Teenage Thoughts

Time to vote

2009-06-04T05:06:00.000-07:00

Long time no blog ! Well with these wretched exams I guess my free time has shortened . As I'm sure you know by now Europe will go to the polls in these 5 days ( depending on your country) to choose their representatives in Parliament . Before moving on to campaign issues I would like to urge all those citizens who have a vote ( unlike me ) to get out and vote ! The European Parliament is one of the strongest bodies in world politics . Many people ask : But can five MEPS from Malta really make the difference ? The answer is : yes . 5 MEPs can make a difference and can put forward the issues that really concern you : immigration , the environment and so much more.

On to local campaign issues:

It dosen't take a genius to predict that the Nationalist Party will be beaten badly on Saturday . In these Euro Elections many of the governing parties will fare badly , take Gordon Brown for example. The British Prime Minister's government seems to be falling to pieces at the moment due to his handling of the credit crunch and his handling of possibly the biggest political crisis to hit the UK , the expenses scandal. So it will be no suprise that if on Sunday 7th June we are woken up to shouts of 'Viva l-Lejber Viva l-Lejber Hej Hej ! ' . It really is a sad thought that the two european parliament elections to be held in this country will won by the same party that 6 years ago was telling us that membership in the EU would see our country isolated amongst the big countries or that the fabric industry in Malta would cease to exist.
If one take's a look at Labour's campaign he would easily be fooled into believing that this was a national election campaign that was going to bring down the government . Billboards such as ' GONZI TILEF IL-KONTROLL ( Gonzi has lost conrol) would usually be put up in national campaigns however in this campaign I have only seen a few posters, billboards, leaflets explaining what the 4 Labour MEPS have done in these five years. One would also think this is a general election when he hears PL candidates like Claudete Abela Baldachinno ( yes the Super One journalist who during the referendum campaign was spreading lies about the EU ) being asked why voters should choose Labour and she blantly says 'Ax Gonzi Dahak Bik' or Joseph Cuschieri's rant on the radio this morning in which he didn't even mention the words 'Unjoni Ewropea'. Now obviously these words have no relation to the EU however let us say these words were used in a national campaign what gurantee do we have that Joseph Muscat won't do the same if he is Prime Minister ? Where are the soloutions to Malta's problems ? When Labour say that there is a problem with employment how come their manifesto only contains 6 proposals regarding work while the PN's contain's 30 ? Wasn't he doing the same during the Referendum leading the campaign of EU lies with his Super One counterparts ? Wasn't he doing the same when in 2005 he tried to lose funds in the Marsascala Recycling centre ? Hasn't he done the same when promising a new way of politics when elected leader and yet we still have the same faces from labour and the same old tricks ? Typical example : the obvious spin done by Dr.Muscat himself to PN candidate Dr. Alex Perci Calascione cutting out half of his conversation with the hunters , a trick one would expect from Joseph Muscat in his days at Super One and not from a man who wants to become Prime Minister of this country. The real issues about this campaign are the how the parties perform in the EP and it is a known Fact that Nationalist Mep's have worked harder then all the Labour MEP'S put together. Simon Busutill asked 120 questions for instance while David Casa has the highest attendence record in the EP. Meanwhile the Labour MEPS such as John Attard Montaldo and Glenn Bedigfield have asked 11 questions between them . Not only that they have voted against or abstained from voting on issues such as Burden Sharing and their excuse : I pushed the wrong button ! Not to forget that they voted in favour of the Guntanamo Bay resoloution ( to bring Terrorists to Malta ) and in favour of a report that included abortion.

So here's my appeal to everyone who are lucky enough to have a vote. When voting think about european issues and not national issues . This is not a national election. Think about the people who were always convinced Malta's place is in Europe . Think about the people who are going to Europe to reprsent Malta and not their party but Malta ! Because Malta comes first and in these times of difficulty Malta needs strong representatives in Brussels

See you next week

Socialism no cure for capitalism's ills

2009-04-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Capitalism's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s has provoked traditional socialists to follow this vogue and announce the death of capitalism and to hark back nostalgically to the time when nationalisation was the name of the game and privatization was a dirty word. Many people have been making the argument that socialism had been vindicated and that the nationalisation of a country's chief economic players must now be resorted to if the world economic order is to be saved. This line of thought is a nostalgic pipe-dream based on an erroneous assumption. There seems to be an obvious confusion between the necessity of a serious regulatory regime on one hand and strict control through state ownership of financial institutions on the other. Regulation by the state is not the same as absolute state control in socialist fashion.

