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Marriage (Behind Closed Doors)

Our “President Emeritus” (sic – the Times)  hath spoken: “It is good we are still bound to the principle that marriage is for life and we should be proud of this” – quoth he. Dr Fenech Adami reminded the world that marriage was a contract that bound the individuals for life and this was the principle at stake in the divorce debate. More importantly he rubbished the very strong pro-divorce argument that Malta only has the Philippines as it’s divorce-less partner (should I say wife?).

If you believed men like our “President Emeritus” you’d probably believe that the pro-divorce movement is only in favour of introducing divorce in order to be like others and not for the simple reason that they consider the right to marriage to essentially mean the right to a happy marriage in the long run.

Of course every marriage has its ups and downs but the Vatican-Malta-Philippine triangle would have it that no matter how “down” is “down” in that ups and downs bit, the “till death do us part” has to trump every other consideration. Fenech Adami is right – the basic principle at stake is the whole concept of indissolubility – marriage is marriage for life. Like giving animals as presents: it’s not just for Christmas/weddings but for life.

We all know that being pro-divorce does not mean wanting to better the Philippines or the Vatican State. It means opening a door to those people whose marriage has irretrievably broken down. It means a fresh start. It may not be a civil right in the strict sense of the term but living a happy marriage is an essential building block that inspires many of the civil rights recognised universally. Hiding behind closed doors while the broken couples continue to experience hideous realities without ever seeing a breakthrough is what Fenech Adami is proud of.

In terms of civil rights you can call it sweet F.A.

I wonder what the “President Emeritus” would make of this front page story on l-Orizzont:

TEJPS JĦINU SEPARAZZJONI
Il-Qorti tal-Familja laqgħet it-talba ta’ mara għas-separazzjoni minn ma’ żewġha, wara li fost oħrajn semgħet tejps li fihom ir-raġel jinstema’ jidgħi u joffendi lil martu. It-tejps kienu rrekordjati minn oħt il-mara li toqgħod fl-istess triq t’oħtha.

Il-mara talbet għas-separazzjoni għax skont hi żewġha ma kienx jistmaha. Skont hi, wara xahrejn miżżewġin huwa faqa’ l-bieb tal-kamra tal-banju, tliet snin wara kisser il-bieb tal-kamra tas-sodda u jumejn wara t-tkissir tal-bieb beda jkisser affarijiet fil-‘wall unit’.

B’kollox qalet li bidlet il-bieb tal-kamra tal-banju tliet darbiet, is-siġġijiet tal-kċina darbtejn u l-ħġieġ tal-‘wall unit’ kemm-il darba.Hija sostniet li binhom kien iqum bil-lejl jibki tant li kellha tieħdu għand il-professur li qalilha li binha kellu biża’ kbira.

Minbarra hekk sostniet li żewġha kien jheddi­dha li joqtolha, jqattagħha, jitfagħha f’għalqa u ħadd ma jsibha, li kien joffendiha b’ommha mej­ta u li kienet tarah f’għalqa ta’ ħuh ma’ tfajla u li darba sabitlu qalziet ta’ mara li ma kienx tagħha. Hija ppreżentat ukoll ittra li r-raġel tagħha allega­tament kiteb lil turista Ġermaniża fejn jgħi­dilha li jħobbha.

Fil-kawża xehdu wkoll xi ġirien, fosthom familjari tal-mara, li lkoll qalu li kienu jisimgħu lir-raġel jidħol lura d-dar fis-sakra u kienu jisimgħuh jidgħi, jgħajjas, isabbat u jitkellem ħażin. Fost dawn kien hemm oħtha li ippreżentat it-‘tapes’ fejn ir-raġel jinstema joffendi lil oħtha.

Xhud importanti kien it-tifel tal-koppja fejn dan qal li sa minn meta kellu sitt snin jiftakar lil missieru jirritorna d-dar fis-sakra, jidgħi, isabbat u jkisser. It-tifel qal li huwa kien jiekol fil-kamra tiegħu għax kien jibża’ jinżel isfel minħabba missieru u li missieru kien jgħajjru, joffendih u anke jgaralu l-affarijiet. (continue reading here)

Tinkwetax hanini. Ahseb kemm hemm nisa bhalek fil-Filippini. Dawk ukoll ghandhom kont il-bank biex ihallsu ghall-bibien. U meta tisma’ r-ragel jidghi ghid talba ghar-ruhu u ghal min ghandu mejjet.. fejn taf forsi ghad xi darba jilluminawhom lil tal-Vatikan?

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Fishponds and Circuses

As far as virals go nothing could be more remotely uninteresting than the bland anti-circus promo that is going around on Facebook. Thank god for creative fellas like Cedric Vella who has breathed some life and humour into the whole thing using good old satyre and a remix. Blogger Markbiwwa alerted us to the alternative version while Mona is moaning about the original back at her hut while doing a Mrs Slocombe, stroking her pussy. We did think that Daphne’s definition of fishpondism was very apt for much of the local scene. Here’s one that wins this months trophy: The One About the Celebs doing the Circus Animal Thingy Protest.

No blogs were harmed in the making of this post. Time to plug the Blogs of Malta network that is back up and running.

The Original

The Remix (Cedric Vella)

Information Overload?

