Too many damn niggers in Barcelona, says Maltastar's man Sander
Hot on the hunt for a star blogger to take our breath away, the Labour Party’s portal Maltastar.com brings us Sander Agius. Today he tells us all about his big trip to Barcelona on Ryanair, when to his great surprise he landed in Girona and had to take a one-hour bus-trip to get to his goal of a Killers concert and a football match, but not one word about Antoni Gaudi (who he?), the cathedral, the Ramblas, and the rest – though we heard all about the flight, the price and the permissible kilos.
Maltastar’s man Sander may not have noticed the architecture and he had nothing to say about the food, the life and the music, but he sure as hell had something to say about all those damn niggers – and in true Maltastar fashion, he does it in appalling English, with sob-inducing grammar and a generous sprinkling of exclamation marks.
The black guys in the street gave me that link with what can Malta look like in 30 years. Barcelona is not safe at all like it once was! they are everywhere and they sell ‘Hush, XTC, Coke etc.’ they hold this beer cans in the street. The beer acts as an excuse to cover other business. People are robbed, sexually abused and certain roads with Barcelona’s best attractions can’t be seen at night! Will my country be like this in the future?
Well, what can I say? If you want to buy Hush, you know where to go. Yes, my darlings – this racist claptrap is right there on the liberal, progressive, modern, earthquake-shaken Labour Party’s website – and not as a comment posted by a reader and left unmoderated, but as an official post made by one of its newly-appointed ‘blokkers’. This is the fresh voice of Labour, and it’s worse than ever.
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This statement is out of character for Sander Agius (of Zoo). He must have got carried away with the waves of xenophobia sweeing the island. A pity because he is a nice guy. His caricatures of yourself are not very funny though. He seems to share the same xenophobia for “tal-pepe”. [Daphne – Oh, really? He works on ZOO? But I thought that was meant to be amusing. His blog totally lacks any form of wit. It reads like it was written by a second-former who’d just been on a plane for the first time.]
I don’t know if he realised the iirony when he wrote: “I also visited the ZOO… not a good idea at all! Animals are really sad in there and the idea that I was so stupid as to go inside and contribute to this cruelty was so inhuman.” I wonder does he think the same for those humans we have caged in Hal Far?
“It reads like it was written by a second-former”
On my behalf of my daughter, an average second-former, I am offended by this comment.
Here’s Chrysander explainaing himself : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDfRB512InY
[Daphne – You mean he’s a white guy? Doesn’t look like one to me. North Africa straight through to the Middle East. If he doesn’t believe me, he should ask a couple of Swedes. And I love that ‘majtezswel taghmel lira.’ I told you ‘majtezwel’ will be in the dictionary soon.]
Daph – Surely you’ve come across “essacc” (“as such”) too in various local blogs / comments? It took me a little while to figure that one out, especially given the bad accent (not to mention spelling).
Essascc majtezwel rajt fonetikli, now? Lajk det, dey anderrrstennd juw betterrrr.
“This statement is out of character for Sander Agius”
It’s not at all out of character. Watch any of their programmes or shows, and they’re chock full of racist undertones disguised as jokes.
A pity really, because they’re a terribly creative team.
[Daphne – Did you hear him on that youtube link posted here? He doesn’t want to ‘touch’ religion because he’s not prepared to go that far. But racism is OK, apparently.]
The fact that he “works for ZOO” is not surprising in the least; it simply goes to show the sort of person he is. The crowds ZOO purportedly attracts presumably share the same base mentality, if the TV programmes by the same group are anything to go by. It’s also funny to see that he’s now trying to go “upmarket” by dropping the “Chrys” (with a “y”) from his original name – “Chrysander”.
[Daphne – Actually, it’s Chrysander that’s a very upmarket name. I was wondering how he got it. In any case, it’s totally inappropriate for such a Johnny, so he did well to truncate it.]
Given the title of the piece and the number of exclamation marks it contains, it seems Sander found the blackies’ wares rather irresistible.
[Daphne – Too much Hush, you mean.]
