Oh dear, another snake-oil merchant
The day the Labour Party isn’t led by a snake-oil merchant is the day we’re all going to heave a sigh of relief and get on with our lives without worrying about the consequences of a Labour victory.
The Labour Party is too much of a negative presence in our lives even when it is in Opposition, let alone in government. It’s always an unending stream of kvetch, bitch, whine and moan, without the slightest bit of intelligence or humour to divvy it up.
And yes, Joseph Muscat is yet another snake-oil merchant, following directly in the footsteps of his poodle-Meister Alfred Sant, a state of affairs made worse by the fact that he also borrows madly from Dom Mintoff’s belief that it’s all grist to the mill as long as you get what you want.
Mix all that up with his inability to make the psychological and intellectual transition from Super One reporter to leader of the Opposition – pace his ill-mannered conduct and shouts of ‘giddieb’ on Xarabank last Friday – and all is set for a grim ride downhill.
Snake-oil merchants sell things that don’t exist, things that are not theirs to sell, or dreams that they can’t deliver. Alfred Sant did this with value added tax in 1996 and tried to do it with his mad fantasy of a Switzerland in the Mediterranean in 2003.
Now Joseph Muscat is doing the same with promises to refund €50 million in VAT paid on car registration tax, even if the courts decide that the tax was justified. This means that he will have to come right back at the more productive members of the workforce, fiscal jaws snapping, to bite that €50 million off somewhere else.
His best bit of snake-oil merchandising so far came a few days ago, when he announced that The People will have to wait until the general election campaign, which quite frankly seems to have started in June 2008, to discover just how he plans to reduce water and electricity charges while the state finds the money to carry the cost.
Muscat actually had the nerve to ask his RTK radio audience to be patient for the next two and a half years, when all will be revealed.
This forces us to make one of two damning assessments of Muscat’s credibility and integrity. If he has a magic solution to the problem of how to reduce the cost of utilities to the consumer, or how to reduce their bills (not the same thing at all), then he has a duty to declare it now rather than let those consumers suffer the extra cost until 2013, sacrificing their money to his electoral chances.
If he really does have a solution but would rather let people spend more money while he holds out a carrot to them for two and a half years until he gets their vote, then he has no integrity and certainly doesn’t deserve their vote.
You would have to be an utter doormat to vote for somebody who tells you “I know how you can spend a lot less money on water and electricity, but for the next two and a half years, until I get your vote, I’m not going to tell you how.” There’s only one response to that, and it’s a two-fingered salute.
If he’s doing what Alfred Sant did with value added tax, telling us he has a solution to the water and electricity bills problem when he doesn’t, holding out that carrot for a vote and then inventing a square-wheel solution when he’s tricked you into voting for him under false pretences, then not only has he no integrity, but he has no credibility, either.
Muscat justified his behaviour by saying that his opposite number announced a pledge for a reduction in income tax just 30 days before the general election, “So I will choose when to say how a Labour government will lower water and electricity bills.”
That Muscat is not strong on logic has been apparent since his first forays into public life as a Super One propagandist. But this really takes the poodle-biscuit.
Announcing a reduction in water and electricity bills equates to announcing a reduction in income tax. Explaining how you will do the former equates to explaining how you will do the latter. For Muscat to do what Gonzi did with the pledge on income tax, he would have had to wait until 30 days before the election to announce a pledge to cut utilities bills. But he has done so already.
Even then, the argument is tenuous. Water and electricity are consumables which cost X to produce and deliver to the consumer and which, therefore, must be sold at a price which at least covers X even if the supplier is to operate as a non-profit-making organisation.
If the price to the consumer does not cover X, then it stands to reason that somebody else is going to pay for the shortfall, and this somebody else is the poor sod of a taxpayer who, besides subsidising everybody else’s schooling, university, healthcare, pensions, benefits and the rest, must then also subsidise their electricity and water consumption.
A cut in income tax is not in any way comparable because nothing is sold or bought and nobody is being ripped off to pay for somebody else’s air-conditioning, showers or even just compulsive floor-washing. You use, you pay. You don’t use, you don’t pay.
I don’t think the Labour Party has a solution, for the simple reason that it has nobody capable of producing one. Even poor Edward Scicluna has been reduced to the level of a yapping lap-dog, forced to argue in favour of a living wage when it is clear from his article published in The Times a few days ago that he has thought for 40 years that the idea is unwise, unjust and irresponsible. He cannot possibly have had a Damascene moment on the road to Brussels a year ago.
The more I think about it, the crazier it seems to entrust the running of the country to a Super One reporter in his 30s. The days of zealot peasant-leaders on a personal mission to fulfil their dreams and exorcise their demons should have been long behind us.
This article is published in The Malta Independent on Sunday today.
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The cost of fuel component in our electricity bill is over 91%. The remaining 9% covers the cost of distribution, management and power station/s. If you assume that JM cannot predict the price of oil (if he can predict it then we become a very rich nation very fast), then what prey is the fuss all about? Reducing the 9% to what – 8%?
Another thing – has anyone really analysed the real effect of these electricity bills in relation to household income and other expenses. By analysing our usage with a little gadget (can be done with a smart meter) we reduced our bill significantly – we pay about a €3 a day in a town house with a family of 5 – with kids that do not turn out the lights. We pay that much to sustain two mobile phones and half for cableTV.
What are we arguing about really?
This reminds me of Joe Mizzi, minister without portfolio, when he said that within six months of Labour being elected to government, Malta will strike oil.
Yes, snake oil.
Water and electricity bills have been reduced to a political gimmick by Labour – and unfortunately, the majority still swallow Labour propaganda.
The only answer that Joseph Muscat has come up with so far is: “Ingibu il-flus mit-tkabbir tal-ekonomija.” What he has to explain is how he plans to regenerate the economy. Certainly not with rhetoric.
What is it with that ‘smile’? Teeth fully on view in a graduation photograph. Something is not quite right. Try to cover the face from the nose up to leave only the beard and the teeth showing. It’s unsettling.
The man is a schoolyard bully but he lets even himself down by yelling ‘Giddieb, giddieb’ at the prime minister.
He is of course playing to the gallery and applying himself to the worst instincts of his fanbase, but the frightening thing is that he is becoming mired in the sewage of vulgarity. He will find it very difficult to emerge from the stink and tidy himself up if he carries on in the same vein.
He would be well advised to always behave in a gentlemanly fashion if he wants people to take him seriously as a future prime minister.
[Daphne – Oh, I don’t know about that. It all depends on which people. Manners in Malta are generally appalling anyway. He probably thinks that if it worked for Mintoff it will work for him.]
Lawrence Gonzi was on Xarabank as prime minister, and Joseph Muscat was there as leader of the Opposition. Muscat’s behaviour last Friday – especially the way he insulted Gonzi as “giddieb” – was appalling, and a dishonor to his consitutional role.
Clearly, he behaved like an arrogant twerp when he was put under pressure about his habit of accepting facts with hindsight.
He owes a formal apology to the prime minister and to parliament.
And to the viewing public !
int bis-serjeta qd tejd jitolbu apologija ? mela meta gonzi ajjar lil laburisti morda dik ma gara xjn b daqsek ux!!!! isa dan ‘prim ministru’ supost e..
sew amel joseph ajru giddieb ax tkellem il-verita
kontra pn
jien smajt x’kien qal il-PM. Il-frazi shiha kienet “kif dawn jipprezentaw ruhhom bhala s-soluzzjoni ghal dan il-pajjiz meta f’hafna kazi kienu l-problema? kif jghidu li ghandhom il-kura meta f’hafna kazi kienu l-marda?”
Jekk jirnexxielek, forsi taghraf id-differenza bejn kritika bl-uzu ta’ metafora u tghajjira diretta u personali bhalma hi ‘giddieb’
“The last time the prime minister was on Bondiplus, I noticed that Lou Bondi made a point of calling him ‘prim ministru’.”
