It is during nights such as these that one who works by night can appreciate the silver lining. To be able to look up at the sky, to watch the waves gently and yet energetically lap up upon the shallow incline of the relatively unpopulated beach, to feel the slight but welcome breeze shifting the warm air, to know that a snack is just two Euro pounds and a quarter kilometre walk away, it all just kind of jars pleasantly against the chaos of Paceville less than a half-kilometre away.

Above and beyond the booming music heard from a distance, above the chinking and skittering of ever-shattering bottles, above the rabble of hot-headed drunkards and so-called bouncers who shame the rest of their kind with their violent dispositions, beyond the skyward lighting of more prominent buildings, exists a universe beyond our atmosphere that is both seemingly constant in its cycles and yet ever-changing. We are, for instance, ever so slowly losing our moon. The distance between the planet and her moon is growing. The tides and the weather have grown less harshly defined compared to that which history and prehistory have witnessed.

In the context of the grandness of this same universe we again return to the small-minded revellings of individuals in Paceville looking desperately for a little excitement and to add a little meaning to their lives, a mission as daunting as finding water in the middle of the Sahara desert. What is the point of inflating one’s ego every day or every weekend in the context of the enormity of the planet, let alone the universe? I do understand why many of them do it however, and the reason can be found within the history of the industrial revolution, where beer was used to placate the workers, to deaden them to their everyday misery, of toiling through a self-destructive routine to earn one’s daily beer and forget one’s misery while making the few wealthy, riding upon the sweat of their subordinates’ toils.

The moon witnessed it all before just as she witnesses the same today. The enslavement of the many by the few, not through banded shackles of iron but through the very legal system that is supposed to uphold justice in the country and in the world. Through this system the few enact new obligations for the many and machinery of exploitation for the few. They call it fiscal policy. They make the many think that they are doing them a favour, first raising the prices sky-high, and then ‘generously’ offering you the ‘opportunity’ to be their monetary farm. They give you the present and take away significant portions of the future. They have many ensnared within their trap of legal slavery and the moon can only remain silent in her witness as the many drink in futile attempts to drown away their worries and their sorrows. We have seen it all before and it never went away.

Rumours about the organized nature of the trafficking of the immigrants have been going round for ages. Such rumours were based upon the observation that the rate by which illegal immigrants have been entering have been somewhat consistent. Some persons have even coined the term of ‘the magic 27′, referring to the median number of immigrants per boat. One might almost start to picture a bookings agent attending to immigrants queries and taking reservations in a secluded alleyway in some congested North African village. Days ago it was reported by the Times that an improvement in the safety standards on the boats with which immigrants drift northward itself suggests that the traffickers have grown more organized, however that is as far as connections seem to have officially gone.

The people are to believe that all else is merely a coincidence, including the GonziPN campaign’s utter downplay of its relative inaction for as far as the illegal immigration crisis was concerned during the previous administrative term, suspicious considering the uncannily convenient reduction in the inflow of immigrants in 2007 and the similarly uncannily convenient increase in the inflow of immigrants in 2008, already practically confirmed to be a record-breaker with over 2,000 illegal immigrants received so far this year – in the middle of August.

Earlier in this series I had stated that Josie Muscat’s proposal for burden sharing is not the solution to the illegal immigration issue. I made it very clear as to why this is so, but will now add that this does not mean that burden sharing has no place within the tackling of the issue. After all, Lampedusa would likely be in much worse shape were it not for the redistributive efforts of Italy and, while the Maltese Islands have received relatively paltry assistance in redistribution, we could very well do with it, especially when one considers that this year’s tally exceeds 0.5% of the entire population of Malta. Who knows how many were accumulated during the past years following the turn of the millennium.

The concept of redistribution it not to be forgotten. It buys time to properly deal with the masses of illegal immigrants already here. It would be hasty to attempt to push them back south of our respective borders and would likely turn out to be a very painful experience. It makes more sense to tackle such matters in a more organic fashion over the middle-to-long term, relations with our southern nations crucial to mutual benefit and success.

