On 10th March 2005 (8.25 pm) the first edition of J'accuse appeared on the internet. It was entitled "the Kinnie Generation" and was a trip into the unknown. Over two years J'accuse has garnered a little corner of faithful readers, interested observers and its fair share of critics. We look forard to many more years of blogging and hopefully increasing the role of blogging in Malta.

Today, Saturday 10th March 2007, on the occasion of it's second anniversary this blog is moving. No further content will be posted on the blogger version of J'accuse (http://akkuza.blogspot.com). All new content will now be added on the Wordpress version (http://jaccuse.wordpress.com).

We thank you for the over 100,000 visits since inception and hope that you will be moving with us to our new home. Do not forget to update your aggregators or subscribe by email to the new j'accuse address in the new site here.

You've come a long way baby!

Thank you.

Last one out switch off the lights.

1. Moving Tomorrow
As if you have not already seen enough of these. This is another administrative notice for those who haave not been checking in for some time. As of tomorrow, Saturday 10th March, I will no longer be posting on the blogger versions of J'accuse, Kinnie & Twistees, the Laughing Fit, Postform and neither will GS be posting on Il Bollettino.

You are kindly requested to point your Favourites Bookmarks, RSS Feeders or daily browsing to the following addresses so as to continue to savour the daily enjoyment that is afforded by these sites:

J'accuse:
http://jaccuse.wordpress.com

Kinnie & Twistees:
http://kinnietwistees.wordpress.com

The Laughing Fit:
http://thelaughingfit.wordpress.com

Postform:
http://postform.wordpress.com

Il Bollettino della Sfi*a:
http://ilbollettinodellasfiga.wordpress.com

If you do not have an aggregator or do not know what it is I suggest you take a trip to Bloglines or RSS Bandit or or those who like to pay Newsgator. Then come back!

2. ARCHIVES & COMMENTS
The transfer of the blogs has not been (is not being - as Apu would say) without hassle. Without much complication let me just say that blogs moving from New Blogger to Wordpress (Laughing Fit, Bollettino, Postform) have moved lock, stock and barrel (automatically) with comments and all. The manually moved blogs (this one and K&T) are being patiently transposed post by post. This means that comments will be lost. There's no BIG problem because the blogger equivalents will stay on the net for archivial purposes. K&T; archives should be over to the other side by tomorrow (D-Day). J'accuse is a much longer matter since there are almost 900 posts spanning the two years. (Frequent Blogger of the Year Award eh?)

3. The 100,000.
I am pleased to announce that J'accuse will have had 100,000 visitors over two years. As we stand we are 300 visits short of 100,000 on the eve of D-Day. But that does not take into account that the Statcounter was installed a month after J'accuse started - hence we are very much in time to hit the 100,000 target over two years. (How do we reason that? It is safe to assume that in its early days J'accuse had an average hit of 30 a day by the second week... giving us two weeks of 30 a day blogging - around 410 hits.... you see!)

Which leaves us with the competition. It's still open... your 500 words about J'accuse can still win you a J'accuse mug! Keep trying and sending them in to jacques dot zammit at gmail dot com. We're only 300 hits away from announcing the winner.

One of my favorite clothing patterns is camouflage. Because when you're in the woods it makes you blend in. But when you're not it does just the opposite. It's like "hey, there's an asshole". - Demetri Martin

Yesterday's events in Valletta are the shameful result of too much pandering to a vociferous, bullying minority. Pre-referendal and pre-electoral wheeling and dealing has led to a situation where no amount of macchiavellian delays involving the EU will appease and ever-more violent mass of imbeciles armed with shotguns.

This still does not seem to have been an eye-opener for "the government". Never mind the "opposition" - it definitely does not have the balls to take a stand on this one. It will continue to try to milk the hunter's protest votes (see Maltastar's sorry report of the events) while hoping to delay facing the music to when it is in the unenviable position of being on the "government" side of the negotiation table. Sant and his minions should learn from PN's sorry experience... pandering to the hunting lobby while in opposition (or government) is a bit like counting on Mintoff's support in Parliament - never really a reliable option.

Here's the government's reaction to a situation where we have hunters physically aggressing journalists and the police:

In a statement late last night the government expressed its concern about the incidents. It said everyone had to respect the right of the police and journalists to carry out their jobs without violence or threats. - The Times

The usual tut-tut naughty naughty. Come now boys... let the journalists and police do their job... please. Thank you. Sorry? One driver broke through a police barrier and drove onto people in Freedom Square... some hunters were seen carrying shotguns... there are uncomfirmed reports of shots being fired... they hurled glasses/bottles and spat at the journalists.... they stole half of Ben Borg Cardona's photographic equipment... surely this deserves more than a schoolboy reprimand?

We cannot expect better from Lino Farrugia. Unless he unequivocally apologises to the Maltese public and tones down his mass of uncouth chickenheads he can no longer be treated with respect. He should not form part of any negotiation table. The hunting lobby should henceforth be treated like terrorists... until there is no longer ANY sign of violence. They should be boycotted and ignored and their demands should never be accepted. They were already negotiating from a weak point... they have blown their final chance to be heard.

Before the only place to see a turtle dove becomes the (probably obsolete) 6c stamp and before the farce of Maltese democracy is really exposed something must be done. We expect the Police to take action. Investigations must be made into aggressors. There must be raids to recover the stolen material. One of the oldest police forces in Europe deserves much more respect than it is getting. Its reaction to yesterday's events will be a first step to this rehabilitation.

