reduced.

Needless to say, this was resisted by some MPs, particularly those who are also members of a profession. Their full time work is as big as the size of their clientele which is largely a matter of their choosing. In many cases, the service they offer their clientele can be delegated to professional partners or assistants. MPs whose full time job is as an employee, where the working hours are not of their choosing and where the duties cannot be delegated, do not have such luxury.

So parliamentary service remained part-time. Paid. Which you can combine with any other full time job. Equally paid. Except for one full time job: being minister.

Before anyone makes the point that being a minister you waive your moral right to be paid anything for basic MP work because your full time job is paid from the public purse, please note that you can combine a full time salary for a job in the public sector and the honorarium for being a part-time MP. Being a minister is one of the very few jobs, in the public as well as a private sector, which disqualifies you from the parliamentary honorarium.

I will not go here into the concurrent issue of whether MPs’ honoraria should have gone from 50% to 70% of the civil service’s salary scale 1. For the very simple reason that, I have no way to tell if 50% or 70% is what is deserved for the duties in question. Note however that one of Jean-Pierre Farrugia’s main gripes (which I think is representative of what the critics have so far said) was that it was bad timing in the prevailing financial situation.

Certainly. But please note that a pay increase that’s unrelated either to productivity or cost of living is hardly and alien concept in Maltese labour law. It’s the stuff annual increments based on a sector’s collective agreement are made of.

Neither do I need to go into the other main gripe, that these increases should not have been introduced by stealth. For the simple reason, that the critics are right on this one. Salaries and honoraria for ministers and parliamentarians should be the subject of law, as is already the case with the salaries of the President of Malta, the Attorney-General and the Auditor-General, or at least a parliamentary resolution.

But this should not detract us from the fact that the way payment is made for ministerial or parliamentary service disadvantages members of one category of employment over an other. The compromise struck between Farrugia and his Leader hardly addresses that question.

This is not a trivial discussion or one which is irrelevant to the health of a democracy. The early proponents of paid service argued their case on the grounds that no one should be barred from being an MP if elected simply because he has no other private means.

That was the argument in the UK in the beginning of the 20th century; it would have lost little force in Malta of the 21st. Apart from the Leader of the Opposition and MPs who have private means, note the the MPs who first and enthusiastically stated they’ll donate the increase to charity or some pet campaign were mostly members of the professions.

Given much credence to that quote by George Bernard Shaw that the professions are really conspiracies against the laity.

2010 – The Fausto Perspective (Part II)

Jacques René Zammit — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 09:46:09 +0000

Fausto continues his round-up of 2010. This time Jesus, vuvuzela and public services fall within range of his targeting.

JESUS IN THE CLASSROOM

Two millenia on and he’s still a source of controversy. The EHCR decided that rights were violated when Italian authorities refused to remove the crucifix from the classroom at the request of a parent. The logic used was not surprising and similar judgements were handed by other courts (most notably, the German Constitutional Court vis-a-vis Bavaria some ten years ago). But this being a European court was bound to generate more interest.

In Malta it certainly did and embarrassing it was. People were commenting on something they obviously hadn’t read (the point that the crucifix “causes offence” to non-believers, for example, was never part of the Court’s argument). But it well and truly brought out the bigotry. Ignoring the fact that the plaintiff was Italian. Because “Italian” is what you’d call someone with Italian citizenship after living the country for two decades despite having been born elsewhere.

The purposely-created pages on FB brought out the way the Maltese truly felt not much about crucifixes but people of colour and of other faiths with the kind of confidence only ignorance can give. In a way, it was light relief to read commenters (who think they’re “bloggers”) that you wouldn’t go to an Islamic country and tell the people there to remove the image of Mohammed. But the rest of the reading was more sordid.

SPORT

The big event was, of course, the World Cup in South Africa. Sadly, Italy and England, two teams with a strong Maltese following made an early exit. Add to that the fact that this edition was devoid of stars doing any shining and interest seemed to have declined very quickly. Pity. This was considered to be a “problematic” World Cup but at the end, it was obvious that an African country can organise a major sporting event successfully. Vuvuzelas notwithstanding.

