The latest iced bun
Published:
May 8, 2013 at 4:27pm
What do you think about this story? Link below. I’m writing about it for my column in tomorrow’s The Malta Independent.
The headline really gets me: “enrollment”. So what is the Prime Minister’s secretariat now – a college? An educational programme?
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130508/local/muslim.468857
Incredible…..wasn’t the Imam the same person who endorsed Lawrence Gonzi’s government just before the election or was it an election stint for the 400,000 euro….makes you think.
The Iman is asking for more “rights” for Muslims. May we know what rights exactly is he asking for?
If most of these are Maltese citizens then they already have all the rights of an EU citizen. Or does he really mean ADDITIONAL rights – that is, more rights than you or me?
He also said he wants to make it easier for Muslim women to work. But we already know what he means by this – he wants employers to be made to accept them going to work with their face/hair covered.
I never trust those type of people.
I am appalled. The Muslim community played off the two parties against each other during the campaign and this ended up in a guaranteed wiping off of a €400,000 debt. We were never told the basis for clearing the debt.
Now we find out that the PL had persuaded the Muslim community to vote for its members – on what basis? That the majority of the community’s leaders are Labour supporters?
I find it incredible that a community would instruct its followers to back one party over another – this is not how democracy works in the West!
Not all Muslims voted for Muscat and his ship of fools.
“The Muslim community played off the two parties against each other during the campaign”. Sounds very Maltese, I must say. Good to note that they must then have adopted the “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” maxim.
PS. As for the rest he is not worried. Allah will provide!
“The Muslim community played off the two parties against each other during the campaign.
Now we find out that the PL had persuaded the Muslim community to vote for its members.”
You should have stopped at the first sentence. That’s what’s happened.
“Dr Muscat clarified that Mr Farrugia Borg was not chosen to be in his office because he was a Muslim but because he “delivers”.”
He delivers. Yes. Votes for Joseph Muscat.
And weren’t we told that there’s no money for new schools? What’s this about waiving a loan and devolving land for the development of a new school?
So even religion is now politicised!
What? Religion or is it just another ideology?
And the next iced-bun will be Sir Alex Ferguson for endorsing Joseph Muscat on the eve of the election. That’s the real reason he resigned from MUFC today. Probably he’ll be made special advisor to Bontempo.
Epic.
And Silvio Parnis has no iced buns, jahasra.
Imagine a conversation at the Office of the Prime Minister a few weeks ago, going something along the lines of “Il-gays nitfughhom ma Ian, Keith, ghax dawn affarijiet Ewropej u hekk; nidru tajjeb. U l-Musulman zommu hawn fil-kas. Niehduh maghna meta mmorru ghand Jibril.”
Also, it’s blatantly the return for what the Imam naively and honestly exposed, that Mr. Farrugia Borg pretty much campaigned for Labour; “instrumental” even.
Now wait for the Muslim call to abolish 8th September and repaint the wall paintings at the Grandmaster’s Palace, because it offends the Muslims. Not to mention remove the funerary monument of Pinto at St John’s. And that would just be the beginning.
I think Mr Farrugia Borg should get along fine with Kenneth Zammit Tabona.
I find a religion that values a woman as being worth half a man repulsive in the extreme. That JM encourages the emargination of women by licking islamic ass is utterly shameful and revolting.
Women should never vote for the PL ever again if they have more than one brain cell. They are inviting the spread of a culture that debases them.
Muscat told the imam that he wants women to have more rights. Disingenuous, or what? All people in Malta have the same rights. Some are prevented from enjoying them.
Well said, the people will find out in the long run if Joseph Muscat tries to appease everyone with terrible consequences….same as Tony Blair did here in the UK.
Totally agree!
Playing one party off against another.
Muscat owes so many ‘favours’ to those who have put him where he is now that he has ended up selling his soul.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22405349
Mr Farrugia Borg changed from Catholic to Muslim and from PN to PL.
This is what an electrician would call a double pole switch.
Don’t mention poles, or Minister Chris Cardona might come quickly.
A double-barrelled name like Farrugia and Borg should supply you all the information you need to know.
Mr. Farrugia Borg is nothing but a 360 degrees switcher. Does he have any principles.