Links:
The Times
The Times
IM Beck
The Independent
Daphne Caruana Galizia

...and this one is incredible updated 8 minutes before uploading this post... Maltarightnow still has NO news about all this.

This post also appears in the new J'accuse (two more days till blogger site shuts down)

To continue yesterday's moment of leg-pulling and celebrate Women's Day at the same time. Happy Positively Discriminating Day of Pointlessly Celebrating the Obvious and Creating an Excuse to Send a Card or Flowers (Commercial) as well as Giving Dolores Cristina and c. Something to Write About Day!

Send an email to Joe Saliba and Jason Micallef to remind them that today is Women's Day and that they should use this day to remind people how both PN and MLP have loads of nisa in their list of candidates [NOT]....

Seriously... women rock!

To the Laughing Fit (new version) for the latest addition - a parody of Maltese Political Propaganda...

... see you later!

Note: This post may also be viewed on the new J'Accuse website : http://jaccuse.wordpress.com.

Last weekend's Maltatoday editorial ends with the assertion that "Europe is indeed the new yardstick". Too true. The main reasons I voted for joining the European Union were instances like the current hullaballoo on the Bird's Directive. I knew that the MLPN have become too rooted in the favours for the locals and summersaults for the vociferous pressure groups system. This was accompanied by the nagging suspicion that it would take more than a lifetime or some shock event for people to start shifting their voting habits. So how to get about the necessary change anyway?

Easy. Vote for a system that"imposes" common standards with the most forward looking states on the continent. A system that has targets that are consonant with living in the 21st century and that eventually (and hopefully) become the prodding stick for the reluctant relics in government and opposition to change the song and dance that they have accustomed us to. And Pullicino is right. It may take some time for the first thunderbolt to hit the government. But that is the delay effect of membership. Once the first ECJ decisions start rolling out then the party in government will need a very very effective PR machine to make us all ignore the list of failures that will be automatically generated.

For now the ministers, minions and opposition will feel comfortable naysaying and minimising the effects of the process. It is still all too distant for the easily appeased populace to make any sense of it. They will at first believe their minister's assertions that Malta is right and will defend its position to the utmost. Of course there is nothing wrong with that. Malta has every right to defend its position... what worries me are instances like the Bird's Directive... where it is evident that the government is only delaying a fact known to itself and anyone with a modicum of interest in European Law. Where the honourable members know that they are in the wrong and are knowingly incurring liabilities for the nation. Why?

Hopefully we will have less of that. The European Yardstick will help much in this area. Some have already woken up to this possibility. Reporting... informing and forcing relcutant authorities into action. Take this website called gozitans.eu for example.... an interesting exercise in getting things going in Gozo. I have only just discovered it and cannot vouch for all its content but it is an example of the new kind of citizen action we can expect more and more as the new yardstick takes shape.

And good riddance to old ways.

Good morning, I hope that you have had a splendid weekend. It's been spiffing in Luxembourg, especially since we have had long periods of sunshine and unprecedented warmth. The park outside 22, Rue de Bragance was regaled with a wonderful shower of rays and showed off it's green glory as luxizens thronged into it's paths and children's voices joined the chorus of happy birds celebrating this early spring.This patch of bright sunshine was just as surprising as the news that Remich is flooded and that the citizens of that riverside town are busy pumping water out of their caves all over again.

This morning we woke up to a constant pissing of rain from the heavens but the long hours of sunshine stocked up during the weeked could not be so easily obliterated by this sudden change - even more so since we will all be cooped up in our offices and any extra sunshine would have gone wasted. There will be no raining on our parade. But enough about the matter... let us back to things Maltese and more particularly to the forthcoming local council elections.

Here at J'accuse we have oft pointed a not-so-bony accusatory digit towards the big fish in the electoral pool for throwing oh-too-many candidates at the electorate without separating the eedjits from the democratically electable. A letter to today's Times by a candidate Paul Aquilina (PN) does prove our point. Let me say that I do not know the chap in question - and that if I ever had the pleasure of meeting him he did not leave a sufficiently memorable mark on my mind for it to recall his face as soon as the name was read...

Anyways.. his letter to the times deserves the Lorna treatment... if only for a nostalgic return to methods past. Voilà mesdames et monsieurs ... the créme de la crème of PN candidates live from Malta in 2007:

Why vote PN
Paul Aquilina
[Do note the title. Could have ben phrased better no? I mean. Why vote PN? Yes. Why bother? Sometimes brevity tends to be the assassin of the spirit of the phrase (as Lorna would undoubtedly say). Why You Should Vote PN would have been less comprehensive but more comprehensible title.]

For the March 10 local elections the Nationalist Party will be presenting to the public a group of 121 ladies and gentlemen, coming from all walks of life [Aha. Let the public be presented I say. We have ladies and gentlemen... it's almost like the opening of a circus... ladies and gentlemen of the public we present you the ladies and gentlemen of the candidates list... can you picture Joe Saliba with a Dali -like moustache and a whip?].

