The Climate Change Reality

 

Climate change is happening, and without doubt it is caused by human activity. I’m a sceptic and before (if ever) I believe something of such magnitude I question and question again for fear of being lied to or manipulated. Yet I doubtlessly believe that the main reason for climate change is human activity.

I am no scientist and do not pretend to be one. My arguments are not scientific. Like many others I was explained the reasons for this phenomenon by scientists who made it simple for me to do so. Their reasons seem valid. I’ve also heard the point of view of those who believe this is a hoax, and their arguments seem too simplistic and crude for me to believe. For example these claim that temperature is not increasing in direct relationship with our Co2 emissions. From the little science I know, I never thought that change in human activity will have an immediate impact, positive or negative, on the whole world. Neither do I expect to see that when in a particular year Co2 emissions decreased the world will start cooling instantly.

However, being a sceptic and not being a scientist, this alone would not have convinced me. I also needed to take a look at the politics of the issue.

Conspiracy theories on anything are abundant. While many consider these theorists as crazy, they actually have serious impacts on world politics. A large number of people in the world believe in some conspiracy, refuse to reason with anyone who tries to show them they should at least question their beliefs and spend their life nibbling their nails and making video clips for Youtube. These vary from a New World Order or the Islamification of the world, to others which are less famous such as the re-unification of the Soviet Union or the European Union’s ‘plan’ to become a military superpower and invade the US.

However, climate change has an element that puts it on a completely different level than these bullshit theories. It is not being endorsed by some fringe groups but by nearly all leaders of the world. These include the US and other major countries who financially speaking have a lot to lose by accepting it. Even President George W. Bush, who tried to find as many loopholes as possible so that the US doesn’t embark on any major reform, didn’t deny it.

Let’s compare the climate change reality with what probably is the biggest conspiracy theory of our times: the creation of a New World Order. They have one similar thing – there is evidence for both. The climate is changing (even those who believe this is a hoax accept this, they just believe it’s not related to human activity), the glaciers are melting and anomalies in nature are taking place. Similarly the New World Order conspiracy too is based on realities – 9/11 did happen against all odds, people are greedy and want to control the world, and privacy is being eroded. What this lunatic fringe believes is that these realities are created by rogue activities from the Vatican, the former KGB, Bin Laden’s family and thousands of others (the most paranoid even include Jesus Christ). They are sure that all these entities are conspiring between them to take complete control of us; that 9/11 was an inside job done by Americans; and that we will soon be forced to wear a microchip in our right hand so that the NWO leaders could control us completely. (Oh and yes, the microchip is even mentioned in the Bible, in the Book of Revelations!)

And who is leading this conspiracy movement? I don’t know. Does anyone? Information is spread mostly through emails and internet sites from people who are either anonymous or have all the possibility to create a false profile. We can’t point our fingers or poke our questions to a particular individual because there is no individual.

With climate change it’s quite different, the opposite actually. Fingers were pointed at many politicians and scientists, but the latest personality who has to blame for all this is Al Gore. After losing an election he compiled a thorough documentary (An Inconvenient Truth). We are talking about Al Gore, US Presidential candidate who did not hide behind an Internet screen for exposing this reality. He is backed by practically every leader of the world, most notably President Nasheed of the Maldives. The latter is of vital importance because his country is the  most severely hit by this inconvenient truth. Ever seen those beautiful small islands on travel brochures, a holidaymaker’s dream? They are literally drowning and unless something is urgently done they will soon vanish.

 

For most of us climate change is a reality. Some want to deny it. There are billions of profit to be lost from reacting to it in a sane way. They have attempted to label Al Gore as a Communist and a lunatic. And we, Greens, socialists and all those who love the world we live in are the bad guys. We are either conspiring with him for personal power or we must be paranoid like the NWO crazies. They say the cause is just ‘the sun’.

They will never convince the majority of course. However they will partly attain what they want to – put doubt in the equation. Unfortunately, this is not an ego game of ‘we have more people believing in us than you’. This is an emergency

 

Whose Freedom?

