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Austin & the two Emmanuels

Minister Gatt has taken note of the hunger strike announced by Emmanuel Cini. He has asked Arriva to speak to the hunger striker and try to ensure that his ends are met. We know this from a report in the Times in which Gatt’s actions were transmitted to the Times by a spokesman for Dr Gatt.

Minister Gatt did not speak directly to the press. He did not speak to Emmanuel Cini either. If the striker is even half serious you’d expect a bit more commitment from Gatt. Instead of his usual gutsy dismissive statement we get his metatron – a spokesman for Dr Gatt. Which makes you wonder what happened to the other Emmanuel, the one who was only too happy to have his name linked to anything Arriva before the fiasco began.

You know which Emmanuel we are talking about. The one who very evidently would not understand the meaning of a hunger strike.


DAY 4 OF HUNGER STRIKE: THE REAL EMMANUEL

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Creativity Punished

Theyab Awana’s team, the United Arab Emirates, were leading Lebanon 5-2 in an away friendly when they were awarded a penalty and a chance to score the sixth goal from the eleven meter spot. It was the 78th minute and the scoreline was already a witness to the huge gap between the two teams and the remaining twelve minutes bar any added misery and time would only be a formality.

In many ways the penalty promised to be the last piece of excitement for any paying supporters – and we all know how exciting a penalty at that point, with that score can be. Up steps Awana Diab (or Theyab Awana), a twenty-one year old who plies his trade with Baniyas and he makes his way to the spot. He stares at the ball for a few seconds – as many have done before him – daring it to disobey his next order that will be a direct invitation to hug the back of the net.

There is a whistle that commands Awana to go and he starts his short unimportant run to the spot. Few would have followed his approach with any interest given the statistical chances of success (unless you are Brasil in a Copa America quarter final). Books have been written about the boring, cynical and unexciting penalty. Few have managed to turn this most basic of football kicks into entertainment material – Cruyff and the Dutch played some cheeky business, Socrates would stand over the ball without running but in the end it was always kick and score or miss.

But then, half way through Theyab’s short run he spun round on himself and presented the goalkeeper with the most abnormal of views – his backside. The bored onlookers did not even have time to get over the shock before they noticed the audacious choice by the young unknown. Awana had chosen to backheel the ball towards the keeper and as the ball trickled slowly into the net even the Lebanese keeper stood transfixed and overwhelmed by the abrasive punkiness of it all.

Awana had for a few seconds made a choice to transcend the mundane and enter the Soccertheon of footballing moves. For a few infinite seconds he was up there with the likes of Garrincha, Puskas and René Higuita: those who dared defy logic with moves that dazzled and made kids dream.

There was an apotheosis for this young man. He was tugged savagely down from the heavens by his coach and team manager. Sratko Katanec the ex-Sampdoria stalwart and now UAE coach pulled off Awana immediately – the player had only been on the pitch for 10 minutes. His crime was apparently “disrespect”. You often get this philosophy in football – it is usually attributed to team who “overdo” winning: such as continuing to play attacking football when the score is already a gaping chasm.

Some teams have transformed attacking football into a philosophy – like the Catalan geniuses in blaugrana.  The UAE did not arrest its run after Awana’s goal (the sixth for the team in the game). They went on to score a seventh, without the “disrespectful” Awana on the pitch. It says much about the type of football that is expected nowadays. There is a sick feeling of political correctness that trims down genius into its place – players have to be football machines first and creative minds later.

It’s sad. Awana should be made a symbol of a fan movement calling for the return of “crazy” footballers that managed to put some colour in the game. The rules are there for all to see and Awana broke none of them with his moment of creative genius. (I personally think that the one that needed substituting was the hapless Lebanese goalkeeper). If it’s allowed then all the better if it is also dazzling. Or as the slogan goes… “If it’s in the game…. it’s in the game.”

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Veiled Arguments

The “wolf in sheep’s clothing” metaphor is back to haunt us. Only a while back we had a Archiepiscopal warning from the pulpit about the various wolves attired in sheep’s best (and they were not referring to vêtements signé Desigual) and now we have PM Gonzi accusing the Labour Party of having a lupine nature disguised as a fluffy animal. The phrase first appears in the Matthew 7:15 (that’s the bible, not an early morning Matt):

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”

What is Gonzi on about then? Well I am not sure whether this report by MaltaToday and this one by the Times of Malta were from the same event  but they make an interesting reading into the mind of the One Who Many Think Committed Hara Kiri. The PM was commenting on Cyrus Engerer’s volte-face and trying to give his spin to the issue. We’d love to see Lawrence Gonzi’s credibility ratings at the moment but even if we assumed that there are still some people who take his word as the law we can find some interesting conclusions to continue to draw.