They include lawyers, notaries and law students, medical doctors, architects, accountants, businessmen, senior bankers, civil service officials, university lecturers and teachers, company directors, private sector employees, students, youths, self-employed, housewives and also a few pensioners. [What? No Bearded Lady? I want my money back. Well... we have the butcher the baker and the candlestick maker of course. There's the lawyer, the notary and the half baked lawyer. Grrrrreat. Civil Service officials... wahey. Then there is the great set of hodge-podge employments at the end... Youths! Housewives! and the few pensioners thrown in! Jeezus. Doesn't the list smack of (a) patronising bull and (b) I wanted to come up with an iindicative list but then I did not want to hurt any of my fellow candidates so I mentioned ALL the jobs they do.. tenkjuverimuch].


These people possess a vast experience [That famous vast experience... I wonder how the Youths compare to the Housewives and the Pensioners?] as well as great intellectual knowledge [Ta-da... it's the hunting season for Wankellectuals... here we have the lowest of the grades... not just a wannabe intellectual but one who has no idea what intellectual really means!]. Some of them also shoulder professional responsibilities in their line of work [The others just sit around on their asses and get paid for doing **** all because they are blue eyed boys with the best pedigree!]. This group of candidates further enrich the PN in terms of quality [Hmm. Enrich the PN in terms of quality - sounds like an artificial additive] and in its endeavours to guarantee serious management in local government.

I regret to say it is quite the opposite in the Labour Party camp [ Opposite to what exactly - to having the circus of contestants? to having intellectually knowledgeable individuals? to having enriching factors to the endeavours of ... whatever?] where administrative and other problems during certain council meetings are not unknown [Could a vaguer accusation be levelled? I mean what council meetings? Local Council? Aren't they made up of mixed councillors? And anyway... can you really say this after all that has been in the news?]. In my opinion the responsibility lies with the MLP leadership; only they decide who to accept to represent their party [As against PN who accept all the flotsam and jetsam of electoral hopefuls so long as they shoulder their professional responsibility, are intellectually knowledgeable and write ridiculous letters to the times]. It all depends whether they want serious and professional people to run local councils, as the PN does. [Does it? I mean... not to really really rub it in... but you are not doing a very good job of proving the contrary Paul!]

We have read in newspapers of councils with a Labour majority facing huge problems [True. And I have also read in the newspapers of councils with a PN majority making a whole cock-up of respnsible management too], even involving the police in one case [Involving the police? How dare they? Did they ask them to help or what?]. We also hear about Labour councils squandering public funds and engaging in partisan politics [Tut tut tut... PARTISAN POLITICS (read using John Cleese tone of voice)... .now what is that exactly Paul?]. We hear of councils refusing to renew the employment contract of employees simply because they are in some way affiliated to the PN as is their right [IS it the right of councils to renew the aforementioned contract or is it the abovementioned employees who have a right to be affiliated to the PN? The question is intellectually knowledgeable of itself... it is also shouldering its own responsibility.. I think the question could actually run for elections in a non-partisan manner!].

We also read about financial deficits incurred by Labour local governments, the inability to follow the correct procedures when awarding tenders, disregard to the Local Councils Act, confusion and situations whereby local wardens issue an excessive number of tickets.
It is the opposite where there is a PN majority; financial results in the great majority of PN-led local councils are positive with that of Gzira leading the PN group and ending the last financial year with a surplus of over Lm32,000. [Tadaaaaa.... Gzira has a positive financial record hence all PN councils have a positive financial record].

Voters are urged to use their right to vote and choose [Choose life] responsible and professional people, the like [ OH no.... the like that are found] that are found in the PN list of candidates.

***

Mein Gott in Himmell! Unbelievable? Not really... it's run of the mill candidates.... And Aaron F should be thanking his lucky gods that I have not butchered his presentation of Youth Candidates for the local council. He is just as infected with this logorrheic mode of circum tauri for the masses. We deserve much more than this.

The management of the PN and Labour camps are under the general accusation of neglecting their duties towards the electorate when it comes to selecting candidates. J'accuse openly accuses the executives of the two main parties of thinking they can easily take us all for a ride by throwing this quickly assembled crowd of wannabes at us and hoping that one or two of them stick and manage a Local COuncil haphazardly for the next few years.

Shame. But at least we get our silver lining... letters like this are precious fodder for our Blog... just keep them coming lads! Ir-rebha taghna tkun!

This will be the 881st post on J'accuse since 10th March 2005. We are about to round the corner into the last 1,000 hits before we reach the frugal milestone set by ourselves - 100,000. Sounds big doesn't it? By general blogging standards it is a drop in the ocean. Spittle on the side of a giant's lips. You get the drift. We are nothing and we are still intent on celebrating our nothingness in style.

Many of you have already started adding the new j'accuse to your aggregators. Kinnie & Twistees, The Laughing Fit, Bollettino and Postform also moved - in case you have not noticed. A while back I had offered an interesting prize competition for the 100,000th hit... with absolutely no response. Which is not so spiffing. We have not given up....

A J'accuse (original - with original webaddress - potential collectors item) Mug (with pic as seen above) is still up for grabs to the reader who sends in the most interesting 500 words or less on one of the following topics:

1) 10 reasons why I like J'Accuse
2) 10 reasons why I hate J'Accuse
3) Why I want a j'accuse commemorative mug so badly
4) What I'd like to see for the next year in J'accuse

Send your 'essays' to jacques dot zammit at gmail dot com.
Final results to be announced after the 100,000th hit on J'accuse.

happy saturday and don't forget to upate your aggregators
J

With Fausto's admonition still ringing in my mind I was about to type out a whole post criticising alternattiva's program for Local Council Elections as being shallow and generic. Unfortunately (for Fausto) that was before I discovered that the alternattiva website also contains a different programme for each candidate in each locality. Surf over to alternattiva's site if you are interested in more details.

