High-fiving over the girl

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2018-02-18T13:55:39+01:00Sun, 18th Feb '18, 13:55|

Ground-breaking journalism from the folks at Labour HQ. Owen Bonnici and Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi look for and find a photo-op to persuade the world they’re not feuding. They found an event where they were not likely to quarrel. I didn’t realise these Clockwork Orange intrusions into the bedrooms of centenarian bed-ridden ladies were still a [...]

THE SUNDAY TIMES: Too cruel anywhere

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2018-02-18T08:55:42+01:00Sun, 18th Feb '18, 08:55|

From my piece on The Sunday Times today: "A man who introduced himself as a pros­pective candidate to the mayorship of Valletta said he “did not altogether agree with Daphne’s killing” but a memorial of flowers in Valletta was offensive to his constituents. "Another man pretended to squeal in agony because one of Daphne’ sisters [...]

What do you do with the school yard bully?

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2018-02-17T13:51:21+01:00Sat, 17th Feb '18, 13:51|

There are mixed reactions to the current controversy over the Daphne Caruana Galizia memorial in Republic Street. Some of those who supported her in life and wish for nothing better than for justice to be dispensed after her killing are not entirely sure the whole flowers and candles debate is worthwhile. After all if the [...]

When the cracks start showing

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2018-02-17T13:58:26+01:00Sat, 17th Feb '18, 07:49|

Labour is not certain how to manage the persistent civil society pressure that four months after Daphne Caruana Galizia's killing is still very much there. Protests rarely last this long in Malta and the government's reliance on collective amnesia is not working this time round. It looks like they're having to improvise as they go [...]

Mintoff’s picture

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2018-02-16T23:26:38+01:00Fri, 16th Feb '18, 23:26|

https://youtu.be/sWLV9Vu3s4g Civil Society's comments tonight on Mintoff's picture at the Daphne Caruana Galizia memorial in Valletta: We understand why someone would want to put pictures of Raymond Caruana and Karin Grech on a popular memorial and protest site demanding justice and an end to impunity. Mintoff died in his sleep of natural causes. No one [...]

Equivocating equivalence

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2018-02-17T13:59:30+01:00Fri, 16th Feb '18, 17:21|

This is how Labour justify themselves. They throw contradictions in the mix, confusing issues and throwing people into forced reserved neutrality. I saw them do it to a smart man a few weeks ago. Owen Bonnici tried to drown Antonio di Pietro in a sea of dubious facts, half-truths and lies which the man had [...]

The picture they should have put there

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2018-02-16T09:20:57+01:00Fri, 16th Feb '18, 09:18|

And inevitably someone brings pictures of Karin Grech and Raymond Caruana to the Daphne Caruana Galizia memorial in Republic Street. I see the point of those who did that of course. The two cases demand justice. Unlike Daphne Caruana Galizia, neither one of them was specifically targeted. But this is not a pantheon to rank [...]

#OccupyJustice: 3 billboards for the prime minister

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2018-02-16T23:23:11+01:00Fri, 16th Feb '18, 08:18|

#Occupyjustice statement: In the Oscar-nominated movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, an anguished mother seeks justice for her murdered daughter. After months pass without the culprit being caught, the mother makes a bold move, and puts up three billboards on a main motorway, with pointed messages directed at the town’s revered Chief of Police. In [...]

GUEST POST: I’m a stranger at home

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2018-02-16T11:24:03+01:00Fri, 16th Feb '18, 07:50|

By someone known to me: It is difficult to describe the four months since Daphne’s assassination. I knew her and am privileged to have done so. I did not know her well. She was not a friend, more of an acquaintance. Our paths crossed fleetingly several times - none had anything to do with politics [...]

George Abela’s short knife

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2018-02-15T16:39:35+01:00Thu, 15th Feb '18, 16:39|

The President must be having an uncomfortable afternoon. Reading the testimony given by her predecessor in court today in the proceedings against the organisers of the 2015 charity car show event when a driver mowed down viewers in a horrible accident she must feel the cold knife in the small of her back. George Abela [...]

On anti-money-laundering weaknesses in the gaming sector

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2018-02-15T14:37:29+01:00Thu, 15th Feb '18, 14:37|

Agimeg is a specialised Italian news agency interested in the gaming industry. They asked me some questions in view of the recent sparks between Malta and Italy about the use of Malta by mafiosi to launder their money here. Here's the interview. There will be the usual hackles accusing me of treason. The zombie troll [...]

American patients unhappy about Steward’s foray in Malta

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2018-02-15T12:43:39+01:00Thu, 15th Feb '18, 12:43|

Last boxing day, Steward Health Group announced on its Facebook page it had purchased the concession of three hospitals in Malta. Its regular readers were none too pleased. The general message was they were not too happy with the service they were getting and they were not expecting things to get better now their hospital [...]

Steward Health Group sister company files for bankruptcy

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2018-02-15T08:57:29+01:00Thu, 15th Feb '18, 08:57|

Remington Outdoor Company Inc, that like Steward Health Group is owned by Cerberus Capital Management, has filed for bankruptcy to slash a debt load just shy of a billion US dollars. Remington is one of the largest American firearms manufacturers. A Reuters report quotes Remington saying it will receive $145 million in bankruptcy financing to [...]

If you are a journalist, quit the IĠM: leave it for functionaries of the state

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2018-02-14T22:39:36+01:00Wed, 14th Feb '18, 22:37|

Not that I was falling over myself to join, but today's Istitut tal-Ġurnalisti Maltin statement "condemning" Daphne Caruana Galizia's sister for stopping a self-described "One TV journalist" in his line of duty, should be enough to get any self-respecting autonomous person to walk out immediately. Their statement is an act of collaboration with an oppressive [...]

Economist IU: “Risk that investors could turn away from Malta”

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2018-02-14T21:20:50+01:00Wed, 14th Feb '18, 21:20|

The Economist Intelligence Unit has in a report issued today analysing the impact of the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia concluded that "the international focus on corruption and organised crime in Malta in the wake of Ms Caruana Galizia's murder does not appear to have had a negative impact so far on the country's business environment. [...]

Martin Scicluna and Alfred Sant on corruption

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2018-02-15T07:36:09+01:00Wed, 14th Feb '18, 20:31|

I am way beyond the stage of describing Martin Scicluna as the poorer signatory of a Faustian deal. Doing so perpetuates the fiction that he is some objective analyst who uses knowledge, experience and professionalism to rule independently in favour of Joseph Muscat like the one year old’s innocent grasp of kinky underwear at their [...]

Where impunity does not rule

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2018-02-14T07:51:04+01:00Wed, 14th Feb '18, 07:51|

Israel’s police have recommended prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu be charged over alleged bribery. While the attorney general assesses the recommendation, which can take months, Benjamin Netanyahu pledges to stay on as prime minister. He says he’s convinced the charges will amount to nothing. Some people have pointed this out to me highlighting how proper institutions [...]

Defiance

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2018-02-13T21:27:57+01:00Tue, 13th Feb '18, 21:27|

Today’s Valletta Council meeting and the decision not to vote on a Councillor’s motion to destroy the Daphne Caruana Galizia memorial in front of the Court house is no cause for celebration. The Mayor’s decision, perfectly correct, to rule the motion outside the Council’s competence, does not address the question the motion raised: not whether [...]

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