[Daphne – I remember explaining this to Saviour Balzan a couple of years ago: a 360-degree turn leaves you in the same place. What you need here is a 180-degree turn.]
Dangerous territory. Appointing a token Muslim … on the basis of his being a Muslim? That should go down well with the holier-than-though switchers who voted Labour ‘because Gonzi introduced divorce’.
February 23, 2013 – A Nationalist Party promise to write off €400,000 in debts owed by an Islamic school won the party the Imam’s endorsement yesterday, as he prayed that Malta would enjoy “a futur fis-sod”.
Then the PN lost the elections and the Imam whipped out the flip-side.
May 8, 2013 – According to the Imam, Mr Farrugia Borg was instrumental in convincing the Muslim community in Malta to vote Labour at the last general elections.
During the meeting the community asked the government’s help on a number of issues, including the ‘waiving’ of a €400,000 loan it had on its school in Paola, with the PM promising that this should not be a problem.
Being a man of principal, the Imam thought that ‘Malta taghna ilkoll’ would be a better principle if he still wanted his €400,000 in debts waived.
A principle is, after all, a rule that has to be followed, or can be desirably followed, or is an inevitable consequence of something and losing the €400,000 waiver is a strong enough inevitable consequence it would seem.
I just read the news on tvm.com.mt and the imam stated that there will be the Muslim council to protect the rights of the Muslim minority in Malta.
So what’s that to be – the veil, the sharia law, the use of halal in private houses? I also expect that the Prime Minister sees to this, and Daphne please give this due importance. Moderate Muslims are one thing, extremists are another…and any use of the above-featured will be one step to extremism.
The story isn’t the news itself, but the reaction to it. So a Maltese Muslim gets a job in the PMs office. Big deal. Some Maltese are Muslim, some Buddhist, some atheist. He should be jusged on his ability to do the job, nothing else.
Who will be judging his ability to the the job – this applies to all the other PL lot who were given appointments in government service. Would be interesting to note the updated number of employees in the public service since the elections.
The basic point is that no one should be singled out or chosen for being Christian, Muslim, an atheist or agnostic.
The same applies about women in certain positions.
For me, merit is key… and for someone who had been clamouring about the need for meritocracy, Joseph Muscat’s administration leaves much to be desired. You can start off with Jason Micallef’s V2018 appointment, and it’s all downhill from there.
So the imam finds it convenient to allow the prime minister to persuade Islamic communities to vote Labour. And if Our Dear Archbishop would mutter a word whom to vote, Labour would be in hysterics!
I actually think for the first time in his life Joseph Muscat said something right.
Here we have a Muslim community interpreting a political appointment on the grounds of religious afffiliation. It does not come as a surprise as Muslim communities the world over fail to seperate religion from politics and, in some cases, interpret politics through religion. or simply apply religion like it was politics. It appears the local community of Muslims is not immune to this thinking.
Leaving aside the (serious) fact the appointment is yet another Labour activist being awarded a public post, Joseph Muscat was correct when he replied that ““He also happens to be a Muslim.”
The most shocking part of the report is that The Times thinks it was a joke.
I already hinted at what I think about it.
I think Norman Lowell, Arlette Baldacchino, Stephen Farrugia and all the acolytes at Vivamalta/Imperium Europa were deluded fools to think that Joseph Muscat’s brave new Malta Taghna Lkoll would be some Right-Wing Europid’s paradise.
For all his bluster on push-back policies, nationalism, and putting the Maltese first, Muscat is as impotent as anyone to stop the tide of the times. Illegal immigration continues, non-Europids have not been corralled into disused quarries, and Joseph Muscat very ostensibly makes overtures to the Muslim demographic.
He basically lied his way through the campaign and lured the “40,000 true nationalists” into voting for him. Now they can enjoy watching the man in action. Good.
This is called ‘consolidating your position’, Baxxter. Costs the little shit zilch.
Canadian census, just out, demonstrates that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the country, due to magnanimous immigration law.
Similar projections for Europe, I read.
Draw your own conclusion.
Do you really think it was a 40 000 strong PN vote?
I don’t think that it is. I think it was lack of motivation to vote. I voted PN, but when I spoke about something which was annoying, I received no sympathy.
But then we are humans and I still believe that the PN is a great party. I believe that the PN deserves to clean out some fakes, and adopting people with true honest intentions.
