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Blasphemy and Censorship

I have often been involved in heated discussions about the nature and existence of censorship in our country. Recent PLPN attempts at appeasing the crowd of baying artists who claim to be oppressed when it comes to our censorship laws were often the trigger for such conversations. I tend to hold the opinion that most censorship is in your head and that this, coupled with the need for basic criminal offences that need not be extended to the sphere of the stage (I understand the rationale behind a blasphemy law but not the nonsensical application thereof to a dramatic performance), is where most of our censorship really is.

My suggestion to “provoke” the law and its jurisprudence very often finds the boringly repetitive argument of “it is easy to be a sofa critic” thrown at me. The truth remains though that a large part of our artistic and intellectual community are virtually advocating for some form of nihil obstat from the state – a permission to be naughty. I tend to draw on the tried and tested “provocations” by Banksy as an example but today I’d like to give another historic parallel. Here is an extract from Niall Ferguson’s “Civilisation”, in the hope that it could continue to “provoke” this discussion.

“The revolutions of 1848 were even more widespread. People took to the streets in Berlin, Dresden, Hanover, Karlsruhe, Kassel, Munich, Stuttgart and Vienna, as well as in Milan, Naples, Turin and Venice. It was a revolution led by intellectuals disenchanted above all with the limits imposed on free expression by the royal regimes restored in 1815. Typically, the composer Richard Wagner and the Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin did their bit for the ‘world conflagration’ by plotting to write a blasphemous opera together.

Wagner had, according to his autobiography ‘conceive[d] the plan of a tragedy for the ideal stage of the future, entitled Jesus of Nazareth. Bakunin begged me to spare him any details; and when I sought to win him over to my project a few verbal hints, he wished me luck, but insisted that I must at all costs make Jesus appear as a weak character. As for the music of the piece, he advised me, amid all the variations, to use only one set of phrases, namely: for the tenor, “Off with His head!”; for the soprano, “Hang Him!”; and for the basso continuo, “Fire!, fire”‘. The anecdote nicely captures the overheated spirit of 1848.”

 

The Messenger

Just as all the oohs and aahs were beginning to gain momentum, the government has made it abundantly clear that the Dalli Mater Dei report does not represent an official government position. It might, on the face of it, seem strange that the government is distancing itself from what is definitely turning out to be a damning report of “bad practices under GonziPN”. It is not strange however when you step back and look at it in the general order of how the Taghna Lkoll government functioned – both when in opposition and now that it is in government. Muscat tends to prefer the non-committal policy which is really a non-policy. What happens is that the Labour party gains time acting like some kind of all-encompassing party (Musumeci’s ridiculous concept of “moviment”) and then when it has sussed out what popular opinion is on the subject it goes ahead and claims some kind of ownership of the idea – or ditches it as someone elses.

Taghna Lkoll is still learning that this kind of modus operandi does not always work – just look at the passport for sale fiasco: the turnaround occurred too late since the law had already been enacted and the egg was splashed all over the government’s face and reputation. Dalli’s report, loaded as it is with innuendos of personal vendettas and burdned with the unfinished business in Brussels might still turn out not to be such a smoking gun that does any good to Labour’s purposes. Already the nurses are up in arms (whether rightly or not is another issue) so what does Muscat do? Well, via his metatron the Health Minister he declares that the Dalli report is “not the government’s position”. Next we will have two boards examining the report itself – it’s beginning to sound like an administrative nightmare.

Muscat will not ask you not to shoot the messenger. He’s actually quite happy to put the messenger high on a pedestal and have him as a prime target… deflecting attention from whatever position he may eventually end up taking. What is important is that there is a new spin trying to breathe new life into the idea of “the wastage and corruption under the nationalists”. Still governing by opposition, still unable to actually print that roadmap we heard of so often in the run up to last election.

messenger_AKKUZA

Ich bin ein Malteser

It’s the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination today. Back in 1963 Kennedy was in Berlin addressing a city that had just seen a wall erected by the Soviets in an attempt to curb its citizens freedoms. Kennedy wanted to send out a message, he wanted to encourage the Berliners in their fight for freedom and to show them that they are not alone – that they had the solidarity of the whole of the west.

To underline that sense of solidarity and oneness through freedom, Kennedy chose the famous phrase “Ich bin ein Berliner”. Here is how the President put it:

“Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was civis romanus sum [“I am a Roman citizen”]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is “Ich bin ein Berliner!”… All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words “Ich bin ein Berliner!””

The sense of pride of being a citizen of Rome in 60 A.D. or of Berlin in 1963 was underlined by the set of values that being a citizen of a certain nation (or city-state – hence, “citizen”) represented. Kennedy was tying the sense of Berlin-ness to the sense of freedom that the West was meant to encapsulate (not always too well) in the times of the Cold War. Granted, he did end up saying that he was a doughnut (ein Berliner) but that was more due to grammatical shortcomings than anything else.