Dress code is part of our manners.
I noticed that Peppi HAD to wear a suit and a tie in the debate.
“Manners in Malta are generally appalling anyway.” You can say that again!
Actually if you’re well mannered you are labelled as ‘kiesha’ by some people. Joseph Muscat is letting Malta down, especially his followers.
But the MLP was always in favour of ‘hamallagni’ instead of educating its followers to be better citizens all round.
If you use “please” and “thank you” you do sometimes get odd looks as if you were ET; has common courtesy gone out of fashion and use? I think some parents are to blame for this.
Bad manners in Malta are being taught on TV:
Lou Bondi and Peppi Azzopardi address Cikku l-kennies, Cetta ta’ lahlah, an MP, a heart surgeon or a psychiatrist by their first names as if they’ve been bosom buddies for ages.
[Daphne – The last time the prime minister was on Bondiplus, I noticed that Lou Bondi made a point of calling him ‘prim ministru’.]
Other so-called journalists on other stations follow suit, and are even more crude. Charlon Gouder comes to mind.
They also interrupt and treat their guests like trash. When someone declines their ‘invitation’ they come out with the phrase that the people have the right to know.
Funny how this does not apply when the invitee is some ‘prestigious’ foreigner.
Having barely survived watching Xarabank, I could not but wonder why the PM does not sue Joseph Muscat for calling him (several times) a ‘giddieb’.
Joseph, on Xarabank enjoyed no parliamentary immunity. Xarabank is produced by a private company but aired by the state broadcaster. This edition was not a debate in parliament, and even there, Joseph Muscat would have exceeded all limits of decent behaviour and have been made to apologize by the Speaker or stand to be ejected.
Showing the finesse of a caveman, supported by a handful of Labour intelligentia, he displayed no dignity when debating with the man who is prime minister. He is fortunate that, when he becomes prime minister, the leader of the Opposition will not be so vulgar.
His refused to back up his own unworkable proposals with facts. He poo-pooed the PN’s achievements over the past 25 years even though he has benefited directly from them, not least through tertiary education and becoming a member of the European Parliament. [Daphne – To say nothing of just how much he benefited from the government’s apparent inability to regularise the situation at fireworks factories.] during which time, limited resources or not, good times or bad, the islands have been transformed. Yes, public debt has gone up but Joseph refuses to acknowledge that most of it is owed to Maltese citizens and most of it is invested not squandered.
Woe is the day when Malta’s finances end up in the hands of the Labour Party led by this master of deceit.
The PM can’t sue Muscat since he has indeed lied on several occasions. Usually, one who lies on a habitual basis is called a liar … hence the adjective was spot on and hardly libellous.
[Daphne – When has he lied? Cite chapter and verse. And remember: lies deal with facts, not opinions.]
Joseph Muscat has reverted to Mintoff’s language of the gutter. It didn’t do Mintoff much good as it consigned him to the trash can of history and the same will happen to dear Joseph.
Ask the hunters and bird trappers about the PM’s trustworthiness. Not that I’m sorry for the buggers, mind you.
Dr. Gonzi is not going to sue Dr. Muscat.. because the prime minister knows that he was not saying the truth. he never answered about the million euro increase in the gov mp’s salaries.
[Daphne – Madam, please: the right to express your opinion comes chained to the duty to base that opinion on fact. The salaries of members of parliament are raised across the board. It is impossible to raise the salaries of the MPs of one party and not those of another. So if there is any increase in the salaries of MPs, Joseph Muscat and all the other Labour MPs take it too.]
Muscat said the million Euro increase was in ministers’ salaries, not MPs’. No one has yet verified the claim. Where’s MaltaToday when you need it?
Sure as the sun rises tomorrow, Joseph the prime minister (?) will immediately refuse the increase to his and his ministers’ salary upon assuming office, heaven forbid!
That’s a promise he will never make, and which is therefore impossible to break.
Starving Saviour Balzan is currently eating Sunday lunch at La Vecchia Dogana with his new wife – but I can’t see whether it’s steak or pizza.
They’ve got an interesting wine list. A trifle expensive though.
How come that Dr Lawrence Gonzi does not sue Dr Joseph Muscat for calling him a liar last Friday!
[Daphne – Almost certainly for the same reason that I have only sued for libel three times in my life (once, Joseph Muscat, as it happens) despite the many and multifarious calumnies perpetrated against me: because he prefers to let them drown in their own excrement. Also, I’ve noticed – and no doubt the prime minister has, too – that those most keen to protect their reputation are the most disreputable in reality. Vide the long list of persons who have sued me, not one of whom can in any way be said to be respectable: Dom Mintoff, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, Anglu Farrugia, Godfrey Grima, that horrid little right-wing runt Charles Spiteri, the notary who tried to board a plane with a gun (Mark Anthony Sammut), Charlon Gouder, Robert Musumeci, Consuelo Herrera – a real Hall of Shame.]
The prime minister’s objective is the smooth running of the country. Wasting time on a libel suit is the last thing on his mind. Just imagine the circus we would have in our law courts with Anglu and Toni as Joseph’s lawyers.
[Daphne – The Labour Party uses that sour-faced Pawlu Lia.]
Or perhaps the leader of the opposition is trying to drum up some support for next December’s fund-raising marathon.
As I see it, Dr Muscat expected a different answer to what the prime minister said, but ‘it-tifel ta’ Salvu’ still wanted to pick up the planned fight, and became frustrated when Gonzi did not swallow the bait.
Pawlu Lia qieghed ikollu xi daqxejn success bhala avukat tal-Malta Labour Party? Meta kien avukat tal-Malta Drydocks qatt ma kellu xi success kbir fil-kawzi.
Sour faced – staqsi lil min kien ihabbat wiccu mieghu.
I agree totally with you Daphne. How easy it is to call someone a liar or a cheat and try to discredit him. This is the evil men do.But an honest man stands strong, and lets honest and trustworthy people judge him.
A person doesn’t have to go to court to prove his honesty in these cases, because all those people who know him and trust him are his strength and drive.
I watched Xarabank. A young woman told Joseph Muscat that he has no foresight but only hindsight and proof of this is his stance on EU membership and the Eurozoneand – so she will not vote to him.
I waited for his reply, but all he did was turn to Gonzi and call him a liar. Is this all that he can produce? No wonder he cannot come up with a concrete argument.
That young woman brought out the worst of Joseph Muscat as a politician. He just lost it.
From eurosceptic to MEP to Leader of the Opposition looking forward to 2017 when Malta will be Master of the Universe, er.. EU.
Nobody likes being reminded of Uturns and other contortions.
Because of his evident lack of grey matter Joseph Muscat is fast undoing his tenure as Malta’s next prime minister.
When the chickens come home to roost he will succumb to his own incompetence and lies in a jiffy. The tragedy? His deputy prime minister will be Anglu Farrugia.
I do not think that politicians, especially the prime minister ahd leader of the Opposition should ever appear on Xarabank. This show is like a ‘Grande Fratello’ show where all dirty linen is exposed and insults galore are hurled.
Watch debates on Italian TV – they are civilised, and even if they reprimand each other they do it with a certain wit and finesse. No screaming audience – all well behaved.
Xarabank should stop change the format. They only serve as a platform for voters of opposite sides (most PL in this case) who vent their feelings against the party they do not favour.
“Watch debates on Italian TV – they are civilised.”
Ha!
Italian TV? Give me a break.
If there is a Grande Fratello in politics that is the Italian premier and his media monopoly.
Watch “Annozero” on RAI2 on Thursdays and Berlusconi’s leaning heavily on the RAI board to shut up this programme’s presenter (Michele Santoro) and blackout the transmission.
I believe that Joseph Muscat is suffering from a condition called Risus Sardonicus as the photo amply shows.
Any attempt to hide it behind a goatee was, unfortunately, unsuccessful.
