Monday, 14th July 2008
CHALLENGES
The previous edition of this blog made it to the “Most Commented” list that lives to the right of this page (and every other page of the Times’ portal)
It’s gratifying that so many people, some of them elfin, some of them not, take the time to have a look at what’s happening here, and comment and respond to comments responding to their comments and so on.
And even so forth.
The comments make interesting reading – they allow me to gauge the extent to which some provocative comment or other has sparked off an exchange and they give me (and everyone reading) an idea of the depth of feeling (and breadth of intellect) possessed by some of the commentators. I thought that should be ‘commenters’ but the ever watchful Mr Gates scribbled a red line below the word, so I must be wrong in thinking that people who comment but shouldn’t really be graced with a title that elevates them can be described thus.
Some of the comments even give an indication of the strength of that sense which is needed truly to appreciated my art, namely that of humour. I’m not saying I’m Ben Elton or Rowan Atkinson, but when I write, my tongue is often in my cheek, an anatomical arrangement that sometimes escapes the more elfin of my detractors. This is not to say that I am not serious about the subject of my jibes, just that perhaps the deadly seriousness with which the lil’elves take themselves and the object of their affections should not be imposed on the rest of us.
On occasion, the comments also go off at a tangent, as someone who calls himself ‘Ivan Attard’ did on Sunday afternoon. He challenged me by writing that [my] ‘next masterpiece should deal about ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. Come on don't be a coward any more. Everyone is talking about it and you have a lot of fodder from previous utterings to lend substance to the matter.” He went on to point out that I should “...forget your Muscat obsession for a while ABC, at least until he provides you with another 'gaffe' to rant about.”
The language and syntax are all Mr “Attard’s”, whose name I put in inverted commas in order to signal that I am not sure whether his name is Attard at all and to differentiate him from another Ivan Attard I know, who is not a racist. There is an Ivan Attard on Facebook whose obvious ‘anti-immigrant tendencies’ (just not to call him racist) have led at least two people to click on the ‘report this person’ button, and I’m assuming that this Ivan Attard is the same one who challenged me.
By pure coincidence, I had been mulling over whether to write about what this Attard person calls ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION (his capitals, not mine, I don’t need to shout) and about how this supposedly Christian country handles it. After all, there’s only so much fun that can be had with Joe Muscat’s penchant for mouthing platitudes.
There’s no denying that illegal or irregular or whatever immigration is a problem. The people washing up on our shores are a strain on our resources, if only because we are obliged to accept them and to treat them decently.
This obligation does not, as the increasingly ridiculous AzzNazz seems to prefer to think, arise from some imposition by the EU or because of some international treaty we have had shoved down our throats. It is simply a fact of life that as a civilised country, we treat people decently – or are supposed to – and if it costs us, then so be it, it will cost us.
This does not mean that it is acceptable for the EU to ignore the problem or front(ex) it up with some window-dressing to pretend that we’re not being left, like, frankly, the rest of Europe’s soft underbelly, to fend for ourselves.
There might come a time, in fact it probably has come, for the mandarins perched comfortably astride their trough in Brussels to be told that the people who want to head further North will be given the wherewithal to do so, thus obliging the rest of civilised Europe to sit up and take notice that there are quite a few thousands of human beings who need help.
In the meantime, however, can we put a stop to the overt racism that infests much of our country?
In L-Orizzont last week, a banner headline blared something on the lines of “Il-Pjaga Tkompli Tikber” (the wound grows, loosely translated) over a picture of a bewildered refugee child: I’ll be forgiven for surmising that it was not the wounds that the refugees are suffering that was concerning L-Orizzont, which I’m mentioning only as an example of the way racism, in milder or more virulent forms, permeates our psyche.
I’ve already referred to AzzNazz and its barely concealed desire to keep anyone with a differently coloured skin or cultural background away from sullying the purity of our shores. Echoing these wholly unacceptable thoughts are the comments you hear anywhere you turn, and the failure of many of our leaders, religious or political or social, to condemn racism is in itself as disgraceful as AzzNazz’s jingoistic rhetoric.
It’s as if, if we keep saying that Malta welcomes foreigners (which we do as long as they’re white tourists with money to spend) and that Malta is Christian and that Malta is not racist, this will turn out to be true.
There you are “Ivan Attard”, stick that in your pipe and smoke it and next time you want to call someone a coward, reflect [on] what you’re saying.
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Comments
And we are still awaiting answers to the questions put to you in your half-hearted 'CHALLENGES' article aimed solely to disgrace me. We shall see. We shall see.
I hope you will heed your own advice in your future writings.
By the way, did you write that bombastic tirade yourself ? If not, don't be afraid to name the person, or should that be, mention the person?
Let your extemporaneous descanting and unpremeditated expatiations have intelligibility and veracious vivacity, without rodomontade or thrasonical bombast. Sedulously avoid all polysyllabic profundity, pompous prolixity, psittaceous vacuity ventriloquial verbosity, and vaniloquent vapidity. Shun double-entendres, prurient jocosity, and pestiferous profanity, obscurant or apparent!!
** ** In other words, talk plainly, briefly, naturally, sensibly, truthfully, purely. Keep from slang; don't put on airs; say what you mean; mean what you say. And, don't use big words! Unless of course you don’t have a valid argument.
Just get this straight ABC. Even looking up remnants from Facebook and other trivial websites of that ilk will not get you anywhere near the satisfaction you need.
...and you need to start discussing the real issues that you start out with in your arrogant articles (not just personally attacking contributors - the one thing which you really excel in).
So there. Go on and give answers to the questions put to your fat face and stop slipping your way out of them. You are becoming patently irritating about commas and exclamation marks now. We are all still waiting to hear something of substance coming out of your mouth about the issue of ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION (caps intended).
(Please note that the above, and current, statements may or may not have been sprinkled with grammatical errors and spellings mistakes, which readers may choose to try and pick out as an entertaining variation on treasure hunt games).
Let’s be practical English is our second language and yet the style and versatility we see in The Times is not inferior to that we see in the British tabloids, sometimes superior. Are we now looking for perfection? We get scores of perfectionists about us but nobody is perfect.
My 17 year old grandson speaks and writes impeccable English but not because he is an ace academic, his mother is English and they live in England. That helps a little don’t you think?
The Maltese race is not a pedigree. It is a mixture of the first inhabitants, those who came afterwards, Phoenicians, Romans (Italians), Arabs (non black), Normans, Sicilians, French, even Spanish and Portuguese and lastly English, not omitting Jews and others. However all these had a common characteristic, the colour of their skin. All this combination constitutes the Maltese race. Peruse the electoral registry or the telephone directory and try to list the different family names: from Fenech to Debono, to Warrington to Dupuis, to Cohen, just to pick a handful of characteristic surnames. What does not appear to ever have gained ground in Malta is the colour black of the skin.
I am against illegal immigrants just because they are illegal, but would we be so ferociously adamant against their presence if the colour of their skin was different, meaning white or nearly white but not absolutely black.
Where we ever against any of the so called European people settling in Malta.
This is like making an examination of conscious to discover why we are so much against coloured illegal immigrants.
In conclusion, the colour of the skin seems to be the problem
You do, in fact, name names, and not only in Canada.
You disturb repose rather than equanimity, since the latter is a state of mind more properly associated with a living person.
And, properly speaking, the act of demonstrating one's (posthumous) concern is expressed by turning in one's grave - though rolling, rotating, spinning, gyrating and other such words are used for comedic effect.
Insufferable, ain't i?
Preferably everyone should adhere to basic, correct language which would be easier to understand as opposed to gibberish which I find too taxing at one o'clock in the morning.
We are forgetting one other element besides correctness or lack thereof. We have to consider 'style' because the interpretation of a word is often subject to the mood of the writer, the mood of the reader and the context it is written in.
I am inclined to agree with James Hamilton that the matter we are presently debating varies extensively from the gist of ABC's blog, and it seems to me that we have turned it into a virtual course in 'English as a second language'
My final remark is that many (including myself at times) forget the last but important quality which makes debates, and yes, even arguments, interesting and fun.
That quality is a good sense of humour (humor). So, it's time to lighten up folks !
* suggestive of an elf in strangeness and otherworldliness; "thunderbolts quivered with elfin flares of heat lightning"; "the fey quality was there ...