the counter-spin: wolves, the 80s and tolerance

MaltaToday highlighted Gonzi’s weak attempt at counter-spin. He pounced onto Joseph’s Muscat silent fatwa on Adrian Vassallo’s solo run and painted a picture of 80’s style intolerance in which “In-Nazzjon” was a public taboo. It’s tiring. Nauseating even. This whole business of projecting Labour’s past onto the future milked to some success for the 2008 Taste Campaign is long past its sell-by date. Gonzi is evidently clutching at straws with this argument. It is only made worse with his stress on “tolerance” – fresh from his monumental “NO” and spitting in the face of the vox populi (see “Drawing Conclusions”). There are inklings of the dire need that Dr Gonzi has for some intelligent (new?) advice before speaking to the press when he then opts to couch his ideas in biblical metaphors : triggering the very red lights that have made him lose so much in the popularity polls. Fail.

the ideas on switching parties

The Times report is more concerned with Gonzi’s opinion on Engerer’s choice to switch parties. According to the Times:

” Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said he respected the decision of Sliema deputy mayor Cyrus Engerer to resign from the Nationalist Party and join Labour but disagreed with his reasons. Mr Engerer did not resign because of the PN’s stand on divorce but pinned his decision on one issue: Dr Gonzi’s No vote against divorce legislation in Parliament on Wednesday.”

Much is being made elsewhere about Engerer’s Damascene switch (including questions being asked about whether it was not so sudden). Dr Gonzi is here “respecting” the decision made by the young turk. Many will confuse “respecting” with “agreeing with ” or “accepting” Cyrus’ switch. Gonzi does neither. He disagrees with the motivation (His own No vote) and above all he has a problem with the assessment of principles.

anchors

It’s the last bit that is very telling. Principles. Here is how Dr Gonzi reads the latest crisis:

“I fear we are reaching a situation where people are no longer anchored to their principles.”

People and principles. Is Gonzi, like almost everyone in the political arena, missing the woods for the trees? We have written elsewhere that the biggest problem is the lack of principled backbone within the major parties – their choice to not commit. Gonzi is pointing his fingers at “people who are no longer anchored in their principles” using Engerer as an excuse. His fingers are pointed in the wrong direction. It is the parties who have abdicated from representing clear cut principles and sacrificed these principles on the altar of populist convenience.

Wolves, Pots & Kettles

The biggest demonstration of this dog-eat-dog unprincipled world was the exchange of accusations by the PM and leader of Opposition. While Gonzi was accusing Joseph of being a wolf in sheep’s clothing, Joseph was busy spinning the line that “Labour had never changed its position throughout the debate”. Nobody can deny that. The point is that Labour had no position to change. It had no position on divorce. That is what Gonzi should have told Cyrus Engerer – that he was joining a party that did not have the balls to take an official position on divorce.

There’s another question I need to ask Joseph. How come “Labour not changing position” is good but “Gonzi not changing position (and always standing for the NO)” becomes bad? It’s stupid, stupid, stupid all over the place. It’s like two people tossing a coin ten times and the result is 7 heads and 3 tails. Joseph is suddenly “right” because he backed heads while Gonzi is wrong because he called “tails” all along?? Meanwhile Labour chose not to call heads or tails but wins prizes for being constant in not taking a position. Is this a crazy world or not?

Engerer

Will Engerer manage to change Labour into a real progressive party? Does he have the clout? Will it matter? It won’t to the token voters who just see Labour as the new lesser evil away from GonziPN. The question is “what will it take for them to notice that MuscatPL is same, same but different?” How long till we will be discussing how MuscatPL failed to take leadership on civil society issues, or worse still how its attempts to play the populist led to a hodge podge of botched legislation? We’re kicking off with “kids’ right to maintenance till they are 23″…. quite a good start to raise unprincipled, spoilt brats whose concept of politics is waving the blue/red flag whenever duty calls….

In un paese pieno di coglioni, ci mancano le palle – j’accuse 2011

5 bloggable newsitems

In full markbiwwa.com style of course. (We dig the style. We plagiarise. We acknowledge). Here goes the roundup of Monday Morning Blues & News.