Where does Joseph stand when he praised the government for giving back another part of the Services pension (and others) to people who contributed for this pension? Wasn’t it his idol dom Mintoff who created this injustice?
Din tal-giddieb qed jghidha ghax irid idahhalha f’mohh in-nies. Dan jemmen bil-brain washing, bhal Mintoff. Ghadu ma ndunax li z-zmien inbidel u l-mentalita’ tan-nies m’ghadiex ta’ zmien Mintoff. Lill-prim ministru ma qallu xejn bis-sens. Dan veru bniedem ezatt bhal Mintoff.
Copycat Joseph: http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blpic-blairliar.htm
Ghaliex dr. gonzi ma qal xejn xejn fil-programm dwar il-miljuni u l-eluf mberbqa fil-vojt u beda jdawwar l-argumenti l-hin kollu. ghaliex ma qal xejn dwar dak il-konsulent li jithallas il fuq minn tmenin elf euro fis-SIEGHA (per hour). meta tlett kwarti tal-maltin lanqas jaqilghu f’sena ahseb u ara f’siegha.
[Daphnew – Jahasra, kemm hawn min jibla kollox. Mhux ta’ b’xejn il-Partit Laburista minn dejjem hadem biex izomm in-nies lura mill-edukazzjoni ta’ kull tip, inkluz is-safar u d-dinja ta’ madwarna. Jekk tuza mohhok ftit, sinjura jew sinjorina, tigik li ma jista jkun hawn hadd li jaqla EUR80,000 fis-siegha. Mhux ovvja li ma jistax ikun? Din smajta ghand tal-haxix? Imbasta bl-internet, u bqajna bl-injoranza tal-babaq. L-internet nuzawh biex inxerdu izjed fantaziji u gideb dwar in-nies. Il-vera progressivi, ha nghidlek. Minflok ‘peasants with pitchforks’ spiccajna bil-‘peasants with laptops.’]
ghaliex ma tkellimx dwar iz-zieda qawwija li ta lill ministri tieghu? u dwar il-kuntratt tal-power station? u dwar il-performance bonuses ta’ l-ARMS? u ghaliex ma wegibx dwar l-ittra li qralu dr. muscat dwar l-airmalta. peppi tah ic-cans biex iwiegeb u dr. gonzi ghamillu sinjal b;idejh li ma jridx iwiegbu fuqha. Ma meriex wahda dwar dawn l-isparpaljar allura kif irid itellghu il-qorti ghax qallu giddieb… sinjal li DR. Muscat ghandu ragun.
He mentioned consultants that charge 82 Euros per hr, not 82k. That would work out to 626 Euros per day. It is not such an expensive rate for a consultant (if s/he’s any good). A managing partner in a consulting firm would charge far more than that.
Dear md, some people are experts in their fields and charge good money for their services. 3/4 of the Maltese population do not earn that money no, but then again 3/4 of the population are not experts in anything.
Car mechanics, computer technicians, washing machine fixers charge labour costs at Euro 20 per hour so a top notch professional consultant at Euro 82 per hr must be par for the course.
Dear md,
“ghaliex ma qal xejn dwar dak il-konsulent li jithallas il fuq minn tmenin elf euro fis-SIEGHA (per hour). meta tlett kwarti tal-maltin lanqas jaqilghu f’sena ahseb u ara f’siegha. ”
Uza il calculator u tinduna li tmenin elf euro fis-SIEGHA (per hour) jigi mal-miljun euro kuljum jekk jahdem tnax il-siegha.
Kif tibilghu kollox u ma thaddmuhx ftit (ftit, ta) raskom.
@ R Camilleri: 3/4 of the Maltese population has no expertise in anything, but to hear them speak would make one think that they’re amongst the foremost in political analysts.
U int tahseb li dawn l-ingustizzji se jigu rettifikati taht il-Labour? Id-dirigenti Laburisti huma fost l-aqwa oligarki f’Malta, ibda minn Joseph Muscat stess.
Biex inkun ghamilt lili nnifsi car, minhiex qed naghmel argument tat-tip “two wrongs make a right”, imma “get your own house in order first, and don’t promise things you can’t deliver”.
‘Minflok ‘peasants with pitchforks’ spiccajna bil-‘peasants with laptops’
More likely, witches on broomsticks.
And you know what? Those peasants had the balls to put their life on the line, and many of them lost it. Today’s liberals, radicals and revolutionaries (vide the Tea Party movement), are nothing but faux-Bohemian jerks whose only aim is to look smarter and more cynical than their opponents.
md, fakkartni meta ktibt li wiehed qed jithallas Euro 80,000 fis-siegha ta’ konsulenzi. Haddiehor qallek “ma’ tarax!”, imma
jien nghid ghalija blajtha ghax naf b’nutar li ha Lm32,000 (Euro 75,000) talli ghamel il-kuntratt ta’ Pender Place.
Mhux forsi kont qed tghid ghalih hux?
Bis-serjeta ?Il-partit laburista hadem sa mit-twaqqif tieghu biex il-fqir,il-batut u il-haddiem li kien ikkalpestat fis-snin 20 iqum fuq saqajh,permezz ta edukazzjoni xierqa u drittijiet li llum inqisuwom xi haga awtomatika.Kien zmien meta l-lingwa maltija kienet imwarrba minn min ried it-taljan bhala lingwa taghna.Fittex naqra Daphne u tara min ried lin-nies jibqaw lura.Aqra fuq Manuel Dimech u tinduna kif nies bhalu li riedu li l-injoranza tinqered bit-taghlim sfaw vittmi tal-knisja,il-gvern ingliz u pn li kien jaqblilom li l-haddiem jibqa mjassar!!
[Daphne – Yawn! The reality Albert, is that decades of Labour effort made only a marginal difference to the lives of the working class, who might have got a free plot and a minimum-wage job mal-gvern but nothing else, and that the lot of the working-class improved beyond reckoning post-1987 thanks to free market economic policies and education policies which brought more and more people into training and higher education. Take this real-life example, one of many thousands: John and Mary got a free plot under Labour in the early 1980s and built a house. John got a job mal-gvern on just above the minimum wage and moonlights as a carpenter. Mary is a housewife. Both of them are barely literate. Their life is very, very basic – not because of lack of money but because of lack of imagination about possibilities, and lack of education. They are no different to their parents and grandparents before them, except that they have a very basic house built on a free government plot and regular money coming in. But as people, they having improved, grown or developed themselves. Their great-grandparents would recognise them. Meanwhile, their son Joseph was lucky enough to have been born in the early 1980s and to grow up post-1987. His parents don’t think he is lucky, despite the evidence of his success so far.
They think he is miskin, because he has to work hard for his money and has to buy his own house, unlike them. Because they are ignorant, they cannot see that their son’s life is much better than theirs, that he is a much more well-rounded person with infinite possibilities that he sets about developing. Joseph did well at state school, went to the public sixth form with no problems or restrictions at all. He went on to study information technology at the university, similarly with no problems or restrictions at all. Because he doesn’t have his parents’ hang-ups about speaking Maltese and refusing to learn English, he now speaks and writes the latter fluently.
During the EU membership debate, when his parents spoke against membership and how it would destroy Malta by opening it up to the world outside, Joseph rather liked the idea of Malta being opened up to the world, and loved the notion that he could travel without problems, study and work wherever he liked in Europe. So despite the many raging arguments with his parents, he voted Yes in the referendum and then for the Nationalist Party in the general election which followed. His parents didn’t speak to him for a long time after that. In 2008, he again voted for the PN because he could see the way things were going and he liked his life. He didn’t mind having to buy his own house and not getting a free plot, because he was intelligent enough to realise that the trade-off for the free plot was too great.