Isn’t La Rambla quite (in)famous for it’s pickpockets and hookers already? Seems like the tradition is just being carried on, so what is his problem? People being robbed and sexually abused, well don’t we have that here already? Someone has been spending quite too much time behind a desk me thinks. I’d love to try some of that Hush though and obviously to swallow it down with a bottle of Coke. I’m Swedish and the English language is not my strong point, but I would keep my mouth shut and my pen hidden away had my grammar been that bad.
You keep saying you’re Swedish and you’re so obviously not, your grammar is too good.
[Daphne – Pat is definitely Swedish. I know him. I tidy up comments sometimes.]
OK that’s why he keeps referring to “my baby”. Most Maltese men refer to babies as “hers”, at most “ours”. Maybe it’s a Swedish thing.
[Daphne – No, it’s a Maltese backwoods-bunny thing. Surely you’ve heard umpteen Maltese men tell you that they’re ‘babysitting the kids’? You imagine for a moment that they’re talking about somebody else’s children. What mother describes looking after her own children as ‘babysitting’? This one word really reveals how the average Maltese father thinks of his role in the household.]
But surely “I had a spontaneous miscarriage” is carrying this too far, even for a Swede.
I never said I had a spontaneous miscarriage. I said I had been through it. I have no idea what relationship Maltese men in general have with their children, but if you want a child badly and your wife has a miscarriage, you will go through it with her. And yes, it’s my daughter, just as it is my wife’s daughter. Technically “our” daughter is more correct, I suppose.
“I tidy up comments sometimes” – which obviously makes people wonder how bad my grammar really is. Nevertheless, much obliged.
[Daphne – It’s actually much better than that of many non-Swedes on this blog.]
I don’t know what shady places/whore-houses he’s been to, but the blacks I saw in Barcelona were in shirts reading newspapers while the tourists had to keep an eye on their bags and wallets just in case an eastern European or a Spanish thief decided to target them.
The only people you see helping old women cross the road are blacks and Spaniards; you don’t see European whites or European darkies helping women to cross the road, but you do see them put their hands in their pockets.
The Labourites will in the end destroy themselves; they keep going lower and lower into the cesspit. The only earthquakes they are going to have are if Anglu Farrugia slips.
What the hell is Hush, Sander? I think he’s making this up, probably read the word ‘Hush-money’ or ‘hush-puppies’ somewhere and thought it was some drug. “They hold beer cans in the street” – who, the Maltese? Because I was holding beer-cans in the street, but maybe Sander was more interested in buying some Hush.
My goodness, started the read the whole article now. This guy is a comic genius.
With Ryan Air you get 15kg checked in luggage and 10kg in the cabin. I’m sure he could sacrifice some of his weight in favour of his wife, as this is certainly more than enough for a week’s holiday.
The lyrics of The Killers have suddenly changed from “Are we human or are we dancer”, to “are we human or are we denser”. Don’t know if he is trying to make a joke there, as in his case he is certainly dense(r). [Daphne – No, it’s the way that the kind of person who works at Maltastar pronounces ‘dancer’ – as ‘denser’, but with rather more prolonged vowel sounds: dEHsEHr.]
He can’t get up early one morning to get back to his home country? 6.30am is too early for this poor sod. But then again, he already reminded us that he isn’t a nerd so I suppose those late nights out caused it. The space in the airplane is too small… Well, I’m a pretty big guy and I do hate flying in general, but how long does it take to get to Barcelona? Three hours? This guy sure likes to whine.
Then obviously he’s got a huge issue with the grammar of the sign outside the bus. Such irony. What a good thing he went from a country where English is a second language to one where it’s…. uhm… hold on.
The rest just gives me a headache.
http://www.mlpmarsascala.com/
Ashamed of wearing a tie with his cuff-liinks? Who dusted off his pants? Where can I buy one of those red ties?
*Unconditonal* support and loyalty? What a dangerous way of ‘thinking’.
[Daphne – They’ve always learned their politics from Kim Il Sung, Pol Pot and Ceaucescu. Why are you surprised?]
I’m not surprised they think that way. I’m surprised that they still haven’t noticed that it’s nothing to brag about.
