You mention Australia – so if you were say of northern European ancestry living down under in the 1950s and 1960s, what would you have thought of the Maltese? The Maltese were ‘coloured people’.

We have come so far up our evolutionary ladder and yet people still entrench themselves within causes that ultimately bring about the likes of Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin. Your ideology insidiously establishes a foothold based on fear and propagates itself through the hate of anything that is different.

The main problem is integration – if as a society we can get integration to work then plurality of races and cultures may allow our race to reach our next step, reaching out to the stars , if not the we are stuck here for an eternity.

Rednecks are originally Americans from states like Texas and what is known as “the deep South” in the USA. The word is a reference to how farmers in these areas have red sunburnt necks from working in the fields in the sun.

It’s not about a race of people who have red necks. So it’s not racist. It’s like the Maltese word “Hamallu” or the English word “Chav” in a way, referring to an attitude and manner of living.

It is not used by people of other races to offend White Europeans. It is a word that was first used in the USA by white people talking about other white people.

Even I one of the great unwashed could tell that it will spread (I remember telling you Daphne during the Tunisian uprising that even the Arabs are protesting).

yor/malta, what I do yearn is for our civilization to protect itself against an undesired influx.

I certainly do not yearn for the Muslim riots in Paris which happened three years ago or for Islamic factions to be allowed to grow within Europe.

Above all else, I certainly do not yearn for mosques sprouting everywhere for the sake of cultural and religious tolerance giving ethnic minorities the chance to evolve into hostile and dominant majorities.

We remember the uproar when they closed the house of worship on the Sliema front and how these people defied our authorities by worshipping on the Sliema front.

[Daphne – 1. The Sliema mosque was closed down by the Planning Authority because it was in a block of flats and did not have a ‘change of use’ permit. Nor could it get one, being in a block of flats. 2. Praying on the Sliema front is not a crime nor does it constitute defiance of the authorities. I lived for 21 years in that exact place and remember untold numbers of Christian groups clapping and singing. They were immensely irritating, their clothes were terrible, the sound pollution was immense, but it’s a free country. Besides, scenes like that add colour and life. Part of the problem with Malta is that it’s homogeneity makes it dull and its residents even duller.]

This is not the society we would like to bring our children up in and hardly the society wherby half the female population run around in veils as if they are still living in some Islamic state.

[Daphne – Speak for yourself, Lorna. I don’t think you understand how out-of-tune you sound when you claim to speak on behalf of all Maltese, as though all Maltese think as you do.There are many Maltese who, like me, would rather live on an island where some women wear veils than on an island where Maltese racists try to burn alive in their beds those who don’t agree with them. It’s not as though Malta is a stranger to insufferable religious bigotry, and yet you speak as though you have been living in Norway or Sweden for the last 20 years. “Can’t have those Muslims coming here and upsetting our grand democratic tradition of private religion and freedom of worship.”]

Comparing a strong hand to Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin is hardly the case. Australia is not a totalitarian state but preserves its identity by disallowing these people to make excessive demands.

One should also bear in mind that ethnic invasions create the likes of the extreme right and we should not allow that to happen before it’s too late!

[Daphne – The extreme right exists already in Malta. It is a strong political sentiment among supporters of both the PN and the MLP, but mainly, I have noticed, the MLP.]

Lorna Saliba – be very careful. You yearn for a strong hand. That kind of yearning gave Germany Hitler and gave Italy Mussolini, and then the rest of the world had to cope. Stalin lasted longer and he ran his empire with an iron fist. Millions died in gulags just because they were different or because they were ‘enemies of the state’.

If we are to survive as a race, humanity needs to become more tolerant of the differences. Don’t expect cultures to remain static. They change and we adapt. Incidentally Europe was made up of pagan tribes so which traditional cultures and values are you so worried about? Don’t forget Christianity came from the east and that much of northern Europe remained pagan until at least a thousand years ago.

Would you describe a Black, Chinese or Mid Eastern person with this word?

[Daphne – Black? Black is not a nationality. ‘Black or Chinese’ indeed. ‘Redneck’ describes an outlook, an attitude, a way of thinking. So yes, a ‘black or Chinese or Middle Eastern’ person can be a redneck. For example, I see lots of rednecks protesting in Tripoli, on television, in favour of Gaddafi, kissing his photograph and the rest. They look very much like Maltese rednecks to me.]

I’ll answer that for you…………………No.

Find me one instance where this word has been used to describe anyone other than a White European or a person of White European ancestry.

‘Redneck’ is a racist word used to offend Whie Europeans.

[Daphne – You are hardly likely to know how and when ‘redneck’ is used, or what for. English is clearly your third language. So save yourself the effort.]

I don’t think the stance adopted by Joseph Muscat on the immigration issue, or the Government on the Libya issue, can be termed as liberal or progressive.

Being liberal or progressive, and Iam not saying that I am, does not entail being ignorant of basic human need. It does not mean either to be indifferent to one’s plight or suffering.

I think that these stances are purely selfish and egocentric traps promoted by people bereft of the capacity to direct a cat to a saucer of milk, let alone a nation of people, forward towards a bright future in the second millennium.