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€672,037 – Finance this?

It’s been a great day for charity. The combined powers of PLPN have raised over half a million euros to cover the expenses of their ailing and needy houses. Who needs a law on party financing when the nation can practically give €1.50 per capita to the most needy among us? Of course that is how the PLPN fund their mini-chains of shame – also known as Archaic Party Propaganda Machines for the 21st Century. The OneTV and Net enterprises would have long shut down elsewhere but still need the emergency donations in this country of ours. For crying out loud. It’s Christmas time. We’ve repeated it every year – there is nothing more that betrays the crass insensitivity of the two political parties than this facetious appeal for funds year in year out. Thank God Joseph Muscat forwent €120,000 of honoraria ara…. I read somewhere that Dr Gonzi described the PN house as everybody’s home… a donation to PN would be like helping build one’s home. How we fail to see this as a reason to sit down and weep is beyond me.

The Currency of Salaries

Joseph Muscat has renounced the right to a salary increase that is due to him after a decision taken in parliament in 2008. Apparently half the parliament was unaware of this decision – a side-issue that begs the question of “Where the f**k were the guardians of the opposition benches that day?” Even if we do grant the point of temporary lapse of attention to the totality of the opposition benches what we have here is an opposition leader and two of his party MPs deciding to not take the salary increase (honorarium).

***ADDENDUM***
Since we have no problem admitting where we were wrong, there is no “side-issue” to speak of. The decision for the new honoraria was apparently a Cabinet decision and not one taken in parliament – though we still harbour doubts about whether or not a law has to be changed for it to come into effect. The answer to our hypothetical question (Where the f was labour?) is therefore “not in the Cabinet”. We stand by the rest of our argument though – the scale of salaries is not a measure for assessing politicians’ performance. If it were so, 100% of the people who have moved to work with the institutions in Europe would theoretically make better parliamentarians. An AST1 (entry level grade) earns as much as a local (national for Privitelli) MP.
***

Cool. Sort of. As in while you can immediately understand how this latest gimmick fits in with New Labour’s fetish with salaries (remember the PQ about people earning more than the President) it is hard to reconcile this position of abnegation with anything beyond the making of a puerile point. They’re waiting for us to say it. Just in time for Christmas: would you dare criticise Labour’s leader for not pocketing extra MP dosh?

Well. The answer is Yes. J’accuse Can. For the argument we made back when the presidential PQ was posed still holds strong. It is not how much you are paid that is really important but the respect you gain by justifying whatever salary it is and doing your damn job. Even if Joseph Muscat were to suddenly get a bout of fantastic altruism and half his salary I don’t give a flying copulation. It is what he is doing while warming that chair in parliament as a representative of the people’s alternative to government that counts. I will judge him by his programmes and projects and NOT by his salary.

His alternative budget was ludicrous and only won some points because of Bondi’s hash of a programme – Bondi’s slip was Muscat’s gain in public perception. Which did not mean that Muscat’s grandiose faff that is an excuse for future planning will actually work. Meanwhile Muscat’s minions are busy on facebook reminding us how the Great Leader forwent so many euros increase from the mouths of his own babes in order to save 120,000€ that can now be spent on childcare or some other fantasmagorical mental masturbatory pink socialist idea.

The truth is that it won’t. -be spent on childcare, or on a new sleigh for Santa or whatever they might dream of in Mile End. Money spending and planning is called budgeting and that is up to the government of the day to do. To get to even write the budget you have to be elected to government. With a plan. A concrete one that does not involve not putting money in one’s pockets like some latter day St Nicholas but rather involves ideas on how our economy can survive the current climate and hopefully how money can be justly distributed into the pockets of the hard working and the deserving.

So. Bravo for Joseph for foregoing the salary increase voted by parliament. He seems to be of the type who revel in a warm round of applause and gasps of awe at his magnanimity. It is a pity that his performance as the generator of alternative government remains dismally hopeless for those who care to look beyond the antics of the latest trend in salary scale gimmicks.

