Okay, granted for that the 25 feet before you walk up to this biodiesel pump in Gzira, Malta, the air smells as if every blackwater tank in the marina has been emptied and sitting in a corner of the harbor for three weeks, and that the water regurgitates enough plastic and crap in some places look like this:

 

But jeez, they are selling biodiesel at pumps. This particular pump is in a Shell station, which means that on some level, the world oil giant can probably do the same thing in America if it wants.

 

Instead, Shell is trying to foist upon Connecticut and New York an LNG filling station. I don't think it's fully Shell's fault, though. It falls upon the shoulders of the people of Connecticut and America that we don't force corporate giants to bend to our will. We bend far too easily to theirs.

 

Sure, there are McDonald's and KFC's here in Gzira and a Burger King in the historical walls of Valletta. But in no way have any of these fast food corporations gotten to build their signature buildings. No, they shut up and take a slot in some building that is 450 years old and live with it.

 

The fast food giants are forced to do their destructive business in a pedestrian environment with no drive thrus (but they do deliver with scooters), no parking. They still generate the litter, but the Europeans have been a little smarter in maintaining their small market local economies.

 

I'll get into that later. It's a day off today, and I don't want to spend it blogging. To Gozo it is.