Beach Time

Summer's here and thank God we're living on a holiday island surrounded by wonderful beaches and an amazing sea. Yesterday Ghadira was blessed with cool crystal-clear waters and a fantastic breeze (blowing out so there weren't any jellyfish). The sandy part however... Eugh.

At one point we found we had placed our towels next to a used condom or two. But sand is dirty. Nothing you can do about that. What really gets my goat though, is the colonization of practically the entire beach by the great Concession Companies. I know they have a permit, but come on. They set up shop at 7 in the morning and constantly pester beach-goers into hiring umbrellas and deck chairs. The really irritating part though is that they actually argue with you if you try setting up your own umbrella.

I understand people need to make a living, but I also think the beach should not be so liberally taken over. In any case, if you want to enjoy Ghadira now's the time to do it, because in a few weeks' time it's going to start getting seriously crowded. I'd also recommend some of the rocky beaches. Generally cleaner and less of a crowd.

Happy holiday everyone!

Lights Out!

Unless you've been living on the beach today (which let's face it, is likely if you've just finished exams) or drunk out of your mind (equally likely) then you know that the whole Maltese archipelago suffered a powercut when our power stations tripped each other up. Undoubtedly there will be many who will create conspiracy theories out of this, but I wanted to focus more on my personal experience of the temporary death of electricity.

When it happened, I was at my PC checking my emails and cruising Facebook. It took me by surprise and after a few sms conversations it became apparent that it was a nation-wide phenomenon. The first thing that struck me was the lack of communication and broadcast noise. We've become so used to being blasted by information from the Internet, television, radio and other sources that the abrupt silence was quite deafening.

It was quite a blessing; if the power hadn't gone out, I'd likely have whiled away the entire day either at my computer or in front of the TV (no beach yet, in solidarity with my suffering better half). But instead I just chilled out and drove down to Paola to visit my grandparents. When I arrived back home I found my brother gritting his teeth as he'd just finished his exams and his long-overdue plans to stay up all night playing videogames seemed dashed.

I hung out with my brother and it was awesome. We talked, we joked, and we kept each other well entertained. At one point we even opened some of our mother's magazines and quizzed each other. Apparently we're not very good housewives and we are Grade C mothers, whatever that means.

Some things were made apparent though, like the desperate need for board games in this house. Pity those things are so expensive.

A recent study (well that's what it said on the magazines) found that on average, family members only spend 24 minutes a day interacting with each other (excluding work, sleep and meals). It's a pity it took a powercut to remind me how fun hanging out with my brother can be.

How did the powercut affect you? Did you know it was going on? How did you spend your techno-free hours? Feel free to share on the comments section below.

That Arm!

Summer's practically upon us now and as the temperature rises, car windows go down for those who prefer not to use their air conditioners. And with this lowering of windows comes another phenomenon: The arm hanging out of the aforementioned window.

Last Summer, when I started driving, it used to irk me to no end. Invariably, whenever I found myself driving behind someone with their arm lazily strewn across their car door, they would drive at an agonisingly slow pace, occasionally gesturing to their passengers and other drivers with this obscene appendage. As soon as I'd spot one on the road, you'd hear me sigh and gnash my teeth in frustration.

This year the arms are popping out again and my gut instinct is to go back to bashing them. But I thought it would be unfair to do so without giving it a go myself. So last night, on my drive back home, I threw caution to the wind and let my arm dangle freely in the wind.

The first thought that came to mind was how dangerous this was. Every car which went past me on the opposite side of the road caused me to flinch and jerk away. But as I got used to the sensation I began to relax, and enjoy the wind cooling on my arm. I also found myself slowing down and taking it easy. Then my arm fell asleep from lack of blood and that was the end of my experiment.

Having tried it for myself, I can say that I've gotten a vague idea what it's all about. I guess it can be compared to dogs sticking their heads out of the window. The only difference is that dogs don't drive.

So I suppose I haven't quite mastered the art of the Arm Dangle quite yet. Will I be trying it again? Probably not, but time will tell. Would I reccomend trying it? Perhaps once. But really it's just a hazard, and you're just waiting for it to be lopped off by a passing van. And please stay out of my way if you decide to try it, it still does irritate me quite a bit.

Do you hang your arm out of the window when you drive? Have you noticed other people doing it and how do you feel about it? Please feel free to share your opinions on this in the comments section below.

Oh, and good luck for any exams you/we still have left.

@Competition

Yes, I know it's been ages since I posted anything, but recent questions/comments posted on twitter have made me want to write about the subject of competition, and particularly give a little account of my experience this year.

As third year starts, the class is divided into groups of 6 members each based on surname. You'd already have an idea who you're going to be with, but it is for all intents and purposes beyond your control as to who the members of your group are going to be. It's all down to luck.