SOCIAL

Festival tal-Qargha Hamra, Citrusfest, Irkottafest, Festival tal-Frawli, Festival tal-Qaqocc, Festa tal-Majjal … you name it. The Maltese have developed a penchant for themed feast.

Two things I find surprising. First, almost all these festas seem to be centred around vegetables or a humble and often ignored foodstuff. Rising prosperity and declining eating habits have almost completely banished the vegtable from the Maltese kitchen or else, when they make an appearance, they’re cooked in the most boring way imaginable. Hopefully, these occasions will teach home cooks that there’s more than boiling.

Second, traditional Maltese feasts were connected to saints or religious cycly: christenings, first communions, confirmations, weddings. These new feasts are all “secular”. Significant? Well, Cardinal Bertone mentioned earlier took out his verbal anger following the ECHR’s ruling on crucifixes in classrooms on the pumpkin.

PUBLIC SERVICES

ARMS was hardly ever out of the news and not for the right reasons. Indeed, the inefficiency of the service has probably overtaken the actual issue of the price of water and electricity.

Agreement on the reform of public transport has been achieved. It cost a lot of money and there could be a last-minute hitch over the decision to discriminate in favour of locals (on the grounds that they seem to pay an unspecified tax foreigners don’t).

Social security reform is back. Late in 2010 Labour seemed to be taken aback at the fact that changes will kick in in 2011. Maybe they swallowed the line, propogated by this blog amongst others, that there will be no reform for the sake of short-term electoral gains.

Well, here’s belated news: in 2006 the Gonzi government bit the bullet and enacted the first reforms the kind of which caused paralysing protests in France. Sure, the reforms are unfolding slowly and they are not enough (which is not to say, as the Labour leader just said, that they “failed”). But when you see what was achieved and the political opposition it faced (Labour MPs even expressed the view that this is a problem of 20-30 years in the future so let’s postone doing anything) and you’ll see why on this point Lawrence Gonzi deserves a pat on the back.

PUBLIC ENTERPRISES

Twenty long years ago the Government signed an agreement with the then Dockyard Council to get the enterprise on its feet within ten years. The histroy since is one of repeated attempts and subsequent failure. The past year has brought an end to all that in the only way it could’ve: privatisation.

There was a time when the Malta Drydocks produced some fine craftsmen, further gifted with Maltese ingenuity. This is the image that probably prompted “Nat wets” and people in the Labour Party (like Sant who was determined to make it “the best in the Mediterranean” until the end) to linger until the end.

For many who came later, the image is of an enterprise found guilt of political discrimination on a number of occasions, which acted on occasion as the continuation of Labour policies by militant means, a poor health and safety record and poor management. These people will hardly be sorry to see it sold.

Watch out for AirMalta because, Malta being an island and a peripheral European country, this is different. The company needed a € 50 million bailout this year and it cannot get a second one. The reasons are many, not least the subsidised competition from the budget airlines. What’s said to see is the daggers being drawn. The Union Press papers even reached out for their favourite bete noir of the early 1990s, former company chair Joe N. Tabone, to assign responsibility.

All the best for AirMalta. May they come out of all this not only economically stronger but also without any internal ill-feelings.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Maltese entrepreneurship lacks imagination. There are exceptions of course and one of such enterprises goes by the name of Magro Brothers. Operating in a sector that was nowhere as sexy as IT, which everyone thought could be written off once we joined EU unless we put up protectionist walls as high as the Cittadella, the Magro Brother showed everyone that innovation and quality are sure winners no matter in which field of business they are applied.

Looking for the bright ideas that would make you one of Malta’s captains of industry? Majistral’s advice: make beds. The population is aging at such a rate that PS Mario Galea that 150 new beds a year are needed for state homes for the elderly alone.

