The grass is greener in Brussels

Published: June 17, 2008 at 8:15pm

Let’s leave aside Joseph Muscat’s claim that he cannot attend to his business as leader of the Labour Party because of a pressing engagement with a VAT report, for which he is both solely responsible and indispensable. Actually, before we leave it aside, I’ll just make a comparison to help you see his decision in its true perspective. Camiel Eurlings was the Dutch Christian-Democrat MEP responsible for the European Parliament’s report on Turkey – one of the most important reports that have to be written. When the Christian-Democrats made it to government in the Netherlands, Eurlings was made minister for transport. He immediately resigned his seat in the European Parliament and went back home to do his duty. Oh, and Eurlings is 34 and rather better-looking than our chap. Also in his favour is that he doesn’t begin his career CV in 1973, when he was born and raised a Catholic (even though he was raised a Catholic). Check it out here.

Now let’s look at Muscat’s persistent claim that he was boss-man of and responsible for the European Parliament’s proposal for a regulation on mobile telephony roaming charges in the European Union. He is supposed to have been the reason for the amendment of directive 2001/21/EC on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services. Well, if you check out Muscat’s page on the European Parliament’s portal, you’ll find nothing about roaming charges or mobile telephony. And if you do a little bit of sniffing around instead of asking Muscat about himself (“yes, I confirm that I am responsible”), you’ll find out that the true rapporteur for that bit of business wasn’t Joseph Muscat. He wasn’t even in Joseph Muscat’s socialist grouping. He was Paul Rubig, an Austrian MEP from the EPP- ED parliamentary group, which Nationalist MEPs belong to.

Joseph Muscat declared on Bondi+ that he will continue to attend the European parliament to vote until September. What he omitted to say is that there are no plenary sessions between 10 July and 31 August. My spies tell me that Muscat didn’t even bother going to Strasbourg to vote on a very important report on the adoption of the euro by Slovakia, and this when he was vice-president of the committee that prepared the report. The rapporteur for that particular report was his other Maltese colleague on the same committee, David Casa.

How odd that Muscat doesn’t want to leave Brussels until September, when he didn’t even bother to attend a monthly plenary session in Strasbourg. And this despite the fact that he has a brand-new very important job to do in Malta, besides other pressing engagements that include a wife with infant twins who live here. He was recently seen publicizing Pampers nappies in an interview picture, and telling us how good he is at changing them (like this is something special for a 34-year-old man in 2008). If that’s the case, then he must be the first father on earth able to change nappies in Malta while sitting in Brussels. He must let all women in on the magic secret of how he does it. We’re dying to know.




86 Comments Comment

  1. Meerkat :) says:

    Ohhhhhhhh Daph, that Camiel Eurlings is a dish! Are we back to posting photos of gorgeous men? Let me oblige..

    http://ilovelatte.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/mcdaddy.jpg

    Mc Dreamy has twins in real life too…He can write my report any time LOL

  2. Uncle Fester says:

    This is Joseph Muscat bashing is getting soooo boooring! ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz!

  3. il-Vanni says:

    hmmm…a pensioner at such a young age? ;)

  4. Amanda Mallia says:

    Uncle Fester – If you want some entertainment, then you can always go to http://www.anglufarrugia.com or http://toniabela.blogspot.com

    Both are guaranteed to provide you with lots of entertainment.

  5. Kev says:

    MEPs are hardly 3 days a week in Brussels. Some appear for less than two, while others are even scarcer. It is very rare that an MEP actually resides in Brussels.

  6. P Shaw says:

    Frattini resigned from a Comissioner (with all the assocated perks) when he was appoited a Minister recently, in Berlusconi’s government.

    It’s amazing how JM’s bluff on roaming and VAT report is never questioned by Maltese journalists, who are used to write down transcripts of politicians’ speeches.

    Somebody should call Vivienne Reding (from Luxembourg) on the roaming issue, and the Comissioner in charge of finances on this mysterious VAT report.

  7. P Shaw says:

    The following are the MEPs responsible for the roaming report, discussion etc.

    – Paul Rübig, rapporteur on roaming, Industry, Research and Energy Committee ITRE, (EPP, AT)
    – Arlene McCarthy, Chairwoman of Internal Market and Consumers Protection Committee IMCO, (PSE, UK)
    – Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, Vice-Chairman of IMCO Committee (ALDE, DE)
    – David Hammerstein Mintz, member of ITRE Committee (Greens/EFA, ES)
    – Umberto Guidoni, member of ITRE Committee (GUE/NGL, IT)

    Poodle’s name is nowhere to be seen. I went through most discussion and transcripts on the subject (extremely boring!!) and his name was nowhere to be seen. Did he ever speak on the subject, where it counts? (i.e European Parliament rather than on Super 1 or il-kazin tal-Labour)

    The only thing I found was the fact that he was a substitute on one of the Comittess (IMCO). That’s all.

