Forty… fifty… sixty… seventy… Oh, darn there is a 50 kilometre per hour speed limit road sign ahead! My right foot applies pressure down on the break pedal and the next 500 meters of straight downhill is spent quietly plotting against the retarded planner who decided that that particular speed limit was justified. Further up the road one comes across another example of road engineering genius as I do my best to ignore the brightly neon back-illuminated adverts that line the dark road, obscuring the precise location of the concrete wall beside it. Experience and a little bit of luck pulls me through yet again and off I head to another ridiculously slow speed limit.

It never ceases to amaze me just how poor the planning abilities of the road planners can be, nor does it comfort me to know unboisterously that I could do a lot better. On the other hand I have to acknowledge that they have long faced the unenviable task of attempting to cater for a highly disproportionate vehicle ownership density, again thanks to opportunistic mismanagement, which has done nothing to make their task any less complicated.

This is obviously a country where money not only talks but walks, where hypocrisy exists even upon the level of standard road safety. How can a governing party not hide its face in shame when its apparent solution to deteriorating road qualities is similarly deteriorating speed limits? How can such a government land heavily upon drivers unfortunate enough to be caught 5 kilometres an hour over the speed limit upon a stretch of road insultingly graded as safe up to 50 kilometres or less an hour? How can such a government apparently ignore the risks that back-illuminated signs can pose to on-coming drivers at night, drawing their attention off of the road, and then have the cheek to lecture us about the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving? How exactly is this not hypocrisy?

Oh and just to clarify, no I have not as of yet been caught “speeding”. I am a relatively mindful driver and one of the things that I am mindful about is fuel efficiency, not one of the best bed partners of true speed. I have, however, directed the mysterious powers of my admittedly feeble ill-will towards the speed cameras, willing the fuse to blow or for the device to otherwise malfunction. Thus-far results have only proven that my ill-will is indeed feeble, but I still try.

Perhaps if I were to hear that they were being coupled with more safety-orientated rather than profit-orientated speed limits, and perhaps if they were to ‘not’ be contracted via private firms, and perhaps if I were to learn that the monies generated were actually going towards improving the roads rather than private interests, then I might redirect my feeble powers of negativity towards another worthy adversary – perhaps the rust forming on my car’s bonnet or maybe some of the more poorly-designed speed bumps, more than able to rattle one’s suspension at under half the supposed speed limit.

The recent wisps of cloud that have partially shrouded the sun’s rays were and remain a welcome shift in the weather patterns that have graced the Maltese Islands as of late. Not only has the weather brought a fairly decent flow of wind but the shaded periods also provide myself with respite from the radiance of light seeping through the thick curtains of my room before proceeding to filter warmly through my eyelids as I do my bit to get some sleep. Its never anything that a soft piece of cloth used as a blindfold cannot fix of course but the shadows always seemed a little more calm, easy and less invasive than the light.

And yet it makes me quietly yearn for the coming month, September, where clouds become less alien to the azure skies and where the hope for less stifling temperatures is very much present within my mind. Of course, one of my favourite aspects of the month, certainly about half-way into it, is the significantly higher potential to witness spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

There is just something so fulfilling about watching the dance of the solar rays within the hanging clouds of ever changing shape and hue. Regardless of whether the horizon it rises upon is a green forest bursting with life or the barren smouldering landscape of a recent war zone. Regardless of whether it heralds a day of joy or leaves behind a day of mourning the natural cycles proceed virtually unscathed.

In my few travels I have been fortunate enough to look down upon and drive by seemingly massive wooded lands and paddocks. I have had the pleasure of watching the sun set and then listen to the rolling thunder outside. Ah yes. Such memories shall remain with me and nor shall I forget those who had shared their experiences with me, regardless of what the future may send my way. I mark the 11th of August as a day holding a fragile link to some of the happier moments so far experienced, to be kept and cherished as an era all in its own. And with this in mind the past is to be appreciated but the future is yet to be faced. Another sunrise and another sunset – another experience and another episode in the progression of life.

