Brussels Blog
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Ranier and Daphne go digging
Statue of Greek satyr (circa 500 BC)
Archaeological digs seem to have been on naughty Daphne’s mind too (besides “w****” - she means "willy" which sounds a bit Famous Five). “Fertility cults in the information age” kicks off a little sneering romp with this gem:
"Thousands of years after the building of the temples at Hagar Qim and Tarxien, we appear to be intent on creating yet another fertility cult, as if to prove that we are barely out of the Stone Age when it comes to intellectual and spiritual development".
While we tend to agree with Daphne on the general intellectual backwater status of the island, we don’t share her assumption that the fertility cult statues which are being erected (ahem!) in unsuspecting village squares and on innocent roundabouts are necessarily proof of this intellectual backwardness.
We were once informed by a blonde Swedish student (during one of the many good old English language school summers) that the ‘advanced’ Scandinavians have a fertility cult of their own – and it’s a national holiday, to boot. Daphne may want to book a flight and join in the fun. See here and here for more info. It’s called the Midsummer Festival.
We’ll grant Daphne this: it's got a whole different aura to Paul Vincenti cutting ribbons in Naxxar. And it sure looks like more fun than a solitary cock on a roundabout.
¶ 6:40 AM 0 comments
Statue of Greek satyr (circa 500 BC)
The new pro-life statue in my home-town of Naxxar (2006 AD) has got our beloved opinion columnists into a bit of a frenzy.
Ranier Fsadni, a nice chap who tries to inject a bit of ‘general culture’ into The Times’ pages, went all sci-fi and H.G. Wells on us today in this piece, projecting Malta into ‘the year 2156’ in a world where things have gone all topsy-turvy. Fsadni imagines a spectacular inversion of roles: after 2013, Malta has become a vociferous pro-choice nation while all other members of the ‘Eurasian Union’ have turned into convinced pro-lifers (possibly due to the massive impact of the Britney and the Wolf monument).
Fsadni fantasises about 'cultural historians' of the future accidentally digging up the Naxxar statue. Ranier pictures them, as if in front of Tutankhamen's sarcophagus, solving the riddle to Malta’s mysterious pro-life u-turn. Only it's not quite an Egyptian mummy they come across but the Fenech Adami/Gift of Life statue. In what may be termed a IOTT (Intellectually Over The Top) moment, Fsadni imagines the poor sods concluding that:
“(the statue's symbolism - a woman standing alone with her foetus) showed clearly that there was a point where the anti-abortion Maltese adopted the unspoken assumptions of pro-choice Euro-America (as it was then).”
As opposed to them, say, just brushing it aside as another crap piece of “ultra-kitch island art”.
Ranier Fsadni, a nice chap who tries to inject a bit of ‘general culture’ into The Times’ pages, went all sci-fi and H.G. Wells on us today in this piece, projecting Malta into ‘the year 2156’ in a world where things have gone all topsy-turvy. Fsadni imagines a spectacular inversion of roles: after 2013, Malta has become a vociferous pro-choice nation while all other members of the ‘Eurasian Union’ have turned into convinced pro-lifers (possibly due to the massive impact of the Britney and the Wolf monument).
Fsadni fantasises about 'cultural historians' of the future accidentally digging up the Naxxar statue. Ranier pictures them, as if in front of Tutankhamen's sarcophagus, solving the riddle to Malta’s mysterious pro-life u-turn. Only it's not quite an Egyptian mummy they come across but the Fenech Adami/Gift of Life statue. In what may be termed a IOTT (Intellectually Over The Top) moment, Fsadni imagines the poor sods concluding that:
“(the statue's symbolism - a woman standing alone with her foetus) showed clearly that there was a point where the anti-abortion Maltese adopted the unspoken assumptions of pro-choice Euro-America (as it was then).”
As opposed to them, say, just brushing it aside as another crap piece of “ultra-kitch island art”.
One awaits with bated breath for an anti-divorce statue to crop up on the B'Kara bypass. That should drive Ranier nuts - just imagine the permutations.
Archaeological digs seem to have been on naughty Daphne’s mind too (besides “w****” - she means "willy" which sounds a bit Famous Five). “Fertility cults in the information age” kicks off a little sneering romp with this gem:
"Thousands of years after the building of the temples at Hagar Qim and Tarxien, we appear to be intent on creating yet another fertility cult, as if to prove that we are barely out of the Stone Age when it comes to intellectual and spiritual development".
While we tend to agree with Daphne on the general intellectual backwater status of the island, we don’t share her assumption that the fertility cult statues which are being erected (ahem!) in unsuspecting village squares and on innocent roundabouts are necessarily proof of this intellectual backwardness.
We were once informed by a blonde Swedish student (during one of the many good old English language school summers) that the ‘advanced’ Scandinavians have a fertility cult of their own – and it’s a national holiday, to boot. Daphne may want to book a flight and join in the fun. See here and here for more info. It’s called the Midsummer Festival.
We’ll grant Daphne this: it's got a whole different aura to Paul Vincenti cutting ribbons in Naxxar. And it sure looks like more fun than a solitary cock on a roundabout.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Two - nil to the Ar-se-nal!
There are many reasons for me to feel a certain affinity with a North London club, carissimo j'accuse. Akin to your falling for Alsacian food, I would surmise.
And since the Brits have a beautiful sense of humour, they call themselves The Gooners. Yes I know Peter Sellers and all that. Great chap he was too.
Since you like humour, here's a prophetic quiz question lifted from yesterday's match programme:
"Tonight we are playing Juventus. What is their nickname?"
A) The Old Lady
B) The Creeping Man
C) The Groaning Grandad.