I wonder what resonance the phrase “Ich bin ein Malteser” would have nowadays. The pictogram below shows four possible ideas that might have sprung to mind in jest or seriously should you have stated that phrase to a passer-by in Frankfurt for example.

malteser

 

An aficionado of canines might think of the “Maltese dog“, a sweet tooth might think of the chocolates, a traveller yearning for sun and sea might have thought of that poster he saw at the travel agent. Germans would also think of the Order of Malta’s relief agency that is present on German streets. That was before our government decided to turn salesman and sell citizenship over the counter as though it were pastizzi or hobz biz-zejt. Without any shadow of doubt, as those of us who work in international environments have discovered much to our chagrin, the instinctive reply now would be “How much for your passport?”

You see, our salesman in Miami either has not grasped this fact or just prefers to ignore it. “Jiena Malti”, “Ich bin Malteser”, “Sono Maltese”, “I am Maltese”, “Je suis Maltais” … it has lost that proud ring to it. It’s not only a matter of pride for pride itself. It’s also about meaning and values. What does being Maltese mean nowadays? Enterprising? Welcoming? Jovial? Sunny?

The sale of passports – no matter how refined – ends up becoming an even further denigration of all that is Maltese. Standing by and justifying such a sale with a “cosi fan tutti” attitude is only symptomatic of how devalued our sense of citizenship has become. Ironically only 8 months after a campaign that banked hugely on the concept of “being Maltese” we find the very idea of citizenship and belonging being eroded at a rapid pace.

50 years ago to this day JFK died in suspicious circumstances. His spirit and yearning for a free and better world did not die with him. I strongly doubt whether we can really say “Ich bin ein Malteser” today and feel just as involved and in solidarity with the struggle for a better world.

 

Noti waqt elezzjoni tal-KSJC*

Kull sena meta tasal l-elezzjoni ghall-Ezekuttiv tal-Kunsill Studenti Universitarji nispicca nirraguna ma xi hadd dwar sistemi rapprezentativi u l-“winner takes all” tal-elezzjonijiet. Kull sena ma nikkonkludux wisq filwaqt li xi ghaqda politika minnhom “tkaxkar” is-siggijiet tal-ezekuttiv.

Dalghodu tellajt sentenza fuq facebook wara li rajt li kemm Luciano Busuttil kif ukoll Joseph Cuschieri kienu qed iheggu l-istudenti biex jivvutaw ghall-ghaqda PULSE. Ikkumentali Mark Vella u wegibtu b’serje ta’ kummenti li issa sincerament ghajjejt nirrepetihom. (*U wara li gibidli l-attenzjoni Philip Leone-Ganado indunajt li l-invit ta’ Cuschieri u Busuttil kien ghall-elezzjoni fil-KSJC – dan kollu li nghid hawn xorta japplika ghal KSU, fil-kaz ta’ KSJC hag’ohra, jiena nemmen li l-politika qatt ma ghandha tasal sa’ livelli post-sekondarji).

L-esperiment tal-istatut tal-KSU ma rnexxiex sa’ l-ahhar. Ma rnexxiex ghaliex l-indhil tal-partiti baqa jizdied u ma rnexxiex ghax l-immagni li tinghata hija wahda annwali ta’ xi glieda PLPN fil-mikrokozmu ta’ tal-Qroqq. Pero irnexxa f’hafna oqsma ohra. Kont fuq il-Kampus xi gimaghtejn ilu u rajt kampus  biezel – hafna hwienet vera – pero wara l-bibien tal-kuriduri t’isfel ta’ Dar l-iStudent smajt lil min qed ihabrek ghall-ghaqda tieghu, rajt noticeboards mifqugha avvizi u rajt hafna u hafna ideat iduru. Wara l-istorbju tal-influenza partitarja hemm hafna qed isir u dan ukoll grazzi ghal strutturi tal-KSU il-gdid (issa ghaddew 17-il sena imma ejja nahsbu li l-esperiment ghadu ghaddej) li bejn kontroversja u ohra hadem u halla lil min jahdem. Wara l-akkuzi u l-ghajjat ta’ partit u oppozizzjoni hemm min jibqa jtektek u ghaddej fil-hajja universitarja tieghu itella eventi u jirrprezenta filwaqt li jista jserrah fuq dak il-monolit li huwa l-eqdem kunsill raprezentattiv fl-ewropa.

