Top comment today
Published:
December 16, 2014 at 2:19pm
Sent in beneath a post about the Joseph Muscat-Keith Schembri-Konrad Mizzi-Kurt Farrugia delegation to President Aliyev’s Baku lair:
This is the real oil/gas scandal, and not the one talked about before the general election.
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Labour in full swing match fixing mode
Meanwhile, not only is Glen Bedingfield driving around with a car licence which expired almost a year ago, but he also had the audacity to park illegally at the Ferries, and then state that the three fines he got this morning will be paid out of our taxes.
http://maltarightnow.com/news/2014/12/16/ritratti-glenn-bedingfield-immultat-tliet-darbiet-fi-ftit-sighat/
Not only is his licence expired by almost a year, but the VRT on the same car was due by the end of January 2014. It could thus also mean that the car is, possibly, not roadworthy.
This cannot be true, because how can Glenn Bedingfield fit in a Fiat 500?
Tanto di cappello!
More empty words following shameful actions.
The head of the Civil Service, Mario Cutajar, said that ”a job with the government is no longer a job for life” yet some people are brought onto the government payroll without any screening and re-training after having left more than twenty years ago? How does this not give some a false sense of entitlement?
How dare Cutajar say that the ”government means business” and ”that the government aims to be both a model employer and a model service provider” when gross incopetence is allowed from those at the top and they keep their management level job. When has an exemplary model ever been so rife with political transfers, promotions and engagements? How can excellence be acieved when personal/sexual relationships at the place of work are uncovered and not dealt with as they should, more so, in the public sector?
Words are cheap but targets are not met by empty rhetoric but by accountability and by judging by performance and not political affiliation. Lies and manoeuvering are not doing the Public Service any favours and those who need to score political points should change to a political career.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-12-16/local-news/A-job-with-the-government-is-no-longer-a-job-for-life-Civil-service-head-6736127459
I hope that Kurt Farrugia will get the facts right this time.
Four a side kontra team tal-football… U le SIEHBI.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30493967
U ahna nibqghu bir-riha!
http://maltarightnow.com/news/2014/12/16/ritratti-glenn-bedingfield-immultat-tliet-darbiet-fi-ftit-sighat/
No licence means no insurance. That’s a criminal offence.
Sorry about this but I feel I must ask. Where are all the women?
No points for “under the table” replies.
The delegation of Joseph Muscat and Minister Konrad Mizzi in Azerbaijan aren’t negotiating in the interest of Malta. They are negotiating a scheme to save their own skin.
More pictures from Baku which the transparent government of Malta hides from the public here in Malta.
These pictures remind me of “the Kim Jong Un looking at things” pics from North Korea.
http://azertag.az/en/xeber/Maltese_Premier_deeply_impressed_by_Icheri_Sheher-818695
More “Kim Yong Un looking at things” pictures.
http://azertag.az/en/xeber/Maltese_Premier_visits_Heydar_Aliyev_Center-818782
“Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat met with his Azeri counterpart, PM Artur Rasizade, and the cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.” – MaltaToday
What an exaggeration.
There are 10 persons in that photograph, meeting the four lads from Malta, and at least one of them is the Azerbaijani ambassador to Malta. Some would be bureaucrats.
The Azerbaijani cabinet is made up of the prime minister, first deputy prime minister, another five deputy prime ministers and 20 ministers. Then there are a number of committee chairmen and chiefs.
http://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/politics/2203636.html
It seems that China has found a better way to enter the EU market than through Malta – this through the Balkan states.
So addio Joseph Muscat and Phenomenal Konrad and their costed concrete power station roadmap.
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1663148/china-prepares-inject-us10-billion-funds-cash-strapped-balkans
We can only wait in trepidation until the magnitude of this scandal pops up to the surface of the PL sewer like a giant turd.
Muscat and his band of thieves and scoundrels are rolling happily in corrupt practices and monumental policy f*ck-ups and the damage they have done in less than two years is unquantifiable already.
This time round the devastation of the democratic, judicial, environmental and financial systems will be so complete that repairing and restoring them will be a much more daunting and lengthy task than it was post-1987.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141216/local/opposition-insists-energy-deals-should-be-published-or-it-may-take-its-own-action.548532
Title seems to indicate that the Opposition has something up its sleeve. KonratGate hatching soon?
Quo vadis Malta?
Mhux ghal ghajnha ‘siehbi’? Gas down ghal gol-hajt.
When we say that a picture speaks a thousand words, we are not exaggerating.
As someone who has to negotiate on a continuous basis to run my business, I can spot a lot of things going on in this picture.
The most obvious one is the positioning: two sides across a table.
Compounding this, the room has been designed to make the home side look big, accomplished and also make Azerbaijan look important.
I do not think that we even have a similar room in Malta, with the exception of one at the Auberge de Castille but even that is homelier.
That already means a difference that needs to be negotiated around.
Two unbalanced sides, with 10 on one side and 4 on the other.
The room layout has been expressly designed to intimidate. ‘We are bigger than you are. Now what?’
Even the number of empty seats on the Malta side has been calculated to convey the message ‘Look here, you can’t even fill this up, what do you want to tell us that is so important that we had to come here to meet you?’
The Azeri side has older men, not even one of the same age group of the Malta side: ‘Look here boys, we are better than you because we are older’. Playing on the psychological aspect of deference to more experienced, older, worldly wise men.
The seating posture of both sides: the Azeri side looks relaxed, formal, polite and expectant, not even a hint of friendliness.
The Malta side is extremely tense, not trusting, a bit afraid and also overwhelmed.
I can say that the techniques used by Azerbaijan to intimidate and impress the Malta side have worked.
Let’s look at the posture of the Malta side.
Kurt Farrugia: hand covering his mouth, perhaps even biting the back of his hand. He is so out of his depth that he is unconsciously signalling to all around him that he is does not want to contribute anything to the situation and to leave him alone.
I do not even think it is his place to be at the negotiating table; he should be outside the room waiting for orders. No PR guy should be at an international negotiating table as the implicit signal is that what you tell us will be told to the world.
Konrad Mizzi: conspicuously invisible in the photos as he has sunk low in his chair.
Joseph Muscat: highly tense, strung tight and under extreme duress. Maybe he is trying to save a situation which he knows will put him in great difficulties. Obviously negotiating from an inferior position.
Keith Farrugia: his posture speaks volumes. He is slumping forward on the table, giving the impression that he is deflated. There must be a big disappointment hanging in the air, maybe he put the PM in this position and now is realising that it is going to backfire.
One aspect is totally out of kilter: is Malta trying to buy gas from Azerbaijan or the other way round?
Buyers should never go to sellers unless they are in an inferior position and desperate. It gives the edge to the seller, who would be driving a harder bargain.
When are we going to get things right?