 

1. BLACK CAB fury

The UHM has come out in support of the black cab taxis after it was announced that new regulations would prevent them from using the special bus lanes. The black cab taxis are right of course (I never thought I’d say this). The use of fast lanes by taxis is common in most major cities in Europe and I can see no reason why Malta should be the exception. Still more bad planning? Big Yellow Taxi

2. LAWYER TO BE PAID to watch DVDs

It’s not exactly a permanent job, neither is it a dream job but lawyer Joseph Mifsud has been appointed by the court to watch a collection of DVDs that were found in the possession of David Gatt who still stands accused of being involved in an HSBC heist. Apparently the collection includes The Godfather and “films by Bruce Lee”. All in a day’s work eh? Kung Fu Fighting

3. ARRIVA service normalising

It would seem that eight days into the launch – and once the Bus Driver Plot has been thwarted – Arriva’s service will be running on time in most places. Arriva has been obliged to subcontract minor routes for the time being. If the action of the Renegade Bus Drivers was not a sanctioned strike then I would not be surprised were Arriva to sue for damages and losses caused by the disruption. Sabotage

4. In the Net

Labour will experiment the umpteenth revamp of the notoriously error-prone Maltastar.com under the guidance of Evarist Bartolo. Meanwhile Andrew Azzopardi has added his blog to the increasing list of blogs by “old media” pundits. The signs all point to the Maltese MSM belatedly discovering the utility of blogs and blogging. Undoubtedly presence on the net will be even more crucial come next election – we wonder what role an evolved Facebook will play by the time the heat is turned up. Don’t Believe the Hype

5. Sanctioning the Illegal

Finally, the Times reports that plans are underway for MEPA to sanction a number of illegal boathouses in St Thomas Bay and Dwejra. This kind of news is always baffling and frustrating. The “legalisation” of illegally built property is an insult to the law-abiding citizen and an affront to society. Do we care? Bah. I fought the Law?

*IMAGE NOTE: The accompanying image is of Gaetano Scirea. In this day and age when the image and memory of the recently departed are being used as a smokescreen by cowards to hide from their objective responsibility we choose to put up the image of a model footballer who never failed in his line of duty and was an example to all. Storia di Grande Amore

Scirea non telefonava a Bergamo e Pairetto, ed a giocato e dato la sua vita al calcio ed alla Juventus. Quando sputi e spari menzogne sulla nostra maglia insulti un grandissimo uomo come Scirea.

JU29RO

ça chauffe, les chauffeurs

The ARRIVA tsunami continues. The “teething” problems are being dealt with and I am also told that Austin Gatt gave a good performance on Dissett (still got to find time to watch that one on streaming). One of the big deals in the ARRIVA saga has been the issue of working time for the bus drivers. The 57 who tried unsuccessfully to cause a major strike had a gripe about “split shifts” and there were also a number of figures being bandied about with regard to salaries and hourly payments.

Luxembourg’s l’Essentiel has carries an article today about coach drivers for private companies who are complaining about their work conditions. The first comment was a shocking reminder of the arguments made last Saturday by the renegade workers: “The other day I started work at 04.45 and ended at 16.4.5. I got paid as though I had worked 8 hours.” The monthly salary for a private coach worker is 2650€ and the article claims it is 800 or 900 euros less than public service drivers in Luxembourg.

The problem, it seems, is working time and what counts as work and what is not. In their case, the Luxembourg private coach drivers complain that hours waiting for delayed planes at airports are not factored into their salary.

Whether it is Luxembourg or Malta that we are talking about the dignity of the worker is at stake. The question really is one of defining what constitutes working hours and how they are to be calculated. Companies like Arriva who operate in multiple EU countries (UK, Germany, Greece) cannot have the luxury of ignoring EU legislation. It’s one thing denouncing ridiculous demands such as those seen last Saturday, it is another to abuse of a worker’s right to a just salary and proper working hours.

LUXEMBOURG – Les chauffeurs de bus des compagnies privées avouent leur détresse et déplorent leurs conditions de travail

«L’autre jour, j’ai pris mon service à 4h45, j’ai terminé à 16h45. Le tout a été payé comme si j’avais travaillé huit heures». Joël (son prénom a été modifié) et ses collègues n’en peuvent plus de leurs conditions de travail.  Et de leurs salaires. Avec plusieurs années d’ancienneté au compteur, Joël émarge «à 2 650 euros par mois, on a des écarts de salaires de 800 ou 900 euros avec les chauffeurs de la ville de Luxembourg».

Qui plus est, les journées sont longues. «En moyenne, on a une amplitude de 11h30, et il faut y ajouter les trajets entre la maison et le travail. Et on ne nous paye que 40heures par semaine. Sur les transferts depuis l’aéroport, il arrive qu’on attende deux ou trois heures, si un avion a du retard. Ces heures ne sont pas payées. Bien sûr, on peut toujours laisser le bus et aller au café, mais ce n’est pas l’objectif».

