The human rights heroes
In today’s edition of Libya News, which is published in Libya, there is an amusing news item, headed ‘Former Maltese Premier Dom Mintoff awarded Gaddafi Human Rights Prize’.
Let out those belts by a couple of notches so that you can have a good laugh. The Gaddafi Human Rights prize? Awarded to Dom Mintoff?
Former Maltese Premier Dom Mintoff awarded Gaddafi Human Rights Prize
Algiers – Thu, Aug 7, 2008 (Jana): The Executive Bureau of International Committee of Gaddafi Award for Human Rights held its first annual meeting yesterday in the Algerian capital chaired by Ahmed Bin Bella, the Chairman of the committee.
Former Maltese Prime Minister Dom Mintoff was selected as the nominee for this year’s award during the meeting. Mr. Mintoff celebrated his 92 birthday on Wednesday.
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What a joke!
Why not? Was he not the first in Malta to apprecate the benefits of multiculturalism and the beauty of strength in diversity,when , more then thirty years ago, he made us offical “blood brothers” with the Libjans?
This is already a classic just look at the keywords: Gaddafi, Mintoff, human rights and award.
hehehe…..
That’s about as dumb as awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Arafat, Begin, Mandela and Al Gore.
Or as dumb as awarding the Woman of the Year award to Winnie Mandela.
Or as dumb as awarding a seat on the United Nation Human Rights Commission to Sudan or China or any other dictatorships.
“Let out those belts?” – very apt for the post-Mintoff era. A far cry from “nissikkaw ic-cinturin”!
Maybe it IS an appropriate award. It is, after all, the Gaddafi Human Rights award we’re talking about. Now if we were talking about a Nelson Mandela award, that would be a different thing altogether…
This was apparently the first award of its kind. Maybe next year the committee will make the award Gaddafi himself.
Human what ? Fidel Castro was the nominee in 1998. Birds of a feather.
Correction: It wasn’t the first of its kind. Nelson Mandela received the first award but that was before Fidel Castro stepped up to the podium too.
Oh well,
we ain’t the only Pajjiz tal- Mickey Mous it seems :)
Corinne, Mandela was no better than Ghaddafi, before he was imprisoned AND during the first part of his imprisonment.
But after he got out of prison he had a great PR “firm” like Oprah Windbag for one and all was forgiven and the man is now a hero and a role model.
That is why he and that other great man of peace Arafat were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Yes Mintoff ordered the massacre of multitudes. Isn’t it so.
Mintoff was in favour of war in Palestine. Mintoff was in favour of the French and English and Israel attack on Suez.
What else was he in favour.
He was guilty of sending multitudes of Labourites to hell.
He was responsible for the murder of innocent Karen Grech.
Mintoff was responsible for back stabbing George Borg Olivier
Mintoff as a sign of vegeance was responsible for not letting Borg Olivier de Buget die of hunger when this same Borg Olivier de Puget wanted to send him Mintoff in a bag to Gaddafi, and when this same Borg Olivier de Buget found himself without a job, and made him a Magistrate
Mintoff was responsible for the bomb attempt on the Government Computer Centre that he himself had set up at Swatar.
Mintoff was responsible for the attempted murder of Fenech Adami personal assistant by the body guard of the same Fenech Adami
What else can one attribute to Mintoff.
Ah Yes. He catapulted Fenech Adami and the PN. back to Government. etc etc/ E.O.E.
Vince: Mandela was no better than Gaddafi during the first part of his imprisonment? I had no idea that Gaddafi was in prison.
My father worked in Libya years ago. (He has now been retired for 15 years). The most terrifying fact that I still remember him relate is when there were some men who were accused of participating in a revolt against him/Gaddafi and he (Gaddafi himself) shot them in the head one by one and was shown on state Television at prime time – for all to ‘enjoy’, so no one would dare try again. How’s that for a Human Rights’ Champion !! I can bet my life that not even a proper court-hearing took place!
This must be the joke of the century. thank God this prize is given by some obscure organisation with an even more insignificant following. Kemm tefa nies il-qabar qabel iz-zmien Mintoff? We can trace all our current ills, like most of the deficit, to his ill-concieved hair brained ideas. Like Bahhar u Sewwi, Stad u Staghna, Ifrex u Orqod, il-Funderija, Dirghajn il-Maltin, Il-Pijunieri, the ongoing mess that is the Drydocks, the beatings, the tear gas, Lorry Sant and his merry band of henchmen, the Helsinki filibuster, and the many many white elephants some of which still plague us today. Human Rights Award? The man only believed in one right, the right to impose his half witted schemes on this poor country….and we took it all!!!! They should have awarded the bloody prize to us, not to some nappy bound nonegenerian who did more harm than good, ultimately.
Or maybe they should give us the Grand Prize of Stupidity for allowing this man to even have been a significant part of our history. Qered lil Malta, u nonoraw. Pah ! Kemm ahna mill-fossa!
Democratic People’s Republic of <>. When the Left uses words, they cease to have meanings.
Mario Debono – Loved the “nappy” bit! Was wondering what the stench was …
Amanda, if you were 92, well, lets say your plumbing would work as well as it should anymore. But he is one tough old bird, having survived poisoning by drinking drainage tainted well water. The man must have a constitution like an ox. Swimming all the year round in Delimara must have helped. Who knows, maybe the waters there have health properties. Thats what old Marsaxlokk fishermen used to say. Mabe they were right after all. Now where’s my swimsuit and towel?
@Philip dupuis ” Yes. He catapulted Fenech Adami and the PN. back to Government.”
Mintoff voted against a bill for which Sant made a precondition that if the bill was not passed he would resign.(Sant painted himself in a corner). Governments fall from power when a monetary bill is not passed.
It was only Sant’s decision to call for early elections he could stay in power.
“CATherine Saturday, 9 August 0105hrs
My father worked in Libya years ago. (He has now been retired for 15 years). The most terrifying fact that I still remember him relate is when there were some men who were accused of participating in a revolt against him/Gaddafi and he (Gaddafi himself) shot them in the head one by one and was shown on state Television at prime time – for all to ‘enjoy’, so no one would dare try again. How’s that for a Human Rights’ Champion !! I can bet my life that not even a proper court-hearing took place!”
Incidents of this sort have not stopped local enterpreneurs from setting up shop in Libja these last thirty years or so to the mutual benefit of both Libjans and Maltese .What is interesting to note is that Gheddafi’s reputation does not seem to be stopping multinationals from all over the world including the EU and the US, from bidding for lucrative contracts in the aftermath of the removals of the sanctions.
Interesting on how this award came within days of Dr Edward Fenech Adami’s visit to Libja too.
[Moderator – Sybil, it’s Libya.]
