Editorial
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Sunday, December 25, 2011
A political Christmas?
Practically every year people question whether the true meaning of Christmas has been lost, as it focuses less on the real reason for its being – the birth of Jesus Christ – and much more on shopping, more shopping and parties. Even though the...
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Saturday, December 24, 2011
Enhanced solidarity is best Christmas gift
At Christmastime, a wave of tenderness and hope, together with an overpowering need for closeness and peace, engulfs all people of goodwill, irrespective of colour or creed. Yet, many great evils still hurt humanity, armed conflicts continue to lay...
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Friday, December 23, 2011
Exercise, eat well, lose weight and live better
Can one simply accept diabetes and that’s that? A recent study in Gozo showed that the Maltese seem to be doing so rather than seeking to prevent or treat it. This may be because the disease is so common. Indeed, it is one of the commonest chronic...
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Thursday, December 22, 2011
Investing public has a right for information
The saga of the property fund sold by the Bank of Valletta drags on amid serious accusations by the MFSA, the financial services regulator, that this publicly-listed bank was resorting to “a strategic ploy... to try and escape further public...
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Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Gap between rich and poor is growing
Businesses are rarely satisfied at the volume of trade done over the festive period. It will not be surprising at all therefore if, as in other years, they will report a lower sales volume this year as compared to that in other years. Well, times...
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Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Time well overdue to check errant local councils
It is a disgrace that a number of local councils are allowed to continue to operate in the slipshod manner in which they have now been running for years. There are many problems in the way of putting local government on a sound footing but the...
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Education is best to deal with xenophobia
A 90-minute roundtable discussion heard six African migrants speaking of the obstacles they face in trying to carve a life for themselves in Malta. They described the hurt they felt at being misrepresented and misunderstood. One of them even...
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
So, we do nothing about it?
The Bickle case last week blew wide open a very unpleasant Pandora’s Box. Most of the public would have read with disbelief how a 42-year-old woman ran a rampant drug trade in prison between 2006 and 2008, as well as bullying and humiliating other...
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
The jail ‘queen’ and her accomplices
On the day society, in the form of a jury panel, found the prison system guilty of failing to control drug trafficking within its walls, the national drug commission advised caution on the interpretation of figures indicating that 41 per cent of...
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Friday, December 16, 2011
Bleak prospects for unemployed in Europe
It is not a happy Christmas for thousands of people who are unable to find jobs in countries throughout Europe, including in Malta. After many years of study at colleges and universities, many are finding all the doors for jobs closed in their face.
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Thursday, December 15, 2011
Labour is now serenading private enterprise
What a difference 30 odd years make! Ask private enterprise what life under the socialist government of Dom Mintoff was like and the reply is not likely to be music to the ears of today’s Labour Party politicians. To start with, when was the last...
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Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Conducted-related issues must be dealt with
Building Resilience In Schoolchildren is the title of a study that was designed to identify the key risk factors that make young people develop social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, technically known as SEBD. The research also identified...
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Tuesday, December 13, 2011
The quest to agree on one National Day
In three years’ time, Malta will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of Independence Day, the 40th anniversary of Republic Day and the 35th anniversary of Freedom Day. Yet, unfortunately, an agreement on one National Day still remains...
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Monday, December 12, 2011
Malta and the European Court of Human Rights
A somewhat disturbing statement was made by a Justice Ministry spokesman in his reaction to two decisions by the European Court of Human Rights finding Malta in breach of the right to freedom of expression. There have been only three cases of such...
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Sunday, December 11, 2011
The students we deserve?
It was only a matter of time before a student ended up in court in connection with over-zealous celebrations and last week the sad fact came to pass. It is for a court to establish the circumstances, but what cannot be contested is that a University...
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Saturday, December 10, 2011
Electoral gimmick or constructive initiative?
The Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government, Chris Said, has announced that a package of changes to the system of fines for such offences as traffic contraventions and littering is under discussion. For example, it may be that instead of...
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Friday, December 9, 2011
The government must lead by example
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said on Sunday that he sometimes worried that Maltese families do not understand the importance for Malta to reduce the deficit in government’s finances. There must at least be two reasons for this. The first is that...
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Thursday, December 8, 2011
Malta’s joint oil exploration proposal
Only days after the Foreign Minister said in Parliament that Malta had made a proposal for joint oil exploration with Libya and Italy, “as a possible solution to the continental shelf issue”, the government announced that three oil companies have...
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Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Administration of justice needs urgent action
The Minister for Justice and Home Affairs has just presented a package of amendments to the Criminal Code for consideration by Parliament. It is a mixed bag, ranging from the introduction into Maltese law for the first time of environmental crimes...
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Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Trust is what matters, not proposals
Did the Labour leader really think that the people would be impressed by the number of proposals he dished out in reply to the Prime Minister’s 10 questions? If he did, his party is in real trouble for most are unlikely to fall for election...