To be fair I think that Harry's article in today's Times puts too much stress on the AD vs MLPN. Why? Because at the end of the day we are talking about Local Councils where the quality of the individuals often is a more determining factor than the party they hail from. Local Council members can either be party puppets placed there for the number or individuals with a genuine love for their locality with a real interest in making Haz-Zghir (little village) a better place. Both PN and MLP have been stung by backing Mr Anybody for the sake of number (or thanks to an uncanny popularity such individuals enjoy in their little fiefdom). Just look at all the Mayoral gaffes in different localities which end up being an ugly smudge on the relative party's very own Local Council Conduct. If you still don't know what I am talking about think of the Zebbug (Gozo) mayor and his illegal dumping or the Qala Mayor's brainwave at creating that lovely beach out of building debris.

The intelligent voter in a Local Council election should be seeking out the individual who engages to deliver a reasonable set of promises with the locality at heart. Local Council electors should look beyond the blue, red and green - only pausing for an instant to examine whether MLP, PN or AD backed candidates are within the right structure to deliver what is best for the locality. It is only in this respect that I can see Harry's point that AD programmes tend to contain deliverables that are intelligently constructed and practical - and the track record of quality vs quantity does give AD candidates an advantage over the papable masses that are normally produced by the MLPN clan.

I am not trying to give you two different messages. The message is one and the same. Vote for candidates who seem to know what they are going in for and know what they want to deliver. Vote for candidates who will not put party interest before that of the locality. Such candidates are not only found in the AD camp - definitely. I just have a feeling that the stamp of guarantee offered by AD is not found elsewhere in the political field. AD's size in this campaign is its strength and not its weakness.

Of course you can always do an Alfred Mifsud and ignore the existence of AD altogether. I remember the good old days ofrunning for KSU elections. I used to have a hard time convincing fellow SDM executive members that the content of the electoral manifesto was more important than just bandying around the SDM symbol. Before taking on anyone else using the simple electoral strategy of colour allegiance I wanted to add depth and quality to the campaign. Many times my efforts fell on deaf ears (those who had long before succumbed to the MLPN mantra of "Ir-rebha taghna zgur"). The few times it worked were those that gave me much much more satisfaction.

Incidentally I had a look at the latest KSU website. It seems that eight years on the real value of the policies we started then are beginning to take shape. The KSu executive has understood its role as a moderator and given full effect to its policy forming commissions that are as representative as possible. Beyond the PULSE-SDM (renationalised SDM I would add) rhetoric a group of a few good men and women have understood the benefits of working with a fresh alternative. Well done chaps!

ADMINISTRATIVE NOTICES
- This post will also appear on the new J'accuse website (beta testing of course) http://jaccuse.wordpress.com.
- Thanks to Kenneth for the feedburner tip. It's working on the new j'accuse!

There seems to be a general hiatus in the blogworld that can be partially attributed to the Blogger shift to the new Blogger. My bloglines list has gone haywire ... with most blogs seeming to be inaccessible or closed. Right now I feel that every blogpost is a bit akin to a message in a bottle - never too sure about who will eventually get to read it. The decision to shift to a new blogging system has now shifted to action and more will be posted about this in the coming days. until then I am afraid that posting will be as haphazard as has been in the past few days while I dedicated most of my spare time to the gargantuan task of General Blog Déménagement... my blogs are quite literally moving to another site. And that's definite.

For those of you who would like to plan in advance here is a list of a few links you may want to add to your aggregators. For now they will only signal old posts being added as I maually transfer post by post from the archives (which also means that I lose all the comments). There IS a way to export a whole blog to the new site but this can only be done if your blog is in the New Blogger - a shift that is apparently impossible for both Kinnie & Twistees and J'Accuse!!

Anyway... here goes:

J'Accuse
http://jaccuse.wordpress.com

Kinnie & Twistees
http://kinnietwistees.wordpress.com

Il Bollettino della Sfi*a
http://ilbollettinodellasfiga.wordpress.com

The Laughing Fit
http://thelaughingfit.wordpress.com

Postform
http://postform.wordpress.com

I am hoping to be able to launch all five sites on the 10th March - the original launching date of J'Accuse for Blogger!

For now keep following for updates on Blogger. And thank you for your patience.

There seems to be a general hiatus in the blogworld that can be partially attributed to the Blogger shift to the new Blogger. My bloglines list has gone haywire ... with most blogs seeming to be inaccessible or closed. Right now I feel that every blogpost is a bit akin to a message in a bottle - never too sure about who will eventually get to read it. The decision to shift to a new blogging system has now shifted to action and more will be posted about this in the coming days. until then I am afraid that posting will be as haphazard as has been in the past few days while I dedicated most of my spare time to the gargantuan task of General Blog Déménagement... my blogs are quite literally moving to another site. And that's definite.

For those of you who would like to plan in advance here is a list of a few links you may want to add to your aggregators. For now they will only signal old posts being added as I maually transfer post by post from the archives (which also means that I lose all the comments). There IS a way to export a whole blog to the new site but this can only be done if your blog is in the New Blogger - a shift that is apparently impossible for both Kinnie & Twistees and J'Accuse!!