Who put Malta on the world map:Nerik Mizzi, Borg Olivier, Fenech Adami, Gonzi?
All these cowed down when facing foreigners. Only Mintoff stood his ground and was qualified as one of the strongest negociator when agreement was reached in Rome thanks also to the late Aldo Moro. Mintoff was pleading, or rather negotiating in favour of Malta that includes everyone of you and every one of us.
Where it not for Mintoff we would still be labouring on how to make both ends meet to survive with the 5 cents weekly increse given by the P.N. The workers pay rose by leaps and bounds under the MLP lead by Mintoff.
Had it not for Mintoff momentary friendship with Gaddafi Government employees would not have received their regular pay following the disastrous financial position left by the P.N. No one can deny this
Many do not remember or do not follow history they just repeat what is fed by the masters of false propaganda or do not have a brain to use. Even from abroad like Canada there are people who do remember.
E.O.E
[Moderator – believe that, if you will. Some people believe they’re been abducted by aliens. The rest of us know that real quality of life began in Malta after 1987, and that Mintoff has nothing to do with the life we are living now, except for inadvertently hastening it along with that famous battle in the summer of ’98. You see Mintoff as a saviour in the same way that some elderly Muscovites still venerate the memory of Josef Stalin.]
@Philip Dupuis
I love your analysis of our history in terms of ‘socking it to the foreigners’.
You really do still have a tribal mentality, where the most important thing is being one up on the Joneses.
No wonder you need ‘gods’ like Mintoff.
All we need now is Frans Sammut waxing lyrical to complete the picture.
What a sad, uneducated, stifled and conned people we are!
[Moderator – Frans Sammut stars as the interviewee in Ms Benoit’s 60-second piece in The Malta Independent on Sunday’s Gallarija pages today. In reply to the question ‘Significant other?’, he replies that for a full 15 years, his significant other was his dog Skipper, whom he now mourns. That would explain Mark Anthony’s waggy tail and Jean-Pierre’s floppy ears, then.]
Moderator
That’s your opinion. You did not live at the time when Malta was a country of beggars roaming the streets, knocking on doors begging for alms presenting letters from Parish Priests to vouch that they are in need, Nuns and little children obstructing City gate again begging for alms. I lived at the time when Fenech Adami would de elated to be invited at the office of Mintoff; yes he would be full of smiles and proud. These are personal matters that you ignore. You never shared the life of those in need,
Be an historian, write the true facts not imaginary ones, and see the positive side of Mintoff that would reduce the bad side to a few lines in comparisons.
People of your mentality have castigated Mintoff period for being against computers. But who set up the first Government computer centre at Swatar. Who made an attempt to destroy it? Come on give answers.
Who abolished poverty with the introduction of social services? Non contributory old age pension,whom the P.N. in parliament qualifies them as money to buy wine,as if our elders were all drankards; my parents being one of the first beneficiaries, yours probably were not. Who set up legislation for the Introduction of National insurance the “famous bolla Balla of Louis Galea, without which old people retiring from work would not have a life saving to live on? Who eradicated the tuberculosis, the leprosy? Who subsidised the old people’s home run by the Little Sisters of the poor who were now in a position to rebuild their large house.Who paid a monthly subsidy to childre’s homes run by Nuns. Who gave compulsory paid leave to all workers, and paid sick leave by right. Who introduced full day and compulsory education. Not the P.N. for sure.
You might mention chocolate or tooth paste, poor guy. It was thanks to such measures that the MLP government under Mintoff was able the fill the treasury coffers.
You do remember how the P.N. and others looked at the prospect of developing of cappers. Go into supermarket and try to buy a container of capers or by weight.
How many people were imprisoned or denied their human rights during the labour administrations? If you answer yes. Just name them to be believed, otherwise it is a biased opinion not facts
Workers were imprisoned by the hundreds because they demonstrated in favour of Malta not under Mintoo butyou know under what regime. Who spied from behind windows and passed their name to the police, P.N. and people of your class. I saw DeGray going into a rage closing his fist tightly as if he wanted to drag those demonstrating into prison. How did Mintoff react when he was prime minister to De Gray misconduct. De Gray just resigned and was paid full pension. That was vindictiveness Labour type? Not the P.N. type that ostracised all those they knew of being MLP sympathisers.Shall I go on. I am just quoting a few events of Malta’s history, little known or corrupted by you know who?
By the way I have again to recall the vile murder of young innocent Karen Grech that should put to shame all those who supported the criminal action by doctors or would be doctors who forgot that they swore to take care of the sick. And for what trivial reason? They had to give a certain number of years service to the Maltese before proceeding abroad. They refuse!.
Referring to Karen Grech murder. Why nothing was reported in the Maltese English papers of what was going on that same day in Paris where the initial MAM figured prominently in those events?
Even if it had nothing to do with local events though the coincidence is quite strange. Why? Not to raise suspicions. Otherwise there is no other reason not to report that the French President and the communist Leader George Marchais received treatening letters and a parcel of explosives. That were news to be reported but were not in Malta
These couple of days DCG spoke about some human rights, such as when she referred to what we consider as immoral misbehavior by adults and considered as a criminal acts. It was the Labour Government under Mintoff that abolished that law. So something good was done in the opinion of those who saw nothing good in Mintoff including DCG. She was shy to mention it.
I am just putting down what comes to my mind, no misrepresentations. But it will take pages and pages, so better not waste space.
Now moderator give us a write up of the role of the “glorious” Nationalist Party in the History of Malta, starting from the time of Fascist Italy to the time when certain people who endangered the security of the island were sent far away from Malta and then returned. Some consider them as heroes! Heroes like Quisling and Laval.
But this is the dark side of the last 100 years.
Moderator, do not open books, there are a lot to say by those who lived those and these years.
No recrimination. You have your biased opinion, you retaliate by saying that my opinion is biased, but please point out the untruths.
Never the less I wish you a good day.
I end by writing O.E.O as I am sure to have misspelled a lot of words since this is not an essay but an “impromptu”.
[Moderator – Mintoff could have worked for progress without causing the widespread hardship, unhappiness and chaos that he did. But Mintoff did what he did because he loved causing hardship, unhappiness and chaos. He was, and remains, a sociopath.]
@ Sybil
I very well believe, that today, principles and values have made way for extreme materialism and opportunistic instinct/greed in a most shocking and horrifying way. It is very sad and true that: “MONEY is still the root of all EVIL”.
@ Mario Debono – Or maybe they should give us the Grand Prize of Stupidity for allowing this man to even have been a significant part of our history. Qered lil Malta, u nonoraw. Pah ! Kemm ahna mill-fossa!