Oh Daphne and Co…..you really cannot hide the fact that your frame of mind is very similar to those poor souls in the occupied Nazi Germany. What a pity that you have not heard that today on TV they are showing America’s NEXT TOP MODEL. You never know you might contemplate another career in public relations that will definitely bring out the extraordinary beauty and charm for all to see.
Read it and cringe. If this is what the Labour Party has to offer in its “new” website, then it might as well have left it off line. All they need now is Lgalea commenting there, too.
“The black guys in the street gave me that link with what can Malta look like in 30 years”
These are almost the exact words that a government minister, who is a friend and who I know to be a great guy, told me in private conversation, something like “dalwaqt nintlew b’dawn il-hmieg ta-suwed”. I was too taken aback to say anything. I don’t understand how people I know to be really decent guys, even important public offiicers, seem to be swept away on this tide of xenophobia. It is even more embarrassing when you meet fellow Maltese abroad. One Maltese man said loudly to me on a recent trip: “Is Malta still filling up with those dirty blacks?”. The whole room went silent and I almost died inside. I hate the way they expect me to acknowledge their views. They don’t seem to even understand that there are some things they shouldn’t say.
Sorry mate, don’t believe you.
@ Andrea Sammut
Re: http://www.mlpmarsascala.com/
I stand to be corrected, but I somehow feel that the above website is breaking the law when using the Malta Coat of Arms.
“The law (Emblem and Public Seal of Malta Act, Cap. 253), establishes that no one can make use, whatever the purpose, or incorporate in any design, the Maltese Emblem, or any imitation thereof, without the Prime Minister’s written authority. For administrative purposes, it is used in various colours on official documents. If utilised by the President, then it is in its proper colours, while the Prime Minister uses it in gold, when used in other instances such as letterheads, it is shown in dark blue, the same being used by Ministers. The Speaker uses it in green. On Government Departments’ letters and documents, only the black and white version is used.”
…as featured in:
http://doi.gov.mt/en/archive/pajjizna/n50/pajjizna%20eng.pdf
[Daphne – Maybe they feel morally bound to ignore an immoral law. You have to admit it’s pretty minor compared to ignoring a referendum result on EU membership and promising to ignore the verdict of the court.]
@Pat
I honestly hope your comment was tongue in cheek… the song by the Killers is actually ‘are we human or are we DENSER’ and not DANCER as stated by all the local radio dj’s! The song would obviously make no sense if the word was not ‘denser’!
[Daphne – Oh fabulous. That old a/e vowel pronunciation problem. Well, at least I had giggle about it.]
It’s “dancers”, not “dancer”. Colin Fitz used to change it to “Are we semen or are we wankers”.
[Daphne – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2vGiAyAWvE Apparently, we aren’t the only ones who are confused about this. The confusion is official.]
In the Armin van Buuren mix (one of 2008’s top choons) it definitely sounds like “dancers”*, and that’s how Armin announces the song.
Apparently it’s a quote from Hunter S. Thompson (a moment of silence please….)
….I’ll look up the actual quote and get back to you pronto.
Meanwhile, close your eyes, raise your hands skywards, and listen to this:
The Killers – Human (Armin Van Buuren Remix) Correct Version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJmIZ64ha2E
*Upon closer inspection, it IS “dancer”. Hmmm…. Armin got it wrong then.
“Wave goodbye, wish me well…”
Got it. The exact quote from Hunter S. Thompson is “I’m afraid that we’re raising a generation of dancers”, with reference to today’s American youth, raised to go with the flow and only seek pleasure. The Killers took the quote and deliberately changed the word to “dancer”, knowing it was grammatically incorrect. So there you go.
[Daphne – More: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson ]
Well, no matter if the original says ‘dancer’ or ‘denser’; it’s the latter that relates best to our dear Sander.
@ Pat
My goodness. I re-read your comment and it does not seem tongue in cheek at all. To spoon feed you… the Killers are saying ‘are we human or are we (thicker/harder) i.e. DENSER. I cringe every time local dj’s can’t understand plain English.. it seems they’re not alone.
[Daphne – Check the youtube link I posted.]