A very controversial topic in Malta, at this very moment, is freedom of expression. I am all out in favour of people expressing what they believe in, and that includes people with whom I totally disagree on what they have to say. However, quite frequently I’m asked: ‘Does this freedom include hate speech?’ Treating this issue is very delicate. People’s freedoms are extremely important but so is the protection of those to whom the speech is directed. Where should one draw the line?

Let’s start with what in my opinion should not even be considered as controversial – shocking and vulgar language. I find it completely ridiculous to censor something (for example the play ‘Stitching’ and ‘Realta’s newspaper) just because it contains parts or articles considered as vulgar and shocking. Who defines what terms fall into this category? Some board of whatever authority?

More controversial is offensive language. Here we are not talking about ‘nasty’ words, but words deliberately used to offend others on the basis of religion, race, sexual orientation and others. Should a Maltese Imam who compared homosexuals getting married to marrying cats and dogs be censored or face legal sanction? What about right wing extremists who call black people niggers? I know many will disagree with me on this, but I don’t believe these people should be censored or face criminal repercussions. Definitely they should be condemned, and if they aren’t it means we’re in trouble. The offended parties have the right to file libel. However they should have all the right to say it without fearing the authorities.

The next category is however different. I’m talking about what is termed as ‘fighting words’. These are used to overtly or subtly incite violence on the victims. The injured party is not just offended but threatened and put in danger. Had the Imam called for individuals or groups to harass homosexuals, or right if rightwing extremists to make a call to harass ‘niggers’, the story would have been very different.

An email that had been circulating a while ago shows a group of extremist Muslims in the UK calling for violence against a Danish cartoonist. In my opinion it is unacceptable to let these people protest and call for such action, even getting police protection for it. They are not ‘offending back’ the person who offended them. They are instigating violence towards him and his country. Though their demands are futile, intention is clear and in my opinion the protest should not only have been halted, but the ring leaders should have been filed criminal charges.

Right wing extremists sometimes also jump the line when it comes to freedom of speech. An example is the BNP who are not only allowed to voice their words, but two of them have been elected to the European Parliament. They don’t like a multicultural England, they deny the Holocaust, and even minimise what Hitler did: ‘Adolf just went a bit too far’. Disgusting as it is, I believe they have a right to say it. What they don’t have a right to is, for example, making an alliance with the Ku Klux Klan, an organisation responsible for thousands of deaths during the last hundred years, all based on racial prejudice. Asking these people their vote, telling them ‘they have the same objective but will have to use sweeter words’ is legitimising the Klan’s violence. On that basis, yes definitely the BNP should have faced criminal sanctions, even been prohibited from contesting elections.

Something that fascinates me is the comments sent daily to the online version of the Times of Malta. Some people repeatedly voice their opinion on African migrants, not only condemning illegal border crossing, but exposing their hatred towards these people. None of them is censored and as much as I despise (or sometimes laugh at) what they say I agree they should be allowed to voice their opinion. However occasionally they do cross the line. I remember a particular comment going something like this (referring to migrants in Britain and Malta): ‘The BNP will in the end take control because they have the support of the Army. Same should be done here’. The threat here is not so subtle. The author is definitely not talking about just the Army officials’ vote.

This topic is extremely delicate, and the line between what is acceptable or not is extremely thin. Thus I would like to make some things clear:

1) Though one may think in what s/he reads here and in most of the media that the issue of censorship is related mainly to race, religion and political correctness, this is not the case. These cases are the most controversial, thus newsworthy. In reality censorship is more often used in the form of trying to silence people like Mr Joe Falzon, MEPA’s auditor who want to expose serious illegalities at the expense of the Maltese taxpayer.

2) What I wrote here is my personal opinion. It does not necessarily reflect what Maltese or EU legislation states.