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 in upon a stretch of road insultingly graded as safe up to 50 kilometres an hour? How can such a government apparently ignore the risks that back-illuminated signs can pose to on-coming drivers, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

While I would very much like to fill these pages with more positive yet outlandish concepts, I recognize that not only are you as my readership likely unprepared to digest what I might put to your screen with sufficient effectiveness or enjoyment, but we sadly live within a world of plagiarists – and they exist upon all levels and within all fields, both locally and abroad. In this regard I would suggest that we have not come a long way since the early days of old communist Russia where the mere suggestion of doing old things in new ways could potentially lead to one’s downfall. Today we have political parties that would have the people believe that they themselves actually come up with the ideas that they present to us. After all, the electric city taxis came from the blue party’s mystical palm like a rabbit out of a hat. I’ve yet to forget the utter disappointment and anxiety on the face of the person who in quiet desperation claimed to be the true designer. I remain unaware whether he ever got the credit that he deserved but he is a prime refutation to the old adage that the meek shall inherit the earth. No… like ex-communist Russia we have our own ways of dealing with trivialities such as merit. If it floats the party gets the credit (or worse, the party mascot) and if it sinks then the creator is left to carry the can, whether or not it was implemented properly by the master plagiarists to begin with.

It is little wonder that the people fear the parties; vote for all the reds out of fear of the blues and vote for all the blues out of fear of the reds. It is little wonder that the people have been likened to sheep in the past and within this simile one may very well compare the media to the dogs that use energetic or threatening movements and barking to usher the people into the desired pen. The people bleat in protest but not only are they herded every consecutive election but they keep their head ducked low, retaining as low a profile as possible. And of course the Shepherd, with one red glove and one blue, is quite happy to get out the shears and trim the sheep down ever further until there is little left to speak of or until enough sheep bleat in protest. Nothing that a reduction in feed cannot fix, turning the herd against the protesting sheep until they too learn to bleat in a way that the Shepherd likes.

The servants have the masters by the nose. The winter is here and the selfish shepherd is shearing, ensuring a profit for the coming 5 years before releasing them and forgetting them. After all, five years is more than enough for the people to regain their fleece, the people will adapt and look after themselves, and they will forget the suffering that they went through in previous years. They are content that their wool has grown back and so the world is again painted in tints of red and blue. This is exactly what happened with the surcharge in recent years, the “rounding off” of the development zones, the increase in VAT, the departure tax, illegal immigration and a lot lot more, much of which that I probably remain unaware of. The people will again forget and they will be shepherded back into the bi-partisan enclosure come 2013. The sheep will vote for all the nationalists candidates and all the labour candidates alternately, mostly unaware of whom they gave their number 3 to, let alone their number 26. The sheep will choose the glove by which they will be sheared and the shears will be waiting. The shepherd is gloating.

Today I would like to add another one to the list – forced consumption. No, no telephony representatives are looming over your shoulder to dial a number or have you dial a number without your consent. I do however speak of the window system that mobile telephony companies use.

A time window is a set period of time. In mobile telephony, such as with GO, for every top-up card you purchase and consume your window is extended by a number of days relative to the value purchased, such as 90 days for a € 5.00 (less VAT) top up card. Should you have a single Euro cent or a thousand Euros stashed within your mobile phone at the end of your window, you lose your right to use your money until you purchase more call value and the consequent time window extension attached to it.

I personally consider it a highly questionable practice for a person to sell a usable product and impose a time-limit for consumption. The effect of the imposition of time-windows is effectively forced consumption as the mobile telephony companies set an invisible line in the sand representing a sales quota. The best way to make a sales quota in the absence of a truly open market is to impose restrictions that require a repeated purchase, which is a little like a car dealer selling you a synthetic fuel that becomes unusable if not topped up by a particular fuel station every few weeks (it is the concept, not the realism, that is important here).

Needless to say any such time window system is an imposition upon any and all individuals who watch the pennies when using a mobile phone, those who avoid using it for anything but emergencies or those who believe that less is more. Certain portions of the elderly could very well be amongst this population of conservative telephony users but any individual who does not feel wealthy enough to splash out on telephony is a candidate to hit this wall straight-on. And then, in the dead of night, when the vehicle sputters out and they reach for the dusty old mobile that they had invested some € 50.00 (less VAT) over the previous years and used very little, when they try to dial a family number to get some assistance the voice on the other side of the line odiously informs them that they either have no credit or their time window has expired. Such individuals are denied access to their own funds within the situations for which that they specifically invested money in it.