    I am sure that this VAT story is another bluff.

  8. cili says:

    Amanda, thanks for the links, I couldn’t help browsing Anglu’s site and came across his pastime can someone maybe explain what he actually means?

    ‘Huwa jhobb jaqra, ijrricerka dwar Maltin ta’ Barra, u jiggoja’

    This is my first post and I thoroughly enjoy this site, albeit wish I had the time (and guts) to pick a bone or two with Daphne 

    [Moderator – It means that he likes reading and he likes researching literally ‘Maltese of abroad’ (Maltin ta’ barra). Oh, and jogging too.]

  9. Peter Muscat says:

    If one is not free to express her/his thoughts or her/his beliefs, what is the use of having a discussion? There is never a sound discussion unless one accepts that others might have a different view.

    ” The Family” that runs this forum is a perefect example of intollerance towards freedom of expression.Though I never expected a red carpet, nor did I expect such puerile,cosmetic and despotic behaviour.

    May I ask why a good number of my posts were never published?

    [Moderator – Because they’re incomprehensible.]

  10. David J Camilleri says:

    Take a look at this Daphne:
    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080617/local/mlp-to-hold-early-election-of-the-party-administration
    and the comment posted by a Joe Mizzi from Fgura on TheTimesofMalta:

    I’m sorry but I seem to get it all wrong. It was not Dr. Joseph Muscat that proposed a new date for the administration election, but a petition presented by a large number of delegates on Monday evening. This petition was presented to the MLP President by a representative of the signatories. Now Dr. Muscat is trying to get the praise for doing something he did not do! (Joe Mizzi Fgura.

    And the show must go on!! Hilarious isn’t it.

  11. Claudia Borg says:

    I agree with Fester, this constant bashing is way boring. I’m really beginning to understand why articles like this one are appearing online.

    http://il-manocca.blogspot.com/2008/06/broken-english-and-broken-logic.html

    Also, people who tend to resort to name calling don’t usually use constructive criticism in their discussions.

  12. Matthew Aquilina says:

    Different day, same bashing. Boring, Boring and Boring.

  13. cikki says:

    Pro P.N. voters and floaters have been saying over and over again that they want a decent normal opposition –
    a. to have a choice if necessary
    b. not to be terrified if and when labour get in

    Surely this is just commonsense!

    What we don’t want is the opposition we have so far.

    I am not going to repeat everything that has already been
    said but I just ask you all to try and imagine Blair,
    Cameron, Prescott. Clinton, Obama…… give a speech
    like JM’s maiden one, have a website like Toni
    Abela’s or pose for the riduculous pictures Anglu
    Farrugia does.

    Can the MLP followers not understand this, We are not
    impressed every time JM does something that is the
    obvious thing to do – they praise him to high heavens!
    And we don’t want to give him a chance when he doesn’t
    do the rational thing. We just expect him to get on
    with his job without hugs, kisses, silly photos
    and a fake smile, in fact to get on with things just
    like Gonzi does!

  14. chris says:

    @moderator
    Peter Muscat: ‘May I ask why a good number of my posts were never published?’
    [Moderator – Because they’re incomprehensible.]

    ‘Snot fair, you should publish them. Why can we have some fun too?

  15. chris says:

    @Matthew Aquilina
    ‘Different day, same bashing. Boring, Boring and Boring.’

    So why come back for more?

    Re Cikki:
    Pro P.N. voters and floaters have been saying over and over again that they want a decent normal opposition –
    a. to have a choice if necessary

    Ironic isn’t it, when it is the floating voters chasing the opposition and not the other way round!!!

  16. Ray Borg says:

    @Daphne Caruana Galizia & P Shaw
    Your rabid prejudice against Joseph Muscat knows no limits. You have gone so far as to deny the fact that he was involved in the proposal for a regulation on mobile telephony roaming charges in the European Union.

    Had you bothered to do some checking you would have found out that Joseph Muscat was rapporteur for the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee and Paul Rubig reported for the Industry, Research and Energy Committee. Perhaps the following would give a better and a less biased picture:

    “The EU Regulation to Reduce Mobile Roaming Charges by up to 70% – Voting Starts in the European Parliament
    21 March 2007 —

    This week, the European Parliament will for the first time vote at Committee stage about the European Commission’s proposal to reduce international mobile roaming charges by up to 70% as from this summer. On Wednesday, 21 March, the Economic and Monetary Committee will be the first body of the European Parliament to express a (non-binding) opinion. On Thursday, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee and the Culture and Education Committee will follow with their votes. The vote in the Industry, Research and Energy Committee is scheduled for 12 April. Even though the final view of the European Parliament will only be known once the plenary will have voted on the proposal – which is expected to take place by mid-May – the votes at Committee stage will be important to shape the final text of the EU Roaming Regulation. Of particular importance will be the votes of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (Rapporteur Joseph Muscat) and of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (Rapporteur Paul Rübig), both of whom have been assigned a leading role in the parliamentary process”.