Anyway... here goes:

J'Accuse
http://jaccuse.wordpress.com

Kinnie & Twistees
http://kinnietwistees.wordpress.com

Il Bollettino della Sfi*a
http://ilbollettinodellasfiga.wordpress.com

The Laughing Fit
http://thelaughingfit.wordpress.com

Postform
http://postform.wordpress.com

I am hoping to be able to launch all five sites on the 10th March - the original launching date of J'Accuse for Blogger!

For now keep following for updates on Blogger. And thank you for your patience.

First of all let me apologise for the petulant outburst at all things blogger yesterday. The constant efforts at trying to improve the j'accuse (and other blog) layout led me to a particularly nasty nervous breakdown last night. I promise to be calmer in my approach in the future.

Now to the government. It's great days ahead for Gonzi's group as the Local Council elections (which nobody cares about but everybody talks about) approach. The announcement of Malta's formal application to join Eurozone came with the usual pomp and circumstance. The EU will be examining Malta's application and whether the country's performance falls within the convergence criteria. All's well and good.

And while PM Gonzi was busy hobnobbing with Joaquin Almunia (Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner) his man for Environmental Affairs was busy telling everybody that the EU's system of enforcement is a bit like the Jesuits discipline at SAC. You can try to get away with ignoring it because sometimes it takes oh such a long time to get going. The problem is that like the jesuit, it will catch up with you one day or another and inflict the most heavy of punishments you ever thought possible!

Today we read that the Commission is not very happy with Malta's decision to ignore the Directive concerned for the fourth year running. It has reminded all of us that there is a procedure that has been running against Malta since June 2006 and that this latest move with regard to Spring Hunting does not improve Malta's situation much.

All will depend on the ECJ's interpretation of the derogation given to Malta. In the end it is all about deciding whether there is an alternative to spring hunting - like autumn hunting. Once that is over and done with it will be time for George to go back to the hunters and birdwatchers and explain that this latest interpretation (whatever it is) is the law. More importantly it will be time for Maltese politicians to explain to the general populace that the EU is not exactly a pick'n'mix establishment. You cannot have the euro, the subsidies and flout EU law at the same time. Nope sir. Ich don't think so... as Baron Cohen's latest character would say.

This thinking does not only apply to the hunters and watchers but also to the traders who are infuriated by parallel importation from Sicily, to former monopolies and subsidised operations and most importantly to governments who should wake up, open their eyes and remember that even their legislative activity must conform with EU law.

More than worrying about joining the euro, cabinet, government and all social players should be waking up to the fact that we joined the EU some time ago now... and thankfully there's no turning back.

Now that's a refreshing thought.

* Nota Bene: Title and Picture refer to Little Britain characters Lou and Andy

Recent changes on Blogger have prompted me to take a drastic decision with regards to the management of my accounts. I have tried to migrate to the new blogger with all the blogs concerned: J'accuse and Kinnie & Twistees remain stuck in the old blogger. The Laughing Fit has moved but required the creation of a separate gmail account. Same goes for the almost defunct Lamp-Post-Form. I cannot unsubscribe myself from Il-Loghba Sabiha because I cannot access the settings part. As for Gakbu Sfigho's Bollettino... it has moved to the new blogger but not without teething problems.

Therefore all readers are being forewarned that once J'accuse reaches 100.000 hits and the 10th March 2007 (site birthday) is behind us we intend to shut these projects from blogger and shift to pastures new. Research has already begun for better blogging fields. Suggestions and solutions are welcome. Meanwhile we have to find a way how to archive all this *hit!

BTW. Guys like Lanzarote and Ajjut seem to have shifted to new blogger with the added consequence that their blogs are now available only for invited readers. That is the kind of trouble we are trying to avoid.

Thank You.

It's the latest hot news from the island of contradictions. The Wise Government of the Republic has approved spring hunting. The Cabinet voted in favour of opening another free-for-all on the flying pests that pass over islands for the forthcoming spring season. Unfortunately what should have been a minor point on the agenda of a very busy set of ministers has been splashed all over the papers (electronic or otherwise) providing us with a veritable Bird's Eye View (pardon the capitalised pun) of the rainbow like panorama of Maltese politics. If anything this event proves that half the picture really does not tell much.... or does it? Well.... j'accuse is about to rectify the situation with this in-depth report "Carry on Hunting"...

1. Analysing The Headlines

MALTARIGHTNOW: L-istagun tal-kacca fir-Rebbiegha: Il-Gvern se jikkontrolla
Strong imagery from the PN online rag. Note the reassuring message to hunters and violent protesters... there IS a hunting season and it IS in Spring. Note the appendix to the the BR: the government will control. We are obviously not told what is left to control. We are not told many things but those are pleasures yet to come.

MALTASTAR: Government gives "green" light to spring hunting
Ha!Ha! for that. Don't you just love the pun? Isn't it funny? The opposition e-paper doesn't know which news is best for its readers ears. Like a kid in a sweet shop it just stands ogle-eyed in the middle and stares and drools without much substance. They'd love to criticise the government... but that would mean that they disagree with the hunting season... and that would mean falling into the bad books of the GHKNK... definitely a no go.

