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Yes, folks. Malta was full of trees. It is reported in history books by many travelers that heralded to our shores, some willingly, like Al Himyari ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbi_al-Himyari ), others accidentally, like St. Paul, the bearded chap in robes, you remember him? They all reported on how green the island was, covered with woods, and inhabited by a relentless humanoid species, which our patron saint aptly referred to as Barbarians (grazzi ta Sur San Pawl, ey! ). In the year 6,250BC, in Bir Lonzu, limits of where today we have Bubaqra, at the time when there was a temple construction boom (yes, it started much earlier...), Dudu and Duda, with their little boy Dudinu, started cutting trees, more and more... Until there were NONE left... or almost... Dudinu grew and formed the Malta Logging Company, that boomed for some time but went in liquidation, centuries later as the last Balluta tree fell over Sciberras Hill, in circa 1530AD. And do you want to know the latest? Why wa...

Driving my way from Mellieha is no mere undertaking. Keeping aside the driving habits of most of us Maltesers, the roads we drive our battered vehicles upon are not exactly the epitome of perfection. I wonder if there is an authority in charge which actually checks, I mean, literally investigates the quality of the asphalt or tarmac, the realistic location of signage, the consistence of road surfaces, the legibility and visibility of street markings, the street lighting, and so on. Just off the former (now derelict) Belleview site, one reaches a huge roundabout, or what a tourist may describe as a ‘garden-like circular structure’. Pay double attention as the traffic island leading down to this roundabout, from Mellieha centre, is high and bushy. Its shrubs obstruct your view of any oncoming traffic swerving around the circus - if not for a bus or truck - as the latter are high so slowing down at this stage helps. It is obvious one will need to give way but if driving to work late and i...

BirdLife demands tough action after ranger's shooting (Times of Malta 14.04.09) .................................... Dmax Comment after the shooting of the hapless ranger: ...or maybe a gust of wind that blew over the fields of L-Ahrax tal-Mellieha so fierecly earlier this week, extracted the lead pallets deep from within the fertile red soils of Torri-L-Ahmar hill and scattered them across Ray Vella's face in revenge for his Land Rover trespassing former free-for-all hunting grounds...Or perhaps he was shot by alien invaders looking for the spirits of fallen trees (thousand were hacked to pieces by wondering spirits very recently)..or perhaps this wass a cleverly planned plot by our world leading road planners eager to stretch tarmac over the area to help Gozitans in their desperate haste to reach their distant shores by cutting their trip by a good 5 minutes drive!! Or ....perhaps...Was it self-inflicted? Did he also set his farm recently on fire, too? Maybe he likes to play ...

Speaking of the Danish Cartoon Crisis, Malta's Law is no way short of OUTDATED! Read on... Man gets suspended sentence for ridiculing religion Source: http://www.maltamediaonline.com/?p=5719 A 26-year-old man from Zejtun, Melvin Barbara, has been given a suspended sentence by the Gozo Courts after pleading guilty to ridiculing and making fun of the Roman Catholic religion.Melvin Barbara was accused that on the night between 21st and 22nd February 2009, he offended Roman Catholics or the ministers of this religion during the Nadur carnival. He was accused of wearing a sacred habit without permission, or against the prohibition of the respective authorities.

This article is written in reply to the Times of Malta article published 1st March 2009 - 'Malta... where Saudi makes its money - literally'. See: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090302/local/malta-where-saudi-makes-its-money-literally Malta is a Southern European Island, not just politically but also ethnically, and has been so for centuries. It has been occupied by the Arabs, which de-populated it and populated it for some time. This happened between the 8th and the 11th century. It is good to note that the population was small with around 10-20,000 inhabitants overall, consisting of people classified as Islamic, Christian and Jewish, in order of prevailing numbers. One must add, Arab rulers allowed other faiths to flourish given they paid the 'harag' tax, a subtle incentive for many to change faith. Al Qimyari , a respected Arab traveller of the time (read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbi_al-Himyari ), wrote that many Christians that inhabited Malta B...