We don't need no (sex) education

Interesting statistics from today's Independent:

"Dr Gonzi said that the number of mothers who had children when they were not yet 16 varied from 19 in 2000, 16 in 2001, 11 in 2002, 17 in 2003, 21 in 2004 and 14 last year.

The number mothers who were aged 16 in the year they gave birth, ranged from 22 in 2000, 29 in 2001, 26 in 2002, and 2003, 28 in 2004 to 40 last year.

He then said that the number of children born to unmarried mothers was: 470 in 2000, 521 in 2001, 554 in 2002, 658 in 2003, 727 in 2004 and 783 in 2005."

This is how it looks like plotted on a couple of graphs:

Some people out there might look at those statistics and draw the mistaken conclusion that we in Malta could possibly do with a little basic sex education in schools. You know, contraception, family planning and all that.

Of course not! How absurd. What we really need to do is keep yammering away about our Christian heritage and family values... and maybe boast in parliament about how we never use condoms because we're all such fantastic Catholics.

Isn't that right, Sonia?

Just a suggestion...

Surprised no one's come up with the most obvious national symbol for the Maltese euro coin yet...

Constitutional entrenchment "idiotic" - Antonin Scalia

"Two plus two is... duh... five?" - Justice Minister Tonio Borg in action


US Supreme Court judge Antonin Scalia has dismissed Tonio Borg's Constitutional entrenchment proposal as "idiotic", Skip on Toast has learnt.

Speaking at a recent convention in Puerto Rico, the conservative (and staunchly pro-life) US judge claimed that "you have to be an idiot" to believe that a country's Constitution can be chopped and changed so that it reflects your own views, as Dr Borg would like to do with his abortion entrenchment proposal.

"That's the argument of flexibility", Scalia said, "and it goes something like this: The (US) Constitution is over 200 years old and societies change. It has to change with society, like a living organism, or it will become brittle and break."

"But you would have to be an idiot to believe that," Scalia added. "The Constitution is not a living organism, it is a legal document. It says something and doesn't say other things."

According to Scalia, there can be no room for personal, political or religious beliefs in the Constitution.

Interestingly enough, Scalia's own objections refer to attempts currently made in the USA to secure the opposite of Tonio Borg's intentions. While our Justice Minister seeks to embed a section of the Maltese Criminal Code into the Constitution, American pro-choice activists wish to use exactly the same method in order to Constitutionally entrench women's right to terminate pregnancy.

"(These people) are not looking for legal flexibility, they are looking for rigidity, whether it's the right to abortion or the right to homosexual activity, they want that right to be embedded from coast to coast and to be unchangeable," he said.

New dogs, old tricks

Labour Leader Dr Alfred Sant yesterday continued with his campaign activities for the March Local Council Elections with a visit to the abandoned animal shelter in Delimara.

In a speech which was interrupted by much appreciative barking, Dr Sant remarked how dogs' homes with a Labour majority had managed to complete 90% of their training modules.

"In animal shelters with a Labour majority population, more than 85% of dogs are fully housetrained, while the corresponding statistic for Nationalist dogs is only 50%."

This, he explained, is the reason why shelters administered by the Nationalist Party are in the stinking mess they're in... not to mention why some of their candidates are so full of sh**.

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Elsewhere, Alternattiva Demokratika also held an animal campaign activity, in which Chairperson Dr Harry Vassallo spoke about the need for "Runt Law Reform" to an audience of four cats.