"one - nil to the Arsenal"
"two - nil to the Arsenal"
"Arsene Wenger's Red Army"
"Goo - ners, Goo - ners" ¶ 3:35 AM 3 comments
And since the Brits have a beautiful sense of humour, they call themselves The Gooners. Yes I know Peter Sellers and all that. Great chap he was too.
Since you like humour, here's a prophetic quiz question lifted from yesterday's match programme:
"Tonight we are playing Juventus. What is their nickname?"
A) The Old Lady
B) The Creeping Man
C) The Groaning Grandad.
"one - nil to the Arsenal"
"two - nil to the Arsenal"
"Arsene Wenger's Red Army"
"Goo - ners, Goo - ners" ¶ 3:35 AM 3 comments
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Arsenal vs. Juve
Come on you Gooners!
It's 16:42 GMT and I'm in Hampstead, NW 3. In 20 minutes my friend from Brussels (and Vecchia Signora fan) Mauro will pick me up. By 19:00 GMT we should be seated at Highbury, West Upper Block V, Row J, Seats 35 and 36.
By 21:30 "una squadra solida, manovriera, prevedibile, minacciosa su calci piazzati, operaia che lotta come una provinciale" (this is how Juve was described by the Gazzetta dello Sport after last Saturday's clash with AS Roma) might have silenced the Highbury fans and blocked out the wonderful Thierry.
But maybe beautiful football will triumph this time.
Enjoy! ¶ 7:36 AM 2 comments
It's 16:42 GMT and I'm in Hampstead, NW 3. In 20 minutes my friend from Brussels (and Vecchia Signora fan) Mauro will pick me up. By 19:00 GMT we should be seated at Highbury, West Upper Block V, Row J, Seats 35 and 36.
By 21:30 "una squadra solida, manovriera, prevedibile, minacciosa su calci piazzati, operaia che lotta come una provinciale" (this is how Juve was described by the Gazzetta dello Sport after last Saturday's clash with AS Roma) might have silenced the Highbury fans and blocked out the wonderful Thierry.
But maybe beautiful football will triumph this time.
Enjoy! ¶ 7:36 AM 2 comments
Monday, March 27, 2006
Surreal
L'Ange du Foyer ou Le Triomphe du surrealisme
Max Ernst
There's nothing new or particularly Maltese about the racist views being expressed by certain individuals. But there is something distinctly surreal about the whole story. This is caused, I think, by the fact that Maltese debate often takes place in an intellectual vacuum - cut off from realities and debates elsewhere - which is very difficult to navigate.
Imagine that you were brought up on a small Mediterranean island. Imagine that you have never picked up a book, have never read a foreign newspaper and think that politics is summed up in two words: Lawrence and Fredu. Imagine that for as long as you can remember the only 'debate' you have witnessed is the eternal one between Lawrence's party and Fredu's party. Imagine that one of these debates involved the slogan "m'ghandniex bzonn il-barranin. Dawk jigu jehdulna xogholna." Few other debates take place. Imagine that you have been taught that there is One Truth and that 98% of your fellow countrymen profess to believe in the same Truth. Imagine that the local newspapers encourage you to define yourself in terms of this Truth. Imagine that the little bit of history you recall from your schooldays was the Great Seige of 1565 "bejn il-Maltin qalbiena u l-ghadu Tork". European history, nada. World history, nada. Current events, nada. Tista' Tkun Int, yes. And keep in mind that like 90% of your fellow Maltese you have never read a single book. Rightist groups are set up which, at the very least, justify a feeling of hatred you feel towards 'different people'.
'Illegal immigrants' escape from their sub-standard detention centre.
You are overheard saying "They should be burnt in the square".
A well-meaning (but hardly brilliant) editor of a local newspaper wonders "Surely, there are ways of keeping them busy and alleviating their boredom. For example, they should help, in their own interest, to keep toilets clean. Also, could not some scheme of putting them to work on public cleaning projects, under strict supervision, and for a small allowance, improve things? There are many jobs they could be given - God knows the island needs a massive sprucing up! The scheme could start with a few small groups, and eventually expanded. Naturally it must be ensured that at the end of their day's work, they return to "base"." source
Surreal.
Finally, when all is said and done the situation proves another important thing (if it ever needed to be proved): the limits of the Nation State and, in particular, of Malta as a nation state. It is simply clear that we can't cope without 'Europe'. Criticising this government's behaviour is probably justified on a number of counts but one must recall, for fairness' sake, that this is a huge problem. Sharon's piece about integrating immigrants into Maltese society seems sensible until you ask yourself how Malta would deal with 50,000, 200,000, no 400,000 immigrants. Which is not far-fetched in the present circumstances. But assuming that the boatloads of desperate immigrants do land in Malta purely by accident en route to Italy (as seems to be the case), one should ask the Opposition leader (who still thinks that 'Partnership' was the better option) how he would have dealt with the situation had he been in government. Remember, Rajna f'idejna was Labour's clarion call for 10 whole years. And Labour will probably form our next government. This is not simply a quibble. It is important that we admit this sooner rather than later.
¶ 3:31 PM 4 comments
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Malta - Just Do It!
Malta - Just Do It
A nationwide brand-building campaign will be launched in the coming weeks. The aim of this campaign is to make each and every one of us here a brand manager for Malta...It is only in this way that brand Malta will achieve success.
Surely if Francis manages to pull this one off it will go down in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's biggest publicity stunt. You can just imagine the international headlines: "Mediterranean island turns itself into a product".
In the meantime, please do have a look at what 'rival destination' Lanzarote has to offer by clicking here for regular updates.
And don't forget to have a Nice Day! And if it's your birthday - Happy Birthday! In fact Let's Have a Paaartyyyy!
