Saviour Balzan’s Labour Newspeak
Published:
February 17, 2014 at 1:04am
Well, we knew that Malta Today is about as independent as a south-east Asian mail order bride hitched to a control freak who checks her shopping list and leaves her with all the freedom that loose change brings, but today’s bit of eyebrow-raising terminology really wins the suck-up prize.
Malta Today calls those who bribed Enemalta officials to fix their meters so that they could steal electricity…ENERGY BENEFICIARIES. It’s been a while since I doubled over with incredulous laughter, so thanks for that.
I quote the headline and lead-in:
PM urges energy beneficiaries to come forward
Stressing that the culprits will be made to pay, Muscat offers alternative route for beneficiaries of tampered meters.
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Doesn’t our PM look lovely talking bollocks in dad jeans?
Last week my husband and I were on an Airmalta flight coming from London.
We were sitting in the first seat and one of the crew, when he spotted us opening our copies of Times of Malta to which we had helped ourselves as we entered the plane, handed my husband a copy of It-Torca.
Neither one of us had asked for it. I was about to protest but he turned away and came back with a copy of Malta Today.
We travel frequently though not usually in business class and I’m sure it’s usually only Times of Malta that is on board.
Little (big) things like this remind me of the rotten years of Mintoff’s rule and make me want to be anywhere but on this island when Labour takes control.
At a dinner party this weekend 4 persons were saying that they no longer buy that rag and the reason is that Saviour seems to have lost his marbles – and I more than agree with them. He has gone to the pits.
[Daphne – Seems to have lost his marbles? You mean they only just noticed? He’s been exactly the same since the year dot, the difference probably being that when he was laying into people they hated, they enjoyed it, but now they’re expecting him to lay into Muscat and he’s not. I guess they’re not perceptive enough to have worked out that if he wasn’t laying into Muscat in Opposition, then he was never going to lay into him in government. And now both he and his sister Mariella Dimech have been ‘given’ talk shows on TVM, which is awfully cosy.]
Malta hits the news – in the wrong way – again:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140217/local/australia.507073
These were the people who should be sued too. They willingly entered the deal with the technicians.
Bribing an official for personal gain is a crime in itself and should not be swept under the carpet just because they pay the amount they managed to steal from Enemalta’a coffers.
The fact that the PM himself is making these declarations, when it should be purely a police matter, and is seen as meddling with justice, makes one think that among the 1000 culprits must be some large PL connections.
We have a right to know who these criminals are.
The assumption seems to be that they are all Labour voters else why the pussyfooting around.
I wonder is that the way Joseph Muscat described them in the first place? Not that I want to stick up for the editor of that rag, but it would be interesting to know.
Also surely if they know who has been corrupted then they know who benefitted from that corruption? It must be far easier to identify a tampered meter than discover which hand did the tampering. And if you know where the meter is, it follows you know who that person is.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-02-17/opinions/where-is-the-maritime-impact-assessment-3978133510/
A must read. The Freeport alone generates 6,000 movements of large ships per year entering or leaving Marsaxlokk Harbour.
Those who think that nothing can ever go wrong should read this.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22444421
Italy deaths as Genoa ship hits control tower. “ The Jolly Nero was manoeuvring out of the port with the help of tugboats in calm conditions, on its way to Naples, reports said. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi said there could have been a problem with the ship’s engines or with the tugboat cables.”
How about the operations to refill the LNG tanker? Isn’t that two tankers in the Marsaxlokk harbour at the same time, conducting a highly delicate operation in the transfer of a highly hazardous substance? That’s 12 dangerous transfers of a highly hazardous substance a year, each transfer giving rise to the risk of a leak.
AP reports: “Syria’s foreign minister accused the United States of trying to create a “negative climate” for dialogue at the second round of peace talks in Geneva”. Recognise the tactic?
New speak
Bank Robber = Cash windfall beneficiary.
Rapist = Unrequited sex beneficiary.
Burglar = Temporary possession beneficiary
Murderer = Life extinguisher beneficiary
I can see why it suits Labour. It’s beneficiaries all round in there.
Energy Beneficiaries are those who are given a voucher as they cannot ‘afford’ to pay the full electricity bills. Thieves are those who ‘steal’ electricity whether by corrupting Enemalta personnel or by other means. Useless beating around the bush Mr. Prime Minister.
Energy thieves and who will not be prosecuted – but we can’t very refer to them as thieves, and then let them off with their thievery and corruption now can we? But, ‘beneficiaries’ makes them sound like charity cases.
