Notes from the circus-ring

Published: October 16, 2008 at 11:46am

The lateral thinker Edward de Bono has proposed a ‘palace of thinking’ for Malta – a place for the generation of ideas. I appreciate Professor de Bono’s enthusiasm, but really – ideas in Malta? Ideas in a place where almost nobody reads anything at all, and where thinking outside the box amounts to grilling your steak instead of frying it? Well, I don’t know.

De Bono wants to brand Malta as the ‘creative think-tank of the world’ and he wants to do this by next year, which is the European Union’s Year of Creativity. But again, this country is hardly the apex of creativity. We produce a lot, certainly, in the way of paintings and so on, but little of it is original or innovative or even very good, and that’s because people here make a point of cutting themselves off from what’s going on in the rest of the world. You can blame the education system until you’re 16, but after that you’re on your own. If you don’t know what’s happening elsewhere, what’s new, what’s hot, then after the age of 16 you have no one to blame but yourself. This isn’t the island of creativity. It’s the island of hackneyed hobby-horses.

I admire Edward de Bono for his dreams in relation to his country of origin, but really – he expects too much. He wants an ‘imposing and iconic structure’ that will attract thinkers who might come up with creative ideas in the sphere of public policy and other areas. His dream extends to having ‘thinking ambassadors’ from other countries based at the Palace of Thinking. I can’t help but think that this sounds like a paradise for individuals best described by a coarse word beginning with ‘w’ and ending with ‘r’. We have enough people gassing around. What we don’t have is action.

Professor de Bono says that if Malta doesn’t signal its interest, then the Palace of Thinking will go to Spain, Italy or Latvia, all of which have shown interest. Well, I don’t know. What use a Palace of Thinking in a country where half of the population would vote for a two-headed alien with a policy of Mongolia in the Mediterranean, just because the two-headed Martian said so?

********************************************************

I drove home from a late meeting Tuesday evening while listening to Austin Gatt give a detailed account of the MITTS ‘hacking’case, which turned out to be not about hacking, after all. I listened to him for the best part of 20 minutes and remembered why I like his style so much, and why I’m so cross that he doesn’t stand for election in the constituency where I live, which means that I find myself constrained to vote for far less able individuals. He gave a good, comprehensive and straightforward account of what happened, delivered in that brusque but credible voice of his. By comparison, the new leader of the Opposition sounded like a nasal hand-puppet.

And when he had finished, I sat in the car eating a sausage-roll which I nipped out to buy from the pastizzeria near the Mosta church and waited for the Opposition to come up with their pearls of wisdom. I wasn’t disappointed.

First up was the leader of the Opposition, freshly returned from Tripoli, where he met a Serbian former leader who doesn’t exist – or maybe he does exist, but the Labour Party press office got the name wrong. In that sneering tone that makes all people of good will want to give him a good slap and tell him for god’s sake to grow up, Muscat listed a series of snide remarks masquerading as questions. And I thought: how out of order; how really inappropriate. Here you had Gatt giving a blow-by-blow account over at least half an hour (when I tuned in he was already well away) and the only appropriate response from the newly-minted Opposition leader, in his borrowed parliamentary seat, should have been along the lines of ‘Gosh, we really appreciate the trouble you’ve gone through, and we know you’re not to blame for some prize A-hole thinking he can pull a fast one by installing rogue software on a couple of machines, but can you reassure us about X, Y and Z?”

Instead we had the characteristic Muscat nasal whine, which makes him sound like a twerp protesting that he’s been waiting too long in the queue at a nightclub for a vodka-cranberry juice. I’m sorry, but I just can’t take the man seriously. I have trouble even considering him a man though at his age he is hovering on the mid-years cusp and has the evaporating hair to match.

The final straw for me was when he appeared in a press photograph greeting some old biddy and wearing a black-and-white striped shirt with black cuffs and a black collar. It struck a familiar note and I wondered why it annoyed me so much (quite apart from the fact that it was way beyond naff, of course). Then one of my sisters emailed me, attaching the fashion-horror picture: “Do you remember Andy-Pandy from when we were children?” Oh dear heavens, of course: his shirt was the black-and-white version of Andy-Pandy’s blue-and-white romper-suit.

If some prize pigeon plays around with the state’s information technology system and tries to undermine it by stealing information, is this a government-only problem? No, it’s a shared problem that the Opposition must cooperate in solving. And Mr Muscat in his Andy-Pandy outfit had better wise up to this. His job is to join forces with the government in trying to outwit anyone who is breaching confidentiality in the state hospital and other departments, and not to ask through his nasal passages why Austin Gatt is telling us about this now instead of telling us about it two weeks ago, when the investigations were at their height. Quite frankly, I can’t see any Labour minister giving the sort of detailed report Gatt gave.

**********************************************

I can’t understand why the Emigrants’ Commission chose to release a statement claiming that immigrant arrivals now exceed ‘the birth rate’. Are they really so hard pressed for resources that they have to seek to create panic among the racist elements of our society, in an attempt at getting something done?

Comparing the birth rate, which is calculated per 1,000 of the population, to the straight annual figure for immigrant arrivals is like comparing apples with pears. You just can’t do it. And for the Emigrants’ Commission to reveal that it doesn’t quite know what the birth rate is, well, that’s a little embarrassing. Maybe they meant the annual straight figure for births? Even so, that far exceeds the annual figure for immigrant arrivals, so the Emigrants’ Commission is way off target. Funny how no reporter bothered to question the Commission’s arithmetic.

It’s not just where numbers are concerned that the Emigrants’ Commission is off the mark. It’s in its very thinking. ‘They’ and ‘us’ are subjective concepts. The members of Azzjoni Nazzjonali think of black Africans as They. On the other hand, They is how I think of the members of Azzjonali Nazzjonali. I would rather be outnumbered by peaceable and intelligent black Africans than by people like Josie Muscat, Melkim Seychell, Norman Lowell and their followers. That, to me, would be a horrible nightmare.

I really can’t stand the way that those who mainly inhabit the sink-pit of Maltese society somehow think we are all in this together and that we have everything in common purely on the basis that we all have a Maltese passport and were born and brought up here. I don’t have anything at all in common with the people of AN and Imperium Europa, and there is no way I could countenance spending five minutes in their company, let alone marrying somebody so alien and making a life with them. This is what the self-satisfied members of AN and Imperium Europa fail to understand: to people who think as I do, it is they who are the undesirable aliens. Ship them all out, I say – preferably on rickety boats and without provisions. Malta would be better off without them. Let some civilised Africans in instead.

This article is published in The Malta Independent today.




85 Comments Comment

  1. Brigantes says:

    You like all Liberals are a dreamer.Martin Luther King JR was a dreamer.We dont want dreamers,we need realists.You have as much chance of getting yourself surrounded by civilised Africans as I have being surrounded by Jews in a pork pie factory.Stop dreaming,Open your eyes and look around at all other nations that have allowed mass immigration.Then you will become a realist and stop spewing your nauseating babble.

    [Daphne – Kemm int stupidu u antipatiku. Where would the US have been without Martin Luther King? Not with Obama in the presidential race, that’s for sure. But thanks for the comparison. You probably don’t consider it flattery, but it is – and embarrassingly undeserved. No way am I worthy of that comparison.]

  2. Kenneth Cassar says:

    “Ideas in a place where almost nobody reads anything at all, and where thinking outside the box amounts to grilling your steak instead of frying it?”

    Exactly, and this would explain most of the xenophobia in Malta. I personally believe that our educational system has failed miserably in this respect. A good educational system should have a holistic approach, and should not just be interested in having a good percentage of graduates. Most educational establishments in Malta (schools, university etc) teach students what to think, and not how to think. At least this is what most letters and comments in the printed/online media seem to suggest.

  3. Brigantes says:

    http://www.bnp.org.uk/2008/10/new-wave-of-ethnic-crime-shakes-britain-from-top-to-bottom/

    Chomp on that.

    [Daphne – Sorry, but I took my teeth out last night and the dog ate them. The British National Party? Are you serious? The British National Party is not an unbiased source of news. It is a gathering-place for people who think like Josie Muscat and Norman Lowell….and you.]