Joseph’s grandparents and great-grandparents wouldn’t recognise him. He dresses well, speaks English fluently when required, has perfect manners, can hold a conversation, has a very well-paid job with one of the many non-Maltese services companies that set up for business in Malta in the last few years, travels widely for work and for fun, and has a small but stylish flat which he is paying for himself, and which is decorated in a manner that would be instantly recognisable in London or New York. His parents, on the other hand, can’t see that their son’s life is better than theirs.
They still think that he would have been better off with a plot tal-gvern, a job mal-gvern, a nice girl to settle down with at 20, and evenings and weekends spent at the kazin tal-banda. Joseph disagrees. And there you have it. How to improve the lot of the working class by keeping socialism at bay.]
I see i have hit a nerve here,that was quite long to read after a day helping the kids with hw’s,doing housework and battling for an hour in a football game…ha ha.
The thing is,the reality is so different.You paint a picture as if this lad is living in heaven when we all know how difficult it is to find property nowadays and pay for it.Probably by 2060 he will not have paid his loan.It’s easy to say,when even finding a job is hard these days.Even for the highly educated.
We may have a higher standard of living,but everyday, cost of living rises.Rises that effect people like me are water and electricity bills that are now becoming a joke really,gas has more than tripled,petrol seems out of our control as every 2 months we hear of a hefty rise,and these are the things we have to adress.And then we find out in the budget that we are given a mere rise like 50 cents of the old lira.
We cannot keep thinking or frightening people with socialism as if it is a desease.Honestly i think PL can bring something better for a country,that seems to be out of direction.I cannot understand how you keep putting Joseph in the same brackets of Sant and Mintoff.There is no resemblence.And another thing,plots and houses before elections are not an 80’s past habit,it still happens these days i guarantee you.
Joseph Muscat is politically immature and that smirk on his face says it all. He gives me the shivers – brrrrr!
I found Dr Muscat’s performance during Xarabank totally alien to my tastes. He reduced the debate to insults rather than an informed exchange.
Kien il-veru ta’ cacu, with the counter-productive effects that this entails. Does he think that TVM’s audience on a Friday night is made up entirely of the sort of people who listen to him at Labour meetings?
What sort of viewers did he have in mind when he was screaming hysterically and revealing his true nature and intellect?
“Does he think that TVM’s audience on a Friday night is made up entirely of the sort of people who listen to him at Labour meetings?”
Sadly, it is.
“What sort of viewers did he have in mind when he was screaming hysterically and revealing his true nature and intellect?”
Answer: the new middle class which he promised he will create.
Could you please include in your website your photograph when a degree in archaeology was conferred on you in 1996?
[Daphne – Jaqq, how naff (ta’ cacu, biex tifhem). I would rather drink ink.]
Could you please include in this website your photograph on graduation day in 1996 when a degree in archaeology was on you?
[Daphne – My, you’re a keen one. Do you get your rocks off looking at pictures of women in graduation gowns? Our friend Ron Jeremy, currently in Azerbaijan, could point you in the direction of a couple of wabsajts.]
Ah Daphne! So that is why you’re so good at ripping apart the prehestoric behaviour of the PL!
Drink your ink. Have you gone haywire?
[Daphne – It’s an expression. Ask Anglu. He’s bound to know.]
He was so arrogant on Xarabank. He doesn’t look at Dr. Gonzi as his opponent but rather his despised enemy.
When he becomes prime minister he will unleash his deep-seated hatred towards those who opposed him. With that power gone to his head and his clouded judgment, political vengeance will become again a daily occurrence. I am really concerned.
He feels constrained and paralyzed because Malta is in the EU. I wouldn’t be surprised if once he become prime minister he engineers a plan to take Malta out of the EU and prove himself ‘right’.
Malta’s future under a Labour government looks dismal.
My comment is still awaiting your moderation.
Lies deal with facts. Last Friday 05/11/2010,
Dr Lawrence Gonzi said that the obnoxious
smell, emitted from the Recycling Plant – Marsascala, was eliminated by a Nationalist government.
It transpires that the Recycling Plant ceased polluting Marsascala when Dr George Vella was Minister for Foreign Affairs and Environment, in the Labour Administration, between 1996 and 1998. This is a truthful fact. It was
at that stage that Dr Joseph Muscat was correct when
he called, quite rightly in front of the audience and all
televiewers, that Dr Lawrence Gonzi is a liar.
[Daphne – Please stop copying and pasting the same thing several times over. It makes you seem neurotic or unhinged. When comments are awaiting moderation, they will not get through more quickly if you ‘dial again’. They await moderation while I, for example, watch a film, eat supper, go out, work, or do anything else I happen to prefer doing at the time rather than deal with tenacious morons on the internet. Here’s another word of advice: it’s pointless changing your name and email address if you’re going to use the same internet connection/computer network.]
In that case, H. Mizzi, the liar was Joseph Muscat because, as any Marsascala resident will tell you, “the smell” was certainly not eliminated in 1998. The PM should know since he lives right across the road from the plant.
Is it me or does the stupid f**ker have Desperate Dan’s chin?
Dr Lawrence Gonzi has had first hand information of this evident situation because he resides in the vicinity of the Recycling Plant – Marsascala. Last Friday 05/11/2020, the lack of truth in his statement, about the said plant, is subsequent to the wrong information he divulged to
parliament that the black dust in Fgura ceased since last summer. Definitely Dr Lawrence Gonzi has to pass through Fgura before he arrives at his residence in Marsascala?
Both these statements proved that Dr Lawrence Gonzi
is a liar.
Back to the future …..2020!
Right H Mizzi, so this earth-shattering and, I might add, subjective, bit of news is what sent Joseph Muscat into wild hysterics. Not quite the cool dude he makes out he is then.
Is this how he is going to react when prime minister? Banging on desks, stamping of feet, screaming at the top of his voice. Dear oh dear, another mini-Mintoff.
Rover,
A Mini-Me posing as a mini-Mintoff.
Dr Lawrence Gonzi has first hand information of what happens at the Recycling Plant – Marsascala because he has resided in the vicinity of this plant for a long time which amounts for quite
a considerable number of years. It is evident that last Friday 05/11/2010, he tried to mislead all the followers of Xarabank.
The lack of truth in his statement regarding the said plant,
is subsequent to the wrong information he divulged to the House of Representatives that the black dust in Fgura ceased since last summer. Definitely some day, during last summer, Dr Lawrence Gonzi had to pass through Fgura before he arrived at his residence in Marsascala. Both these statements declared recently by the Prime Minister entitle Dr Lawrence Gonzi to be called a liar.
situation
[Daphne – Look, I’ll give you a handy household hint here. When you copy and paste from internet sources (even your own comments uploaded elsewhere) the lines go out of synch and you get large gaps between random phrases. So it’s always best, when you’ve done some copying and pasting, to run through the text and knock them out using the backspace button. It also helps if you highlight and delete any loose words left drifting around at the end of the text. It makes the whole thing more credible, more convincing – you know?]
Joseph Muscat didn’t answer a single question put to him. He beat about the bush going totally off topic at times. Every argument revolves around the energy tariffs. Is this the only leg he has to stand on?
Yes. He damaged the other one whilst dancing (or something to that effect; sadly I have very little time to keep up with the gossip).
Why are my comments still awaiting your prolonged moderation? Is it that difficult for you to consider to
include in your website that the initials of Prime Minister
are LG. Following the lack of truth he expressed intentionally on Friday 05/11/2010 and before, LG stand for Liar Gonzi and
Lawrence Giddieb. They are bilingual versions which refer to the same individual.
Thanks for your advice about my computing abilities. It is advisable that you stop your destructive intitiatives which
in this case you initiated it by exposing a photograph of
a graduate. It seems that you are a collector of photographs which appear that you get your rocks off looking at pictures
of menin graduation gowns.
Obviously you did not take Daphne’s advice.
It seems the free advice was not taken. Copy and paste again?
What is the problem with “exposing” a photograph of our potential future prime minister wearing a Colgate smile and a toga?