* small and delicate; "she was an elfin creature--graceful and delicate"; "obsessed by things elfin and small"
* relating to or made or done by or as if by an elf; "elfin bells"; "all the little creatures joined in the elfin dance"
* usually good-naturedly mischievous; "perpetrated a practical joke with elfin delight"; "elvish tricks"
Leaving aside of the above, it's also a reference to Labour's lil'elves - a genus that came to light during the General Election campaign.
I've no idea why you find my blogs so hard to follow.
Equanimity,composure,sangfroid mean evenness of mind under stress. Equanimity suggests a habit of mind that is only rarely disturbed under great strain. Composure implies the controlling of emotional or mental agitation by an effort of will or as a matter of habit questioning. Sangfroid implies great coolness and steadiness under strain .
Roll over in grave.....We all know what that means, it’s just a figure of speech. I don’t know whether Churchill and Shakespeare were blessed with equanimity but they are certainly enjoying it in their tomb. Figurative Joe, just plain figurative.
Now it’s your turn to enlighten me about your theory of ‘naming names. In all honesty I had never heard it before, maybe it’s a Canadian slang. No pun intended.
what does elfin mean.why are your blogs so hard to follow i m beck
And it's fun teasing them, too, they rise to the bait with such gusto!
It has now got to the stage where I have become rather apprehensive to press the send button, just in case I’ve forgotten to dot all the i’s or crossed all the t’s.
Another point, why is it that some people try to outdo each other in an attempt to drown us with their verbosity?
I continually have to bring out the dictionary just to understand what they are on about.
Of course you could say that is my fault for not being proficient in the English language, but really this is only a blog not an entry for the Booker Prize.
C’mon ABC, you are one of the culprits to pick someone up on their grammar, is it really necessary?
Can someone from the Times of Malta ask him to answer my questions and stop ducking them,since the Times reputation is on the line or write a disclaimer on each of his blogs.If you are not going to pull his blog.
One thing you said write you will win this FIGHT because I won't fight you on such an issue. But I could tell you this you won't win an argument on this issue because I will win this argument. True educated writers are thought to fight with their pen and not a sword.
NB. Definitely can’t agree with you, orcs like Santa’s helpers are also very busy creatures who do their master’s bidding as best they know. Some of them even think they’re better than others.
@ monitor
Found the language too strong for your delicate sensibilities?
1) You can be insulting, as well as insult someone.
2) You would have written, not wrote.
3) It's ABCs not ABC's.
4) You end a question with a question mark ("?")
5) You divide parts of a sentence with a comma (",")
6) While on the subject of commas, you spell them with a double "mm"
7) Still on commas, you don't just drop them in where and when you like.
Don't pick fights you can't win.
This is not a racist remark, it is just common sense.
Unfortunately here they are, and here they will remain until a solution is found.
In the meantime in keeping with our Christian nature, we will continue to save them, house them and feed them all to the best of our ability in the hope that eventually they will be repatriated. But with the trend of practically a boatload a day one has to ask how many more can we accommodate?
We need urgent help, but no-one in the EU seems willing to assist us.
Frankly I think that the unsung heroes in this tragedy are the members of the AFM who continue to do sterling work, going out in all weathers to rescue these people, and also collecting the washed up bodies of those who unfortunately didn’t make it. I'm sure that you will agree that its not a job for the feint hearted.
YOU WROTE: That didn't stop you being insulting to me.
Now again I'm just a wholesaler,but I would have wrote: That didn't stop you from insulting me.
Any English majors out there that can tutor ABC. Maybe you should start him with his ABC's.
@The Times of Malta: Can someone please read his writing or comments, his mistakes can make the Times look bad.
Although I had a key problem on my last comment. The key even got stuck on my name. I didn't see any spelling mistakes on my first comment. I might of put a coma in the wrong place, but I can't see any misspelled words. Can you point them out on my first comment.
One of my problems I'm commenting while, I'm running my business. So it gets hard.
What's your problem? Maybe you took a job, that you can't do.
Maybe your next blog should be about your readers who can't spell, and writers who can't write. STARRING DENIS CATANIA and ANDREW BORG CARDONA.
