Wake up, Balzan. You’ve got a campaign to run.
Have you seen any signs of a No campaign other than that group photograph of self-promoters (and some genuine, well-meaning individuals)? Because I’m hunting all over, and I have found nothing.
There are two months to go and the No campaign leaders – SHout (lousy name) – are still in their burrows devising their cunning plans. It’s not like the rest of us can take matters into our own hands, can we?
Well, at least I’ve got this website and you probably all have Facebook pages. You can also hold your noses and dive into the arguments on newspaper comments boards. All hands on deck and so on.
Because rest assured that 90% of No campaign leader Saviour Balzan’s energy is consumed by obsessing about the bile queen. If he could organise a referendum to abrogate me, he would.
Meanwhile, the Yes campaign has got going
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Wasn’t it he that got us into this mess in the first place? Wasn’t Balzan the man who helped negotiate the spring hunting derogation on behalf of the Nationalist government?
#JeSuisDaphne
I love it.
They couldn’t think of one more hobby to add on the last link on the right.
Idiots.
Since when is ‘banda’ a hobby? Music is but not banda.
But idiots they are not, are they?
On the contrary, they are wise enough to know of the general ignorance amongst the voters and are taking full advantage of it.
Call it unfair, but it’s the final count that matters.
Not really.
They’ve left no space for Balzan and Delia to maneouver.
Would be interesting to know what Manty Bugeya and Chris Polidano think of spring hunting. Just for information’s sake,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdys5H3uMlk
Bugeya made it to the final to win against Polidano. I’m proud of both these guys. As are thousands of youngsters out there. Bugeya particularly endearing with his mild manners.
Obviously his opinion doesn’t count, as if he’s automatically in the Yes camp, not that he ever took a tricked Land Rover to pristine garigue.
If all the NO campaign will provide is inverted snobbery dressed with implicit condescendence, the referendum becomes a waste of time and public money.
Seeing how Saviour is absolutely incapable of showing anything other than obtuse misgiving with fun, or worse, lay on the red green, he’ll fail the campaign.
The No campaign is NOT about restricting ‘hobbies’.
Indeed, the sensation is if only the campaign were in better hands.
“Armier Squatters” will do !
Can anyone explain how the f*ck a “delizzju” differs from a “hobby”?
Is stamp collecting a hobby or delizzju? And scale-modelling? And gaming? And badminton?
So you see, our Jozef was right. THIS IS ABOUT DEFINING TRADITION.
Ergo, it IS a class struggle, my dear SHout hippies.
I cannot abide Facebook but I will nose-dive wherever I can.
Well I’m doing my best, damn it. Those clever fellows over at SHout asked me to “DM” any posters I’d like to see. So I public emmed them instead.
P.S. Id-delizzju tieghi huwa gisem Ritienne (iva, ejja nkunu sincieri). Minhiex nara l-holqa approprjata.
Min ifittex, issib, Baxxter.
Baxxter, YOU NEED TO SHOUT LOUDER.
Ooops, sorry mate, excuse my shouting.
ORRAJT HI.
(I need to take lessons from Ritienne. She is Valletta born and bred. She calls everyone “hi”, including me, and usually in a foghorn voice. In the more intimate moments she’ll lower her voice to very loud car stereo level, but it’s still “hi”. Such a turn-on.)
Nice of them to choose a chain to represent id-delizzji kollha ta’ dan il-pajjiz, and a black, ominous one at that; the proverbial katina which shackles the lives of the rest of us who have to suffer these fools.
Note that most of those indicated cannot be enjoyed freely without having to engage the remainder of the (uninterested) populace; be it noise, smells or similar inconveniences.
Vote No to stop the war on Christmas:
On the second day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree
This is as much as I’ve seen about the NO campaign so far. It’s from Saviour’s rag.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/ui_frontend/thumbnail/684/400/ray_8337_copy.jpg
I know. I need to keep up.
I told you, Daphne. Next on their cunning plan: a referendum to abrogate blogs. So much for his Je suis Charlie.
Now excuse me. Why should Simon Busuttil disassociate himself from that Charlie whose name cannot be mentioned if Simon Busuttil never associated himself with that Charlie? Doesn’t Saviour see the contradiction in his own ‘argument’?
And from those posts you reproduced there, isn’t it hilarious that he contradicted himself within 24 hours. At this point, I will not be surprised if he turns up with the hunters shouting YES to spring hunting.
Saviour, you are no Charlie.
Oh yes he is at times, Ciccio. A right one too.
Perhaps if he wears braces like Larry King it would work for him as it did for Lou Bondi.
I am against any form of hunting.
This issue could have been solved easily by looking at the licensing system. If the licence fee was raised to, let’s say, €2000 p.a. this would discourage quite a number of hunters.
Hunting is a luxury, not a necessity. There is no need for hunting anymore. If I were to go to a luxurious hotel, I am required to pay through the nose simply because I want a good service, thus I feel that hunting should be treated the same.
This might lead to more illegal hunting. But with the money from the hunting licences, the police can patrol more heavily.
I know that most will not agree with this but it seems like a solution that suits everyone’s needs (even the birds’).
High licence fees and fewer hunters in both seasons mean more birds and more money for apprehending illegal hunters and discouraging illegal hunting.
The government might also want to consider not issuing new licences. At least the children won’t get dragged into this “sport” as they will not have the chance to practice it.
For the hunters who say that the rest of Europe is allowed to hunt bla bla bla, the answer is simple: “Go to the rest of Europe”.
Thanks for reading.
I completely agree with this post.
Reforming hunting licensing and gun licensing is one way of achieving greater sustainability.
And what about the “alliance” between the three English language dailies – snuffed out already, without as much as a shout?
More misinformation unfortunately.
