I don't trust myself to speak

Published: October 29, 2011 at 5:35pm

On the Facebook wall of the chairman of the Malta Council of Science and Technology:

Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando
Busy morning at the clinic followed by a board meeting at the Malta Council for Science and Technology. Back home at last. Relaxing with a mugful of tea and…….who else…..Bono on my IPod

Marioline Brincat
isbah min tazza te m hawx

Roza Zammit Salinos
JEKK FORSI TMELLES XI KELB JEW QATTUS VERA THOSSOK AHJAR U RELAXED. TRY IT

Bernardette Abela
jien kont taht idejk ta jeff i like it…..




48 Comments Comment

  1. CharlesG says:

    I never could understand why anyone would feel the need to tell the world what he/she is doing right now or how last night was. Who cares?

    • Grezz says:

      That’s because most of the closet-exhibitionists never got much attention when in their prime. Now that they’re over forty, they are all the more desperate for it.

  2. edgar says:

    Now being busy at work in the morning and a meeting in the afternoon is such a big deal that JPO has to tell all Malta that he did what every normal working person does.

    He obviously must get a high when a person tells him JIEN KONT TAHT IDEJK TA JEFF, I LIKE IT!!!!

    Oh well, some people get turned on in a funny sort of way.

  3. chris says:

    Come on Mrs Galizia, I know they sound funny, but you cannot blame Mr Orlando if he is good at the job, his job I mean, as a dentist, that is. Well done, Bernardette, you’ reofficially an idiot.

  4. John Schembri says:

    Don’t these Face Book aficionados have some shoulder to lean on?

    Am I acting normal when I take a vacuum flask full of tea, a few biscuits and go to my field to relax and do some farming or repair a drystone wall?

    Do we need to go on FB or some other social network to tell the world that we are “leaving the world behind us” after a hectic day meeting a lot of people?

    Isn’t the singing of a robin enough to feel inner peace and relax?

    I guess JPO wants to tell us that he’s another guy with a tight schedule.

    How is it that our PM never writes on FB that he has a tight schedule? If he does than he would be lying.

  5. H.P. Baxxter says:

    He drinks tea out of a mug. How common.

    • Anna says:

      Waqqajtni down, Baxxter. I love drinking my tea out of a mug.

      [Daphne – If you drink builder’s tea, as I do (I dislike any other sort), then a mug is the only thing. For all other tea: cups and saucers, and a pot.]

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        Don’t worry. It’s the drinker not the drink. If you give yourself airs and graces, then you need the crockery to back it up. For the rest of us humble peons, a tin mug will do.

        The post-War belief that Life Is Beautiful has reduced men to giggling imbeciles. Time was when they had inner strength and gravitas, and stared out at the world from beneath thatched brows.

        Have you ever seen one of those photographs of Ernest Shackleton drinking tea out of an enamelled mug? Now I’m not gay, but my god.

        [Daphne – Better still, try to imagine Ernest Shacklteton drinking tea out of an enamelled mug and telling the working-class about it on Facebook. “I like it, Ernest! Good day!!!!!!”]

  6. Dee says:

    Where do these “friends” get their quotes? From some Borat film?

  7. Pecksniff says:

    Does JPO k upload everything he does and says, however insignificant, 24/7? Is that the peak of their day?

    As for Roza and Bernardette, various double entendre spontaneous replies and comments have sprung to mind; these people are just asking for it.

  8. ciccio2011 says:

    “Jien kont taht idejk ta jeff i like it…”

    Hi Jeff, jien ma kontx taht idejk. What am I missing?

  9. 'Angus Black says:

    Bernardette jghaddiet minn taht idejn Jeffrey u ghada eccitata.

    Xi dwejjaq ta’ nies.

    • Antoine Vella says:

      Well, going to the dentist and liking it is unusual enough – more noteworthy than drinking tea.

      I’m assuming “taħt idejk” referred to a dentistry session.

  10. Brian says:

    Honestly, JPO, who gives a toss?

    Well, you can always stroke a pussy if it makes you feel better, or better still, hit the Wudy. Jeez…will you and stop using Facebook for your small talk? Who gives a sh*t how your day went? Idiot.

  11. e-ros says:

    How exciting Maltese TV is. At the moment Karmenu Vella is on TVM and Joe Grima on One – pathetic in both instances.

    Can’t we discuss anything in this country that is not politics?

    • ciccio2011 says:

      I did watch Reno give Karmenu a good grilling. Although Karmenu came across with good social charisma, his technical replies were very poor.

      His reply about the living wage was “ma mititx, imma hadd mhu qed jaghfas fuqha.”

      About Labour’s position on the EU, he said it was a matter of “jekk nidhlux issa jew nidhlux wara.”

      But the best bit was when Reno pressed him that the electorate wanted to know “how” not “what.”

      Karmenu had no explanation as to how his party would bring about economic growth, for instance.

      Never mind his reply about the polluter pays taxes, hailed by Joseph Muscat as a corner stone of his future taxing policy.