In my opinion we should be given the prize for stupidity for allowing Fenech Adami to be a significant part of Maltese History. He was the one who preached vioilence from the granaries, he was the one who encouraged us to crusify Mintoff, he was the one who squandered our money turning his friends into multimillionaires. Qered lil Malta, unonorawh namluh President! Ghax intom minn tal-fossa!
@ Moderator-The rest of us know that real quality of life began in Malta after 1987, and that Mintoff has nothing to do with the life we are living now.
Between 1972 and 1987- Mintoff improved the life of the working class- by creating
1. the minimum wage (some workers pre 1972 were paid less than two pound a week.
2. Children’s alolwance
3. 40 hour week
5. Equal wages for males and females
6. Social housing
7. Free hospitals
8. Air Malta
and much more.
In 1987 the PN government continued on what Mintoff started using the money the Labour government left. When the money finished we saw an increase in taxes and a decrease in the quality of life. In the 80s an average worker started married life as owner of a small terraced house and the wife could opt to stay at home and care for the children. Now an average worker starts married life as owner of a small apartment and he and his wife have to work two jobs each to pay for the apartment.
By “The rest of us know that real quality of life began in Malta after 1987” I take it you mean the people who under the PN govenment one way or another got richer.
[Moderator – Try using your intelligence. It might make a change. Surely even you can see that the lives of the working-classes – of everyone, really – are much, much better now than they were between 1972 and 1987. Test yourself by answering this question: would you rather be here now or back then in 1975?]
F*** off, Philip Dupuis. Mintoff was so fantastic that you scuttled off to Canada. F*** off. And f*** Mintoff. And f*** Malta.
@ Philip Depuis : are you by any chance trying to re-write history? Mintoff did many good things but if anything he put us on the map because he was notorious in international circles. Malta was not in shambles when he got to power in 1971.He extended the British Forces’ stay by five years , and he cowed down when he faced Gaddafi in 1979 , after the British left Malta. He could not get anything from his Socialist Italian Brother Craxi , he only got help from the Saintly Christian Democrat Aldo Moro.Do you remember when he brown nosed the Libyan People’s Congress (Nannukhom u nannuna kienu ahwa , Malta hanina hobza u sardina etc etc) and got NOTHING ? Wasn’t that humiliating?
Nerik Mizzi , Borg Olivier , Fenech Adami and Gonzi have one thing in common: they were respected in international circles, after his illegal five year internment in Uganda by the British , Mizzi had to be respected as Malta’s PM (he couldn’t do much, he died during his premiership) , BO brought Independence and spearheaded the Law of the sea(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvid_Pardo) , EFA brought Bush and Gorbachov to bury the Cold War in Malta , negotiated successfully Malta’s entry into the EU , Gonzi just gave us the Euro and Smart City , they were never beggars.
All these Prime Ministers made other big changes without unnecessary fighting or bulldozing every Tom Dick and Harry who stood their way.
Where it for Mintoff we would still be labouring :
on how to have enough water and electricity .
on how to communicate with an obsolete Strouger telephone system .
on how to purchase a PC let alone having internet.
When I think of Mintoff I think of a fighter , perhaps that is why he was never invited to the Glass Palace in Hamrun !
@ Sybil : have you ever heard of The Brotherhood?
It is almost with great pleasure – thanks to what he made us live through – that I see the state he has been reduced to now. Hadd ma’ jiehu xejn mieghu!
just check the BICAL scandal. his heart is surely evil.
Don’t take things at face value. The P.N. brought to Malta Piccoli,this proves that it needed foreign influence, foreign interference. They (the P.N. big heads) were never sure of themselves. Like children who during a dispute in the yard menace their fow to bring their elder brother. Being all former schol children we know the trick.
What would you say if Sarkozi implored help from foreignrs to establish himself on Frnch soil and was elected president because foreign dignitaries pleaded his cause?
Thisproves that those P.N. personalities mentioned had an inferiority complex. They did not even trust themselves.
Who fomented disorders openly? Our dear (because he has cost us a lot of wasted money) Fenech Adami when he propagated civil disobedience against a constitutionaly elected Maltese government. Those were the days. Compare the civil disobedince instigated by the MLP and the GWU against the occupier (not a Maltese government) and see the results. During Fenech Adami no one got imprisoned no one was prosecuted. The MLP tolerated the misbehaviou of the Nats. Not like what happened years before, when workers were sent to prison, when Labourites and members of the GWU were brought in front of a selected magistrate whose reputation of proBritain was legendary. He sent every individual to prison withour remorse. And what’s more some local papers particularly English language ones applauded the decision. They used to splash the news in proeminence in the main pages.They relished to publish names if not even addresses. What was the P.N. reaction then. They stood sitting as theatre spoectators, perhaps clapping when a Maltese was imprisoned. It is not difficult to undrstand the feeling of true Maltese vis a vis such papers.
Mlta has got an advantage, not only are we civilied but we are civilised Catholics. That states a lot about the difference in reaction to similar events abroad and Malta.
The dates 1972 -1975 are quoted withou giving any details. I am very sorry I cannot see the diference, life has got on normally. Those who quote and ask to compare life in those years with life under the P.N. should show that they know what they are writing about. Put the years in parallel and point out the difference failing which it’s only bla bla.
Ah yes I have some comparisons to make about recruitment in the government service through exams.
There were young people who spent hours studying to suceed.
There were others who thanks to their political PN allegiance bought the question papers partiularly from a still existant shop or bar in Valetta. You study hard once told me a well known lawyer in the government service, and others just go and buy the questions.
Another instance that I read on one of the local blogs: three persons needed to obtain the A level in Pure mathematics. Two were well known teachers the third was the son of an employee who had some responsible charge at the Exam branch, but who was on leave on the day of the exam not before or after. Two sat the exam at a Valltta exam centreunder the superviion of two or three supposedly respectable persons. the other sat the exam at the Hamrun Lyceum Centre. Loo and behold. The Oxford examiners quickly discovered that these three persons copied from each other, and were not issued with a result in spite of vigorous protest by theP.N. ministry. The P.N. know how to take care of their minions. That is why the party restrict the choice of its officials from amongst a limited circle just like the mafia does. Camorra, just does the same and in every soiety where there is no democracy.
The P.N. does not trust its grass roots if it has any permanent ones.
This is again relating history bit by bit. But it is history, not just hearsay or opinion.
Good day to every body friend or (should it be said amongst Maltese) foe.
Lets raise hopes to get valuable results at the Olympics.