2010 – The Fausto Perspective (Part I)

Jacques René Zammit — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:19:48 +0000

After the forced hiatus thanks to the great storms in central Europe J’accuse returns with a multi-part Zolabyte by Fausto Majistral. In this serialised perspective Fausto looks back at the salient moments of the year that is about to end. Here goes…

LOCAL COUNCILS

Here’s a thought to brighten your day: 2010 was the first election-free year since 1993 (that’s, of course, if you don’t take into account the gripping administrative elections in places like Bubaqra and Xlendi). Main reason was the hiatus in local elections until 2012. But that doesn’t mean local councils were not in the news. Charges brought against a number of councillors gave reason for one paper to ask whether the whole local government system was at risk.

This was a wrong diagnosis. The number of charges brought which were related to elective office were four (MaltaToday counts eight but half of these are not, strictly speaking, related to the office). Two of these include the mayor of Sta Venera not issuing a €80 invoice and the mayor of Żebbuġ (Gozo) charged with having bought a laptop with public funds and which, so far, seems to have been purchased with the council’s agreement, to do council work from home — the incriminating “evidence” being the daughter using it to play around on FB.

More serious are the charges brough against the former mayors of San Gwann and Sliema, the latter which also offered the drama of a particuarly spectacular fall. Starting off from the Executive Secretary flagging irregularities, to a police investigation, to a statement admitting acceptance of bribes, to a kind of retraction (offered to the media but not in court), to political arm-twisting and a suffered no-confidence motion.

The Nationalist Party may have managed to cordon off the toxic area. But the depth of the division within Nationalist ranks in Sliema became evident and Robert Arrigo seems to be less of a shining star now.

COMEBACK KID

Local government was jinxed in 2010 … right to the top. Chris Said had to relinquish his post as PS (responsible amongst other things for local government) because he was to face charges of perjury. Things worth putting on record. First, that the “perjury” involved an inconsequential point about whether a Court session took place in the morning or the afternoon. Second, nobody thought, for a moment, that Said should be found guily and his speedy comeback was welcomed as much as it was deserved.

Finally, and more importantly, it reminded us of the murky waters of troubled families where litigation is no holds barred and downright nasty and poor Chris Said who got sucked in. If there’s a lingering image of the state of broken families in Malta is the First Holy Communion in Dingli where a “re-union” dictated by the particular circumstances, ended in a free-for-all fist fight.

PMB DIVORCE

Which brings us to the landmark political event of the year: the presentation of a Private Member’s Bill on divorce by Jeffery Pullicino-Orlando. This was not the first PMB on the matter: Joe Brincat presented one in 1996. But if 1996 were bad timing, Pullicino-Orlando has shown himself to be shrewd.

Not that the whole thing has been seamless. The Pullicino-Orlando’s first motion was a copy-and-paste of Irish legislation. Thankfully, a second motion presented jointly with Evarist Bartolo, actually takes note of the fact that Malta has a civil code and a family law tradition of its own. Sadly, it gave the whole enterprise an “as we go along” kind of air.

Take, for example, the supposed way to the referendal poll booth. Pullicino-Orlando says that sometime between the bill’s second and third reading a provision will be made for the holding of the referendum and, if the result is in the affermative, MPs will (hopefully) for for it. On this he says he has the advice of Ian Refalo. So be it. In which case Prof Refalo would be kind to explain how the provisions of a bill can have the effect of law.

Nevertheless, this must have been the media event of 2010. True, the pro and contra of divorce we had already heard before but this time they came back with full force, accompanied by the issue whether the government or MPs had a mandate to enact such a piece of legislation. The answer to which is: yes, if precedent counts for anything; the infamous 1993 agreement with the Vatican did not feature in an electoral programme or a referendal question.

EXEUNT

The bell tolled and this time Prof Demarco couldn’t be late. Mgr Nikol Cauchi, whose manner you get to appreciate the more you listen to his successor, followed some months after.

Not quite the same place, but John Dalli and Louis Galea are off to Brussels and Luxembourg. Dalli promises to come back to the political fray in four years time. He’d be close to seventy by then.

RELIGION

The Pope came and went. Granted, Benedict does not have the crowd-pulling power of his predecessor (who can also be credited with being the first pontiff to visit Malta and to beatify the first three Maltese). But the papal visit was, er, overshadowed by the Luqa monument. Rome and the Vatican have their many marble nudes so why should ours be offensive? Just because it’s ceramic?