  4. Joe Delia says:

    The (idea of a )thinking tank at Ricasoli:
    http://www.edwarddebono.com/events2.htm

  5. Brigantes says:

    Bury your head in the sand then or stick it up where Liberals usually stick it.
    I could give you a thousand news items that prove my point but with your head where it is,why bother?

    [Daphne – The view from up where the sun don’t shine is a whole lot more attractive than a gathering of people who think as you do, I can assure you.]

  6. Kenneth Cassar says:

    Brigantes is a case in point. I wonder whether he/she/it would argue that his/hers/its comment is not racist.

    [Daphne – Brigantes lists his website details as those of the British National Party. If he looks like the typical Maltese, he’d better not get into a train carriage with a group of skin-heads. That’s the tragedy of Maltese racists: they don’t know they’re the victims and not the aggressors.]

  7. Kenneth Cassar says:

    @ Brigantes: The BNP? I would not even give those scumbags the satisfaction of getting their website one more hit.

  8. David Buttigieg says:

    My Goodness Brigantes,

    The British National Party members (and supporters)have the combined IQ of a peanut and only other peanuts would even think of quoting something from their website as a serious article!

    [Daphne – Let’s not insult peanuts. Unlike members of the BNP, they make for a good snack.]

  9. David Buttigieg says:

    I showed a the picture of the abominable lowell in today’s Times to a Russian visitor today. He burst out laughing and told me that he would be beaten up by skinheads if he took the tube in Russia at night!

    [Daphne – Mhux ovvja?]

  10. David Buttigieg says:

    The real problem with people like Brigantes, lowell and co. is an acute inferiority complex! They are desperate to find someone the believe is “less” then them, and knowing they are less capable then these people, that they try to attack them on things like the colour of their skin!

    [Daphne – Yes, I was just thinking to myself while making a mug of Bovril just now that the more successful, secure and content a person is, the less likely it is that he or she is a racist. The racists and far-right-wingers chuntering in public, in Malta at least, seem to be almost without exception people with hang-ups about their personal lives, their sexuality, their appearance, or who feel they have under-achieved in some way or not gotten what they wanted or hoped for.]

  11. Athena says:

    @Daphne

    “If he looks like the typical Maltese, he’d better not get into a train carriage with a group of skin-heads.”

    Always the same recycled argument. As if only Nazis do not want an invasion of these foreign nationals! Look Daphne, if you like these INTELLIGENT (did not even invent the wheel, hah) and PEACEFUL (yeah right, all those civil wars) Africans why don’t you go to Africa and live with them? Ghall inqas, tghix iktar kuntenta milli tghix maghna. U ahna nkunu iktar kuntenti minnek hi.

    [Daphne – Put a bone through your nose and buzz off, sweetheart.]

  12. Religio et Patria says:

    Just curious: Would it be racist if what Daphne so often attributes to the general Maltese population were to be attributed to black immigrants?

    [Daphne – Yes. Maltese people are not a race. They are a nation with its own culture. There are observations that can be made about a culture that cannot be made about an entire race: while it is safe to say that most Maltese people don’t read, for example, it is clearly ridiculous to say that most black people don’t read.]

  13. Gerald says:

    The Speaker ruled that Dr Austin Gatt committed a breach of privelege against Dr Alfred Sant in relation to the MITTS case. Now for a former PN minister to rule that from the chair there must have been something in it. Comments anyone?

    [Daphne – Funny how Alfred Sant has means of redress when somebody does something to upset him, but we have no means of redress for all the upset he caused us in 1996 to 1998 – though we did get the satisfaction of rejecting him at the polls three times after that.]

  14. Kenneth Cassar says:

    @ Athena:

    Since you mention that “Africans” did not invent the wheel, here’s something that might interest you:

    Based on diagrams on ancient clay tablets, the earliest known use of the wheel was in Mesopotamia (part of modern day Iraq) as early as 3500 BC.

    Regarding civil wars and violence, I think you need to get your hands on some good books on European history.

    Its never too late to start reading.

  15. Religio et Patria says:

    [Daphne – Funny how Alfred Sant has means of redress when somebody does something to upset him, but we have no means of redress for all the upset he caused us in 1996 to 1998 – though we did get the satisfaction of rejecting him at the polls three times after that.]

    What form of redress do we have against Daphne… :)

  16. Religio et Patria says:

    [Daphne – Yes. Maltese people are not a race. They are a nation with its own culture. There are observations that can be made about a culture that cannot be made about an entire race: while it is safe to say that most Maltese people don’t read, for example, it is clearly ridiculous to say that most black people don’t read.]

    But, Daphne, many (not all) of those of us who are genuinely concerned about the number of illegal immigrants (African or otherwise) and the implications this increasing number has on our country certainly do not willingly or otherwise criticise races!

    As in all groups of people, the whole mass of immigrants in Malta contains good and bad people and, unfortunately, we already have our own lot of unsavoury characters to sort out: Why should we not be concerned with an influx of a number of foreign problem cases?

    Unfortunately, when we complain we are put in the same basket like kooky Norman & Co.!

    Is that right, Daphne?

    [Daphne – Yes, it is, because you all have one thing in common. You think of the space where you live as ‘yours’, to which only Maltese people are entitled. Wrong – there are 500 million people out there who have as much right to live and work in Malta as you do, just as you have as much right to live and work in ‘their’ country as ‘they’ do. The people who complain about there not even being enough space for Maltese forget that the doors are wide open to millions of EU citizens, and that thousands have in fact come here to work and live over the last few years. So obviously, it’s not the space or the jobs that’s bothering you. It’s something else.]

  17. jomar says:

    Gerald

    Goes to show you how impartial the Speaker is.

    Sant continues to carry a large chip on his shoulder and tries to provoke anyone at every opportunity. It could be that guilt trip which gnaws at his insides while he proclaims that he has ‘no regrets’

  18. Xaghra says:

    Alfred Sant gave us the clearest indication that he hasn’t a clue about computers when he attributed mis-prints to a computer malfunction. Even my youngest knows that computer malfunctions do not of themselves produce mis-prints – they produce gibberish if anything!

    His quizzing on this matter signifies only one thing to me – that he had sensitive information in his emails. If he were even basically computer literate he should have known better than to trust any agency with sensitive information stored on computers.

    As one seasoned politician once advised me ” .. if you don;t want anyone to read it then don’t put it in writing ..”. Alfred Sant’s naiveté knows no bounds.

  19. Holland says:

    Re: Malta as a thinking centre.

    You might be right – but not exactly the right attitude to move forward. Such a development (though hopefully with a different name) might help start changing the non-thinking culture. Your article, surprisingly enough, just smells of pessimism.

    Half of Malta might vote for the alien, but that does not mean there are not enough resources of worth. It only takes a few to change a lot.

  20. J Grima says:

    @ individual comments:

    Oh quit it with the ‘racist’ naming already just to impress Daphne. Why would Daphne be impressed by someone who doesn’t know the difference between racist and xenophobe?

  21. @Gerald

    Yes, I do have a comment.

    When after the election Government appointed Louis Galea as Speaker the Opposition was foaming at the mouth (especially after the Government offered the Speakership in exchange of an MP — how dare, the Opposition effectively asked, the Government offer something in exchange of another?).

    Wenzu Mintoff was, I believe, representative of the opinion of the party when he described Galea as follows:

    Minn kemm ilu jkollna Parlamenti f’Malta, qatt ma ġara li figura kontroversjali bħal Louis Galea, front-liner fil-politika li fajjar daqs u iktar minn kemm qala’, jispiċċa jokkupa pożizzjoni mill-iktar delikata f’mument mill-iktar sensittiv politikament u f’inqas minn sena ma ndumux ma narawh elett bħala l-Gran Mastru tal-Kremlin.

    http://wmintoff.blogspot.com/2008/05/kremlin-fil-mediterran.html

    (As Labour’s — ahem — Education Secretary Mintoff seems to be unaware of, for example, Kalcidon “Perit ghallimna nisparaw” Agius).

    Well, Galea has shown himself part of a tradition of Speakers with a history in the Nationalist Party who, in their role in presiding the House, have shown themselves capable of rising above party politics and acting impartially.

    In a year’s time this episode and the Speaker’s decision to consider it a breach of privilege will be forgotten by most people (I mean, who remembers Speakers of the 1980s turning a blind eye to Labour MPs turning physical on opposition MPs?).

    But I’m sure that if Louis Galea were to be nominated to what Wenzu Mintoff called Grand Master of the Kremlin I’m sure many members of the Opposition will, once again, be frothing at the mouth.

  22. Ronnie says:

    I love Austin Gatt’s style, a bit brash at times but he not afraid to take a decision or face a challenge. We definitely need more politicians like him.

    Can anyone image what Mugliett would have done when faced with a public transport strike!

  23. Athena says:

    @Kenneth Cassar

    “Based on diagrams on ancient clay tablets, the earliest known use of the wheel was in Mesopotamia (part of modern day Iraq) as early as 3500 BC.”

    I know my history well. In fact I know the real un-warped history which people like you do not know. You’d better study your geography, gahan ta bingemma. Mesopotamia is not in Africa, it is in the Middle East. The Caucasians (White people) migrated there from the Caucasus mountains (hence the name caucasian).

    “Regarding civil wars and violence, I think you need to get your hands on some good books on European history.”

    True. But we learned to overcome such violence between ourselves. Unlike the Africans, still butchering each other in the same way like they did 5,000 years ago.

    “Its never too late to start reading”

    It is never too late to stop licking asses, Kenneth hi.

    @ Daphne

    Tahseb li weggajtli qalbi, ruhi? Haga nghidlek, kulhadd isib kappell jigih ta.

    [Daphne – Kemm hawn hamalli f’Malta, jahasra, u nies mbazwrin b’hang-ups . And to think you believe you are superior to others on the basis of your skin colour. Oh, do grow up. What is the ‘real unwarped history’ you know – more garbage from Gateway to Our Nation’s History?]

  24. Brigantes says:

    David Buttigieg

    Where have I mentioned skin colour?

    Paranoids like youself cannot see the light of day because you exist dreaming only of some Liberal Utopia.Wise up and become a realist like me.Common sense is what you need.People like Daphne and her Ilk are dreamers whose dreams are complete nightmares for those who actually live the multicultural way inside the inner cities of Northern Europe.Dangerous as you are you are still allowed to spout whatever you wish.This is starting to have the right effect as people see you for what you really are.Any further comment is superfluous.

    [Daphne – To the people of inner-city Europe, you too are a problem.]

  25. Marku says:

    Daphne: I see that the idiots who usually flock to the Times website are now trying their hand at this blog. I say bring them on…

    [Daphne – I guess they got bored consorting with their own idiotic kind, and wanted the challenge of a proper argument, except that they haven’t the tools and can only argue with five truck tyres, some jerry-cans of petrol and a couple of matches.]

  26. Antoine Vella says:

    Gerald

    The Speaker did not rule that Austin Gatt had committed breach of privilege; that is yet to be decided (and not by the Speaker). All he said was that, the case should be dealt with by the Privileges’ Permanent Committee.

    It’s like a magistrate deciding that a court case should go ahead – it does not constitute a guilty verdict.

    At any rate, this case is only about Alfred Sant’s wounded pride and not about the MITTS investigation itself so your contention that “there must have been something in it.” is incorrect.

  27. amrio says:

    Everybody here is commenting on various parts of Daphne’s write-up, but no-one seems to have commented on the MITTS ‘case’ per se.

    As admirable as Austin’s comments may be, I am very concerned at the frightening lack of IT security at MITTS. I hope that a thorough re-engineering of security is effected immediately, and that the heads of whoever is responsible for MITTS IT Security will roll.

  28. Kenneth Cassar says:

    @ Athena:

    Gahna ta Bingemma, where have I said that Mesopotamia is in Africa?

    As for European history, true, we learned learned to overcome such violence between ourselves, but we built our wealth on black slavery.

  29. E J Gatt says:

    @Athena
    “You’d better study your geography, gahan ta bingemma.”

    I have heard somebody else calling others “gahan ta bingemma’ He is Norman Lowell and you seem to be very influenced by him both in your arguments and your thinking.

    [Daphne – Well, yes actually I was just thinking how much like Arlette Baldacchino Athena sounds, using the same tone and language that I remember from school – except that now we’re 44.]

  30. janine says:

    Dream on Dr Debono.(He’s been having this dream for a good 25 years by now).

  31. Brigantes says:

    Daphne,you cannot win a raffle never mind an argument,especially with me.Deluded fools are easily put in their place.Keep on dreaming,we will wake you eventually.

    [Daphne – Sweetheart, I’m 44 not 14.]

  32. A Camilleri says:

    @Daphne. Your arguments are as stimulating as ever. However I fail to understand the reasoning in a statement like “there are 500 million people out there who have as much right to live and work in Malta as you do, just as you have as much right to live and work in ‘their’ country as ‘they’ do”. It wasn’t so long ago that we were not part of the EU at which time not even EU citizens had a right to live and work in Malta without the necessary permits. Following EU entry we share freedom of movement for citizens within the EU. That is a mutual agreement which policymakers were happy to accept as part of the whole EU concept. EU citizens can live, work and buy property in Malta and vice versa. The restrictions still apply to everyone else however.

    [Daphne- I’ll spell it out then: the same people who voted for EU membership, which gives unrestricted access – after seven years which are almost up – to 500 million people to live and work in Malta, are now saying they are worried about 3,000 immigrants from Africa ‘because this island is too crowded’. Clearly, it’s not the numbers that bother them -but the numbers of black people.]

  33. Antoine Vella says:

    Athena
    “. . . we learned to overcome such violence between ourselves.”

    WW2 (and the Holocaust) ended only 60 years and the horrors of the wars in the ex-Yugoslav republics are even more recent.

    I don’t think Africans can teach us anything when it comes to “butchering each other”.

  34. Antoine Vella says:

    Brigantes
    “Dangerous as you are you are still allowed to spout whatever you wish.”

    Considering that you are being “allowed to spout” on Daphne’s own blog you have absolutely no sense of irony, have you?

    [Daphne – If he did, would he have the opinions he does?]

  35. Kenneth Cassar says:

    @ Athena:

    Quite a gathering you got there: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081016/local/immigration-protest

    I guess you’ll take over Europe next :P

  36. Mark Vella says:

    For those who think ‘Ġaħan ta’ Binġemma’ is an insult: they should at least try reading (ha!) the play bearing this name by Francis Ebejer…at least get your insults right…

  37. David Buttigieg says:

    Brigantes

    “Wise up and become a realist like me.”

    The day I suspect I am becoming even remotely like you is the day I will shoot myself! I could not live with being such a loser!

  38. David Buttigieg says:

    Athena

    Sweetheart, I know you aren’t too bright but do try and use that stuff between your ears.

    “. . . we learned to overcome such violence between ourselves.”

    Err yes right! What do you call World war 1 & 2? The holocaust? Stalin’s purges?

    Those nazis brutally murdered at least 15,000,000 FELLOW EUROPEANS systematically!

    Think we’re over that? The Millgram experiment proved otherwise as everybody knows!

    Or how about Montreal’s night of terror (October 8th 1969)

    Oh, hang on, the holocaust is a holy hoax right? If you weren’t so pathetic you would be amusing!

    Sweetheart, if you intend sharing a brain with lowell (you know, the convicted criminal), brigantes and co at least get one that works!

  39. David Buttigieg says:

    @Brigantes

    “Daphne,you cannot win a raffle never mind an argument, especially with me.”

    Why ruhi, who are you? And why do you hide your name? Is it because it is yet more proof of Maltese origins?

    As for not winning an argument with you???? With you it’s a walkover my dear:)

  40. Mario Debono says:

    Hello, I’m back after new offsping-enforced absence.Yes Daphne, thats why i was inhabiting the prenatal clinic of Mater Dei of late.
    Who is this Brigantes anway? Is he Maltese? And of all people, the BNP? Dont these people know that immigration has made Britain one of the most resilent of economies and if it wasnt for the bloody weather, a fantastic place to work in? The BNP skinheads and Brigantes together do have a brain. One the size of a particularly stupid cockroach.
    And then Edward Debono wants to set up a thinking centre here. For what? We have a civil service that stifles creativity in its midst, a business sector so under seige that it has no time to think outside the box but just survive, a 30,000 egoist hunter problem, an even bigger literbug problem ( somehow i have a feeling that the hunters are involved here), and a Government that is acting increasingly weakly.