"Equanimity" n, - Evenness of mind or temper (from my faithful dictionary).
Neither Churchill nor Shakespeare was renowned for this quality, therefore this is a blatant misuse of the word.
Both must be relishing this attribute you proffered* on them with much glee.
*(c1300 o.Fr. utter, pronounce, from Latin proferre - to bring forth, produce, utter).
The only consolation is that while both Shakespeare and Churchill were a great writer and an orator respectively and authorities of the English language, both are very much dead but both of us are still kicking around and trying our best to be faithful to our second official language while trying even harder not to take each other too seriously.
Simply because 'another blogger' accused you of sour grapes syndrome, why take it out on me?
In the first paragraph, why did you not just ask me to use simple English so you can understand me?
You suggested 'feeder' instead of 'trough', but, feeder and trough are not interchangeable. If you check your dictionary the two words are not even cross referenced. A feeder, for example can be an electrical wire which a trough can never be. A trough may contain water but a feeder never does. Capish? or Kapish? or kapixx?
I used 'trough' to quote ABC. Had our friend used 'feeder' (and I doubt he would have considered it appropriate) then I would have quoted 'feeder'.
Going into your last English lesson directed at me, illustrates that you are no expert at subtleties since "mention names" has a slightly different connotation than 'name names'.
The former is used in generic terms (casually) while the latter is used when it is intended to be specific as in the case of 'Joseph'.
If you need further enlightenment let me know but since this explanation is nearing the 200 word mark, I must stop here for now.
@ Joe Martinelli. By trough do you mean ‘feeder’? Contrary to what some people seem to believe, simple writing is not the product of simple minds. A simple, unpretentious style has both grace and power. By not calling attention to itself, it allows the reader to focus on the message.
When I want to make my writing easier to read and understand I look for alternatives to overstated, pompous words; wordy, bureaucratic phrases; and verbose, sometimes amusing redundant phrases: Several simple words may be clearer than a single long word to help you cut the fat from the writing and the readers can easily chew, digest and be nourished by the subject matter.
A particular blogger accused me of sour grapes syndrome after I criticised writers for borrowing from Winston Churchill and Shakespeare to compose their material, I chose to ignore that remark.
And finally Joe since we are open season for correcting each other, the term is ‘mention names’ not ‘name names’. Allow Shakespeare and Churchill to rest in peace don’t disturb their equanimity.(sic)
let me rephrase some of my comments into questios.
1t Do you know anything about racism?
2.Why do you say that the Maltese are racists?
3.Should we give some of the lttle green space we have to illegal immigrants?
4.Should we build a African-Maltese nieghborhood?
5.Do you agree with me when I said the other 26 EU countries don't want them?
6.Are we the second most populated coutry in the world, per capita?
Can you answer these questions or are you going to duck them? Like what you do best.
Just forget about getting ABC to contribute anything logical to the ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION (there I have capped that again) problem Malta is facing with all its dire consequences. He is just a little (!) columnist who is happy with the new toy offered to him by The Times and doesn't give a toss to what the country needs to do in the present precarious situation.
He is just bothered about petty spelling mistakes. Let's just say he is only a self-inflated SPELLCHECKER (oops there I go again) and nothing else.
You chose to name names. I did not but since you zeroed in on an obvious candidate for my remark and with no offence intended, I would imagine that the person you mentioned must, as Leader of a party and soon to be the Leader of the Opposition, be receiving some consideration from the party.
Since he is indispensable until he finishes an important report in Brussels and being an incumbent MEP he continues to draw salary from there. In my book and since he has to relieve himself of one of the two positions, any overlap in receiving compensation, is called 'double dipping'. Nothing untoward mind you, but having two full time jobs is either Herculean or he has reduced both to part-time status.
Now, addressing Dr.Joseph Grech-Attard, may I remind him that I am not a public figure and the trough I draw from is in the singular and I worked, paid for, invested, managed and saved myself without any assistance from him. Please let me know where the second trough is!