  17. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    @David Camilleri: it looks as though Joseph Muscat is highly competent at claiming responsibility for what is good and detaching himself from what is bad.

    And I really wish we would all stop taking up the Labour mantra of making ‘Doctor’ part of his name, as with Alfred Sant. There is no reason why we should call him Doctor-Joseph-Muscat if we don’t refer to others as Mr-John-Borg or Mrs-Carmela-Galea.

  18. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    @Claudia Borg: I read the blog-post to which you posted a link, and have the following three observations to make:

    (1) You can tell this man studies computers and not human-beings. He appears to believe that human-beings can be analysed in the same way as computers.

    (2) He claims that the statement ‘you can’t be intelligent and vote Labour’ is illogical. Perhaps, if you are a computer. However, the intelligene of a human-being’s decision has to be assessed on the basis of its risks and consequences, and not on any inherent link between intelligence and the Labour Party.

    (3) Always be wary of somebody who classes himself as an intellectual. He is invariably somebody with a superiority complex, who favours AD or the MLP – and hence, rather less intelligent than he thinks, though he may be good at maths.

  19. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    Oh hello, Matthew Aquilina! Popped in for your regular dose of boredom, have you? You must be addicted. Try the 12-step programme: “My name is Matthew Aquilina and I am addicted to boring blog-posts bashing Joseph Muscat.”

  20. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    Ray Borg – who was your source for that information, Joseph Muscat?

  21. Jason Spiteri says:

    I think what’s fair is fair and, in spite of my firm belief that the months and years to come will make Muscat a non-choice for the electorate – and hopefully, this will avoid MEPs from the other corner from appearing themselves (by implication)as good leadership material – it’s not fair to try and protray him as not having taken up the mobile charges issue. Besides the reports and whatnot, at least on 25 Jan 2007 he lodged a parliamentary question on this subject, whch indicates that he was willing to raise the issue.

    On a separate subject, please do publish Peter Muscat/Lady Lorna’s comments! It’s like chris said…

  22. me says:

    @Daphne
    And the proof about those posts is that out of 52, 43 had only one comment, 7 had two comments and 2 had three comments.

  23. Uncle Fester says:

    @Amanda Mallia. Thanks for the link to Dr. Abela’s website. I read his letter to Daphne and suggest that other readers of this blog do the same. What a gentleman.

  24. Manneken Pis says:

    Dear Daphne,

    Belgian rent laws require tenants to give three months notice before leaving their apartment…otherwise they forfeit 3 / 2 / 1 month / s rent in deposit…

    June, July, August….SEPTEMBER!!!

    Yours affectionately and admiringly,

    Manneken Pis

  25. James Tanti says:

    @DCG
    Please note that Joseph Muscat is insisting with everyone that he should be called “Joseph” and nothing else. It is also known that media representaties have been briefed by his aides that the Labour Leader should be called Joseph Muscat as when referring to the Prime Minister as Lawrence Gonzi. What you’re trying to do in this blog is just ridiculing Joseph. And if you look around your favourite party there’s so much stuff worth some ridicule, no?

  26. David Buttigieg says:

    @Uncle Fester,

    I followed your advice and wish I hadn’t wasted my time – what a clown!

    I like especially the part were he boasts about how honest he is – an honest person would never have claimed that ‘No’ won the referendum!

  27. P Shaw says:

    Roaming on public mobile networks
    Extracts from the Press Conference

    Background:
    The European Parliament voted through a first-reading compromise agreement on “Roaming on public mobile networks”, the fruit of recent talks between MEPs and the Council Presidency. In doing so – and in negotiating a prompt entry into force of the regulation – the EP has ensured that customers will benefit from cheaper roaming by the summer holidays. The compromise was adopted by an overwhelming majority of members in a show of hands.

    The crux of the package reflects the very same issues which held the key to the roaming dossier from the outset: caps on wholesale and retail charges, the choice between ‘opt-in’ and ‘opt-out’ models, transparency requirements, entry into force and future review of the legislation. However, inasmuch as the issues are the same, the solutions – in the spirit of compromise – are slightly different.

    Prices

    According to the compromise, the average wholesale charge (excl. VAT) that a “visited” operator can levy on a roaming customer’s “home” operator for the provision of roaming calls will be capped at €0.30 per minute. (The Council, at the outset of negotiations, had proposed placing a cap of €0.36 on the average wholesale price)

    The cap, in line with MEPs’ proposals, will decrease automatically by 2 eurocents per year over a three-year period after the regulation’s entry into force. The maximum retail charge (excl. VAT) for regulated roaming calls, meanwhile, will be capped at €0.49 per minute for calls made and €0.24 per minute for calls received.