Inhallikom bit-test tad-diskursata (vera iktar qisa monologu tieghi imma insomma), u nittama li jekk (bhal kull sena) ikun hemm x’tiddiskuti dan isir b’mod infurmat u minghajr wisq pregudizzji.

stipendjishah1

JRZ FB STATUS : Luciano Busuttil and Joseph Cuschieri would vote PULSE. Just so you know where your vote should be going …
#studentrepresentation #notomanipulation

MV Naħseb aħjar tikkampanja għal KSU aktar rappreżentattiv u mhux monopartitiku totalitarju kif inhu bis-sistema tal-lum

JRZ Perswaz li tahseb hekk. Kif ukoll perswaz li l-KPS hija manifestazzjoni cara ta rapprezentanza wiregha mahsuba ghat-trasparenza fit-tfassil tal-politika studenteska.

MV Ma nafx x’inhi l-KPS. Imma KSU ideali, bħal ma huwa Parlament ideali għalija, huwa korp proporzjonalment rappreżentattiv tal-ilħna kollha fl-Università, u mhux winner takes all li jispiċċa jirriproduċi l-partitokrazija ‘tal-kbar’.

JRZ Iva Mark, u bhalek hafna ohra ma semghux bil-KPS u xorta juzaw termini bhal “sistema monopartitiku totalitarju” u “winner takes all”. Il-verità (u l-ironija) hi li s-sistema mahsuba proprja fuq zewg principji importantissimi li huma ir-rapprezentanza u l-partecipazzjoni. Meta inhasbet is-sistema il-gdida tal-KSU, din kienet hsieb radikali u kienet mfassla proprju bl-idea li kemm jista jkun l-“indhil barrani” partitarju ma jibqax hemm, specjalment fit-tfassil ta’ kull politika li mahsuba li tirraprezenta l-istudenti.

Il-KSU ma hux biss l-ezekuttiv izda (u qed nghid dan minghajr ma nikkonsidra xi tbaghbis li seta sar mill-1996 ‘l hawn) huwa maghmul minn grupp ta’ organi rapprezentattivi – kull wiehed b’rwol car u specifiku.

Il-KPS (Kummissjoni Politika Socjali) thaddan fiha kull ghaqda u organizzazzjoni politika u mhux li hemm fil-kampus u ghandha rwol li tohloq u thejji pozizzjonijiet politici fuq kull qasam extra-kurrikulari. Meta thaddmet sew il-KPS harget b’pozizzjonijiet politici cari u determinanti (speci ta’ set ta’ principji) – ghadni kburi hafna bil-pozizzjoni li hadet il-KSU a bazi ta’ dokument tal-KPS qabel l-elezzjoni tal-1998. Huwa il-KPS li jiggarantixxi l-idea ta’ Parlament u li sahansitra lanqas ma hu proporzjonali fis-sens li kull ghaqda ghandha vot – jekk xejn dan huwa shortcoming illi kellu jiddahhal. Idealment jigi elett proporzjonalment ukoll organu bhal dan.

Il-KE (Kummissjoni Edukazzjoni) hija organu iehor li fiha tigbor awtomatikament ir-rapprezentanti akkademici kollha tal-istudenti (Faculty Reps u Senat u Kunsill). Ghal darb’ohra din tfassal politika li tirraprezenta l-wesgha kollha studenteska.

Ir-ras tas-sistema, kif ukoll il-magna hija l-ezekuttiv. Dan inholoq bit-tir li jhaddem politika maghmula mill-KE u KPS. Ma johloqx politika imma jwettaqa. Il-falliment tas-sistema kien (u ghadu) li l-organi ma jintuzawx kif suppost – b’mod partikolari l-ezekuttiv u l-elezzjoni ghall-membri tieghu. Dan jigri minhabba l-indhil tal-partiti politici li minghalihom qed jaghmlu xi gid meta jibdew idarru liz-zghar bil-metodi meskini taghhom. Ma tlumx l-istudenti f’ghaqdiet bhal SDM u PULSE illum li jaraw din bhala xi fast track ghal kandidatura jew xi post “fil-partit”. It-telliefa hija r-rapprezentanza studenteska iva. Mhux tort tas-sistema tort tal-“indhil”. L-istudenti ftit li xejn qatt irnexxielhom jeghlbu din il-gibda lejn il-partiti (zmienna kien eccezzjoni lampanti nahseb u malajr ghebet).

Illum ghandek lil Luciano u lil Joseph jtellghu fb status li kieku jivvutaw PULSE. Malli tellajt dan l-istatus jien gie retweetjat minn David Agius ghax minghalih li qed niehu sehem f’xi battalja diviziva u nilghab il-loghba tal-PLPN fil-grawnd ta’ tal-Qroqq. Dejjem jghiduli li diska mkissra din tal-PLPN, pero iktar ma jghaddi zmien iktar nahseb li hija realtà u qed ninghata ragun.