Pity because the Maltese visit was historic at least in one sense: for the first time the Pontiff had a private meeting with victims of pastoral abuse. The request for a meeting could have been brushed off in many ways. There were risks, at the time these were still allegations under investigation and the papal visit was short (on those grounds the Church authorities rightly brushed off the request for a meeting made by the Nevada Hindu guru who has now become a perennial niusance).

But it did happen. And by all accounts it was a success (well, as much success one can hope for in the circumstances). It might be the beginning of a long way in which the Church stops being so defensive or, worse, shifting the blame on others as did Cardinal Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, when he blamed homosexuals on pastoral abuse.

ARTS AND CULTURE

Work on Piano’s design of City Gate began over an acute case of general echolalia involving works with the “-less” suffix. The theatre is “roofless”, the gate is “gateless” (has been for a couple of centuries or so) and the proposal “spineless”.

Two interesting developments. Labour, who had been mum for sometime noticed where the crowd was charging and placed itself at the head. Not in a very convinced manner, of course, just adopting the cliched (and wrong) calls for preserving “a 16th century baroque city”).

Second were the attempts to stop it. Film Director Mario Philip Azzopardi called for a collection to rebuild a theatre: €10 from 100,000 for five years. Azzopardi had big plans to mobilise the masses and even had the wording of the inauguration plaque ready. Emails, it has been said, streamed by the dozen. Contributions? Not so sure. Probably not even enough to pay for the inaugural plaque the wording on which he has already figured out.

Then there was “Stop Project Piano”, an anonymous internet initiative which set up a petition to call a referendum (which wasn’t doable). Pity those poor sods who gave their personal data to perfect strangers …

ikompli…

On Lack of Politics at the UOM

Jacques René Zammit — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 06:57:23 +0000

J’accuse was shocked by a headline in the Times on the 5th of October claiming that a “Students’ body wants student’s council to be free of politics” so we decided to ask somebody from that movement – Mark Camilleri (known to most extra-uni people as the Realtà editor) to explain whether this impression of wanting to neuter the KSU was right. It turns out that Mark was just as apalled and had a few ideas of his own to express. Which is why his ideas are now here on this Zolabyte platform – for an open, mature discussion. As in every other Zolabyte J’accuse does not endorse the ideas in this article but encourages an open discussion about them – the floor is now open (Uni students are particularly encouraged to contribute).

Many students of the University of Malta and Junior College do not feel they are being represented by their University Students Council and the outstanding majority is completely alienated to politics let alone to the Students University Council. Some are not even aware it even exists. This is why I was pissed off at the headline which the TOM put on an article about the press conference, organised by Moviment Graffitti and Independent Movement which said ” Students’ body wants students’ council to be free of politics”. I can’t understand how a journalist or an editor can make such a bad mistake when they cover a press conference by a left-leaning political group which has contested the Council’s elections last year!

So, back to basics! The Council is first of all a political institution because it manages people, the students and a space, Students House. So the groups which contest its elections are by default political groups which carry ideological baggage. If we do not want politics to be part of the Council then we would be demanding its dismantlement which isn’t a bad idea farer all, considering that it has become a trojan horse to University, students and education. However our aim is to have a council which is lead by students who would work for a progressive and secular education, to help students and defend their rights. In other words we want a left-wing Council.

The Council has been reduced into an entity which has mainly two aims: to conserve the party-line of the PN with the limits of its powers, which mainly consists of an old style, Catholic type of right-wing politics, and to accumulate capital. It has became a powerful and reactionary force which resembles more a Centre of American Republicanism rather than a University Students Council.

The Council is run by the Christian Democrat Students and yes we did indeed protest against their way of doing politics, we did indeed protest against the Christian Democrats who are more interested in towing the party line, and even pushing it further to the right rather than defending student rights but we do not want students to be free from politics and if anything should be full of it.

