S H A M E

Cato Salsa Experience: So The Circus Is Back In Town

That summarises pretty well what I feel in the wake of last weekend's elections in Malta. Shame on you, my fellow citizens, for not having had the courage to vote for the change (or at least the hope thereof) a green MP would have embodied. Shame on you for voting for the status quo out of sheer partisan mass hysteria, pledging your allegiance to a party that has been in power for 20 years with hardly any consideration for the issues that should constitute any government's priorities: public health, the environment, education ... Vox populi vox dei. No worries, you will get a lot of what you voted for: a couple of brand new ecological disasters (e.g. the golf courses), a greater divide between the upper class that can afford to send its English-speaking kids to private institutions and the rest of the population that will have to make do with derelict public schools, an anti-abortion clause in the constitution, more birds falling out of the sky in the spring, possibly even privatised public healthcare! Isn't that lovely?! You will also get a lot of what you did not consciously vote for but should have expected: more corruption, more planning authority blunders, more pollution ... All I can say is that I am glad I will only witness the mess from afar. Good luck to you all, my fellow citizens. You will need it.

"E c'erano i ricordi. Dentro il sogno del presente sognava ora il passato. Vedeva Malta sul taglio dell'orizzonte marino, nella dorata nebbia del ricordo. Ed ecco che gli balzava nell'occhio come nel fuoco di un cannocchiale ... i campanili aguzzi come minareti, le basse case bianche, le altane ... Solo le cose della fantasia sono belle, ed è fantasia anche il ricordo ... Malta non è che una terra povera e amara, la gente barbara come quando vi approdò San Paolo ... Solo che, nel mare, consente alla fantasia di affacciarsi alla favola del mondo ... "
- Leonardo Sciascia, Il Consiglio d'Egitto.

The (International) Noise Conspiracy: Smash It Up