The referendum is ONLY about the removal of the derogation allowing spring hunting.
There is no derogation to keep, fishing, fireworks, band clubs, horse racing, car racing or pigeon racing.
It therefore becomes very grave when, what should be a serious organisation such as the FKNK, has to resort to the spreading of false rumours to try to justify its cause.
http://www.newsbook.com.mt/artikli/2015/1/18/filmat:-jekk-jirbah-il-le-nirrispettaw-id-decizjoni-imma—fknk.26605/
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/48803/fknk_lodge_protest_with_government_after_two_councillors_express_opinion_on_referendum#.VMOemNLF9mM
According to the FKNK;
“….any person in his personal capacity can have and voice his opinion with regards the upcoming 11 April referendum, however, we believe that the Attard Local Council Vice-Mayor, Marco Spiteri, and Councillor, Ralph Cassar, have acted unethically, if not also illegally, when they posted/commented with regards the referendum on the Attard Council official Facebook Page,”
In Burmarradian this would translate to.
‘M’għandhomx dritt żigg’.
When one looks at these so-called ‘delizzji’ (hobbies), almost all of them are traditionally associated with men.
Kacca, nsib, sajd, karozzi, loghob tan-nar have always been the domain of men.
It is only in the last decade or two that we have seen women joining the local band club or even driving a racing car, although the latter is still mostly male-dominated.
My point is that by looking at the IVA poster, it is just another gender-based normative reinforcement of men being outside practising their ‘past times’ while the women are at home.
It is a reminder of how conservative Malta still is when it comes to the representation of traditional gender stereotypes and how well-accepted this position still is.
Maris Zammit had started racing cars and taking part in hill climbs in the mid-eighties and I doubt she was the only woman participating in what is considered as the domain of men.
What about Daphne? She too invaded what was considered the domain of men although having said that I don’t consider and space as the domain of men.
My general thinking is ‘if you can do it go ahead’.
I think that if this is going to be the main gist of the yes campaign it could be a winner. By telling others that their hobby or their passion could be next they can rally a very large number of people.
Why have i suddenly got this horrible feeling that Saviour Balzan has gotten involved in the NO campaign with the sole intention of not pushing very hard for a NO vote?
We all know in whose bed he lies at the moment.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2015-01-24/local-news/Break-in-at-Ghadira-popular-resident-Flamingoes-gone-6736129375
That ‘Iva’ poster seems to have been devised by Michael Falzon MP himself. This morning he was on “Ghandi xi Nghid” programme saying exactly what is implied in that poster.
The only link in the chain which is missing from his argument this morning is that of ‘journalists’. He told the other members on the panel and his audience on Radio Malta that what worries him about this referendum is that anything or anybody which is regulated by law could be abrogated with a similar referendum request pushed by people who are annoyed by any one of those hobbies or activities (in the poster).
He specifically (and misleadingly) mentioned journalists!
Maybe he meant just one particular journalist.
Please Daphne stay out of this debate, because we know exactly where you will take it. You will turn it into an “us and them” class issue along the normal lines of your hatred for people you consider your social inferiors. That attitude is such a turn off for so many voters, though of course many like-minded snobs lap it up. Of course you have the freedom to say whatever you want but as this blog has a certain prominence and readership, there is a risk that you will seriously jeopardise the SHOUT campaign if you try to turn it into another of your tribal battles, with your usual sneering insults and mud-slinging. You are an intelligent woman and I respect your right to an opinion but you have to know when to stand back for the greater good.
[Daphne – Do please b*gger off. Your attitude, representative as it is of the typical I’m-so-apolitical-and-superior SHOUT pseudo-campaigner, is the reason so many people like me are going to vote No DESPITE you, just as we voted Yes for divorce despite Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando. Il-vera m’ghandkomx idea.
The very fact that you think it’s an Us and Them class issue which has has to be controlled indicates how very little you know of what your audience is. There are plenty of people Like Me (the men) who get off on shooting birds and I happen to know for a fact that many farmers are those most opposed to spring hunting because of considerable damage done to their crops.]
Dear Shout supporter, has SHout ever taken out a Facebook advert? Do they even have a Facebook Page at all?
Yes, there is a Facebook page. It has over 6500 likes. You would have found that out if you had taken two seconds to Google it. I find it amazing that people who claim to support this campaign cannot swallow their personal spite and get behind it. Just grow up people.
No, you are the one bringing class politics into the debate, already with your description of hunters as “savages”.
[Daphne – Savagery has nothing to do with social class, Shout Supporter. Some of the worst savages I have known are evidence of that.]
That kind of language will certainly not help the campaign.
You have so many chips on your shoulder and your hatred and inability to be civil has seriously diminished the credibility of the Nationalist Party.
[Daphne – I am afraid that you are the one with a chip on your shoulder. Your resentments are quite obvious.]
While I couldn’t care less about the PN I do care passionately about this campaign. This is about the preservation of nature, not the hatred of hamalli “savages”, as you seem to believe.
I know that I am wasting my time trying to reason with you but I think it is worth it if readers of your blog see that we are not all motivated by hate of our fellow Maltese.
[Daphne – If you really do care passionately about this campaign, then I would suggest you begin by dropping out of it because with your attitude and lack of understanding of what it is all about and how to get that across to people, you will do more harm than good.]
The sorry soul couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery let alone a No campaign.
Balzan, int kont traditur meta mort tiraprezeta dan is sugett. issa kontc favur jew le qatt ma messek tradejt lill hadd. kif tridu il poplu jafdak?? bhal min jisraq u jinqabad. jista mhux jaghmel hajtu jisma’ il quddies u jitlob ax xorta jibqa il fatt li kien seraq u ma jafdah hadd. same goes to you Salvu.