On 25 April Italy recalls its final liberation from its fascist regime. A few days later -- May 3 -- is world press freedom day. This year the Italian federation of journalists, FNSI is merging the two occasions by recalling the efforts of journalists to resist fascism, its lies and its ominous rise in our [...]
Construction is not customer-facing so it outlived the social distancing restrictions on economic activity relatively unscathed. There's a logic we can all understand that if you operate a restaurant you're basically operating a giant petri dish incubating and spreading a virus among your customers. "Customers" of a construction project can afford to stay well clear [...]
It's bad enough that we get anyone with a quarter-arsed opinion and spelling from some mediaeval generation of Maltese writing as yet uncovered by research to pour their brainless inanities, non sequiturs, illogical fallacies peppered with the occasional seasoning of unbridled hate all over Facebook comments boards. But can the official government department of information [...]
Norman Vella's guests on the show TV show host Peppi Azzopardi, psychologist Mary Anne Lauri, activist Xandru Cassar, Repubblika committee member Rosette Thake, social welfare academic Andrew Azzopardi and Sylvana Brannon.
It was with ghostly pallor and grave solemnity that Evarist Bartolo gave his urbi et orbi yesterday describing, probably accurately, a scene in Libya straight out of the imagination of Heironymus Bosch. There haven’t been many occasions when our government acknowledged the cruel misery, the clear and present danger, the sheer injustice of life in [...]
The call for truth and justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia will not be silenced by the circumstances in which we're living. Nor will the tributes to her memory fade. Join us online in our remembrance. More events will be announced by Repubblika, #occupyjustice and this website in due course.
Manuel Micallef, Labour ideologue, TV host, and mirror-wanker extraordinaire put this up on his Facebook fully pretending his attempt at humour to be innocent. At least I hope he was joking, however pathetic that humour would be. For the benefit of all, here is his post translated: "A decision needs to be taken at the [...]
This is a letter Repubblika's president Vicki Ann Cremona sent to the president of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio this morning.
In case you missed it. Norman Vella yesterday interviewed Xandru Cassar, lone protestor at Castille Place calling for lives at sea to be saved. Also appearing on this program former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi, Repubblika spokesperson Marion Pace Asciak, Arnold Cassola and Jimmy Bartolo SJ.
Maybe I did stretch the Jesus metaphor a bit too much last weekend but if I’m honest that residue imbibed in every lapsed Catholic really bubbles up this time of year. Someone said on Facebook yesterday that the last thing they ought to be doing is taking lessons on faith from me and obviously they [...]
Someone told me after I wrote this other piece earlier that I’m a closet believer and I’ll be coming out at some point. Maybe Easter is a good day to think about a conscience-free resurrection. The first thing Jesus did when he walked out of his barely used tomb was shoot some birds for fun. [...]
Unpublished plans agreed between the two main parties for judicial reform retain the prime minister’s unhindered power to block the appointment or promotion of any member of the judiciary. Sources say that an improved appointments procedure falls short of independence of the judiciary from the influence of the government as lawyers and magistrates will need [...]
From my article in The Sunday Times today: "Prime Minister Robert Abela cut a pathetic figure sitting in front of a standing Karl Stagno Navarra on the Labour Party’s TV station this week, lamenting the criticism he is facing. 'To have people that are so insensitive that they try to capitalise on the fear that [...]
We don’t have Owen Bonnici telling us that Alfred Grixti saying boats that save migrants should be sunk is an act of free speech. He used to use that line when Jason Micallef used to shoot from the hip. And we had to remind Owen Bonnici every time that if senior political appointees to key [...]
As readers of this blog know, I’m not religious. But I was brought up in a Catholic culture and the days of Easter are as deep in my bones as olive oil. I am unqualified to make religious analogies let alone draw teachings and interpretations from the lessons I vaguely remember from childhood. But when [...]
The CEO of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services Alfred Grixti made a public call on Facebook for the seizure and scuttling of boats carrying migrants escaping Africa. He was commenting under a Facebook post of Labour European Parliament election candidate Steve Borg. Steve Borg, whose top priority in his 2009 election campaign was “illegal [...]
It will take more than three days for us to rise again. All zombie stories before The Walking Dead had a final resolution. At some point a cure was found. However dystopic, classic science fiction needs a happy ending. When HG Well’s archetypal Martians invaded and poisoned the earth with their weed, our planet fought [...]
Norman Vella's main guest was former chief justice Vincent De Gaetano who weighs in on the scant debate over constitutional changes intended to ensure judicial independence. The program asks why does this matter? Here are the answers, in case you missed them.
In spite of all the many difficulties, the hard work of the Maltese press has achieved much in the nation’s fight against corruption: the arrest and prosecution of four murder suspects in Malta, the conviction of one banker in the United States and the cancellation of his banking license in Europe, and the resignation of [...]