3) There are a lot of gray areas. For example what about psychological harassment? A recent case of a homosexual who had his house intruded by someone who sprayed the words ‘No Gays’ is not, in my opinion just a case of vandalism and trespassing but a hate crime. There was a deliberate (and successful) attempt at causing fear in the victim, even if there was no overt reference to violence. Once again, the million dollar question is, ‘Where does one cross the line?’

 

Rather the Crucifix than the Swastika

 Being agnostic one might easily believe I’m glad about the decision by the EU to ban Crucifix from public places in Italy on grounds of human rights. This couldn’t be further than the truth.

The Crucifix never bothered me at all. For many in my country it symbolises Christianity. For me it symbolises a revolutionary who was tortured and murdered fighting injustice. Having said that, rather than a symbol it would have been better if those who hail it in my country (the majority) would actually follow his admirable steps, something only practiced by a minority.

Had the circumstances been different I wouldn’t have bothered it was removed either. But as things stands this decision was taken at the worst time in the worst country – fascist Italy.

I can already imagine Berlusconi’s face, together with those of his accomplices in the Northern League, beam at this decision. After offending the Catholic church by their explicit sexist and racist attitudes, Silvio Berlusconi now has the opportunity to appear as the ultimate saviour of Christianity. Forget the sex scandals, the corruption charges. One may easily also forget the criminal offences committed by people in his government, worst of which having an MP convicted of arson attacks on Romanian communities. Now these criminals are enraged against pagans (secularists) and are determined to save Christianity (its symbols actually, quite a different thing).

To add insult to injury an organisation responsible for more than a thousand murders in hundred years in the U.S, the Ku Klux Klan is taking a tangible form in Italy. Ironically this is an organisation that discriminated against Catholics in the past, especially Italian migrants in the U.S.

But the Italian Clansmen, targeting mainly migrants, Jews and homosexuals, are promising they will be good boys and obey the law. Yet, like the mother organisation, they want to keep their masks and hoods. Ironically the reason for this is because they fear to be discriminated against. Being the patriots they claim to be I find no reason they should fear discrimination, unless obviously they were lying when they stated they will be law abiding, just like the mother organisation in the U.S did.

 The European Human Rights Commission has committed a grave mistake in banning crucifixes in Italy. It only makes it easier for these elected and non electing criminals dupe well meaning Catholic citizens towards them, to the extent of apologising them because of fear that atheists, secularist, Jews an Muslims would take their crosses away.

Apart from that, the EHRC has also shown it has no sense of priority. The Italian government is committing serious human rights breaches, from abusing from data of its people up to sending back potential refugees to Libya (a country with no obligation for granting asylum to those who need it), some of whom will meet their death.

If the EU doesn’t control these serious human rights abuses, while allowing criminal organisations such as the KKK take form, the crucifixes would soon be replaced by Swastikas. And yes, that does bother me. Actually it scares me.

 

Winners and Losers

 

Some people mention the possibility of having a World War III. The tensions are high. The recession aggravates things but it’s just a small part in the equation. So is religion. Though the tension is apparently between the West and the Islamic world, religion is just an umbrella for more serious underlying issues, such as greed, injustice, corruption, poverty and deep resentments. Extremists both from the left and the right have got entangled in conspiracy theories about a New World Order and worldwide dictatorship. While in my opinion creators and believers of these theories verge on serious paranoia and delusions of grandeur reminding me of Charles Manson, most of what they say is actually based on facts (it’s the way they link one thing to another to arrive at their bombastic conclusions is why they shouldn’t be taken seriously).

 

However, amid all the uncertainties, there is one thing for sure. This is not World War III, but yes, we are in Cold War II. Many might not acknowledge this (possibly because it is too scary to do so) but in reality the world is not safer that the 60’s, the peak of the first Cold War.

 

Some say, in war everybody loses. I beg to differ. If there were no winners there would be no wars, cold or not. So who are the winners? The West or the Muslim world? None of them. The winners are on both sides, so are the losers. And for each winner, there are a million losers. And we, the non-guilty no matter what our religion or race are the majority – the losers.

