Nave Costa Concordia

We extend our deepest condolences to the families of all those shipwreck victims on Isola del Giglio.

May they rest in peace.

When you call the shots and they land on your foot

Has PM Gonzi lost hold of his senses?

We were at work when we received a message from The Times, saying that the "government withdraws ministerial pay raise, promotes three parliamentary secretaries."

Our immediate reaction? "Bleh, Franco Debono has managed to have it his way." What else could one think?

Fortunately, however, this doesn't seem to be the case. Actually it ISN'T the case. Have you read his immediate comment? Well, he's calling on the PM to resign. According to Pio Franco, the PM has erred all along in the past years. He did us wrong and so must go. Oh please. When will this man get a real life?

Does he think everyone is so stupid and gullible to believe that he means well? That he really is calling on the PM to resign because of propriety? What if Dr Gonzi had made him Minister for Justice? Would he still have said that? Oh, bugger off.

Well, we can't deny that we'd have immensely cherished being a fly on that wall, seeing Dr Debono throwing tantrums because Chris Said took what he so desperately coveted. It's not out of spite, really. But you know, karma is one wonderful thing. One can now only wait and see which of the parliamentary sittings he'll decide to skive, and how many other party officials will have to pay him a visit to appease his discomfort.

Apparently he seems to have been severely reproached - on many an occasion. Yet, today's diva-like tantrums are quite indicative of the fact that everything must have fallen on deaf ears. And, thick-skinned as he is, we shall indeed be expecting much, much worse. What a twat, really. Everybody knows and thinks that - but he can't seem to get it.

Anyhow, to return to the main reason why we're writing this post.
How to put it mildly? "What on earth was Dr Gonzi thinking when he decided to revoke the pay-rises?" will have to do.

Contrary to the many out there, we were never against the raises. "Pay peanuts and you get monkeys" is a given, and the less they are paid, the more they will seek income elsewhere, so no more shall be said.

Hence, Dr Gonzi and the rest of the government were right to vote for it. They've a whole load of responsibilities on their backs, and expecting to be fairly (as opposed to "well") paid for it is only human. Besides, many seem to be oblivious to the fact that ministers now have bigger portfolios. But that's a totally different story, which we're not going to discuss here.

The Prime Minister said, on several occasions, that the pay-rise was justified and that he has no pangs of conscience. He was very vociferous about it - and whether he convinced you or not is again a totally different matter.

It is therefore incongruent that all of a sudden he's decided to repeal it. Once you believe something is right; once you try to make sure a whole nation deems it right; you may not, on one beautiful rainy day, do something of the sort. And blaming it on the cutting of costs won't help, really.

Shooting yourself in the foot. Political suicide. There's more than one way of saying it. Dr Gonzi, you shouldn't have done that. No. It's a big mistake. And you'll now have to face the titanic consequences that inevitably come with it.

That's bad. What comes next is even worse.
Expecting that a whole nation backs you because, "hey, I was not given the cejca (sweets) I wanted. Let's bring down the government. Help me! I don't care that there's an economic crisis and Malta shouldn't waste money on an unnecessary election. I want to make them suffer, because I had planned every minute detail of all this." It's nauseating.

It's such a pity that the promotion of 3 hard-working MPs - among whom Dr Mario De Marco, who's been doing a fabulous job with tourism - had to be clouded with such personal discontent made public.

"bunch of Sherlock Holmes"

As reported on The Times, and as can be found in Article 224 of  Malta's civil code:

"if a homicide, or bodily harm, occurs at night and involves the victims breaking into the property, then no offence would have been committed."

Many are now saying that being Anglu Xuereb's daughter, everything is being done to make sure she's not incriminated. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? This is what the criminal code states, whether you are Anglu Xuereb's daughter or Joey tal-haxix's son is beside the point. Now, whether you agree with the law or not is another story altogether. 

And for those conspirators claiming that all this is being done to divert attention from the Debono-Gonzi issue, as we've seen some people stating on social networks, PLEASE GET A LIFE!

These threads speak for themselves. They're only two of the threads that are cramming our Facebook walls at the moment. To know what we're talking about, refer to our previous post here.

P.S. Names and profile pictures have been blurred out to preserve some people's, erm, integrity (for want of a better word).

Happy Birthday, Roberta Bellizzi!

I shouldn't be writing. Not now!
She would kill me if she knew I'm doing this while we're out for a nice meal - she's currently telling me off for my extensive usage of my iPhone (I've smiled & continued, thanks to the Blogger app!)

She deserves it!
Her birthday only comes once a year, & I love her too much not to share this with the world & our readers - for whom she passionately writes!

She's my & your R! She's my best friend. She's a gorgeous person, & those who know her, know I'm right!

Happy Birthday, Roberta.
You're the bestest friend one can have xx

Yours truly,
K

Think before you blab

In light of the tragedy that shook the Maltese Islands at the roots, we've decided to add our two cents' worth to the pool of, erm, wisdom speculating about the incident. Of course, we're talking about the double murder that took place early on New Year's Day.

We're no detectives, and we don't see ourselves as such, neither. However, it seems that many like to think they are. We aren't referring to those who discuss what might have happened in private. No, we're talking about the smart-asses that think they're in a position to dictate and post whatever their pitiable little brains think about such delicate cases on social networks and newspaper websites. What's worse is that at times, newspapers themselves do this. What people fail to realise is that whatever is published on the internet can be read by everyone, which makes it all the more important for everyone to get their facts right before claiming anything publicly. 