    We need new blood and new ideas, and a dose of suffering to make us move our arses around. Immigration may be part of the answer. We need immigrants to bolster our future pensions, gene diversity, the lot. We cannot do without them now.

    [Daphne – Congratulations, Mario. Is this your first one?]

  41. Athena says:

    @Kenneth Cassar

    Why did you mention Mesopotamia then? X’ghanda x’taqsam mal Afrika? Mesopotamia is the cradle of CIVILIZATION and NOT AFRICA.

    “As for European history, true, we learned learned to overcome such violence between ourselves, but we built our wealth on black slavery.”

    So? If they didn’t want to be enslaved they should have developed adequate technology to defend themselves with. They had 5,000 years to do so. Unfortunately they remained only with their loin-cloth. Technology has always determined who gets most of the share of this planet. And who has invented 99% of the world’s technology? The answer is obvious. Did an African discover electricity? Did an African invent computers? Did an African paint the Sistine Chapel?

    With regards to the AN protest. One thing I tell you. The population is afraid to ‘come out’ and protest because of the obvious repercussions. The are always plain clothes policemen and party informers prowling about taking down notes (and names) during such protests. So much for democracy. We are living under a subtle tyranny.

    I will assure you that over family dinner tables, in bars, clubs, workplaces the people are 100% against this invasion. It is only a matter of time before, the boiling point is reached and the people will start a revolt. The Maltese have quite a hot temper you know. Touch their family, religion and money and you’ve had it. It is only a matter of time…

    @ Daphne

    “Daphne – Kemm hawn hamalli f’Malta, jahasra, u nies mbazwrin b’hang-ups . And to think you believe you are superior to others on the basis of your skin colour. Oh, do grow up. What is the ‘real unwarped history’ you know – more garbage from Gateway to Our Nation’s History?”

    Minaliha ghax tikteb fuq l-PNdependent mhix hamalla. Anke jekk tajjar lill nofs Malta, xorta skond hi mhix hamalla. But don’t worry ta, your that bubble will burst someday.

    Ifem, a race which hardly gave anything of value to the human race, is anything but superior. They could have been orange or violet. I would ask the same question. Did they contribute to the development of the human race? No.

    [Daphne – I’m beginning to suspect that you actually are Norman Lowell’s little girlfriend Arlette Baldacchino, rather than just sounding like her. Looks like lack of intelligence doesn’t improve with the passage of the years beyond the classroom: no brains then, no brains now. People from Africa didn’t ‘contribute to’ the human race: they contributed the human race itself. That’s where we all began, and if you think you’re an exception, that makes you – literally – the sole surviving Neanderthal.]

  42. Kenneth Cassar says:

    @ Athena:

    Why did I mention Mesopotamia? Why, because you mentioned the invention of wheels. I thought it might be interesting. But here’s a thought. Why did you mention wheels? Did you perhaps lose some from your brain?

    “The invention of the wheel – X’ghanda x’taqsam mal Afrika?” -Precisely!

    As for slavery, interesting, so you believe that might is right. Well, you know what I believe? I believe that if people have the temerity to visit blogs and start insulting people, they should have at least the courage to display their real name. But perhaps you have a coward’s genes.

    Regarding the AN protest, I had 20 times as much people the last time I organised a protest regarding animal protection!

    And what repercussions are you talking about? Do you mean repercussions like burning cars and homes? You have a lot of nerve to mention repercussions!

    As for policemen taking notes, my name is usually taken whenever I organise (or help organise) a protest. But guess what? I have nothing to fear since I have nothing to hide. But then again, back to those cowardly genes I guess…xenophobes and racists are usually piss-in-the-pants cowards.

    Now go cry to mummy.

  43. David Buttigieg says:

    Daphne

    “Daphne – I’m beginning to suspect that you actually are Norman Lowell’s little girlfriend Arlette Baldacchino”

    I am sure of it – either that or Athena is the convicted criminal himself!

    [Daphne – No, sounds too much like Arlette. We were in the same year at school, so I should know. She uses a very interesting argot that’s a strange mix of hamalla and tal-pepe, reflecting the two conflicting sides of her personality, I suppose.]

  44. David Buttigieg says:

    @Mario,

    Congratulations mate! I am about to be in the same situation – 3rd time though – AND LAST!!! :)

  45. Athena says:

    @David Buttigieg

    Did I mention Nazis prior to this post? Do a word search on my posts. If you know how to do that. That is the problem with you people. Thalltu il hass mal bass. Specjalment int. Qisek it toqba t’ghajni dejjem trid tghid xi haga, biex tkun ghidt xi haga. Regurgitating the vomit they give to you.

    “Oh, hang on, the holocaust is a holy hoax right? If you weren’t so pathetic you would be amusing!”

    If I’m pathetic, then you’re handicapped.

    “Sweetheart, if you intend sharing a brain with lowell (you know, the convicted criminal), brigantes and co at least get one that works!”

    Yes, yours works right? Kemm uuu bravuuuu imma dan. Haqqek Nobel Prize hi. Kemm uuu bravuuuu. Ikkwotali xi haga ohra ghid, ha tkun qbizt il world record ta kemm tikteb vujtagnijiet.

    @Daphne

    “they contributed the human race itself. That’s where we all began, and if you think you’re an exception, that makes you – literally – the sole surviving Neanderthal.”

    Hah, brains, yeah right. Qatt hrigt bxi idea? Hlief tmaqdar ma tafx. Tridx nobel prize int ukoll? All the world is awed by your intellect madonna. All I know is that even Ganna ta l Haxix taf tmaqdar lil Peppa, daqs kemm taf tmaqdar int.

    [Daphne – This is DEFINITELY Arlette Baldacchino. Miskina, kif spiccat. She could have done so much more with herself, but I guess when you’re not bright, you’re not bright. Yes, Arlette – ‘brains’ is right (still brimming with classroom bile, I see?): anybody anywhere in the world who is not ultimately descended from people who came out of Africa must by definition be descended from Neanderthals – an impossibility that would make you a separate species, and one with a large brain. And if you will insist on speaking like a street-corner hooker who’s had too much gin when you’re feeling particularly bitter and angry, so off and do it on your Viva Malta forum, with all the other losers.]

  46. David Buttigieg says:

    “that makes you – literally – the sole surviving Neanderthal.”

    Hmmm, that WOULD explain so much!

    [Daphne – Not really. They had large brains and big bodies. Ms Baldacchino has neither.]

  47. Mario P says:

    erm – going back to the original point of the article, I don’t think that Debono’s idea is bad at all. The Maltese have a lot going for them in the ideas and creativity areas. Look at our politicians, they would put a little Chinese acrobat to tears in shame at their mental acrobatics. Our businessmen are past masters at survival while the bureaucracy invent (create?) new ways how to wring taxes out of stones. And what about Joe the Plumber ( new buzz word)? The way he makes ends meet and keep up with the neighbor’s A/C, brand new car etc on what appears to be an impossibly small income is an amazing feat in creativity in itself. The property bubble shows no signs of deflating while the yacht marinas are full of well deserved earnings put to good use instead of paying the taxes due. No, Debono has got it right.

  48. lino says:

    Athena,
    I do not normally resort to attacking people this way; but how biased and stupid can you be. Did you know that in the U.K. alone there are more black professionals in the medical field alone than there are locals. As for myself, both my brother-in- law and my son-in-law are Nigerian surgeons and both are very highly qualified and of whom I am very proud. You’d better get used to the idea that under the sun there is nothing like a superior race and stating that black people are not as intelligent as white people,is a stupid myth only stupid people believe. Or is it perhaps you are afraid of how much these people can achieve. Lest you don’t know they are very hard workers and they study like there’s no tomorrow. To add, even my half Nigerian nephew and niece are medical doctors. How’s that for black losers? Get a life.

    [Daphne – If Athena is the woman I think she is, then ‘stupid’ isn’t an insult, but a factual description. That’s why, 30 years later, she’s still using the classroom taunt Brains – people like her think it’s an insult – in my regard. She sat in class until she was legally permitted to leave school and then did so without a single qualification to her name. It wasn’t because she had attention deficit disorder which prevented her from using her intelligence; it was because she had no such intelligence and literally couldn’t grasp anything that was going on. I don’t think we even left school together because at some point she was asked to repeat a year – and you can’t understand the full significance of this unless you also know that the school, at that time, ran three parallel classes for each year: one for arts, one for sciences, and one for those who weren’t interested and who were just sitting it out until they turned 16, and who got promoted year after year regardless, to avoid having them jam up the system by repeating. I say this not in a spirit of meanness (even though it’s really tempting) but to explain why she ended up perfect prey for somebody like Norman Lowell.]