 

The winners are easy to spot out. The weapons industry is one of the most victorious. The more the tension, the higher the profits. Dictators in Muslim countries, and fringe terrorist groups are also gaining a lot. For the latter it’s more a question of power than money, though the two are usually sides of the same coin. The fear of the bad West and its oppression of fellow Muslims especially in Palestine is carefully manipulated to consolidate their power.

 

The list includes the corrupt criminals at Congress, turban wearing sheiks in Saudi Arabia, fanatic Zionists, some of the gamblers at Wall street and last but not least every corrupt dictator in Third World Countries. The latter sporting some solid gold Rolls Royce with a personal professional driver who knows which streets to avoid the overly thin or overly bloated corpses of the locals.

 

And we the losers? Hard to name every category but, generally speaking we are either dying of hunger, scared shitless of a terrorist attack or both. And we will keep on losing as long as the winners convince us the enemy is in the East or the West and not them. And they are succeeding. They do not only care about us, they love us. Angry at the other side but nearly always they are smiling.

 

Seen the Bin Laden clips? Despite his rage for the murdered Palestinian children, despite killing thousands of innocent civilians whose fault was only that to be at the wrong time and the wrong place (something he says was the will of God), he smiles. Yes the son of a bitch smiles, like the sweet Imam in Pakistan who mesmerised journalists by saying in a well mannered soft voice that he wants nothing ‘except full Sharia law for country’ In other words power given to him by God itself, power to rule a country that has nukes, together with people who won’t find it hard to use them.

 

And on the other side? First we had that awful blond, sending troops to kill and die for his ‘noble cause’. To destroy a man accused of having weapons of mass destruction (never found) by invading his land with white phosphorous, an illegal weapon for mass destruction. And when the American citizens got fed up, they chose a black guy, changed a little bit here and there (better than nothing?) but is still fighting the same ‘noble cause’. The noble cause Cindy Sheenan mother of one the deceased who fought it, never got any reply about what was so noble about it. And both the ginger and the black President smile for the cameras to keep us happy.

 

In a land so far away, still featured in many travel magazines (not for long), there is a man, a dictator actually screaming and shouting to get our attention. The President of the Maldives’ mantra, coming out from his severely abused vocal chords, has changed slightly lately. He used to yell ‘Stop global warming, we are going to drown’. Now he yells ‘we are drowning, literally’. Unfortunately, this little rich boy is telling the truth.

 

While mother earth is lashing at us with vengeance for being so bad, the winners insist with their agenda. The Cold War needs to go on, or the profit will decrease substantially. Gorbachev saved the world once. He is not in a position to do it again. Now it’s up to us, the losers, the majority. Unless we unite against our real oppressors we’ll keep on living and dying in our fear.

 

And at the risk of sounding repetitive I still insist, this war can only be won by not being fought.

 

Guilt Free Entertainment

Once again a circus with wild animals in captivity has come to entertain us this Christmas. Entertainment at the expense of endless torture of these wonderful, innocent creatures. One of the ultimate perversities of human beings. Definitely not my kind of entertainment.

 

When I did visit a circus, some 20 years ago it was different. There had been no education. My parents can honestly say they took me, a nine year old on a clean conscience. Probably, like myself, they though the animals were actually having fun.

 

Today we don’t have any excuse. Just in case one still has doubts, maybe this is a little eye opener on the horror circus animals have to endure.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb3AKVn32_I&feature=related

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y6WKI8eKI4

However, my conscience is not the only reason that makes me prefer watching animals on National Geographic, and hopefully one day in a Safari, than in a circus. It’s that in the latter, they don’t even attract me anymore. An elephant, a tiger or an iguana isn’t itself in such a place. It’s not only held in captivity against any law of nature but it’s being persistently humiliated. It’s naked of the dignity its brothers and sisters enjoy in the wilderness. The show, the games it does are nothing more than a manifestation of its submission to its pervert owner. We take our children to watch these animals obey rules that weren’t meant for them in the first place.