You need to do some browsing on Vivamalta. The figure of 40,000 is what they cite as the number of “true nationalists” (as in nationalists with a small n), who, they say, voted MLP because it is the truly Rightwing and nationalist party.
As for speaking out about things which annoy you at PN – you’d get nowhere under the old regime. They would listen, and listen with genuine concern.
But they were so deucedly Maltese, and to them, loyalty to the party leader meant believing your own propaganda. The leader was perfect, the policies were perfect, there was no corruption because there was nothing that was actionable in court, QED.
DISAPPOINTED! I thought they would reason in a more rational way after the excellent way Lawrence Gonzi dealt with the Libya situation and Muscat sat on the fence until it was clear who the winners will be, and the support offered from the governemnt after money stopped coming in from the Libyan government.
Is this the same Iman who thinks of same sex partnerships as you might as well marry your cat?
The very same one who declared on Xarabank, as I seem to recall, that he agrees that thieves should have their right hand chopped off…but only after the second conviction.
“…he agrees that thieves should have their right hand chopped off…but only after the second conviction.”
Ok, maybe that’s because after the first conviction the thief will have his left hand chopped off.
I don’t agree with the prime minister to waive the 400.000euro loan they have on the school.
Here are two reports from last January:
‘PM tours Muslim school, pledges to waive €400,000 loan’
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/elections2013/PM-tours-Muslim-school-pledges-to-waive-400-000-loan-20130110
‘Gonzi: I’ll write off Muslim school’s debts’
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130111/local/Gonzi-I-ll-write-off-Muslim-school-s-debts.452787
So I guess Gonzi broke his promise and lost the support he aimed to buy, leaving the Imam with no option but to secure the same promise from Joseph.
Tajba, eh! Ahleb, Guz!
I see now that Gonzi had done ‘a Cameron’, that is, the promise was only valid as long as he got re-relected.
Bully for the Imam. Two promises, one public, the other, well… not so transparent…
The best part is that no matter who was elected, the taxpayer was bound to lose.
Bought your prayer mat yet, Kevvy?
Is it really such a good idea to link the Muslim community to Labour? It immediately brands all Muslims as Laburisti.
The imam said that Farrugia Borg was instrumental in convincing Muslims to vote Labour. Then in the next breath, Muscat said that Farrugia Borg got the job because he delivers.
I remember that when the Libya crisis erupted it was Lawrence Gonzi who came out and said the we support the rebels. I also remember Joseph Muscat sitting on the fence and not taking any sides. Lawrence Gonzi was highly commended for the way he tackled the whole situation, and what do PN get, their Iman urging muslims to vote Labour! tajba din.
I remember that when the Libya crisis erupted, Lawrence Gonzi dithered and stalled and wanted to stay out of it and only gave diplomatic recognition to the rebels at the very end, when they had taken practically all of Libya. But then I have a longer memory than most.
The Imam too has a long memory. For he was basically the envoy of the Gaddafi regime to the Muslims in Malta. So it is natural that he would support the traditional friend and ally of Gaddafi – the Labour Party.
When you mention the Muslim community in Malta, it is not only Libyans!
Contradictions galore. Muscat and the Imam are on different wavelengths.
Why should the religious denomination come into the appointment as a consideration? That is a form of discrimination.
If a Catholic works at Castille in the prime minister’s secretariat, are we going to have the archbishop thanking the government for appointing a Catholic? The same reasoning holds for any other religious denomination.
And why should our prime minister need an interlocutor for the Islam community and one at such a high level position?
This Borg seems to have integrity as his main trait of character. First he was a PN candidate for the local councils and then he licked Labour’s **se to get what he wants for their Islam school and a job at Castille.
To be honest, given the rabid racism that exists in Malta, especially towards Muslims, I think these things are welcome. It’s a pity that we have to resort to such pigeon-holing for government posts but maybe it will serve to improve the way Muslim’s are perceived in Malta.
[Daphne – It’s the prime minister who’s doing the pigeon-holing by making a special case of Muslims.]
Islam is a religion, not a race.
The racism that exists in Malta, is very mild, Ian. The Maltese are racists but amongst themselves. Malti ma’ Malti. When it comes to foreigners, we treat them well; we feed them, we clothe them, we go to work and pay our taxes for them to get state benefits and relief money.