The Subtle Roar of Online Whistle-blowing: Jul...
Image by New Media Days via Flickr

Wikileaks. It’s on everyone’s lips and laptops and risks becoming the first real flicker of life in some rudimentary form of global democracy. Or not. Until recently social collaboration and networking had their strongest point in the immediacy of transmission of information. Students rallied in record time and revolutions of the oppressed could be masterminded and managed over twitter and other social networks. Local (and national) scenarios have for some time included information centres that set up as an alternative to the traditional MSM and provide different information to the realities being spun in accordance to tradition (or requirements of the centres of power).

Enter Wikileaks and controversial founder Julian Assange. The man is now the subject of a virtual death warrant. It’s actually an arrest warrant by interpol issued on the basis of an allegation of rape. The timing of the arrest warrant could not have been better fuel for conspiracy theorists – it comes at a moment when Wikileaks is busy embarrassing the world’s largest superpower (at least military). Having said that it is interesting to observe the different stakeholders in the battleground over information sources. Amazon has just dumped Wikileaks from its servers : a clear sign of “go it alone baby”. While the leaking of diplomatic cables and information has been described as life threatening it is also prudent to wonder who or what benefits from these leaks exactly.

In a clearly functioning democracy, of the separation of powers kind, new information thrown into the public domain by third parties can serve to uncover the ruthlessness or corruption that might be setting in at the top. How does that work in a quasi-anarchic global system? Is outing American notions on Berlusconi’s lascivious entertainment preferences of benefit to anyone? I am sure it is but the question is to whom? To the Italian electorate? To the US electorate? And what message does it send to someone in (spin the wheel)… Tajikistan?

The question I am asking here is not so much the black or white “Is the Wikileaks good or bad?” but rather whether such random leakage actually has an effect beyond the sensational. Sure the press will have a free run for a while and the diplomatic centres around the world will have a new topic on their social agenda. Spies have been rendered redundant for a while (a very short while) and so on. But is Assange justified in stating that he has made the US in any way more accountable? On a more local (or national, pace Tonio) scenario you could compare the leaks to the random bandying of information on government contracts: sometimes the bull is hit and things get going. Most times the allegations and hunches serve simply to get the press heated for a little while. My concern is more on how a leak could be channelled to be less of a leak and more of a substantiated form of information that can hit where it hurts if necessary.

Otherwise leaks will just do what leaks always do… create a mess for which nobody is prepared to take responsibility and ones that nobody is prepared to fix. And we’ve got enough of that kind of shit on our hands.

addendum:

From Wikileaks: Lack of Information isn’t the problem (Steve Richards, Independent) :

Their words are reported in the brightest of colours because they were not written for public consumption. A locked door is open. As we look inside we discover that one of the revelations about the Wikileaks publications is that they are not revelatory. They confirm publicly available information and take us behind the scenes, like a tour of a theatre for an audience that has already seen the production. If the stories of recent days are reversed, they would have been mind-blowing exclusives: “Mervyn King called for increases in public spending!”; “Israel relaxed about Iran’s nuclear ambitions!” Instead, the mechanism of a leak generates excitement over predictable and unsurprising information. In this case the leak is on such a gargantuan scale that the intake of breath is even greater. But it is the mechanism that is sensational, not the words that arrive as a result.


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The Confines of the Internet

I was assailed  by a sad thought while contemplating the shopping strategy for the purchase of the Secret Santa present at the work Christmas lunch. Without hesitating for even a second I had already subconsciously calculated that I would be in time to order the product – whatever it was – over the internet. And that was the sad part. Convenience had finally trumped over trudging through cold and ice and wading through a human mass of consumers. I would sit lazily at a console (the cool word that fits laptop, desktop or handheld equally) and browse the shopping halls and alleys of the ether.

I shall search, yes, but not indiscriminately and serendipitally as I would do at the Trier or Metz Christmas market. My mind will focus on particular, specific products and thanks to the google hegemony (bing? what’s that?) I shall be directed to outlets of choice and be a few clicks away from my final purchase. The only obstacle I might have is to be found in the physical delivery of the goods. Pauly the Postman might be stuck behind piles of snow or some last minute strike just in time for the festive season. There might also be one of the usual misunderstandings between web and real world such as DHL refusing to leave the package with the Pack Up Delivery system at the local post office because I am not there to receive it (which totally defeats the purpose).

The internet may have opened new horizons of practicality with its ever open, ever available and ever stocked markets but it has taken something out of the magic of Christmas shopping. So this Christmas, even if you plan most of your shopping on the net, do dedicate a day to good old fashioned Christmas adventure – take the kids out to Republic Street and let them marvel at the atmosphere and music. Buy them a couple of warm “imqaret” on the way in, run them from one shop to the other like there is no tomorrow and if possible “lose” them … yes, lose them, for a few minutes until they can see the Christmas lights through the tears forming in their eyes just before you scoop them to safety.

It may sound cruel, but it’s the kind of nostalgic experience that  they will surely remember when they grow up – not your office chair and bedside slippers as you click “Add to Cart” and fill up Santa’s Trolley.

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Fo & Disinformation

We’ve had a busy day here in Luxemsnow. In lieu of the daily post I’m sharing an old video of Dario Fo describing the current society of “disinformation”. Normal service will be resumed shortly. “Non si va mai a delle cose vitali…”

An early lament on the death of investigative journalism.