    (The Industry Committee had voted, in its original report, for caps of €0.40 for calls made and €0.15 for calls received. The Council, meanwhile — having initially called for caps of €0.50 for calls made and €0.25 for calls received — entered negotiations with the EP by proposing caps of €0.60 and €0.30, respectively.)

    The cap for outgoing calls will decrease automatically by 3 eurocents per year; the cap for incoming calls will decrease by 2 eurocents after the first year and 3 eurocents after the second year.

    As MEPs insisted, home providers will have to offer the Eurotariff to all their customers – and to do so actively, clearly and transparently. (In addition to the Eurotariff, reads the compromise text, every home provider could also offer “a fair use, all-inclusive monthly flat-rate to which no charge limits apply”. Such a flat rate would include both voice and data roaming services (including SMS and MMS).

    Summary table

    Retail outgoing (per minute) Retail incoming
    (per minute) Wholesale
    (per minute)
    € € €
    Commission proposal 0.44 (x)
    0.30 (y) 0.15 0.34(x)
    0.23 (y)
    IMCO report 0.50 0.25 0.25
    ITRE draft report
    Council Presidency 0.50 0.25 0.30
    Council Presidency (19.4.07) 0.60 0.30 0.36
    ITRE final report 0.40 0.15 0.23
    Council – European Parliament compromise 0.49 (2007)
    0.46 (2008)
    0.43 (2009) 0.24 (2007)
    0.22 (2008)
    0.19 (2009) 0.30 (2007)
    0.28 (2008)
    0.26 (2009)

    x – outgoing roaming calls made outside a visited network
    y – outgoing roaming calls made inside a visited network

    Opting

    One of the greatest bones of contention in the Parliament’s negotiations with the Council was the issue of whether to make the Eurotariff subject to an “opt-in” or an “opt-out” model. The former leaves customers with their old roaming tariffs, unless they deliberately choose to “opt into” the new EU system of price caps; the latter ensures that the Eurotariff would apply by default (unless the customer chooses otherwise). The majority of the Industry Committee having voted in favour of the “opt-out”, the EP’s delegation defended this model vigorously throughout negotiations with the Presidency.

    According to the compromise package adopted today, operators will have a month following the entry into force to make the Eurotariff (or any other roaming tariff) available to its customers. The customer, the moment he or she is given such a choice, will have two months to decide whether or not to opt for the new roaming tariff. If the customer does make a choice, his or her operator – from that moment on – will have up to a month to activate the new tariff. If the customer does not make a choice, the Eurotariff will apply automatically at the end of the two months mentioned above.

    (At the same time, roaming customers who have already made “a deliberate choice of a specific roaming tariff or package” before the regulation’s entry into force “shall remain on their previously chosen tariff or package” – unless they choose otherwise. Operators, according to the text, must remind such clients of the terms of their contracts)

    In theory, therefore – assuming their operators waste no time in offering and activating the new rates and they themselves waste no time in choosing them – customers may be able to benefit from the Eurotariff immediately after the regulation’s entry into force.

    The cap on the average wholesale price, meanwhile, will automatically take effect 2 months after the entry into force.

    Opting – timetable

    Assuming one makes the choice to switch into the Eurotariff at the earliest possible time, he or she can end up with it on 1 July (at the earliest) or 1 September (at the latest).

    All normal customers who make no choice will receive the Eurotariff automatically by, at the very latest, 1 October (1 July + 1 month + 2 months).

    Information requirements and future regulation

    As to ensure that customers are fully aware of what they pay for roaming services under the different tariff plans, MEPs propped their compromise package with a series of transparency provisions. Home providers, they decided, will provide their customers with “personalised pricing information on the retail charges” to outgoing and incoming roaming calls.

    The Commission, according to the compromise text, will review the impact of the roaming dossier and report to the European Parliament and the Council “no later than eighteen months” after the regulation’s entry into force. It will also keep track of developments in wholesale and retail charges for data communication services – including SMS and MMS – and, if necessary, make recommendations regarding the need to regulate in this area. Despite the fact that the compromise foresees the expiration of the roaming regulation after three years, it will also be up to the Commission to assess – in light of market developments and consumer protection concerns – whether there is need to propose a legislative act extending this period.

    Paul RÜBIG (EPP-ED, Austria), the European Parliament’s draftsman on roaming stated during the debate on Wednesday 23 May in Strasbourg: “People are hoping that when they’re on holiday, or on business, they’ll be able to make telephone calls safe in the knowledge that they’re not going to end up getting a telephone bill at the end of the month that is higher than the cost of their accommodation.” He was, he said, “very glad that it’s not just in everyday telephone communications that we’re going to get this kind of transparency, but also in data communications.” The package being put forward, Mr Rübig continued, was a ” user-friendly way of doing things in the whole area of roaming” that provided “new opportunities to act…in the interest of consumers” and was, above all, “a contribution to the overall future of telecommunications.”