Personally, I believe in equal opportunities – all politicians should be laughed at from time to time. Helps to keep their self-righteous feet on the ground.
I think I got it – this is a copy and paste from Google Translate or similar, using Maltese –> English……
…….ahjar tikteb bil-Malti ruhi.
Jissejjah giddieb min jaghmel allegazzjonijiet infondati u foloz u jibqa jghid l-istess anke wara investigazzjoni u ma jissostanzjaghhomx bhal dak li qed jghid Joseph Muscat dwra il-kuntratt tal-power station.
Jew min qal li rebah ir-referendum u ma jkunx veru.
Dwar ir-recycling plant ghandna ghalfejn nirrangrazjaw lil Joseph Muscat tal-hsara li ghamel lil-Malta biex ma jigux il-flus mill-Ewropa meta kien MEP. Il-Prim Ministru wahda wahda kollox qed isolvi u ma ninsewx li f’dan il-pajjiz mill-gvernijiet tal-Labour qatt ma sar xejn hlief korruzzjoni ghax ghalekk biss tajbin.
“Richard Head” anybody……..me thinks yea.
H Mizzi is starting to remind me of HAL from 2001…….A Space Odyssey
LG: Open your mind, Joe.
JM: I’m sorry, Lawrence. I’m afraid I can’t do that.
Nies serji qalu li Dr. Gonzi gabu qisu baby lil Dr. Muscat fuq Xarabank. U dan wara kwazi 25 sena fil-gvern.
Daphne would not know this. Her snake-oil merchant label is not original.
One of the most prominent Italian politicians of the twentieth century used to refer to Dom Mintoff, privately, as ‘quel venditore di tappeti”.
Great minds think alike.
I think NET TV is not doing enough to combat PL deceit
My comments are still awaiting your moderation. Thanks for your advice regarding my computing abilities. I had rather prefer your answer to the contents of my comments than
your opinion about my computing abilities. Remember lies deal with facts, not opinions. It is advisable that you stop
your destructive initiatives. Exposing a photograph of
a male graduate in your website implies that you are
a collector of photographs and appears that you are impressed by such snapshots. It is advisable that you
get your rocks off looking at pictures of men in graduation gowns.
[Daphne – Looks like somebody hasn’t taken his medication today. On such people does the Labour Party depend for its votes – too damn bad there are so many of them.]
Mizzi give us a break and go and read l-Orizzont or whatever it is people like you do in the morning.
You are incredibly patient, Daphne. As for me, I felt quite irritated reading (scrolling down) through this repetitive nonsense.
“too damn bad there are so many of them.”
I would not be that worried, so long as there are a few more Nationalists to guarante that constitutional 50% + 1 vote majority at the general elections.
From timesofmalta.com :
Monday, 8th November 2010
Smart metres cost €20 million
The sum of €20 million has been spent on the installation of smart metres and this was according to the payment plan ageemed between IBM and Enemalta and WSC.
Answering a question by Jesmond Mugliett, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said various measures were taken, including the small scale implementation plan and its evaluation and the installation of some 38,000 metres. There were another 44,157 metres in Enemalta’s warehouse.
The minister said that the installation of smart metres started with a pilot project in May 2009, during which 5,000 smart metres were insatlled.
The project was concluded at the begining of the year and a massive roll ot was started to change all metres.
Mr Fenech said that the installation was moving according to plan and all metres were expected to be changed within three years.
I thought “metre” was a measure of length whilst “meter” was a measuring device.
Am I correct or should have I been shot at dawn?
[Daphne – You’re correct and The Times is not.]
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Scotch-Deal-To-Ensure-Only-Scottish-Whisky
Better stock up pronto or the Chinese will guzzle it all !
@ H Mizzi
Just to be pedantic and purely for the heck of it: Mrs Caruana Galizia has no ‘rocks’ to get off – the aforementioned ‘rocks’ refer to testicles, therefore while she has them metaphorically she does not do so literally.
As an aside, I always found amusing Italian women invariably referring to their absent male organ when quarrelling.
To pre-empt future wisecracks – no, she did not have them before she changed gender either. Seen her too often in the past carrying a full load of child to contemplate that possibility.
H. Mizzi – good manners dictate that one does not resort to calling people ‘liars’ – if one has to, one can use the term ‘you are not being truthful’ or something to that effect, but I suppose your Joseph is only out to impress his supporters by acting this way.
Grave mistake – he should always take into account the ‘floating voters’ who are ultimately the people politicians should address, because it is a fact that Labour supporters will always remain so and never change their allegiance, even if they are given heaven on earth by the PN.
On another note: it is not fair that you always pick on maltasatr. There are loads more. What about Alfred Zammit’s Kalamita? This is from its Facebook page:
Kalamita, a popular Maltese magazine show in the afternoon on One Tv.
Show starts daily at 1pm and fulfills you with AMAZINGLY USEFUL information till 4.30pm :))
KALAMITA – your natural choice for the afternoon
This show and/or its presenter was given an award after being voted tops last year. This says a lot about the Maltese television scene and its bored housewife viewers who sit through 3.5 hours of cooks cooking, doctors diagnosing, singers singing, lawyers (Dr Toni Abela) advising, adverts galore and a bland-as-blancmange presenter with a hint of bible-belt evangelism thrown in.
Yeah … after this comment One Tv should actually put you on telly with your AMAZINGLY USEFUL information.
Herbert Micallef – I was quoting exactly what is written on the Kalamita Facebook wall. None of the words or punctuation are mine.
There nust have been a School of Bluff, from which the major exponents on the PL must have graduated cum laude.
The Times sub-editors will not let Mabel rest in peace.
Totally agree with Red Nose. Unfortunately both Net TV and Radio 101 do not combat PL deceit effectively. In fact I think they should have more programmes of a political nature – as after all One TV and One News have literally a bombardment of doom and gloom but they have impact on their listeners. I am disappointed that Radio 101 does not have any news broadcast after 6pm.
Why should NET and Radio 101 bother when they have Bondi and friends doing the work for them on national television? This has always been the modus operandi of the PN – placing their key media/PR people strategically elsewhere, like the good pawns that they are, in an effort to give the impression that the independent and objective media is supportive of their cause. This also goes to show why the PN never bothered investing serious money on NET TV and Radio 101, which are, hands down, the lousiest media offerings in Malta.
[Daphne – ‘Placing their key media/PR people strategically elsewhere’: place? Lejborist, you just don’t get it. People who vote Labour and people who vote Nationalist don’t have different political philosophies. They have different attitudes and mindsets. Laburisti might be the sort who allow themselves to ‘get placed’, but don’t project that ‘follow my leader’ tendency on everyone else.]
Prime Minister LG has apologized to Labour supporters for calling them sick people. It is advisable that you follow suit
instead of insinuating about medication and haemorrhoids
(piles) which according to you the male graduate featured
above suffers from. Daphne show some decency.
For one, the Prime Minister never called Labour supporters sick people. That is the way Maltastar twisted his words. What he was saying was simply a metaphor. He said that the Labour party tries to come across as the cure for this country when in fact they have been the disease for this country.
“Qed jipruvaw ipingu lilhom infushom bhala l-kura ta dan il-pajjiz meta fil-fatt kienu l-marda ta dan il-pajjiz”. You see, he did not call anyone sick. The word “marda” here was just a metaphor, but who are we trying to kid here? The media owned by the Labour Party have been twisting other people’s words for a long time now and gullible people like you believe everything they say. When you stop believing everything Maltastar say without questioning, maybe we will start taking you seriously.
H. Mizzi – have you no sense of humour at all ? Get a life.
Etil, the answer’s no. H Mizzi votes Labour. Hadn’t you noticed?
Daphne, your party is corrupt and is trying to cover up a lot of murk with the leader’s saintly appearance and his assassin smile.