I’d love to see a list of the thieves’ names.
Wouldn’t it be funny if Joseph Muscat or anyone from his cabinet was one of the “beneficiaries”?
Hilarious I say.
So if I give back what I stole I am in the clear having corrupted a group of public officers into tampering with public property to defraud the public utility.
It seems the PM has issued a thousand conditional pardons without so much as a second thought that this is a clear message that the law is there only for the poor.
If proof was needed that money is the only value in our PM’s psyche, this is it.
Honour amongst thieves comes to mind.
Oh look, Daphne, you have inspired another one of those Nalizperla cartoons. Nice one.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140217/cartoons/Cartoon-of-the-day.507107
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/02/humpty-dumpty-and-the-seven-dwarves/
Imma dawn bis-serjeta’? Prim kummidjant li gab il-pajjiz tal-mickey mouse.
It’s clear to me that in Malta attempting to bribe someone is at least worth a try.
If caught, at worst you’d be summoned as a witness, and at best you’d be classified under “miskin inqabad, kieku jien mhux ukoll hekk kont naghmel?”.
Viva Malta u l-Maltin!
[Daphne – Attempting to corrupt a public official is actually a crime, whether the public official accepts or not.]
When a prince takes over another prince’s domain, the situation with regard to the people who put him in power is tricky. Maintaining the support of these people is not easy because he cannot fulfill all of their expectations. But he also cannot deal too harshly with them because he is in their debt.
– Macchiavelli
Unbelievable. This is institutionalised corruption.
Corrupting further by riding on the corrupted circumstances.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-02-17/news/meps-should-not-tarnish-maltas-reputation-charlon-gouder-3978133512/
Don’t worry Charlon, our MEPs haven’t got a hope in hell of competing with our PM in that regard.
It’s simple: some (friends) will benefit from government’s benevolence; some (foes) will have to pay.
“BENFICIARIES” (noun, plural of ‘beneficiary’ intended to mean one worthy of receiving, or meriting, benefit. through, e.g. kindness, respect, charity of other fellow humans):- CRIMINAL ACCOMPLICES (cf. Balzan’s Labourspeak dictionary, 2014 edition).
The word “euphemism” is too weak to describe the dishonesty of calling “energy thieves”, “energy beneficiaries”.
Then let’s use the proper word: lie.
Filwaqt li l-gideb taht dan il-Gvern sar parti mill-politika ta’ kuljum, issa s-serq lill-istat (jew korporazzjoni tal-Istat) sar pregju.
Surreal.
Redefinition of the words and boundaries of “illegal” and “corruption” before our eyes and nobody has the time or effort to counter this, except Daphne.
Note how Joseph Muscat’s speciality is lurking around blurred boundaries, either exitising or created.
More on “blurred boundaries” to come. It all falls under the capacity to challenge existing thinking around an issue.
What needs to be asked in the first instance, is “what is the dominant idea” in the existing thinking, and from there examine all the ways in which Joseph Muscat is seeking to redefine existing thinking.
There is a high percentage of conscious effort being deployed in distorting the metacognitive process dealing with perception and values.
In a manner, and using a process, that is recognisable.
Language manipulation is the first step in cognitive warfare, what?
Surely you’re giving him too much credit here.
It’s just a case of linguistic competence on par with the crappy acoustics in his video blog W.C. cum ‘studio’.
This is his second interference with the course of justice, the first was when he declared he would ignore any sentence related to vat paid on automobiles.
He’s coherent when it comes to dismissing any role justice and the rule of law have.
One can imagine what the proposal for party funding might carry.
Everyone is presumed innocent until he is proven guilty. Now our Solomon Wise Judge is reverting to summary justice, a really dangerous thing to do in a democracy.
If anyone of the “beneficiaries were to come forward and fork out the differences” that will be nothing short than a forced acknowledgment of guilt without a fair trial.
THERE ARE LEGAL PROCEDURES AND STATUTE THAT REGULATE THE PROSECUTION OF CRIMINAL OFFENCES AND THE RECOVERY OF CIVIL DAMAGES.
Let it be clear from the outset, that all those being ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS CASE HAVE A RIGHT TO AN INVESTIGATION, A FAIR TRIAL AND FAIR DEFENCE OF THE PROOF OF THEIR INNOCENCE. IT IS ONLY THE PRESIDENT AND THE PRESIDENT ONLY WHO HAS THE PREROGATIVE OF “PARDON” SUBJECT TO CERTAIN CONDITIONS.