    The countdown to cheaper roaming

    The evening prior to the vote, Paul Rübig (EPP-ED, AT) issued a statement, in which he urged a speedy adoption of the dossier “to deliver its benefits to European citizens already by this summer”. A “more than realistic” timetable, he remarked, “would include formal endorsement of the agreement by the Telecoms Council on 7 June”. Urging the Council to make all possible efforts to ensure a fast-track entry into force, he underlined that the regulation can be published in the Official Journal “within 24 hours of its official signing by both institutions, the Parliament and the Council.”

    The roaming law’s prospective entry into force was also one of the most important issues covered during today’s plenary debate. Joachim Wuermeling, speaking on behalf of the German Presidency, told MEPs that the Council secretariat “will pull out all the stops” to have the regulation in place “as fast as possible” – or, as he later explained, “on the 29 June”. This, argued Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media, is not necessarily enough. Publication (in other words, entry into force, should take place “not at the end of June, but well before that.”)

    REF.: 20070523SHL0702

  28. James Tanti says:

    @Mannekin Pes

    As if one cannot give notice (say today) that he is vacating the premises in 3 months time, keep living in Malta and then return the keys on the due date!!! All you’re doing is trying to fantasise why Joseph Muscat will hold on to his MEP seat for a few more weeks before taking up his seat in the Maltese Parliament. Don’t you think its ethically correct to finish off an unfinished job that he was entrusted with by the European Parliament? Can’t you realise that you cannot present a report you were entrusted to do as an MEP if you’re not an MEP anymore? Rest assured that Joseph will be in Malta for most of the time even while he is concluding his report. In fact a report in a local paper today said that he was just expected to go to Strassbourg for a vote on Immigration Policy today and be back in a few hours! His workload at the MLP is full and he is fulfilling his duties with great energy and enthusiasm. And results are showing already!

  29. P Shaw says:

    JM is trying hard to set the agenda for the PN, and most of the so called initiatives are simply malicious and only intended for PR purposes

    #1 He declared that he is willing to apologize for the atrocities done in the 80s, while he expects the PN to do the same for the 60s (even though the PN was not directly involved)

    #2 He created this ethical commission for the Labour media (trying to cover the wolves with sheep’s clothing!). He declared that he expected the PN media to do the same.

    Hence, all he’s trying to do is to set up the agenda for the PN, through a meaningless PR exercise, trying to pull the PN into these trap of following his so called MORAL agenda.

    Does he expect us to believe that as the new messiah we will listen in awe to his sermons delivered form his pseudo morality platform.

  30. Gordon Pace says:

    There she goes again …

    “someone … who favours AD or the MLP – and hence, rather less intelligent than he thinks”

    Thanks Daphne, for reaffirming what I wrote.

  31. M. Bormann says:

    Oh god, what with all the copy-pasting of this “roaming” thing from EU websites? Does anyone even read that boring crap? even the sheer length of the stuff people have pasted here makes me want to fall asleep.

  32. david farrugia says:

    I could not resist commenting on our James message with regards to his appraisal of Joseph’s present sterling work and fulfillment of duties.

    He is very busy my dear friend James since his party is in complete disarray and he is trying to collect the bits and pieces of what’s left of the MLP. How can this be of benefit to Malta I am completely mystified.

    I suggest to James to listen to today’s news and applaud to the government’s decision on the future of the dockyards.

    I am fed up that a substantial part of my taxes are siphoned away to sustain this hopless entity.

  33. Ray Borg says:

    @ Daphne Caruana Galizia
    FOR STARTERS
    My source came from:http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/111&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
    The Press release in question cartried the Reference: MEMO/07/111 Date: 21/03/2007

    NOW HOW ABOUT THIS FOR THE MAIN COURSE:

    SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
    http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/22/business/roam.php
    Phone companies fail to overcome grass-roots juggernaut
    By Kevin J. O’Brien

  34. Blanco says:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Muscat

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Casa

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Busuttil

    Spot the difference between Muscat’s article on Wikipedia and those of David Casa and Simon Busuttil! No comparison!

  35. Albert Farrugia says:

    @P Shaw
    No, we dont expect that. Those who prefer the status quo can listen to you, anyway. Those who want change think otherwise.

  36. david farrugia says:

    I followed Blanco advice and checked joseph’s cv. Could someone enlighten me whether Joseph is truly an economist from his qualifications.

  37. Ray Borg says:

    There is one thing missing in Casa’s Wikipeadia entry. They did not mention that he wears a wig.
    How about updating it Daphne?