@ John Schembri – How old are you? During Mintoff’s legislation, one found it hard to get a PC because they were practically non existent all over the world. As a matter of fact I bought mine which was a ZX Spectrum in 1984 from Gala. If you don’t believe me go and check. My friend who lived in London had an identical one. He bought it a little cheaper of course. In those days PC were nothing like the ones we have now they used a cassette player instead of a discdrive and the TV instead of a monitor . So if you didn’t have a PC it was either because you were too young or not born or not interested in getting one, I bought mine for around 120 pounds which was less than a month’s wages. You asked Philip Depuis if he was trying to rewrite history. The history books you read are not so accurate I’m afraid. Mintoff did not extend the British stay in Malta. Did you know that until 1972 we had a British Governor General – Sir Maurice Doorman, and it was Mintoff who replaced him with a Maltese – Sir Anthony Mamo who later became President. Until 1972 it was still the British who governed Malta because the Prime minister answered to the Governor who in turn answered to the Queen. In 1972 Mintoff made the British forces pay well for the use of prime sites in Malta where they had build their barracks. And it was only then that we as a nation started preparing our economy, for when it would no longer depend on the British forces. Like Fenech Adami who did not prepare Malta for EU membership even though he applied for it, BorgOlivier did not prepare Malta for when the British Forces were going to leave.
@ Mentor To tell you the truth I’d give everything I have to be back in 1975, you see I was still a teenager then. Joking aside did you expect Malta not to improve in 30 years. Mintoff started the ball rolling in 1972, in 1975 he was still in his first three years and life then had already started to improved. Why do you think that there was a problem with the telephone lines. The truth is that during the PN years only the rich had a telephone, under Mintoff nearly all households wanted one so there was an explosion in demand, and not enough lines. In 1975 there were some hardships Malta was trying to change its economy. Now there are hardships as well, as I said when I was first married we had our own terraced house and could afford to pay the house
loan with no great hardship, wereas my children have to work night and day and they can only afford a minute apartment.
[Moderator – please don’t make pathetic excuses. Labour, under Mintoff and KMB, had a full 16 years to play with and used them to bring the country to its knees. By the early 1980s, Malta was wrecked. By comparison, look at what the Fenech Adami administration did between 1987 and 2003 – 16 years as well, minus the hideous Sant hiatus.]
The Natinalists are past masters in getting everyone to make some kind of progress at the same time.Progress for them is a national effort. Thats why they are successful. Mintoff bred a culture of class hatred, a class of people with such chips on their shoulder against anyone who worked for his money, that we are still suffering it today. For example, See what some people’s attitude to shopkeepers is…..they call them hallelin…..Instead of taking their business elsewhere if they dont like the price. And thats just one example. A Hero my sainted ASS!!!! Mintoff is just a cynical manipulator of people and situations and the classic narcissist!
It is because of when Mintoff was Prime Minister that I will never vote Labour. He is too much of a bad memory
@ Worker : In the Mintoff days (1984) I happened to be in California and there were PC shops full of people using computers.Mintoff in those times left us struggling to have a decent supply of water and electricity .We could not be bothered with highly taxed computers and the related red tape.
In BO’s time after Independence the hotel industry started with a bang with the Hilton & Sheraton chains,and industries like Phoenix textiles , GIE , Plessey , Wrangler , Toko and Shirasuna established themselves on the island in the new industrial estates.MCAST in Msida was built and teachers were sent on training abroad and the University at tal-Qroqq was also built .New turbines in the Marsa power station were installed and two desalination plants were installed in Hondoq ir-Rummien and Marsa.A new hospital was built in Gozo and Regional road with the two tunnels was built.
BO had gold bullion in the new Central Bank of Malta which Mintoff revalued
When Mintoff came to power he scared EVERYONE away with his bulldozing tactics. And we had forced labour in the form of Dirghajn il-Maltin.I clearly recall a May Day march in Valletta with these humiliated workers under military discipline marching with their eyes down in shame.
In Mintoff’s time I saw Phoenix textiles , GIE , Plessey , Toko and Shirasuna leave, I saw the “reforms” in education at MCAST with the kitchen of the catering department transferred to the MCC, I saw St Michael’s Teacher training College being sold to the foreigner , I saw the student population at the university dwindling , the desalination plants left to rot , the power station with no spare capacity and sometimes overloaded, with TOURISTS organising a water protest .And yes I nearly forgot the roads , the Regional Road bridge project from Msida to Sta Venera was scrapped and WE had to pay the penalties to the consultants. There would not have been an “accident black spot” on the Lorry Sant Bridge!
For your question ” Why do you think that there was a problem with the telephone lines.” my answer is simple “Mintoff was not able to turn a problem into an opportunity.He tried to patch the problem with a “refurbished” (or restored) Strouger system. Iraqqa’ l-pannu bil-qara’ ahmar.
He also tried to solve the electric power overloading with a restored inefficient turbine from Palermo which was donated after the second world war to Italy as Marshal Aid.
It is said that Herbert Ganado called him “sappituttu” (after one of his neighbours),and “il-Pajk” used to say that Mintoff is like a good car without brakes!
I think both hit the nail on the head.
@Mario Debono – For example, See what some people’s attitude to shopkeepers is…..they call them hallelin….. I believe it was John Dalli who called the small business men Hallelin. The bus drivers were recently called criminals. the dockyard workers lazybones etc etc.The Nationalists are masters in getting everyone to make some sort of progress like Zerppi l-haffi he did quite a lot of progress he started by lifting Fenerch Adami on his back and ended by leading him by the nose. Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando started supporting the environment and ended by using the environment to become a millionaire. Fenech Adami sarted as a village lawyer and ended as President of Malta. The dockyards workers started as technicians and ended as road sweepers. Factory workers who started with a good job and paying home loans and ended up with no jobs no homes. Yes everyone progressed under the PN some progressed up and others down. Let’s not forget Mid Med Bank employees who started as bank clerks and ended as sales persons, phoning clients up to try to sell them one scheme or another. Remember the IMCO salesmen (not to mention some others who are still around) That’s just what HSBC employees have been reduced to.
@impartial moderator or what!
The following are your words:… the years in government the MLP quote
” used them to bring the country to its knees. By the early 1980s, Malta was wrecked. By comparison, look at what the Fenech Adami administration did between 1987 and 2003 – 16 years as well, minus the hideous Sant hiatus.]
Moderator you just write words of no significance without quoting instances, circumstances, events etc.
Why, because you know that you will betray yourself.
Just write any advantage Maltese people, particularly workers got during Fenech Adami term in office. Give details please not worthless comments. I could write Malta was haven on earth during the MLP government in comparison to the time under the P.N. That would be worth zero. But If I enumerate the increase in weekly pay by the pounds not cents, the two bonuses one just at the beginning of summer and the other before Christmas so that families even the lowest paid ones can have something extra to give their children. If I mention the children allowances, the housing projects made affordable to lower income earners, the Saturdays off, the half days in summer to manual workers, and compare these with the big zero provided by the P.N. during their term in office, then I will not be writing words or rhetoric, but words of substance illustrated with examples.
