...as it has for altogether too long, especially when it comes to jurisdiction over waters (Sorry, I couldn't find a picture of a PMPY in the water). China and Japan are at it over a tiny island over on the other side of the world. Just across the Atlantic and a big squidge further down there are some islands that for me were the Malvinas in the morning and the Falklands in the afternoon (this needs more explanation but would send me right off track). Closer to home was the farcical invasion of the even tinier island of Perejil (Parsley Island for a rock sticking out of the water, for God's sake!) by Moroccan troops some years ago, an invasion heroically thwarted by valiant Spanish soldiers. Much closer is Gibraltar.
Political parties on both sides and all fronts enter the fray over who 'owns' what. Spain's Guardia Civil is accused practically of invasion while everyone's chasing an alleged drug smuggler. Who the hell cares whose waters are which when you're trying to grab a person suspected of killing your children? It's about drugs and smuggling. It's about people tryng to work, putting food on the table for their family but coming from a place with the highest unemployment in the entire country. It's about living and letting live. It's about growing up.
Chief Minister Caruana, sounding like a prefect of the old school, cancels two important 'technical' meetings prior to the next Tripartite Forum scheduled for later this year. He rushes off to the Head Boy in London, pointing a finger at the bully in the playground. He doesn't want to play any more.
In the meantime, the bully across the frontier, in the shape of a desperate Mayor, throws all his toys out of the pram and says he's going to make new rules or he's not going to play either. His father in Madrid chooses not to lisp about it but instead sends his local terrier with a mad dog look to bark and bark - a toothless matter, this.
In another meantime, the people killing our children feel they can get away with their deadly games while the other boys, the ones with ties, are arguing at the other end of the playground. They use their rubber ducks -I mean boats- to smuggle their lethal wares across the various frontiers.
These are the true villains, gentlemen. Grow up.
(c) Alberto Bullrich 2010
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