      And he expressed himself against costing the electoral manifesto.

      He never mentioned the word “road map”, so I am wondering why Joseph Muscat said his party would have a road map and not a manifesto.

      I actually think that the interview with Karmenu Vella deserves a good analysis by political analysts, and I am sure Daphne will dedicate a blog post to it.

      [Daphne – I haven’t watched it yet. Last night I was at the Diwali celebration organised by the Maltese-Indian community, which was a lot more entertaining.]

  12. Reporter says:

    These comments should be translated:

    Marioline Brincat:
    nothing beats a mug of tea

    Roza Zammit Salinos
    IF YOU STROKE AND CARESS A DOG OR A CAT YOU WILL REALLY FEEL BETTER AND RELAXED. TRY IT

    Bernardette Abela
    (idiomatic) you operated on me jeff i like it…
    (lit.) i was under your hands jeff i like it …

    Has he got a massage parlour or what?

  13. Francis Saliba MD says:

    I cannot imagine what there is to “like” while sitting in a dentist’s chair and gripping the arm rest, unless of course …. no! perish the thought!

    • A. Charles says:

      Trust a medic to say such things.

      • Francis Saliba MD says:

        I am not the only one “to say such things”. And the others do not appear to be “medics” – only anxious patients of average intelligence who were “treated” in dentists’ chairs but, unlike Bernardette, not enjoying the experience.

      • Francis Saliba MD says:

        Unlike you, A Chales, I sign my name in full and identify my profession. I think that is much more honest and less cowardly than commenting critically under a pseudonym. You do not need to be “a medic” to adopt that standard.

        [Daphne – Dr Saliba, A. Charles is his real name and he’s often referred on this blog to his professional practice as a dentist in Zejtun. I imagine that when Anthony said ‘trust a medic to say that’, it was just a dentist teasing a doctor.]

      • Francis Saliba MD says:

        In that case Dr Charles the dentist would have been more correct to write “Trust a dentist to say such things”.

        Moreover he would have understood that I may have been referring to the old practice of administering nitrous oxide analgesia, popularly known as “laughing gas” as a possible cause for Bernardette’s euphoria when she was “under Jeff’s hand”.

  14. Jean says:

    One word. Humiliating.

    I also followed your advice given to Dr Gonzi about JPO. You were extremely simplistic. Very evident you have no experience managing professionals (professionals as in skills, not attitude) in large organisations.

    [Daphne – I am actually pretty good with people, Jean, in the sense that I know how they can best be ‘managed’ because on the whole I can read character types and personality problems fairly well. I saw at the time that Jeffrey would flip when put under all the pressure he was put under after the general election, and that the damage to his psyche would be permanent or at least extremely prolonged. Because of this, I thought it was necessary to defend him so that he had at least one point of psychological refuge. He was breaking down at that point. I still think that putting him under that pressure at that point, when he was already psychologically raw from the Mistra business, was a big mistake and the main cause of the problems we are seeing now. If you think I am being extremely simplistic, then perhaps it because you are not aware of many things, which is as it should be. Your comparison to large organisations is unsound. The civil service is a large organisation, and comparison to that would be right. But the prime minister is not the head of the civil service and Jeffrey is not a civil servant. In the large organisations you have in mind, people who behave like Jeffrey is doing are not ‘managed’. They are sacked. This is the difficulty here. He has to be managed because he can’t be sacked without bringing down the government. It is the way he is managed that I do not agree with, and haven’t agreed with from day one. I think I have read Jeffrey’s character correctly in that he doesn’t respect those he sees as appeasing him or managing him by ‘charm’. This trait, coupled with the sort of emotional turbulence (to avoid being more specific) we saw on Inkontri last week, is destabilising to himself and those around him.]

    Your leadership style with professionals needs to be inclusive, especially when it was evident right from the start that as a leader Gonzi was not respected by default as Eddie was. However Eddie ensured he maintained that respect by having by his side people like Richard Cachia Caruana.

    [Daphne – I agree up to a point about being inclusive. But where you see that personality weaknesses prevent certain individuals from responding to attempts at including them, it is folly to persist. The right tack to take at that point is to exclude them totally, to leave them completely isolated while consolidating the ‘inclusiveness’ of the rest of the group. People who behave like this – they essentially have the same character traits as playground bullies – are essentially desperate for the approval of others and cannot survive without it. It’s the reason Jeffrey is constantly pegging himself out on Facebook and seeking the accolades of his 5,000 ‘friends’. Do you remember the start of this nonsense? It was always ‘a group of rebel backbenchers’. They found strength in that ‘group’ and succour in the support of the Labour Party and ‘disillusioned PN voters’. Now things are already a lot different. Character types are character types, Jean, and whatever the situation they have to be handled in the same way.]

    The prime minister has sowed the seeds of this disaster from the very first day when elected. He chickened out in facing his ex-ministers when not re-appointing them but sent them an sms instead.

