26.3.12

Arriva bus drivers, madmen?



Notice the text on the bus to Marsaxlokk

Prospective Formel-1 champion
Yesterday The Observer went by bus to Marsaxlokk from Valletta, leaving the capital at about 10.40 am. The bus, which was an articulated bus, i e extra-long, had a sign saying it was a special tour and The Observer agrees, the tour was indeed a special one. The bus was completely full with passengers, both sitting and standing. The bus went sometimes in a speed that must have been more than 80 kilometers per hour. Several passengers were terrified, staring at each other in horror. It felt like the back of the bus would skid across the roadway in the curves. It was indeed a special and terrifying tour! Unfortunately, this type of experience is not unusual when going with Arriva buses although there are, of course, also careful drivers.

21.3.12

The Maltese people, warm and kind

The entrance

San Anton Garden
Yesterday, The Observer with family went to Balzan. After some shopping we wanted to sit down and eat the lunch we had brought with us, preferable in a park. We asked a Maltese lady standing outside Smart, the big department store, if she could recommend a place where we could have our lunch. She told us that there is a lovely garden in Balzan, San Anton, but that it would be too complicated to explain the way to this garden. Instead she told us that she would gladly drive us there and so she did! This is not the first time we have been so well taken care of by Maltese people. The kindness of the Maltese people is one of the things that makes life so much easier on this little tiny island. San Anton in Balzan is really worth a visit with wonderful flowers and many other plants as well as birds!

What should we protect, living people or dead?


Once more, one can read the most fantastic true stories in The Times. AlphaIn today's edition of The Times one is told that a group of M`garr residents are complaining about a proposed extension to a fireworks factory because of the damage an explosion would do. Fair enough, of course one should worry about what damage an explosion would do. But what is it the group worries about? The living people in the neighborhood? No, this is Christian Malta; the worries are not concerning the living people but the dead. This despite the fact that several people are statistically expected to die this year because of fireworks explosions. The Observer is well aware of the fact that many Maltese regard the eternal life as the real life, but is this group not going too far? A named couple says that an explosion could disturb the graves of loved ones. The Observer is well aware that continuing this article would probably be considered blasphemy. Presumably this is a criminal offense in Maltese law so The Observer rests his case.

Again, the Maltese judicial system is proven to have collapsed and now it also seems ridiculous



Today one can read in The Times of a man being sentenced to one month in prison and fined 233€ for illegal gambling. The fantastic and almost unbelievable fact is that the crime was committed in 2001 and the man pleaded guilty in 2002. The man had to wait ten years to be punished for a crime he had admitted almost immediately! To make this even more surprising (well, maybe not so surprising; this is probably typically for the judicial system in Malta) the judge found that the prosecution had failed to prove the allegations against the man, but, since he had admitted the crime the judge had to find him guilty. The Observer sincerely hopes that the latter is not true. In most other countries, with a more sophisticated and functioning judicial system than Malta, an admission is not enough to prove that a person has committed a crime.  When famous murders occur, quite many people come to the police and plead guilty. This is a well-known fact among Alphacriminologists. Probably and hopefully The Times has not published full details about why the judge had to find the man guilty.

20.3.12

Teenage births once more

In todays The Times the problem with teenage pregnancies is addressed again. In the article it is said that Angela Abela, a clinical psychologist and the director of the University’s Centre for Family Studies, not only is asking questions but also has the key which is education and early intervention. With early intervention she does not mean intervention as early as before conception; no, she means by early intervention the time when the teenager still is pregnant. In a more modern society that would be the right approach, because then it might still be time for abortion. That is, of course, not what Ms Abela had in mind. No, she wants to involve the young father. One can wonder if she really believes that a teenage father can mature in such a short time and be a responsible father. Of course he cannot. Ms Abela seems to mean that one of the keys to solve the problem is to give instructions on how best to deal with a situation where a teenager is still pregnant or have given birth. It is of course commendable, but it does not solve the problem that Malta has the highest rate of teenage mothers in the EU related to the population. The solution must be to strive to prevent teen pregnancy. This can only happen through sex education ( in which one might even strongly discourage adolescents to have sex outside marriage, this is, after all, Malta), contraception counseling, access to contraceptives and, something that is not the case for Malta in perhaps 20-30 years, free abortions. The problem with teenage mothers will persist as long as you do not introduce sex education and teaching about contraception and its use. It is as simple as that. Malta is, however, in many ways far behind the more modern EU states and the Catholic Church is in many ways responsible for this. See also The Observers article in this subject of March 14

18.3.12

Malta is not the centre of the world

In today’s The Times one can read a veryAlpha interesting article under Social by Kristina Chetcuti. She has a view on Malta and Maltese 'view of themselves which is very readable. She confirms what The Observer wrote under the heading "Malta-a Lilliput state with potentates separated from and above the people?", that Maltese people are ignorant about the world around them and that is something intrinsically wrong with the Maltese perspective, adding that there is high time to address this. Well said! The Observer could not agree more!