 

The first reaction to this forthcoming circus, Circo Fantasy, is a negative one on the media. And that’s something very positive. I’m proud that most of my fellow Maltese people do have a conscience and disapprove of this brutality, while I’m disgusted with authorities giving the green light to this perversity.

 

However, the ball is in our court. We have to hit them where it hurts, which is the profit they make from this misery. We have to boycott any circus with animals and show the reason why. If we really love circuses, we will attend only those that are animal free. We still appreciate the greatness of a trapeze jumper, the accurateness of a juggler and the talent of a clown.

 

We love animals. We also want to see them. But when we do, be it on a screen or in the wildlife, we’ll see them living their free dignified life. We want to see them live, like they do on the Discovery Channel.

 

Take another step and join this Facebook Group. This year might be the last one our country is an accomplice to this misery.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=152447782391

 

Ghosts of Decades Gone By

While I was still uttering my first words, my family and a large number of people living in Malta were living in fear. Political fear. And let’s not beat around the bush, it was the socialists, the then Malta Labour Party who were mainly to blame.

I remember being told to hide the newspaper I used to buy every Sunday morning for my father, even though it was just The Sunday Times. I remember tension in my parents faces in an incident while choosing the different coloured wrappers of otherwise identical sweets. They were in red, blue and gold. I chose the gold one (cause I liked the colour, nothing more) and that seemed to relax my parents. There were many such incidents. I also remember the joy after the 1987 election. I also remember visibly a graffiti sprayed on a wall in Mosta stating ‘Hlisna mit-tirannijja’ (we freed ourselves from tyranny). Looking back, I realise that the author of those words was right.

Today, more than two decades later we are free from this crap. Of course we still have rampant corruption and manipulation of the media. But at least now power does not lie in the barrel of a gun. (According to the EU barometer Malta is a ‘quasi democracy’)

 The Nationalists kept the same name and have been ruling this country for nearly 20 years. The socialists changed their name, and their attitude. The PL of today has absolutely nothing to do with the MLP of the 80’s although a small number of people from the Party from those days remained. I still do not support them, but I don’t fear them anymore. Joseph Muscat, their new leader is in my opinion, quite a frivolous and arrogant person. He also has no idea of what constructive criticism, for the benefit of our country, is. However despite all his shortcomings he is clearly not a violent person. The PL today is anything but a violent party. The fear is gone. At least for me and many others.

However, some die hard PN supporters are still playing the ‘socialists are violent’ card. A card that is securing them a large amount of votes, especially the votes of those who experienced the worst in the 80’s. This can’t go on. Today’s government has flaws, big flaws. Democratic, environmental, economical and other shortcomings are keeping our country far from what is desirable. The socialist opposition is not a much better alternative in my opinion (one of the reasons why I support and vote for the Greens). However they are not a dangerous (violent) alternative, and those who play this card are actually doing a disservice to the country. A disservice because a chunk of people will never consider any alternative for the wrong reason – fear. It has, for a long time kept the PN in power despite anything the party does. It was even used against the Greens with the ‘Vote Harry get Freddy’ campaign before the last general elections.

My appeal here is not for people to support the Greens. All that I’m asking is that for the common as well as individual good one should be open minded on to whom they should support. Personally I use the answer to these two questions when I come to decide whom to support and ultimately vote:

1) What is the Party proposing?

2) How much do I trust this Party in actually implementing what they are proposing?

For the 80’s, fear of violence was in the equation. Today it is not. Well, it should not be. All that is left is ghosts. And I believe ghosts only exist in a person’s imagination

 

Tearing the Walls Down

One can only imagine the euphoria people like Michael Gorbachev and millions of others felt as the Berlin wall began crumbling down. The physical demolition was no big deal, but the non-tangible need to fell ‘protected’ by it had for decades excluded the possibility that the wall might someday exist no more. The need for this protective curtain not only divided people, even families, but created bitter hatred and resentment towards those on the other side of the wall, whatever side of the fence one happened to be situated in. A hatred deeply entangled with ignorance and fear – the most dangerous cocktail possible – dangerous to the extent of igniting a full nuclear war.

