Bird's Eye View

Category: Politics

  • Did you know we can have better pollution data?

    We have lots of real-time information, like the weather. It’s not that easy to find information about pollution. You’d think information showing we’re killing ourselves would top everyone’s list, but it’s not. There must be an easy way to have the data we need at our fingertips. In this article I will explain: How some…

  • The revolutionary answer to the e-voting problem

    Malta may have new e-counting machines for elections. The governing Labour Party wants to distribute an electronic copy of our votes to all political parties, arguing this is the only way to double-check electronic counting. The opposition Nationalist Party thinks this will allow votes to be bought even if it seems to have agreed to it.…

  • En Marche: Macron’s Rise to Power

    En Marche: Macron’s Rise to Power

    Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the 2017 French presidential election was widely regarded as a victory for liberal Europe, for the European Union and, potentially, for the concept of Europe itself. The populist tide, which had run almost unhindered from Brexit into Trump, had been – it seemed – stemmed. And yet, just a year and a half on from…

  • Have the Police exposed the Government’s lies?

    Last week police took a prisoner accused of the Caruana Galizia assassination to hospital. I shared this news story with a question about their tactics and the internet went nuts. What did I do wrong? For those of you who weren’t following the Caruana Galizia case here’s a quick refresher. Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated…

  • Outlining freedom in politics

    Outlining freedom in politics

    We often hear the word ‘freedom’ uttered in speeches given by politicians and lobby groups whose aim is to convince people, that through the support of certain political decisions or actions, citizens of a country would be able to achieve a state of enhanced freedom. However this state of ‘enhanced freedom’ is very rarely described…

  • For people who want a better representative in Europe

    In Malta, some are preparing to contest the next European election under a slogan of #prijoritaMalta, or “Priority: Malta”. Their intent, as noble it is, is also wrong. Here’s why. I European governance is different to the structure we have in Malta. It’s only natural there would be some confusion about how the whole setup…

  • India’s Fiscal Civil War

    The deputy governor of the reserve bank of India, Viral Acharya came out saying earlier this week that undermining the independence of the Indian central bank could be potentially catastrophic, in his own words. Understandably so, but what caused this threat and how is India reacting?

  • Conventional Politics’ Own Pot of Gold

    Conventional Politics’ Own Pot of Gold

    Time after time we repeatedly hear politicians pompously announcing a rise in GDP figures. They show us an escalating digit or a graph with increasingly larger bars and nod our heads in acknowledgement that they have indubitably conducted a good deed for us all. But have we ever really understood what GDP really means? How…

  • Exclusive: Algerians imprison people with “Maltese” passports

    Over the past few years Malta has taken to selling citizenship. For a fee you can get your hands on a genuine Maltese passport and set of identity documents. Malta’s been criticised but is there a downside to printing money like this? Learning from history Consider the following taken from news reports: The authorities in…

  • ‘Nothing has changed’. Indeed, it hasn’t.

    ‘Nothing has changed’. Indeed, it hasn’t.

    ‘Nothing has changed’.  Those were the words British Prime Minister Theresa May repeated over and over again while trying to defend a U-turn she was pressured into making ,due to the un-popular proposals for social care in the Conservative Party manifesto ,during  the run-up to the 2017 early general election. After an early election which…