This line of thought is a nostalgic pipe-dream based on an erroneous assumption. There seems to be an obvious confusion between the necessity of a serious regulatory regime on one hand and strict control through state ownership of financial institutions on the other. Regulation by the state is not the same as absolute state control in socialist fashion. What has failed miserably is not capitalism but the regulatory regime that is necessary to ensure that the capitalist system is not abused by greed. The financial crash has only shown how erroneous the idea of some extreme libertarians who argue that democracy fails the tradition because it subordinates to the public interests is. This, however, does not mean that capitalism 'per se' is no longer a meaningful and effective economic system when duly regulated to restrain excessive human greed and abuse. Electrocution calls for stricter observance of regulations and not for the prohibition of electricity! The world financial disaster is the result of Wall Street yuppies ridiculing the notion of money by deliberately ignoring the rules. In the US, in fact, the Bush administration gave the nod to blatant disregard of the regulatory regime that should have been in place. The institutions that were obliged to ensure that this does not happen closed more than a Nelson's eye as they were practically encouraged by Washington to knowingly abandon their own rules.

Yet, the experience of the recent financial disaster should only lead to the serious observance and fine-tuning of existing regulatory regimes and not to the notion that financial institutions should belong to the state. Socialism is the wrong tool to overcome the financial crisis, more so in Malta where we have not been directly hit because our regulatory regime withstood the test. We are now being hit by the effects of the crisis because our industrial and tourism sectors depend solely on consumer spending abroad. Giving out money for free to 'stimulate' these sectors - as some are suggesting - can never influence consumer spending abroad, while instigating consumer spending in Malta will only translate to our importing more goods and stimulating other economies. If Malta is to come out of the crisis in good shape, the tight-rope walking exercise that is on the cards cannot be inspired by socialist policies.

National Day

2009-04-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

I always found it funny that Malta has 5 so called 'national days' . Independence Day , Freedom Day , Republic Day , Victory Day and Sette Giugno are all very important days in the country's history and all deserve a high level of commemoration .
However in Malta where political partisan opinions are split down the middle , calling some of these days a 'national' day is absurd . For example everyone refers to Freedom day as 'tal-labour ' since it was the Labour Party who where in government , therefore all celebrations this year were carried out by Joseph Muscat and co. The same applies for Indepence Day were all the celebrations are carried out by the Nationalist Party since they were in government . In the dark days of the 70's and 80's these celebrations carried out by the Nationalist party were attacked time and time again by Socialist thugs . At least Malta has now come out of that stage however it was still disgusting to hear of local council's disagreeing over the planning of celbrations of Freedom Day a few weeks ago . It was also unpleasent to hear that in the supposed 'national ' mass meeting on Freedom Day , Joseph Muscat referred to the tariffs and other political issues . These three holidays ( Indepence , Republic and Freedom Day ) have nothing 'national' about them instead we are constantly reminded about the partisan following in Malta .
In my eyes a national day should a day in which the entire nation are united celebration . Not waving blue flags or red flags but the red and white of Malta. If there is a date like this ? Yes and that is the 8th of September 1565 when the Maltese defeated the Turks and won the great siege. Only on that day were we united , only on that day were we proud to be Maltese . The only true national holiday should be the 8th of September hoewever the other days should still be comemorated and respected but not regarded as 'national' days .

