“Ronald Reagan has retired” – Aaron Farrugia, chief of Labour’s Fondazzjoni Idejat and self-described ‘ekonomista’
Aaron Farrugia finds Joseph terribly invigorating
Aaron Farrugia on Facebook a couple of days ago:
As Europe moves on, the Maltese Nationalist Party is stuck in the past. Instead of spending his time next week working hard for Maltese families and SME`s Lawrence Gonzi will be taking the country 25 years back in time. Yeah 25 years …when US President Ronald Reagan went on national television and revealed the secret arms sales to Iran…or when Mike Tyson Knocked Out Trevor Berbick..I know I know…thats history…I was six years old..since then President Reagan retired and so did Mike Tyson. But PM Gonzi wants five more years. Do you want five more years of an exhausted Prime Minister? The country needs a more youthful and invigorating leader
Se jispicca bil-queue wara l-bieb, nahseb, dak Joseph – kullhadd jistenna sa kemm he invigorates them.
And Aaron, do please try to keep up. Ronald Reagan died seven years ago. It was all over the news.
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SME’s Lawrence Gonzi, eh? That must be the PM’s doppelganger.
I think although he died he still retired since then no Daphne
[Daphne – Death takes precedence over retirement in this context.]
Oh good to know, and which theory says so, hence obliging Farrugia to state so??? DCG theory jaqaw fejn dak li tahseb int biss hu tajjeb???
[Daphne – No, BC, commonsense and good writing. You must admit that I’m bound to know a lot more about idiomatic English than you and Aaron Farrugia do. You will have to agree that ‘Ronald Reagan has died since’ is a lot more effective than ‘Ronald Reagan retired’, especially when you’re operating in a context where people know that Ronald Reagan is dead. But never mind, these finer points are lost on Aaron Farrugia’s Facebook friends, so why bother.]
I’m sure you are far more idiomatic Engilsh speaker and writer than I am, but I don’t agree on the second point….a writing is never restricted to any rules neither those of common sense, that being the reason why writing is one of the most free and liberal form of art, the reason could be that he didn’t want that sentence to have it too much impact, so as to avoid the focus being left on it….I don’t know, that’s why writing is free but on the other hand everyone has his own opinion.
[Daphne – Of course writing has its rules, BC. And no, those rules are not a matter of opinion, whether everyone has one or not. Of course it is easier to justify your low standards than to strive for higher ones, but then you do vote Labour and that is the mentality.]
BC, think of it this way: what would make more sense, “Agatha Barbara has retired” or “Agatha Barbara has died” in a “since then” context?
Daphne, seriously, you have good english, your articles sometimes are argumentative and I like that but please attend some form of academy because it will make you a fuller person, you will learn more how life isn’t all about rules and if so, rules are there to bended or at least twisted….I know now you will act like a Virgin and say typical Laobur bending the rules but that is the way life is….but apart from that no writing is free form of art and no it doesn’t have any rules…..maybe at most intorduction, body conclusion but the very least
[Daphne – This is rather funny. I’ve changed my mind: please stay. What sort of academy do you suggest? It’s been a long time since I was last told by somebody semi-literate and incapable of more than unformed thought that I should get myself an education. No, I’m afraid writing is not free form. It has very strict rules, and if you want to get anywhere in life outside politics, you’d do best to learn them and stick to them.]
STATE THEM TO ME….if you want to get it to this extent…and btw if there is any you violated a lot of them then, because at most in such rules there should be one which represents respect or something between those parameters.
[Daphne – I am not a teacher of English and this is not a didactic blog. Find one and pay for lessons. It would be money well spent, far better than whatever it is you spend your money on.]
That’s the answer I was expecting.
“a writing is never restricted to any rules neither those of common sense, that being the reason why writing is one of the most free and liberal form of art”.
I must agree with BC here. Everyone has the right to write in a way that disregards common sense or rules. In fact, to put it more directly, everyone has the right to show the world he’s a complete idiot.
‘Biskuttini f’halq il-hmir ‘ comes to mind here, Daphne.
Ronald Reagan didn’t retire. He served two full terms in office (1981-1989), the maximum possible in the US, so Aaron Farrugia’s statement is not only wrong, it is irrelevant.
What he means to say (I think) is that times have changed but some people haven’t. I couldn’t agree more. Hasn’t Karmenu Vella, the Labour Party’s current policy wonk, been around since the early 1970s? That’s almost ten years before Ronald Reagan was elected for the first time in 1981.
Margeritas ante porcos.
Mr Aaron F The next time you go out for a meal ask a student to cook it for you and if on a plane ask the captain to leave because a fresh faced beginner invigorates you. Wisdom comes with age. Remember that at 27, Gaddafi was an invigorated new leader.
39 is too old to be a beginner. Sant famously said he was learning on the job, and see where that led him – and us.
I fail to see the point of this piece of wisdom, or follow the line of reasoning (if there is one).
How is the Prime Minister taking us back 25 years?
Or are we supposed to be so gob-smacked at his historical knowledge that we fail to notice that he has put no really convincing points as to why we should not vote PN again?
Aaron Farrugia and his ilk were pre-empting this:
“Il-Hadd, 4 ta’ Dicembru 2011 fis-6.00pm fid-Dar Centrali PN, Pieta’
Lejn il-kultura tal-liberta’
25 Sena mill-incidenti fiz-Zejtun, il-qtil ta’ raymond caruana u il-frame-up ta’ Pietru Pawl Busuttil
Wirja unika b’oggetti li qatt ma intwerew u serata kommemorattiva audio-viziva
Kulhadd mistieden” ( http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/profile.php?id=1288196188 )
So according to this git, Raymond Caruana is someone we should forget, in the name of political expediency.
The chairman of a politicall party’s laboratory should be the first one to confront this episode and work against such mentality.
Shame.
As far as I know Gonzi has been prime minister for seven years , not that long.
I would rather have another five years of GonziPN than twenty-two months of Mr Fix-it Joseph.
25 years ago, Karmenu Vella, AST, Joe Grima and Joe Debono Grech were Labour frontmen. Unlike Ronald Reagan and Mike Tyson, they have not retired.
This should have been my second quote above:
“Il-Hadd, 4 ta’ Dicembru 2011 fis-6.00pm fid-Dar Centrali PN, Pieta’
Lejn il-kultura tal-liberta’
25 Sena mill-incidenti fiz-Zejtun, il-qtil ta’ raymond caruana u il-frame-up ta’ Pietru Pawl Busuttil
Wirja unika b’oggetti li qatt ma intwerew u serata kommemorattiva audio-viziva
Kulhadd mistieden” . The link is the same as that provided above.
New Labour my backside.
Listen to this Marisa, Joseph, Jason and the rest of you there trying to convince people to vote for a decrepit party whose only consistency is the rotten apples who have formed part of it for decades.
You may try to change the party’s appearance by changing its logo continuously; the same with its slogan. Nothing will convince people who know better to fall for the sham that is the supposed peaceful, welcoming exterior one tries to present to the general public..
Aaron Farrugia can often be seen roaming the streets in Brussels with a cheeky grin on his face. I can confirm that as a youngster he was one of Alfred Sant’s chosen few, hence has automatically become Joseph Muscat’s.
He tries to pass off as a progressive person however I can assure you his inner beliefs of Labour politics are far from progressive.
How he ‘represents’ our country with his appalling English diction beats me…
PL has finally find someone with a limited knowledge of English, to interfere in this blog. This is BC, who has a “before Christ” mentality.
I met the Prime Minister yesterday and he didn’t look at all exhausted.
What the country does not need, for sure, in these trying times, is a leader full of hot air and zero substance like Joseph Muscat.
Precisely Wayne. But considering the current hot topics in the media, I would reword your second sentence as follows to make it “topical”:
“What the country does not need, for sure, in these trying times, is a leader full of Carbon Dioxide and with zero emissions like Joseph Muscat.”