    [Daphne – I agree that this, if correct, was most unwise and extremely ill-mannered. In people with weak characters, it would have provoked deep anger by triggering off all kinds of insecurity responses. People with a stronger sense of self and more confidence would not have embarked on a three-year campaign of underhand malice but would have instead picked up the telephone there and then and said: “Exactly why did you think fit to send me a text message instead of letting me know in the proper manner, face to face? I think it was extremely rude and I am very upset about this.” Then the prime minister could either slam down the phone (which he wouldn’t have) or apologise and sort it out with a chat (which he would have). End of story.]

    He has surrounded himself with weak generals, only interested in protecting him in any way possible, thus always opting to go for inner circle appointments rather then going for who is best for the job. This avoids the risk of the unknown but fuels more disgruntlement.

    [Daphne – Prime ministers have always surrounded themselves with those who protect them in any way possible, including the person you mentioned earlier. Appointments are always, because of this, from the inner circle, again including the person you mentioned earlier. Disgruntlement happens not when appointments are made from the inner circle (I’m not as bad with reading people as you think, Jean) but when those who are not appointed believe it is unfair because they could do the job just as well or better than those who are appointed. With Richard, there was no such sense of unfairness (though there was plenty of animosity for other reasons) because even his worst enemies could see that he was in a class of his own and they didn’t think they could do his job as well as he could or better. ]

    It is way too late for Gonzi to save the day. He has lost respect from his backbenchers entirely, only that some are more vociferous than others. Do I agree that Gonzi, finally gets to grip with such a situation, call the backbenchers’ bluff and go for an early election, thereby handing the reins to an even greatly more incompetent bunch of Labour hopefuls?

    I honestly have no reply to this. As a Nationalist (despite being called otherwise on this blog) who grew up in the wrenched 80s, I can only reminisce nostalgically of what true leadership was all about.

    You who seem to have an opinion on everything, and I say this with respect, you cannot deny that the Nationalist party is in such a poor shape. How can a true Nationalist ensure that this GonziPn clique is removed without handing government to the other incompetent lot?

    [Daphne – The mistake you make is to think that it is the prime minister who has a clique. The prime minister doesn’t have a clique. He has a political party and a government: in other words, the main ‘organisations’, to use your original comparison. Cliques are formed within organisations, and they are not formed by the main man and the organisation itself, but by individuals who by definition are not ‘with’ the main man. The clique here is Jeffrey’s and Jesmond’s, remote-controlled by John Dalli in Brussels. And THAT is the clique which has to go. If the organisation cannot do it for a variety of reasons, you forget that the electorate probably will do it instead. It’s happened to others before and it will happen again.]

  15. Jean says:

    wretched

  16. Grezz says:

    People like this are not just an embarassment to themselves. Enough said.

  17. Anthony says:

    The Chairman of the Malta Council of Science and Technology!

  18. Bob says:

    What is Mrs Abela on about?

  19. Carmel Scicluna says:

    I believe that the chairman of the MCST should be an intellectual, dynamic and above all, have gravitas.

    JPO definitely does not deserve this top job.

    My nephew uses his Facebook Wall to show the whole world that he enjoys Bono on his iPod. Jeffrey is doing exactly the same. The difference is this: my nephew is 15, but this member of parliament, dentist, chairman of the MCST, and idiot honoris causa is 47.

    JPO’s intellectual friends inform the whole wide world that they enjoy relaxing with a dog or a cat and a mugful of tea.

    Quo vadis Melita?

  20. TROY says:

    Somebody please shoot me.

  21. old-timer says:

    Xi svujtagni.

  22. Brian*14 says:

    Of clinics, boardrooms, patting dogs or fondling pussy cats, elsewhere…..Syria’s Assad warns of ‘earthquake’ if West intervenes.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15508630

    • Reporter says:

      Can you find Saviour’s trash? I can’t find it, and I’ve look round virtually the whole virtual edition …

      • Dee says:

        I cant find it either!
        Why did Times Online not publish it?

        [Daphne – For the obvious reason that tracked changes won’t show up.]

      • Pecksniff says:

        I have not found it in online edition myself; as for printed edition, you needed a magnifying glass as type size was small.
        It looks like he sent The Sunday Times a draft with tracked corrections.

    • P Shaw says:

      Interesting that the editor felt that the contents of these e-mails were not newsworthy and tried to cover the story up.

  23. Jozef says:

    Oh, so he IS chairman of the MCST.

  24. Allo Allo says:

    U kif ma qalillniex jekk hux qed ifittet xi biskuttel u xi zewg ottijiet, halli l-aggornament ikun komplut?

  25. Anthony says:

    Malta’s equivalent of Tom Blundell.

    All he needs is a beard.

    U halluna.

  26. TinaB says:

    Haha – kienet taht idejh u she likes it.

    At least half the middle-aged population of Malta must be going bonkers. Does it ever actually occur to them how ridiculous they are? I think not.

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