Eddie Fenech Adami - A tribute

2009-03-31T03:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday 4th April will see the end of a long and successful political career for Dr.Eddie Fenech Adami. Love him or hate him – and it seems these are the only two available options, in a country still viscerally split down the middle – few would deny that Eddie Fenech Adami has shaped Malta’s landscape like no other politician: with the possible exception of Dom Mintoff, whose career was longer, though less politically successful.
Eddie's success did not come over night , in his first elections in 1962 and 1966 he failed to get elected to Parliament but he did not give up and was finally by-elected in 1969 . 8 years later he rose up the ranks to take over from George Borg Oliver as party leader . He couldn't have taken up this post in a more dire time , the next ten years would be the darkest time in Malta's political history . Just two years after Eddie became leader (1979) his home was ransacked by Socialist thugs and his wife and kids beaten up . Any normal leader would have flipped in these circumstances but not Eddie he carried on to fight the Mintoff administration . This lead to the 1981 December Election one of the worst scenarios Malta has ever faced . The perverse result in which the Maltese electorate clearly showed their dissaproval at the Mintoff government but still couldn't gain a new government due to less seats lead to chaos in the country. The 5 and a half years to follow still makes people who remember those times tremble . Eddie fought hard to have Justice and Democracy restored in the country , he even took a gamble in boycotting parliament . Eddie alongside his deputy Guidio De Marco saw that constutional arrangments were made so that this result will never be repeated again . Violence and corruption however contiuned . There are some episodes between 1981 and 1987 that makes me thank god that I was not yet born . The murder of Raymond Caruana , The torturing of Antony Mifsud , The frame up of Pietru Pawl Busutill , the terrible incidents at Tal Barrani , the breaking of the Curia and the attack on church schools and the burning down of the Times of Malta building were just the tip of the iceberg. .Finally in 1987 , 16 years of Labour Government were over with the Nationalist Party being led to victory by Eddie .
Eddie as Prime Minister gave Malta a free market economy and allowed foreign trade to enter something which today we take for granted. In his first 9 years as Prime Minister Dr. Fenech Adami completely transformed the country . Even the most red-eyed labour supporters must admit that there was a huge difference from pre-1987. Justice was re-stored in Malta and the police force was re-formed . At the same time the Nationalist government governed with social values unseen in previoius Nationalist governments . The welfare benefeits were kept and even improved . Of course, another huge step was Eddie's decison to take Malta into the EU , a long and hard battle which looked likely to be lost when Alfred Sant took power in 1996 . However Eddie never gave up on this dream and in 2003 this milestone for Malta was finally reached .
I did not however agree with Eddie becoming President since there were better candidates and Eddie does not have the pomp culture that is fit for the title of President however he still did an excellent job as President .
In all my 17 years living in this country I have never seen Eddie Fenech Adami without a position in the country whether it is President , Prime Minister or Leader of Oppostion . As a teenager I would like to thank Dr.Fenech Adami for making Malta the country I have grown to love and appreciate . As we say in maltese "Grazzi Eddie ! '

I would like to end my post by showing two videos of Eddie in his heydays :

Sharon 4 Malta ?

2009-03-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

Let me take you back to 2003 , 7 years ago there was the EU Referendum . In this referendum the Partit Laburista was telling us all sorts of things about the EU . They were saying that the EU would cause the fabric industries to close , that bombs from other European countries would fly over Malta and that VAT would be sky high. Of course the Maltese electorate chose not to listen to the PL and chose to join the EU .
Now 7 years later the PL is presenting a team of candidates for the upcoming EP elections , obviously almost all of these candidates were previously against the EU. I believe that in life you should look ahead and so I believe that these candidates should be judged on their ability and now that Malta is in the EU they will accept this fact. However out of all these candidates there is one candidate who's past is so anti-EU that it is impossible not to mention it. I am referring to none other than Sharon Ellul Bonnici .
If there was ever an award for the most Euro skeptic person in Malta , Sharon would win it hands down ! She formed the infamous group NO2EU , a group which campaigned heavily against the EU . I'll never forget me at 11 years old watching a particular episode of Xarabank and witnessing Sharon on the verge of TEARS since Malta were close to joining the EU . Now 7 years later she is presenting herself as woman who is looking ahead and with her slogan 'Sharon 4 Malta' she intends to fight for the rights of the maltese. If she wants to talk about the present , lets talk about the present . Sharon Ellul Bonnici has spent the past 5 years traveling regularly to Brussels and has taken part in a Euro-skeptic group !
I honestly don't know Sharon's reason for wanting to be in the European Parliament , does she want to give the impression that Malta is a euro-sceptic country ? How can this woman be trusted to represent the Maltese public in the EP ? How can the PL accept such a euro-sceptic person on their ticket after spending years trying to assure the Maltese public that the EU issue is closed ? These are questions which need answering .