You’ve no idea what racism means.
Malta has given a lot where the Libyan people are involved and Malta’s help (thanks to Gonzi’s PN) has been acknowledged by the Libyan people because now, people like the Imam were waiting for Muscat to get in, because now they want power and they want to take over.
Very dangerous.
Very mild? Have you ever heard how people speak about Muslims, Jews, blacks? And yes I know Islam is a religion not a race – insert ‘xenophobia’ were i wrote ‘racism’ then if you prefer.
Yeah I know it’s him – it’s not ideal, and he should pick people based on their abilities and not the fact that they represent a group of people who voted him in…but having said that, these stupid things may help lessen xenophobia towards Muslims, at least among those Joseph lovers.
The last time I checked Muslims were adherents of a religion not an ethnic group unless one is referring to Bosnia Herzegovina and the Muslim MP is also a Maltese convert. Stop being so bloody ridiculous. And no, giving power and influence to someone on the basis of his brand of religious bollocks will do no one any favours. We are not living in Ottoman Rumelia.
[Daphne – He’s not a member of parliament. He’s an employee in the prime minister’s secretariat.]
No shame in claiming that this man was “instrumental in convincing Muslims to vote Labour.”
Imagine the Bishop of Malta trying to convince the Catholic community to vote Nationalist or Labour. Religion should never mingle with politics because it only directs hatred towards those who do so.
Malta should treat the Imam, the same way Christians are treated in Libya. There are some Christians in prison there for teaching Christianity, they face the death penalty.
This is not a joke, we are talking about death and Muslims keep demanding equal rights in predominantly Christian countries, yet Christians cannot get acceptance in Muslim countries let alone equal rights.
The difference between Malta and Libya is not religion but secularism. Religious freedom is a right protected under Maltese law. The law is secular, not religious.
I AGREE 100 %
Err no, I think becoming totalitarian like them will do us no favours at all. Mintoff and his successor were quite enough. If we start doing it to the imam then eventually we will start doing it to each other. That said, I would really like to hear Farrugia Borg’s views on secularism, homosexuality and the likes of Cyrus Engerer.
Meanwhile, this is what the Imam thinks about “homosexuality and the likes of Cyrus Engerer.”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091119/local/whats-wrong-with-chopping-off-thieves-hands-imam-asks.282341
And what will the Imam say about this?
‘The Imam was referring to Mario Farrugia Borg – who some years ago was a Nationalist Party councillor in Qormi before he became a PL activist.’ This is news, a switcher.
He was once also a canvasser for John Dalli.
This explains it, then.
The head of that school is Maria Camilleri, a former Labour politician.
Skaduta u ‘out-dated’. Nahseb qed toqrob it-70 sena.
Ma jirrezenjaw QATT. Anke l-Papa telaq u f’gimaghtejn hatru iehor gdid, u ta’ qabel lanqas ghadu jissemma.
Dawn le imma, iridu jlaqtu sakemm tirbhilhom l-Addolorata!
Nuff said. Isn’t she the one to whom Joseph Muscat gave his number 1 vote in one of the elections?
Must be a lesson in there somewhere for Simon – Joseph targeted every vote-bearing candidate and promised him/her whatever it took, provided his party got the vote.
Joseph left absolutely nothing to chance and targeted one and all – something the Nationalists forgot to do. In this case, we can see that he even had the nous to suck up to a tiny minority but it certainly paid off for him.
So are we going to suck up to every single individual for the sake of a vote?
I prefer to have some pride and dignity and do what’s right by the country as a whole. With Muscat we have already gone backwards with everybody knocking on ministers’ doors.
Isn’t it ‘x’taf mhux lill min taf’ anymore?
Now wait for the transexual who interviewed Gonzi “taht it-tinda immediately before the election” … and who then proceeded to Labour’s “I’m In” rally. Talk of sitting on the fence!
And then they have the nerve to complain about the so-called interdiction in the 60s?
This is wrong in many ways.
Apart from stereotyping Muslims as Labour supporters, it is also not right for a PM to have an interlocutor within (not with) the “Muslim community” because government should not identify and distinguish people by their religion.