  49. Amanda Mallia says:

    Mario Debono – Congratulations!

    Mariop – I think that you should give up, because nobody’s listening to you

  50. Gerald says:

    Daphne, take a break and go and see More Fourplay :) Alan’s impersonation of you is hilarious :)

    [Daphne – Bound to be. He lived round the corner when we were kids.]

  51. Athena says:

    @Lino

    Medical doctors my ass. They bribed the professors to get their degree for sure. You’re confirming it, by saying ‘Nigerian’. Nigerians are well known for bribery, corruption, hoaxes and scams. Enough said. :-)

    “Lest you don’t know they are very hard workers and they study like there’s no tomorrow.”

    Even a 10 year old can study ‘like there’s no tomorrow’. A good doctor is not made by hard work and study, but by brilliance. Even a child can be trained to sew stitches, bandage legs and give prescriptions by heart. I’ve seen this in my cousin. By the age of 8 he already knew everything about treating wounds, bruises and cuts. Do you think you’re impressing me Mister?

    [Daphne – This is your last chance to start communicating properly. After this, I’m going to start deleting your comments.]

  52. Alex says:

    Athena – Jekk it-toqba tghajnek dejjem jrid jghid xi haga, I guess that really proves that you talk from your ass.

  53. Mario P says:

    Amanda- at least you read it so there you are. It’s not a problem if everyone enjoys fighting like alley cats. I like to keep my head above the water so to speak.

  54. David Buttigieg says:

    Athena (side kick to the convicted criminal),

    Don’t take this the wrong way – but you’re really as thick as a plank!
    I’m sorry but I just HAVE to quote you – you give me so much cannon fodder!

    “Did I mention Nazis prior to this post? ”
    No, I did as an example of “white” savagery! But I see it struck home! tsk tsk tsk

    “If I’m pathetic, then you’re handicapped.” –
    Ah yes, to the goons of the convicted criminal, handicapped is an insult! I’ll take that as meaning you DON’T believe in the holocaust, but are still scared of answering directly!

    Yes, yours works right? Kemm uuu bravuuuu imma dan. Haqqek Nobel Prize hi. Kemm uuu bravuuuu. Ikkwotali xi haga ohra ghid, ha tkun qbizt il world record ta kemm tikteb vujtagnijiet.”
    Is that the best you can come up with? You’re not dealing with Viva Malta bloggers here my dear, you actually have to think:) Why not get a few more buddies of yours from Viva Malta over? Perhaps even the convicted criminal himself!

    Actually I’m sure you will soon be running for the hills with your tail well and truly between your legs back to the convicted criminal!

    By the way, correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t you have a relationship with a man of Indian nationality? How did the criminal accept you in his gang of loony tunes?

  55. Kenneth Cassar says:

    @ Athena, you wrote:

    “Medical doctors my ass. They bribed the professors to get their degree for sure”.

    Yes, typical way of thinking of those who are mentally inferior.

  56. Zizzu says:

    I have read most of the above comments … I have to point out that only one argument is needed to counter IMPERIVM EVROPA’s “racialist” shite, namely genetics. I don’t believe name-calling will get anyone anywhere.

    As I have already pointed out in another comment, Maltese people are, beyond the shadow of a doubt, of African stock. we share mutations in DNA coding for an enzyme called G6PD with the African (I mean the continent)people. The interesting thing about G6PD is that it is so crucial to life that it has preserved its structure across various animal groups. The DNA for such an important enzyme is so “conservative” that it can be used to identify the “origin” of population groups.

    Regarding the “provenance” of Homo sapiens sapiens (i.e. us) there are seven distinct “races” of humans. These can be identified from mitochondrial DNA, which we inherit from our maternal side. In other words, there are only 7 types of mitochondrial DNA. These have arisen as random mutations and have flourished under the specific set of environmental parameters in which they appeared.

    Speaking about superiority of a race over another is what is technically known as unadulterated taurine egesta.

    [Daphne – well, I suppose putting it in Latin makes it sound smarter, so I’ll let the taurine egesta pass this time, though not literally, of course. You’ll better explain to Viva Malta’s ambassadors to this blog how you know so much about genes, as they would have missed your explanation earlier. I know they’re not big on facts, but it’s worth a try.]

  57. David Buttigieg says:

    @People,

    Don’t take Athena too seriously, she is just trying to push buttons :)

    [Daphne – In blogging terms, they’re called trolls, which is apt.]

  58. David Buttigieg says:

    @Athena
    “They bribed the professors to get their degree for sure”

    Just because you never passed any exams does not mean others can’t – but you see, thank you for highlighting my point!

    People like Athena and the convicted criminal know that as things stand today they are at the lower end of the scale. Today, by and large you are measured up on your brains and character.

    They know that so many of these people, like Lino’s relatives, are far further up the scale then them, more intelligent, more successful and more wealthy (and often better looking which also gets to them).

    They cannot stand being at the lower end of the scale so try to create a new scale, like race (which puts them in a quandary in Malta’s case since we are a breed of mongrels) so that they can feel a bit higher up their scale.

    It’s sad that such inferiority complexes fill them with so much bitterness and envy!

    [Daphne – Actually, Arlette is/was pretty, which just magnifies the tragedy of her ending up like that.]

  59. David Buttigieg says:

    “In blogging terms, they’re called trolls, which is apt”

    The Common Blog Troll

    Scientific name: Blogus-trollus
    Physical Characteristics: Since the common blog troll is a very elusive species and tends to emulate homo sapiens when confronted in Real Life (the habitat of homo sapiens) it has thus escaped proper description. It is said that its head is covered with green warts and its body largely resembles a cone.

    Color: Yellow-green, orange, red, black, white, purple and variations there-of.

    Habitat: The common blog troll can be found nosing around any weblog that allows the posting of comments.

    Belongs to the common troll group.

    The Common Blog Troll is a recently discovered species, most likely evolved from the Common Usenet Troll or perhaps its close cousin, the Common Forum Troll. Its primary source of nourishment is a response to its excrement, which is left in the form of a comment on any weblog which allows comments. Its best not to feed the troll, otherwise it might make itself at home and litter said blog with ever growing piles of excrement. Once the pest moves into a weblog the best way to eradicate it is by the use of “IP Ban” which comes free with many forms of weblog — if yours does not possess such feature you can always enlist the help of a local system administrator.

    It should be noted that even an IP ban is not entirely effective in removing the most persistent of trolls – as the more intelligent ones have the ability of using different IP addresses. In that case only vigillance, patience and time will get rid of the pest completely.

  60. me says:

    I simply cannot understand some comments;
    there is only one race,

    THE HUMAN RACE

  61. Mario Debono says:

    @ Athena. Please dont use this name. No one with the stature of a bantam cock and with a similar sized brain should. I happen to know some Nigerian Doctors who are simply brilliant in their field. all they suffer from is a lack of opportunity in their country. I also know a doctor from Sierra Leone who is a world renowned expert in reconstructive trauma surgery and who oeprates for free, wherever, whenever, on rich and poor alike. All he asks for is the flight ticket and accomodation. He has operated on people who have suffered horrible disfigurement not just in Africa, or his counytry, where this is the order of the day, but also in the US, UK and Italy. He does this because “God has given me thee hands to use for his glory”. Similar White surgeons in the UK and USA charge thousands, yet he operates for free. He is much in demand. I happen to know he operated on the child of a redneck bigot in the states. The child is now much better. The father still does not speak to this surgeon. His comment on that is a shrug of the shoulder and the comment that no one knows what coulour of skin God hs, why should he bother? This man can earn millions treating the Beverly hills crowd. He goes back to his humble home in Sierra Leone, where he treats war trauma victims. Maybe Athena is referring to him?

    Daphne, let her speak. let her spew her bile. We need to be reminded that there are people who still hate blacks just because they are black. We deserve to be reminded, because, hatred of immigrants is insidious and creeps in. We need to be reminded to extend our fortunate hand to those who have been dealt a crueller hand by fate.