Dear Mr.Obama , Please Keep Terrorists Out of the EU

2009-02-21T01:04:00.000-08:00

Guantanamo Bay- One of the worst prisons in the world here you will find the worst criminals possible terrorists , mass murders and psychopaths. In this prison there are no human rights and torture is a routine. The new US president Barrack Obama recently announced that he is closing this prison . Now I agree that this prison needs reforms and I agree that there are some prisoners that there are prisoners over there that do not deserve to be there. However The President wants to entirely close the prison and deport the inmates to different areas - including EU countries !

The prison needs reforms , it is obvious that torture is wrong and in the 21st century it shouldn't be heard of . There are also inmates in the prison such as children and first degree murders these should also be taken out of the prison . However with terrorists it should be a different story , these are men who have made their choice in life they choose to kill thousands of people and inflict terror on society why should they have to be put in the same prison as other criminals ?

In his plans Mr.Obama also mentioned the possibility of deporting some of these terrorists to EU countries . This is something which I am completely against . Why should Obama want to hand over these terrorists to Europe ? Doesn't he realize that by 'fixing' this problem in his own country he will be inflicting an even bigger problem on Europe . Can you imagine these terrorists in Malta's prison ? This immigrant problem is big enough can you picture terrorists in Malta ? In the EP ( European Parliament) both parties the PES and EPP are in favor of closing the prison ,however the EPP have asked for a further review of the terrorists being shared with EU countries. . Why doesn't Obama keep his problems in his own country ?

Only time will tell however after this proposal my admiration for Obama is diminishing.

See you next week

Luke

Has it arrived ?

2009-02-07T01:05:00.000-08:00

Last weeks news that the firm ST microelectronics intends to scale down operations and lay off 60% of its workforce in the coming months. This is not something which has developed recently. For the last years, the firm has been intending to reduce its presence in Malta, but it seems that now, the financial crisis is pushing it to make decisions which will see a downsizing of operations on the island.
Does this piece of news trigger the start of the recession in Malta ? Many economists have said that Malta will start feeling the effects of the crisis ,but I didn't know that they would be so specific. ST Microelectronics employes around 2000 employees and it accounts for over 50% of Malta's manufacturing industry's exports. These measures will have a bad effect on Malta's economy.
Let us hope that this news is only 'a bad apple in a frutiful basket' and that it is not the start of more bad economic news on Malta's part.

Thanks for reading

Luke

The need for a serious third party in Malta

2009-01-26T09:29:00.000-08:00

Bridging the Gap

As I said in my previous post : I believe in Democracy and I believe in a democracy where every person no matter what political views they share has the right to give their opinion and have their say on matters.
In Malta it has been a two party system for decades and while I wish it remains like that I still believe that after decades of two parties tackling issues in parliament I believe that the time should come for another voice in parliament. Now in Malta there are of course other parties but in my opinion they are not the third voice which Malta needs . Alternattiva Demokratika is a party which should be called 'MLP 2' . It was founded by two Mlp rejects and even though they were in favor of Malta joining the EU since changing leaders (Harry Vassallo with Arnold Cassola ) they have become even more closer to the Partit Laburista . Azzjoni Nazzjonali are a party which on the other hand which I agree with on many issues since I am conservative. However I wish that the party would give more attention to other issues which affect the country besides Illegal Immigration. What Malta needs is a party that is serious and does not hang onto a major party the answer is-Liberal
Now I myself completley disagree with the Liberal idealogy. However in the spirit of Democracy I believe that as a third voice Liberal is ideal. Liberal combines both the ideas of Socialists and Conservatives and this will definitley not make it party orientad. There is arleady a Liberal party in Malta : Alpha Liberali but it is anything but serious and is highly racist. This brings me to another point, I doubt that the Maltese public is ready to treat a Liberal party with seriousness since the partisan following in Malta will never change. However I believe that a Liberal Party in Malta will be an excellent third voice in Parliament just like it is in the UK the only thing that remains to be seen is how it is looked at in Malta .

