Friday, June 20, 2003
Here's a news piece from the Telegraph which says that Aznar is trying to play the American card to get Britain to turn over sovereignty or partial sovereignty or whatever of Gibraltar, and that Blair is hoppin' mad. Here's the opinion piece. This damn Gibraltar thing--the Spaniards consider Gibraltar España Irridenta and they want it very badly. They consider the current situation, with Britain owning Gibraltar, intolerable and unacceptable. They also know they can't go to war with the Brits over this. So they continually pressure the British, and everybody else who might have some influence over them, to turn over Gib. Now, the problem is that 99% of the Giblets don't want to be turned over to Spanish sovereignty, and the British can't just turn 'em over without their say-so. This isn't like it was Hong Kong or something. Or, more accurately, Spain ain't China. Next thing the Arabs are going to start yelling for Gib to be turned over to them, since they did, after all, hold it from 711 to 1492, while Spain only held it between 1492 and 1714.
Derb from National Review has been reading Sir Martin Rees and he's feeling despondent and fatalistic. Cheer him up! Send him an e-mail in favor of your state's sodomy law!
Thursday, June 19, 2003
This is kind of funny. Iberian Notes is being traded on Blogshares; it's going for $148 a share and it has skyrocketed since the postwar blog blahs. So go out and buy some if you're playing! It's probably not a blue chip, more like at the small-growth-company level.
Oh, yeah, here's a good story from Australia, home of John Pilger, Saddam's propaganda pimp, that InstaPundit linked to. It completely debunks the horror stories that certain elements of the media, such as the Pimp and Beirut Bob Fisk, spread about the so-called genocide of the Iraqi children during the embargo.
The Times of London takes Michael Moore apart. Check it out. (Via Andrew Sullivan). I'm going to start carrying this article around with me and pull it out the next time I run into an Intellectually Aggressive Brit.
Intellectually Aggressive Brits are working- or lower middle-class Englishmen--you don't often find this phenomenon among other inhabitants of the British isles, or among women--who have been to a (red-brick) university and who have a degree in something useless like English lit or education. These people are acutely class-conscious and know exactly where they fit in the English social scheme, which is here: Guardian readers who think they're smart enough to run things but know they'll never get another chance in A. T. (After Thatcher) England, so they simmer in the anger and shame that their irrelevance causes them while lecturing on labour history at the local polytechnic somewhere gray like Nottingham or Sunderland. If they can't hack even that, they show up down here. I enjoy listening to them lecture to me about Barcelona after having been here three months.
Anyway, you, as an American, can expect to get a good talking-to by this brand of Brit. He will lecture you up one side and down the other on the perfidiousness of your home country, and he knows it's true because Noam Chomsky or Robert Fisk or Michael Moore or Naomi Klein or (formerly) Christopher Hitchens or Mr. Unfunny Self-Hating Yank Comedian Bill Hicks (whose basic joke was a bitter diatribe against ignorant fat people from Iowa who had the gall to visit Britain, his adopted homeland) says so. No point in arguing with these guys; they've got their minds made up based on what they consider Received Truth.
I met up with three unpleasant Brits of this type this very week, one at the coffee shop and the other two in separate visits to Miguel's downtown. All three approached me; I did not initiate any of these conversations. I prefer, when alone in public, to mind my own business; however, I will talk courteously to anyone who starts talking to me. Now, this is an unusual week; I normally get one of these a month or so.
These folks all lit into me about the United States and got Intellectually Aggressive when I didn't roll over and start whimpering like Bill Hicks and the other Self-Hating Yanks (note: most Yank expatriates are self-hating in one way or another; some are more extreme than others, but, let's put it this way, they've read Howard Zinn's History of the United States and haven't read Paul Johnson's) they've run across. In fact, I managed to get two of the three all tangled up in their own logic by simply questioning the premises behind their assumptions, which are often laughable; amazing how much more Intellectually Aggressive Brits think they know about the US than Americans themselves. Jeez, a Brit who is a friend of mine but just a little I.A. once told me in all seriousness that George Bush was a fanatical born-again Christian; Bush, of course, is a Methodist. The third guy, though, launched into this long story about how there were no Cuban troops on Grenada and nobody got shot and how, get this, it happened in 1993. Fortunately, I had to go home right then, having discussed what I had to discuss with the bar's owner.
Intellectually Aggressive Brits are working- or lower middle-class Englishmen--you don't often find this phenomenon among other inhabitants of the British isles, or among women--who have been to a (red-brick) university and who have a degree in something useless like English lit or education. These people are acutely class-conscious and know exactly where they fit in the English social scheme, which is here: Guardian readers who think they're smart enough to run things but know they'll never get another chance in A. T. (After Thatcher) England, so they simmer in the anger and shame that their irrelevance causes them while lecturing on labour history at the local polytechnic somewhere gray like Nottingham or Sunderland. If they can't hack even that, they show up down here. I enjoy listening to them lecture to me about Barcelona after having been here three months.