Several micro-steps have been sketched out so far. As of henceforth I shall make the assumption that those mentioned thus-far will have been heeded so as to pave the way for future micro-steps. I shall ignore the fact that the reality is such that little if any of the thoughts encapsulated within them have been heeded and as I delve into the realm of fiction I can only hope that the powers that be have the interests of the Islands at heart as they plod on into the territories of the grey marshes. Yes, sadly the following is not reflective of the reality.

The government has finally grown aware of the impending and dark future that unabated mass immigration is set to plunge the Maltese Islands into. They have finally recalled their oaths taken as well as where their responsibilities primarily lie – the people whose grudged trust and vote they gained through brook and through crook. The government has finally declared illegal immigration to be a major crisis facing the Islands and pledge to actually treat the issue as such in future.

It is fast and yet belatedly realized that it would not only be practically impossible for the Islands to attempt to resolve the issue alone but it is also realized that any such solitary attempt would most likely be seen in a very negative light in the eyes of international observers looking in from their perch far away. Thus diplomats become busy at work both North and South, West and East of the Islands, steadily and tirelessly bringing about conditions more favourable to any continuation onto the next stage.

Our MEPs actively work to place pressure upon the European Parliament so as to treat the issue as not only one for what some members may perceive as ‘periphery buffer states’, but to treat it as an issue for Europe as a whole. Further dignitaries head to Spain, Italy and Greece and a further delegation heads to Libya to initiate precursory discourse while the other dignitaries liaise to determine a common front and goal in more intensive talks with Morocco, Libya and Egypt respectively.

In their evaluation of the history of mass migration worldwide the partners conclude that, unlike that which was true for the past both in the Mediterranean and south of the United States, there can be no two ways of going about matters. In subsequent dealings with their southern counterparts they are cordial and forthright, stating in no uncertain terms that boatloads of illegal immigrants will no longer be accepted by the respective nation states and that any such vessels or individuals shall be turned away at the earliest possible opportunity.

In the ensuing weeks the Maltese Islands and her partners west, north and east experience a number of difficult situations and decisions but remain true to their word. Over a hundred boats carrying migrants are intercepted by patrol boats conducting a 24 hour watch of our respective naval borders. The boats are invariably turned back. Boats with insufficient provisions and fuel are reasonably resupplied for their southward return, Boats unfit to carry the numbers aboard are supplemented by refurbished boats of previous intercepted vehicles stocked on land, including the substitution of such vessels if need be. Dozens of migrants are held temporarily for treatment at sea and even a couple of babies are born in a vessel suitably equipped to enable medical procedures to be carried out at sea. Such cases are kept upon the waves for several weeks before also being sent back. A boat of drowned immigrants takes hold of the headlines worldwide.

These were weeks when pro-immigration and human rights groups took to the streets to air their discontent and disapproval of the major shift in foreign policy. These are the weeks when protests both peaceful and not so peaceful erupt amongst various quarters. The thousands of illegal migrants already within the Maltese Islands also react in a variety of ways, more peaceful but some more violently so. These are the weeks when even the European Union uses words of consternation in spite of the best efforts of our MEPs to maintain calm upon the level of European Parliament.

However after those initial weeks of turbulence something interesting starts to take place. The number of boats intercepted begin to dwindle sharply and a month later days go by without a single boat in sight. Back in North Africa the news travels fast as would-be immigrants return to the shores of their country of departure and air their discontent both with their traffickers as well as with their friends and families, and fewer and fewer individuals are willing to pay good money to a trafficker on a hope that he or she knows is false, seeing everybody else has been turned around, even that one boat that managed to make it to shore.

The carrot is no longer there and so few, if any, hazard the journey. Crossing the Mediterranean is thus made infeasible by the same governments who now proceed to reinforce and expand upon their contacts within the nations of their southern counterparts. After all, this is only the beginning.