Link checked. I have to admit I am now confused..on second thoughts, I think I’ll stick to ‘denser’.
[Daphne – You’re lucky you live in Malta, where ‘denser’ and ‘dancer’ are pronounced interchangeably.]
Had bothered to look this up a couple of months ago and apparently this question is asking whether we’re human leading our own lives or whether we are puppets (dancers) at the mercy of others.
Read this somewhere – can’t confirm whether it’s what the songwriter was thinking when he was penning the song!
Pity you don’t give out a link to the site in question, browsers might miss others pearls of wisdom similar to “denser”. The irony of mispelling “acchievment” when criticising a minister is probably lost.
The recurrent “nerd” theme is obviously an inability to grasp the concept of “geek” – two entirely different worlds. Also, how often do you “bump into” an internet cafe? It must have been on its way to have its daily stroll on the Ramblas. As for Spanish… he looked up “Cojones” but still chose to use the “h” instead of the “j”.
The net has brought us a plethora of sites to keep us mildly entertained and the days when the wait for Lorna’s magic columns seemed endless are now long past. Incidentally it is interesting how some people find laughing at Labour/Labour-leaning candidates very amusing while if you dare criticise the kindergarten grammar and schoolgirl writing of nationalist candidates they call you “vitriolic” (check out RMTT’s gem of a site). I must be missing something…
…as for Sander… I guess he would say… ” he hasn’t the smallest idea” (m’ghandux l-icken idea).
Speaking of entertainment on the net…. congrats for the long overdue rehaul of the site.
[Daphne – Here’s the link: http://www.maltastar.com/pages/ms09dart.asp?a=650 Maybe you noticed this in Sander Agius’s prior post? “Wow! It feels good writing something and getting comments from people who like you or even better…from those who don’t. It makes you feel important.” What an effing nerd.]
I have been to Seville, Malaga and Barcelona and have never encountered all these people whom he speaks about. Certainly they all speak Spanish. English is not a second language (!) like it is over here, and the food is a bit different to our taste, but the people as a whole are all civilised. Crimes are committed all over the world, Malta included. You just have to pay attention to which streets you go to. I guess he has not been over to the Costa Brava. [Daphne – He’d like it. All the criminals are white.]
Like the new WP theme – is the one this is based on downloadable? The new threaded discussion however is a veritable PITA – it’ so hard to keep track of recent comments. At least in that respect the old-style single-level discussion was a LOT easier.
[Daphne – No, it can’t be downloaded because it was purposely designed, though the essential ‘structure’ remains WordPress. The comments board is exactly the same, but if you prefer to look at things in the old way, just click the button that says THE OLD WAY.]
The site is great, but I do miss the ‘recent comments’ on the old blog. Can you have something similar on this one – just to help us keep up?
[Daphne – I think so.]
I browse through this blog quite often, but never get around to dropping a comment or two. Couldn’t help doing so this time, though. The word is “DANCERS”. I was listening to a DJ on Radio 2 last week and while interviewing The Killers, he asked them to confirm whether the word was Dancers, and what they meant by it. They confirmed the word was ‘dancers’ and proceeded to explain….that’s where my attention wandered.
Maltastar never publish my comments, even the milder ones. So much for their claim that “we publish all comments”.
And will they give out their prize for the best suggestion for their website? They took up my suggestion (the porn star page) but I still don’t know who won the prize (free flight to Europe, taxes excluded). When will the winner be announced, Maltastar?
Following a censored comment by myself, and probably several others, the offending paragraph no longer features the word ‘black’. Instead it reads nonsensically as follows:
‘The guys in the street gave me that link with what can Malta look like in 30 years. Barcelona is not safe at all like it once was! They are everywhere and they sell ‘Hush, XTC, Coke etc.’ They hold this beer cans in the street. The beer acts as an excuse to cover other business. People are robbed, sexually abused and certain roads with Barcelona’s best attractions can’t be seen at night! Will my country be like this in the future?’
The editor has not yet removed the genius caption which says ‘This is a Pakistani Creation!!’ (!!) to describe a badly translated poster. Nor has s/he heeded the suggestion to clean up the terrible grammar. Perhaps the editorial hand would disrupt Sander’s ‘flowing way of blogging’ which S.Fenech so loves.
