For shame
timesofmalta.com is carefully censoring all comments posted beneath this afternoon’s Consuelo Herrera report. Well, they don’t want to upset the magistrate, do they?
She’s an important woman who might set the police on them.
And then they allow this, which was uploaded beneath the report on child abuse victims and a meeting with the pope. Those people are not important. They are not Consuelo Herrera. They will not go screaming and whining to the police because The Times has allowed some prize blankety-blank to dismiss them with the pejorative ‘queers’, especially when they are not even homosexual, and to libel them as blackmailers, impugning their motives.
And then we wonder why the victims of abusive priests prefer to keep the facts concealed and not go to the police.
J Farrugia
The Curia is mad to have these men meet the pope when others do not have this privilege. These queers want money and not to be reborn christians. They are what they are, thanks to their upbringing by their own families. It’s not fair on the Curia to let these men have these sole privileges of meeting the pope when other are not afforded this privilege. hese querrs are like blackmailers: they will want more, when they have no right for anything.
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“they have no right for anything”
All they’re asking for is atonement. So what does this JFarrugia creep expect? To have a red carpet rolled out in his honour while everthing else is swept under it?
Maybe JFarrugia’s the one who wants money, so that he can buy a brain.
The Times has not published a single one of about twenty of my comments to these stories, even though I gave my ID card number and phone number. And I was very careful in my wording so as not to be blasphemous. And yet racist comments get published from obviously fake names. In my eyes the Times has lost all credibility with its reporting, its a pity we don’t have a decent alternative daily.
Well, Lino, on the net, you have this blog as a real daily (and nightly) alternative. As you will CERTainly be aware, the number of hits achieved by this blog on some days is flabbergasting.
Shameful !
timesofmalta.com reports that Consuelo Scerri Herrera “said the case was even affecting her children and she recently found out that her fifth-form daughter was the only one in class who did not have a photo with her mother on facebook.” http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100412/local/magistrate-says-she-felt-constantly-harassed-by-caruana-galizia-blog-posts
I presume that Consuelo’s daughter is also the only one whose mother is a magistrate who left her husband and took on a lover almost ten years her junior, who was married to someone else and with a baby.
Strange that Consuelo’s daughter should be more upset by being forbidden to put a photo of her mother on Facebook than by her mother’s shoddy behaviour and her mother’s having taken her away from her father.
But maybe that’s the way Consuelo wants to see it, for her own sake.
As for J. Farrugia’s comment itself? Archaic at best.
Be fair. This was Consuelo Scerri Herrera’s testimony, not her daughter’s. And trust the funky magistrate to put the blame on the case she instigated herself (why else testify about this in court?), when the decision to ban membership of social networking sites for the judiciary was taken by the Commission for the Administration of Justice.
I am wondering why the Magistrate seems to be linking Facebook to the class, or education, of her daughter. Surely the two things have no relationship.
[Daphne – Her aim appears to be to make her daughters as silly, frivolous and manipulative as she is. Her elder daughter is working on Robert already….in full public view on Facebook. Robert get me this, Robert get me that. ‘Where are you, pupa?’ At one point she was actually discussing threesomes on Facebook – though not, I hasten to add, with her mother and her mother’s lover, but with people who appear to be her own age. These are the things her stupid, vacuous, shallow mother should be worrying about. Unbelievable. It’s bad enough that she’s the role model from hell.]
Are we to conclude that the mothers of all students in the same class of the magistrate’s daughter do not hold a public office of trust or have been involved in the sort of shenanigans like the magistrate?
Apparently, being banned from Facebook is serious deprivation. Magistrate Scerri Herrera fails to see that she shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
“Her aim appears to be to make her daughters as silly, frivolous and manipulative as she is.”
Maybe she is sowing the seeds for the third generation of Herrera Labour magistrates.
Has Mr. Farrugia any idea of what these people went through? Would he have preferred to be abused in order to gain the privilege of meeting the pope?
Maybe he was abused and never reported it, hence his bitterness. The word “queer” is a give-away regarding his age, so if that is the case, the non-reporting is understandable, given people’s attitude towards the clergy at the time. I haven’t heard the word “queer” since the 1980s, and then again, it was from people who are now in their 60s/70s.
[Daphne – Joseph Carmel Chetcuti uses it.]
I suspect HE is an abuser and has something to hide to prevent these men from meeting the Pope. What is his hidden agenda?
The word Queer is still in use in some countries. It was given a boost in Canada, America, Australia and the UK in this past decade, particularly with the Canadian/American version of the TV series Queer as Folk, which has apparently never been mentioned in Malta, let alone being aired. It is a TV series on gay life.