Questioning Muscat’s integrity when everyone had enough of this Berlusconiesque prime minister of ours.
http://bradrants.com/blog/uploaded/BradRants/Images/Misc/Shenanigans.jpg
Dear Herbert Micallef, thanks for the link. Is that how you see the typical Labour voter who’s had enough of GoNziPN?
Daphne’s Party! and I wasn’t invited!
Oh, the new middle class, of which the PL is the natural party, is already sick up to here of the PN government shenanigans.
Antoine – That’s called humour. I am a typical labour voter and I am extremely handsome and possess an IQ that would make Max Planck jealous.
The monkey was a motivational poster so I can motivate lesser thinking beings like yourself into questioning the governments duty of care towards Maltese citizens.
Troy – no comments. Don’t expect Daphne to organise anything like that. She’s not a chav, although she knows some.
Ciccio – Middle class? PL? Left wing politics is classless. Read Karl Marx and learn … living in a world where everyone is treated the same … reminds of christian democracy too. Grow up!
Karl Marx who? Not much in fashion after 1989. What about the Italian Communist Party which, after being the largest outside the Soviet bloc, evaporated into thin air.
Herbert Micallef – if the PN party is corrupt – substantiate your claims with proof of corruption. My, what hatred you lot have in your systems. Muscat’s integrity – what is that?
I patiently read all comments trying to find also what Dr J Muscat said: incorrect ARMS bills – over 5000; waiting list at Mater Dei (Orthop.?) – over 8000; increase in budget for Ministry of Education – only 2 million Euro. ALL ARE INCORRECT. So who is the liar?
@ Herbert Micallef ‘Daphne, your party is corrupt’ And then when the PN dismissed the Sliema major because of corruption the PL supported him all the way. Int ilhaqtu lil Lorry Sant u lil-Patrick Holland jew? Il-korruzzjoni kienet istutjonallizzata. Joseph Muscat jallega biss jaf. Ghandkom lill-Inspector Gadget kif qatt ma jaqbad xejn fis-sod? Facli tallega habib.
Korruzzjoni, mela ha nibdew – Il-Gvern Laburista kien jiehu djar tan-nies privati minghajr ma jhallashom u jaghmilhom kazini tal-Labour, jew jibni appartamenti ghall-bazuzli!
Dik xtejdilha korruzzjoni?
Biex tiehu post tal-gvern Patrick Holland kien jibaghtek ghand il-barman tal-kazin Laburista ta’ San Giljan, ghand Harry Ebejer maghruf bhala ras il-Baghal u kien ikollu mazz cwievet u jghidlek ghazel fejn trid tmur toqoghod.
Min kien ikun onest u jaf b’dawn l-affarijiet kien jibza jitkellem ghax taqla xi xeba’ min ghand il-bullijiet jew jekk ikun hemm bzonn min ghand il-pulizija. U Lorry Sant u Piju Camilleri?
Staqsu lil Joe Pace tal-Magic Kiosk, Jew lil Joe Borg kemm serqulhom artijiet.. Imbaghad dawk il-qatta giddibien tal-Maltastar joqoghodu jghidu fuq id-dar ta’ Daphne!
Tghid mhux bil-korruzzjoni ghandha dik id-dar Daphne. Il-Labour irid jitkellem fuq korruzzjoni? Kemm ma tafu xejn fuq korruzzjoni! Il-prim ministru giddieb? Anzi fi zmien in-Nazzjonalisti qatt ma qatlu lil hadd biex cery kbarat ma jinqabdux fil-korruzzjoni.
Jesmond Mugliett managed a much better criticism of ARMS than Joseph Muscat.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101108/local/former-minister-mugliette-slams-government-on-arms-ltd
[Daphne – I see that he hasn’t criticised the government’s STEPS scholarship programme, though, having benefited from it himself even though it’s intended to help those who give up work to study. Tajba din, he carries on receiving an MP’s salary, probably still works as an architect, and hoovered up a scholarship on top of all that. Kemm hawn nies li m’ghandhomx zejt f’wicchom. I was aghast when I heard his name being called out among all those 20-year-olds.]
Nice.
I can’t stand this man. He puts me off. When I see him I recall how I got a ‘speeding’ fine on the Manwel Dimech Bridge. He solemnley declared that the bridge was about to fall and needed urgent repairs, but all I can say is that Korean workmanship lasts for ever and is nearly indistructable.
His office pocketed a lot from that project, while the rest of the Maltese roads were abandoned.
At least now we have quite a lot of resurfaced roads and others which were rebuilt on time while Austin Gatt was in charge. No wonder Mugliett is now criticising Gatt’s ministry.
I am in possession of a list of those who benefited from the latest STEPS call. Mugliett is not in that list. It’s either that he benefited from MGSS scheme (there was one ceremony for both STEPS and MGSS schemes, the two schemes are actually quite similar to each other) or your facts are completely wrong. By the way neither is Claudette Baldacchino listed as a STEPS awardee.
[Daphne – I was at the awards ceremony last year and Jesmond Mugliett was one of the recipients. In fact, he was really embarrassed when he had to walk past me with his scholarship certificate. I was at the awards ceremony again this year and Claudette was one of the recipients. If it was an MGSS scholarship, then that’s even worse (in Mugliett’s case), as the acronym stands for Malta Government Scholarship Scheme. I don’t think there is anything wrong in Claudette Baldacchino applying for and getting a scholarship. But there is a great deal that is very wrong in a former cabinet minister and current MP – Jesmond Mugliett – doing so.]
I was referring only to one of this year’s ceremony for which I was present (I don’t know about previous years, but this year there were two ceremonies due to the large number of awardees).
I imagine the pressure on the selection board in giving a Malta government scholarship to a government MP. However, wouldn’t it be ironic if Claudette Abela Baldacchino got a scholarship funded by EU funds? It is customary for applicants to apply under both STEPS and MGSS scholarships at the same time, thus increasing their chances of being awarded a scholarship.
The opportunistic glorification of heroes once labelled as villains (and also splashed on billboards as corrupt people) is symptomatic of the tatters the Labour Party is in.
Clutching at straws big-time in the absence of substance – to add insult to their injury they just cannot seem to pick the right straw either.
Just to clarify…I did not intend my comment as glorification of anyone.
I just think that there is so much to be criticised about the government and Joseph Muscat makes an absolutely awful mess of it. Mugliett was much better at it. The focus here is on Muscat.
Il-PL maghandu xejn fuqxiex jatakka. Bla policies. Hlief kontijiet tal-ilma u d-dawl u korruzzjoni ma tismax. Maqdru xi haga li qed jaghmel il-gvern bhal Smart City. Daqs kemm ghedtu li mhux se ssir!
Smart City mhux progett tal-gvern.
Riya, insejt xi haga, li kont thallas 50 lira biex ikollok TV tal-kulur, u meta kien hawn l-importazzjoni mizmuma kont tmur ghand il-Fusellu u thallas l-eluf ta’ liri u kien igieblek il-permess fi zmien gurnata.
U kemm kien hemm korruzjoni fic-cimiterju tal-Addolorata fi zmienhom meta kien imexxi Panpanella. U meta saret triq gdida go ghalqa u inghatat it-tarmak biex tidher sabiha u il-partitarji tal-Labour hadu il-plots bit-3000 lira il wahda. Din kienet Psaila Street wara il-knisja ta’ Santa Venera.
Nahseb lanqas tieqaf bil-korruzjoni – ahjar jaghlqu halqhom.
Korruzzjoni? Ticcajta!
Jiena naf min kellu d-dar tieghu, bieghha u ha flat tal-gvern minghand Lorry Sant u min ma kellux fejn joqghod baqa’ b’xejn.
The Times tells us here that some rooms at Ghajn Tuffieha ‘were evicted’.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101108/local/inspectors-start-another-round-of-evictions-at-golden-bay-barracks
Yesterday it was “Smart metres” instead of “meters”. I sent a comment to the moderator and/or sub-editor (not for publication) but they just botched it up and did not bother. After all now it is a back issue.