J’alla l-istudenti jivvutaw ezekuttiv kompetenti li kapaci johloq sinergija mal-kummissjonijiet u tabilhaqq jirraprezenta l-istudent l-ewwel u qabel kollox. U din ma hix retorika.

 

Image

The Pale Blue Dot

earth_satellite

“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”

– extract from Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot, A Vision of the Human Future in Space.

Listen to Carl Sagan read it here.

 

A fronte praecipitium

b84ea94709bbd73c53c3bccc7d69374b659589499-1346654486-50445116-620x348Ilbieraħ filgħaxija tajt daqqa t’għajn fuq ir-RAI wara li spiċċat il-logħba bejn Franza u Ukrajna. Kont ilni ma nara Porta a Porta u bqajt għal xi ħin insegwi il-programm li kien dwar it-traġedja li għada kif seħħet ġewwa Sardinja u l-ħerba li ħalliet warajha iċ-ċiklun Cleopatra.

It-taljani għandhom ħabta jissporprendu f’dawn is-sitwazzjonijiet – speċjalment x’ħin toħroġ dik il-mentalita simili ħafna għal dik Maltija li hija taħlita bejn l-istennija li “l-awtoritajiet” jieħdu ħsieb kollox u r-reazzjoni korollarja li twaħħal f’xi ħadd anki f’dak li huwa meqjus fil-ġiri tal-assigurazzjoni bħala “Xogħol t’Alla” (Act of God). Milux wisq li qorti taljan weħħlet pieni ħorox lil grupp ta’ meterjologi u sejsmologi li skond din il-qorti ma kienux bassru biżżejjed it-terremoti ġewwa l-Abruzzo.

Fuq Porta a Porta ilbieraħ laqtuni żewġ aspetti tad-diskors. L-ewwel waħda kienet proprju dwar it-tbassir. Fejn tobsor? U iktar minn hekk, meta tobsor? Bejn żoni akwiferi, xmajjar, terremoti u iktar, Lo Stivale huwa pjuttost lotterija tax-xorti f’dak li għandu x’jaqsam mal-possibilitajiet ta’ traġedji naturali. Kif qalu xi kelliema wieħed irid jaċċetta id-destin inevitabbli li xi darba jew oħra ser ikun hemm terremot jew kif sejħu l-alluvjoni – bomba tal-ilma. Iktar importanti huwa il-mument meta wieħed jitfa allerta (warning) u jibda jieħu miżuri preventivi immedjati.

U dan kien bużillis kbir. Ġewwa l-iStati Uniti nisimgħu ħafna bi stat ta’ allert fejn il-karozzi ma jitħallewx jiċċirkolaw u servizzi pubbliċi ikunu minimi. Jew isir evakwazzjoni jew in-nies jintalbu jibqgħu id-dar. Anki fi Franza, illum stess smajt bil-belt ta’ Saint Etienne li minħabba li kienet ġejja xeba’ borra tqiegħdet f'”Alet Orange” u twaqqfu bosta servizzi. L-Italja milli jidher ma jsegwux wisq dawn l-allerti u minkejja li kellhom bosta ħin jippreparaw għall-agħar minħabba li l-pulizija ċivili kienu taw l-allert bosta ħin qabel, komplew qisu xejn ma hu xejn.

Dan l-aspett laqatni. Sindku ta’ wieħed miż-żoni milquta staqsa jekk għandhomx iwaqqfu kollox kull darba li jkun hemm alarm. Skejjel, servizzi u toroq. Riflessjoni importanti din. X’ħin tqabbel mad-diliġenza Amerikana, Franċiża jew Tedeska din ir-riluttanza Taljana li jieħu passi preventivi kemm biex ma jtellifx ġurnata xogħol hija stramba wisq.

It-tieni aspett li laqatni kien li l-Italja, bħall Malta, għandha problema li ilha ġejja mill-ħamsinijiet. Jibnu fil-widien u ma jaħsbux f’riskji futuri.

Id-domanda tiegħi hi din. Apparti early warning system, issa li t-temp qed jiħrax (grazzi Mr Global Warming) u li l-possibilta ta’ ċikluni bħal dik li laqtet Sardinja olqtu pajjiżna dejjem se tiżdied, qed isir xi pjanar iktar konkret li jnvolvi ukoll edukazzjoni taċ-ċittadini? L-awtoritajiet lesti jibdew jagħtu parir biex in-nies jibqgħu ġewwa u jevitaw ħafna telf inutli ta’ ħajjiet?

Din m’hix kwistjoni politika. Dan bżonn uman u immedjat. Issa qabel ma nispiċċaw quddiem preċipizju b-lupu warajna.

A fronte praecipitium, a tergo lupi.