Nghidu big hello lil hbieb taghna David u Pierre. Bhalissa ghaddejjin minn Rue
de la Loi fil-qalba ta' Brussell. Nawguraw lilhom il-vjagg it-tajjeb. Huma
jsellu ghal Romina. Qalulna li ghandha l-birth-----dayyy dalwaqt u allura lil
habiba taghna Romina nawgurawlha a big happy birth----dayyyyy. Nigu issa
ghall-muzika. Success wiehed wara l-iehor hawn fuq Radio 101. Il-grupp huwa
Belgjan. Jismu Vive La Fete li bl-ingliz tfisser Long Live the Partyyyyyyyyy.
Mill-ahhar album taghhom Grand Prix, hija t-track numru erba' - ghalikom -
Ex-ac-te-moooooooooo...... tlaqna....
(care of Pierre J. Mejlak - the Gigi Sabani of Maltese radio DJs)
¶ 5:00 AM 1 comments
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Lists
(with apologies to the authors of Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Shit?)
1.Ok Computer.
2.The Bends.
3.Xandru Grech in the MTA ads.
4.Peppi Azzopardi.
5.Pastizzi tal-pizelli.
6.Chiara…
7.…in that dress.
8.Piped Xmas music on Republic Street.
9.Basic Instinct.
10.The Bends.
11.Bohemian Rhapsody.
12.The Bends.
13.The video for Bohemian Rhapsody.
14.Captain Corelli.
15.Star Wars.
16.Daphne Caruana Galizia.
17. Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
18.The Doors.
19.Jason Micallef .
20.Jesus Christ.
21.This certainly is an
22.easy way to
23.fill up the pages
24.and schedules
25.and that.
26.Lou Bondi.
27.Ic-Chadwick Lakes.
28.The Bends.
29.Ok Computer.
30.The Bends.
31.The Bends.
32.The Bends!
33.Ok Computer.
34.Harry and Arnold.
35.Silg fuq Kemmuna.
36.Dripht.
37.Angli.
38.City Gate.
39.The Bends.
40.Godfather 3
41.was crap.
42.But the first two
43.were not crap.
44.Did you know that?
45.I didn’t.
46.Jesus.
47.Jesus Christ.
48.Jesus H. Christ.
49.Might it just be possible
50.to stop
51.lazily cataloguing
52.stuff that everyone already knows about?
53.Xandru Grech.
54.Michael Basmadjian in Angli.
55.Help
56.I want to get off
57.but I can’t.
58.Sideways.
59.Sheep.
60.The other bloke in Angli.
61.No, really.
62.The Bends.
63.I’m serious.
64.Bondi Plus.
65.This is killing me.
66.Joe Saliba.
67.Blue Pain Relief.
68.The Bends.
69.Kimika.
70.Lou Bondi.
71.Lou Bondi reading Kimika.
72.Might it be possible
73.to just be quiet for a bit?
74.Okay then, let’s see about that.
75.Here goes…
76.…
77.…
78.…
79.That’s better.
80.…
81.…
82.Pure bliss, actually.
83.…
84.…
85.…
86.…
87.No longer…
88.hearing the worthless bleatings…
89.of a moribund civilization…
90.turning everything…
91.out there…
92.into another turdy fucking list…
93.…
94.…
95.Joe Grima Live.
96.NO!
97.Marie Benoit's 60 seconds interviews.
98.NOOO!
99.Chiara in that dress.
100.Again. ¶ 3:03 PM 7 comments
1.Ok Computer.
2.The Bends.
3.Xandru Grech in the MTA ads.
4.Peppi Azzopardi.
5.Pastizzi tal-pizelli.
6.Chiara…
7.…in that dress.
8.Piped Xmas music on Republic Street.
9.Basic Instinct.
10.The Bends.
11.Bohemian Rhapsody.
12.The Bends.
13.The video for Bohemian Rhapsody.
14.Captain Corelli.
15.Star Wars.
16.Daphne Caruana Galizia.
17. Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
18.The Doors.
19.Jason Micallef .
20.Jesus Christ.
21.This certainly is an
22.easy way to
23.fill up the pages
24.and schedules
25.and that.
26.Lou Bondi.
27.Ic-Chadwick Lakes.
28.The Bends.
29.Ok Computer.
30.The Bends.
31.The Bends.
32.The Bends!
33.Ok Computer.
34.Harry and Arnold.
35.Silg fuq Kemmuna.
36.Dripht.
37.Angli.
38.City Gate.
39.The Bends.
40.Godfather 3
41.was crap.
42.But the first two
43.were not crap.
44.Did you know that?
45.I didn’t.
46.Jesus.
47.Jesus Christ.
48.Jesus H. Christ.
49.Might it just be possible
50.to stop
51.lazily cataloguing
52.stuff that everyone already knows about?
53.Xandru Grech.
54.Michael Basmadjian in Angli.
55.Help
56.I want to get off
57.but I can’t.
58.Sideways.
59.Sheep.
60.The other bloke in Angli.
61.No, really.
62.The Bends.
63.I’m serious.
64.Bondi Plus.
65.This is killing me.
66.Joe Saliba.
67.Blue Pain Relief.
68.The Bends.
69.Kimika.
70.Lou Bondi.
71.Lou Bondi reading Kimika.
72.Might it be possible
73.to just be quiet for a bit?
74.Okay then, let’s see about that.
75.Here goes…
76.…
77.…
78.…
79.That’s better.
80.…
81.…
82.Pure bliss, actually.
83.…
84.…
85.…
86.…
87.No longer…
88.hearing the worthless bleatings…
89.of a moribund civilization…
90.turning everything…
91.out there…
92.into another turdy fucking list…
93.…
94.…
95.Joe Grima Live.
96.NO!
97.Marie Benoit's 60 seconds interviews.
98.NOOO!
99.Chiara in that dress.
