We only had Franco Debono’s word that he was commissioned to write the report for submission to Greco.

He was asked to do the groundwork, which is an entirely different thing.

So, to keep him quiet, they asked him to pull together the various bits and pieces that had already been written about party financing and he translated that into something else entirely.

His report was probably a mess, and the quality of his research is open to question. But here’s the question that really intrigues me:

Did Franco Debono’s research include Joseph Muscat university thesis on party financing? It’s only three years older than Debono’s thesis on the same subject.

As a man of “a different generation”, I know when to stop. I admire you so much and enjoy contributing to your blog, that I will stop here as I wouldn’t want to write anything that will, later, make me feel sorry.

But just one last salvo.

Have you ever seen the Queen’s diamond collection, mostly given to her as presents? I am sure you wouldn’t classify her as a “whore or a doormat”.

[Daphne – Her diamonds are her inheritance. And I did not say that women who accept diamonds are whores and diamonds. I said that no woman will accept a present of diamonds from a man as consolation for having cheated on her, unless she is a whore or a doormat, and will fling them back at him and tell him where to stuff them. That’s significantly different. And when I said that women wear costume jewellery nowadays because they prefer it, and that women who work buy their own jewellery (real or costume), I did not mean that women do not accept presents of jewellery, but that they no longer need men to buy it. And that too is different. Talk to any jeweller or diamond dealer who will tell you that women are now buying their own.]

It is the Italian definition of ‘a loose cannon’.

Very apt.

Kif tissaporti?

The photo in that blog sums up everything. Franco messed up his chances and has only himself to blame.

If he’s capable of logic and reason, which I’m sure he is, it will have to sink in.

Yes.

No Daphne, to be fair you should have put the emphasis on “if that is the ONLY option”.

No Daphine, if Franco was a better politician, a better lobbyist, a better negotiator, a better diplomat,he might have ended up as prime minister.

[Daphne – That can be said of everyone, Silvio. It can even be said of me, and of you.]

No Daphne, tt was gonzi who appointed him to draft a report on party financing.

[Daphne – To appease him like a child, Silvio, after he sent him thousands of text messages. And the prime minister isn’t the only one who was laid siege, too, either. Then when, as expected, the result was not up to scratch (they knew it wouldn’t be, and so they shouldn’t have given in), they had to get somebody else to do it and sent that report to GRECO instead. He failed to deliver, Silvio. When you deliver goods that are not up to scratch, that’s also failing to deliver.]

No Daphne, it was not personl animosinty that made him censor Austin Gatt. It just happened that the latter made such a mess of Arriva that Gonzi set up a task force within the OPM to fix things up.

[Daphne – You speak as though you know him, Silvio, but do you? Have you had to sit there and listen to him bang on like somebody with a breakdown for hours, as I have had to do? Well, I didn’t HAVE to, but I did, because it gave me useful insight into his character. Minutes into our conversation I knew already that he was not right in the head – not crazy, but certain effed up. As Saviour said, he was unbearable. Don’t ever make the mistake of attributing rational or altruistic motives to somebody that far gone.]

No Daphne, I am sure that as a woman yourself, you must admit that a diamond necklace is always a diamond necklace.

[Daphne – You are quite wrong, Silvio, once more, unless of course you are married to a whore or a doormat, which I am certain you are not.]

And if women were to ask their husbands where the money came from, most women would end up wearing costume jewellery.

[Daphne – Most women DO wear costume jewellery, Silvio, for the simple reason that it’s more fashionable than the real thing and, unlike the real thing, accessorises an outfit. Also, I hate to rub it in, given that you are a different generation, but women who work buy their own jewellery nowadays, and don’t depend on having it bought for them. That way, they get exactly what they want and they know that the person buying it has the right motives.]

Any more updates on the suffering of Franco Debono? Maybe somebody has deprived him of VIP tickets again? I wonder how he is suffering more now than he did under a Labour government.

Fortunately I was born under a Nationalist government.

Incredible! How many, other than these two, have seriously corroded and eroded brain cells? Very scary if it’s contagious.

Gonzi is right to go away. He was elected to work for this country and not to pander to the whims of one embittered wannabe minister.