I am of the belief that sports can be a very powerful and positive force within any society. I am also of the belief that the realm of sport should not be confined to the level of the arena concerned. However any force with a great potential for positive influence also has a similarly great potential for abuse and spoliation. Sport is no exception here and one of the greatest challenges facing sports today, for as far as I am concerned, is money.

No I do not refer to the lack of funds, though having some money is certainly a plus for the development of sport. I refer to the potential for corruption attached to money, especially for as far as the interests riding on games and the trading and claiming of players is concerned. Through money the corrupting structures within many sports may be found to be rooted. A secondary source is egotism. We are all too familiar with this later phenomenon although we may not recognize it. Intense rivalries within sports burn on for years and years, through regattas, football tournaments and firework shows. Some of us just need to feel superior to others so as to feel good about ourselves.

While one can understand that competitive sports are… well… competitive, and that it would be foolish to attempt to take the competitiveness out of competition, and while one can also understand that there are always egos at stake during such competitions, there comes a point when the spice within the mix becomes excessive and ruins the lot. Why is it that sports are not well integrated into society for individuals beyond their teenage years? Why is it that sports in the Maltese Islands are so disjointed from each other? Are sports really that alien to each other?

And why, oh why, do local teams persist with importing foreign nationals from abroad? What is the point of, for example, the Filfla team (and lest there actually exists such a team, the reference is a complete coincidence), winning the local leagues if the squad consists of an array of foreigners and naturalized “locals” with the odd real local inserted for good measure? Is that really a win for Filfla? Is this how far local football will stoop so as to make it beyond the World Cup qualifiers? Teams worldwide do it. This should not be taken to mean that it is the natural thing to do. If the Maltese unconsciously feel that they are not up to the task of competing in soccer then perhaps they should perhaps substitute the sport rather than the national identity of the teams dispatched. How about the other kind of football? I am of the understanding that Malta is doing pretty well, without substituting our boys and girls for imports in the process.

Now I am not saying that no foreign nationals should be allowed to play, but I do not think that the importation of players does anything more than serve the egos of the elite cluster behind the team, and perhaps a few die-hard fans who would rather obtain a hollow victory than a respectable defeat.

They’ve done it again. Just when you thought that the Bush administration couldn’t get any more anal retentive about what they term “security” they go and introduce new legislation empowering the authorities to indefinitely confiscate the laptops of individuals crossing the border into the United States even if there is no actual suspicion of wrong-doing.

This little gem representative of the new dark ages within which we live and which was ushered in in no small part by the American government (through the staging of or, at best, aggravation of September 11th attacks on the Twin Towers of the Trade Centre and Trade Centre 5) can be added to other hot little coals in the ‘road to democracy’ such as the so-called Patriot Act (The spy on Americans’ communications act), the finger printing of all travellers (since we’re ‘all’ a threat), the Guantanamo bay detention camp where individuals of various nationalities have been held for years without so much as a real trial, let alone a fair trial, with no end in sight, several intercontinental wars under its belt past and present, and a lot more trash that simply goes too far beyond the scope of this fragment. To cut a long story short here, the forces at play in America make the local MLPN phenomenon look like a mere nuisance. Sure we have a president who wasn’t voted in by the Maltese people and sure the two parties are as intricately separate from each other as melted butter on toast but aside from having a relatively pitiful wage-to-price ratio we haven’t actually got it all that bad.

Just look at the United States (of America i.e.). Who cares if security policies have resulted in the American public being subjected to a degree of insularity and selective information that superpowers, both previous and emerging, have been accused of in the past? Who cares if the next big economic crash has been set into motion and who cares if a very select few, not necessarily Americans themselves, have booked themselves front-row seats so as to exploit the immediate and ensuing ripples? Who cares if the American people are being masterfully shepherded to the economic slaughterhouse and who cares if the republicans and democrats are puppets to the same economic interests? And for those such as myself who do find the gut fortitude to care, what is the point of remaining isolated in our thoughts? It is not like the most well-intentioned of mere individuals can make much of a difference in the face of a well-greased and formidable adversary of a level of power and organization sufficient to make the Mafia look like small-time players.