Josephmuscat.com promised a secular government so what is he doing, employing someone specifically to talk to Muslims?
What about the Atheists, the Ortohdox, the Protestant, the Lutheran…?
What about them?
And Agnostics please .
And the gejz?
Or the Jews of whom there is a small, very respectable community in Malta…
Well, nothing new there, that the Muslims voted labour, that is. It was already clear during the campaign.
What the Muslim community should keep in mind is the sitting-on-the-fence attitude taken by Muscat during the Libya uprising. By voting Labour they contradicted themselves: they showed great appreciation to Dr. Gonzi when he visited their Centre for his intervention in the Libya crisis and then they went on to vote to the one who stood by idly, anzi, to the one who wanted to make a gain from the situation by proposing a massive tourism campaign for Malta.
Oh, and if the Muslim community needs some reminding, they should also have taken into consideration Muscat’s stand on the boats filled with human lives – many of whom are Muslims – arriving on our shores or entering our territorial waters.
“many of whom are Muslims ” many of the others are Christian – they are all human beings
They are after power. They had it in the Mintoff days after all. They are expecting to receive the same treatment.
I think you missed the story about Carmen Sammut (MT pro-labour commentator & Labour activist) nomination to Park Majjistral chairmanship http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130504/local/Majjistral-Park-hunting-must-stop-by-10am.468260
What gratitude for Malta, and Dr Gonzi in particular, for the help, risk and support given to Libya during its revolution!
With friends like these….
Dawn iridu s-sahha fil-pajjiz ghax f’pajjizhom qatt m’ghamlu arja.
Il-gvern ta’ Gonzi, tahom l-opportunitajiet imma ghamilielhom cara li l-Maltin cittadini ta’ pajjizhom, huma jobdu lill-Maltin.
Dawn iridu l-Maltin jobdu lilhom. Jekk Muscat qed itihom l-importanza, jaqbillu joqghod attent, ghax dawn it-tip ta’ nies, mis-seba jiehu l-id, u ahna l-Maltin nispiccaw sotta koppa taghhom.
Who needs enemies (or opportunists)?
What’s shameful is that Joseph didn’t make this agreement public before the election to look cool with many xenophobic people. Remember Norman Lowell asked his supporters to vote Labour? He didn’t want to lose any votes at all, even those, did he?
Anyway, it’s no particular prestigious iced bun either. If he really wanted to consider their views more he’d have placed him in Helena Dalli’s ministry where integration is is supposed to be tackled.
How many Maltese are Muslim?
A difference of 37000 is generated by a swing of 18500.
A block vote of 19000 voters can swing back and forth anyway government.
Farrugia Borg is a 24K gold switcher. The type who certainly does not deserve to be mentioned anywhere in the media. The man is confused, uncertain and to an extent, insecure.
From Catholic to Islam, from PN to PL.
We’ll soon read that he’s switched gender or sexuality.
For heaven’s sake! Should this be news? The man is just another insecure citizen who has no clear head, let alone good administrative skills to serve in the PM’s secretariat.
If the PM’s secretariat is made up of switchers, then I doubt this country will be moving in the right direction.
The country needs strong heads to lead it and not indecisive switchers who decided to switch to make sure, that once in, they’re going to work, yes but for themselves.
I don’t trust that Imam.
Laghqi (as in boot-licker). L-ewwel laghaq kemm felah lil Gonzi, ilu ippappiha Malta 25 sena. Issa ser jilghaq lil Muscat.con.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/mobile/view/20130508/local/reno-bugeja.468871
Another iced bun
But Reno Bugeja is above all this. He is the most impartial journalist ever. Why, only last month I saw him chairing a political debate.
The most feminist government. There, you have it now.
http://bisserjeta.com/2013/05/timesofmalta-com/
“Timesofmalta.com, Malta’s most popular satirical news website, is now charging intelligent people money to view its articles, in an attempt to keep them away from the site and retain its core readership of idiots, xenophobes, homophobes and illiterates.”
You’re spot on, Mark Thorogood.
Or else perhaps they intend to use the money to buy a set of expensive dictionaries.
