Only a republican would have a racial campaign only to use the racial card for the up coming one.

Great stuff from the New Continent.

No, not PBO but WordPress.

They came up with a ‘falling snow’ function. WordPress will leave it on until the 4th of January, or when I decide I had enough of it.

Been blogging less, not much time, more out than in, not much in the spirit either.

But in line with the current bill on the reform of public transportation, I found this nice short film on people you meet on the bus.

Until blogging resumes its usual beat, here is J’accuse.

thanks

‘Artist Mark Leckey has won this year’s Turner Prize for his works which include a film featuring Felix the Cat and Homer Simpson.’

‘Mark Leckey, 44, was awarded the £25,000 prize – for exhibitions including Industrial Light & Magic – by singer Nick Cave at Tate Britain in London.

The artist’s work combines sculpture, film, sound and performance.’ (read on)

Here is a Felix the cat movie. Enjoy.

The Vatican got itself into another controversy. Well, on the usual – homosexuality.

This time, it is opposing a resolution which decriminalizes homosexuality on the grounds that:

“If adopted, they would create new and implacable discriminations. For example, states which do not recognize same-sex unions as ‘matrimony’ will be pilloried and made an object of pressure,” Said Archbishop Celestino Migliore.

Don’t we hear enough of this nonsense? Rightly so, ‘Franco Grillini, founder and honorary president of Arcigay, Italy’s leading gay rights group, said the Vatican’s reasoning smacked of “total idiocy and madness.’

It is.

He continued: “The French resolution, which is supported by all 27 members of the European Union, has nothing to do with gay marriage. It is about stopping jail and the death penalty for homosexuals.”

Perhaps, Franco, because he suffers from this condition, can’t see that the church means well, after all paragraph no. 2358 of the Catechism affirms that ‘this inclination [homosexuality], which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial … these persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives [while you are at it, why don't you give a small donation] and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.’

Well, opposing the resolution does not ease their condition, right?

Not coming to a store near you..

Apparently sex.

Amsterdam decided to wake up a little bit sober; as the ban on the psychedelic mushrooms entered into force on the 1st of December 2008.

Freddy Schamp, who pays his bills by making people go Huxley for a few hours, is not happy. You kid not.

But life moves on.

However, one thing that the rest of the EU should adopt is the legalization of prostitution. I doubt, this will ever be accepted it in Malta, but it can definitely provide for a legal system that can make just for this industry.

Indeed, for one it will curb on the exploitation of individuals by third parties. Secondly, with more regulations, protection will be offered to individuals. Thirdly, as registered in the workforce, they would need to pay taxes and thus contribute to the country’s GDP.

Now, where did I put my ticket to Thailand?

The Malta Contemporary Arts, opens today, at 7.30

If suddenly we have rushed to get something done out of the Opera House it is because to reach a 2018 deadline.

Fine.

If for things to be done we need a deadline, then so be it – a reason more for being correct when we voted ‘yes’ to Europe.

But at what cost?

The timing is wrong. It is remarkable that this government, to look good with those of Brussels is ready to sacrifice its own people for that.

In times like these the government should have maximized what we already have and made good use of them. Instead, like the typical Maltese he went for the pompous alternative dragging the rest into mud.

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Proposal

Here is my two cent proposal. Otherwise, they’ll tell us that we complain all the time but never come up with anything.

Do not turn the Old Opera House into a House of Representative but use it as an open theatre.
Create a foundation; you can call it the ‘Gonzi foundation for cultural sustainability’ for what I care so there will be someone in charge for the maintenance of the place and the organization of the events.
Indeed, this open theatre can generate money derived from cultural activities for a change. It will work. If anyone has ever been to the Malta Summer Festival knows that it can work.
Of course, the place has to be fixed and the shops reallocated somewhere else.

Here, we saved 60-80 million with the potential to make a profit.

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Next

1. Education

If the government is really serious about culture then those 60-80 million should be directed towards the creation of an intuition that caters for the Fine Arts and Design.

You can have Renzo to do it.

While you are at it, you can pull the students of architecture out of the University of Malta premises and place them within this new complex, or else, within a new building designed with creativity and not diarrhea in mind.

2. House of Representative and St. Elmo

If we are really desperate to glorify our political class by building a new House for them, then we might as well think of St. Elmo.

As said in my previous entry, this is the worst of time to get into such a project but it doesn’t mean that we should not plan for such a project.

My idea is this. Instead of the Opera House to house the House of Representatives and a cultural centre we should do it in St. Elmo. For one it is a larger area. It can have a parliament and a large conference room to house the Brussels people. Secondly, because of its large space it would be more ideal than the Opera house to be a cultural centre. Either way, one would also be rehabilitating the southern part of the City.

Costs: St. Elmo has to be resorted.

These funds can be obtained from the EU. In the meantime, we would have passed the recession, and in four/five year’s time we can start this project taking a longer period of time, thus spreading more the costs.

3. Parliament

The parliament should be turned into a serious Museum of Fine Arts and start investing into the purchasing of Art – old and new.

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… Thinking about proposals … so you don’t have to.