Archive for the ‘ People ’ Category

Is the Sunday Times acting correctly?

Underage youths get their drinks in Paceville is the title of an investigative piece which appears in today's (12 December 2010) edition of the Sunday Times.

While not exactly earth-shattering in its revelations, it does confirm yet again that

  1. people under the age of 17 are being allowed into places of entertainment which are restricted to patrons aged 17+
  2. people under the age of 17 are being served alcoholic drinks
  3. smoking in these indoor public places is the norm

To their credit, the reporters covering the assignment tried to lodge a report at the St Julian's police station but the officer on duty turned them away.

So here I must ask, why is the Sunday Times refusing to publish the names of the night spots which were violating the law, especially as minors were involved and no action was taken by the police?

Is the national newspaper morally correct in withholding the names of law-breakers while having no compunction in pointing out the inertia of the police force in dealing with the matter?

I posed the question to the Sunday Times, via the comments section of the article's web page. However, neither my remark nor an answer to it had appeared by the time I wrote this post.

2010
12/12
CATEGORY
Communication
Law
Malta
Media
People
Places
Print
Society
Write comment

Superfreakonomics by Steve D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

Superfreakonomics Superfreakonomics by Steve D. Levitt & Stephen J. DubnerThe original book, "Freakonomics", was a ground-breaker, delving into quotidian situations and extracting unusual information which most of us overlook.
"Superfreakonomics: Tales of Altruism, Terrorism and Poorly Paid Prostitutes" is more of the same but this time it also introduces simple, on-the-cheap solutions to world problems, such as global warming, or preventing major natural catastrophes on the scale of hurricane Katrina.
Once again, the book is written in an accessible and witty style and, with the  illustrated edition, lots of colourful asides are included. It really offers food for thought and I found myself annotating certain parts, scribbling in ideas of my own. This is what the authors want after all; not that we are mere recipients of information but that we ruminate over the offerings and come up with new ideas. At the least, we will realize that what appear to be "modern" problems have, in fact, been with us for centuries.
Maybe it's because I knew what to expect from the authors but this time around I wasn't as intrigued with their case studies as in their first publication.
A 6/10 from me.
2010
11/21
CATEGORY
Books
Economics
Environment
People
Society
Write comment

Class 404A

Thanks to Gerda for this group photo of last week's class, 404A.

Our group with Sandro 1 300x225 Class 404A

Class 404A

2010
11/12
CATEGORY
Education
Malta
People
Write comment

A straight answer

A young boy in his football kit is walking away from the front door of a block of apartments, turns round to wave at dad in the balcony and calls out, "Are you working this evening, pa?"
Father calls back, "Why do you want to know?"

This answer strikes me as odd and callous, even suspicious. I cannot for the life of me imagine a true parent being so evasive to a child's normal question which merely required a straightforward, "Yes, son" or, "Unfortunately not."

2010
11/07
CATEGORY
Malta
People
Society
Write comment

ijazzglobal.com

ijazzglobal 300x48 ijazzglobal.com

Here's a station I listen to regularly which specializes in chill-out music: ijazzglobal.com

Jazz makes a very rare appearance in my music collection but this live performance of "Flirt" by Mindi Abair is music to the ears!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj8vXoE5lhU

2010
10/27
CATEGORY
Communication
Internet
Media
Music
People
Radio
Write comment
 
Content Protected Using Blog Protector By: PcDrome.