@Jean
Putting aside the fact that the word “denser” has about as much place in that “phrase” as the words “aurally dyslexic”, you may be forgiven for trying to give some sense to a hopeles bit of lyrics by the Killers.
Fact of the matter is that the Killers’ lyrics suck and the question “Are we human or are we dancers?” is singers’ licence (like poetic licence but more pop) – if anything “humans” should be plural too. In any case I am absolutely thrilled by the idea of the Maltese pronunciation of “Dancer” i.e. Denser… here’s some other classics we had been mishearing all along:
Rhythm is a Denser – SNAP dance it the fatt way, back in 1992
Private Denser – Tina Turner’s tribute (as Kirill would say) to privates gone all mushy [Daphne – Private ‘denser’: that would be somebody who denses fil-kowc meta ahna sejrin kofimornink.]
Denser – Freddie’s Queen invite the “denser” to kick off his “densing shoes” (I’m lost on the metaphysics of that one).
Belly Denser – AKON discovers the joys of fluff in his belly button
Tiny Denser – Elton John shares an intimate experience with his fans
Denser? The plot thickens!
You forgot Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dense’
The scary thing is that this Chrysander bloke is considered to be something of a comic genius. He appears to be as thick as two planks.
Quote from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_(The_Killers_song)
“Lyrical confusion
There has been considerable confusion and debate over the line “Are we human or are we dancer?” in the song’s chorus. Debate raged across the internet over whether the lyrics said “denser” or “dancer”, a misunderstanding which invoked conflicting interpretations of the song’s meaning. Entertainment Weekly’s Pop Watch section called this line the “silliest lyrics of the week”.They were puzzled by the interpretation, stating “most dancers are generally human”.Ganz with Rolling Stone called the line “classic Killers’ nonsense.”
On the band’s official website, the biography section states that Flowers is singing “Are we human, or are we dancer?” and also says that the lyrics were inspired by a disparaging comment made by Hunter S. Thompson.In an interview with Rolling Stone, Flowers said that he was irritated over the confusion about the lyric and also that fans were unhappy with the song’s dance beat: “It’s supposed to be a dance song, [the beat] goes with the chorus…If you can’t put that together, you’re an idiot. I just don’t get why there’s a confusion about it.”
As regards to his “HUSH” maybe…just maybe..he meant “HASH”. [Daphne – Ding dong.]
How did he go from ‘hash’ to ‘hush’? – Had he gone down the ‘denser’ route and written ‘hesh’ it would have been understandable but ‘hush’?
Unless he abbreviated the Maltese term ‘Haxixa’… which might make sense (well, not quite, but you know what I mean).
He either edited the “black” out of his post or you’re telling porkie pies daph…which one is it?
[Daphne – It was edited post his headline appearance on this blog. I don’t need to invent stuff about Maltastar. There’s too much of the real thing to keep us amused.]
That means that the elves are on your blog too, Daph. (As if nobody knew that in the first place.)
Haxixa/Hush…
Re. The Killers song… the lyrics are “are we human or are we dancer?” – this is a reference to something Hunter S. Thompson had said about America raising a generation of dancers. It’s not a shallow song in fact, although the lyrics certainly sound kind of silly. You’d have to look up what Thompson meant by that comment – I suppose it has something to do with the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world, as referenced in The Fight Club, I believe.
Yesterday morning in Zurrieq there were some flyers in the street, in Maltese, asking for the boycott of Vodafone because it seems that this company sponsors a black footballer.
[Daphne – John, you should have picked up two of them, sent one to me and the other to the police.]
…and one to Vodafone.
X’pacenzja: just went out and found one under a parked car – all for a good cause. Here’s the text:
Niddefendu Malta mill-invazjoni sewda
L-Unjoni Ewropeja nsietna .Il-gvern tilef il-kontroll.
U l-poplu ddisprat.
Bi ftit hsieb nistghuniggieldu l-invazjonital-klandestinibilli
Ma’ maghtux karita li jgawdu ninnha huma
Ma nifrekwentawx stabillimenti tad-divertiment li jdahhluhom
Ma nisoccjalizzawx maghhom.
