Foreign interference

In the European Parliament’s plenary last week, a debate with vote was held on a resolution which condemned foreign interference in European national elections.

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HSBC were not really interested in the development of the Maltese economy. They wanted the profits they could secure from the local enterprise without committing themselves clearly to it.

Iam one of those who remember the negative propaganda run against the Labour governments of the 1970’s and 1980’s for resisting foreign interference in Maltese political affairs, orchestrated then by the Nationalist Opposition.

One cannot exclude outright that political and other formations take part in political activities organised outside their national borders. But this needs to be framed within clear and transparent rules, applying equally to all, and applying to all kinds of intervention.

It just does not make sense to take for granted as acceptable all interventions that we or our friends indulge in – but then to rise up against whatever and wherever those we disagree with do on the same lines, especially if they happen to be Russian.

HSBC

For HSBC as a bank, Malta was always a minor sideshow. When Mid-Med Bank was sold to HSBC on the cheap by the Fenech Adami administration some twenty years ago, for HSBC this was a juicy titbit it just could not let pass by and not gobble up. The government needed ready cash to demonstrate that the reforms in budgetary management that in government we were implementing between the years 1996 and 1998, were not needed. The Mid-Med privatisation provided that cash.

HSBC were not really interested in the development of the Maltese economy. They wanted the profits they could secure from the local enterprise without committing themselves clearly to it. Over the years, they allowed Bank of Valletta to carry the financial burdens that economic development brought with it. They just danced – as indeed they could not but do – to the tune of HSBC, the global bank, all of it.

At present, HSBC is not doing as well as its shareholders worldwide would like. It needs to cut costs and phase out those commitments where best profits are not being made with least effort.

Magellan

In “Over the Edge”, Laurence Bergreen provides an excellent account of the round the world voyage undertaken by the armada that Ferdinand Magellan led. It was the first time such an enterprise was carried through. The challenge was as follows: could one, by sailing west of Europe, reach the Molucca islands, which were located in the Far East? From the Moluccas, exotic spices worth their weight in gold and more, reached Europe.

The book follows Magellan’s journey, till he at last succeeded to get past the extreme outreaches of South America and then navigate into a huge sea which nobody before him had yet explored, the Pacific, always sailing “west”, till the Moluccas would be reached... But Magellan is killed before that happens, in a senseless battle that he got drawn into on one of the islands of the archipelago we now call the Philippines.

After Magellan’s death, the story continues... till the last surviving ship of the armada that he had left Spain with, returns home, much the worse for wear, almost dead in the water, with just some twenty people on board.

It is a tough story, where hardships predominate. Bergreen places it in its historical and sociological context. Those were the years when European powers were beginning to set out on their far reaching colonial adventures right across the whole world.

Rules

In the hearings held at the European Parliament to question the nominees to the new European Commission, there was keen interest to see how the prospective Commissioners responsible for economy and finance would position themselves vis à vis eurozone rules about budgetary discipline, public debt and economic management.

All nominees needed to keep in mind that there are two contrasting assessments of these rules. From one perspective, it is clear that they have got to be accepted and implemented by all in the same way and with total commitment. This is the strongly held belief of centreright German politicians and their allies. The other approach emphasizes mostly the argument that there is a need to reverse the politics of austerity which eurozone rules as they have been applied, continue to promote – especially in the way by which such rules affect public investment. The latter view is prevalent among centre left representatives. To be sure, the first perspective is complicated by the claim that the rules apply mainly to public deficits, not to the surpluses which member states may have managed to cumulate.

When replying to the question made to them, Commission nominees had to give satisfaction to both sides. The game was not an easy one.

Far away

I could not decide whether he was quietly trying to pull my leg or whether he was being deadly serious. Europe is doing well, he said, to give importance to outer space. That’s what this new one who’ll be running the European Commission will be doing, right? – she’s going to appoint a Commissioner who’ll be in charge of space?

In part, yes, I replied. If she gets through her hearing, for it’s a woman Commissioner, space will be among her responsibilities.

He went on: We should not leave outer space to the Americans and the Russians, and now as well to the Chinese and the Indians! Europeans must be at the forefront of this issue. The deterioration of the climate that’s been going on will not stop. In a short while, human beings will not be able to survive here. It’s going to become an urgent matter for us to find another world where we could go to live. We won’t have any future here.

I think he was being completely serious.

A meatless week

Provocatively, vegans have challenged all of us – who are not like them that never eat flesh – to spend a week without consuming meat. If I were living all week in the same place, I would have accepted it.

As it is, those who are not used to a Vegan diet will need some good planning of the menus they will be going for. Not because they will run the danger of death by starvation, but because one would need to programme beforehand what is going to be eaten while making sure the choice being made is truly free of animal products (eggs? milk? cheese? broth cubes? honey?...) Following that, one would need to stock provisions.

Over the years, I met quite a number of people who had for long been vegetarian. Not only were they in the best of health and enjoying life (some were actually running the risk of obesity, believe it or not) but they were also quite used to enjoying such meals as pizzas and baked pasta which all were excellent to taste while containing no meat.