  38. Blanco says:

    @ Ray Borg, had it been Alfred Sant’s entry and not Casa’s, Daphne would be the first one to add that he wears a wig!

  39. D Fenech says:

    @Cikki
    We just expect him to get on with his job without hugs, kisses, silly photos and a fake smile, in fact to get on with things just like Gonzi does!

    Didn’t Gonzi do these things before the election, to gain a dozen more votes from PN lost sheep? Or maybe you prefer JPO’s dmugh tal-kukkuddrilli for entertainment!

  40. D Fenech says:

    Is this the greenery you’re mentioning Daph?
    http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2008/06/15/n34.html

  41. Meerkat :) says:

    This whole ‘Call me Joseph’ thing only goes to show what a primadonna complex he has. Only artists with mega egos are known by one name…Cher, Madonna, Liberace (I am feeling wicked dropping Liberace too) ;P

    http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/ADVG/554~Liberace-Posters.jpg

  42. D Fenech says:

    Oh I get it. I guess you meant that when JPO (as head of Maltese Delegation) visited Brussels, he was much greener, (as in the Green Politician)!

  43. amrio says:

    @Blanco

    Erm, I didn’t get your point. What shall I say, that JM has more ‘titles’? That JM’s entry is better written? I don’t get it….

  44. Malcolm Buttigieg says:

    When will the Maltese Parliament be adjourned for the Summer recess?

    Can anyone answer this question please?

  45. tony borg says:

    @ Meerkat

    At his first cabinet meeting, Tony Blair told his colleagues “Call me Tony”.

  46. Malcolm Buttigieg says:

    I may be mistaken, but the person responsible for drafting the following opinion document is somebody called Joseph Muscat…

    http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+COMPARL+PE-382.625+03+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN

  47. cikki says:

    @ D. Fenech

    As far as i recall, Gonzi didn’t blow kisses in the air all the time,he didn’t have photos taken with his sons’ afershave or daughter’s perfume and in my humble opinion,
    Gonzi’s smile is genuine and lights up his whole face, eyes included.

  48. amrio says:

    @D Fenech

    I don’t know JM personally, so I judge his actions by what the media shows us, and I agree with Daphne that his smile, his affections SEEM false. Maybe after, he’s really a nice chappie.

    On the other hand, Gonzi’s emotions SEEM real, and acquintaces who know him personally tell me that he (and his wife) are like that in real life.

    As an example, I know of a fact which occurred at the height of the election campaign. An elderly woman was in hospital, very sick and almost dying. She expressed a wish that Gonzi visits her, and her son (who is a PN insider) told Gonzi. You know what? He visited her twice in hospital, and phoned her up every single day.

    This woman can be classified as a diehard supporter and Gonzi surely wasn’t running after a lost sheep when he did so.

    Doesn’t that speak volumes about the man?

  49. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    @David Farrugia – no, those fields of research and study don’t make him an economist. His first degree is in public policy, his second in European studies and his third in management research. Management – the Sant influence…I suppose he relies on the delegati and sundry obsessives not to work out the different between an economist and somebody with a background in European studies.

  50. tony borg says:

    @David Farrugia

    Here’s another pseudo-economist with a BA General in Maltese and economics, and a masters in public policy. If this entitles you to call yourself an economist then Malta must have hundreds of econmists as in those days, and I know because I was one of them, there were loads of students who took economics with another subject when they read for their first degree. We heard yesterday that Mr Vella Bonnici will be contesting for MLP segretary general. I hope he

    http://jvellabonnici.com/attivitajiet.html

    Have a look at who’s endorsing him:

    http://jvellabonnici.com/dwarjoe.html

    And btw, isn’t this the same guy?

    http://www.illum.com.mt/covers/cover_sept23_2007.pdf

  51. Meerkat :) says:

    @ Tony Borg

    That’s even more ominous for we know that Blair is Dubya’s Poodle… no need to go into the implication of this

    But just have a look at this:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38152000/jpg/_38152160_george_michael_150a.jpg

    and this

    http://www.davidfeldmancomedy.com/archives/blairpoodle.jpg

    and this

    http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/1931/dubyatonyxy7.jpg

    I rest my case.

  52. tony borg says:

    I hope he is less frugal with the truth this time.

  53. Peter Muscat says:

    GonziPN once more pretends collaboration from the opposition after he decides on an issue. His decietful and arrogant behaviour has no limits. What a cheeky slogan is “Fl-Imkien kollox possibli”!

    His behaviour is one of confrontation even on issues of national interests. GonziPN has no moral right to impose on the majority of the electorate what should be done or not be done on the future of the Drydocks, without proper and vast consultation with all concerned on the issue.

    The PFP issue and now the DRYDOCKS issue proves GonziPN’s real intentions: confontations on all levels. If that’s what he wants then let us give him that.

