The last two weeks in 1,000 words

I leave the island for two weeks (not to go back to my own country, don’t get too excited) and all hell breaks loose. Like a toddler that has been left alone with its mother’s makeup bag, common sense seems to have been turned upside down and emptied all

Iwill start with the most ridiculous bit of news to grace the papers in the last two weeks. Some Neanderthal has managed to pick his knuckles up off the floor for long enough to compose and record a song (I use that word lightly) designed to tug at the heartstrings of the uneducated and convince them that the freezing of embryos is akin to murder. Don’t let facts get in the way of your musical masterpiece Mr Cassar, and don’t let common sense stop you from blindly insulting long-suffering couples that are just hoping for a chance to have a baby of their own.

What boggles my mind, as with most of the views of the pro-life fascist brigade, is that the utter lack of basic scientific knowledge, common sense, or consideration for anyone except for themselves. While they claim to be protectors of the unborn, and the guardians of innocent life, their utter disdain for adults, infertile couples, rape victims, and pregnant women whose lives are in danger is truly staggering. It seems to me that this obsession with the preservation of human life starts with sexual intercourse and ends the moment the baby takes its first breath outside the womb, because after that point, they show absolutely zero interest of compassion for the child, or its mother.

Another story that caught my interest over the last few weeks is the rather familiar tale of a Nigerian man being arrested for drug trafficking and it taking al- most a decade to get to court. You may remember the tale of Chukwudi Onyeabor who had his rights horrifically abused by the Maltese justice system, before finally being found not guilty of all charges after 10 years. Well, it seems that history is repeating itself somewhat as Stephen Egbo’s story is almost identical from start to finish.

Arrested for “trafficking cocaine”, he was prosecuted on the word of an individual who had cut a deal for a reduced sentence and on the basis that he “looked Nigerian” and happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The modus operandi of the case was almost a carbon copy of Mr Onyeabor’s, from the fact that no translator was ever made available during phone calls between suspects and prisoners, to the fact that key evidence was missing, such as drugs, recordings, SMSs, phone calls, witnesses, actual deliveries, cash being seized – the integral parts to creating a proper prosecution in any other country. Yet somehow this flimsy case made it to court and he was found guilty by jury. I can only imagine that after the humiliation of Mr Onyeabor’s case, the prosecution was a little more selective (in its favour) when picking jurors this time around.

Luckily, Mr Egbo is appealing the ruling, based on the fact that the whole case is utter nonsense and that the star witness struggled to keep to the same story the whole way through. Perhaps if the Police spent a bit more time focusing on real, home- grown drug traffickers instead of just throwing the book at anyone black, then perhaps this country wouldn’t have such a problem with cocaine and hard drug use. Just a thought.

The racists are out in force after the Barcelona attack, condemning all Arabs and missing the irony of the fact that their surname is Arabic and they are speaking an Arabic language. Of course, what has been happening all over Europe is truly awful and those responsible should be condemned and punished accordingly, but let us not forget that terrorism goes on daily and worldwide with perpetrators of all religions and cultures carrying out these acts. The problem is that the mainstream media only wants to highlight the incidents that involve Muslims because the fact that you are at more risk of being harmed by a right-wing fanatic doesn’t fit the agenda of the people pulling the puppets strings. Remember that terrorism does not have a religion and is carried out by bad people. Shouting a religious phrase before carrying out an atrocity, or claiming that you are a follower of a particular religion, does not mean that everyone else who follows it should be tarred with the same brush.

One of the most repeated bits of nonsense I have had the misfortune of seeing is the statement wheeled out by the ignoramuses of the internet every time someone brown kills someone: “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim”. Apart from the fact that this sentence is completely and utterly nonsensical for many different reasons, it truly amazes me how much people refuse to acknowledge the atrocities carried out by individuals from other religions. Child brides in Middle America, FGM carried out by Christians in the Horn of Africa, the IRA, white supremacists driving trucks into crowds and murdering Sikhs at their place of worship. In fact, right wing extremist terrorism, statistically poses more of a threat than anything that the Muslims could dream up – but of course that doesn’t make headlines does it.

Last but not least was the news that someone has stolen two air conditioning units from the headquarters of Happy Paws, the animal charity. It seems that some wonderful members of the community decided that the desire for second-hand air-conditioning units far surpassed the needs of a non-profit organisation set up to take care of our four legged friends. As a result of this, all surgeries have had to be cancelled for the foreseeable future and manager Joanna Grezlikowska has said that they do not know when they will have the funds to replace them. Luckily for them, some upstanding local businesses and individuals came to the rescue and have funded their replacements, but the fact that someone thinks it is OK to steal from a charity really bothers me.

Let us hope the temperature drops soon and maybe then we can hope for a bit more normal and rational behaviour. Here is to hoping!