In the haunting and patriotic lines i reproduce below, Sir Walter Scott portrays vividly the very real but often difficult to explain love many feel of us for their native land. What is it though, that makes us love our land? Roger Scruton I believe describes it best - when he states that the nation is an “outgrowth of our common home” and that this home, this community “cannot really be understood without reference to other generations. It is an inherited community” and we inevitably include amongst those to whom we are obligated both our ancestors and our offspring. To despise your land therefore is to despise both. The Nation commands our loyalty not just because of what it is, but because of what it has been and will be”. Read the rest of this entry »
Today, The Times of Malta reveals that 4 out of five Malta’s MEP’s will have their private EU pension schemes bailed out by the taxpayer. This blog had revealed this scandal here.
“Four out of the five current Maltese sitting MEPs are members of this scheme. Nationalist MEP David Casa is the only one who has chosen not to subscribe as he said that he was already covered by a private insurance scheme.”
The London Times reports that the EU’s directive on biofuels, recently passed as part of the EU’s climate and energy package, will raise the cost of motoring for drivers. The EU rules state that 13 per cent of petrol and diesel fuels need to be derived from biofuel by 2020. Oil companies have had to spend more than £100 million in the past year on adapting refineries and storage facilities to cope with biofuels. The paper notes that the costs of complying with the EU directive will increase sharply over the next five years and most of the cost will be passed on to drivers.
Ironically, Friends of the Earth, woke up recently to report this week the obvious fact that biofuels would increase emissions because forests were being cut down to clear land for crops. Not to mention it would continue to contribute to the rise of food prices… with the predictable consequence so well illustrated in the image i chose.
MEPs create new scheme allowing them to claim £257 for each journey to work; Taxpayers to fund £100m hole in MEP pension fund created by financial crisis
16 April 2009
The Mail reports that from June MEPs will be able to claim up to £257 per journey under a ‘duration allowance’ which reimburses them for the time spent travelling between their homes and European Parliament buildings. The article notes that this comes on top of free business class travel to anywhere in the EU and a ‘distance allowance’ - which is supposed to cover the cost of meals, taxis and any other expenses incurred while travelling.
Whilst addressing a joint press conference with Finance Minister Tonio Fenech after the two held discussions on the priorities of the Swedish presidency of the European Union, which will take over from the Czech Republic in July, Swedish Trade Minister Ewa Björling stated that we should emulate her country with regards to illegal immigration:
“Of course, it is a huge problem for Malta, I realise that… but you also need to see the opportunities and the positive things you can get out of the problems. Sometimes, you also have to turn the situation around and think in another way,”
she continued:
“Sweden had used the immigrants’ networks, trade expertise and language skills to train Swedish people who wanted to set up companies abroad and this had helped improve Sweden’s international trade.”
is this what she means by opportunities and skills?
My Comment: Sen Schmitt was the last man to walk on the moon. He also rejects the notion that humans are responsible for climate chance. Hence i suggest that the PN, PL and most especially AD send some representatives and quiz him on the matter. they might actually learn something. I will be going for sure.
See lectures by Sen Schmitt and other real scientists delivered at a real climate conference with real scientists here.
The Times Reports:
Astronaut and scientist Sen.Harrison Schmitt is to give public lectures at the University of Malta on Wednesday and Thursday, April 22 and 23.
The activity will be organised by the Department of Physics of the University of Malta in collaboration with the International Year of Astronomy 2009 Malta Committee and the United States Embassy. Read the rest of this entry »
The president of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus is sadly a person who belongs to a rare and diminishing breed of politicians. Listen attentively as he addresses the European Parliament. More importantly watch and listen to the disgusting reaction of many Euro Parliamentarians as they are reminded of the basics of democracy. A bunch of tin pot fascists who presume to act in our name. Finally listen to the President of the parliament boasting, how with the Lisbon Treaty - Brussels will be responsible for 100% of the laws in the member states. Select your representatives carefully, very carefully and vote for reform, vote for democracy - vote for AN.
Listen to President Klaus’s reaction to the MEPs behaviour.
Taxpayers to pay millions in speculative losses from European Parliament additional pension fund
14 April 2009
According to German news site WAZ Der Westen, taxpayers are set to foot the bill for the loss of millions of euros from the European Parliament’s additional pension fund, which is a voluntary fund over and above the standard pension currently funded by member states. The article notes that 478 out of 785 Members of the European Parliament are subscribed to the fund, which is voluntary, even though most MEPs are also entitled to pensions from their member states.
‘Marriage and birth rates are falling dramatically, pensioners now outnumber teenagers, and more and more people are living alone, says the Institute for family policy in a survey of life in the 27 EU countries.’
And perversely ‘one in every five pregnancies ends in abortion’, which amounts to 1.2 million a year - equivalent to the population of Slovenia. This makes abortion the largest single cause of death in Europe.
“Sharon Ellul Bonici, a Labour Party (PL) candidate for the forthcoming European Parliament elections, yesterday filed a libel suit against Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas over comments made during a programme on Net Television on April 2.
Ms Ellul Bonici said Ms Metsola Tedesco Triccas (also an MEP candidate) was reported saying that Ms Ellul Bonici was in favour of introducing abortion in the country. This, Ms Ellul Bonici insisted, was untrue.
Ms Ellul Bonnici said she also felt libelled by Ms Metsola Tedesco Triccas’ assertion that she had worked against the Treaty of Lisbon, which would give Malta its sixth European parliamentary seat.”
I simply cannot comprehend why Ms Ellul Bonici is so touchy when it comes to reminding her of her past. She did to her credit, campaign against the European Constitution Lisbon Treaty. For a start you can see her here, smiling just behind Bonde.
She was also a vociferously active within CNI - which have always been not simply against the EU Constitution Lisbon Treaty but against Malta’s membership in the EU altogether.
To me it seems that her stance is one of opportunism over principle. Trying to shut people up for stating the obvious is futile. What will she do next, demand that the countless internet sites that still record her activism be filtered out? It would have been far more honourable and convincing had she stuck to her guns. As for Metsola, the least said, the better I am afraid. Parroting the mantra that the EU Constitution Lisbon treaty is so wonderful because it gives us an extra seat in a token parliament whilst reducing our own national parliament to the level of a local council, betrays a dangerous level of disingenuity if not outright ignorance. I doubt if she ever bothered reading it. As for the abortion issue, if the EU constitution Lisbon Treaty comes into effect - abortion will be eventually imposed, derogation or no derogation. With the EU constitution Lisbon Treaty, the European Court will assume a new role, equivalent to the Supreme Court in the USA. Rulings will be binding and would have to be transposed in EU law and EU law will over-ride national law. It’s not as if we don’t have an inclination which way this court would rule when the first Maltese case would be brought before it.
There is no Maltese comparative guide to help the citizens understand the EU constitution Lisbon Treaty, so i suggest you read these guides here and here to see exactly what it all means.
It is increasingly evident that the mains parties are attracting individuals who seek solely to reap the perks of power and care not over whom they rule. The PN is full of champaigne socialists and the PL of ardent capitalists, and they are all now it seems happy EU federalists. The ideological distinctions are so blurred that they have become irrelevant - the political class has become just that, a class detached from the rest of the public and the only real thrusts we witness between them are those of the back stabbing type, when one of them upsets the chances of another of getting aboard the gravy train.