Skond il-FB post tas-sur Mario Farrugia Borg hu
“Kburi li l-Partit taghna, kif jghid l-iStatut stess, huwa partit miftuh ghal kullhadd “minghajr distinzjoni ta’ sess, orjentament sesswali, twemmin religjuz jew razza…”
Jista l-Imam jghidilna hu ukoll x’inhi il-pozizzjoni tal-komunita Musulmana rigward dan, specjalment rigward l-orjentazzjoni sesswali u x’inhi l-pozizzjoni taghhom rigward l-unjoni civili bejn il-gays u jekk dan ukoll kienx il-punt li uza is-Sur Mario Farrugia Borg biex ikkonvinca lil komunita Musulmana tivvota Labour…jew purament bieghu il-principji u twemmin taghhom ghal 400,000 Ewro ?
That’s gratitude for you! They should really be ashamed after all the help Dr. Gonzi gave them when they most needed it.
And Joseph Muscat just kept his mouth shut until the very end.
And regarding the waiver, Dr. Gonzi had said that he would write off the Muslim’s school debt BEFORE Muscat said he would. This was reported in The Times of January 11th.
I am really, really disappointed. Imisshom jisthu.
Iqabbel fejn jaqbillu.
People are assuming that all Libyans were against Gaddafi and happy to see Malta, through Lawrence Gonzi, supporting the ousting of the dictator.
But this is not true at all. There were many here who supported the dictator and were reaping benefits for their allegiance to him. They will now swear they were against him all along but they’re fooling no one. There were those who would have preferred Malta remain loyal to the regime.
Whats the big deal? I live in the UK, and we have Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and all kinds of religions and multi cultural communities, not to mention in some cases their representation on goverment bodies, councils and parliament. Same applies across the EU.
Some support one party or the other, some support all parties, some do not support any, etc… But why is my country Malta so different in this regard?
The separation of state from religion applies only in the case of THE Church not the mosque.
Too disgusted for words. Gives Muslims a bad name — and let’s face it, lots of Maltese don’t exactly like them already.
My questions are directed to some of the comment made above. Is it a problem if one has to change from one religion to another? Is it a problem if one has to change from one party to the other? From what some of the commentators have written, I presume some just write for writing sake without reading between the lines in other to know what to comment about.
Yes it is if the switch is for personal gain, He will soon be eating the iced bun. But JB can’t you see this?
There are 10,000 paid up members of FKNK, with a potential of 14,000 hunters in Malta (quoting FKNK website). There are 6,000 Muslims in Malta (acc. to Wikipedia). Therefore, we’ve already accounted for approx 20,000 of the 36,000 PL majority. Within weeks, we’ll discover a few more promises that would easily account for the rest of the 16,000 …
36,000 majority means that if 18,000 were to switch back to PN, the 2 parties would have an equal number of votes.
So with the 20,000 that you accounted for, if these were to switch to PN, PN would already have a 4,000 majority.
That’s 42,000 hunters’s votes: 14,000 times 3. Each hunter has, on average, a wife, a son (who’s also an FKNK member) and a daughter. When you think about it, it’s a damn miracle PN lost by only 36,000. It should have been 80,000.
Yes, without Simon’s contribution during the last three months, it would have been much more than 36,000.
Believe me (I do like hunters for I love animals) not all hunters voted Labour.
There must be some who still have minds to put Malta before the killing of birds.
Naf li qed niggeneralizza. Imma dat-tip ta’ nies dejjem imxew kif qablilhom. Hafna paroli ta’ hbiberija li ma jiswiex karlin.
When will Mr Prime Minister be meeting Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Rastas, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Baptists, CoEs etc or aren’t there enough of them right now to be worth the trouble of appeasing for the sake of vote catching?
There are enough Moonies, though – they are running Castille and the Ministries.
There are many arguments that can be extracted from this news, and I see that the comments above have captured most of the issues.
However, this case confirms a trait which is frequent and prominent in the appointments made by the government. This is that, not only this new government’s appointments have not been made on the basis of meritocracy, but they do not reflect conviction either. Many positions have been given to opportunists – persons who negotiated their vote for a position.
This is a government of Judases. It has cost a lot of silver.
Very well said
Exactly.
Islamic city council bans female flatulence in Indonesia
This could be the first assignment Mario Farrugia Borg of the OPM can undertake…to check if this law can be enacted in Malta.
http://wadiyan.com/2013/03/08/islamic-city-council-bans-female-flatulence-in-indonesia/
The Imam is a hypocrite.