Nzommu l-boghod minnhom minhabba l-mard li jittiehed li jkollom
Ma nielux go ristorantili jhaddmuhom (jaqq)
Niprotestaw mal-politikanti
Nifthu ghajnejn uliedna ghax il-Ministru Dolores Cristina tibghat is-suwed fl-iskejjel jindottrinaw it-tfal
Mexxu l-kelma
On the other side of the bookmark-sized flyer:
A picture of a coloured footballer (maybe some Vodafone Malta advert)
BOYCOTT Vodafone
Top-up cards b’xejn lill-klandestini.
U int thallas.
Is-suwed il-hin kollu fuq il-mobile minn fuq dahrek.
Needless to say I do not concur with what is written on this flyer.
[Daphne – John, if you have a scanner at home, please scan it and email it to me at [email protected], as I’d like to upload it. Thanks – much appreciated.]
I will send you a good picture. My scanner is O/O/O.
[Daphne – Prosit, thanks. I have a hunch it’s by the same man who’s being prosecuted for distributing obscene (racist) flyers about me on the university campus. The police lifted his computer and found similar flyers about other people, and book-mark-shaped ‘santi’ with prayers to the Madonna asking for her intercession in having people who help ‘suwed’ struck down by cancer.]
Okay, I like Sander as an actor, but couldn’t resist reproducing the first paragraph of his profile:
“Being a first Child I spent my first 3 years under Labour government, experimenting with myself and felt something inside which was going to transform me into the man I am now.”
[Daphne – Oh my god, I can’t stop laughing.]
What’s he on about? Does he really mean to say that all first children spend their first three years under Labour governments experimenting with themselves?
Are you sure this isn’t just a tongue-in-cheek Maltese version of Twain’s ‘Innocents Abroad’? Who would really write something like ‘the Ryanair’ (etc…) and expect to be taken seriously?
NGT – Somebody who’d write “THE Ryanair” is presumably translating literally from Maltese – “Ir-Ryanair”.
The sad thing is that http://www.maltastar.com is the official website of the party that hopes to be in government sooner rather than later. You’d think that they would at least try to show that they mean business. Sadly, they seem to be trying to attract – or keep in the fold – those who share the same base mentality.
Their choice of jokes may be funny to some, but have certainly got no place on the official website of a political party. Here is one example: http://www.maltastar.com/pages/ms09dart.asp?a=374
If the general content of their website (not to mention their various gaffes) is anything to go by, then really – Allahares ikunu fil-gvern.
[Daphne – They haven’t yet woken up to the fact that the medium is the message. So in their screwed-up minds, it’s perfectly all right for the Labour Party’s official website to carry jokes about ‘getting pussy’. Unbelievable.]
Ooooh, uptight, aren’t we, Mrs Mallia. Pussy comes natural to Labour. It’s a mild joke, anyway. I would have detested the fact that the website contains jokes, rather than useful political information, had it not been for the fact, that is, that you cannot describe Maltastar.com as the official PL news portal, less so “the Labour Party’s official website”, as Daphne described it.
[Daphne – It is officially owned and operated by the Labour Party, and it is officially the Labour Party’s website, just as Super One is the Labour Party’s official radio/television station. There are no two ways about it, though you may wish to draw a distinction between Maltastar.com and mlp.org, or whatever they’ve called it since the party name-change. And yes, Mandy is completely correct: jokes about ‘getting pussy’ have no place on – oh dear – a party organ. In fact, as you said, there should be no jokes at all, unless they are jokes about the Nationalist Party. The jokes and the porn are two of the reasons it’s missing its target audience completely, with 65% of its viewers having no eligibility to vote in a Maltese election.]
Maybe they’re on the right track with porn. A site called pornhub is ranked nr. 18 on the list of most popular sites in Malta.