[Daphne – And Queer Eye for a Straight Guy. It’s acceptable to use ‘queer’ ironically – usually by people who are themselves gay – but in this case it’s being used in the old-fashioned pejorative sense.]
Do you mean Dr. Chetcuti LL.D, of Arani Issa fame and violin dilettante?
[Daphne – No, Joseph Carmel Chetcuti is in his 60s and lives in Australia, but maintains a presence in the Maltese media, latterly through his book ‘Queer Mediterranean Memories’, which attracted the attention of the Bishop of Gozo.]
Daphne, can a person sue him for what he wrote? The newspaper in question is obliged by law to disclose his identity for those remarks or is it the Times who has to answer for what has been published?
[Daphne – The Times is responsible and yes, can be sued.]
Whether these people (far from being queers) are to be privileged to meet the Pope or not, is debatable. What is not however is the undeniable fact that their lives have been conditioned at an early stage by religious people who betrayed the trust shown in them. Personally I do not think the Pope should meet them individually, but a public admittance of the Church’s failure and an apology would be most appropriate.
Quoting from the Times article
“.. Assistant Commissioner Cassar had contacted her to say he was not present at the dinner she had had mentioned. ”
It seems to me highly unlinkely that the Assistant Commissioner would have done that. Since the magistrate wouldn’t say anything but the truth then I suppose the only explanation is that the Times made an error in the article.
Regarding the J Farrugia character, I wonder what kind of problem he has that makes him equate victims to blackmailers?
[Daphne – The magistrate lied again under oath. It was she who rang Asst Comm Cassar first thing in the morning, after reading my blog post, uploaded late at night, saying that she had lied in court and that the policeman in question was NOT Michael Cassar.]
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=102803
When contacted by this newspaper over the phone yesterday morning, the highly respected Assistant Commissioner said that he had put the phone down on the said magistrate as she had called him personally and told him that she mistook him for someone else.
“I was horrified to hear what had happened. I do not visit bars or restaurants and my only recreation is swimming, otherwise I am either at home or at work,” said the assistant commissioner.
“Since the magistrate wouldn’t say anything but the truth”
And your tongue was firmly in your cheek when you wrote that.
Magistrate Scerri Herrera lied under oath in an earlier sitting of this case. She lied about Michael Cassar, claiming that he’d sent drinks to her table in a restaurant. And now she’s lied again, insisting that she’s still under the impression that it was him, making him out to be a liar.
The national penis has made yahoonews:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100412/tod-obscene-sculpture-must-go-before-pop-7f81b96.html
Unbelievable!
As long as they do not take it any nearer to Sciortino’s Les Gavrauche, it should be ok, in the circumstances.
I cannot understand what measure The Times is using in censoring its comments. Some commentators are able to submit multiple comments, and replies, on any subject, without any due care as to what they say.
However, I agree that this is shameful. As a CONSOlation for today, rather than commenting on the Times story about Consuelo, I will comment on the “Council seeks removal of Luqa ‘vulgar’ monument before Pope’s visit.”
Judging from the number of comments, it seems to me that the vulgar monument attracts more attention than Consuelo. It is the third most commented piece as I write. Not sure Consuelo will be happy with that. Maybe if The Times lifted the censorship, she could beat the monument.
“Maybe if The Times lifted the censorship, she could beat the monument” – figuratively-speaking, I presume.
Interesting thought, Karm. She’s probably over there right now trying to climb the damn thing.
Nobody will ever understand what measure is used as it is completely arbitrary and inconsistent. I once had the temerity to comment on the news value of a particular article and since then my comments were not published anymore.
Ironically, a person having my very same name but with severe problems where spelling and grammar are concerned was published a number of times, demonstrating that my comments were actively censored (as opposed to being inadvertently “lost”).
I also have the impression that racist or extreme right-wing comments are given preference on timesofmalta.com.
Before I read any article in The Times, I take note of the reporter’s name which should indicate the level of bias. I also try to figure out the underlying hidden agendas behind the remaining news items. A few observations:
1. the number of editorials criticizing this blog;
2. the presence of one of the editors at the magistrate’s house and the mounting hypocrisy of this case;
3. defending Astrid Vella at all costs, giving prominence and platform to all her tantrums, and censoring any criticism of her in the comments section;
4. publishing the most ridiculous news items, even where evidently there is no news value: e.g. http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100412/local/muscat-in-emotional-meeting-with-late-chinese-workers-son
5. employing Kurt Sansone, whereas his own CV is a clear indication why he should not have been recruited; at this point they could recruit Gerald fenech as well; and
6. the low level of quality of the comments published in the comments section of the online version.
Are you suggesting that the abundant comments and replies by lgalea, which, considering the policy of The Times, raises serious doubts as to what sort of a proper person’s name that is, are of low quality?