It is only now, with the year behind me, that I can truly appreciate the value of having a good group. I was 'lucky' in that I ended up with some very amiable people in my group. We all seemed to have a desire to work together and help each other excell. This started from the very first day we went to rounds, where we organised a little tutorial on history taking between ourselves to figure out what all this fuss about SOCRATES was all about, and carried on throughout the year until finally we were grilling each other on everything from examinations to treatment modalities. 

I truly believed all of us benefitted from this, far more than we would have had we all greedily kept our knowledge to ourselves. There was an element of competition, but it was all very light-hearted and friendly, a game almost. The minute any one of us asked for help or was percieved to require it, we were there.

I'd like to contrast this with the experiences I've heard of from my colleagues in other groups, groups where competition was rife and information treated in a miserly fashion. The groups more or less fell apart, with people feeling left out and in severe competition with their fellows. I can confidently say their experience of the first clinical year was nowhere as enjoyable as that of others. 

To be completely candid, I will confess that I do not work well in highly competitive environments. I prefer to work with others towards a common goal, for I believe that the whole ends up being greater than the sum of the parts; ideas have space to grow and multiply, and learning is far more enjoyable.

But it takes work, and conditions are sensitive. One egoist, one person hoarding his or her information from the others, and the system fails.

Medicine has moved on from being a competitive sport (no news yet from surgery), and is now a team sport. Medical consultants, even those in the same specialities, consult each other about their patients, and listen to each other's suggestions.

At the end of the day, the one to benefit the most from this is the patient, which should be every medical professional's goal.

What The Fuzz

So a couple of days ago I saw this story in the Times:

Man arraigned after exposing himself - in his home

A 43-year-old man was yester-day charged with defilement when his 16-year-old neighbour, who lives across the street, reported to police that she could see him naked from her home.

The man from Pembroke pleaded not guilty to defilement, offending public morals and causing his neighbour to fear that violence would be used against her.

Police Inspector Martin Sammut told Magistrate Edwina Grima that it was being alleged that the defendant was naked in his own home in a place the girl, who lives across the street, could see him. She then filed a police report.

However, there had not been any physical contact between the man and his neighbour.

The defendant's lawyer, Stephen Tonna Lowell, said his client was not contesting that he was naked at home. But he denied having any ulterior motives.

The defendant, whose name cannot be published for legal reasons, was granted bail on condition that he does not approach the girl or her family. He will, for the duration of the case, be residing at a house in Rabat which he owns.

He was bound to abide by the bail conditions against a €500 deposit and a personal guarantee of €10,000.

Seriously, what is this country coming to? The guy was in his own private house, it was the girl who was invading his privacy. She had absolutely no business looking into his window.

Imagine for a moment if the roles were reversed, and it was the 43 year-old man who saw the 16 year-old girl parading about naked in her house. Naturally he would be branded a dirty pervert and probably sent to jail.

Obviously we are not in a position to comment about the case because we don't know all the facts, but regardless of that, I find it interesting how our assumptions and perceptions of a situation change with the age and sex of the people involved.

Never judge, never assume.

Tentacle Rape and the Global Cop-Out

So, as we can all see from the blue skies and scorching sun, Summer is finally upon us. For some it cannot come soon enough. Months of studying and social lockdown have had us strapping to get into our swimwear and onto the beach. But there are creatures lurking in the water, creatures so vile that the very rumour of them whispered in the sand is enough to keep many out of the sea:


I am, of course, talking about jellyfish. These intoxicating invaders have been swarming in plague proportions for the last few years. Ordinarily, they'd only swarm in such numbers once every couple of years, but recently their population has been persistently high.

Naturally, people have jumped at the chance to blame global warming. The planet is getting warmer, they figure, so jellyfish metabolism and growth rate is increased. Probably, but that is far from the main culprit here. The main culprit is clearly overfishing. Fish eat jellyfish and their spawn. Without fish, the jellyfish reign unchecked.

It's interesting to ask why people blame global warming so easily for everything under the sun. It doesn't rain? Blame Global Warming. It rains too much? Blame Global Warming. Summer too hot? Blame Global Warming. You get sunburned? Blame Global Warming. Illegal Immigrants and terrorism? Yup, Blame. Global. Warming.

I think people are so quick to blame global warming because it makes life so much easier. Global Warming is a poorly-defined and oft-misunderstood natural phenomenon. Some say it's because of greenhouse gasses, some say it isn't. Some say we're causing it, some say it's just nature taking its course. The point is that no one can be blamed for global warming. We could try to slow it down, yes, but really there's only so much we can do. This makes it the perfect Global Cop-Out. If we blame everything on Global Warming, then we don't really have to take responsibility for our problems, do we? We're just the victims of the several factors which led us to this point.