Tant qu’à ne pas être payés, les chauffeurs préféreraient passer ce temps «libre» chez eux. «Et j’ai déjà enchaîné plusieurs semaines de six jours de suite, je n’ai jamais vu les jours de récupération auxquels j’ai droit. Ce n’est pas humain ce qu’on vit. Pourquoi tout le monde a le droit de travailler huit heures, et nous, on a juste le droit de crever dans nos bus».

Jérôme Wiss

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I.M. Jack – the one with arriva

I’d like to apologise for the lengthy delay between posts but as many of you may know by now J’accuse has moved house (physically) and is currently living in quasi-total chaos as a variety of EU workers have been scripted for works in the domus. To cut a long story short my house looks a bit more like a war zone and I have little or no access to blogging space. Anyways, as normally happens, much that is bloggable has been happening in our absence so here is a round up of thoughts in I.M. Jack style:

1.  Akkuza on Tumblr

Thought that I’d remind you that little snippets are always available on the J’accuse Miniblog that can be seen at the foot of the blog main page or on it’s own tumblr homesite at www.akkuza.tumblr.com. If brevity is a form of wit then this version of media commentary and photoblog is the wittiest Malta has to offer. Modestly speaking of course.

2. Arriva?

The eventful launch of the Arriva service would merit a blog post all for itself. Instead we will have to make do with a bullet list of observations:

  • The business of the shifts has exposed the real ċwieċ maltin of Tonio Fenech fame. It did not take an Einstein to guess from the start that Arriva weren’t that stupid as to impose law-breaking 12 hour shifts on employees. They did ask for split shifts – a common enough solution in transport systems that also prevents drivers from being behind the wheel for long stretches (not only for their safety but also for that of passengers). Enter the ċuċ malti who combines with the Times’ quest for village paper reporting (Austin’s source in his “rajtha fuq l-internet”) and you have a threatened “strike” by workers who still have not understood what a split shift is after 6 weeks of training. Bring on the “foreigners” then.
  • There is the usual sense of political exploitation in the Arriva saga. Obviously an Arriva success is considered to be a feather in the government’s cap. Again there is an unofficial Labour position. It is not trumpeted as a party position but there is a general buzz around all the failures that is dying to attribute any slip to GonziPN by vicarious liability. Once again the stupid logic of solving national problems (yes, by our standards an efficient transport system remains a national problem) creates more handicaps than efficiencies. Emmanuel Delia has faded into oblivion following the Bisazza Street gaffe – presumably unable to take the flak as his corner of the feather in the cap turned irremediably sour. Austin Gatt, ever the misunderstood bulldozer was right in saying that miscreant drivers should be sacked but what were they thinking taking them on in the first place? The Labour buzz will be happy with the Times’ Village Newspaper reporting about stranded commuters, mysterious machine break ups, and tattoed drivers fuming about having to wear long sleeves. While that speaks volumes about Labour’s opportunism we are yet to hear some form of encouragement to the whole scheme of improvement of transport from their corner. Does that mean that come Joseph Muscat we will have the yellow chuggers back on the road? One man seems to think so.

3. New “kids” on the blog

Somebody has found something to fill his time and avoid the degeneration of his “boredom threshold”. J’accuse welcomes the belated foray by Lou “Can’t Read” Bondi into the interactive world of blogging. You’ll find the babystep blog here: loubondi.blogspot.com. At least Bondi will finally get some first hand experience at running a blog – and handling the comments (though I am sure he will be just as predictably selective as in other media… but who knows?). It was amusing to watch Lou trying desperately to get his readers to leave comments on the blog and not on facebook…. babysteps indeed.

The first foray with “Hey nigga.. you’re an asshole” was an amusing defence of Malta’s traditional standards of journalism and we were pleased to see that it was in direct contradiction to our take on the Times Journalist vs Snoop Dogg” event as exposed in our Sunday Sermon on the Independent. Of course Bondi would think that the journalist had been disrespected… how could he even begin to fathom the expert publicity stunt that modern day rockers/rappers (superstars) can pull just like that out of a mickey mouse-ish hat?

4. DSK released, Inter prescribed

It turns out that Mr Strauss Kahn was (quite probably) a victim of a frame up. In Italy procuratore Palazzi clearly pointed out that Moratti’s Inter were not the clean virgins they made themselves out to be. They are, in my words, GUILTY AS FCUK. It turns out though that enough time has passed since the decisions in 2006 mysteriously set aside much evidence regarding calls by Facchetti and Moratti to allow the facts to be subject to prescription. Here’s a note for Intercettati fans: Prescribed means that you are still dirty bastards but that the law cannot get you. Like Berlusconi for example.