Stop playing the race card.You wouldn't know what racism is if it hit you in the face.The issue is Malta is the second most populated country in the World. Even if we can afford, We have no room. If you want to reverse some of the green areas. I'm for building an area for these poor people and start an African-Maltese neighborhood.But until that happens we can only inttergrate about 1500 of them. Calling the Maltese racists is outrages. I remember when I was a little boy and collecting food in school for Africa's poor. Most of these people need to be relocated to the other 26 EU countries swiftly. But nobody wants them. So when you call the Maltese racists, you are barking up the wrong tree. Do you really love these people as a Cristian? Or do you care on how many pages of the Malta Times you make.Nothing against the Malta Times, I love the Malta Times, but when you get picked up by the New York Times and make a few pages on their site. Than you can brag.
“...activities intended deliberately to facilitate, for financial gain, the
entry into, residence or employment in the territory of the Member
States of the European Union, contrary to the rules and conditions
applicable in the Member States.”
Can anybody expalin to me how the EU is actually trying to reduce illegal immigrant smuggling?
By taking your references in your blog to elves out of the intended context (that of nameless hard-working supporters, like Santa's elves) and putting them in the Tolkien context, Mr Portelli is mixing chalk and cheese (or lettuce and f--ts, as we say in the vernacular).
Take it from me, as someone with an exceptional knowledge of Tolkien's works: you are not an Orc, you're more like a Faramir, or perhaps even a Bombadil, and that's a big compliment.
Orcs (also referred to by Tolkien as goblins, particularly in 'The Hobbit') are the counterparts of Elves. 200 words is far too little space to explain fully, but here goes...
In Tolkien's works, Elves are basically the good guys and Orcs the bad guys - so Martin Portelli's implication is clear when he calls you an Orc. This is his - extremely simplistic - view. Further examination of Tolkien's works, notably 'The Silmarillion', reveals that Orcs are in fact transformed Elves in origin. In any case they are totally incapable of sophistry or sophistication.
This government is never not so interested in national problems which can cause irritation to the EU. He has lost his credibility in the EU with so many areas where he is last in the tables and so many others where he is getting warnings to which he never reacted.
A report published today indicates that social cohesion is breaking down in parts of the UK subjected to heavy immigration, Burnley and Dagenham in different areas of England are cited regarding housing, schooling and health and I understand that something similar applies to Malta.
There is nothing new about substantial migration
of people and before World War One there were no passports as we know them today and, in general,
anyone could go anywhere except in certain despotic states such as Tsarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire.
I would like to think that that situation should obtain again with the proviso that the immigrant should be prepared to support him or herself.
Religion or skin colour should not be a consideration
for I suspect that the human race will end up sort of khaki colour and possibly Islamic - no matter what is attempted.
I will allow though that Malta deserves special consideration (particularly by the EU) due to its geographical size and location.
Apologies, I should have said Dr. … yes?
I noticed you hinted an idea I have also voiced elsewhere, albeit moi without the requisite legal knowledge and therefore not to be taken seriously. BTW I rarely take myself seriously, hope that helps one understand my weird logic.
You on the other hand, I now recall, should be better equipped at proposing such solutions. I'm referring to the hypothetical scenario were the Maltese Government to give these irregular/illegal immigrants a temporary (say five years?) passport and helped if required to continue on their journey north-ward. Quite frankly I’m still quite incensed at the Italians having forced upon us this ‘return back to origin’ agreement. I do not blame any half decent gov to concede to this rather egotistic approach of dealing with a problem among friends let alone one which is a not un-substantially important neighbour.
Would that be possible? I think it should, as correct me if I err, nations within the EU block still hold absolute jurisdiction over citizenship laws and regulations. Visas are on the contrary a different matter as there are, I do believe set rules and regulations.
Do you have an opinion on the matter?
It really does look like that we have a serious national emergency situation here. If we equate the actual number of arrivals in Malta since 2002 which reads circa 10,000 with Germany as a benchmark and weigthing them for a proper comparative analysis on a population/land area/income per capita ratio this would read 26.7 million. Per year now Malta is receiving more immigrants than Maltese people are being born. All these people need housing food and education. Obviously this level of immigration is unsustainable in the long term and it will every year increase. Why may I ask why has the Government stopped from declaring this emergency and ask for international help right now?
Martin Portelli, I've never read Tolkein and nor do I intend to, so your sophisticated sophistry is well lost on me. So sorry to disappoint you.