100.Again. ¶ 3:03 PM 7 comments
Monday, March 20, 2006
Sunday, March 19, 2006
I paladini dell'identita'
Roamer kisks off this Sunday’s column by grappling with - and condemning - racism a la Maltaise:
That a Christian acts and speaks as a racist is a contradiction that goes without saying; or does it? The pity of it all is that there are those among us who not only deny this. They flaunt the contradiction. A warped belief in their superiority has rejected their Christian roots.
Such an outcome will in great part be due to a self-satisfied, secular, demographically doomed Europe and its forgetfulness in such matters as the exhortation to increase and multiply and failing to hold firm to beliefs that made Europe what it is. The enemy is within the dying soul of Europe. Only a renaissance will return it to life.
Guessing what Roamer's 'renaissance' would entail isn't too difficult.
Faced with a depressing choice between this sort of teo-con onslaught and the analysis of the local council election results in your own country’s newspapers, you tend to turn to the foreign press for something better.
In this article in La Repubblica, Gustavo Zagrebelsky, former president of the Italian Constitutional Court, takes on the Roamers of this world revealing that they may have a few ‘warped beliefs’ of their own.
I paladini dell’identita e la tolleranza dell’Occidente
Il lamento sull’identita’che manca e’ diventato un luogo comune del dibattito politico. Si puo fare bella figura a poco prezzo con qualche perorazione sulla carenza di “valori” identitari e cosi’ c’e’ perfino modo di farsi notare, magari per farsi largo in una campagna elettorale. […]
In breve si ragiona come se le nostre societa’ fossero prive d’identita’, avendola perduta o distrutta, e si discute percio’ di come darne loro una nuova o di come riprestinare l’antica. La riscoperta’ delle radici cristiane e’ il punto di arrivo di questi ragionamenti. Poiche in apparenza si tratta di colmare un’assenza, i promotori d’identita’ si presentano come portatori di doni disinteressati a un tipo di societa’ che ha bisogno di loro, per sopravvivere. Ma non e’ cosi’. Essi agiscono non per riempire vuoti ma per avviare sostituzioni. Onde, fuor di contraffazione, deve dirsi che essi combattono una battaglia di egemonia culturale che non e’ solo per, ma innanzitutto contro. Non sono benefattori ma conquistatori. Precisamente, sono cavalli di Troia. […]
Le societa’ che essi descrivono sarebbero luoghi di disgregazione e disperazione, relativismo, egoismo e mancanza di nerbo morale, tutti prodotti del famigerato “pensiero debole”…esse sarebbero preda di una pulsione all’autodistruzione o alla capitolazione. […]
Davvero le nostre società sono prive di valori? Forse si dimenticano troppo facilmente gli apporti ideali che, in una storia plurisecolare, sono venuti plasmando la nostra vita collettiva, apporti che hanno tanti nomi in corrispondenza ad altrettante conquista politiche, sociali e culturali: tolleranza nei confronti delle fedi di tutti, laicità, libertà e socialità, razionalismo, pluralismo, uguaglianza, diritti umani, costituzionalismo, democrazia. Alla base, c'è la persona umana come tale e la sua dignità, in quando appartenente al genere umano e indipendente dalla appartenenza a questa o quella fede, religione , stirpe, comunità politica, tutto questo, indubitabilmente, è identità. Essa, a differenza di quella dei procacciatori di identità perdute, non poggia su elementi concreti del tipo: una fede, una religione, una tradizione, una ideologia o una mitologia, una storia, una terra, una stirpe, ecc. Non poggia su unità pre-date perché la democrazia pluralista, per condurre a una vita comune le sue tante componenti, senza far uso della violenza, deve far leva soprattutto su valori astratti, non concreti; formali o procedurali, non materiali [...]
Per quanto astratti e formali, tuttavia, questi non sono "meno valori" di quelli materiali e concreti. Anzi, dal punto di vista del loro significato politico, sono più alti, sono meta-valori, in quanto consentono rispetto e convivenza pure tra quanti aderiscono a visioni della vita diverse, tra quanti aderiscono a differenti valori materiali e concreti, tra quanti, in breve, si riconoscono in distinte identità. Questi caratteri astratti e formali della democrazia, pur così preziosi per chi crede, appunto, nella democrazia, sono fragili e, per questo, c'è da temere dall'attacco dei paladini delle forti identità materiali e concrete. Si consideri infatti la natura di tali caratteri, una natura relazionale: tolleranza, uguaglianza, diritti, democrazia, ecc. non possono vivere se non sono accettati in una rete di rapporti in cui ciascuno è disposto a dare agli altri quel che pretende per se stesso. Sotto questo aspetto, il loro presupposto psicologico è la benevolenza degli uni verso gli altri, un atteggiamento di reciprocità dello spirito agli antipodi rispetto a quello di diffidenza, risentimento, se non qualche volta addirittura di disprezzo o odio, che muove i nostri baldanzosi postulatori di identità. L'identità della democrazia richiede un'elevata misura di responsabilità nei confronti della dimensione collettiva dell'esistenza.
Non così le identità materiali, che vivono per se stesse, ciascuna per proprio conto, e possono contare sulla forza e sulla violenza per imporsi sulle altre. Ecco in che cosa consiste la fragilità delle nostre società, in quanto non rinuncino a essere se stesse: vivono solo a condizione che le parti costitutive siano disposte e riescano a comporsi, senza fare affidamento sull'ordine imposto dalla forza che divide.
¶ 1:03 PM 2 comments
The Sunday Times Roamer’s Column is Malta’s own one-man-band version of the teo-con movement: a Bush supporter, an Iraq War supporter and an avowed Churchgoer.
Fair enough. To each his own.