Needless to say I urge the telephony companies, both GO and Vodafone, to discard this insidious practice and to, for just once, place the consumers before the profit margin. Ironing out such ethical deficiencies is a lot more important than spamming the SMS in-box with all these special offers of how to save money spending more within one’s window. The responsible penny-savers will thank you for it.

Upon the wings of disaster human innovation has a habit of riding, like a surfer riding a large incoming wave before it breaks. Without the disaster there is just too little interest in the improvement of any given situation. In this regard one may recall echoes of various improvements made following local disasters. Without doubt the unfortunate Simshar incident will also result in its own fair share of policy modification, such as the requirement of all vessels beyond a certain distance from shore to possess certain standards in safety and communications gear. However as with many disasters the potential victims try to push the worst case scenarios out of their heads. Such could ‘never’ happen to them. In saying this I wish those surviving the victims a steady recovery.

However, returning to agriculture one cannot but note that most farm lands are excessively exposed to the elements by the shear nature of the methods used. Common agricultural practice involves the clearance of ground for the sowing of seeds intensively. This leaves bald soil unprotected by foliage or other vegetation and so such is vulnerable to both the sun and the wind. At the peak of hills erosion is even worse due to the increased exposure of the layout, which is why it is good practice to preserve cover vegetation at the tips so as to help prevent slides and to retain the regenerative properties of the cover. This would set the would-be farmer at advantage compared to a more ignorant food-grower but even multiple crop rotation cycles would still leave the fields relatively exposed. It is an age old problem. The outdoor farmer will always be at the mercy of the elements that he or she depends upon.

An alternative is to construct shelters of plastic or glass. Such provides the farmer with more control over the environment to which the crops are accountable. Results are also more reliable though the structures themselves are usually not impervious to the effects of weather. However in recent years a new concept in agriculture has been doing the rounds in the agricultural world. What if we were to integrate the concept of indoor farming with an architectural structure? The result would one variant in a variety of vertical agriculture plans that already exist on the web or in real life. The concept is in its infancy but I am of the belief that the concept is sound in principle, the growth of food crops within the urban environment. That would make food production much more reliable, provided that the structure can withstand a few good earth tremors.

In a previous micro-step I had stated that in the context of any crisis the first thing to do is to ensure that the crisis cannot become worse, entailing either the removal of the victim from the vicinity of the problem or to shut down or prevent the source from further contributing to the problem. Such therefore suggests that preventing the entry of further shipments of illegal immigrants is the logical initial step in any serious attempt to tackle the crisis at hand.

In order to illustrate the importance of this revelation, let us take a brief look at the situation of the coast of the United States of America where they too have a problem with illegal immigration. In particular I would like to home in upon Cuba. In other words, unlike the situation of Malta, facing immigration from a vast continent, I’d like to look at a vast country facing immigration from a very small country.

The Americans have their own way of tackling illegal immigration. They deploy patrols and survey the separating sea in an effort to intercept any would-be immigrants. Any individuals successfully intercepted are sent back to Cuba. In this much the American example does reflect effective crisis management. However in spite of these efforts many Cubans still attempt the hazardous crossing in the hope of making it to shore. You see, while American policy is to return those individuals caught in the sea, any and all individuals that actually make it to shore are automatically granted asylum status and become naturalized American citizens, which would explain why there is a prominent Cuban minority community in Florida.

In other words in spite of the apparent efforts by America to keep illegal immigrants out of the country, they still suspend a juicy carrot of citizenship. As a result of this contradiction tens of thousands of Cubans have attempted the crossing and still attempt the crossing to this day, in-spite of the thousands who drown and the many more who are intercepted. The carrot remains suspended and so the tragedy is perpetuated year after year.

In the case of the Maltese Islands we too suspend a carrot. While it may be less certain than the one suspended by America, our carrot is potentially every bit as tempting and, without even a solid return policy in place, African numbers are rising on a yearly basis. To persist in our folly would be akin to a small boat rowing into the vast crowd of survivors following the sinking of the Titanic. A few more souls would be saved only to be swamped by the crowd, not caring about little things as capacity. Malta does have a capacity and whether it has been surpassed depends entirely upon whether the observer holds the welfare of the Maltese people at heart or not. I say that we are excessively low in the water and need to act fast, but those who should feel responsible for the welfare of the Maltese Islands are not acting. Remove the carrot and not only should the in-flow ebb away but the consequent loss in human life should similarly diminish.