That is what is being suggested you do.
There is no fear who will deserve the praise and win the argument. Up to now no one has mentioned any achievements during the 20 years of P.N. administration. I just mention an example: the bombed opera house is still a wreck.Three different projects were published Zavelano Rossi, Richard England, the world renowned Italian architect Enzo Piano.Which of these plans has been realized. Was it not a waste of our, we the citizens, money. How many plans and how much money has the P.N. administration squandered money that went up in smoke. This is just one example. But in the pipe line there is the tram to regenerate public transport. It will never come out of the pipe.
Regarding students: who legislated to pay them stipends? Other made the University free from fees, the MLP paid stipends to students, and children from the workers families started to rush to the university that was denied to them. Myself and my children have lived during both epochs. My father could not afford to send me or any member of the family to the University. I was able to send mine in spite of my relatively small wages. I am illustrating my writings. Please do the same but with reality not imaginary. With facts not promises.
Good day moderator. Don’t be biased if you can.
“Philip Dupuis” – If you are still in denial about that poor excuse of a man called Mintoff, then read ALL of this:
http://user.orbit.net.mt/fournier/MNnational_bank_scandal.htm
No further comment necessary.
Worker: That’s the result of land being in short supply in comparison to demand. In the glory years you mention, it wasn’t worth owning a piece of property that you didn’t live in, so the overall demand was lower – hence the lower asking prices.
@ John Schembri – You are misleading the public- thats a nice way to say you are lying. In Mintoff’s days people did not pay taxes on PC – Personal computers were considered educational like books and were not taxed. Since you were in California you can hardly know how things where in Malta except by what you heard. Teachers’ training under Mintoff was upgraded from a teachers’ diploma to a degree, and many student teachers sent to continue their studies abroad. If you ask many of the professors at the University, you will find this to be true.
In BO time the building industry started with a bang the hotels were built and it was only under a labour government that the tourist industry flourished.
The hospital in Gozo like Mater Dei had many question marks it smelt of corruption.
Mintoff forced no one away wit5h his bulldozing tactics, speaking of which don’t you think Austin Gatt is using some bulldozing tactics. do you think he will give a good piece of land worth millions to whoever gets the Malta drydocks like he did with Go. Then after month real;ize what he did and could not get it back again. I wonder who have shares in Go.
You saw student population in University dwindling? Student population never dwindled. I suggest you check your information before you talk. Like all other Nationalists you talk without checking first as long as you write something against MLP. SHAME ON YOU AND ALL YOUR KIND.
@ Corinne Vella Yes God gave us land to own and make loads of Money and let the poor live in sheds. As long as we champion illegal immigrants we are ok. Even if through our gluttony we are turning our island into a city of concrete.
worker: and your point is…?
@ Corinne My point is:- Is this progress or regress?
@worker
It was extremely difficult to get the Sinclair computers when they were first released. And you needed an import license and paid taxes to order one from the UK. I was lucky to get mine in the uk while visiting relatives but I dread to think what would have happened if the customs officer had opened my suitcase…
Mintoff openly spoke against computers because “they made people lose jobs” – how’s that for education?
Does anyone remember what a nightmare it was to get an import license for ANYTHING? The queues, the bribes, running from one office to another?
Just to give you a small example – in 1986 I returned to Malta after my first year in university overseas. I had a little Sanyo cassette player with me, declared it on entry and stated that I would be leaving with it after the summer holidays. I spent a month trying to get it out of customs – my poor dad had to keep driving me between the Luqa and Xatt Ir-Risq customs, and I had to pay for a TEMPORARY IMPORT LICENSE. And we’re talking about a used item worth about Lm30…
Just imagine what people who dealt with these offices every day had to go through.
My personal experience is that life in the 70s and early 80s was a nightmare, largely thanks to Mintoff and his government.
@worker. I am right you know. From what you and Philip Dupius say, I am right in my oft repeated theory that Mintoff created a class of people with more chips on their shoulder than McDonalds in Malta. What exactly is your point? I, like the good Corinne here, strive to understand your point. Instead u give us a list of “achievements” that were our human right in the first place, but which you attribute to good ole’ Dom. The trouble is, that he dispossessed a good many middle class person, plus sent many others to an early grave, to be able to dole out these “achievements” as you call them. Oh, he had good teachers. Teachers as old as the Romans themselves. Remember Caligula and Nero, giving people circuses and free bread and salt as if they were gifts? He had teachers like the Great Leader, Kim Il Sung, Ceausescu, Enver Hoxa of Albania, Ghaddafi of old ( he is now enlightened and with hindsight, thank God, Because he kept the Islamic fundamentalists away from the Med, he hates them more than Bush), Brezhnev and the East German trained Maltese Economist. These social services were yours BY RIGHT and it was Mintoff’s duty to give them to you, but not by performing a grotesque Robin Hood Parody, stealing from the ones who had worked hard and giving it to the supposedly starving masses like you like to describe yourselves. What I can see today is that plots given away for free by the MLP are being traded in the hundreds of thousands. There is an area in Mellieha that has views far better than Santa Maria Estate. Its just behind the new Old People’s Home. All the plots there were given out by government. The best ones were given out to Emigrants, many of whom are still in Australia or Canada. And some plots are still empty, and a lot have been sold to Russians..!!! Russians for God’s sake, at sums exceeding the value of the whole plot site when they were given out. These were housing plots, and the “workers” who traded in this bounty became rich overnight. The people who owned the land originally were not paid. The moral of the story is that the only way these workers would have gotten these sums is under a Nationalist Government, because the country progressed so much that property values rose. So please, Mr “worker” and Mr “dupuis” or whatever your real names are, don’t speak to us about hardships……or Mintoff as a Salvatur. We have seen the pit with that man, and his successor forced us to scrape the bottom of that pit some more and seen worse. Malta was reborn on the 9th May 1987. Don’t you ever forget that, will you? That was our moment, our renaissance. The years 1971-1986 were our worst years, our Dark Ages. Thank you.
Can this absurd idea of the Partito Nazionalista being fascist stop once and for all.
Mussolini the founder of fascism was born on July 29, 1883 and the marcia su roma which installed fascism in italy took place in october 1922.
The Nationalist Party was founded by Dr Fortunato Mizzi in 1880 as the Anti-Reform Party. How can the Nationalist party be fascist if the person who invented fascism had not been born yet.
QED
Since I remember, I quote Dr. E.Mizzi in parliament regarding Mr. Mintof.