THE TIMES: Malta defies EU on spring hunting
An interesting title. No contradictions here. The Times puts its neck on the line and calls a spade a spade. The title is interesting when we compare it to the Maltarightnow reporting of Minister George Pullicino's press conference and his analysis of how Malta stands viz the EU.

THE INDEPENDENT: Cabinet approves spring hunting, final dates to be established
As non-committal as possible. Hey... the cabinet approved it... the dates are still not there. We do not know how to make head or tail of all this. Is the government right? Are the hunters happy? For all the Independent cares.... boq

DI-VE: Government violating national and European Laws - Birdlife Malta
You could be forgiven if for a second you thought that di-ve had reached a conclusion on all this. They preferred quoting the Birdlife press release - and birdlife are rabid indeed.

2. the Content
So let's start with Maltarightnow (MRN). Everything is fine and dandy. First of all this was all done in consultation. The Minister consulted a committee of people who have varying interests in flying things (from snapping their photos to snapping their wings). The decision was taken at a meeting of the Ornis Committee (doesn't that sound ever so environmental?). Turtle Doves and quail can be shot at between 1st April and 20th May.

If the environmental bandwagon was not enough, Vote George Get Birdhunters explained to anyone who was listening that the people had voted in the last referendum and general election to preserve sustainable hunting in spring. We what? Somehow I do not remember the "Let's Preserve Bird Hunting" t-shirts adorning the carcades for the referendum campaign. I do remember voting to get in the EU and finally kick out hunting!!! but it seems that Vote George Get Ugly Surprises seems to think otherwise.

And then there was the funny bit about announcing stricter measures and heavier fines to ensure that the rules are observed. So that's a good one. First we misinterpret the people's will. Then we redraft the hunting rules to get an escape clause regarding when the hunting season begins (under previous byelaws hunting season could only start six weeks after an Ornis Committee decision... now it has been magicked into four). Then we also claim that (a) the Eu rules will not really apply and (b) if they do really apply it will still take the big EU machine very very long to take a decision against Malta in this regard.

Hmm. I promise he said that. Don't believe me?

"The minister downplayed the significance of the EU's infringement proceedings, saying the process leading to a possible fine from the European Court was a lengthy one". (The Times)

"Mr Pullicino explained how the process of remedial action available to the European Commission, which has promised to come down hard on Malta should it allow spring hunting once again this year in what it would consider a breach of the EU’s birds directive for the fourth year running, would take some time to be incurred, if at all applicable. Punitive fines would only result should Malta fail to comply with a decision by the European Courts of Justice*, the last of three steps in infringement proceedings, while so far, the EC has only taken the first step and issued a letter of formal notice." (The Indy)

Ok. I'd love to go on and on. I'd love to be able to see some logic in this new manoeuvre and not a calculated pandering to the GHKNK timed perfectly not to ruffle any feathers (at least not human feathers) before the Local Council elections (just long enough to vote but not long enough not to be condemned by the EU). I can't though.

It's pathetic. People keep on reminding me that a PN government is the lesser of all evils. That a vote for the PN is an inevitable and foregone conclusion if we want to retain a modicum of logic and save our face on the international arena. Will someone carefully explain what difference there is between a defiant George Pullicino vis-a-vis black and white EU regulation and a defiant Iranian Prime Minister vis-a-vis the world community and nuclear proliferation?

George Pullicino may claim to be personally against hunting (and the many threats on the GHKNK site may be more than positive proof to that) but surely his handling of this matter could have been much much much (did I say much?) better.

Last I heard, a flock of turtle doves and quail were flying in the direction of the Ministry of Environment... and just before they were shot down by a trigger happy hunter they had managed to form the following words in the sky....


Links:
Maltarightnow
Maltastar
Di-ve
The Times
The Malta Independent

* The red highlighting in the Indy quote begs the question. Is the government waiting for a condemnation by the ECJ and then acting as though its hand was forced and therefore cannot do but abide with the EU rules? Possible...but we can never be sure.

... and I cry if I want to!

Supercoccolato d'Italia has struck again. Having taken (and missed) his 6th penalty in succession Rigetta wundermensch Totti decided to throw a tantrum. Apparently his failure to score this time was up to some witty subterfuge by the Reggina goalkeeper - a former team mate. It appears that just before Totti struck his latest missing shot, the keeper approached Italy's favourite whinger and told him that shooting the penalty was useless - he would save it anyway by diving to the right. Totti therefore assumed that the keeper would dive anywhere but the right and shot to the right. Unsurprisingly Campagnolo (the sly keeper) saved the shot... thus incurring Totti's wrath. Well... we all know how Totti celebrates his goals... with a thumb in mouth action (stile pacifier)... surely that gives him the licence to burst into a kiddy tantrum should he fail to score a penalty?

In his words (Gazzetta dello Sport):

PARLA TOTTI E' lo stesso capitano giallorosso a raccontare la sua versione dei fatti, dopo la fine della gara, ai microfoni di Roma Channel: "Siccome con Campagnolo ci conosciamo da tanto tempo, è successo che è venuto verso di me prima che tirassi il rigore e mi ha detto 'Tanto te lo paro, lo so dove me lo tiri, alla mia destra'. Visto che mi aveva detto queste parole, io non pensavo che si buttasse proprio lì, pensavo di fregarlo e invece mi ha fregato lui". Sul battibecco avuto subito dopo col portiere della Reggina: "L'ho mandato a quel paese ma è stato un gesto istintivo che mi è venuto. Ero dispiaciuto perchè ci tenevo a segnare. Era importante per me, il gol lo sto cercando da tanto tempo, soprattutto su rigore (è da oltre due mesi che non ne segna uno, ndr). Ma l'importante è che la Roma abbia vinto".