The Enemalta employees who tampered with the meters did so for personal gain to which they were not entitled, and which is illegal. Prima facie they became liable to willful damage to the property (meters) with the aim of making illicit gains.
That is as far as their liability could go unless it is aggravated by any aggravations, specifically established by law.
The persons who bribed the employees would become liable to two crimes. They would have contracted liability of embezzlement (tixhim) for their personal gain, and theft of electricity.
In both circumstances and scenarios, the authority suffering the damage and the theft would have the right, apart from criminal prosecution, to civil action for the recovery of damages and expenses incurred.
It is true that the government is vested with the administrative and the executive powers but such administrative and executive powers can only be exercised within the legal framework.
The executive powers of a government are vested in it to preserve the public good order and the public peace. The “executive” legislates and enacts laws and/or statutes in the pursuance of the public good order and its safeguards.
If the executive were to grant a pardon of any sort and under any form or shape, the executive would be overlooking one important fundamental right of individuals: TO FORGIVE SOMEONE BEFORE HE IS PROVEN GUILTY IS AN ASSUMPTION OF A GUILTY VERDICT ON THAT INDIVIDUAL.
The executive power that will tell any suspect of committing crime “I will not prosecute you but will ask payment of you for damage” is an executive which does not know what it is talking about. The executive cannot forgive any one who is not proven guilty. Why? Because until proven guilty each and every citizen of this country is assumed to be free.
IT IS THE JUDICIARY NOT THE EXECUTIVE THAT HAS THE POWER TO HEAR PROOF AND DECLARE GUILT OR INNOCENCE AND NOT THE EXECUTIVE.
Till that judgment of guilt, declared by the judiciary, is pronounced, no authority has the right to tell the citizen to act as though he has been found guilty.
There are many fundamental rights involved in decisions of this sort. The rights that have to be seen to be upheld, practised and respected.
Consider my case in practice. I live in a block of apartments. Some months back my meter was changed for a smart meter. Now suppose an inspection were to be held and my meter turns out to have been tampered with, without my knowledge or consent. The prime minister then tells me, “listen you have stolen electricity, now you pay up and I will not prosecute”. Excuse me, sir, BUT DO PLEASE PROSECUTE FOR THAT IS THE ONLY WAY OPEN FOR ME TO PROVE MY INNOCENCE.
In a prosecution “eis qui allegat incumbit probatio prime minister”. If you are alleging, the burden of proof lies on you, Prime Minister. BUT your prosecution may indirectly prove my innocence as well, something I dare say, I have a divine right to.
His newspaper is fit to wipe your arse with. see below:
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Gangland-vendettas-Galea-s-murder-linked-to-spate-of-bomb-attacks-20140217
The vast majority of these bomb attacks were made against those who opposed Labour, but which ones does The Daily Cappa Hara mention specifically?
Muscat would have checked all 1,000 and found at least three-quarters of them well-known Labour supporters. The rumour-mill is rife with the names of several ministry officials.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-02-17/news/meps-should-not-tarnish-maltas-reputation-charlon-gouder-3978133512/
For instance by getting ‘mugged’ in dubious circumstances in a red light district.
Joseph Muscat is now “Amnesty Joe”.
No need for Law Courts in Malta and Gozo, just tell Amnesty Joe about your criminal case and he will give you a chance to put some serious money in his pocket and you will be guaranteed not to have to face a court of law on the Maltese islands.
No fuss, no muss.
There is no need to worry and no more sleepless nights.
You better hurry as Amnesty Joe say this is a limited time offer or else he would not be “Amnesty Joe”.
So now Joseph Muscat’s lackey Saviour Balzan wants us to refer to burglars and thieves as “beneficiaries of other people’s property”.
I honestly feel that our PM is out of order here. These so-called beneficiaries do not deserve any form of amnesty in the shape of not going to prison for what they did.
They corrupted public officials to tamper with their meters so that they could steal electricity, knowing full well that if they get caught this would mean a prison sentence. Except that it now does not.
The PN is right. The police are duty bound to take criminal action for acts of corruption by the 1,000 “energy beneficiaries.”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140217/local/pn-hits-out-at-amnesty-over-tampered-meters.507186
Just look at this: “The Police to arraign man after dog is found shot dead.”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140217/local/police-to-arraign-man-who-shot-dog.507220
So the police have time to arraign someone after dog is found dead, but takes no action against one thousand acts of corruption?
1,000 “energy beneficiaries” have commited acts of corruption with bribery of officers of Enemalta, the state-owned energy monopoly, making us pay for their bills, and the prime minister tells a group of young people that those “beneficiaries” will not be prosecuted:
“He warned that the households which benefitted from the tampering of the meters were known but explained that Enemalta would be setting up a unit where these people could come forward, thereby avoiding criminal proceedings taken against them.”
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/PM-urges-energy-beneficiaries-to-come-forward-20140216
What will the Commissioner of Police do now? Will he do his duty according to law, or will he refrain from acting because the prime minister said so?
“Min ma jiggilidx il-korruzzjoni hu korrott.” Now who did I hear say that during the last electoral campaign?
“Dwar il-korruzzjoni, huwa tenna li min ma jiġġilidx il-korruzjoni, huwa korrott – Dik hija l-linja li jrid jimxi biha l-Partit Laburista. “Irridu nagħmlu dak kollu possibbli biex ma nħallux il-korruzzjoni taqbad l-għeruq tagħha,” żied jgħid.”
http://www.inewsmalta.com/mart/20130128-favur-min-hu-bie-el-favur-il-olqien-tax-xog-ol-muscat
Maybe he’s preparing for the time when he and his cronies will be identified as energy beneficiaries on a much larger scale.
This guy should move his office to a certain street in Gzira.
On another note, the diverted Ethiopian hijacked flight was flown to Geneva rather than the Rome destination.
The flight was escorted to Geneva by Italian and French fighter planes.
Apparently the Swiss air force only fly during office hours. And the problem occurred outside the ‘rules’. This is true, but only locally known.
You gotta love the Swiss.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1cjy1j_120-secondes-les-forces-aeriennes-suisses-ne-sont-disponibles-que-pendant-les-heures-de-bureau_fun
A must watch, Harry Purdie.
Every Swiss over 21 and fit to bear a weapon has an army stock assault rifle and is obliged to raise, even if remotely, a cow.
As for the pilot, why didn’t he just leg it to some embassy after landing, leaving the plane in Fiumicino?
I have an inkling that the vast majority ‘of beneficiaries of tampered meters’ are direct descendants of soldiers of tempered steel or ‘suldati tal-azzar’ as they were known.
Why else all this secrecy as to their identity to the point of illegally restraining the Police from taking any action against over a thousand clear cases of bribery of Public officials.
That’s because they are translating literally from Maltese, which does not mean the same thing it does in English.
The Maltese version would translate loosely as “having derived an advantage.” Not the same thing at all.
“Maltese embassies and consulates have received 277 requests from people interested in buying Maltese citizenship, Foreign Minister George Vella said in reply to a parliamentary question.
The highest number of requests were made to the embassies in Moscow, Paris, Rome, Istanbul and Dubai, Dr Vella told Nationalist MP Marthese Portelli.”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140217/local/embassies-receive-277-requests-for-citizenship.507247
Safety of residents in the South comes before other considerations.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-02-17/news/safety-of-residents-comes-before-other-considerations-busuttil-3984457729/
Here is a video of what an LNG explosion is like in real life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTQrVXEPQrM
The video shows the explosion of a tanker truck carrying LNG on a Chinese highway. Says that 20 tonnes of LNG had leaked before the blast.
The floating storage unit at Delimara will contain around 130,000 cubic metres of LNG.
20 tonnes of LNG are equivalent to about 50 cubic metres.
So I guess that would mean that most of the south of Malta would be blown up in one go? No wonder there hasn’t been any talk about the needs of the Sawt lately.
LNG vaporizes rapidly. In the event of a leak, the residents of the South will first be treated to an odourless gas emission, which in unventilated places like closed spaces can cause asphyxia. Then, if ignited, it will flatten the area.
About the SWAT committee, they are doing their job just fine.
I believe that such explosions use up all the oxygen in the area.
The US military used an aerial gas bomb which obliterated the Iraqi troops in a convoy when they were pulling out of Kuwait. The gas used was ETO.
On a slightly different note:
Edwin Bartolo il-Qahbu was at Owen Bonnici’s Il-Gvern Jisma’ meeting this evening. Shown on TVM news. Nice.
Does the whistle-blower act protect anyone wishing to denounce government officals accepting fifty Maltese liri bribes quite openly for the acquisition of colour televisions during Dom’s golden era?