Malta will one day embrace Mr. D.Mintoff and cherish his memory.
Someone referred to the advance age of the architect of Malta. So what? Why stoop so low. Let’s hope some of your forefathers grannies kept their juvenile look when over 90
and may the Almighty give that opportunity to yourself. I am serious. I never wish evel things to any one. I will argue until exhaustian but will never debase anyone, at least not seriously. Jokingly as much as you want but to exterorise what in Maltese we have the habit of calling “Hdura” that no!This site is full of it.Pity the colour of the typing is black not green. If it were so it ouldbe the prefrred colour of a lot.
Some one mentioned dirghajn il-Maltin and other corps. They were meant to give work to the enemployed after the randown of the British forces. Mintoff did not pay workers to stay at home.He provided them with work. Dolce far niente is an Itlian slogan known and practised by the P.N.etc etc etc E.O.E
[Moderator – let’s hear it again from the Mintoff faction…]
Worker ,you really shoot from the hip .
I happened to be in Orange County for more than a fortnight, I remember ordering every morning sourdough toast with real ham ,two fried eggs, a big glass of orange juice and a large coffee for breakfast for just $3.00 equivalent for Lm1! We in Malta were nowhere near the quality and quantity at that price.When I returned to Malta and asked for something equivalent of an orange I realised in what pitiful situation we were living.
Maybe I can understand why you are writing under a nickname . People who attack other people and hide behind a pseudonym or a nome de plume are called cowards.
I know of people who started as clerks with Air Malta and ended up in the Prime minister’s secretariat . There are still so called teachers who volunteered ‘to take care’ of the students during the teacher’s strike in the 80’s.
Why are you writing on a blog of a “gutter journalist”?
@ Worker & Depuis: a fresh example of how workers were treated in the glorious Mintoff’s era:” In those proceedings, the aforesaid former employees of Cable and Wireless Limited (the “Plaintiffs”)
premised that Telemalta had bound itself, by an agreement dated 1 January 1975, to create a pension
scheme for the Plaintiffs akin to that set up by the Government, and that Telemalta/Maltacom had
failed to implement the pension scheme in favour of the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs requested the Court to fix a
short peremptory period within which Maltacom should implement the pension scheme and which was
to apply in relation to the Plaintiffs on the basis of the wage and period of employment of each and
every such employee and, in the event that the peremptory period established by the Court passes
without such pension scheme being implemented, declare that the agreement to implement the
pension scheme becomes binding by virtue of the judgment itself.”
These workers are still struggling.
Philip Dupuis – You said “Malta will one day embrace Mr. D.Mintoff and cherish his memory”
More like queue up to spit on his grave, you mean.
@ Doc You are wrong I know my friend received a ZX spectrum as a present from London. He paid no Taxes because it was considered educational and I personally bought my ZX Spectrum from Frank Borda (Gala). With regards to your experience of the cassette I’m afraid I cannot comment cause I had no such experience although at the time I did own two cassette players which I bought from Malta without any hassle.
@ Mario Debono if these were human rights why did not Borg Olivier give them to us? And why did the opposition go against them. And why didd Fenech Adami do his utmost to remove? Maybe you haven’t noticed that workers’ rights are dwindling. Do you know that in certain jobs workers are not be3ing paid minimum wages? You are bound to say that they should change their jobs, but maybe they are not as well qualified as you.
@ John Schembri – I write under an nomdeplum because I’m a government employee an am afraid of repercussions if I show that I am not an PN supporter. Under the so called democratic PN government MLP supporters are still getting transfered and given the worst possible conditions.
[Moderator – That’s a typical Labour mentality ‘I won’t show what I vote because I might get punished’. It was the Labour government who punished people who didn’t vote Labour. The Nationalist government transferred people who had been given power and responsibility beyond their sphere of competence, by the Labour government, solely because of their political beliefs: like Mario Vella tal-MDC. Louis Grech, on the other hand, stayed on to head Air Malta for years. Those are just two examples.]
worker: That depends on your point of view. In what way does making money qualify as ‘regress’?
Worker: “Teachers’ training under Mintoff was upgraded from a teachers’ diploma to a degree” That would be during the years when all BSc and BA programmes were abolished, when entry to University was limited by the infamous numerus clausus, further limited by the prior need to find a ‘sponsor’ who guaranteed employment after graduation, and by the notorious points system biased that disadvantaged anyone in private education.
Now please don’t try to correct me by saying that happened under KMB’s ‘stewardship’. It’s not like we don’t know how he got his job.
Personal computers were considered educational? Right – that’s why access was so limited for so long.
Save yourself the embarassment of reminding us about the past. You’re beyond absurd.
Philip Dupuis: MINTOFF provided people with work? Right, and paid everyone out of his own pocket too. The socialist champion never let on to his followers that among the much villified private entrepreneurs he was one of the most successful.
He’d have done better had he encouraged private enterprise rather than done his damnedest to choke it to death.
Dirghajn il-Maltin? Wonderful – there was also the caper corps, a future in il-pijunieri for former National Bank employees, il-generazzjoni socjalista…A golden age, wasn’t it? Ajma jahasra.
Worker: Afraid of repercussions at work because you’re not a PN supporter, are you? More likely it’s because the thought has entered your foggy brain that you’re pursuing a private interest during public working hours.
@ Corinne making money is not regress but destroying the environment is, and in the last 20 years the environment has been destroyed we hardly have any countryside left. Don’t forget the amount of building permits issued on ODZ, and overcharging for a piece of land is.
Before the introduction of the Student worker Scheme students without a good financial could not follow a university course.
During the SWS students who could attend University before found it more difficult to enter because there were more students competing for the said courses. The problem in those days was that a University education became available to more students and there was not enough places for all. I can understand the students’ distress in being left out, but you must understand the distress of others who were left out before, because they could not afford it. Mintoff’s mistake was not to enlarge University, but then maybe there was not so much money available.
Access to personal computers was not limited. I did not come from a rich background I had no special friend I paid no one top get mine. I went to Frank Borda and bought one.
Moderator! you are not. You just intrude where you shouldn’t. We may argue at length until eternity, that the P.N. had their way of leaving laborites to rott in a corner instead of giving them a job of whatever kind. Mintoff had set up the Government Computer Centre at ta’ Swatar limits of Rabat. Ther was no one in Malta able to administer it. Calls for applicatrion were held particularly in Australia in the event a Maltese person would apply. That is what happened. A certain computer specialist was selected and run the Centre in the most efficient manner. I the meantime the P.N. could not suffer to see such a progress and an attempt was made on the Computer Centre. If it had succeeded it would have cause cahos in the Government records, finances etc. Not difficult to conclude who instigated the culprits. At that time a lot of bombs were being planted here and there as part of civil disobedience. Civil? uncivilised or terrorism!
