Albert Gauci Cunningham was on another 2013 Labour Party billboard telling us that Joseph will bring about much-needed change. How right he was. Joseph made a change, a big one. He changed Malta from a respected member of the European Union to the ‘corrupt island in the Mediterranean.’ We had a respected statesman as a [...]
Hundreds of billboards placed a every strategic corner throughout Malta were important features of the multi-million 2013 Partit Laburista election campaign. Labour had money, lots of money. Anġlu Farrugia, today’s Speaker, spoke about big contractors and businessmen at the infamous 4th floor at the glass castle of Ħamrun. To give credibility to the messages, Labour [...]
While I have no right to interfere, I will insist that all institutions do their work in good time. - Robert Abela, 16 February 2020 In February, addressing an extraordinary general conference to mark the first 100 years of the Labour Party, Robert Abela told his faithful that he had set up a good governance [...]
The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts [...]
No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar. - Abraham Lincoln As someone wittier said of another prime minister, for Joseph Muscat lying is not second nature: it is nature. He lied to get to power and kept on lying throughout his short tenure. The damage he inflicted in our country, [...]
Now that the Blockchain related laws are in effect, and our vision in making Malta the Blockchain Island is materializing, we can start looking at new economic niches, finding ways to incorporate them in our ecosystem. We want Malta to become a powerhouse of economic innovation. – Silvio Schembri, July 2018 Blockchain is the technology [...]
Freedom of conscience, of education, of speech, of assembly, are among the very fundamentals of democracy and all of them would be nullified should freedom of the press ever be successfully challenged. - Franklin D. Roosevelt The Malta Labour Party, today Partit Laburista, has a long history of aggression against the free media. This goes [...]
“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” - Abraham Lincoln Robert Abela thinks that he can foresee the future, and he keeps firing from the hip. He was proved wrong many a time. Take covid-19. He had predicted that all would be fine by Christmas. He was wrong and he has [...]
Ian Borg, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects has a thing for TV and reporters’ cameras. He calls a press conference every alternate day to inaugurate some project or other. He has become a TV figure wearing the famous bright yellow vest and hard hat. I will watch out for his safety shoes next [...]
‘Due to the fast-changing pace of the political landscape, the fortunes of a politician or political group can change drastically just in the course of a single week.’ - Attributed to Harold Wilson, 1964. The new incomplete ‘important artery’ in Gozo’s road network, inaugurated with much pageantry by the Prime Minister about a fortnight ago [...]
Dawra durella Qabża żigarella Ċoff tal-bellus Ċaqċaqielu lill-għarus. Axxa, axxa, Missieru mastrudaxxa Ma’ rasu għandu faxxa. Issa kulħadd jitbaxxa. Dawra Durella is a Maltese rhyme which children used to sing whilst dancing in a revolving circle. When the rhyme came to an end they all sat down. It was very popular years ago when cars [...]
The dictionary definition of ‘scruples’ is having a kind of moral compass that lets you know what’s right. Often it is used in an outraged way when someone does something bad. Liars, thieves, criminals and politicians have fewer scruples than the rest of us. The idea of scruples has to do with ethics and morality, [...]
Robert Abela got to know that Bernard Grech was going to be in Gozo last Thursday. He has spies everywhere. He was not to be outfoxed. He gathered his communications staff (about 81) and ordered them to prepare a public relations event for the same day. Telephones buzzed to all ministries to see if there [...]
Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "It might have been.” - Kurt Vonnegut One of the buzzwords frequently used by Labour ministers, prime or otherwise, officials and trolls is ‘with hindsight.’ It’s the magical word that they think can absolve them of their blunders and make them as clean as [...]
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. – John F. Kennedy While the whole world [...]
Superiority complex is a term used to describe people who compensate for feelings of inferiority (feeling like they're less than other people, not as good as others, worthless, etc.) by acting in ways that make them appear superior. They do this because controlling others may help them feel less personally inadequate. Yesterday you were excellent and replied in [...]
Money don't get everything, it's true What it don't get, I can't use Now give me money That's what I want That's what I want, yeah That's what I want - ‘Money’ by The Beatles Since its inception in 1995, the Corruption Perception Index, Transparency International’s flagship report has become the leading global indicator of [...]
A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. – C.S. Lewis Prime Minister Robert Abela is a proud man. He said it many a time during his two-hour reply to the leader of opposition’s [...]
People use numbers a lot. To measure time and to describe the weather; in school and at work; to count money, measure distances, reach phones open locks, read and flip through TV channels. Engineers use numbers to erect buildings and roll out roads. Doctors count cells and dose medicines. A few years back I wrote an article [...]
The National Audit Office (NAO) had issued a report on the Electrogas power station and indicated ‘shortcomings’. There had been a cheaper option, the NAO found. To many, this was and is a clear indicator of corruption. The evidence was damning but the government, at that time headed by the most corrupt political person in [...]