• Inmates at the Corradino Correctional Centre recently held a protest of sorts by wrapping blades in adhesive tape before swallowing them. It is amazing that they had access to both razors and tape, since these could have been used to endanger fellow inmates before being swallowed.

Sham

• Now that Transport Malta has suspended plans to privatise car parks, it seems to be time for a blaming game as to whose the idea was in the first place. However, the main question remains whether people actually ought to pay for parking, whether in the street or in these car parks. Unless areas are covered 24/7 by CCTV and a parker is in attendance at all hours, the idea does not even begin to make sense.

Salient

• Those of us who think that during school day rush hours there is more traffic in the streets appear to be mistaken. We are being told that traffic has “only increased by two per cent” and it is the fact that the number of coaches increases six-fold which makes it appear to be so. The people who come up with these statements forget that we also tend to judge traffic by the amount of time we spend in bottlenecks, and by how long it takes us to get from A to B.

Shares

• After the proposed Tomatina became a non-event, nothing more was heard about the topic. The public would love to know what was done with the stock of ostensibly unusable tomatoes and how many of those who had been ready to participate donated the money anyway, out of the goodness of their heart, to the good cause mentioned in the press releases.

Security

• It was alert neighbours, rather than a Neighbourhood Watch system, that led to the report that a package had been paced under a vehicle in Fgura. This is a clear indication that sometimes, being aware of what is happening around us is not a case of being nosey but, rather, works for the common good.

Situation

• It is amazing what happenings and quotations the local media blows up as news, sometimes to the detriment of items that could save the life of someone. Who knows how many accidents could be prevented, and perhaps even lives saved, if more attention were paid to certain issues rather than the limelight being focused on attention-seeking, self-styled celebrities.

Snarky

• And while on the subject of local media, we must perforce ask why Radju Malta is broadcasting a television programme, other than to fill up what would otherwise be dead air. Whereas it must be admitted that parts of TV Hemm are interesting, it is annoying to keep hearing “in this clip…”, “in this video…” and “here we can see…”.

Serendipity

• Car-free day came and went, with only a few local councils taking part. When it came to Clean Up the World Weekend, traditionally held on the third weekend in September each year, it was a non-event locally. Why was this allowed to happen? This year, the event attracted 28,797 participating groups from 116 countries across the globe. Is this event not as important as World Animal Day?

Schema

• What with the 62nd WHO conference, the EC’s annual conference, the first 5+5 Summit since the Arab Spring and other international gatherings, Malta is maintaining its place in the world. This is a good thing, if only because it brings money into the country… and ensures that at least some streets get regular maintenance.

Signature

• It is imperative that all employees of all grades at Mater Dei Hospital wear their identity tags at all times. It is even more important that they wear them with the name clearly visible to patients and guests. This not only ensures that people know to whom they are talking but also avoids awkward moments when one would have to actually ask for the name. Moreover, there would be no chance of people wearing what looks like a tag and masquerading as staff, for reasons of their own.

Smitten

• People-power strikes again: just over three days after a petition to save trees being removed for “road re-alignment” was begun, the decision was reversed. Meanwhile comes the unprecedented bizarre pronouncement that all the venerable trees in Paola Square are to be removed. To add insult to injury, not even the usual terminology of “relocation and replanting” has been used.

Semantics

• Much ado has been made about the new livery of the national airline, and how the new branding has kept the Maltese Cross on the airline’s tailfin. In actual fact, the said emblem is missing a part, which appears to have been folded over to the other side.

Simple

• Karozzin owners are, albeit rarely, seen stopping by the fountain across the street from the Sarria Chapel to rest their animals, which always turn in the direction of the water. It would be a relatively simple procedure to provide these working animals with nosebags. It’s not as if the drivers clean up after the animals.

Scare

• A huge pothole in Psaila Street, Birkirkara, right outside the supermarket, is marked by four traffic cones leaning drunkenly inward, exactly around its edges. They are positioned in such a way that a driver cannot see them if there is another car in front. They are only seen if one is at the side of the pothole or trying to overtake. There have already been several accidents in this stretch of road; why are we courting more?

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