Then Fenech Adami got into government. The first person to be removed from his place was Mr. Camilleri,the Maltese from Australia, the head of the Computer Centre. Just like that. He was “broomed” away as if he were some dust.The Court had found Fenech Adami guilty, repeat guilty of political discrimination. Mr Camilleri was awarded his due. Then followed a clown’s act: Fenech Admi went to the President with two letters in his pocket: one offering to resign, the other signed by his ministers pleading the President not to accept the resignation. We all know how this comedy ended. Can any one be so ridicule, have so little self respect? But it happened in the P.N. camp
A bout Mario Vella, I never knew the story except trough the P.N. But then I learned that he was kept in office just doing nothing. A P.N. way of ostracising Labourites. Now this Mr. M. Vella is giving his service to the most serious Firm of auditors in Malta and abroad Thornton.
How many applied to be engaged as policeman but because some one in the family, an old uncle, a great grand father, a remote cousin was known to have had Labour opinion, when the poor young chap went to be interviewed he noticed a red dot near his name. He faired exceptionnally at the interview but when the result were published he was shown as failed. Later insiders revealed that the red dot was the sine qua non to be accepted to join the police, naturally negatively.
During the PN. administration, there was a certain P. Galea who had some responsibilty at the exam centre. It was enough for a candidate sitting for an exam for recruitment of civil servants to contact this Nationalist proeminent person, and one was sure to succeed. Even his own son sitting for an A level pure Maths had found a way to copy from candidates sitting kilometers away. However the examiners are no stupid, and discovered the trick. Names have been mentioned, I have mentioned names of people that perhaps are no more only their reputation persists.
Full dtails of what I am writing could be published if only a publisher is found ready to disclose not irregularities by the P.N. but immorality.Wall have ears that echo the truth of past events. E.O.E
[Moderator – Believe all the myths and legends you want to. If Mario Vella were really worth his salt, he wouldn’t have sat in an empty room for nine years while collecting a salary. He would have left the public service and got himself a challenging position in the private sector. That he preferred to sit in an empty room and do nothing for years while whining and acting the martyr tells you a lot. His job now? Don’t be too impressed. It’s another friends-of-friends arrangement: the firm in question is owned and run by yet another keen Labour acolyte and personal friend of Mario Vella. He didn’t exactly have a stream of businessmen at his door clamouring to give him a job, so a friend helped him out. To quote one of Malta’s foremost businessmen on the subject: “Mario Vella?! The man has never worked a day in his life.” Of such people is Labour’s A-team made up.]
@ worker – I stand by my personal experience. Perhaps your friend was lucky, or was “helped”. That’s the way it usually worked in those days…
I remember that Gala sold Spectrum computers. I also remember that they were far more expensive there, and that they were available much later than their release in the Uk.
I didn’t state that cassette players were not available in Malta. I used my case as an example about the nightmare it used to be to import electronic goods. And then you might also remember Mintoff’s crusade against Japanese imports. At that time the best quality and value-for-money electronic items such as hi-fi and musical instruments came from Japan. For a while they were banned, and then they were sold at double their normal price due to ridiculously high duties.
I will not go into the merits and failures of the SWS. But there is no doubt that it was used by Mintoff and his protégé Alfred Sant to discriminate against highly qualified students coming from private schools.
Worker: So now it’s the environment is it? I thought your original complaint was about the cost of property.
You say that a university education became available to more people as a result of Labour’s policy. No it didn’t. It became available to proportionately fewer and to those who did not want a purely utilitarian ‘education’ it was not available at all. Policy making was tailored to producing that hypothetical socialist generation, a misguided tactic if ever there was one and thankfully one which failed.
What you’re effectively saying is that Mintoff improved tertiary education by changing the demographics of exclusion rather than acting on his supposedly socialist convictions and making education available to all. His mistake was not to avoid enlarging university. His mistake was to act on the principle that education conveys social advantage and therefore it should be rationed – in the way he and his cronies saw fit.
I don’t share your admiration for the notoriously inefficient and grossly mismanaged student worker scheme. It was founded on the creation of fictitious jobs, many of them in the public service. So public funds *were* available for tertiary education, only they were used in the wrong way. Yes, some students did have private sector jobs but – guess what? – they were people who had the right contacts in the first place. I’d hazard a guess that that group didn’t include anyone who would have been excluded from university without the scheme.
So rather than a meritocratic system that enabled the most deserving and opened up tertiary education to the highest possible numbers, what we had was a perversely elitist policy instituted by someone who preached socialism.
I take it from your writing here that your knowledge of running a business is limited. It’s safe to assume that you know nothing of the hoops a person had to jump through to get hold of anything that would keep a business profitable and efficient. You can quibble all you like about computers and taxes. Businesses were never going to run on ZX-81s, anyway.
@ Amanda Mallia: those are not my words I do not have the stature to give such an appreciation. Those are words of your dear Dr.E.Mizzi “Malta ghad taghfsu fuq qalba”(If my Maltese is correct) Those are the exact words of Dr.E. Mizzi. Ask any worthy historian to verify, don’t rely on me.
Mintoff did not practise parish politics, he was international. If you say he was ambitious, I would agree, but he turned his ambitions to the greatest benefit of Malta.
What is the worth of a national politician. If he is devoid of ambitions then he is just an amateur. A head of a company needs to be ambitious- look at Farsons and its success. Have a look Mr.Albert Mizzi the successful entrepreneur. Take as an example the directors of HSBC(international) and see where there ambitions have lead them Mintoff was that sort of ambitious politician and applied it for the good of Malta.
His detractors out of jealousy did everything to destroy him, to put spokes in the wheels to denigrate him. Sometimes reactions provoke counter reactions. And history evolves.
History gives us a number of great people whose ambition made them reach the highest posts. Then adversaries intervened and might have spoiled their good intentions.Nobody loved peace more than Napoleon. But there was England to create obstacles, and a chain of events brought his down fall at Waterloo. While trying to flee to Louisiana that he had sold to America, he found the harbours blocked by the English Navy. He did not bother much, he reasoned that the English people where reasonable enough to treat him as he should have been. He put his trust in the wrong hands. They exiled him, not to Elba this time from where he could escape, but to Saint Helena, in the middle of nowhere. He died there. His merits were recognised. The French who many suffered under him, forgot their sufferings and claimed his ashes that lie at the Invalides surrounded by the many flags of battles he won. and thousands still visit his last resting place. No one could dare denigrate Napoleon and say he was not a French patriot.Yes perhaps the Royalists or aristocrats.Every country has its history and events that coincide.