    Humans are humans everywhere. The only guys who believed in Untermenschen are the Nazis and the Neo-Nazis. May they rot in the hell of their own making.

  62. Mario Debono says:

    @ Daphne. No, its no 2,and a girl, after 5 years and a boy. This is where i hang up my procreative urges. Very happy. It was not an easy thing for my wife. Moral of the story. Have kids when young, not in your 4th decade! But then, we met late :)

  63. Kenneth Cassar says:

    @ Zizzu:

    True, true, but try to explain genetics to the mental equivalent of a 5 year old.

  64. Mario P says:

    “Senator Obama talks about making history, and he’s made quite a bit of it already,” said the Arizona senator.

    “There was a time when the mere invitation of an African-American citizen to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage and an insult in many quarters.”

    “Today, it’s a world away from the crude and prideful bigotry of that time, and good riddance. I can’t wish my opponent luck — but I do wish him well.”

    McCann on Obama today – and yes we live in the same world as these guys (although from the contributions here you would tyhink we lived on another planet. Obama was born in Kenya and his middle name is Hussein (he jokes that obviously his father never thought he would make it to a US Presidential candidate)

  65. lino says:

    Athena,
    According to your statement, the U.K., the U.S.A. and even Malta medical schools are corrupt and take bribes for favoring false qualifications to Nigerians, because for your information this is where my in-laws have studied and achieved double F.R.C.S.’s from London, Edinburgh and New York. B.T.W, I wonder what qualifications your cousin’s ‘stitching brilliance’ have got him, and why he has not been able yet to stitch your tongue. Perhaps he’s afraid of the oozing venom.
    Also maybe you can add F.R.C.S after your name. It suits you well… Familja Razzisti Cwiec u Stupidi.

  66. Marku says:

    This blog is just getting too big. I had not noticed this thread with the various comments from Athena/Arlette. Her comments are a reminder to us all why there should be no tolerance of those who disseminate hatred – racial or otherwise. This is why such people should be named and shamed. Their views are a symptom of a sick mind.

  67. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081016/local/immigration-protest

    Here’s Arlette Baldacchino, who says she isn’t a racist, propping up Norman Lowell at Josie Muscat’s rally – as seen in this video.

  68. J Grima says:

    Daphne, how exactly did you manage to pull a third party into the whole (pointless) argument? Even without knowing Ms Baldacchino, I don’t understand how you arrived to the conclusion that someone using a nom de plume (and I thought they were passe) could be someone you met at Primary School… You know better than that.

    And you should stop accepting comments coming from names which don’t sound realistic and which do not come with a verifiable e-mail address, regardless of how ‘fun’ they are.

    As to Illegal Immigrants – I just arrived from Paceville and I was pleasantly happy that they fit in just right and were having fun with the crowd. And this is coming from a skeptic when it comes to mixed cultures, due to anthropological, not racist or xenophobic reasons.

    [Daphne – Ms Baldacchino isn’t someone I knew at primary school. She’s someone I know. Because I know her speaking style, and more importantly, her style of communication under her code name ‘Etoile Noire’ on the racists’ forum Viva Malta, which is run by Imperium Europa, it doesn’t take imagination to work something out. Noms-de-plume are normal on blogs everywhere in the world: it’s part and parcel of it. The assumption is that people don’t know each other anyway, so why use your real name? But of course, in Malta, people do end up working out who people are in any case. Of course, I agree with you that if you have nothing to hide, then why hide it – and in fact this blog has a higher proportion of real names as opposed to nick-names than other blogs that I read. I’m certainly not going to reject comments from people using nicknames or just their first name. They may not wish to show everyone who they are because it’s pointless, but most of the time, they have no problem showing me who they are by using their email address, which is completely confidential, and lots of the time they’re people I know personally or know of in other ways. The whole point of a blog is that it’s informal. I started this one partly because I wanted something other than the structured and formal style of newspaper writing. Incidentally, you would be surprised at the number and type of comments I do delete: that’s the reason comments on this blog are moderated before they are published, and not afterwards.]

  69. Christian Scerri says:

    @ Zizzu

    Just to put the record straight:

    In Malta there are 4 G6PD mutations identified. Three are common in the Mediterranean whilst the 4th has been identified in individuals of Maltese descent (it is even named G6PD Malta – this is a common way of naming variants). As these mutations have arisen thousands of years ago, taking just one mutation one cannot infer the origins of the population. To do that, you need to take a number of variants that are usually spread on a chromosome and see how these have been inherited as a group.

    That has been done taking the Y chromosome (the male lineage – for the female one has to take the mitochondrial DNA – a study that is planned in the near future). From this study it emerged that the Maltese male population has close ties with Sicilian and Southern Italian population – no surprise as this is confirmed through historical and language studies.

    But on the other hand, these studies should not in anyway form part of discussion on race (the term itself has no real meaning as one cannot really define race through genetic means – you cannot cut the line between artificial divisions such as Caucasians, Asians, Africans, Latinos etc). Any two unrelated human beings differ by about 3 million distinct DNA variants from a total of 3,000,000,000 – so a difference of 0.1%. The largest variation (85%) occurs within defined populations with populations that have had a number of migratory inputs e.g. USA, French Speaking European Nations having the highest variation whilst the least variation is found in isolated populations e.g. Sardinia, isolated villages in Finland etc. Malta is somewhere in the middle as a number of migrants from Italy arrived during the reign of the knights that brought in considerable variation. Only about 6% of the 0.1% variation occurs between the the classically defined geographical races.

    In addition, a small number of genetic traits, such as skin color, hair form, nose shape and Rh blood type, are inherited together and thus are usually associated together (very dark skin color will also have dark tightly curled hair, broad noses and a high frequency of the Rh blood type R negative). And in this case skin colour is the major gene that was responsible for this division – darker skin nearer the equator (more protection from Sun UV), lighter skin arose due to the fact that Darker skinned people suffered of Vit D deficiency in the northern latitudes.

    I am sorry about this longish and maybe academic post but I am fed up seeing genetics being put into the picture for either the pro or con group for racial identification and discrimination! We are all humans and one should meditate on the fact that the difference in DNA between humans and apes is of just 2% (for some human individuals that I know maybe even less :)) whilst between humans and mice is of around 15%.

    [Daphne – Thanks for this. We need more of this sort of thing. The great shame is that this is really a fascinating subject and instead it is used as a weapon of war. I love looking at the great mix of people here and wondering about the story, possibly hundreds of years old, that gave them their Asian eyes or their Berber hair, or their red hair and freckles. I see girls in the street who could have walked straight off a Minoan frieze and men who look like extras from a film about Barbary pirates. You see members of the same family who look as though they don’t even come from the same ethnic group, because there is so much going on in that particular gene pool. You only realise how wonderfully varied it is when you have had to spend time in a small town in northern Europe, where everyone looks like a variation on the same theme.]

  70. Kenneth Cassar says:

    @ Christian Scerri:

    You are right that genetics should not be dragged in and misinterpreted in support of discrimination. In a sense, genetics and race become irrelevant to the treatment of others when we understand the fact that individuals are individuals, and we treat them as such. Let me explain.

    Suppose, for the sake of the argument, that people did not really descend from Africa, and suppose hypothetically (this is obviously untrue) that different races can’t interbreed, and that some races are inherently more advanced than others (which is also untrue…but let’s pursue this argument).

    If the above were actually true, one would still find people in “superior” race A who are mentally/physically inferior to some (or many) of the people in “inferior” race B. Justice would require that if any particular treatment (like employment) necessitates that the employer employs a superior person (for obvious reasons), common sense would dictate that the employer would not simply choose anyone from the hypothetical race A. A sensible and just employer would select the most qualified applicant, who might well be one from the hypothetical race B.

    Of course, in other matters such as the right to life and liberty, mental/physical abilities are not to be taken into account. To say that people from hypothetical race A have more right to life and liberty than people from hypothetical race B because they are less physically or mentally endowed would be obviously false, since as I already explained, some people from “superior” race A might actually be inferior to some people from “inferior” race B. If natural rights like the right to life and liberty hinged on any such attributes (mental/physical), this would mean that some people from race B would actually have more rights than some people from race A.

    A racist, to be consistent, must concede this point: that by his/her own logic, some or many from his own “race” must necessarily have less rights than some of those from other “races”.