Our press conference was a protest against how Freshers’ Week is being organised which is a fine example where the political ideology of the Student Democrats manifests in its extreme forms. During Freshers’ Week The Campus, and its surrounding areas, is filled with companies one of which is the company (Gasan Group of Companies) of the family of Stephanie Soler, a Culture and Entertainment Coordinator of the Council. Every year, the space allocated to financial companies increases at the expense of the space which students organisations can occupy. (J’accuse: This allegation has been countered by the current KSU president in this article on theTimes – “Call for more transparency in KSU finances“) So financial companies are not only being privileged because they afford paying, but the Council is dealing with the relatives of its members. But if this seems to be a conflict of interest it doesn’t compare to the favouritism and nepotism which take place through the Student Fund Scheme as I have indicated in this article: Bummers of University Unite! You have nothing to lose but your reputation.

We also reiterated the demand for full transparency of the Council’s finances. It is extremely silly how the Council can boast of its transparency just because they have an annual financial report signed by an auditor. The fact that the auditor introduced the report by claiming that the books which were presented to him had several inconsistencies, is not something of considerable importance to them. Their answer to the problematic question of transparency is, that he had signed his own audit report. How pathetic! An auditor will audit any kind of books, even if they are not detailed or lack information because he is being paid to compile a report. The report is a result of the accounts which are presented. So if you present bad accounts, you will end up with a bad financial report and it wouldn’t be the auditor’s fault. Silly isn’t it, that I have to explain basic accounting procedures to a university students council? Yes, unfortunately University politics does not only include disputes about politics but also about how to get your stuff right. If you have any doubts don’t bury these facts with the typical PN accusations of ”mud-slinging” but go and ask for a copy of the financial report from their office. Look for revenue and expenditure break-downs, especially break-downs of revenue for advertisement and rent. They aren’t there and the Council does not seem to be the least interested in publishing them. Hurray for full transparency!

However being a leftist I am not only involved in student politics to bring radical change but also for the sake of political survival. During the last year the Council evacuated Moviment Graffitti out of their office and members of the Council reported issue 8 of Ir-Realta’ to the University Authorities, the reason being that they were offended by a fictional story. They twisted the regulations of the Council’s Statute so as to avoid PULSE’s proposal of Proportional Representation from gaining ground in the Council’s Annual General Meeting of 2010. They started a strong campaign against the lecturers, acting more like strike-breakers than students who were critical of a bad situation when the lecturers had a dispute with the government and as a result started a work to rule strike. Carl Grech, the Council’s president had the cheek to say that the dispute was resolved by the Council during a debate held prior to the 2010 elections, on Campus. They even had the nerve to make a pro-Catholic campaign against a condom machine at University as if such a proposal was something worth opposing. So when such a Council is clearly bent to pursue a hardcore right-wing ideology, small and unconnected left-wing groups will get choked. Being on a continuous political offensive while uniting with different groups to form a movement will have our political opponents removed from the Council.

I will end my article with a plea. I greatly respect other organisations such as MOVE, PULSE and IDEAT but I still believe that they aren’t doing their best to unite in a bigger movement. The main problem is that PULSE has been demoralised by consecutive election defeats and their determination is slowing down. As usual the ego is sometimes also a problem as in a movement compromises have to be made. But this neither means that the left should compromise its ideals to defeat the Christian-Democrats. The left can be consistent and united only if those who feel to be part of it are ready to overcome difficult challenges.

J’accuse endquote: Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. (SDM Participation Campaign Slogan 1996/7 – from Plato).

Party financing agreement a must

Jacques René Zammit — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 09:00:48 +0000

Two days ago we had a Zolabyte by PN MP Franco Debono who continues his quest for the regulation of party financing. Today we bring you a voice from the other side of the house. Labour MP Leo Brincat has been involved in the issue since the Galdes Report on party financing. Here he exposes the pitfalls of the process of regulation and points out what must be solved in order to move on. Is Labour’s Leo right in lamenting that “we are already too late”? (article reproduced with the kind permission of the author).

The article by Nationalist MP Franco Debono on party financing (September 8th) made interesting reading.

