WIRED MALTA (formerly known as Wired Temples)

Dossing Times

2008-07-18T08:17:00.000+02:00

The Dossing Times is a blog about movies, politics and other random stuff. The blog's motto is 'Instead of being useful'. From A Trip to Malta: ..I had one of these saccharine sounding moments in Malta, when on my last day having felt I should pack in as much as possible to my time there I found myself just letting go of any pressure to be my usual sight seeing motivated machine and enjoy my

Ben Simon

2008-07-17T08:38:00.000+02:00

Ben's Journal is a random collection of comments and thoughts. In this post he discusses a trip to Malta: When we woke up this morning, we had a surprising site - our porthole, which all yesterday was filled with endless blue, was now filled with the skyline of a clearly Mediterranean country. We were officially in Malta. We had a quick breakfast, and fled the boat. Rather than using one of the

Hearse cartel sparks strike

2008-07-16T08:34:00.000+02:00

Move to break hearse cartel sparks transport strike in Malta, from AFP: A move by the Maltese government to unlock a death grip on hearses by just 11 undertakers met with an indefinite, nationwide transport strike on Monday. Buses, minibuses and taxis blocked major arteries across the Mediterranean island state, notably around the capital Valletta and the tourist area of Sliema, to protest

Malta in the eyes of a Greek

2008-07-15T18:47:00.000+02:00

Hellenic Travels to the Past, edited by George Manetakis, is a collection of tales f'rom one Antipodean’s experiences to magical locations from across the Eurasian continent'. This post describes a visit to Malta on the way from Sydney to London: Flying in to Malta I was excited. I had always wanted to be met at an airport by someone holding a placard (sign) with my name on it. The Maltese

Easy rider on the Med

2008-07-14T09:31:00.000+02:00

Matthew Teller takes the 'Short Way Down' by scooter on the Maltese islands for the perfect adventure: I sat waiting, focused ahead. The cross-traffic started thinning out. I gave a twist with my right hand, just a touch, till I felt the bite. The lights changed to green. I gave it a bit more. The automatic clutch caught, and I was rolling. More with the wrist, and I was going fast enough to

Learning to love Malta

2008-07-13T08:19:00.003+02:00

After spending the year teaching international relations at the university on a Fulbright, Mary looks back at her Malta experience: I leave for the US tomorrow. My Fulbright “year” is over. I have so enjoyed this time in Malta that I am sad to go, but glad I’ll be with my husband again. I'll keep this blog going for a while--add some pictures and further thoughts, show you some electronic

Destination Malta

2008-07-12T18:58:00.002+02:00

Writing in Shift Mag, Judith Zijlstra and Tjerk Destombes from the University of Utrecht, say that Malta bears the brunt of the European refugee problem. They were in Malta earlier this year in the frame of the Destination Europe project: “600 Africans perished at sea”, “Spanish coastguard intercepts boat with refugees again”... In the past few years, news reports about Africans travelling in

Making it in Malta

2008-07-11T08:56:00.001+02:00

Mariane St-Maurice of New York's Baruch College has returned from a nine-week long internship in 'exotic' Malta. She says that her internship at TMIS has steered her in the right direction. From The Ticker: Walking home one night a few weeks ago, I looked up to the sky and realized that I could see stars. A rather unusual sight in New York, I exclaimed to my friend, "They have stars here!"

Dying to get cheaper

2008-07-10T20:51:00.000+02:00

The cost of living is rising in Malta, but the cost of dying may be about to drop, says Reuters: The Maltese Transport Ministry announced on Monday that the government had decided to liberalize the granting of licenses for hearses. No licenses have been issued for 36 years, leaving only 11 owners of hearses and, in the ministry's words, "creating the conditions for a cartel." "The people have

Common history

2008-07-09T20:41:00.001+02:00

Progettokasa considers the common history of Malta and Sicily, "so linked in the past, so disjointed in the present": The links between southeast Sicily and Malta date back to prehistory and continued over the centuries, until the arrival of the British in Malta. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Maltese communities took part in the establishment of new towns such as Pachino. Maltese artisans

Ghost in Malta

2008-07-08T21:28:00.000+02:00

The yacht Ghost lands in Malta: So after a trip down the South coast of Sicily where we picked up J Vo & Chris, we got to Malta a couple of days ago. Generally we weren't that impressed with Sicily which is pretty run down and the marinas are expensive and pretty rubbish! So it's great to be in Malta... We spent the first night in Maltese waters at anchor off the neighbouring island of Comino -

Confessions of an IT girl

2008-07-07T08:12:00.003+02:00

Ellen Gerstein is director of marketing at a publishing house where she works on books about technology. In this post she describes her trip to Malta to attend her company’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) sales meeting: ..Anyhow, after claiming my luggage, I stumbled through the airport looking for somewhere to wait out my 6 hours until my flight to Malta. I had no boarding pass, and

Where ambassadors are

2008-07-06T21:01:00.000+02:00

US ambassador Molly Bordonaro tells Sharon King Hoge of ForbesLife where she spends her time when off duty: Molly Bordonaro was a partner at The Gallatin Group, a public affairs consulting firm, worked in commercial real estate, and ran for Congress from her native Portland, Oregon, before being appointed ambassador to Malta in 2005. Local recommendations include: Etienne serves fresh