Apart from being fraught with spelling and grammatical mistakes, the blog in question comes – surprise, surprise – complete with politically incorrect “sentences” such as this one:
“the fat guy next to you needs more space for his chubby overflowing flesh from his bum”
Many also seem to have overlooked another racist comment:
“This is a Pakistani Creation!!” (The CAPITAL LETTERS WHERE THEY DO NOT BELONG and the multiple exclamation marks lead one to think that he is trying to emulate Emy.)
As for the literal translation from Maltese into English, it simply makes me want to cry.
The best bit, however, has got to be his conclusion (“After Spain I came back to Malta and appreciate how beautiful our island is!! Have you ever visited such a country and came back with the same idea!! “) Yes, our country may be “beautiful”, despite its many flaws; my reaction on reaching an airport / port to travel back to Malta and being surrounded by cringe-worthy fellow Maltese, however, only serves to drive home the fact that most Maltese are … oh, I’d better not go there!
Mrs Mallia, you should have wrapped Sander’s quotation in square brackets and asterix – ma tmurx ticcappas.
How does one ‘wrap a quotation in asterix’? I would’ve thought Obelix would be more suitable. There’s more of him to go around.
Corinne – After sprinkling the quotation marks around Sander’s quotation and wrapping it all up with two brackets, you again wrap it up with two square brackets. After that you place an asterix on each side. Hope that helps. I can send you the booklet – ‘How to wrap up thick quotations’
[Daphne – Kev, it’s late and you’re obviously tired. This is what she meant: ASTERISK, as opposed to Asterix (and his friend Obelix)
http://www.nounours.fr/site/images/historique/logocarac/asterix.jpg ]
It is owned by the PL, yes, but long somehow disowned. The impression that it is the party’s ‘official organ’ comes from its beginnings as “il-gazzetta tal-Labour bl-Ingliz”. Which never really materialised. The gazzetta eventually morphed into a website and my impression is that Alfred Sant did not like it much. I believe Sant would have preferred the Germanic-Nordic type of leftist websites, thick with esoteric leftist idealisms. But still, it is autonomous to the point of being disowned.
[Daphne – As lgalea would say, tell that to the marines. If you own and operate something, and pay the salaries of those who work on it, then you can’t disown it. Editor no. 1 is now the leader of the Labour Party, and editor no. 2 is now the Labour Party’s official spokesman, the chicken-brained Kurt Farrugia.]
Chicken-brained? You don’t mean that literally, do you?
But you were right about the asterisk. And you pointed it out so kindly. Poor Corinne. I hope she’s over it.
Kev – If the website is NOT the Labour Party’s, then kindly explain why the address given on the “contact” details section of http://www.maltastar.com is the ‘glasshouse’ one ( http://www.maltastar.com/pages/ms09dart.asp?a=253 ), whilst the telephone number listed on the same place (21249900) is – according to http://www.go.com.mt – registered in the name of “Malta Labour Party – Centru Nazzjonali Laburista”.
Please don’t try to come up with excuses for the sad party which your wife is representing in the upcoming MEP elections. L-aqwa l-gravy train, nahseb.
Hi, Mrs Mallia. How happy to see you again. How’s your gravy doing? Fast-tracked I hope.
Yes, maltacom.star is indeed owned by tal-Labour. I have not refuted that. Still, the website is NOT considered as the official mouthpiece of the party. And that was my point. As for representation, Mrs Mallia, candidates usually represent their voters, but that may be too much for you, gravy and all.
“the website is NOT considered as the official mouthpiece of the party”
I read the opinion piece by some Justyne Caruana the other day and she stated;
“The PL was always an innovative and progressive party and maltasar.com is a very concrete demonstration of this. The Party recognised the potential of having an online newspaper, and this was innovative at the time.”
I can’t tell who is right or wrong (nor do I care that much), but it seems to be a confusing topic. I find the new site atrocious and if I were a representative of the Labour Party I would do all I can to distance myself from it. It’s really not a site for 2009.
Kev (Ellul Bonici) – You know exactly what I meant, however it was worded.
Official mouthpiece or not, it just goes to show what a base mentality “tal-Labour” have generally got.
Very base, true, unlike your ilk, who are refined, esoteric, even mouth-watering. But what I said is very important, lost in the wind of course, but important nonetheless.
What exactly is a “base mentality”?