Astrid's protest: more banners than people
How dare you call me a pixxikalda?
So I was right about there being more banners than people at Astrid’s protest march in Valletta this morning.
And I was right about the humourless, literal messages on those banners and placards.
LEGALITY NOW
GOD GAVE US HONDOQ IR-RUMMIEN
Yes, and God also gave us Astrid Vella and herpes. So let’s not bring God into it, shall we?
But I was wrong about the social profile of those present.
The Maltese equivalent of the Hunter wellies and Barbour jacket brigade stayed home with their tea and toast, as I did.
And Astrid got all the usual suspects, including the fascist, racist and Norman Lowell fanatic Joe Meli, who plays Farmville on Facebook and cracks out the multiple exclamation marks in excitement when he gets the eggs he needs.
Astrid hasn’t sniffed the wind. The rational people have moved off and she’s left with the nut-jobs, the freaks and weirdos, the axe-grinders, the late-life rebels and one particularly screwed-up 50-year-old housewife I can think of who, 30 years ago, zapped the little bit of brain she was born with and now has to work hard with what’s left, which is why she is stupid enough to post drunken messages on this blog at 4am and slander me all over Facebook.
Let’s put it this way: if I want an opinion on Renzo Piano, I’m not going for it to Astrid Vella and a couple of addled, middle-aged ex-druggies who are still dancing in their heads to the tune of Barclay James Harvest’s Child of the Universe.
Give me strength.
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http://maltastar.com/pages/r1/ms10dart.asp?a=7650
Watch the video clip. At least the squeaky shrills take your attention off the actual verbal diarrhea.
And note the “yoo-hoo” of the woman in green. Priceless.
“Qeghdin naraw li il-maggoranza huma kontra il-progett ta’ Renzo Piano”
Veru qeghdin narawha! Daqs dawk nies…
Ahjar titghallem titkellem sew bil-Malta mhux xeba tqanzih u tlaqliq tal-pepe.
The ‘yoo-hoo’ woman is in the video clip here actually, as are those lovely placards in all their expressive glory.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100313/local/ngos-hold-environment-protest
There was also Roderick Galdes who, as a member of the Mepa board, voted in favour of the Seabank Hotel extension. He was taking part in a protest against this extension, among other things.
The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. Il-veru kas.
Why does Roderick Galdes not resign from his post on the MEPA boards if he is not happy with MEPA?
He cannot form part of something he protests against in public.
Another clear message to the people from the FAA front.
The very concept of protesting against everything is unsound. It dilutes the message so one doesn’t know what the protesters really want. It wasn’t just against illegalities because the “roofless theatre” is not illegal.
Leave Barclay James Harvest out of it please :)
I thought they were carrying “Bus Stop” signs, but then I thought that I must have been reminiscing about the back of buses.
Surely, though, when it comes to being progressive, they have missed the bus.
di-ve.com reported :
“Various placards were held up with some strongly worded messages against the City Gate re-development project, in particular against the roofless theatre concept where some statements attacked architect Renzo Piano.”
The ‘placard’ I saw read :
“F’Teatru bla saqaf indoqqu biss fortissimo, u qatt piano”
Very strongly worded indeed. Miniex ha norqod illejla.
Alan, you forgot to mention one key caveat about the di-ve article. It is written by the erratic Gerald Fenech, who hops from one organisation to another. Furthermore, it is not clear whether he was physically in Valletta during the protest, but it was clear that he wasn’t physically at a concert when he wrote the review.
Oh really? I thought as much.
Images come to mind of when – as teenage students – we huddled together in some room or other, busily preparing banners for protests at the time of the schools crisis in 1984. The banners and placards look like something mass-produced in the same vein.
Thanks for the Maltastar clip about Astrid Vella. Silly woman – what’s her agenda?
Agenda? X’agenda! Seems to me that listening to those whistles (or was that Astrid Vella’s voice?) was a better option than staying at home.
These days, when I watch Brain Hansford’s show Realta on Super One, I’m put in mind of ‘serata ghand il-psikologu’ on Ray Calleja’s Bomba, but with the patients on display.
Actually ‘daphnerocks’, who gives a shit?
timesofmalta.com: “Eight environment NGOs held a noisy protest …”
What can I say, but “empty vessels …”
They should split each organisation into 20, and then tell us that there were 160 organisations in the protest.
What’s her agenda? It is quite obvious that she is aiming for the next general election as a socialist candidate. She has given the game away ages ago.
Are you sure you’re a Nationalist supporter, Daphne? You sound so much like a strategist of some South American tin-pot dictator… Well, maybe strategist is just a tad too lofty perhaps.
[Daphne – Sour grapes. You had to pay and still, all you got was Marisa Micallef.]
Care to expand Daphne ?
Heard on Super One 7.30pm news:
“Ma nistghux nittollerraw din il-bicca…” Astrid Vella.
Kienet “mass rally” importanti – Roderick Galdes.
My dear Daphne what is wrong playing Farmville, after all it is a business strategy oriented game !!
I know Norman Lowell since his Barclays days he is a personal friend of mine, I had the honour of representing him at the Counting Hall for the MEP Elections 2009, does THIS make me a Norman Lowell Fanatic ?