But that is the wrong attitude to take if we're ever going to solve our problems instead of just moaning about them. Overfishing is almost as big a cop-out as Global Warming, but it's much easier to do something about it.

Well, in any case, the risk of being stung this Summer if you're swimming is as high as ever and this is a great article for treatment of all types of jellyfish stings. It's a little long though, so here's a quick summary for action you can take after you get stung:

1. Wash the area with saline to inactivate the stinging cells (fresh water will cause any unfired ones to fire).
2. Follow this with some vinegar to further inactivate the cells.
3. Apply some painkilling cream to the affected area, along with some anti-inflammatory cream. If these are unavailable, an ice pack compressed on the sting will do (although do not apply ice directly to it, because it'll melt and cause the cells to fire as in 1).
4. Finally, cover the area in a paste of shaving cream, baking soda and talc for 1 hour to coagulate the cells and scrape them off with a blunt edge like a spoon or a credit card.

Happy swimming, and don't forget to take sun precautions!

How About We Strike Them?

As anyone living on this blessed rock and not under it knows, the Transport Association is striking over liberalization of the motorized Hearse market. The situation would be bad enough if it were only the Hearses striking (the latest reports state that there are already 24 corpses being held in the freezers at Mater Dei, which is nearly half of what they can hold. All these bodies in just 2 days, mind you), but they've been joined by the red minivans and (worst of all) the public bus drivers.

Everyone has the right to strike. If they didn't, their rights would quickly be abused. However, there is a point where strike actions cease to be constructive and quickly become destructive. Unfortunately this is what has happened in this case. The newly-created Transport Federation did not deem it enough to direct its members not to work. No, they were also told to block arterial roads and it is this action which is causing the real damage to the country's infrastructure.

But even that was not enough for some. Reports and rumours are pouring in by the hour of strikers verbally and physically assaulting other drivers, the police, and even the public. Just this morning the Times reported that a private coach driver was beaten by men who appeared to be on stike. Vehicle windows are being smashed, and drivers are being threatened. The head of the Transport Federation Victor Spiteri was quick to condemn the acts of violence, but in the same breath said that strike-breakers are not liked by anyone. Excuse me, strike-breakers? Just because there are people who are not part of your new federation who decide not to follow your directive, doesn't mean you can justify acts of violence against them. The worst you can do is kick them out of your organisation, which they do not happen to be a member of in the first place.

Undoubtedly the involved aggressors will be brought to justice, and arrests are being made daily. However this is not enough for some people.

Taking a quick look at the comments section of the Times' website, there seems to be a general sense of anger at the drivers on strike. This is understandable as commuters, having spent a good 2 hours getting to work (if they get there at all), vent their frustration online. As someone invariably does, one person accused to government of failing to take stronger action because it is afraid of losing votes.

All the political parties and a large number of organizations have shown solidarity with the government, and as far as I know nobody has shown any solidarity with the Federation. Losing votes is not an issue here.

A lot of people are calling for riot police, tear gas, and rubber bullets.

When are we going to stop these acts of bullying from people who think they can take the law in their hands?
I was expecting the police to make more arrests - actually arresting all those people who blocked roads with their vehicles (where were the local wardens issuing fines these last days?) and having them all towed away!
We should have deployed the Armed Forces to clear the roads with force if need be.
Police should have stopped, arrested and jailed all people blocking the airport, Valletta Waterfront, Floriana, Valletta etc ...

-- Kevin Attard, Times of Malta Website

Because the government has as yet not employed such force, it is being seen as weak. But I think it's a good thing that we haven't seen this sort of thing yet. For the most part, things are quiet. There are incidents, yes, but the perpetrators are being arrested. The strike actions are misguided, but nevertheless guided they are. Let us not miss the wood for the trees here, because someone is definitely instigating these actions. I find it very hard to believe that left to themselves, the bus and minivan drivers would care about the hearse drivers. Someone is telling them what to think and how to act. And that is at the heart of the problem.

If the government were to treat the current situation as if it were a riot, then that is what it will turn into. There will be far more violence than there is at present and it is a very responsible decision by the government not to resort to such drastic measures yet. It is a slippery slope from here to the situations we hear of in America, where protesters demonstrating peacefully are surrounded by riot police armed to the teeth with truncheons, tear gas and tazers, and are not afraid to use them. Not to mention that the ensuing riot would not go down well at all with the tourists, whose holidays are already being ruined by these actions.

All in all the Federation members should stop being so childish, roll up their socks and improve their service, and prepare themselves for liberalization. And the very least the Federation could do is sit down to talks with the government and try to push for liberalization to be delayed for now.

UPDATE: Apparently the strike has been lifted, at least by the Hearse Association. Let's hope the other associations follow suit.