Ghaliex? Jaqaw kollha hbieb tal-hbieb?
May I recommend this professional article to your readers?
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-02-17/opinions/where-is-the-maritime-impact-assessment-3978133510/
My conclusion is that the problem of where to site the LNG storage vessel is that of the company which will be selling its electricity to Enemalta.
We were told that Enemalta will not be the owner of the plant. So at the MEPA meeting Enemalta should not have been there defending the project but the people from the consortium should have been defending what is THEIR project and Enemalta should have been challenging this crazy proposal on the doorstep of its newly-built power station.
This is another crazy mess in the making.
‘Consumers who stole electricity would be expected to reveal the names of those who tampered with their smart meters if they wanted to avoid going to court, the parliamentary secretary for justice, Owen Bonnici, said this evening.’
Oh right, we’re talking of over a thousand Presidential pardons in one sweep are we?
The PL are scheming how to get out of this one, with many Labour supporters involved in this electricity theft scheme within a scheme.
I come from a district where theft of electricity was rampant and because of the introduction of smart meters, the PN lost hundreds of votes.
Following the smart meter installations, people were seeking ways and means how to beat the smart one, but there was no way to do this through physical/mechanical interventions. Then came the knight in shining armour who devised the smarter-than-smart meter which actually was not smart at all because the Smart Metering System is an integrated system which identifies locations were unaccounted-for loss of power occurs.
The system did work, and the culprits were found, but Joseph Muscat is trying to spin it in a way so that these PL supporters are given a get-out-of-jail-free card.
How nice! We’re in the news again:
EU passports for Al-Qaeda? UK firm selling docs without proper checks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PajELdBcN64
Will the Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit inform the public what he thinks about the case of those 1000 persons who corrupted Enemalta officials? Does he think there is no case against them like he did with John Dalli?
Let’s name and shame.
What Muscat’s saying is that hotels, restaurants and business concerns which paid their bills facing unfair competition from these criminals could have done the same.
As for keeping the names confidential, good to know this place is the quintessence of hypocrisy.
Has the Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit called a press conference about this MASSIVE crime as yet? Maybe he can bring along the three new Deputy Commissioners and the seven new Assistant Commissioners.
Zammit had promised a media friendly police force.
Maybe some journalist should stick a microphone under his nose and ask him what action he is planning to take. Making sure of course that Zammit does not turn the microphone away like he did with one of the journalists of The Times.
The irony is that the prisoner who simply slandered a prison officer and apologised was still fined 100 euros.
I presume that the PM knows who these 1,000 corrupt persons are. I also presume that he knows their political allegiances. It is not a surprise then that he granted them an amnesty and promise of anonymity. In all probability many, if not all of them, voted PL in the last election and in all probability many of them were “beneficiaries” of the Labour Party’s electoral campaign. Otherwise, why the granting of an amnesty-cum-anonymity?
The poor things made a mistake.
Kurt’s latest effort, he’s become so recognisable.
‘……Dr Busuttil and his party spokesmen are trying to evade the responsibility they should carry on the scandal, which had occurred when Dr Busuttil and his colleagues were members of the Nationalist government, it added.
The people cannot understand how the PN seems more focussed on knowing who the consumers are who made a mistake in this case, than on finding the brains of this all, which led Enemalta to lose some €30 million a year, the PL said.
It is amazing that former minister Tonio Fenech is saying he did not know about this scandal when the auditor general’s report says plainly that it could be tampering, as in fact it turned out to be….’
Mela, Dr.Busutil wasn’t part of the PN government, yes, I demand to know who’s jointly responsible for this racket, and no, it could have been individuals doing it separately, not this organised affair. The problem remains how information inside Enemalta was manipulated at middle management level.
But maybe the minister’s appearance this morning accompanied by Owen Bonnici could be significant.
More questions than answers there.
If Labour carry on implying these criminals should be protected, and not because they came forward out of their own free will, but because they’re being offered a way out of certain proof of wrongdoing, (some whistleblowers), the rest of the country will be utterly alienated.
In that case, I demand my meter to be tampered as well. Tanto c’e Labour.
Chains and chains of messages.
I’m amused by this one:
http://www.maltapark.com/item.aspx?ItemID=3071073
Young moon-faced Owen Bonnici is right! It’s the easy way out! Next time I receive an electricity bill, I won’t pay it, for that would be taking the easy way out.