Being a fascist is something I declared since my Form III at St Albert the Great College days, am in my FOURTH decade into this Creed !!
!!!=excitement XI PJACIR !!!!!!!
One last point Caruana Galizia, you have NO right insulting me by calling me “racist”.
Thank you
DVX
[Daphne – Note to those who might think this is a joke: this is the REAL JOE MELI.]
Playing Farmville’s weird at your age. But then again you say your philosophy hasn’t evolved since you were 13.
Farmville is NOT a chance game it is a STRATEGIC game, where you PLAN and EXECUTE business idiom.
Happy Week-End Hmmm
Jo
[Daphne – Real men work at the real thing, not play at Farmville.]
Virtual chickens are nothing like the real thing. Maybe Farmville strategy is just a way of exercising virtual fascism.
You should get someone to check out that caps lock problem.
Jekk f’Farmville ma’ thammlilomx id-demel lit-tigieg, u xxomm ir-rieha li taghmillek l-istonku tieghek ghoqda ,kull ma’ tkun qed taghmel hu li tghaddi lilek innifsek biz-zmien. Minghalik li sirt xi manager bil-‘Black belt’ tas-Six Sigma. Hallina hoj.
Astrid could have included the Maltese Fascists and Imperium Europa together with FAA, Bird Life, Ramblers Association and the PL (Roderick Galdes) – ghax kien hemm Jo(e) Meli. But she didn’t.
What are friends, if not “personal”?
Astrid Vella needs to consult a dictionary. Apparently she does not know the meaning of ‘majority’. There weren’t even enough people to carry all the placards. Some had to carry more than one placard.
Were there even a hundred heads there?
As for Renzo’s Piano’s plan, Astrid please shut up. We missed the bus once. Don’t let us miss the bus a second time or there will be no other buses to follow.
Don’t mention buses, because someone might think that it’s a reference to her.
@ron at al.
B’mod generali, nahseb li hemm bzonn li jkollna hafna aktar nies bhal Astrid li jitkellmu fil-publiku meta jidrilhom li l-ambjent (f’sens wiesa) jigi mpoggi fuq l-agenda. Mhux qed nghid li bhalha ghandnha nilbsu l-kappestru u naraw kollox kulur wiehed, pero li jkun hemm opinjonijiet differenti, iva.
B’mod specifiku, rigward il-progett ta’ Piano nahseb li mhux fid-deskrizzjoni ta’ Astrid li turina x’ l-ahjar suluzjoni nsibu, sempliciment, mhux kompitu ta’ kullhadd, izda ta’ nies teknici. Tista ma taqbilx ma xi parti tal-progett, pero mal-principju fejn wiehed mill-aqwa arkitetti mondjali fassal xaga ta’ dik il-portata ghal belt Kapitali taghna, ma tistax ma taqbilx. Kien ilna min zmien l-Ordni ta’ San Gwann li kellna progett arkitettoniku w urbanistiku daqsekk specjali. L-isem BISS ta’ Renzo Piano hu bizzejjed biex jerga jpoggina fuq il-mappa, ghaliex nitilfu cans bhal dan?
Were the placards and banners made out of recycled paper, wood and recyclable plastic?
And what about the noise pollution created during the protest?
And did they walk to Valletta or did they take the bus? I hope they didn’t drive there to protest against their own pollution.
Nahseb il-‘hundreds’ li dahlu l-Belt waqfu ghand McDonald’s jiehdu burger. Quddiem il-Qorti ma’ rajt xejn li mhux tas-soltu hlief it-tabelli mal-lasti ta’ l-ixkupi.
Min jaf il-pulizija x’bicca xoghol kellhom biex jikkontrollaw il-folla.
Arukaza kienet. Smajt li arrestaw xi suffara ukoll.
Ta’ l-imqaret at city gate were disappointed this morning.
Xigifieri nergaw ingibu il-wied tal-Bahrija kif kien? Mela nghidu wkoll lil Mintoff jaghtina dawk l-eluf ta’ liri tal-villa li kien tella 300 metru il boghod mid-dar ta’ Victor Scerri u nergaw inwaqqawha?
Hadd ma protesta dak in-nhar? Dak ix-xih tar-Ramblers jew dik li ghandha il-maggoranza warajha ma tkellmux dik in-nhar jew kienu jibzaw li tigi il-marmalja jew ta l-SMU issawathom?
Mintoff kien jghamel sew ghax meta ried jghamel xi haga qatt ma talab opinjoni, ezempju dawk it-tmiem kolla ta’ art li kien ha gewwa il-Bahrija biex ghamel fejn ikun jista jigri biz-ziemel.
Alan, Astrid taghat ezempju u gholiet ideja lejn is-sema minhabba it-temp, x’hin kienet qed isemmi kemm hu hazin it-teatru bla saqaf. Mela jien ser nipprotesta u naqbel li il-gvern ghandu jghamel saqaf fuq Triq ir-Repubblika biex ma jithassrux il-protesti u ta l-imqaret jarmaw xorta. Hallieha li Astrid mihiex xi wahda li taqa cheap u tmur tixtri l-imqaret, ma jmurx jarawa ta’ tas-Sliema.