Anyway, you, as an American, can expect to get a good talking-to by this brand of Brit. He will lecture you up one side and down the other on the perfidiousness of your home country, and he knows it's true because Noam Chomsky or Robert Fisk or Michael Moore or Naomi Klein or (formerly) Christopher Hitchens or Mr. Unfunny Self-Hating Yank Comedian Bill Hicks (whose basic joke was a bitter diatribe against ignorant fat people from Iowa who had the gall to visit Britain, his adopted homeland) says so. No point in arguing with these guys; they've got their minds made up based on what they consider Received Truth.
I met up with three unpleasant Brits of this type this very week, one at the coffee shop and the other two in separate visits to Miguel's downtown. All three approached me; I did not initiate any of these conversations. I prefer, when alone in public, to mind my own business; however, I will talk courteously to anyone who starts talking to me. Now, this is an unusual week; I normally get one of these a month or so.
These folks all lit into me about the United States and got Intellectually Aggressive when I didn't roll over and start whimpering like Bill Hicks and the other Self-Hating Yanks (note: most Yank expatriates are self-hating in one way or another; some are more extreme than others, but, let's put it this way, they've read Howard Zinn's History of the United States and haven't read Paul Johnson's) they've run across. In fact, I managed to get two of the three all tangled up in their own logic by simply questioning the premises behind their assumptions, which are often laughable; amazing how much more Intellectually Aggressive Brits think they know about the US than Americans themselves. Jeez, a Brit who is a friend of mine but just a little I.A. once told me in all seriousness that George Bush was a fanatical born-again Christian; Bush, of course, is a Methodist. The third guy, though, launched into this long story about how there were no Cuban troops on Grenada and nobody got shot and how, get this, it happened in 1993. Fortunately, I had to go home right then, having discussed what I had to discuss with the bar's owner.
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
OK, here's the Vanguardia's take on the David Beckham signing. Joan Laporta, then a candidate for FC Barcelona's presidency, negotiated a deal with Man U's directors in which Barcelona would buy Beckham from Manchester United, subject to Beckham's approval, which was announced on Tuesday, June 10. Beckham announced then that he did not want to come to Barcelona. Somehow the Barça's "entorno" managed to miss these statements, Laporta was elected president Sunday, and until approximately yesterday it was assumed that, no matter what, the Barça had Beckham tied up.
Wrong. The deal that brought Beckham to Real Madrid was made in Sardinia last Friday and Beckham gave his approval yesterday. Madrid will pay Man U 25 million euros. The Vangua's story does not say how much Madrid will pay Beckham.
This is actually a good move for Madrid for three reasons. First, Madrid already has the structure of a team, and the Beckham piece fits into the puzzle. He'll play right midfield next to Figo, at right wing, and Zidane in the center, who plays behind forwards Raul and Ronaldo. Madrid's starting eleven will look like this: Casillas; Salgado, Hierro, Helguera, Roberto Carlos; Figo, Beckham, Zidane, Makelele; Ronaldo, Raul. They'd do well to replace Hierro, who is at the end of his career, but except for him, this team is hard to beat on paper. Salgado could be upgraded, but he's OK, not a problem, he's on the national squad. If you were looking for somebody to buy and you were Madrid, though, he'd be the first guy you'd replace after Hierro.
Second, Madrid has the money to spend. They've got the big bucks, and they've got a plan set up in which they buy one superstar at his peak every year. You can get away with this if you have big, big money, and a successful squad to build on.
Third, Beckham will help Madrid's marketing and merchandising business a great deal, and Madrid is allowed the luxury of hiring players who will bring money in to the club from off the field. Barcelona does not have that luxury; it needs to put together a winning team before it worries about T-shirt sales.
Oh, and fourth, 25 million euros is a hell of a good deal for Beckham if you figure he's 29 and you'll get about two or three more good years out of him. Compare this with some of the prices from the last few years for big stars and with some of the prices being thrown around for guys that the Barça is interested in:
12.5 million for Chivu, Ajax Amsterdam's central defender. That's pricey for a defenseman, and he'd also use up one of your four "extracommunitarian" spots because he's Romanian. He's only 22, though. And Barcelona needs someone who can play defense.
16 million for Kezman, PSV Eindhoven's center-forward. I thought we already had Kluivert and Saviola. Of course, I wouldn't mind getting rid of Kluivert and Saviola. Another extracommunitarian--he's Yugoslav. And he's 24, so you could get five or six years from him. But two-thirds of Beckham's price?
15 million for Makaay, Deportivo's center-forward. OK, if we're getting rid of Kluivert and Saviola. He's proven he can play well in the Spanish league. But he's 29 and right at his peak. I don't like spending big money for guys over about 26.