    First thing that comes to my mind is CIVIL DISSOBEDIENCE! Let us start giving him what he is asking for.

  54. Peter Muscat says:

    I have posted the previous post both to the Times and the Maltastar.

    Maybe this post is incomprehensible too!

  55. Zizzu says:

    “(3) Always be wary of somebody who classes himself as an intellectual. He is invariably somebody with a superiority complex, who favours AD or the MLP – and hence, rather less intelligent than he thinks, though he may be good at maths.”

    People with with a superiority complex who favour AD or the MLP and are rather less intelligent than they think would call such statements non sequiturs …

    The beauty of such logic outshines Newton’s Principia Mathematica.

  56. Corinne Vella says:

    Tony Borg: …and he was still addressed as Mr Blair.

  57. Zizzu says:

    Principia Mathematica is a “popular” abbreviation of the title … if you want the full version look it up somewhere.I imagine wikipedia would have it.

  58. “Always be wary of somebody who classes himself as an intellectual. He is invariably somebody with a superiority complex,”
    Why every now and then include such self assessments Mrs Daphne Caruana Galizia B.A. Archeology.
    Let’s hope moderator will not slash this short contribution like he does with many others. There is nothing that hurts
    Or is the moderator a censor? Appearance often do not lie.

  59. MPG says:

    amrio, are we supposed to cry when reading your comment? Politicians visit people in hospitals every day. It’s good for PR.

  60. Jane says:

    I agree that Joseph Muscat’s degrees don’t make him an economist. There may have been, as part of his course work, some areas of economics that had to be studied, but that does not make him a specialist in the subject. None of his degrees is in Economics.

  61. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    @Tony Borg – thank you for those interesting links about Joe Vella Bonnici. What sort of pseudo economist would espouse Labour’s policies, which only brought economic ruination? As for the pseudo-economist who now leads the Labour Party, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, as he and Sant like to say. He thought that Malta would do better economically outside the EU than within it, and then had to physically touch the wound, like Doubting Thomas, before he believed.

  62. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    @ Zizzu – one of those intellectual types, are you? There were lots of them about when I was 16, quoting heavy tomes at me. Fortunately, most of them grew up.

  63. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    @Michael Debono: what self-assessment? I never boast about my credentials or abilities in an effort at getting people to take me seriously. I stick to the maxim that it takes a wise man (or woman) to play the fool. Most people think that all I do is write a newspaper column twice a week.

  64. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    Jane, when the people who make up the Labour Party haven’t a clue how the economy works, it’s obvious that they’re going to think a couple of unit courses in economics, while reading for a degree in something else entirely, makes them an economist. So now Malta has a 15-year plan by somebody who majored in management research and European Studies, and who only started believing in Europe when he physically went to work in Brussels. Side-splitting.

  65. Zizzu says:

    @ Daphne – you flatteR me …

  66. tony borg says:

    @Meerkat
    I was only confirming your statement by citing another mega ego, Tony Blair. Sorry if I didn’t explain enough. I am a man of few words.

  67. Ray Borg says:

    @ Meerkat
    You wrote:
    Only artists with mega egos are known by one name…Cher, Madonna, Liberace (I am feeling wicked dropping Liberace too)
    You forgot Eddie!

  68. Uncle Fester says:

    @Meerkat. Does that make “Eddie” a prima donna?

  69. Andrew Borg-Cardona says:

    Oh look, that coward who hides behind the name “Peter Muscat” is suggesting civil disobediance … and about the Drydocks, of all things!

  70. Peter Muscat says:

    @ Amrio .. I do believe you when you said that you do not know Gonzi personally!It seems too that you do not know that appearances might be deceiving!

    I know Dr L Gonzi very well. He got all the attributes to make him a great leader:Cunning, deceiving and a great manipulator.

    By the way have you checked how many times Gonzi visited the ‘old lady’ this last two months?! Come on man try harder.

  71. Corinne Vella says:

    “Peter Muscat”: Your comments are amusing, but hard work. Please try to make them comprehensible. Here are a few sites that could help”
    http://www.dictionary.com
    http://englishplus.com/grammar/
    http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/ (dedicated to the memory of Dr Charles Darling)

  72. Andrew Borg-Cardona says:

    Moderator – why don’t you add “Jo Said” after “Peter Muscat”. If it ain’t him, he does a fine imitation of him.

  73. Peter Muscat says:

    @ Corinne Vella .. or maybe Cora … Thanks for your suggestions. I know that ‘to help others’ runs in your family.It is a great virtue! Pls. keep it up.

    Grazias! El mejor!

  74. Peter Muscat says:

    @ Andrew BORG CARDONA … My post addressed to you confirms my GOZITAN identity.

