Bad news from Iraq. A convoy carrying eight Spanish intelligence agents was attacked just a couple of hours ago. All eight were killed. This makes a total of 10 Spaniards killed in Iraq, to which we need to add the several dozen troops killed in the crash of a Ukrainian transport plane while being carried home.

I just know that the opposition is going to try to make some political hay with this; they wouldn't be Socialists if they didn't. I don't think it's going to change anything, though; sides have been taken on the Iraq issue, and it would take a major change (e.g. hundreds of Spanish deaths or an Al Qaeda strike on Spain itself) to make those sides change.

In contrast to something deadly serious like this, when all Spaniards need to pull together and show a united front and yet the opposition and the press are going to pitch holy hell, there was a big stink yesterday at the Davis Cup in Australia. Seems that some idiot gave the band the wrong national anthem to be played for Spain. It was the anthem used during the Spanish Republic, not the official one used ever since the nineteenth century (except during the Republic). The press was outraged.

Now, who cares? It's just a song, and it's so boring that no one remembers it. It doesn't even have any words. It's just a symbol. So the Aussies apologized and played the right song the next day.

Methinks the press blew it by taking the anthem thing a little too seriously, and methinks that they are going to blow it again in the wake of this tragic terrorist attack.