Comments on: Tony Zarb, the sharpest knife in the drawer

By: janine

janine — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:48:14 +0000

Amanda – Indeed !

By: Amanda Mallia

Amanda Mallia — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:27:48 +0000

janine – They were probably “Malta Rock”, which I think were made by BowTie. I remember a school outing to that sweet factory when still in junior school. Such an outing would be unheard of today.

By: janine

janine — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:54:46 +0000

Mmmmmm Dr Pepper – delightful !! I also remember those long sticks of rock which somehow are not seen anymore.

By: Corinne Vella

Corinne Vella — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:48:37 +0000

Gerald: So Christian Peregrin reported what Alfred Mifsud said. How does that amount to his being an idiotic twerp who calls himself a journalist?

Here’s another thing I suspect that Christian Peregrin wouldn’t do: call a caption a byline. In your line of work, it’s surprising you don’t know the difference.

No, competence doesn’t mean you have to vote Nationalist. It means you need to think rationally and make sense.

Or do you really mean that incompetents do not vote Nationalist.

By: Mario P

Mario P — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:06:11 +0000

Gerald, you may not know but I do. There is panic abroad as investors do not know which bank may bite the dust next. They are looking at all possibilities in shifting their money elsewhere and, yes, Malta has been identified as relatively safe.

By: matt

matt — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:05:31 +0000

Junjien please not unjin.

[Daphne – No, they take the English spelling but pronounce it in Maltese: OON-YIN]

By: Becky d'Ugo

Becky d'Ugo — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:40:00 +0000

[Daphne – It’s lovely with butter – real butter, that is – and Bovril. And if you haven’t got Maltova, use cfuf instead. Fabulous nursery food.]

Thanks for the reminder!! When I was young (early ’70s), my mother used to make that for me pretty often, only she’d use either tiny pasta shells or small wheel shapes…(No better comfort food in my opinion.. takes me to my happy place!) I would hazard a guess and say that most probably they were Pasta Angelus.. Remember those bright yellow packets? I also remember my mum buying spaghetti by weight, wrapped in a karta strazza! And taking an empty glass bottle to the grocer for a cooking-oil refill.

A while ago, a friend and I were reminiscing about food from our childhood which is no longer available or no longer exists.. like packets of Bacon Shapes, the old Wagon Wheel (somehow the ones around today don’t taste quite the same), Rancheros, Murphy Biffs, the 1cent Bubblo(?) bubble gums, oily Cock’s crisps,Tutti Frutti, Treets, Iced Gems (the little round biscuits with a splodge of hard coloured icing on top) (saw these around again recently actually).. and a bit later.. Catch, Nuggle, of course Desserta that stuck to the roof of your mouth, peanut-flavoured Tastees… can anyone remember any more?

But if I had to re-capture the taste of childhood summers, it would definitely be a hobza from the old Exiles bar or the Tower, washed down with a cold Dr. Pepper!! I’m delighted by the return of this drink to our shores. And that I no longer have to try and score a few bottles every time I go abroad or ask friends to bring a few down for me!

By: Gerald

Gerald — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:39:55 +0000

Re-reading the article by the new hope for local journalists Christian Peregin, even economist Alfred mifsud says that turning a crisis into an opportunity is ‘a bit stretched’

Also the byline to the photo is misleading as it attempts to portray the MSE as some sort of safe haven.

“The calm amid the storm at the Malta Stock Exchange: Despite the international turmoil in the financial markets, the apparent resistance of Malta’s financial institutions to the financial crisis may be used to attract money our way”.

By: Gerald

Gerald — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:32:17 +0000

I still haven’t posted my comment on the Times website which I will do so shortly. I note that competence means you have to be from the Nationalist side of things.

P. Shaw – when you get proof that I was asked to move on after 12 months we can talk face to face. Otherwise if you continue digging out dirt which isn’t true, I’m going to have to resort to other methods which are available if one slanders without proof.

IM9: Exactly – they aren’t listed on the MSE – but the article states that the MSE is actually weathering the financial storm when it has dropped by at least 10 per cent this week alone.

By: david s

david s — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:25:22 +0000

Gerald, clearly finance is not your forte, perhaps not even pianoforte is your forte. The article you refer to quotes Adrian Said as saying that Malta may actually benefit from the financial crisis because ” Maltese banks have taken a conservative approach to lending, and the financial sector is well regulated”
This is indeed correct.
Moreover Maltese banks have not attempted to attract depositors money by offering 7 percent interest as the Icelandinc banks did…and now owe some 4 billion sterling (Eur 5.7 billion) to British depositors ! Yes this is Iceland with a population of 300,000 people. The country is on its knees and its prime minister has threatened the west that he will sell an ex US airbase to the Russians for Eur 4 billion, if the west does not help it out …Now thats one hell of a mess.

With this credit crunch really hitting hard, what did (Labour) economist Alfred Mifsud say in the same article ? “Malta has other problems such as the utilility bills”. For crying out loud, thats a Euro55 million problem. In fact we are really quibbling over nothing in comparison to other countries’ problems. The UK bailout would be equivalent to some Eur 500 million (pro rata ).
Perhaps Alfred Mifsud forgot to mention the billions of euros which fled the giant swiss bank UBS, whom he represents in Malta. But thats another story…