Benjamin Franklin had words to say during his lifetime. “He who would trade liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety.” The citizens of America – those who trust their government as blindly as many follow their faith, failing to realize that the government is not God – they should reflect upon the words of one of their founding fathers. They should not need to have to feel the need to act, but they should at least be aware of the treachery of the forces at play. It is not unpatriotic to question the structures of government within a country. The loyalty of a person should be to the self, then the family, then the community, then perhaps the nation. That is the structure of loyalty that nature inspires within us and nature does not have an ulterior motive beyond being.

How does one set about proving that between the numbers two and four exists a three and how does one set about proving that beyond the aforementioned numbers the logical continuation is a six? Mathematics, while not exactly one of my strong points, can be appreciated for the promise that it embodies. Mathematics is a structured system that exists upon the metaphysical level and is perceived to manifest in all things in life. It is a system that humans readily apply to all things artificial and natural, attempting to lay a finger upon every phenomenon in search for a discernible etch, a perceivable hint of structure beyond the silky flat of chaos and all in the name of furthering our understanding.

Aside from its importance in our everyday lives, the use of mathematics for interpolating and extrapolating upon existing series or patterns of values to which we have given meaning has provided ourselves with a lot of what we know today. It gave us a means of trying out new things on the basis of intelligent guesswork rather than mere random chance. It is the logical expression of the concept of building within and beyond that which exists.

Present-day music is largely based upon previous music and other producible sounds. New technologies are mostly based upon previous technologies. New philosophers tend to draw upon old philosophers and experiences in life. Drivers in developing countries use prior knowledge of the road to prevent accidents while blinded by the headlights of oncoming vehicles. Any knowledge that is gained without direct blind trial and error or direct experience is the result of the mind extrapolating or interpolating upon existing knowledge. The ancient Greeks figured out that the World was round thanks to observations of the stars and observation of the world around them. Various aviation pioneers took inspiration from birds that used less energetic sweeping wing movements such as seagulls. The deductive processes involved in crime investigation done right is also an exercise in extrapolating upon the available evidence. If we were to take bridge repair as a means of illustrating working beyond the existing then extrapolation would be a matter of extending the structure across the divide while interpolation would be similar to bridging the gaps between the support struts or columns.

Both techniques also have a place in determining truth from fallacy. After all, not all sources of information are honest and likewise the information that one is fed by sources may also be similarly skewed. The interests of the provider of information can taint objectivity. Truths do not need to be altered into fallacies so as to mislead. Truths can be selectively chosen and provided, or omitted altogether. Information can be provided with baggage attached, conveying positive or negative influence as intended by the interests concerned.

Even sources that we should be able to trust are not necessarily without taint. The television stations. The papers. This web log too has the interests of myself riding within it and should therefore be taken with a pinch of salt. The only way to sort through the mess of conflicting information is to attempt to extrapolate and interpolate upon the knowledge available in search of the most consistent net or web of integrated information upon which to base your opinions and thoughts. Without a reliable grasp of the information available I am afraid that it is likely that the decisions that you make will be the most sound that they could otherwise have been. Of course it is our right not to be deceived to begin with, but the bad shepherd could care less.

Well a month has passed and I somehow managed to fit in a fresh fragment for every day of it, give or take a little stuttering in the post scheduling. It has been a satisfying time and I got to make a number of new blog contacts and a couple of really pleasant persons through it so I’d say that it has been worth my while.

However as with all good things sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and ease the pace a little. OK. Sure it doesn’t seem like a lot but the truth is that I have to balance upon several tightropes and yet remain on-track. It is the downside of taking on commitments – you eventually get round to realizing that they actually take up sizeable chunks out of your time.

Well, all misgivings aside, I shall be cutting down on contributions to about once every other day. While it will hopefully mean an improvement in the qualitative selection of post topics, such is beyond my ability to guarantee. In the meantime the ‘Ask James‘ page is still active and I will seek to answer questions as best as I can. Actually I encourage readers to send in questions as good questions tend to save me time thinking about what I will be writing about next.