    Well, in actual fact, although most racists generally do not state this openly, many actually do believe this. This explains many racists’ belief that handicapped people have less rights, or no rights at all. But of course, many people who think the speeches of some local racists are “cool”, do not know this, for if they did, they would oppose them with all their might.

    It is quite ironic that if racist policies (including unequal basic rights according to physical/mental abilities, and superior rights to what a particular convicted criminal calls “The Elite”) were put into practice, most of the supporters of xenophobic-verging-on-racist views would be marginalised and discriminated against. But try to explain that to the xenophobes spewing hatred on blogs and online newspapers.

  71. Moggy says:

    @ Christian Scerri:

    I was thinking of you yesterday, and wondering when you would turn up here and clarify things.

  72. cikki says:

    I saw a programme on TV where a British athlete (can’t
    remember his name) whose grandparents were born in Jamaica,
    was tracing his ancestry. A DNA test showed that he was
    55% African,35% European and 10% native American.
    Jamaica was originally inhabited by native Americans,
    his great great grandparents were African slaves except
    for his greatgrandfather who was a Scottish plantation
    owner.I thought it all fascinating. Maybe us Maltese
    should have a DNA test done – some very interesting
    results I’m sure!

  73. Zizzu says:

    @ Christian Scerri

    I’m writing this off the cuff, as it were

    In one of his [numerous] papers, Beutler published a list (late 80s early 90s) of known G6PD mutations categorized by the exon on which it is found, and a sidenote about the geographical provenance and/or ethnicity of the subject carrying the mutation.
    The Metaponto 172A, which I was “lucky” enough to find in my dissertation (I was looking for 172A, 563T,376G and 680T) is, to my knowledge, of African origin. A- is more widespread.
    As you very well know, biology goes on the principle of “if it’s not broke don’t fix it”, and an enzyme as important as this (g6pd) definitely cannot be [deleteriously] tampered with, unless for good reason e.g. protection from malaria. Beutler seems to believe this too, as otherwise he wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of relating G6PD mutations to ethnicity. And, if I’m not mistaken he had even published a comparative study of G6PD across various phyla – but that could have been somebody else.
    Regarding the occurrence of G6PD Malta, the mutation did not “evolve” in the last 10 years, so it must have gone previously “undetected”. I would imagine that it also tells us that we are carrying DNA from some “defunct” population OR that there were some inhabitants that neither arrived from the mediterranean coast of Africa nor from Sicily/Southern Italy.
    Naturally with the advent of efficient transportation and more liberal sexual attitudes, miscegenation can obfuscate the “defining” ethnic characteristics, making “ethnic karyotyping” and “phenotyping” harder and harder.

    Your comment about about us sharing 98% of DNA with chimpanzees (we are even closer to bonobos, to my knowledge) does not put paid to the notion that races have a genetic basis. Why would you think pharma giants would bother with pharmacogenomics?

  74. Moggy says:

    [Zizzu – Regarding the occurrence of G6PD Malta, the mutation did not “evolve” in the last 10 years, so it must have gone previously “undetected”. I would imagine that it also tells us that we are carrying DNA from some “defunct” population OR that there were some inhabitants that neither arrived from the mediterranean coast of Africa nor from Sicily/Southern Italy.]

    Why mention the last ten years? Twenty years ago we were diagnosing G6PD deficiency in Maltese people, so it certainly was detected long before the “10 years” you mention…… Of course it has been present within the population for hundreds of years. I mean, what did you expect?

    I don’t see your point re us carrying genes from some defunct population. Why? G6PD deficiency is common all over the Mediterranean basin, as well as in the Middle East/ Africa, as far as I know, and it spread in areas where Malaria is/ was rife because it was a plus point in the process of natural selection. People with the condition seem to be resistant to catching malaria (survival of the fittest).

    If there is more than one type of mutation (associated, too, with different severities of the condition), and specifically a Malta mutation, then there could have been mutations happening at different places simultaneously, which means that people with one type of mutation are not necessarily related to people with another type of mutation.

    [Daphne – Do you know anything about this matter, which has been puzzling me for years – has there been any research into it? Leishmaniasis is endemic here in Malta, among dogs – everybody who has ever had a dog and lives beyond the urban area knows that. Malta imports large volumes of leishmaniasis medicinals but the prescriptions handed over to pharmacists are almost entirely from veterinarians and not from doctors. Over the past 17 years, our household has lost several dogs to the disease and successfully treated others with pills and daily injections. Only one of our dogs lived with us for around eight years without ever showing the slightest sign of the disease in the annual blood test. She was an indigenous tal-fenek. My question is this: if dogs are immediately vulnerable to leishmaniasis in Malta, why aren’t people of Maltese stock immediately vulnerable, too? People of non-Maltese stock appear to be more vulnerable. I have known four people who contracted leishmaniasis in Malta: two were young Maltese boys and the others were both British men who live here. Curiously, in one of those latter cases, I was the one to diagnose the disease after his girlfriend described the symptoms to me, perplexed because his London hospital had tested him for everything and couldn’t seem to get to the root of the problem. Perhaps, with all the trouble I’ve had with dogs, I am so very much aware of this illness. Also, I know somebody who lived all his life in Malta without getting the disease, then went on holiday much further south and immediately contracted it there. Do people of Maltese stock have higher-than-normal resistance to leishmaniasis – at least to the particular strain found here – or don’t we know anything about this at all? Do help if you can. Those with dogs know just how much of it there is around, but it is not discussed in relation to people at all.]

  75. Christian Scerri says:

    Zizzu, as we are speaking about scientific principles and as you seem to have done some work on genetic mutations of G6PD (and if you have done this in the past 20 years and in Malta, then you must have passed through my lab!), I would have appreciated if I had to know who I am discussing with.

    As you know there are 100’s of G6PD variants, some very common others rare. And if any of these have been discovered within the Maltese population it does not mean that they are not present in other populations. Also, though you are right that G6PD carriers (females) have some protection against Malaria (similarly to Thalassaemia and Sickle cell disease), spontaneous, di novo mutations do occur and can happen within the any time frame – so one can never say never.

    On the other hand as I said, taking a single mutation, without even looking at the background framework of polymorphisms, on cannot define neither ancestry nor its origin. I can mention numerous exqamples e.g. Thalassaemia – the most common mutation (75%) is only found at a rate of 20-25% in the Med and in Malta it is found within two frameworks whilst another mutation – IVS2-1A – is very rare in the Med but common in Armenia and the most common in Iran – but again this is no proof that “our” IVS2-1A originated from this area.

    In reality, the Maltese population has very strange genetics due to what is known as founder affects – basically most of our mutations were “imported” in the country in the last 500 years or so -mostly through immigrant workers from Sicily and Southern Italy as well as from the various sailors that found refuge in our country during the harsh Mediterranean winters. I shall leave the rest of the story to your imagination – but you can imagine where the the offspring arose from! :)

    As for pharmacogenomics – your are mixing race with ethnicity – two different things. Polymorphisms i.e. DNA variations, do segregate within ethnic groups – basically due to the geographical isolation of most groups (at least up to around 100 years ago) and thus it is easier to search for these difference in these ethnic groups – as an aside, that is why the Maltese population makes a very interesting study group for these companies and thus a possible commercially viable undertaking. For this reason I have been championing the study of genetics amongst the Maltese and lobbying the powers to be (unfortunately not always with great success). We can have a similar commercial activity like deCOde of Iceland – the infrastructure is there and shall be augmented substantially (basically to a level of a unique state of the art lab in the Mediterranean) within the next couple of years.

    @ Kenneth Cassar – I cannot agree more with you.

