In the normal world, people do not expect parties to have the fresh ideas. That’s the job of think-tanks, the media and academics.

Malta hasn’t any think-tanks. The academics never rock the boat. And the media is all about entertainment. That’s why our politicians never have any fresh ideas.

That’s why the traffic problem grew and grew until even a fossil like Joe Mizzi was forced to challenge his own paradigms, and the status quo (“Erbghin karozza gdida kuljum!”).

There is no hope that any of this will ever change. Everybody is too damn comfortable. Mark me, we’ll still be grumbling about the traffic problem in 2070.

You cannot be serious.

Lara Boffa is clearly gagging for a proposal of marriage.

It will be another two years before he can divorce, though, under his own four-year rule.

Oh, there I go again.

And because they divide life into ‘Malta’ and ‘Rest of the World’ and imagine that Malta should be different to the rest of the world and when they get sick of it, they can travel out for a break.

It never occurs to them to think of the fate of those who can’t travel out for a break, and who are confined to barracks, so to speak.

Employment is one of the primary antecedents of material wealth.

I take employment broadly to include self-employed persons/entrepreneurs.

Are we all going to get onto giant hamster wheels to produce energy?

Well, at least that would reduce Malta’s obesity problem.

A lot of research is being carried out on the stabilisation of grids nowadays so that they can switch more seamlessly between different renewable and fossil-fuel-generated electricity without causing blackouts or losing power quality.

Inverters to convert variable direct current into alternating current, ways to switch systems on and off relatively easily and ways of storing surplus renewable energy for later use are all being looked into. There are even conical shaped wind turbines which would allegedly go some way to reducing bird disturbance.

Moreover, the partial eclipse that happened earlier this year proves that grid systems don’t have to break down just because there is a sudden change in the weather so I find your fear slightly overblown. And it’s not like fossil fuels have saved us from ever having blackouts, anyway.

As for wind availability, I don’t think that out at sea there isn’t enough wind to produce sufficient energy to make the enterprise viable. Wind farms are becoming ever more efficient and capable of producing more with less.

I am not saying that a wind farm absolutely has to be built but I am saying that the possibility needs to be looked into. While it’should true that, as you say, some countries are cutting down on renewable energy, others are doing precisely the opposite.

Japan this year unveiled a large offshore wind farm. It wants to give renewable energy a large push following its 2011 nuclear disaster.

Why can’t Malta ever be one step ahead of other countries?

I say look into it, explore different possibilities and see what you can come up with. After all, wind is quite possibly the cleanest way to produce electricity (uses less rare materials than the production of solar panels) and it is becoming ever cheaper to produce.

I take it she accepted your proposal then. Good. The best thing a man can ever do is get married. It gives purpose to one’s life.