Per Una Lira
(originale di Lucio Battisti – versione youtube di Giuliano Palma & the Bluebeaters)

Per una lira
io vendo tutti i sogni miei
per una lira
ci metto sopra pure lei
E un affare sai
basta ricordare
di non amare
di non amare
Amico caro,
se c’è qualcosa che non va
se ho chiesto troppo,
tu dammi pure la metà
A un affare sai
basta ricordare
di non amare, no
di non amare
no, no, no, nooo
Per una lira
io vendo tutto ciò che ho
Per una lira
io so che lei non dice no
Ma se penso che
Tu sei un buon amico
non te lo dico oh no
Meglio per te

Snow (mobile report)

It’s been an incredible night. At around 1700 hours yesterday an incessant fall of snow started to cover the Grand Duchy. Within an hour it was absolute chaos. I could follow it from my vantage point in my office in Kirchberg which overlooks a main artery of the rush-hour traffic. My colleagues and I were blocked in the office till we ventured out at around 2200 hour and managed to get home safely.

What has been impressive is not the ten centimetres of snow that have coated the country and paralysed transport to and from Luxembourg (trains still working though) but the sight of hundreds of people walking with one arm raised and a mobile device in their hands happily snapping away at the event. On such occasions, as Malta has shown with its recent floods, the nation becomes one whole mobile reporter. This photo of mine of a bus in distress blocking the main road made it to L’essentiel.

It took my dad (over to Luxembourg for a short visit) two and a half hours to fly to Frankfurt from Malta and nine hours of bus to get to Luxembourg. That’s 2010’s White Christmas for you.

Personality of the Year (nominations)

For the third year running, this blog is selecting the “J’accuse Personality of the Year”. This may not be the TIME magazine but in our own little world we like to see which personality has struck our news critting minds most between January 2010 and December 2010. The rules are like a party political manifesto : vague and ambiguous. J’accuse will consider one man, many men, an event, an object or even an idea as being the Personality of the Year. Remember… personalities go a long way… both positive and negative so let your minds go wild. Here’s a few ideas from our laboratory:

1. The Flying Saucer (aka Plategate):

At the origin of a whirlwind in both internet and traditional media, the mother of all battles is still running in court. Will Plategate manage to eclipse the rest as the not so silent personality of the year? It’s a favourite in our laboratory for the storm in a teacup that hit the island around March. (Odds: Evens)

2. The Navel Gazer (aka Where’s Everybody?):

They’ve ended the year in style. The Broadcasting Authority has virtually described Bondi’s + as being both unfair and unprofessional. (To everyone’s surprise Bondi stated that “in the one instance in which the BA ruled against the programme it was completely wrong.”)  Meanwhile Peppi appears on a viral vid telling the world that “my bed is my tojlet”. They’ve baffled us with their choices on National TV and have provided the poor man’s philosophy of  “xarabankism”. Will Bondi’s ability to live in denial and in an alternate world be sufficient to make him and his friends Master of His Own Universe? A rank outsider. (Odds: 4/11)

3. The Bandwagonistas (aka Divorce à-la-carte)

Where to begin? Is it JPO and his bill? Is it the unconditional surrender to the Way of the Referendum? Is it the MPO wanting a bit of the Private Member’s Bill? Is it Inhobbkom J tagging along having been beaten in the first race? Is it President Emeritus EFA telling us that this is all about wanting to be different to those damn Filipinos? Will JPO feature in this year’s prize for the third year running? A bumbling racehorse. (Odds: 11/1)

4. The Hot Hot Summer (aka Boiler no. 5)

Was it no. 5? It sure was a winner this summer with it’s On Again Off Again approach. For a fleeting moment it shot through the popularity charts but like Halley’s Comet it might not be around for a very long while. Or at least until next summer. A hot one. (Odds 50/1)

5. The There’s No Smoke (aka BWSC)

It’s dragged on long enough with highs and lows for both government and opposition. Now that in the midst of a global wikileak furore we have managed to get the attention of the Israelites (there’s no real conspiracy theory if it does not involve Jews at some point is there?) there may be a case for the Bateman Saga to pitch its own tent among the Personality events of the year. Let’s face it… first prize going to Master Bateman would be funny if nothing else. Smokey. (Odds 23/10)

