What actually happened during the alleged attack by an AFM patrol boat on irregular immigrants at sea once again raises serious queries about the role being played by NGOs in the political life of democratic countries.
I was one of those who kept my mouth shut about the allegations advanced by the Republika NGO, among others... even if the exagerration they indulged in to blame the Prime Minister for what had allegedly happened seemed right from the start to be downright stupid. I thought there could have been somebody perhaps who might have mistakenly, in some moment of excitement, made an imprudent gesture which had been interpeted the wrong way.
I never expected that all the allegations would be certified, as a matter of fact, totally false and mistaken. This is shameful.
It reinforces the well grounded belief that certain NGOs serve as nothing better than a screen behind which partisan political activity is organised locally. Meanwhile other NGOs are also servicing the operations of human traffickers targeting Europe.
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FEELGOOD
In modern politics all over, not just in Malta, leaders have become focussed on promoting an essential message – the so-called feelgood. As much as possible, the aim of all political activity should be that of putting together enough good news to then pass on to people; so that more and more of them, will be wanting to smile.
Looking back, one finds that in Malta, the Fenech Adami administrations were pioneers in adopting this tactic. Slogans lie “Money no problem” in those days projected the sentiment that all that needed to be done if things were to improve, was for the government to spend and spend. Since then, the ways by which politicians trigger feelgood have contunally been updated.
One must worry as to whether it will be possible in future for any politician to deliver a speech like that of Winston Churchill who on becoming Prime Minister at the start of the Second World War came out with the promise of “ blood, toil, tears, sweat”.
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EPIDEMIOLOGY
If I got it right, the strategy utilised all over the world against the corona virus pandemic operated on two fronts: the medical one, based on the limited information available at the time about the disease and about how to medically control its arising infections; and the mathematical tools by which the epidemic’s progress across communities was noted and fed into a model which predicted how it would develop.
Regarding the latter, I was told how the models being deployed all over the world still need to be upgraded since they use a mathematical technique that is being replaced by another one in advanced statistical research.
One hopes that as soon as the current pandemic is over, the mathematical models by which its effects have been tracked will be revaluated and improved as necessary.