The core issue and problem is that, although he seems to believe that this is an urgent matter that needs to be dealt with without any further undue delay, I was never ever convinced of his own party’s commitment to plugging the gap of this democratic deficit.

I write through experience, having had the honour to serve as the Labour Party’s nominee on the ad hoc committee chaired by the late Anthony Galdes, a former civil servant and private sector senior executive of impeccable qualities and standards, that eventually led to the so-called Galdes Report.

There are various aspects that have continued to worry me and haunt me since.

Fifteen years have passed and the Nationalist government that has been at the helm of the country for more than 13 of these years never ever made any serious effort to conclude matters on this issue or legislate on the matter. Hardly ever did it, as a party, make any formal commitment to spell out its intentions on the subject and show it is prepared to go the whole hog to ensure that agreement will be finally reached on this important issue.

On the contrary, the perception the Nationalist Party would prefer to perpetrate the status quo continues to gain ground not only in political but also in commercial and entrepreneurial circles.

There is hardly any point in my colleague Dr Debono lamenting that no significant developments have taken place since 1995 and that no concrete measures have been implemented when there was never any real agreement on the document’s findings itself… something that left the implementation process as dead as a dodo from the word go.

In the run-up to the last election, the PL had committed itself publicly to implement the recommendations of the Galdes Commission on party financing while the general feeling now seems to be that one should take that report as the basis for moving ahead, given the decade and a half that have passed since then.

If one wants proof of the PN’s lack of real commitment on party financing one should scrutinise the fine details and the differences that actually derailed the Galdes Commission.

That the three established parties agree with the principle of transparency in party financing is not enough. As the adage goes, the devil is in the detail and, if my memory serves me well, the proposals put forward by the PN during the formulation of the Galdes report had made it clear they were only after piecemeal solutions that almost defeated the whole purpose of the exercise by ensuring that the parties in question will not optimise the potential benefit of such an accord.

It is interesting to note that, at the time, the commission had been made up of the PL (through yours truly), the PN, Alternattiva Demokratika and Dolores Cristina, who was an independent member and who, to be fair, gave many positive inputs throughout the various discussions we had.

Ironically, both the AD and the only independent member (Ms Cristina) had agreed at the time with the benchmarks proposed by the PL. It was the PN that had stalled the process.

The time is already overdue for such agreement to be reached on such an issue – regardless of whether there is a functioning parliamentary select committee or not – since, by next April, this government will have been in power for three years in this legislature. With elections then fast approaching it is more likely there will be more foot dragging by the government side to reach any form of agreement.

On the other hand, I feel one should also legislate concurrently on the expenditure limits and funding of political candidates too. This, not only to ensure a proper level playing field during election campaigns but also to ensure that certain candidates who might easily find their way to the House (again or for the first time) will not have any strings attached through contributions they received.

The capping of expenditure by political candidates must also be updated and revised upwards to a more realistic level to ensure that the existing laws will not continue to be flagrantly abused of as happens regularly in every election campaign.

In an interview published in another section of the media, Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando had been reported to have dropped the biggest hint to date that the government may be reconsidering its earlier opposition to the Galdes conclusions (September 26, 2007). Alas, since then, we have not seen any concrete proof of this, no matter how strongly Dr Pullicino Orlando might genuinely feel on the matter.

Now is the time for the three political parties to get real on the whole issue of political party financing.

The PL has already come forward with a 15-point plan on transparency, which many conveniently chose to either ignore, ridicule or downplay.

On the issue of party financing, people expect that, rather than having these parties disagreeing to agree, if they all believe strongly in transparency they should knock into place an agreement on party financing without further delay.

We are in my opinion already far too late.

Website: www.leobrincat.com

Opinions expressed in zolabyte contributions are those of the author in question. Opinions appearing on zolabytes do not necessarily reflect the editorial line of J’accuse the blog. Accompanying images selected by J’accuse.
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Call For Change To Political Party Funding (news.sky.com)
MPs to probe Cameron-Clegg deal (bbc.co.uk)
Electoral reforms or electorates reform(4) (vanguardngr.com)