You want to bet? Soon we will see the Muscats dancing with children.
Jesmond Mugliett and his certificate were visible when you attended the cermony last year? Were not they imaginary as the piles the male graduate, featured at the top of all these comments, is supposed to be suffering from? That was
either a joke or your fabricated insinuation as Prime
Minister LG (Liar Giddieb) invents every now and then.
[Daphne – Yes, Jesmond Mugliett and his certificate were highly visible and several hundred people saw Mugliett shake the prime minister’s hand while the prime minister gave him his scholarship certificate. There was, as I recall, a perplexed murmur among those seated near me. I understood, because I felt the same way myself, having at first thought that he was there to accept the scholarship on behalf of a son or daughter, only to find out that it was for him. As for Joseph Muscat’s piles, I wouldn’t know, not being privy to such matters of a highly personal nature – though I have no doubt he would be pleased to oblige if you asked, having told us already in graphic detail how much his wife bled, and where, during her pregnancy.]
@ H Mizzi: Your comments give me the impression that you have the mental age of a 12-year old.
Il-Fusellu mhux wara gurnata kien ijigiblek il-permessi imma dak il hin stess, ghax gol-briefcase kien ikollu it-timbri kollha tad-Dwana, basta tfaqqa il-flus.
The only way Muscat can bring the W&E bills down is by subsidising them. Even at maximum efficiency savings will be negligible. So he has either to tax us further, or rob Peter to pay Paul.
It could just be that his well-kept secret is the guarantee of increased productivity on the return of a Labour government. Now that would really have the floating voters falling over each other to vote Mr.Credible in.
No two ways about it. We are stuck with this government for the foreseeable future, and the way things are developing this may not be a bad idea at all. Lino Spiteri recently intimated that the next elections will be too close to call and the balance will be tipped by the performance of the leaders.
If I read him correctly he is already forecasting a Nationalist victory.
Would EU approve of a subsidy?
“The only way Muscat can bring the W&E bills down is by subsidising them. Even at maximum efficiency savings will be negligible.”
How do you know this? Do you have any idea what the figures are?
You seem to me to be making the same mistake that Muscat does. If you want to be credible and say that “at maximum efficiency savings will be negligible”, I would expect some figures audited by a credible authority.
Can you please post another article D. Or at least change the pic. I’m tired of seeing his stupid and smutty face every time I log on. Three days is more than enough.
Seconded,,pretty please……?
Daphne, I suggest you leave that picture right there. It is enough to remind us what we will have to endure all the time for 5 years if he becomes a PM.
R. Camilleri – I wasn’t referring to you. Actually I think you’re right in saying that Mugliett made a better criticism of Arms than Joe Muscat did, not that it takes much.
Many people who were extremely vociferous against EU membership now find themselves actually depending on the EU for their livelihood.
I am sure that the PN wil win the next election if Dr Gonzi settles the Air Malta because the majority of the workers are nationalists
Fuq Xarabank Joseph Muscat qal li mhux veru hu kien kontra l-Ewropa. Dak zgur giddieb.
@H Mizzi: It isn’t wise to imply that you are familiar with the state of the graduate’s anatomy. That is taking brown nosing a bit too far.
I wonder why Daphne takes such active role to protect gonzipn. are you pr officer? do you have an office at castile? why all this protection. mhur gibek min hawn u sentejn ohra meta jithabbar ir rizultat tal elezzjoni li jmiss u Dr. Joseph Muscat jiehu il gurament ta PM ta MALTA.
Nispera li l-maggoranza tal-Maltin huma ta’ intelligenza ferm akbar min tieghek u JM jibqa’ jsaffar!
Kieku tkun vera miskina…….MALTA.
Isn’t it the equivalent of you getting all excited about just-call-me-Joseph becoming the prime minister of Malta?
Well ok, you’re right, it’s NOT the same thing, because Daphne can actually spell and formulate a proper argument, while you cannot. Apologies for not taking this fact into consideration from the outset.
If there is a person who lies to the public for one time or several times it is a pure and simple GIDDIEB and for sure GONZI is entitled to that.
My leader Joseph Muscat was right to call him GIDDIED as every one knows that he is the biggest GIDDIEB malta ever had. And Daphne dont be stupid as we are proud of our leader.
Your leader? You are actually “led” by someone else?
Well, sometimes I do doubt if Nationalist governments really invested that much in our education.
Should one day the Martians land, take them to your Leader. That will convince them that Planet Earth is still in its primitive stage.
@tony10
‘My leader Joseph Muscat’
Does he also tell you what to eat for breakfast?
You’d better take that with a pinch of salt.
Another Maltastar clone hits the footlights. “My leader Joseph Muscat ” zommu sew hi, ghax jahrablek !
Ara Tony! X`minnek, Ton? Kultant tigi tonorana bil-presenza tieghek int. Niehdu pjacir bik. L-unika haga, l-aggettiv “giddieb” in-nies edukati u ta l-affari taghhom jippruvaw ma juzawhx. Juzaw “Tghid kelma b`ohra”, jew “Thawwad”. And Daphne don’t be stupid, ok? Ja arjuranta.
Jien ghadni qed infittex fejn issemmew il-haemorrhoids f’dan il-blog.
Dear Herbert, since you seem to be an insider and an assiduous follower of Joseph, did you by any chance hear him say who, from Arms, had ordered that no refund be issued unless requested?
I am glued to all media since Joseph Muscat promised he would mention the moron, but haven’t heard the name yet. I do not wish to jot this one as another blatant childish lie of his.
You equate Gonzi to Berlsuconi. What level of IQ do you have?
Tony10 – you seem to have a fixation for the word ‘giddieb’. Polite people use another word – they say ‘you are not telling the truth’ particularly so, when they are addressing a prime minister.
Check out what YOUR leader said regarding the EU before his right-about turns.
Daphne, how about writing something about Air Malta that the PN managed to bring to its knees? I’m not interested in what you think about Muscat, he’s the opposition leader after all, not the prime minister, thus with little or no effect on how the country is run. I would be interested, however, in your opinion about the current situation at our national airline. Thanks.
[Daphne – You’re not very bright if you think the Opposition leader has no effect on how the country is run. We nearly didn’t join the European Union because of the influence of Sant as Opposition leader and his lapdog Muscat. Why do you think nearly half the electorate voted No in the EU membership referendum? Because Sant and Muscat told them too: it went against all common sense, and many of those who voted no – indeed, many of those who campaigned against membership – are now reaping the benefits, Muscat foremost among them. My opinion about Air Malta is this: it was brought to its knees by over-employment during the Labour government years, when jobs with Air Malta were jobs for the boys. It’s the reason why all of Air Malta’s older employees are die-hard Laburisti. It’s not a coincidence.
The company is hugely overmanned and, because of heavy unionisation, the hundreds of people who are effectively redundant cannot be made redundant. For decades it has been run like a government department, with no mental or actual link being made between money in and money out – like the dry docks. The difference is that people do not resent Air Malta in the same way that we resented the dry docks because we see the airline as our link to the outside world: life on this rock would be pretty scary without Air Malta. So we never whined about the millions going in subsidies, though we were pretty cross for years about the high fares. When the flight staff took union action last year, I thought they were crazy to do so in an economic climate in which airlines were going bankrupt all over and thousands of staff ending up without work. But it is obvious that Air Malta staff think of themselves as having security of tenure, like state employees.
When the pilots agitated for better pay and conditions around four years ago, I was on their side, not least because it made commercial sense. Air Malta is nothing without its highly trained and experienced pilots, so instead of wasting money on effectively redundant employees, it should be making those payroll savings and using the money to give pilots better salaries instead. The real problem is that Air Malta was never run as a commercial company, because it couldn’t be: it was burdened from the start with far too many employees, had no flexibility, and a vicious cycle was created in which it became dependent on state hand-outs.