14.3.12

High rate of teenage pregnancies in Malta

Malta has the highest number of teenage mothers in Europe relative to population. There is also a very high rate of sexually transmitted diseases in Malta among teenagers. One need not wonder why this is the case. Malta's schools provide no sex education at all. The church opposes any form of sex education and any form of use of contraceptives. Abortion does not exist as such except as a clause regulating the penalty for an abortion.  There is a tendencyAlpha that teenagers debut earlier with sex than before. One may ask whether Malta’s approach to sex education and contraceptives benefits to society. In today's Malta Times one can read that 32 children have been born in 2011 having mothers that are 16 years old or younger. Sure you can understand those who believe that sex is something for adults and preferably within marriage although it is a little bit old fashioned in today’s society. But that does not change the fact that unwanted children are born because of the attitude towards sex education, contraception and abortion and there is probably no method to prevent this from happen if you do not give teenagers sex education and thus tell them how to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. See also Teenage births once more of March 20

11.3.12

Rule of law in Malta? Hardly.


You cannot call Malta a society where there is rule of law and where an individual's rights are protected. Malta must be one of Europe’s most unsafe countries if one is suspected of having committed a crime, especially if you are a foreigner (if you are black it is even worse). A Maltese is treated in a totally different way than a foreigner. For instance, it is very difficult to be granted bail for a foreigner even if you are an EU citizen. This is very strange since there is a treaty in EU which makes it easy to get an EU citizen extradited to another EU country. A member state can only deny another member state an extradition if  certain requirements are not fulfilled. Maybe Malta is afraid that it cannot fulfill such requirements and therefore prefers to keep a suspect in prison instead of granting him bail.  It is hard to even understand that Malta can be a member of EU. In Malta, you can be detained for an indefinite period. There is no limit whatsoever when the police must start a trial. Yes, in Malta it is the same person as investigates a case as brings it to court. Malta is like any dictatorship as far as protection of individual’s rights is concerned. Not even in the former Soviet Union you could be detained for indefinite time, if not a political crime. It was The Observer’s intention to vote today, but why should one vote in a country where there is no democracy but only hypocrisy. Malta is a sham democracy where individual rights seem to be less important than the rights of the state. You can read about this wonderful society in todays The Times.

10.3.12

Disgusting picture in todays The Times

In todays The Times you can read about an unlicensed bouncer who has been acquitted of causing the death of an immigrant outside a Paceville club. Fair enough, although it very much looks like a racist crime. A court shall have very Översätt från: svenska
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high requirements of proof. But, it is disgusting when The Times publishes a picture of the bouncer, his girlfriend and his two lawyers in a manner that gives the impression of a hero. The Times should show respect for the victim and his family and not embrace the man who is a killer no matter he was acquitted, especially as everybody knows how the bouncers in Paceville treat people. Maybe this was not a racist crime, but the publishing of the picture is racism even if The Times tries to hide it, One can wonder if this picture would have been published if the victim had been a white Maltese male or female and not a black man from Africa. Shame on The Times!

4.3.12

Making buildings higher and thus destroy their appearance

Terrible building on Tower Ro
Terrible example on Tower Road
Beautiful building on Tower Road
Villa Aurora on Tower Road
As a foreigner I sometimes wonder how it is possible that some buildings in, for instance, Sliema have had floors built-on in a completely different style than the existing house. On Tower Road there are several terrible examples. Before one start such development one must get permission from the authorities, I suppose that the authority in such case is MEPA. Either there are no rules in what way you can change a building’s appearance or, someone, apart from the owner and the developer, have had some odd interest in granting permission despite the rules. One can only hope that this destruction of buildings does not in the future affect Villa Aurora or the other lovely buildings on Tower Road that not yet have been in the hands of irresponsible developers and, if there are rules, civil servants with a private agenda. However, there are good examples of buildings where the developer has tried to build the extra floors in a style that are more consistent with the older part of the building