6. Holy Men (aka the Catholics)

Dan Brown showed Umberto Eco that conspiracy theories can very well survive without the circumcised being involved. This prize would go to the ups and downs of our own Catolicissimi from Gonzi to Grech via Benedict. Whether it’s condoms at University or condoms for life you’ll find them there. They’re egging the world on for an indissoluble marriage and tut-tutting at anything that isn’t kosher. It’s 2010 and they’re still the main protagonists. Blessed. (Odds 75/3)

7. The Fourth Estate (aka the media)

With a pinch of self-irony and a strong dose of mea culpa will J’accuse be prepared to award the Personality of the Year to the whole bloody lot of them for their willing connivance in the treacherous act of abdication from responsibility. Do you agree? Spinning. (Odds 100/5)

8. Agostino Pio Gatt (aka Minister my Minister)

The man who takes on the impossible single-handedly has both shone and stank in 2010. From the merits of strong negotiations to the murky questions still hanging on BWSC he has never been away from the limelight. The latest faux pas is the new attempt to prolong his heritage: for after he is gone he has anointed nothing less than Mr Huge vs Intellectual Potential to be his successor. Heaven forbid. (Odds: 200/1)

9. Don Quixote de la Sleepa (aka Franco Debono)

The rough renegade continues his battle on party financing and parliamentary reform unabashed. Whether you buy his ideas for what they are or whether you read the conspiracy theory of another in-house PN battle there’s something about Franco that is more and more convincing. Will this be enough for him to win the coveted prize? Tough. (Odds 60/7).

10. The Troll (aka the self-appointed “Blogger)

Thanks to the ignorance of the hacks at the Times, it would seem that the term Blogger still describes persons who the rest of the world calls “commentators” or more often than not “trolls”. They’re the annoying freaks who believe that the right of expression means that their expression is inevitably right. They’re everywhere (thankfully a bit less here than elsewhere – but that’s class you know) . Should we vote them in or rather vote them out?

Those are just some ideas. Feel free to add more to the list.

J’accuse Personality of the Year… int taf x’jfisser!

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Bażar (A. Olivari)

Being so close to Italy and italianate forms of entertainment it is strange that this island of ours has not absorbed more of its more interesting forms of culture. The Italians have that culture of singing poets – cantautori – who entertain and challenge at the same time. Their ballads and music are snapshots of society and sometimes a reminder of what is going on – when everything else is going by too quickly and has not time to reflect. J’accuse is proud to bring to you one of Malta’s kantawturi of the 21st century: Antonio Olivari. A former blogger, Olivari has kindly shared this song from l-Ghanja tal-Poplu 2010. We love the lyrics and we love the tune.  Scroll down to the bottom to enjoy the sound…

Bażar

Inbigħ il-ħin ta’ ħajti għal salarju fix-xahar
Biex naqta’ xi ftit mid-dejn li għandi fuq id-dar
Inpartat id-dawl tax-xemx ma’ tubu qisu ta’ sptar
Jibqa’ sagħtejn kuljum libertà

…Inbigħ l-ambjent u l-art li għadhom mhux mittifsin
U l-arja nadifa tmur biex insuq u ntir
Ma’ żjara miraklu ntik xi toroq, ma jibqgħux imkissrin
L-aqwa li hemm il-kumdità

Inbigħ id-daħka minn ġol-mezzi tax-xandir
Riklam li jwiegħdek ġenna bil-kliem u l-viżwal fin
Il-gwerra l-isbaħ avventura fuq l-iskrin
L-attur li dejjem jirbaħ, joqtol lill-ħażin

Inbigħ il-kors li ħadt; studjajt u għaddejt dritt
Biex kumpannija tkompli żżid fuq il-profitt
Inpartat l-għerf ma’ kemm jirnexxili nkun fitt
F’kollox irrid il-kwantità

Inbigħ dil-melodija fuq ir-radjijiet
Il-vjaġġ ta’ wara l-ħajja f’kanzunetti tal-Milied
Inbigħ il-ferħ tat-tifkiriet li saru rmied
U magħhom se ntik verità

Kollox sar qligħ u sibna il-qiegħ tal-povertà

* Bazar – written by Antonio Olivari. Singer at the Ghanja tal-Poplu is Justin Galea.