 

Gorbachev, since his youth had realised that it was all a game. Like his friends he was a pawn on the East side, fed by the lies of Stalin and his followers, the biggest lie being that the Soviet Union was heaven when compared to the West. He also assumed, rightly enough, that something similar was taking place on the other side of the wall.

 

During his trips to the West (the first attempt at tearing the wall down) a quasi-insignificant incident showed him that had been right all way long. Shyly, a public officer asked Gorbachev to remove his hat. He was curious about something, and it wasn’t whether Gorbachev really had a big birth mark or not. The officer wanted to know if the Soviet leader had horns. Yes, real horns. It was a rumour many in the West had come to believe – Communists were children of the devil and they actually had horns on their head. A stupidity the result of the demonic blend of ignorance, hatred and fear. Luckily some people on both sides of the wall realised that the only solution was tearing the wall down.

 

Yet, though this is only modern history, we seem to have not learnt the lesson. We started erecting walls (physical, metaphorical or both) all over again. The most obvious, and devastating find themselves in Northern Ireland, Gaza, in the American-Mexican border, Iraq and last but not least the infamous Fortress Europe. While these walls, intended to keep away terrorists or drug dealers cause the same harm as the Berlin wall did, they are far from impenetrable. Their significance is only virtual. Like the false feeling of security an umbrella can give you if bombs are falling over your head, they achieve nothing positive. No wall will stop cocaine from going to the U.S as much as no wall will stop Hamas sending rockets to Israel. Yet these walls are making the Americans more sceptic towards the Mexicans, the Palestinians more bitter towards the Israeli.

 

What about Fortress Europe? True there is no real physical wall. However, refugees from the East and the South are still penetrating a wall of hostility and ignorance, coupled with next to useless border controls. Since the fall of the Berlin wall, we viewed the East with curiosity and passion. Africa with pity and awe as one of the richest, yet extremely troubled region ironically associated with poverty. Now, we view them both with fear and hatred.

 

To add insult to injury, another factor has cropped up – the fear (rational or not) of Islam. Fear that once again is blended with hatred and ignorance. Things get even more complicated is that Muslims, are not confined in Asia and Africa, as much as Christians are not confined in Europe and America. This wall could never become tangible. Where would one draw the line?  Thus we are building non-tangible walls inside Europe. Muslims are seen with suspicion even if they are European citizens. The fear non-Muslims an impact on these Muslims in Europe, they are becoming more of a closed group (another alarming sign).

 

Yet, the repercussions are even more severe. Muslim dictators and terrorists in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and most of all Pakistan are not at all happy, see the West with hostility. We are giving them valid reason to influence their people that we are bad, sadist, infidels. Remember the Communists having horns?

 

As if there are not enough walls, and the problems they create, the present Italian government is erecting another wall, this time between Christian Italians themselves. They want to divide the rich North from the poor South. They want people in the South, where prices are (have to be) cheaper be paid less for the same job. Policy is made so that as much as possible the Southerners remain in the South and Northerners in the North. More dividing lines. More fear hate and ignorance.

 

Before accusing me of moaning and groaning. I must admit I don’t have a solution for these tensions. I really wish I had. However I do have an indication, many leaders are unfortunately avoiding. Stop following Hitler’s and Stalin’s footsteps and start following Gorbachev’s. Replace walls with constructive dialogue. Learn from the success stories, not the failures.

 

Like the Cold war, this ‘war’ we are in could only be won by not being fought. Any other way is the equivalent of tragedy.