The ‘PN’ did not bring Air Malta to its knees. It was never designed to be a commercial company, and was brought to its knees by the bad roots of its inception, complete with Wistin Abela overmanning, as a state corporation. Might I also remind you, or tell you because perhaps you don’t know, that for much of the time during successive Nationalist governments, Air Malta was run by Labour man Louis Grech, now an MEP. And that makes the Labour Party’s current criticism rather ironic, particularly given that Mr Grech is apparently participating in the European Commission-related discussions on the airline.]
So true – in the early 1990s I used to do some consultancy work for Air Supplies (an Air Malta subsidiary) and most of the staff were from Zejtun, Luqa and the surrounding villages.
Pilferage was so high that they had to have specially labelled whisky bottles to make them potentially identifiable because they disappeared so regularly from the stores.
This is not to mention the conflicts of interest that past chairmen had by acting as Malta agents for airplane manufacturers such as Boeing and Avro and for insisting that only products imported by them be used by the airline.
And right on cue, here’s Tony Zarb, refusing to allow the virtually bankrupt Air Malta to shed excess employees:
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/tony-zarb-saving-air-malta-cannot-come-to-the-detriment-of-airline-employees
One of the many mistakes that the management of Air Malta always committed was the lack of team work with the local agents. Air Malta always preferred to work in direct competition with travel agents. The result was for the latter to prefer working with other airlines. To be fair, there were always some exceptions for the friendly few.
The scenario has completely changed as nowadays travellers are booking flights, hotels, rail tickets, etc online at the last minute. This cannot be done through a travel agent as all you need is an internet connection and a credit card. Travel agents have been reduced to organising tours and cruises.
You are right that there have been staffing problems in certain sections from the very beginning. What this government didn’t do however is clean up the place earlier.
Although some sections are overstaffed, many other sections of the company are quite the opposite – understaffed. Although comparisons are odious, a company similar in size to Air Malta is Luxair of Luxemburg, who employ 2400 staff as against Air Malta’s 1400…….. and still made a profit in the mother of all recessions!
Air Malta had 2000 staff just a few short years ago, and still turned a profit in its core operation.
In fact, Air Malta’s predicament has little to do with staffing levels. Last year it made a net lost of €31million, though it had some €35m in operational losses. Audited results described the losses as €18m due to higher fuel prices and €12m due to inferior Sterling exchange rates. This leaves some €4 in other losses some of which could possibly well be due to staffing levels.
This year the rumour is €51m losses. With an all time low in staffing levels, and fuel half the price, where has all this money gone? How can the staff be blamed?
One last thing. You are wrong about Air Malta receiving “millions in subsidies”. It has never received a cent.
In fact it has always contributed, previously in profits, but always in tax and NI contributions. I estimate that last year alone, some €18m in employee’s income tax was paid, besides some €2m in NI. Since inception, the company must have paid the government enough to build TWO Mater Dei Hospitals!
When god forbid Ryanair forces Air Malta out (mainly due to the millions in subsidies it receives from our governemnet – your taxes and mine), not a cent will go to our coffers, as even their Malta base employees get paid in Ireland. Though they live and work here, they don’t pay insurance and tax like you and I…….. though they use our hospitals and infrastructure……. that you and I pay for.
But that’s another story. Hopefully the real problems at Air Malta are solved.
Are you the PRO of LG Liar Giddieb Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi? Why are your bloggers bewildered for calling LG a Liar? In Britain a Prime Minister was called, even on placards, Tony B Liar for his lack of truth in
an instance. Daphne, kindly decide who is your target.
Your target has the intials JM. Decide whom your are referring to either Jesmond Mugliett or Joseph Muscat? Please reflect on the following:-
Hemm talija l-Bidnija
Gradwata fl-arkeologija
Jekk thares lejn kitbitha ssib mitt hmerija.
Izda dina wiccha qaghad ghal kollox minghajr misthija.
Hawn wiehed
fuq dan il-blog
illi jismu H Mizzi
kull ma’ jghamel Joe lixx
Hector igibulu pizzi pizzi!
H Mizzi kompli ikteb ghax tfakkarna u tikkonvincina li rridu inkunu bhalek biex nivvutaw Labour.
They really have a serious problem with getting their facts right!
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=78351
@ ray spiteri
Daphne kull ma hi mara ta’ vera, thobb lil Malta u lill-Maltin. Tal-Labour jahsbu li biex thobb lil Malta trid tkun imhallas mill-pajjiz jew minn xi partit. Kemm ghandkom zball.
Jien nixtieq nistaqsi fuq xiex lill-Prim Ministru qed jajruh giddieb?
Daph, where are you? 4 days is a long time – us blog freaks need you.
H. Mizzi – I am going to tell it to you in English as I do not know the Maltese saying if there is one ‘you have a hell of a big chip on your shoulder’ and you have to vent your frustrations on someone.
‘say’ not ‘tell’
Bil-Malti: “Ghandek patata cips kbira fuq spallejk”.
Hallina mic-cajt, nahseb bil-Malti nghidu “ghandek kull lanzita ghal……” jew gieli smajt “ghandek (jew hemm) il-qadim”, li tfisser li l-individwu jattakka lil xi hadd ghal-ragunijiet li jkunu ilhom li saru u li mhux bil-fors huma ovvji jew jghidhom.
PE f’dan il-kaz jista’ jkun li l-individwu ippretenda xi haga minghand il-gvern u jaf li ma kellux dritt ghaliha u ma’ nghatatlux…..hemm il-qadim ghalek il-lanzit.
In your sequence of events regarding Air Malta you failed to
mention John J Tabone its Chairman who squandered its funds
on the purchase of RJ’s. He was the initial source that diminished Air Malta’s profits and the recurring losses
suffered by the whole company due to his miscalculated
decision. Kindly tell Gahan to polish his rhyme in Maltese. Otherwise he is proving “li tajjeb biss biex jigbed il-bieb
kif qaltlu ommu. Ahjar jaqtaghha u ma jindahalx fejn ma
jesawx.”
[Daphne – Min hu John J Tabone? Ma nafux.]
Sew jekk tiekol imqaret ,
jew tnaqqar il-pastizzi
Gahan ser jibqa’ seqer fuqek
ghaziz Sur Mizzi.
“Jesawx” flok “jesghux” tikteb
paragrafi bl-addocc titfa’
ismijiet tfajjar wiehed f’wiehed
attenzjoni m’ghandekx nitfa.
Mr Tabone is a Gozitan who was politically appointed by the Nationalist Administration as Chairman of Air Malta. He was another snake-oil merchant who burdened Air Malta with great losses when he decided and approved the transactions concerning R J Avroliners and Azzureair aircrafts.
[Daphne – No John J. Tabone ever ran Air Malta.]
Ha nurik kemm jien tajjeb u ghala biebi.
“Il-haddiema ta’ l-Air Malta m’ghandomx tort” qal Tony Zarb , u jien ta’ Gahan li jien insaqsieh ” U allura?”.
Ghax nghidlek frankament jien kont go fabbrika li kienet tajba u kellha tnaqqas in-nies li kienu jahdmu bla heda, la tawna somom u la gew presidenti u prim ministri u la gejna fuq l-ahbarijiet u l-anqas il-GWU ma’ giet taqbez ghalina il-membri taghha.
Jekk hemm in-nies zejda jaghmlulhom kif ghamlu lili u lil shabi li ukoll ma’ kellniex tort. “Xi darba tmiss lil-Papa” nghidu ghal min kien jikolha tajjeb.Kellhom gobb ta’ Papa li kont qed inhallas ghalihom jien mit-taxxi u l-vjaggi tieghi, issa inqatatilhom iz-zejza!
M’hemmx x’taghmel, min hu barra, barra u min hu gewwa, gewwa. Fredu Sant mhux hekk ried jittrattahom lil tax-Shipbuilding?