Hot news from Labour: the EU has 74 member states

Published: June 24, 2011 at 12:02pm

The Labour Party’s news website, Maltastar, begins a news report this morning with the immortal line:

The 74 members of the European Union have agreed that all European countries must share the responsibility when it comes to the influx of migrants from Northern Africa.

You know, this is where it gets really desperate. There is no way on earth that can be a typo because the keys for the relevant numbers are not adjacent to each other, and even so, it’s not like that number isn’t screaming out at you off the page.

The Nationalist Party, with its current collection of recalcitrant consciences and atavistic thinking on divorce legislation, begins to look positively glorious next to this set of not-fit-for-purpose freaks and sub-literates with dud brains.




32 Comments Comment

  1. Joe Micallef says:

    We were so taken up by the divorce issue that we missed this development.

  2. Matt B says:

    I don’t know what’s sadder… the fact that they said that there are 74 EU Member States or the fact that they translated ‘sebgha u erbghin membru tal-Kunsill ta’ l-Ewropa’ (as heard on the video posted on the website) to ’74 EU Member States’.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kSG42bqeNE&feature=player_embedded

  3. David Buttigieg says:

    The numbers aren’t even close – how do you accidentally type 74 instead of 27?

  4. ciccio2011 says:

    The propaganda for 2017, when Joseph Muscat will be the President of Europe, has started early at Maltastar.

  5. Pat Zahra says:

    Le hi ta, seventy-four hemm. Ar’ejja nghodduhom fuq subghajna:
    1. England
    2. Scotland
    3. Wales
    4. Ireland (nofsu)
    5. Ireland (in-nofs l-iehor)
    6 – 43 Greece u dak il-hafna tbazwir u frak ta’ gzejjer ta’ madwarha
    44. Malta
    45. Gozo
    46. Comino
    47. Cominotto
    48. Filfla
    49. Il-gebla tal-General . . .

    U mbilli ghandi naqa’ discalcula xorta’ naf nghodd mill-wiehed sal- erm. . .

  6. M Ferriggi says:

    Good to hear the Maltese people don’t mind baby gays moving in next door.

    Or, as Maltastar puts it: “On the other hand, the report states that the majority of Maltese people would not have a problem if a neighbor adopted a homosexual.”

    http://www.maltastar.com/pages/r1/ms10dart.asp?a=15887

    You know how keen I am on LGBT issues, and you also know that on balance I consider myself a PL supporter.

    So here’s to hoping that if/when Joe Muscat becomes Prime Minister, Malta might have an official “Adopt a Gay” day. It might make me decide to come back home!

  7. K Farrugia says:

    They should have transposed the number of member states of Council of Europe. Most of them don’t know the difference between the two institutions anyway.

  8. M Ferriggi says:

    your spam filter doesnt like gays :(

    [Daphne – Apparently it has a whole list of words which it doesn’t like, especially combinations of ‘gay’ and ‘sexuality’ and so on.]

  9. Pat Zahra says:

    Msieken, ara hi tal-Maltastar, bejn wiehed u iehor hemm 27 (segha u ghoxrin) li nafu bihom, owkej. Huduhom lottu forsi jitilghu.

  10. Patrik says:

    We are fortunate to have Maltastar. Just when you are about to give up completely on the party in power, they give you a stern reminder as to why you shouldn’t switch.

    Thank you, Maltastar.

  11. M Ferriggi says:

    Oh actually I think I worked out the ‘logic’ behind that 74 number.

    I clicked on the video, and the announcer said
    “Is-seba u erbghin (sp?) membru tal-Kunsill tal- Ewropa”

    which in Manglish translates to
    “The seven-and-four members of the European Union”

    I have a feeling the same person who translated this is the same person who discovered the acceptance of Maltese society towards gay people being adopted. Might be happy it’s Friday.

  12. Bertu says:

    It’s 2.30pm; story was posted 6 hours ago and the mistake is still there – such a bunch of morons. Pero it’s time to give them ic-cans ha jiggvernaw – ma, how sad!

  13. La Redoute says:

    What do you expect from a party whose leader would see the Eurozone collapse before he allowed another immigrant into his kingdom.

  14. Grezz says:

    Had they instead typed “72”, they may have been forgiven for switching the keys round. But 74?

    Even primary schoolchildren know that there are 27 member states.

    • C Falzon says:

      If I’m not mistaken there are about fifty countries in Europe, give or take a few. Perhaps the exact number is 47 and that is what they inverted (I’m not in the mood to go counting countries on Wikipedia).

      I suppose the ability to distinguish between Europe and the European Union is a bit be too much to expect from Maltarats.

  15. John Schembri says:

    Nista’ nkun naf min jidhol f’dan is-sit?

  16. Bertu says:

    It’s finally been removed. To avoid any possible criticism of the actual number – are they assertive enough to quote the actual number TWENTY FRIGGIN SEVEN? No!

    Overheard at Maltstar offices this afternoon – “Jien iz-zozza naf kemm hemm? 24? 27? Ha nghidlek ghamila hekk – ‘Dee Memberrs of dee Orapejjin Unjin’ – hekk zgur ma naghmlux zball!! Wahhalnijula lil dik is…….”

  17. Anthony says:

    What a pity! It would have been 73 if Malta became Svizzera fil-Mediterran.

    Kollox ta’ taht fuq, ta’ wara quddiem, imbazwar u illapazzat.

  18. d.farrugia says:

    Every time I’m disappointed with the PN I just imagine Joe Muscat moving up the Auberge de Castille steps so that everyone can get a good look at him, with that smile on his face, flankedby Anglu and Toni. And then I feel better again about the Nationalist Party.

  19. Ian says:

    They’re also mistaking the Council of Europe (which has 47 members) for the Council of the European Union.

  20. john says:

    Another good one from the back page of THE TIMES this morning. Robert Musumeci – I quote

    “The Nationalist Party was elected in 1987 under the pretext of Xoghol, Gustizzja and Liberta.”

    This is surely not what he meant to say.

    [Daphne – Tal-biki. Or perhaps it was. Well, he’s busy with the festa ta’ San Nikola. Il-magistrata is throwing a party at their lovely home in Siggiewi for the demimonde crowd. So Graham Greene.]

  21. Kenneth Cassar says:

    The number 74 is correct. They are including the Ewropa ta Kajin.

  22. Joe Scerri says:

    Daphne, one day you are going to be the cause of my death, death by laughter or choking on my cereal.

  23. dery says:

    I don’t feel like checking but surely this can’t be true lol?

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