See you next week

Luke Mizzi

A indication of how far this country has come

2009-01-19T12:42:00.000-08:00

George Abela-President

I believe in traditional values and Democracy is certainly one of them . Democracy has been in action since Ancient Greece and I believe it is the only system which is fair and just .
In the 1980's our country's democracy was under serious threat with political violence dominating the news and there was even a political murder . Who would have guessed that 20 years later a member of the oppostion party is about to become President ! Would you have imagined this happening with Dom Mintoff as Prime Minister ? I don't think so . George Abela's presidency shows how far this country has come since then and I personally hope that those shameful days of the 80's never repeat themselves. In my opnion and having personally met Dr. George Abela is the right candidate for President he is smart,experienced and has all the right pomp needed for the job of president . Altough he is a Labour Party member I admire him for resigning from the 96-98 Labour government since he didn't agree with their stand on the EU , he showed there how unpartisan he is.
The world is changing, tommorow a historic event will take place the inaguration of the first ever Black president will take place in the United States. I believe in change but I also believe that along with change we must not forget the traditional values of life . Long live Democrarcy and I wish Dr.Abela all the best as President of this great country.

See you next week readers

Luke Mizzi :)

The power of youth

2009-01-12T09:31:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday's Student Rally clearly showed the rest of Malta that Students are not passive , students will not take what is thrown at them . Not only was Wednesday's rally peaceful and well spoken but just a few hours after the Rally , the UMASA removed the directives and students now can study in the knowledge that the exams will definitely be held . Also on Friday an agreement was made between UMASA and the government . Altough it is not really known that the rally caused the UMASA to lift the directives but I can bet my life that it played a major part. For me the greatest thing about this rally was that students from all political sides joined together to protest against this injustice and it was successful . There were students who thought this was a waste of time , who thought that the teachers would still get their way , there were even some idiots who sent a fake e-mail in the name of KSU telling students that the rally is canceled , you have all been proved wrong ! The rally was not only successful but it showed all Malta that there are a large group of students who care about matters that will affect them in the long term and are ready to stand up against these injustices . Well done KSU ! We really showed the power of youth and that no one should mess with our precious education

See you next week readers

Luke Mizzi

Ps: George Abela for president ? Hell yes ! More on that next week

MUT/UMASA/Government question

2009-01-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

Our Education is not a bargaining tool !

So a new year has started and as I mentioned in my previous post this conflict between the MUT the UMASA and the government. Yesterday the KSU ( University Students Council) called a press conference yesterday which I attended in which they expressed their disapproval of the situation and called a rally and debate to be held at the University on Wednesday.
Education is a human right and is in my opinion the most important aspect of youth life both the MUT and UMASA are using our education as a threat of strike in order to get a pay rise and a ridiculous one too . University students are currently studying for their February exams however there are doubts that these exams may not even take place and that assignments will not be corrected causing all sorts of damage for students degrees and for foreign students . As regards Junior College we have not received any assessment marks and if this conflict continues there might not be any end of year exams ! Now many people are pointing their fingers at diverse parties but in my opinion every single party involved the MUT , the UMASA and the Government. Education should not be used as a bargaining tool and the main interest of a union like MUT should be the education of the students and not a ridiculous raise like what they are demanding. Quite frankly I am also quite angry at the Government led by the party which I have supported all my life seem to be nothing about this situation expect a press release . During election time I attended almost every mass meeting and under the tent activities and in it The Prime Minister always referred to youngsters and University students . I wish that the government would try and fix the situation with these unions and I wish that the MUT and UMASA would realize the damage being done to us students.