 

 

Beautiful Memories anda Bitter Reality

I still can’t understand why I keep reading comments on the online version of the Times, especially on anything regarding black people. Some really nasty people seem to have made it a goal to repeat ad nauseum racist comments. They want to show clearly that they DO NOT, ABSOLUTELY NOT and repeat many times daily that they DEFINITELY DO NOT want A SINGLE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT in Malta (which for them is the equivalent to black people). They emphasise their point by typing such words every time in capital letters (since it is not possible to use bold and underline).
 
Now, these do not show that the majority of the Maltese people are heartless and racist. A look at the names gives a clear indication that about seven to nine people are responsible for these disgusting comments (two people, someone who signs in as l galea and another as Louise Vella astonish me to their serious commitment to the cause, coupled with their obsessive repetition of some words and phrases). I try to remind myself not to take these people (whom I imagine, suffer from deep solitude and boredom) seriously. However I was in a negative mood wasting my time reading this crap when I received an email from an old friend I hadn’t heard from for quite some time.
 
He’s French and was in Malta a couple of years ago working with youths on a non-profit EU project. A very friendly, charismatic person, respected by everyone who knew him, especially the youths he was working with. He also happens to be black, which is not that much of a coincidence since both his parents are black. Unlike what many Maltese people assumed, he is neither a legal or illegal migrant but a French citizen son of two French citizens spending a year in Malta as a volunteer.
 
We used to hang around a lot together while he was here, even went abroad in a seminar in Turkey together. He was the only black guy in a group of forty, but not a single person in the group bothered about that. We even cracked ‘racist’ jokes (such as smile when you’re in the dark so that we can see you) which he took with good humour since it was obvious there was no malicious intent.
 
He was only the only black person on the plane when we came back which didn’t seem to bother anyone aboard. However it mattered a lot to customs officials. Only some three or four people were searched at the Maltese airport. He was one of them. A coincidence? Maybe. What definitely was not a coincidence was the fact that while the others where just frisked and officers took a peek into their bags, my friend’s search took a whole hour. When he was ready he told us he was Ok but the expression on his face showed otherwise. Every single item in his bag was carefully inspected, while he was subject to an intensive and humiliating strip search, with a special emphasis on body cavities. The way he was talked to was a quasi-interrogation, and when it was clear that there wasn’t the slightest illegal thing about him, he was told he could go, no apologies whatsoever.
 
He still had a long time to spend in Malta, during which we enjoyed other social occasions together. Once again, most people never bothered about his skin colour. Yet he still left pre-maturely (after nine months) and the reason was the racist attitude of certain people such as bus drivers, people on the bus, together with a couple of passer bys who slowed their car to send their we-don’t-want-you-here message.
 
Seeing things from my (white Maltese) perspective, it is obvious that these not so pleasant people are a minority. From a thousand cars passing by, only one or two would pass such comments, only a couple of bus drivers did not stop on the stage as was their job (and, jokes apart, they had definitely seen him). However, if I put myself in his position, I’d have seen things differently. It is not the 999 cars who just went by that you notice, but the one that stopped so that the people inside can offend you, if you get my point.
 
Replying to his email I felt like sending an apology. But why should I? What am I to blame that some losers who happen to share my skin colour turned nasty? Or for a couple of artists who far from skateboarder style graffiti art paining, vandalise walls and billboards with misspelt racist comments (no blaks) and swastikas.
 
I owe him no apology. I’ve been a good friend. Yet I had to write this blog, mainly to ‘clean myself’ from the guilt I sometimes feel, which honestly I do not deserve.

 

The Fly That Change The World

Take a look at this scenario. A young couple are busy consuming their marriage. After some foreplay, they have full intercourse without using contraception. A child is conceived.

 

Now let’s change the scenario very slightly. There is a fly in the room. Its noise is disturbing the foreplay and bothers the husband. They take a slight pause and he rushes to smash the fly, leaving the pleasure on hold for a couple of second. He tramples on a stool and breaks his leg. The sex would take place another day. No child is conceived.

 

Does this really matter? The amount of babies being conceived at this very moment is abundant. One more or less, the absolute majority of the nearly 7 billion people in this won’t even people in this world wouldn’t have noticed.