[Moderator – The only thing that Mintoff has in common with Napoleon is that he, too, is a megalomaniacal midget.]
@ Doc – For your information computers in Malta still arrive later and are more expensive than in the UK. I’ve just brought one with me from the UK, and guess what, when I checked at a renowned computer shop in Malta – Theirs were not the latest version and much more expensive than the one I got. The same can be said about many other electronic goods.
@ Corinne My complaint is both at the high cost of property in Malta and the destruction of the environment. And all this to make just a handful of people rich. As you have already guessed I’m a socialist at heart (you might even consider me a communist) and I believe everyone should have the chance for a decent life. Some could be stinking rich for all I care, but not at the expense of the rest of the population or the environment.
I’m afraid I cannot run a business, actually my way of thinking would bankrupt me in a few weeks if not days. But companies who wanted to use computers in the 80s introduced them. Bluebell introduced computers back then, of course they did not use ZX81. De la Rue was another company which used computers.
As for tertiary education, I agree that it was not the best system but it gave some people the chance to follow a university course, which without the WSS they would never have followed. Let’s face it we have a much better system now. Probably the best in the UE, but I’m sure that if anyone wanted to find fault with it they would.
“Afraid of repercussions at work because you’re not a PN supporter, are you? More likely it’s because the thought has entered your foggy brain that you’re pursuing a private interest during public working hours.”
For your information I take my ANNUAL HOLIDAYS for Santa Maria, next week I might write if I have the time but only after 2.00pm.
Worker: The only way to make property cheaper is to increase supply so that it exceeds demand. That’s unlikely to happen given the short supply of land here and it wouldn’t exactly improve the quality of the natural environment, would it?
“Let’s face it we have a much better system now?” Yes we do. It’s the sort of system we needed back then, only your hero thought otherwise.
You’re right, I guessed you’re a socialist – one in the mould of Dom Mintoff who preached socialism while practising elitism. As I said earlier, the SWS improved the chances of some, though only through means that were not always fair, but effectively excluded many others. Demand rose but then supply didn’t, increasing the value of that scarce commodity called tertiary education – just like the property market, in fact.
You see, like Mintoff, you may claim to be a socialist. In reality you’re a free marketeer.
[Moderator – Falling house prices would also have a catastrophic effect on the economy in general, and would be particularly devastating for those still paying off a loan taken out when their house or flat was worth more. Look at the present situation in Britain.]
@ Worker : keep your nickname but if you want to insult people don’t do it while hiding behind a false name.
“I’m afraid I cannot run a business, actually my way of thinking would bankrupt me in a few weeks if not days” Think about this statement you made .Could it be that your ideology cannot be put to practice?
The only communism which still survives is Castro’s . Do you like it?
If you watch some of Mintoff’s successors in the MLP you will find that they are filthy rich and that they don’t care a hoot about the environment. They are Champagne Socialists , they are worse than the Nationalists. Probably they are money hungry like you know who.
Re Computers. Frank Borda had on sale the BBC computers that I still have. I even have a Philips master game with a lot of differnt games. These were bought during Mintoff government. Why worry, the example of the Government Computer Centre buries all that has been written about omputers and Mintoff period.
I am surprised that moderator has put Mintoff on equal footing with the greatest general, the greatest administrator of a country, the greatestes legislator, (his legal system still prevails even in Malta,) That conqueror who just as he landed in Malta introduced the unthinkable education for all in Malta.
Perhaps your dear Mussolini, that pocket dictator who never bowed his head when haranging the masses, but his eyes staired at heaven is your typical head of State or who was called quite rightly the clown dictator
Some one reasoned that since the PN was set up prior to the advent of Mussolini and his fascism then the PN could not be called fascist. Poor fellow. Since you were born an infant then you cannot become a man. Stupid reasoning.
Yes Mussolini fasciscism was the idol of the PN. “L’Uomo mandato da Dio” A worse swear could not be uttered.
Fascism still runs into the veins of a lot of bloggers in this site. You can feel it without much effort.
[Moderator – Can’t you read simple sentences? I didn’t put Mintoff on ‘an equal footing’ with Napoleon. I wrote that the only thing the two have in common is that they are/were both midget-sized megalomaniacs.]
@worker
worse than fascism there is socialism running in some others’ veins(or arteries?) or heaven forbid communism. Which is the worst “ism”?
@ John Schembri I am sorry if you feel insulted because I showed you up for the liar you are. I could sign up as John Schembri and be Joe Borg nobody would know now would they. So Worker or Joe Borg nobody can really say who I am. The only person we know is real is Daphne, and maybe her sisters.
I’m afraid I cannot run a business, actually my way of thinking would bankrupt me in a few weeks if not days” Think about this statement you made .Could it be that your ideology cannot be put to practice? My ideology cannot be put to practice because I am a single person, but the state can help more than I can instead of spending money on contracts that should have costed much less. On the other hand I am a person who does not beleive making a lot of money is that important. I am happy living in a comfortable house, well clothed and fed, and taking a holiday when possible. My extra cash goes in insurances, I have a life insurance and a health insurance. You might want to be a millionaire, but I have no such desires. I am no businessman
and I am not ashamed to say so. I have no business sense and I don’t regret it. I am no politician either, I am not capable of becoming a minister so what?
You find people who are hungry for power and money in all walks of life. You find them in the PN and in the MLP. I do not envy the rich, but I hate to see people getting rich through the suffering of others, or through corruption.
By the way I never said I was a communist I told Corinne – As you have already guessed I’m a socialist at heart (YOU MIGHT EVEN CONSIDER ME a communist) Since Corinne and I do not see eye to eye on politics I thought she would think me an extremist. I hope that like me you don’t like to see people suffering no matter what your political point of veiw is.
Modeerator. “What the two have in common is….”! Are you not putting two people on the same whatever level. How I would appreciate to be put on the same level as Napoleon for his ambitions even referring to my and his defects. To have the same defect as a great man like Napoleon, mind you, is an honour. That’s a compliment, and wish it be yours too. Having something in common with one of the greatest men we would not be just two ordinary people. Seriously not joking. If you don’t feel it that’s your problem.
[Moderator – Philip, you’re boring me rigid. Isn’t there a beach you can go to?]
@ Worker :where did I lie?
All in all it is very fitting that Mintoff should be awarded the Gaddafi Human Rights Prize. I hope he will soon receive the Mugabe Medal for Democracy and the Fidel Freedom Award, both of which he richly deserves.
Oh, and the Kim Il Sung Committee for Civil Rights will surely come up with some fitting award, too.
[Moderator – Yes, you’re right about that. The ‘Gaddafi Human Rights Prize’ for Dom Mintoff…. entirely fitting.]