Finally I would like to hit out at all the people ( yes timesofmalta.com bloggers) who are saying that this rally is being too soft on the government since it is being organized by the KSU and since the KSU = SDM then SDM= PN . First of all let me make one thing clear SDM IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE NATIONALIST PARTY . Second of all this rally is being done with the support of all the other student organisations such as Pulse , Insite , KSJC and others. And finally during the press conference KSU president Roberta Avelino cleary said ' The government needs to start practising with it preaches in order to achieve it's goals for the '2015 vision'.
It is incredible that in a dire time like this for students people are still arguing about petty politics. Grow up please !

Anyway I encourage all students to attend Wednesday's rally.

See you next week

Luke Mizzi

2009 is on the doorstep

2008-12-30T09:53:00.000-08:00

What can we expect from the New Year ?

It's New Year's Eve tomorrow and I'm sure everyone is looking forward to partying, I know I am ! So 2009 is here , the last year in this decade , this time next year will be celebrating a new decade , a decade which will bring about many changes to the world as we now it. Unfourtunatley in 2009 this dreaded Credit Crunch will remain dominating the news and there is even a potential fear that it may arrive in Malta :( . However on the positive side the United States will have a new president , Barrack Obama , a breath of fresh air after 8 years of (yes I admit it was bad ) right wing rule under George Bush . Could Mr. Obama be the saviour or he is just a dreamer ? I will be anxiously waiting to find out and will be observing his work closely. In the UK it could go from bad to worse in terms of the credit crunch and there is a slight possibility that there may be a General Election in 2009 , in which I will root for Mr. Cameron . Lets us also hope that 2009 will see the end of this terrible conflict in Gaza which is currently unfolding before our eyes.
And what will 2009 hold for Malta ? Well I do hope that the current government will be sensible when fighting the credit crunch and try and find a solution to these rising of tariffs . Also I hope that this current issue between the MUT , UMASA and the government will be resolved since both University and Juniour College students are becoming victims and the Government should do something about it . Finally I look forward to the European Parliamentry Elections in May and urge the voters ( not me :( ) to vote sensibly.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

See you Next Week

Luke Mizzi

A new dawn

2008-12-26T02:08:00.000-08:00

Post Christmas Day

Another Christmas has gone by and I'm sure everyone is still recovering from yesterday's festivities , be it from the food they ate , they alcohol they drunk or others. Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year and I believe that is a time for family especially on Christmas day itself and I being a person who believes in the traditional values of life believe in the motto ' It's better to give than to receive ' . In recent times that motto has been near extinction , with Christmas becoming the Capitalists ' holiday where shops and large business care about profits and less about transmitting the real values behind Christmas . This year , however that has all changed and suddenly I'm seeing more of the real values being transmitted to the general public and this is due to one thing : That Dreaded Credit Crunch !
Although in Malta the credit crunch has yet to arrive ( Next year it will) in the countries which have already been affected by this crunch namely the US and UK , we have seen less of the Capitalist message and more of the positive values of Christmas : Family, Unity, Peace and even the real meaning of Christmas , The Birth of Jesus got a mention ! So for once the Credit Crunch did something useful and that is got the real meaning of Christmas back to our households. The problem now is it's disadvantages !

2008 in Review -Local/Foreign

2008 has to be one of the best year's of my life, it seemed that everything went right for me except for a few near misses. But today I'm not going to review what 2008 was like for me I'm going to review what it meant to everyone starting with my own country:

2008 in Malta

2008 was dominated by the closest election the Maltese Islands had seen for decades with the Nationalist Party winning by the narrowest of margins , 1,500 votes. The campaign was intense with the PN presenting their leader Lawrence Gonzi as a man you can count on and a man who is ready to continue strengthening this country with his '2015 Vision ' . The MLP ( PL now) campaigned for a ' New Beginning' stating that this country needed a change from the arrogant PN government. The last week of campaigning was dominated by talks of Corruption with cases such as Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando ( which by the way still hasn't been resolved) and the supposed arreset of Harry Vassallo . Come Saturday 8 March thousands of citizens decided to stay home and not vote, this indicated a Labour victory and on Sunday morning the smiles were on Jason Micallef's face . However by 3 pm it was Joe Saliba who was smiling not Jason Micallef and in a tense afternoon it was the Nationalist's who kept their lead and won a 3rd consecutive election , unsuprsingly . In my opinion I think the best party won , even though now almost 10 months since the election, the Nationalists are not exactly doing a great job , only God konws how this country would be under Alfred Sant.
The Labour Party was in tatters after the election and we finally saw the end of Alfred Sant. A new leader was required and I was opting for George Abela ,but the MLP delegtes had other thoughts and choose Joseph Muscat , a young , Tony Blair like leader who wants to change the image of the party . Altough Joseph 's past isn't great ( He was against EU membership and HSBC ) I think in 5 years time he would be mature enough to take Castille under his wing lets just hope people like Anglu Farrugia and Toni Abela would do the same and mature !
Aprat from the General and MLP leadership elections , 2008 also saw some tragic moments such as the Naxxar incident , a tragedy which took many lives. Speaking about lost lives word must also go out to Sir Anthony Mamo , Malta's first President who died aged 99 and former Labour MP Karl Chircop who died at a very young age , a terrible loss.
Malta once again did poorly in the Eurovision Song Contest with Morena's 'Vodka' song barely impressing the public. In my opinion Malta should stop wasting good money on this contest which has now become a joke it is quite obvious that with all the bloc voting that Malta dosen't stand a chance .
In Local sport it seems that the honeymoon period enjoyed by the national football team is finishing , apart from the 7-1 trashing of Liechenstein , Malta didn't garner any positive results since then . Ok, the 4-0 home defeat from Portugal was expected but heavy defeats to Austria, Albania, Iceland and Denmark ? Even coach Dusan Fitzel seems to have lost faith in his team ! Something must be done and fast. In the club football , Valletta and Birkirkara won the major trophies hinting a possible return of the rivalry between the two clubs in the late 90's . Valletta also shocked the football world when they beat Juventus (yes Juventus Italia) on penalties in the Betfair Cup . In water polo Sliema Asc dominated winning the double while the national team reached the final of the Comen Cup under new coach Sergio Afric. The national rugby team also improved beating Sweeden away. In the Olympic Games Malta failed to impress but that is expected .

2008-International view

2008 will always be remembered as the year which saw the start of the dreaded Credit Crunch began and leaving countries such as the UK, US , Japan and Iceland carefully planning out every move . There was also the price of oil , rising to a high price and then following to a low price once again . A historical moment happened in 2008 with Barack Obama , the first ever Black Us president winning a heated campaign over John Mc Cain. Even though I am a right winger and Mr. Obama is a left winger if I was American he would definitley get my vote since he was the right man to get the USA back on track after 8 years of poor governance from the Republicans . Just as I said for Alfred Sant , 20o9 will see the end of George W. Bush and thank God for that ! I just hope that Obama will not do what a typical left winger does and that is keeping his head in the air and not looking at the real world. 2008 also saw terror in India . In the UK , Gordan Brown continued to get unpopular and David Cameron more popular. 2008 also saw a serious threat to Democracy in Zimbabwe with President Robert Mugabe refusing to give up power and this lead to immense political violence before the election. The situation still hasn't been resolved .
There was the tragic death of young actor Heath Ledger in January. A terrible loss of such a talent. Watching him in 'The Dark Knight' can confirm this, in this great film Heath Ledger is the star of the show with the best portrayl of a villian for a long time . RIP Heath
Despite all it's controveries and protests the 2008 Olympic Games were a huge success with excellent venues and organisation. The stars of the show were without doubt Jamaican sprinter Usian Bolt who broke world records and American swimmer Michael Phelps who won a record 8 gold medals . The Great Britian team also gave one of their best shows since 1912 winning a large tally of Gold Medals. In football 2008 was dominated by Manchester United. They won the Premier League on the final day , the Community Shield and Fifa Club World Cup however the creme de la creme was the 2008 Champions League Final , a excting game which after a 1-1 draw went to an exicting penalty shootout which saw John Terry miss a penalty which could have won it for Chelsea. The Euro 2008 tournament was also great , this saw Spain finally winning a major trophy .

Next week we'll take a look at what 2009 could have in store for us

Thanks for reading

Luke Mizzi