Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1060184
19 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 DECEMBER 2018 Reporting the flamingo shooting With reference to the resident fla- mingo, which was shot earlier this week at the Ghadira reserve and reported on your online platform, I want to raise a few issues. The article you published online was not direct enough about how the crime was perpetrated – only that it did happen – and while it was not an opinion piece and you could not be as vociferous, it's important to note that, first and foremost, whoever shot the bird had the audacity to enter into the protected reserve through a breach in the perimeter fencing. Whoever committed the crime also evinced an element of premeditation as he utilised a possibly silenced fire- arm to avoid detection, which he in fact did since the night watchman did not report anything. If this particular criminal could not be thwarted by a night watchman, by a protected reserve, by the fear of get- ting caught in a site that is under sur- veillance, by fencing, and ultimately by law, then the problem, after all, is just the lack of enforcement. It's an issue of culture and men- tality ingrained by lack of sanction, that a Maltese hunter does not fear the consequences implied to his ac- tions, that he can willy-nilly barge into protected premises housing protected species and kill a resident flamingo and then proceed to steal the kill from under the noses of those charged with protecting the bird. Clearly, this is a step too far, this is a statement to fellow hunters who are willing to break the law to take it a step further and continue taking risks. It's time to make an example out of these heinous criminals and make sure they stop sending the mes- sage that it's not a big deal. It is. The bird wasn't even flying at the time. The hunter's actions are reflective of a degenerate mind. Julian Massa Kappara Better thinkers and better politicians So what if a Canadian author – I'm referring to Naomi Klein – comes to Malta and starts spewing her liberal ideologies, the same ideologies that buttressed Hugo Chavez's reign in Venezuela, and did not apologise for what she indirectly caused to that impoverished nation? This is a woman who makes a lot of money from her anti-Trump books, goes on holidays to exotic countries, takes pics and videos of her fam- ily enjoying a little deep-dive in the Pacific and then bashes capitalism at every opportunity. She claims that she's a climate change expert and then is unable to answer to the most dangerous pro- peller of climate change: population growth. She says that the problem is not poor people making children, another hint at how extremely closed-minded she can be. Firstly, it's not poor people who are making children. The birth rate is higher in developing countries but so is the death rate. More people are be- ing born in developed countries than anywhere else. The problem, the largest prime mover of climate change, is the seven billion people on the planet, sucking up resources and producing tonnes and tonnes of waste. But Naomi Klein denies this. Only people like Trump are the problem, she says, which means two things. One, she does not understand the anthropocene and two, she only jumps on the terrifying climate change phe- nomenon to push her political agenda. As she did with Venezuela. This is a truly sad situation because climate change is an actual problem and it's the most pressing problem facing the world today. Trump too is an issue but that's another story. We need better writers than pseu- do-liberal people like Naomi Klein. We need better thinkers and we need better politicians. Alfred Bezzina Luqa Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications