On the Dot...

Why worry about sending in an SMS to alert the authorities about exhaust emissions? A dark-coloured car was being driven along the Regional Road early Saturday afternoon emitting fumes galore. Behind it was a small Skoda - a marked police car. Enough said...

Card Mystery

Some time last year Go Mobile re-designed its Lm5 top up card. Out went the note displayed on the old cards which said "This card is worth 5 Go gifts points, which can be exchanged for gifts". Clients are wondering what they are to do with the stack of cards they may have accumulated and which they have not yet exchanged for gifts.

Brain Drain

Brainbox's television production on PBS was supposed to be meant as a post-analysis of the Malta Song for Europe Festival. As such it has been called Dopo Festival, thus taking the easiest and most mediocre way out, that of copying the Italian television programme name. Why bother, after all, to find a Maltese name for a Maltese programme? This was yet another example of the rampant mediocrity in the Maltese media.

Nowhere Near

The search facility on the Maltacom website leaves much to be desired. The "approximate search" and the "sounds like" search never seem to bring one anywhere near the original text searches. Apart from this it is sensitive to both case and punctuation, which users are thus expected to get absolutely right, if the search is to work at all.

Female Representation

It is indeed a shame that out of 13 ministerial appointments on the council of the University of Malta for 2006 only two are women! This does not reflect an effort at female representation, especially in the educational sector, which is considered to be well represented by females. This news is indeed bad; and this in a case where there was absolutely no need for positive discrimination.

Pietà Pool

Marina Street, Pietà was resurfaced with tarmac way back in 1992. At the time, no attention whatsoever was given to the new level that was created. Even a slight rainfall causes pools, paddles and problems in the parking area near the pelican lights in front of Marina Gardens, so anyone can imagine the result of heavy rainfall cascade. It's high time action is taken.

Test Tuned

The arguments about the new, centralised Forensic Laboratory rage on. Justice and home affairs spokesmen for the opposition insist the department is understaffed and that not all the amenities in it are being used. The Ministry of Public Investments, Industry and IT has insisted that an indefinite contract does not preclude independence. Most of these issues could be resolved with the stroke of a pen; enlist more staff, and give them a contract that is not renewable every year.

Cathedral Steppes

The Sliema local council deserves credit for the repairs carried out in Cathedral Street. The residents are delighted that at least this particular section of their town is a sight for sore eyes.

Bad Deal

Even one single student caught in a case of substance abuse, during school hours, would have been one student too many. The fact that during the first scholastic term there were 27 students aged between 14 and 17 reported to have abused or suspected to have abused of drugs during school hours, is frightening. What happens now?

Home Thoughts

Between January and December 2005, about 9,000 persons were assisted by the YMCA. This organisation, which runs Dar Niki Cassar in Valletta, currently home to 23 residents, is manned by a team of hard-working, noble youths who are ever so generous with the love and care they give their charges, as a voluntary service, with the help of a support network of collaborators. Long may this service continue.

Song of Joy

Well done to all those involved in the Mediterranean Voices Documentary Film Festival, the ethnographic project on oral and cultural history of the Mediterranean. This is the fruition of over four years of preparation by a group of University of Malta researchers who are working on the Mediterranean Voices project forming part of the Euromed Heritage II programme and funded by the EU. The project in Malta was coordinated by Carmel Fsadni and Edward Zammit, while the research and data collection was carried out by Mark Casha, multimedia specialist, and Rachel Radmilli, anthropologist.

Cable Cart

Calling Onvol is an exciting gamble. They either answer you before you even have time to recapitulate mentally what you mean to say, or else, leave you hanging forever on the line, whilst feeding you the same endless tape several times over. This means that, pulse-wise, it is actually cheaper to ring off and try to connect again later if one's call is not answered immediately.

Note Worthy

Cigarette packets contain health warnings, which go unheeded anyway by those who purchase them. Yet, plastic containers, cling wrap rolls, and water bottles contain no such thing. These three items have been specifically mentioned as being potentially carcinogenic when placed inside freezers (bottles) or microwave cookers (plastic containers and cling wrap). A notice issued by the John Hopkins Hospital also indicates that instant meals must also be decanted from the containers in which they come, before being heated, with glass being the best all-round choice.