Duncan Zammit's brother posted a comment on Andrew Azzopardi's blog which he shared on his blog, and which we feel captures the essence of what we mean perfectly. Needless to say, the victims' memories must be respected, no matter what happened in reality. 

Yet it's not only them we should respect, but also those they've left behind. 

Kif tghidha?

Dear readers, help out!

I remember that when I was at Junior College, the late Dr. Mifsud Chircop... (yes, the one always reminding us that it was HIM who went through Prof. Friggieri's dictionary, and therefore giving the green light for it to be published - those of my year will certainly remember; those not having lived the experience, well, that's a pity!) 

...Anyway this lecturer used to throw tantrums whenever I said "politikant" and not "politiku": for he taught me that the former means "dilettant" and the latter "politician". (Yes, I passed my Maltese A'Level.)

However, presenters on TV and writers on newpapers make a distinguishable use of "politikant". And, to make my life more miserable, politicians themselves use The Word ad nauseam when they describe their job and that of their colleagues. They call each other 'politikant' and no one ever whinged.  

Is it that we have only "dilettanti" in our parliament? (You politicians said that, not me!) Or is it that rules within the Maltese language have shifted? (I know they made a big fuss about some changes - which I personally abhor {it's skonD, not skonT...but anywho.)

...bye, 2011. Let's make 2012 big!

We wish our readers a gorgeous NYW! ...make it as fabulous as possible. 

Feast on sumptuous food. Gulp down the Champagne...and let it flow.  

(Just make sure to get a cab afterwards!)

Celebrate and have fun, because as rumour has it, it's the last NYE we're living. 

(And that's a good excuse to make it even bigger, you know!)

                                                                                                                

Ir-razza u r-radika jmorru xopink!

Sales may be fantastic. Sales may be horrible.
That's up to you.

Whatever you may think, you just cannot deny that while at it you can find cool pieces, which you might have overlooked before. Better still, you can make a nice bargain out of the whole experience.

Yet, some people merely do their best to ruin that.
Yes, some people are - excuse the big word - disgusting. And it's nothing to do with their appearance.

It's really irritating when you get the sort of people who never shop, wear the same tacky and shabby clothing all over the years and then, when sales hit, rush to the shops. They make a mess everywhere they go. They take the clothes off the shelves, check prices, sizes, then, if they're not cheap enough, put them in the first spot they find. If none is seen within seconds, they sometimes make do with the floors.

Do you think they care about others wanting that very piece, that very size, that very colour? No. They couldn't care less. And if you dare say something, "ghalaq halqek ja njorant/a, mela hawn tieghek jew!" is what you'll get, followed by some swearing once you turn around, like you can't still hear them.

What's more? Well, in turn you also get disorganised stores, with the poor sales assistants fretting to clear up the mess left by their uncivilised patrons. You seriously get an urge to slap them hard across the face.

Ban these people from shops, please. Or at least ask them to leave the shop when spotted.
How do you recognise them? That's easy. It's usually the "razza u radika" kind of thing.

Socks, boxers... and perhaps a tie!

...or Malta's

One of the things we absolutely love doing is shopping. It's something that helps us let off steam and let's face it, spending gives us an amazing adrenalin rush! Don't you feel the same way? (Well, you should!)

Yet something we always comment about is the lack of choice in the men's departments. Scouring the stores for Christmas gifts last week, though, was the cherry on the cake. We realised we just HAD to blog about it.

Now OK, Malta isn't exactly a shopping mecca. We lack choice and, truth be told, it leaves much to be desired - in ALL departments (yes, women's included.) As a result, most people end up looking like pre-fabricated copies of each other - but more of that in a later post!

The situation with menswear, however, is much worse. Where do men shop from, in Malta? What options do they have? There are very, very few shops catering entirely for men. Then, there are the occasional shops that reserve a crammed, dusty corner for some menswear. It seems that in Malta, we still have the mentality that men don't shop: shopping is a task for the ladies. Think of Zara, for instance. The store is split on two floors. The ground floor is entirely dedicated to womenswear, whereas the first floor struggles to accommodate three departments - menswear, kidswear and the home department. ...And the cash-point in the men's department is always closed, so they have to go to the women's or to the kid's section. New Look, ah that's perhaps the most perfect of examples - the shoes side in the women's section is three times as big as the men's part. (Laugh or cringe!)

Walking in these stores is wacky, especially after you would have had a look at their stuff on their websites. Why is it that there you find a zillion more pieces? So yes, it's the Maltese Merchandise Managers and not the brand itself. And that's beyond annoying. We wonder how many of them are women...women who prolly think Gwida is a fashion guide.   

Wake up Malta! We really need to brush off the cobwebs entwined in the dark corners of our social mentality. It's time that people started living in 2011, we mean, 2012, not 1912!

Have an App-y Xmas

This is a short reminder to all of you who haven't yet downloaded the 12 Days of Christmas app! (Do it, come on!)

Apple has decided to give its users a free gift every single day. For 12 consecutive days!

From the 26th to the 6th. Ain't that just fabulous? 

It's easy... you just have to go to AppStore and download it. 

Today's gift is Coldplay's Live Performance in London... 3 songs and 3 videos. 

Go. Fetch it. Download stuff, for free!

Don't you just LOVE Christmas time? <3