Has Muscat appointed a token black yet?
No, but he has appointed John Cassar White.
We are seeing what has been happening in many other countries – the rise of “block votes” along religious or ethnic lines.
This bodes badly for our democratic future. Unfortunately, most socialist parties encourage this as it creates a guaranteed chunk of votes at every election for which they do not really need to work all that much. This is especially important to left-wing parties now that unions are not the monolith they once were.
I had sympathy for the Palestinian people because of their sufferings in their own land. Now that as as muslims they have taken sides in politics and supported Labour, my view about them changed diametrically opposed.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-05-09/news/ramona-attard-leaves-borg-for-mallia-1552318474/
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-05-09/news/ramona-attard-leaves-borg-for-mallia-1552318474/
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-05-09/news/new-board-of-directors-for-manoel-theatre-1553498113/
Kenneth Zammit Tabona got his bun as well, but with no icing. PL has kept him on the Manoel Theatre Board, instead of having him sacked.
A cheapo solution that is very appropriate.
So Kenneth got his slice of cake too: deputy chairman, Manoel Theatre.
He already held that position. He was probably expecting chairmanship.
Even more meritocracy, NEW CHAPTER!
Not only do we does Ramona get a job with a minister, but she changes it to a lesser grade one, but still keeps the same pay!
Imbghad jghidu tal-500 Ewro li qatt ma nghataw! Qatta hallelin briganti!
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-05-09/news/ramona-attard-leaves-borg-for-mallia-1552318474/
http://zekzik.com/2013/05/09/ramona-attard-u-s-segretarju-parlamentari-ian-borg/
The “exchange” of votes for a waiver of a school loan is what is being proffered for public scrutiny. I believe there is more to this than plain back scratching.
If I were a conspiracy theorist, I’d connect this with Muscat’s reported trips to Dubai in 2010 and 2012.
However, I am not: in fact, I would never dare theorise that prospective high level Dubai investors probably requested the placement of their community leaders in positions of greater prominence.
If this were so, and I am sure it isn’t, Muscat would have abused his power to increase the burden on Maltese tax-payers. After all, who’s footing the 400k bill?
Secondly, if these are the exchanges he is willing to make, what are the other exchanges made or to be made? How far would he go? It would seem that he’d stoop to nothing to retain and expand his power base.
What next? Could he manage to keep a peaceful balance between the people he is doing business with?
I fear that we will hear more “why nots” in future.
[Daphne – No, not at all. Talking about ‘Muslims’ in relation to the Corradino mosque/school is misleading. It’s actually not the ‘Muslim community’ but the ‘working-class Libyan-Maltese community’ they’re talking about here. The profile is very specific.]
Joseph Muscat is bought and paid for like the rest of them, or else he would never have been in the running in the first place.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-05-09/news/ramona-attard-leaves-borg-for-mallia-1552318474/
Ramona Attard leaves Ian Borg for Mallia; keeps 30k package
‘Asked why, the government spokesperson said that Ms Attard will be assigned additional tasks over and above her official role as communications coordinator.’
Of course her ‘additional tasks’ will include daily trips to the nearest fountain to bring water to Minister Mallia.
QAZZISTNA, JOSEPH – YOUR POLICIES ARE CHEAP AND SHORT OF ANY VALUES.
A double iced bun for Ramona Attard:
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-05-09/news/ramona-attard-leaves-borg-for-mallia-1552318474/
X’jafgu.
Vera bidu gdid
Ghageb tal-ghegubijiet.
Direzzjoni gdida fjamanta.
Qatt hadd ma holom biha.
Flus il-poplu qishom confetti.
Il-hames mitt euro taghom f’ghajnhom.
Issa dawk peanuts.
30000 euro u fuqhom ghal bicca skrivana x’inhuma?
Zgur li certu nies kellhom bzonn il-bidla.
Min qatt holomhom dawn l-eluf kollha fil-but.
Malta mhux kollha taghna imma taghhom.
Is-sehem tieghi ghadu ma wasalx.
Nibqa nispera.
Chi vive sperando muore cacando.
She left the Prince (ahem) for the bullfrog.
The imam is a sure pragmatist.
In idiomatic Maltese: Pinnur.