It is simply a fact of life that as a civilised country, we treat people decently – or are supposed to – and if it costs us, then so be it, it will cost us.
Echoing these wholly unacceptable thoughts are the comments you hear anywhere you turn, and the failure of many of our leaders, religious or political or social, to condemn racism is in itself as disgraceful as AzzNazz’s jingoistic rhetoric.
...just the type of discussion which is needed to solve our Illegal Immigration (there, no capital letters now) woes. I thought you were up to the task of generating a discussion aimed at finding solutions on the issue and you go soft at the knees and attack the windmills again instead! You can see from the lack of enthusiasm this article has generated. But then again, thank you for dedicating this piece of journalistic trash to me. There I go smoking my pipe happily, fueled by your cowardly evasion of the real issue again. In time soon, it will catch up with you.
Playing dense, are we? Thought the ‘Stephen Fry’ in you would ensure you’d never give Tolkien a miss. Elves and orcs there aplenty. Surely you distinguish between sophism and sophistication? Then you'll agree that a sophist orc does not equal a sophisticated orc albeit that both are orcs that may encounter elves.
Still miserable about the possibility of losing Drogba and Lampard to the Italians?
Martin Portelli - is there a point to your comment? I missed it, but then, I'm not a visually sophisticated orc (whatever that is)
Kevin Zammit - a good point, well made....
Yes, immigration by whatever label you choose to give it, is a problem and a strain on our resources, but one has to have a heart of stone not to have a bit of compassion on at least the young children and babies who are rescued from impending doom, let alone the parents who risked all for an improbable shot at a better life!
That we be so cosy in our comfortable abodes with all that we need in life! We have a number of underprivileged families, but what country doesn't? The United Staes? Europe? Russia? You name a country and they have the same problem called 'poverty'. Mind you, poverty comes in varying degrees but surely the poorest of the poor in Malta are rich comparing them to these unfortunate 'illegal' immigrants.
Christian or not, it is human nature that stirs within us the desire of helping the less fortunate. Being mean to these people only indicts us.
The attempt to downsize frank illegality to an insignificant "irregularity" raises the suspicion of a hidden agenda somewhere by somebody who should know better . It obstructs the government in its duty to control entry into our small island and to deny its systematic violation by international crooks running a contraband and growing fat on the suffering and drownings of thousands of their prey. It is the duty of every decent citizen to support our government in its efforts to identify the minority of genuine refugees and to facilitate their repatriation to the rest of Europe and the West . "Economic" refugees have no right to jump the queue and to gain access to a Shengen Europe by illegal means.
Our criminal racists must not intervene and complicate the real issues by introducing their pet hates into the effort to defend our borders from all illegal infiltration by international criminals plying a murderous modern slave trade.
Let us keep the issues of racism and illegal immigration well separated. Confusing these issues benefits only the racist minority and harms our true national interests.
In L-Orizzont last week, a banner headline blared something on the lines of “Il-Pjaga Tkompli Tikber” (the wound grows, loosely translated) over a picture of a bewildered refugee child: I’ll be forgiven for surmising that it was not the wounds that the refugees are suffering that was concerning L-Orizzont, which I’m mentioning only as an example of the way racism, in milder or more virulent forms, permeates our psyche.
I see visual literacy is not a sophist orc's strongest points. Try some tongue in cheek humour on Malta's dismal show on Education instead. Maybe parents can get some comic relief while digesting the fact that their children are in a failing educational system. Careful it's not a case of misplaced anatomy regarding the afore mentioned cheek.
NB happy about the prospect of losing Lampard and Drogba to the Italians eventually?
Compare with compare (4th Paragraph)!!??
Rowan Atkinson yes!....Ben Elton? You wish, more Tommy Cooper really.
Only killing time while my beef is roasting. Regards.
Something to think about is the fact that these people pay an exorbitant amount of money in order to run away from their countries and their present lives. This means that they are quite well off, and willing to start another life. If only they pool all their money together they might be able to come up with a solution which does not involve running away from all you have and travelling nearly half way across the globe in search of a better [irregular] way of life.
However, as ABC rightly pointed out, we cannot refuse them help and we need to help them in all possible ways while taking in stock our limited resources.