    [Daphne – I sometimes get the sense, when speaking to a total stranger, that he/she could be a member of my family because of some strikingly familiar physical characteristic, then I realise that in Malta this is very possible because, with people who don’t even know they are very distantly related marrying each other, there’s a strong chance of recessive genes coming to the fore. I’ve often remarked how much X reminds me of Y only to be told they are not even remotely related – as far as they know. Just to give one prosaic example of what you are talking about, in real physical terms – my right front-tooth traverses the left, a hereditary trait that pops up very, very randomly in my family. Because I would have rather died a slow death than wear a brace at 14, it’s something I have to live with. When I took one of my sons, who had the same problem, to the orthodontist, he said that this is one of the most common problems he has to deal with in Malta (he also works overseas). “It’s almost certainly all down to one sailor who fed this gene into the population 500 years ago,” he laughed. “It’s clearly the same gene, and the right tooth always traverses the left, not the other way round.” After he told me this, I began to notice just how many people of my generation and older – from the days when braces where hideous contraptions or just didn’t exist at all – actually have front teeth like these, including my own mother-in-law, which is probably why the same fluke popped up immediately in one of my kids rather than randomly missing a couple of generations as it did in the rest of my family. And yes, in almost all cases that I’ve seen, the right tooth crosses the left.]

  76. Zizzu says:

    @ Chris Scerri

    I am Reuben Scicluna. I had prepared my dissertation in the lab then headed by Prof. Alex Felice. I don’t know whether or not he still heads it today, probably not though, since you refer to it as “my lab” …

    Now I know who you are ;) very well read and always a pleasure to deal with.

    Nice to “meet” you again :)

    Reuben

  77. Christian Scerri says:

    @ Daphne – Strange that you mention teeth, but one of my Ph.D. students is in fact researching the genetics of particular teeth defects (not exactly what you have mentioned, but very similar) within the Maltese population.

    Your orthodontist seems to have read some of the papers produced by our team as well as his history well. Congrats to him or her.

    [Daphne – The orthodontist is Simon Camilleri. I’m sure he’d want to know about this research.]

  78. Moggy says:

    @ Daphne:

    Yes, I sympathise. We’ve had dogs in the past, lived in an urban area and still, all our dogs died from Leishmaniasis, after being given whole courses of antimonials and suffering the side-effects, including going blind. :( :(

    Yes, the disease is endemic in Malta, and when it attacks humans it usually attacks children. The incidence in Gozo is higher than that in Malta. One paediatric study quotes 81 cases between 1980 and 1998 (4.5 cases per year), and these were cases of Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL). One presumes that during the same period, there were also cases of Cutaneous Leismaniasis (CL), which is becoming more frequent in Malta.

    Of course a much larger number of dogs are affected per year. Why? I imagine that it is because the immune response triggered in dogs may not be as strong as that triggered in humans, making them more susceptible to the infection…. same as the immune response triggered in children seems to be weaker than that in adults, which makes them more prone to contracting Leishmaniasis. It is all, I guess, a matter
    of the different way in which a dog’s immune system reacts to being “attacked” by the parasite.

    With regards to other factors (apart from the immune response), my vets had other theories along the years: dogs spend their days lying on ground/ soil where the sand-fly may be breeding, whilst human being do not. Children are more prone to sit/ play on the floor than adults do, thus making them more prone.

    I’m sure you’ve been told that keeping dogs inside after dusk helps (probably very hard to do), and that the frequent spraying with insecticide of the outside areas they prefer to sleep and rest in may reduce the incidence of infection.

    Re the Maltese being more resistant to Leishmaniasis than others: I simply do not know that.

    You might be interested to know that potential vaccines are being tested, with some promising results:

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050814165616.htm

    [Daphne – Thanks for the link. Well, that’s good news. Yes, it is impossible to keep them in after dusk, particularly in the summer when the problem is greatest. They also need to be let out before dawn, which is another problematic time. I remain curious, though, as to whether indigenous tal-fenek dogs have a higher resistance (not those bred overseas, but the semi-wild ones in farm areas). One would imagine that they might, because the disease is such a killer that there is no way they would have survived in such large numbers in rural areas for so many centuries.]

  79. Christian Scerri says:

    @ zizzu – Nice to hear from you again – what are you presently doing inyour line of work?

    Alex Felice still heads the lab so in a way I should have used the word “our” :)

    @ Daphne – I thought you were referring to that orthodontist – he is in fact the one that is actively researching the genetics of ectopic maxillary canines! The world is really a small world!

  80. Moggy says:

    @ Daphne: Well, thanks to your query, I’ve been reading around, and this is what I found out. Yes, different breeds do have different susceptibilities to Leishmaniasis, although the exact reason is not known, although it is without doubt tied with genetics, which eventually boils down to (again) the type (or possibly strenght) of immune responses which different breeds offer when they encounter the disease.

    Most notably, it was found that Ibizian hounds are extremely resistant to Leishmaniasis, whereas North American foxhounds were found to be more prone than other dogs to contract it. One would therefore presume that the Maltese Tal-Fenek hound enjoys the same resistance as its Ibizian counterpart.

    http://www.susanamendez.com/LeishmaniaFacts/Canine.html

    To make things even more complicated, even within the same breed, individual dogs may be more or less susceptible to infection according to their genotype. The following article is very technical, and I am simplifying a very complex subject, but Dr Scerri may be kind enough to explain it in further detail.

    http://jhered.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/96/7/755

    Of course, once this is the case, it would not be too far-fetched to imagine that humans, too, might have different susceptibilities to infection by the parasite, according to their different immune responses to the latter, and ultimately according to their different genotypes.

    Hope that this is helpful.

    [Daphne – That’s interesting, because the Ibizan hound is virtually the same breed as the tal-fenek.

    http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/images16/IbizanHoundES.JPG

    http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/images12/IbizanHound100_0355.JPG

    The main difference is in its markings – Ibizan hounds have a greater variety of white markings, and they are slightly larger. Basically, the Maltese dogs are believed to be descended from the same group of Ibizan hounds brought to this island and left to breed in isolation. They can live independently of humans and are still quite feral even when living in homes – ours would not allow us to stroke her and spent her days wandering. They’re good hunters, feeding off rodents. They may actually have survived even during the period when Malta was depopulated around 1200 years ago because they are not really domestic. I wish more would be done to champion this breed, and even to investigate it genetically before they all die out. There is no longer even one in the farm area where I live.]

  81. Zizzu says:

    @ Chris Scerri

    At the moment I’m employed as what can be loosely termed a paint chemist … have you got a new job lined up for me :D ?

  82. Moggy says:

    @ Daphne:

    Oh yes, you’re right. Tal-Fenek and Ibizan hounds are virtually one and the same, with a few differences. Hadn’t noticed that. Lovely dogs!

    Here again, in the way of confirmation, is the summary of a scientific paper studying Ibizan hounds and showing that their cellular response on encountering the parasite is more significant than that in other breeds:

    “Veterinarians working in the Balearic Islands (Mallorca), an endemic region of canine leishmaniosis, have reported very few cases of leishmaniosis in Ibizian hounds while concurrently observing that dogs of other breeds had a high incidence of clinical canine leishmaniosis. To further investigate this observation, two populations of dogs from the Balearic Islands were examined for the presence of Leishmania-specific cellular immunity using a delayed type hypersensitivity test (DTH) to leishmanin and for the presence of Leishmania-specific humoral immunity using an ELISA. Fifty-six asymptomatic dogs, 31 Ibizian hounds and 25 dogs belonging to other breeds were examined. Seventy-seven percent of the dogs demonstrated a specific immune response against Leishmania, either humoral or cellular. This finding suggests that the infection rate (77%) was higher than previously considered. For Ibizian hounds 81% were DTH positive while only 48% of the other dogs were DTH positive. A statistical association between Ibizian hounds and positive DTH response was found. A specific humoral response was found in 48% of Ibizian hounds and in 56% of the other dogs. No statistical association relative to the Leishmania-specific IgG1 and IgG2 levels were found between the two groups. The Ibizian hound has been reported to be more resistant to Leishmania infection and we found that the Ibizian hound mounts a significant cellular response to infection. Thus, the Ibizian hound may be an interesting canine model for the investigation of protective anti-Leishmania immune response.”

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10828510

    [Daphne – I believe the veterinarian Victor Vassallo was researching the matter of leishmaniasis in respect of tal-fenek some 10 years ago or so.]

  83. Christian Scerri says:

    @ Zizzu

    Our problem is that we are endemically under funded as far as human resource and running costs are concerned – and as you know we have to work on a project by project basis – so our jobs are usually short term (3 years or so) – but keep a look out for opportunities if you are really interested (send me an email) :)

  84. Kenneth Cassar says:

    @ Daphne: I didn’t know that you are “violating people personally”! ;)

    http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=77067

    [Daphne – I know. She thinks I’m a rapist.]

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