    Morning headaches are the worst! lol

  75. amrio says:

    @Peter Muscat

    I have mentioned the ‘old lady’ example in reaction to those who wrote that during the election campaign, Gonzi was running after lost sheep personally to garner more votes for PN. What I wanted to illustrate was that the man was also finding time to visit and take care of voters who voted and always vote PN in any case.
    I am not saying that Gonzi did not run after lost sheep. A friend of mine happened to stumble upon such an incident during the election campaign, when she saw Gonzi speaking to a group of 11 factory girls at a pub at 11:30 in the evening. It seems that these ladies did not want to vote PN due to feeling ‘let down’ by the government when their factory was experiencing difficulties. Maybe even out of fun, they phoned Castille for an appointment, and surprisingly for them, Gonzi fixed an appointment at his office. To try and make things difficult for him, they told him that at the time of the appointment, they would rather be relaxing in a pub than meet him. Gonzi answered back that he would meet them at the pub then, which he did.
    You say Gonzi is ‘Cunning, deceiving and a great manipulator’; from what I hear, Gonzi is ‘a ragel tar-ruh’, as the Maltese expression goes.
    And BTW, the ‘old lady’ is not in hospital anymore; whether Gonzi has continued his home visits to this lady, I don’t know.

  76. Corinne Vella says:

    Peter Muscat: It’s “gracias”, actually. Glad to oblige. Try these:
    http://www.englishprimer.com
    http://www.economist.com/style/
    http://www.wikihow.com/Use-English-Punctuation-Correctly
    spanish.about.com/cs/writing/a/spanengspell.htm

  77. Andrew Borg-Cardona says:

    “Peter Muscat”, for the benefit of those of us who have to manage without private insight into your thought processes, such as they are, could you sometimes translate your comments into something approaching lucidity?

  78. Peter Muscat says:

    @ Daphne … “Knowing which way to turn gives you self confidence. Taking a chance and going the opposite way gives you a chance to see what you are made of.”

    Hope you read Bob Perks. He also said:”Take the most difficult challenge you are now facing and turn it into the greatest opportunity to grow simply by changing how you see it. Dead ends then become turning points.”

    Finally I hope one day you find real happiness. Just remember that “Happiness is not getting what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.”

    I wish all wonderful vacations wherever you chose to go. From tomorrow my daughter would run all. Hope I catch on you all by end of August.

    Take care and behave.

  79. cikki says:

    Re: Peter Muscat

    Does this mean he’s gone for two months?!!

    Thank goodness for that! What a relief!

  80. chris I says:

    @Peter Muscat
    ‘From tomorrow my daughter would run all.’
    erm… which translated into Maltese or English would mean what exactly?

  81. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    @Chris 1: that his daughter will be running his business during his two-month stay in Monte Carlo. This man is maintaining the fiction that he is a tycoon (Porsche, yacht, secretaries and assistants….chase the threads)

  82. chris I says:

    My God, Daphne, you’re scaring me. You can actually read Muscat’s mind and understand him? Isn’t that a bit like looking into the dark side? :)
    I think i shall have to go and pray for your soul :) :)(with apologies to all bible bangers who read this blog!)

  83. Amanda Mallia says:

    How come nobody commented about “Michael Debono” himself claiming to be “Lucy Fair” on another thread?

    So Michael Debono = Lucy Fair = Peter Muscat = Said?

  84. Amanda Mallia says:

    This is the bit I was referring to in my comment aboveL

    “Michael Debono Thursday, 19 June 2130hrs
    …A few days ago I used a false humoristic name “Lucy Fair” and nobody noticed until I drew my self the attention of a contributor. I had expected to be the subject of who knows how many comments. I invited such comments since they would have been directed to the name Lucy Fair that by itself deserved any insult.”

    It sounds very much like “Peter Muscat” to me.

  85. Edward Clemmer says:

    @Amanda Mallia

    I haven’t tried a studied and more proper linguistic comparison between Michael Debono’s text and Peter Muscat’s text, but between a car dealer, Satan, and a psychiatrist, his at hand choice of aliases, as a modus operandi, along with his non-parralled poorly written (mispelled or ungrammatical) english, his typical emotional expression, and his network of mental associations (for lack of coherent or worthwhile ideas), gives me the impression that the probability is very high that “Michael,” “Lucy,” and “Peter” are indeed the same person. You may also be correct about “Said.” I have not been focused on the issue sufficiently, let alone consciously much to care.

    Although these puzzles are fun to engage, my time is too precious to be taken up with a systematic analysis, although I would be interested in doing so. Thanks for your observations, and the observations of others who have contributed to clarifying this single source. Rectifying his grammar or clarifying his thoughts may be as difficult as making sense of schizophrenic speech. The task would be arcane enough to suit an academic, but like other non-rational enterprizes, like creationism or other pseudosciences, there is no useful payoff to the effort.

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