But ever since ‘liberal forces in Europe’ decided to ditch both Rocco Buttiglione and the “Christian heritage clause” in its draft Constitution, the man has used his column - Sunday after ruddy Sunday - to describe Europe as a doomed, secular, un-Christian place where liberal values have run amok. That is, a place that doesn’t fit his bleuprint of a morally ‘fit’ society which, reading his column, would probably resemble a cross between Bush’s US of A and Mikiel Gonzi’s Malta.
Roamer kisks off this Sunday’s column by grappling with - and condemning - racism a la Maltaise:
That a Christian acts and speaks as a racist is a contradiction that goes without saying; or does it? The pity of it all is that there are those among us who not only deny this. They flaunt the contradiction. A warped belief in their superiority has rejected their Christian roots.
So far so good. Although it doesn't even seem to have crossed his homogeneous mind that the cowards who burnt those cars at St. Aloysius' College might not, in fact, define themselves as Christians.
But here he is, ending this Sunday’s meandering romp across the world with a misguided Exocet in the direction of his imaginary Sodom and Gomorrah – “secular Europe”.
Such an outcome will in great part be due to a self-satisfied, secular, demographically doomed Europe and its forgetfulness in such matters as the exhortation to increase and multiply and failing to hold firm to beliefs that made Europe what it is. The enemy is within the dying soul of Europe. Only a renaissance will return it to life.
Guessing what Roamer's 'renaissance' would entail isn't too difficult.
Faced with a depressing choice between this sort of teo-con onslaught and the analysis of the local council election results in your own country’s newspapers, you tend to turn to the foreign press for something better.
In this article in La Repubblica, Gustavo Zagrebelsky, former president of the Italian Constitutional Court, takes on the Roamers of this world revealing that they may have a few ‘warped beliefs’ of their own.
I paladini dell’identita e la tolleranza dell’Occidente
Il lamento sull’identita’che manca e’ diventato un luogo comune del dibattito politico. Si puo fare bella figura a poco prezzo con qualche perorazione sulla carenza di “valori” identitari e cosi’ c’e’ perfino modo di farsi notare, magari per farsi largo in una campagna elettorale. […]
In breve si ragiona come se le nostre societa’ fossero prive d’identita’, avendola perduta o distrutta, e si discute percio’ di come darne loro una nuova o di come riprestinare l’antica. La riscoperta’ delle radici cristiane e’ il punto di arrivo di questi ragionamenti. Poiche in apparenza si tratta di colmare un’assenza, i promotori d’identita’ si presentano come portatori di doni disinteressati a un tipo di societa’ che ha bisogno di loro, per sopravvivere. Ma non e’ cosi’. Essi agiscono non per riempire vuoti ma per avviare sostituzioni. Onde, fuor di contraffazione, deve dirsi che essi combattono una battaglia di egemonia culturale che non e’ solo per, ma innanzitutto contro. Non sono benefattori ma conquistatori. Precisamente, sono cavalli di Troia. […]
Le societa’ che essi descrivono sarebbero luoghi di disgregazione e disperazione, relativismo, egoismo e mancanza di nerbo morale, tutti prodotti del famigerato “pensiero debole”…esse sarebbero preda di una pulsione all’autodistruzione o alla capitolazione. […]
Tutto cio’, in generale, sarebbe il frutto avvelenato della secolarizzazione e di una cultura degenerate senza valori. […]
Questi, piu’ o meno, I tratti delle societa’ laiche, “post-moderne” o “avanzate”, secondo I nostri postulatori di identita’.
Davvero le nostre società sono prive di valori? Forse si dimenticano troppo facilmente gli apporti ideali che, in una storia plurisecolare, sono venuti plasmando la nostra vita collettiva, apporti che hanno tanti nomi in corrispondenza ad altrettante conquista politiche, sociali e culturali: tolleranza nei confronti delle fedi di tutti, laicità, libertà e socialità, razionalismo, pluralismo, uguaglianza, diritti umani, costituzionalismo, democrazia. Alla base, c'è la persona umana come tale e la sua dignità, in quando appartenente al genere umano e indipendente dalla appartenenza a questa o quella fede, religione , stirpe, comunità politica, tutto questo, indubitabilmente, è identità. Essa, a differenza di quella dei procacciatori di identità perdute, non poggia su elementi concreti del tipo: una fede, una religione, una tradizione, una ideologia o una mitologia, una storia, una terra, una stirpe, ecc. Non poggia su unità pre-date perché la democrazia pluralista, per condurre a una vita comune le sue tante componenti, senza far uso della violenza, deve far leva soprattutto su valori astratti, non concreti; formali o procedurali, non materiali [...]
Per quanto astratti e formali, tuttavia, questi non sono "meno valori" di quelli materiali e concreti. Anzi, dal punto di vista del loro significato politico, sono più alti, sono meta-valori, in quanto consentono rispetto e convivenza pure tra quanti aderiscono a visioni della vita diverse, tra quanti aderiscono a differenti valori materiali e concreti, tra quanti, in breve, si riconoscono in distinte identità. Questi caratteri astratti e formali della democrazia, pur così preziosi per chi crede, appunto, nella democrazia, sono fragili e, per questo, c'è da temere dall'attacco dei paladini delle forti identità materiali e concrete. Si consideri infatti la natura di tali caratteri, una natura relazionale: tolleranza, uguaglianza, diritti, democrazia, ecc. non possono vivere se non sono accettati in una rete di rapporti in cui ciascuno è disposto a dare agli altri quel che pretende per se stesso. Sotto questo aspetto, il loro presupposto psicologico è la benevolenza degli uni verso gli altri, un atteggiamento di reciprocità dello spirito agli antipodi rispetto a quello di diffidenza, risentimento, se non qualche volta addirittura di disprezzo o odio, che muove i nostri baldanzosi postulatori di identità. L'identità della democrazia richiede un'elevata misura di responsabilità nei confronti della dimensione collettiva dell'esistenza.
Non così le identità materiali, che vivono per se stesse, ciascuna per proprio conto, e possono contare sulla forza e sulla violenza per imporsi sulle altre. Ecco in che cosa consiste la fragilità delle nostre società, in quanto non rinuncino a essere se stesse: vivono solo a condizione che le parti costitutive siano disposte e riescano a comporsi, senza fare affidamento sull'ordine imposto dalla forza che divide.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
No Alpitours? Aie aie aie aie...
Dedika specjali ghall-gybexi u ghas-cyberdigger: Kapitlu III, i
¶ 3:54 PM 0 comments
Sardines
Wankellectuals, elit krepuskolari, intellettwali TA' VERU, dawk li jzommu blogg, dawk li jaghmlu l-progetti, the only blogger worth reading, post-Slimizi, avukati, tal-pepe, waste of time, wannabe wishy-washy socialists... ¶ 9:15 AM 1 comments
Wankellectuals, elit krepuskolari, intellettwali TA' VERU, dawk li jzommu blogg, dawk li jaghmlu l-progetti, the only blogger worth reading, post-Slimizi, avukati, tal-pepe, waste of time, wannabe wishy-washy socialists... ¶ 9:15 AM 1 comments
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Of Wankellectuals and Referendaires
Merci pour la publicite et felicitations pour la re-nomination. Meme pas trop de soucis de chomage (ou de transfer) quand/si le Labour sera elu. Et ca, mon cher, c'est l'essentiel apres tous les discours que nous faisons, nous, les intellobranleurs de ce petit pays. En fait, ca nous laisse un peu de liberte d'etre nous-memes - des intellobranleurs - et de dire ce que nous pensons. N'est-ce pas?
¶ 1:58 AM 3 comments
Monday, March 13, 2006
Grin and bear it
I'm sorry but I can't help it. I had to post this. There's one Maltese politician/columnist whose attitude constantly reminds me of David Brent from BBC award-winning comedy The Office. That's all I wanted to say. ¶ 8:37 AM 0 comments
I'm sorry but I can't help it. I had to post this. There's one Maltese politician/columnist whose attitude constantly reminds me of David Brent from BBC award-winning comedy The Office. That's all I wanted to say. ¶ 8:37 AM 0 comments
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Baa baa black sheep have you any wool
This short post is dedicated to fellow bloggers Jacques and Sharon, for different reasons. The latter lashed out at poor sod Kenneth Zammit Tabona for using a non-PC expression in one of his rambling articles. Incidentally, in a typically Maltese "either-or" aside, Kenneth thinks life is too short to bother translating literature into Maltese. One does wonder whether the man is so stingy with his time when it comes to attending society cocktail parties. Well, well.
Now to the story:
The UK Times informs us today that Oxfordshire toddlers are being made to sing "Baa baa rainbow sheep."
And in a wonderful multiple coincidence (see Sharon's article in today's Melita Times), people in the UK are already asking whether this means that it's ok to sing "Baa baa Brokeback Mountain Sheep". ¶ 9:37 AM 0 comments
Baa baa black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir
Three bags full
One for the master
One for the dame
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
This short post is dedicated to fellow bloggers Jacques and Sharon, for different reasons. The latter lashed out at poor sod Kenneth Zammit Tabona for using a non-PC expression in one of his rambling articles. Incidentally, in a typically Maltese "either-or" aside, Kenneth thinks life is too short to bother translating literature into Maltese. One does wonder whether the man is so stingy with his time when it comes to attending society cocktail parties. Well, well.
Now to the story:
The UK Times informs us today that Oxfordshire toddlers are being made to sing "Baa baa rainbow sheep."
And in a wonderful multiple coincidence (see Sharon's article in today's Melita Times), people in the UK are already asking whether this means that it's ok to sing "Baa baa Brokeback Mountain Sheep". ¶ 9:37 AM 0 comments
Friday, March 10, 2006
Well, I might...
At 17:28 GMT (18:28 Luxembourg time), I have a 70% chance of obtaining a ticket for the Arsenal - Juventus clash on the 28th of March at Highbury. I might be using the £8 red, maroon and white scarf with "ARSENAL 1913 - Highbury - 2006" emblazoned on it AGAIN. Only this time we'll shout even louder.
Luxemburgish armchair or French restaurant? ¶ 9:26 AM 0 comments
Luxemburgish armchair or French restaurant? ¶ 9:26 AM 0 comments
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
The Twelve Pins
L-isbah mument illejla kien barra l-pub The Twelve Pins, hames minuti mixi minn Highbury. Kont ghaddej ma' siehbi l-Ingliz wara erba' pinet Guinness, it-tnejn libsin ix-xalla ta' l-Arsenal. Bil-qieghda fuq mejda barra kien hemm tliet guvintur ikantaw "There's only one team in Europe". U jien komplejt maghhom (imma nistqarr mhux b'mod konvincenti hafna) u ghamilt "yeaaah" filwaqt li xxuttjajt flixkun Lucozade. Imbaghad nisimghu "another fucking Spanish supporter". Imprezzabbli. Isbah mill-aqwa gol ta' Totti.