 

Yet it does make a difference. It can actually change history.

 

What if that conceived child was Adolf Hitler, Michael Gorbachev, Albert Einstein or Osama Bin laden? If the fly had bothering one of these peoples fathers the whole scenario of the world would be completely different.

 

I brought up this analogy in order to explain how ridiculous certain arguments from experts are while these construct elaborate yet superficial conspiracy theories, the latest being the Islamisation of  the world. This theory is based on a single variable – demography. Muslims tend to have more children and migration patters mean they are distributed all over the world. Three continents – Europe, North America and Australia will soon be infected as the number of Muslims spirals. This will happen in 50 years time.

 

These experts are however Mathematics geeks, the kind of guys you’ve seen making love to copybooks in the library while you were fondling your girlfriend in a remote corner. They can make magic with numbers and statistics and are about to tell you what the exact percentage of Muslims to non-Muslims will be in 50 years time. They would have been correct, if numbers and statistics were the only variables. These are the things they know and work with. Probably they thought Congo was a musical instrument before they searched Wikipedia to construct their theory.

 

The other variables are numerous. It could be the fly that we mentioned. It could be much more. These are a few of the millions of variables the geeks are not calculating: Global warming, coups and wars (or the lack of them), genetic engineering, increase in drugs and the construction of new ones, exploring the universe, inventing new more harmful nuclear weapons or have an insane leader of some country who decides to use them.

 

Both frivolous and major changes make the immediate future of the world unpredictable. Yet the geeks are convincing people that in 50 years time Muslims will take over the world.

 

In reality, in 50 years we don’t even know if this world can still be habitable for human beings. Worse still, the geeks might have managed to take over.

 

Never Mind the Prayers… Here comes the Ultra Far Right

 

They never bothered me. Every Saturday evening they gather in a place just a couple of streets behind my house and pray, somewhat loudly. Why not? This is at 7.00 in the evening, we’re all allowed to make some noise. They spend a couple of ours praising God. Being agnostic doesn’t mean that I’m against freedom of worship. Far from that. To be honest I actually admire they way they regularly commit themselves towards what they believe in.

 

Yet, last Saturday, for the first time the singing and clapping did bother me. Mind you, the worshippers did nothing wrong, and they have nothing to blame if I was bothered.

 

The reason for getting annoyed was the fact that I remembered the fuss that was created a couple of weeks ago because a group of Muslims decided to praise God in public. Like the worshippers in my neighbourhood, the Muslims obtained a Police license and prayed during acceptable hours (as regards noise).

 

Yet their prayers MADE NEWS. The fact that they prayed in public was a news item on the Times of Malta at least twice. Worse still, on the online version of the times it was one of the most commented issues. To be fair, more than 50% of those putting comments, stated there was nothing wrong about this and that we are making a fuss out of nothing.

 

However the problem is not this. WHY SHOULD THE FACT THAT A GROUP OF PEOPLE LEGALLY EXERCISING THEIR RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE AND WORSHIP BE NEWSWORTHY? I’m not blaming the Times, far from that. The goal of the newspaper is profit and if many readers find this newsworthy they did their job and delivered the news.

 

May I ask why Catholic worshippers, no matter whether they pray in public or make noise are never on the news? The answer is obvious – they are only doing what the law entitles them to do. Yet, saying ‘praise the Lord Jesus’ is acceptable, even admirable, but saying ‘Allah hu Akbar’ sends shivers down some people’s spine.

 

I think I’ve made my point, but would like to add something more. The fear of Muslims, especially after 9/11 is having an effect on quite some Maltese. However, if things were like some want us to believe, isn’t it strange that the main stakeholder – the Catholic Church – not only refraining from discriminating and passing vicious comments, but collaborating with the Muslim church.

 

Am I asking too much, from this society that unless the law is broken, a group of people who decide to assemble and pray can do so at peace?