What a pity that The Times has reduced itself to this level!
There are also suspiciously few comments beneath the story regarding the death of John Cachia, generalissimo of the Task Force under Mintoff and KMB. But kudos to the Times for their choice of photograph, showing some sort of “we love Mintoff” event from 1981. Cachia and former AFM commander Spiteri stand behind Mintoff in a surreal scene straight out of some post-colonial tin-pot dictatorship. Which is very nearly what Malta was in those days.
J. Farrugia’s comment is a case in point of a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. To write or say something like that is indeed dangerously pitiful!
What seems to be worse, however, is that whoever sifts through these comments at timesofmalta.com did not have the sagacity or some simple common sense to trash it.
Rest assured that many feel likewise. No objective coverage, subjective agendas and reciprocal back-scratching.
That is the trend when The Times’ agenda differs. That is invariably why, likewise, so many pro-hunting comments are never displayed in a constant effort to sway public opinion and thwart it like a chewing gum piece.
Now I know you have your own differing opinion about hunting but at least grant me the fact that that is also why the comments of this hunter-hating J Farrugia always make it thereat!
Regards and well done, I really enjoy your blog.
“It’s not fair on the Curia to let these men have these sole privileges of meeting the pope when other are not afforded this privilege.”
It looks like it is not the Curia that “is mad at letting these men meet the pope”, but that the honourable deeply Maltese Catholic, but very evidently non-Christian and hypocritical, J. Farrugia is simply cheesed off that he will have no opportunity to directly rub shoulders with the Pope so that he may brag about it for the rest of what must be his miserable life.
He will no doubt be setting up a similar rumpus at the Pearly Gate, pushing himself to the head of the queue, blind to the fact that, unless he drastically changes his outlook where fellow beings are concerned, his chances of getting past that threshold are very dim indeed.
The moderation policy at timesofmalta.com is strange. Legitimate comment on certain issues is prohibited, but then the moderator allows through comments which are uninformed, shallow, racist or offensive like this one by J Farrugia.
A case in point are the comments on John Cachia infamously known for entering Parliament in December 1986 when Dr Eddie Fenech Adami was speaking as Leader of the Opposition; a privilege complaint was lodged against him which was not followed up. Any reference to this occurrence in a comment automatically made it a candidate for deletion.
I’ve written to The Times’ webmaster three times about the lack of transparency in comment moderation, but have never received a reply.
The moderator(s) delete comments for no apparent reason, yet then allow bigoted, hateful comments such as that by J Farrugia to appear without batting an eyelid.
Even worse, the moderator(s) has a penchant for creative editing of comments, often completely distorting the original meaning of the posted comment.
It really is hard to fathom just how Malta’s most prestigious newspaper can get away with such a mickey mouse online section.
Has anyone considered that J Farrugia might in fact be the moderator? The approach to selecting comments for upload would strongly hint at this.
I agree with comments on the Times. But then see Saviour’s newspapers – they more resemble Labour’s Kullhadd .
Daphne,
Unfortunately The Times censors much more than contributions to this article.
Freedom of speech and democracy under Gonzi have inevitably dwindled! And The Times have contributed a lot to this sad situation.
The moderators at timesofmalta.com need to make themselves known if they are to achieve any credibility. Otherwise they are just creating a conspiracy against democracy and free speech.
[Daphne – timesofmalta.com is a private enterprise and it is not obliged to upload anything unless it wants to. On the other hand, it is obliged to uphold the law of the land and not publish comments which slander others, still less comments which libel an 11-year-old rape victim and adults who were themselves victims of abuse in childhood.]
Yes, a private enterprise that is devoid of any credibility. I wasn’t referring to the rape articles.
YES, this is indeed a good opportunity to highlight the fact that timesofmalta does not publish all fair comments posted. I suppose they have the right to do so. This site is no exception either..few of my comments posted were partially censored or totally discarded all together. I suppose the people who manage these sites protect their own interest. Right Daphne?
[Daphne – Obviously. But I knew at the outset something that timesofmalta.com hasn’t caught onto yet: that when you allow the comments-board to be dominated by people who are sub-literate, incoherent, can’t spell and use multiple interrogation and exclamation marks, the standard falls and the sensible, literature people are put off from participating except when really driven to do so. And so the comments-board ends up reading like a group therapy session for the mentally unsound who left school at nine. So, I don’t allow terrible spelling or slipshod grammar as far as possible, insist on proper punctuation and capital letters at the start of sentences, ban this !!!!!????? and this…….. and am generally Miss Whiplash. But you can’t complain, because the net result is civilised.]
surely you meant literate not literature on your fourth line – oops!