NB: Progett traduzzjoni: wara l-kumment ta' L-Imzebbel (grazzi), behsibni narma blogg iehor li jkun post fejn it-tradutturi li ghandhom progett f'mohhhom jistghu jinfurmaw lill-ohrajn (u lid-dinja) bil-pjan. X'tahsbu dwar "Il-Kuntest Kollox" bhala isem? Ibaghtuli l-progetti u nibdewh. ¶ 4:24 PM 2 comments
NB: Progett traduzzjoni: wara l-kumment ta' L-Imzebbel (grazzi), behsibni narma blogg iehor li jkun post fejn it-tradutturi li ghandhom progett f'mohhhom jistghu jinfurmaw lill-ohrajn (u lid-dinja) bil-pjan. X'tahsbu dwar "Il-Kuntest Kollox" bhala isem? Ibaghtuli l-progetti u nibdewh. ¶ 4:24 PM 2 comments
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Futbolite
I'm off to Londonium with good mate Paul, a genuine Gunners fan. If all goes well, we'll be at Highbury tomorrow night watching Arsenal take on Real Madrid in the Champions League and again on Sunday afternoon when Wenger's men meet Liverpool in the Premiership. We should catch some exciting football especially if Juve-reject Henry is on good form. Fingers crossed that 88th minute goalkeeping blunders remain confined to the Stadio delle Alpi. ¶ 2:33 PM 2 comments
I'm off to Londonium with good mate Paul, a genuine Gunners fan. If all goes well, we'll be at Highbury tomorrow night watching Arsenal take on Real Madrid in the Champions League and again on Sunday afternoon when Wenger's men meet Liverpool in the Premiership. We should catch some exciting football especially if Juve-reject Henry is on good form. Fingers crossed that 88th minute goalkeeping blunders remain confined to the Stadio delle Alpi. ¶ 2:33 PM 2 comments
Monday, March 06, 2006
Lookalikes
Journalists and other pundits agree that the three men in the photos all have a certain "mysterious air" about them which they've cleverly cultivated over the years. Apparently some women find this aura incredibly sexy. But one is a Maltese politician and writer, another is a Czech football coach (famous for his anti-Juventus tirades) and the third is a controversial French author. Match the picture with the description and join the world of mysterious glances. ¶ 9:08 AM 3 comments
Journalists and other pundits agree that the three men in the photos all have a certain "mysterious air" about them which they've cleverly cultivated over the years. Apparently some women find this aura incredibly sexy. But one is a Maltese politician and writer, another is a Czech football coach (famous for his anti-Juventus tirades) and the third is a controversial French author. Match the picture with the description and join the world of mysterious glances. ¶ 9:08 AM 3 comments
Skake your body
The newly formed "non-political Malta and Gozo Citizens Lobby Group", an environmental pressure group, which was set up last week by three Maltese lasses aims to :
The newly formed "non-political Malta and Gozo Citizens Lobby Group", an environmental pressure group, which was set up last week by three Maltese lasses aims to :
"Wake up the public and
Shake up the Government..."
The group has already roped in several members of what the Sunday Times called "the higher echelons of society" but claims that the environmental "uglification" that has engulfed Malta "is no longer a middle class issue".
Judging by the speed at which pressure groups, independent residents' associations and the like are sprouting up, the Maltese political scene is likely to go from two-party monolith to cacophony in no time. And the atomization of Maltese society goes on as citizens prepare to kick some government booty. Good. But where does this latest development leave Harry? Backing vocals anyone?
¶ 1:05 AM 0 comments
Friday, March 03, 2006
Manifesto
A very important development in the cartoons saga. Note the diverse backgrounds of the intellectuals in question.
X'qalu l-Maltin:
Immanuel Mifsud
Anthony Manduca
Ranier Fsadni
J'accuse
Lanzarote
Triq il-Maqluba ¶ 3:29 AM 2 comments
X'qalu l-Maltin:
Immanuel Mifsud
Anthony Manduca
Ranier Fsadni
J'accuse
Lanzarote
Triq il-Maqluba ¶ 3:29 AM 2 comments
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Kritika
Lo so che per persone intelligenti e colte come Citati e Ferroni i miei libri stanno alla letteratura come il fast-food alla cucina francese, o come la pornografia all'erotismo. (Alessandro Baricco)
Last week's heated (and at times funny) debate between J'accuse, myself and Xifer started out by J'accuse pulling my leg by calling me a clone, progressed with a prolonged (and it seems alienating) tit-for-tat between the two of us, and climaxed with Xifer's 'entrata a piedi uniti' (mainly on j'accuse's ankles). If you ignore the insults and veiled (and not so veiled) nastiness, you'd find that some interesting things were being said about what I'd like to call "intellectual copyright" and the role of the intellectual in Maltese society. Xifer's point that the survival kit needed in this society are bull's balls, a forked tongue and a large pair of lungs to snuff out everyone else's candle was, I think, close to the truth.
Today, I came across an interesting botta e risposta between author Alessandro Baricco (of Seta and Novecento fame) and a well-known Italian critic who had passed a snide remark about one of Baricco's latest works. Baricco could have shut up and let the remark pass but decided not to. Giulio Ferroni, the critic, counter-attacked presto.
In Malta, I think, writers have a different sort of problem which is that the only real criticism is the one which they impose on themselves. They're either simply not read or are read by a small group of 'fans' who'll pat the author on the back and say 'prosit, man' all too easily. They might add 'ostra cool' for added effect. We have started bashing TV programmes but works of literature appear to me to be exempt from any real debate. This is a pity since it limits their impact to a very small crowd of devotees and prevents them from being read 'in context'.
Have you heard anyone publicly describing a Maltese poem as really quite awful? ¶ 6:27 AM 3 comments
Last week's heated (and at times funny) debate between J'accuse, myself and Xifer started out by J'accuse pulling my leg by calling me a clone, progressed with a prolonged (and it seems alienating) tit-for-tat between the two of us, and climaxed with Xifer's 'entrata a piedi uniti' (mainly on j'accuse's ankles). If you ignore the insults and veiled (and not so veiled) nastiness, you'd find that some interesting things were being said about what I'd like to call "intellectual copyright" and the role of the intellectual in Maltese society. Xifer's point that the survival kit needed in this society are bull's balls, a forked tongue and a large pair of lungs to snuff out everyone else's candle was, I think, close to the truth.
Today, I came across an interesting botta e risposta between author Alessandro Baricco (of Seta and Novecento fame) and a well-known Italian critic who had passed a snide remark about one of Baricco's latest works. Baricco could have shut up and let the remark pass but decided not to. Giulio Ferroni, the critic, counter-attacked presto.
In Malta, I think, writers have a different sort of problem which is that the only real criticism is the one which they impose on themselves. They're either simply not read or are read by a small group of 'fans' who'll pat the author on the back and say 'prosit, man' all too easily. They might add 'ostra cool' for added effect. We have started bashing TV programmes but works of literature appear to me to be exempt from any real debate. This is a pity since it limits their impact to a very small crowd of devotees and prevents them from being read 'in context'.
Have you heard anyone publicly describing a Maltese poem as really quite awful? ¶ 6:27 AM 3 comments
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Serge
(2 avril 1928 - 2 mars 1991)
La Chanson De Prévert
Oh je voudrais tant que tu te souviennes
Cette chanson était la tienne
C’était ta péférée je crois
Qu’elle est de Prévert et Kosma
Et chaque fois Les Feuilles mortes
Te rappelle à mon souvenir
Jour après jour les amours mortes
N’en finissent pas de mourir
Avec d’autres bien sûr je m’abandonner
Mais leur chanson est monotone
Et peu à peu je m’indiffère
À cela il n’est rien à faire
Car chaque fois Les Feuilles mortes
Te rappelle à mon souvenir
Jour apès jour les amours mortes
N’en finissent pas de mourir
Peut-on jamais savoir par où commence
Et quand finit l’indifférence
Passe l’automne vienne l’hiver
Et que la chanson de Prévert
Cette chanson Les Feuilles mortes
S’efface de mon souvenir
Et ce jour-là mes amours mortes
En auront fini de mourir
Et ce jour-là mes amour mortes
En auront fini de mourir
¶ 9:29 AM 0 comments
(2 avril 1928 - 2 mars 1991)
Grazzi xbin
La Chanson De Prévert
Oh je voudrais tant que tu te souviennes
Cette chanson était la tienne
C’était ta péférée je crois
Qu’elle est de Prévert et Kosma
Et chaque fois Les Feuilles mortes
Te rappelle à mon souvenir
Jour après jour les amours mortes
N’en finissent pas de mourir
Avec d’autres bien sûr je m’abandonner
Mais leur chanson est monotone
Et peu à peu je m’indiffère
À cela il n’est rien à faire
Car chaque fois Les Feuilles mortes
Te rappelle à mon souvenir
Jour apès jour les amours mortes
N’en finissent pas de mourir
Peut-on jamais savoir par où commence
Et quand finit l’indifférence
Passe l’automne vienne l’hiver
Et que la chanson de Prévert
Cette chanson Les Feuilles mortes
S’efface de mon souvenir
Et ce jour-là mes amours mortes
En auront fini de mourir
Et ce jour-là mes amour mortes
En auront fini de mourir
La Deux Chevaux
Jacques' reference to the Citroen Dolly, also known as the 2CV (deux-chevaux), brings back great memories of my first car which I used to whizz round the pot-holed roads of Malta in. The second belle et tragique francaise hadn't appeared on my horizon yet so my love-affair with all things French was still intact at the time.
I had bought the burgundy-and-cream beauty for LM 1000 after having spotted it outside the Labour Party Club in St. Julians. The Dolly was great fun in summer and almost as tragic as les filles parisiennes in winter. It loathed pot-holes - I once ended up navigating the darn car down Regional Road with a broken steering wheel and axle. The October rains weren't its ideal scenario either. Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink. But in summer it came to life - open top, great sound from the engine and ideal to go to the beach in. No hassle with the sand guys! It was also cool to drive round Tal-Qroqq in the car during the Renault Clio plague that had attacked every university student at the time. But Dolly needed constant care and Philip, the nice mechanic at Ta' Xbiex was only too glad to fix the umpteenth fault that appeared from time to time. Broken axles, bent wheel rims, engine trouble - the lot. The car used to literally shudder when navigating the smallest of holes.
One day my dad 'borrowed' the car and came back empty-handed.
Fejn qieghdha l-karozza, pa?
Tajtha lil ta' l-iskrapp.
And that was the beginning of my post-Dolly life. ¶ 7:51 AM 0 comments
Jacques' reference to the Citroen Dolly, also known as the 2CV (deux-chevaux), brings back great memories of my first car which I used to whizz round the pot-holed roads of Malta in. The second belle et tragique francaise hadn't appeared on my horizon yet so my love-affair with all things French was still intact at the time.
I had bought the burgundy-and-cream beauty for LM 1000 after having spotted it outside the Labour Party Club in St. Julians. The Dolly was great fun in summer and almost as tragic as les filles parisiennes in winter. It loathed pot-holes - I once ended up navigating the darn car down Regional Road with a broken steering wheel and axle. The October rains weren't its ideal scenario either. Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink. But in summer it came to life - open top, great sound from the engine and ideal to go to the beach in. No hassle with the sand guys! It was also cool to drive round Tal-Qroqq in the car during the Renault Clio plague that had attacked every university student at the time. But Dolly needed constant care and Philip, the nice mechanic at Ta' Xbiex was only too glad to fix the umpteenth fault that appeared from time to time. Broken axles, bent wheel rims, engine trouble - the lot. The car used to literally shudder when navigating the smallest of holes.
One day my dad 'borrowed' the car and came back empty-handed.
Fejn qieghdha l-karozza, pa?
Tajtha lil ta' l-iskrapp.
And that was the beginning of my post-Dolly life. ¶ 7:51 AM 0 comments