Meanwhile back on the island where real football is played - Valletta trounced B'kara three nil to keep up their surprising pace....

I'm Afraid of Americans

Aussies taking the mickey out of the Yanks.

Writing in yesterday's Indy, Daphne CG reported that Malta's zeitgeist in 2007 is not what it was twenty or thirty years back. Apparently Malta has burst out of its bubble of not so splendid isolation and is now exposed to cultures immeasurable. Such cultures are both a boon and a threat to the current ways of thinking. The threat side of things is being confronted in all sorts of ways - from court cases involving tangas and transsexuals, to the divorce debate (really, so passe') to adaptation to a common set of regulations intended to better the general state of things in the European continent.

Unfortunately, as Daphne also points out, the country is run mostly by the lesser evils elected from among the unelectables that are proposed every now and then to an electorate that is too stunned by the bursting of the bubble and the discovery of 2K gadgets to react in any other way. The unelectable elected - the survivors of this oxymoronic paradox - run the country (or its oppositin) much to the chagrin of the few who have really shifted into 2007 mode. Their reactions to all sorts of mundane cultural changes would only be seen in a Hamish community that has had cable tv force fed into every household/.

Well. I will comment more on Daphne's article later in the day. For now I have discovered a lexicon of "politically correct" terms thatreaders might find handy. It is taken from an article that I stumbled across while reading ALdaily. Here goes the lexicon... it's long but worth it....

***

Politically Correct Lexicon

African American: In 1988 Jesse Jackson encouraged people to adopt this term over the then-used “black.” As he saw it, the words acknowledged black America’s ties to Africa. “African American,” says Hill, is now “used more by non-African-American people, who cling to it because they are unsure what word to use.” Sen says, “African American” is favored by “highly educated people who are not black. Whether one uses ‘black’ or ‘African American’ indicates how strong your social relations are with those communities.” And Chris Raab, founder of Afro-Netizen, says, “People who are politically correct chose to use African American, but I don’t recall any mass of black folks demanding the use of African American.”

Asian: The correct term to use for anyone of Asian ancestry. When accuracy is desired, nationality of origin is appended to “American,” as in “Korean American.” Sen, who describes herself as South Asian or Indian American, says that there is “some push around not conflating everybody into Asian. This is mostly an issue among new immigrants. If there hasn’t been time for a generation, it seems to be hard to move those folks to the Asian category.”

Bitch: A word, says Baim, which is “absolutely being reclaimed by a younger generation of women who are asserting their sexuality and control of their sexuality.” Successfully repurposed by Bitch magazine over the past decade, ‘Bitch’ is now becoming passé as less edgy writers like Cathi Hanauer, author of The Bitch in the House, adopt it. Similarly, though more slowly, “slut,” “whore” and “cunt” are being reappropriated. “The young people use those terms all the time teasingly and sometimes to even refer to themselves,” says Hill. “It is more common to hear someone say ‘I am a slut’ than ‘I am a whore.’ ” “Cunt” is gaining currency among some young lesbians, though Baim says it is a word that gets stuck in her throat. “While it is a reclaimed word, it is one I can hardly say, the same way some older blacks have trouble saying the n-word.”

Black: At Colorlines “black” is used with a capital B, while The Associate Press Stylebook advises use of the lower case.

Boi: A word, says Hill, that is “used by young queer people to refer to either young gay males or young females who are presenting as males.”

Brown: A general term for people who are not white. Colorlines uses “brown” in a casual or playful way. “We might have a headline ‘Brown People to the Back’ in a story about restaurant hierarchy,” Sen says. Sometimes used to refer to Latinos, as in the “black-brown” coalition that helped elect Harold Washington mayor of Chicago in 1983.

Chicano: Correct term for people of Mexican ancestry, popularized during the civil rights movement. “We use it to refer to U.S.-born people of Mexican descent,” says Sen. “Mexican American is the more distant, politer thing to say.”

Dyke: A word lesbians have reclaimed. Hill, however, says that among the young it is “on its way out.”

Fag (faggot): The new “queer.” “Like the n-word, it’s a word that can be said by gay people,” says Hill. “I hear ‘fag’ a great deal, especially among queer-identified young people, like ‘don’t be such a fag’ or ‘you are such a fag.’ “

Feminist: “A word that the younger generation doesn’t always embrace,” is how Baim, 44, describes it. A lot of young women, she says, are “feminists but they don’t want to be pigeonholed.” “Feminist somehow became a tainted word along the way,” says Hill. “I have heard a lot of people say, ‘this sounds feminist’ or ‘I used to be a feminist.’ “

Gay: The word used to refer to males and, inclusively, to the whole gender-bent community. “College-age people are more likely to refer to themselves as queer,” say Hill. “People out of college are more likely to refer to themselves as gay.”

Girl: “‘Girl’ is used by older women,” says Baim. “It is kind of nice because it used to be used derogatorily and now it is used in a fun way.”

GLBT: Shorthand for GLBTQ2IA.

