Tuesday, August 19, 2008

What a self-centred, insular lot!

"MHRA dubs international situation as very worrying" screamed the Malta Independent headline this morning http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=74015

As I read the headline, I thought it must be really alarming if even Maltese associations are getting worried. I assumed they were referring to the way the Russian bear is flexing its muscles in the Caucasus, and the standoff in Georgia amid escalating international tension between the world's (former?) superpowers. The dreaded expression that characterised the second half of the 20th century, "cold war", is being mentioned ever so more often in recent weeks.

Huh?! Caucasus? What's that? Nothing could be further from the collective minds of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association. According to the report in the Independent, what this body of gentlemen (and possibly a handful of ladies) are very worried about is the fact that the value of the British sterling has fallen, which may result in many Britons not going abroad for their holidays, i.e. less pound sterling in the MHRA's members' bank accounts.

Ah, yes. The international situation is very worring indeed.

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