Finding answers

2008-07-05T17:21:00.004+02:00

Fabrizio Ellul at From The Land of Mickey blogs about artist Caesar Attard whose latest exhibition at the BOV Centre in St. Venera runs until the end of July Caesar Attard comes from a time when roses were red, sugar was sweet and art, literature, music, politics, philosophy, natural breasts and everything else that mattered in life was still not declared dead. He is, somehow of, a Don Quixote,

Road to salvation

2008-07-04T09:13:00.003+02:00

In his brand new blog at Tikk-Tokk, psychologist Joshua Zammit discusses the privatisation of the shipyards and says that not everything in the private sector works like a Swiss watch. ..true there are fundamental differences between the private and the public sector. The private enterprise does not have a big brother, if the wrong decision is taken it will pay for it; those employed in the

Lounge people

2008-07-03T16:32:00.000+02:00

Alex says that general attitudes in Malta are relaxed. ..See someone you know or need to talk to? Just stop in the middle of the road, other traffic will flow around you. Need to park? Just pull over and put on your hazards, that is perfectly acceptable, doesn’t matter how wide the road is (or rather isn’t). Someone parked in your lane? Feel free to squeeze between them and any oncoming traffic,

Highlighting discrimination

2008-07-02T09:35:00.001+02:00

Maltese law discriminates against the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals, according to a report drawn up by an EU agency, by Forum Mithani: As reported on PinkNews.co.uk yesterday, the European Union's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) has released its legal analysis of homophobia and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in the 27 member states. It concluded that Maltese

Summer in the Mediterranean

2008-07-01T20:16:00.000+02:00

As the weather warms up and the waves calm down, thousands of would-be immigrants are setting sail for Europe from African shores says The Spiegel Online: The situation is hardly a new one. For the past several years, the numbers of those willing to risk the dangerous crossing from northern Africa rises right along with the temperature. The Italian Interior Ministry estimates that 16,500 illegal

Cross-border cooperation

2008-06-30T22:54:00.001+02:00

Sicily and Malta foster innovation through cross-border cooperation, from Cordis: Encouraging results from the projects implemented under the Italy-Malta cross-border cooperation programme, financed by the European Commission in the framework of the Interreg initiative, show that structural funds can play a major role in boosting competitiveness and innovation. The positive experience from the

Being Maltese

2008-06-29T16:09:00.001+02:00

Professor Henry Frendo discusses the urgent question of what it means to be Maltese: First, Malta is a relatively new state. It has only been independent for 44 years. Italy and Germany, compared to Britain and France, have often been referred to as "new" states because they were only unified in 1870. Indeed, we have even had two correspondents in this newspaper alleging that the Maltese nation

Tuna row

2008-06-28T21:06:00.000+02:00

France and Malta call for 'transparency' in EU tuna row, from AFP: Visiting French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier complained Friday of a "lack of transparency" in the European Commission's decision to cut short the bluefin tuna fishing season. Noting that Malta's Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino had told him that the Mediterranean nation's bluefin tuna catch this year

Mopeds, Horsemeat and Pynchon - Part 3

2008-06-27T18:41:00.002+02:00

Matt Gross goes to Valletta in search of V: On Friday I hopped the ferry and rode the moped into Valletta, Malta’s enchanting capital. Constructed in 1566 by the Knights of St. John — the mysterious, multinational order of warrior monks who made Malta their base — Valletta is a fortified peninsula jutting a mile and a quarter into Grand Harbour, its high bastions (now crowned with gardens) the

Mopeds, Horsemeat and Pynchon - Part 2

2008-06-26T18:33:00.002+02:00

Frugal Traveler Matt Gross tries to cope in Malta and Gozo on 100 euros a day: Meanwhile, MTV had chosen Malta as the annual site of its weeklong “Isle of MTV” bacchanal, taking place this week. The antiquated, smoke-belching buses date from the colonial era; there are also reputedly more Ferraris here per capita than anywhere else in the world. The Maltese lira, now being phased out in favor of

Mopeds, Horsemeat and Pynchon - Part 1

2008-06-25T20:21:00.002+02:00

The New York Times Frugal Traveler is embarking on the Grand Tour, 'reimagining the classic European journey as a budget-minded, modern-day jaunt'. As part of his 12 week 100 euros a day journey round Europe, Matt Gross visited Malta and Gozo 'in search of cool hotels, memorable meals and contemporary culture: Last Friday night, Sunny Bar & Restaurant filled up quickly. Families, couples and

Tragedy insurance

2008-06-24T08:03:00.001+02:00

LIC asked to release claim of Malta boat tragedy victim, from Indlawnews.com: The District Consumer Forum (DCF), has directed the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to release Rs 1 lakh to the family of Malta Boat Tragedy victim Jasbir Singh, of village Thoana, forthwith with interest 9 per cent per annum from the date of filing the complaint alongwith litigation expenses of Rs 1000. The verdict