GLBTQ2IA: The acronym for Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Transgendered, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Allies. “This is coming from the youth movement, the college campuses, it has not seeped into the whole community at this point,” says Baim, who at the Windy City Times uses GLBT, an acronym the New York Times has not yet seen fit to print.

Guys: Very controversial. Used, especially in the Midwest, when referring to a group of people. “In Chicago that word gets used a lot,” says Hill. And Baim says, “I use it all of the time.” Some feminists, like Andi Zeisler, the editor of Bitch, find “guys” problematic. “We assume the descriptor ‘guys’ denotes a quality of universality,” she says. “It would be hard to imagine a group of men being addressed by their server as ‘hey you gals’ and not taking offense, but the reverse happens all the time.”

Hir (hirs): Gender neutral for him and her. At Wesleyan University, incoming freshmen are instructed to use gender-neutral pronouns in campus correspondence. As one person wrote on the university’s online Anonymous Confession Board, “I am usually attracted only to people of hir original gender, rather than hir intended gender. As such, I’m afraid that I’m, like, viewing hir wrong, or not respecting hir wishes or something.”

Hispanic: “We never use Hispanic,” says Sen. “It privileges the European roots of the identity of Mexicans born in the United States.” Hispanic, however, is the preferred term of people in the Southwest whose families are descendents of Spanish colonists.

Indian: The preferred term for Native Americans. “Indians either use their specific tribal name or use Indian,” says Sen. “You use the qualifier American when you need to distinguish from Indian Indians.”

Latino: (Capital “L,” with “a” or “o” at the end used to connote gender.) Politically correct term for those from Spanish or Portuguese speaking cultures. “We use it instead of Hispanic when we want to refer to many different national groups where there has been an indigenous-European mix,” says Sen.

Lesbian: “The younger generations are less connected with the terms ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’,” says Baim. “Lesbian is out of favor as a self-identifying label, it means something political, something more rigid than the younger generation is comfortable with.”

Macaca: The latinization of the Bantu “ma-kako,” meaning monkey. According to the Global Language Monitor, former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) helped make this the most politically incorrect word of 2006 by using it to refer to an Indian American.

Native American: Some Indians object to the term, seeing it as a way to linguistically eradicate “Indian” and thus the history of their oppression by whites. “I almost always hear Native American, and in the more enlightened conversations there is usually ‘indigenous’ thrown in there somewhere,” says Lott. Sen says, “Native American seems to be a more distant construction, developed by academics.”

Nigger: “It is a word that white students struggle with and black students use pretty freely,” says Hill. “Young people are much more open to using it, especially young people who are black or who have been exposed to more diverse groups of people.” While Sen says, “I can’t imagine a political or a social multiracial situation where it would be appropriate, but I know that is because I am too old. The word is so prevalent in the popular youth culture, grounded in hip-hop, that I wouldn’t like to predict where that debate is going to end up. But if the popular culture ends up agreeing that it is okay to use, then I think there are a lot of pretty scary implications.”

Queer: Anyone who falls outside the lines of straight. “It has been reclaimed far ahead of faggot or dyke,” says Baim. “It is our buzz word,” says Columbia College’s Hill. “It is how we avoid saying all of those letters [GLBTQ2IA].” REM lead singer Michael Stipe, for example, is queer, not gay. “For me, queer describes something that’s more inclusive of the gray areas,” he told Butt, a pocket-sized Dutch “fagazine.” “It’s really about identity I think. The identity I’m comfortable with is queer because I just think it’s more inclusive.”

Transgendered: (trans) A person who is not presenting as their biological gender. “It is fascinating how transgendered is becoming like an octopus with all the tentacles of identity and personal design. The transgendered movement is burgeoning and fluid, they are creating all of these new ways to define who they are,” says Baim.

Ze: Gender neutral for he or she. As Mary Boenke writes on the PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) Web site: “When talking with Leslie Feinberg, noted transgender author, I asked Leslie which pronouns to use. Ze shrugged hir shoulders and said ze didn’t care.”

***

Unfortunately we do not foresee the revival of the word "pooftah" in the near future. For those who would really love to see it used by an Englishman (repeated several times on stage)... I definitely suggest Russel Brand's stand-up video... now there's a politically incorrect, queer looking, intelligent bloke if ever there was one!

So now the man known to Malta as ic-Caqnu will be making beer. What's next? Caqnu Cheese? We're looking forward for the first reports from our readers telling us whether Caqnu's Beer tastes good!

See Maltastar.

*Sneeze*

Still home. Still bloody sick.

Today I am switching my news aggregator for the third time. First it was Bloglines, then I switched to a cool gadget called Vienna, now I have decided that it will be Google Reader. Great news isn't it? Anyway, I played around with the aggregators until I found out that they do what they should logically do i.e. you can export your list of links from one aggregator to another using an .opml file.

*Sneeze*

The worst thing about this cold is the danger of whiplash injury. I do not remember ever having to sneeze so violently and risk grievous injury to the neck and spine. Day nurse supplies are finishing... will have to pop over to Little Britain later on. Unfortunately (or maybe not) the failure to recover from the rheum means that I will miss the Maltese Boys in Luxembourg night out to watch Rocky Balboa. Sad really.

*Sneeze - and wipe wet hand on bottom thigh part of jeans*

Anyways. So I am off to try and pick up some files from work. If I do not crash on the way that is... seeing as how I spin off uncontrollably everytime I need to sneeze.


*Sneeze*