15 million for Deco, Oporto's center midfielder. We already have eighteen of those guys. Only if you're going to get rid of Xavi and Gerard or Cocu. He's 24, a good age to buy a player.
Other players in the rumor mill are Ronaldinho from Paris-St. Germain (I bet he costs more than 20 million) and M?rquez and Luisao from Monaco.
Barcelona has already signed Rustu, one of those many anonymous goalies with some experience out there, just like Dutruel and Enke and Hesp and Bonano and all the other goalies they've gone through over the last few years.
Now, supposedly, Laporta has 50 million with which to sign "two cracks (i.e. superstars) and three good players." Right. Let's look at who you have. De Boer and Cocu's contracts run out and I would not re-sign either of them. The club wants to negotiate with Kluivert to reduce his salary. I just bet he don't go along with that. So sell him. He's a good player, but he's earning superstar money and he's not playing like one. Sor?n and Mendieta have been "rented" from the clubs who own them; I would buy Sorin and send Mendieta home. Alfonso and Geovanni are now being "rented out"; I'd get rid of both for whatever I could get for them. They want to get rid of Riquelme and wouldn't mind unloading Rochemback. This leaves next year's team looking something like this: Rustu or Valdes, Gabri, Puyol, Navarro, Sorin; Motta, Xavi, Gerard, Overmars; Kluivert and Saviola. Ouch. That team sucks. You need two central defenders, two wingmen, one on each side, and two forwards.
They ought to think about buying a few Spanish players: maybe Atletico's Garcia Calvo, maybe Munitis from Racing, Joaquin from Betis for sure, Morientes if he comes cheap, Luque or Tristan from Deportivo, De Pedro from Real Sociedad--Joaquin on the right and De Pedro on the left would be a damn good pair of wingmen--maybe Baraja or Vicente from Valencia.
So how about this squad: Valdes; Puyol, Chivu, Garcia Calvo, Sorin; Joaquin, Xavi, Gerard, De Pedro; Ronaldinho and Kezman. With Laporta's 50 million and the, say, 25 million you'd get in a fire sale of Kluivert, Saviola, Riquelme, Rochemback, Alfonso, Geovanni, and Overmars, that ought to be doable.
They have decided on a coach: Guus Hiddink, who just won the Dutch league with PSV Eindhoven and was South Korea's coach in the 2002 World Cup. He has also coached Valencia, Real Madrid, and Betis. Not a bad choice, though I didn't know we were willing to accept Real Madrid's sloppy seconds.
Wrong. The deal that brought Beckham to Real Madrid was made in Sardinia last Friday and Beckham gave his approval yesterday. Madrid will pay Man U 25 million euros. The Vangua's story does not say how much Madrid will pay Beckham.
This is actually a good move for Madrid for three reasons. First, Madrid already has the structure of a team, and the Beckham piece fits into the puzzle. He'll play right midfield next to Figo, at right wing, and Zidane in the center, who plays behind forwards Raul and Ronaldo. Madrid's starting eleven will look like this: Casillas; Salgado, Hierro, Helguera, Roberto Carlos; Figo, Beckham, Zidane, Makelele; Ronaldo, Raul. They'd do well to replace Hierro, who is at the end of his career, but except for him, this team is hard to beat on paper. Salgado could be upgraded, but he's OK, not a problem, he's on the national squad. If you were looking for somebody to buy and you were Madrid, though, he'd be the first guy you'd replace after Hierro.
Second, Madrid has the money to spend. They've got the big bucks, and they've got a plan set up in which they buy one superstar at his peak every year. You can get away with this if you have big, big money, and a successful squad to build on.
Third, Beckham will help Madrid's marketing and merchandising business a great deal, and Madrid is allowed the luxury of hiring players who will bring money in to the club from off the field. Barcelona does not have that luxury; it needs to put together a winning team before it worries about T-shirt sales.
Oh, and fourth, 25 million euros is a hell of a good deal for Beckham if you figure he's 29 and you'll get about two or three more good years out of him. Compare this with some of the prices from the last few years for big stars and with some of the prices being thrown around for guys that the Barça is interested in:
12.5 million for Chivu, Ajax Amsterdam's central defender. That's pricey for a defenseman, and he'd also use up one of your four "extracommunitarian" spots because he's Romanian. He's only 22, though. And Barcelona needs someone who can play defense.
16 million for Kezman, PSV Eindhoven's center-forward. I thought we already had Kluivert and Saviola. Of course, I wouldn't mind getting rid of Kluivert and Saviola. Another extracommunitarian--he's Yugoslav. And he's 24, so you could get five or six years from him. But two-thirds of Beckham's price?
15 million for Makaay, Deportivo's center-forward. OK, if we're getting rid of Kluivert and Saviola. He's proven he can play well in the Spanish league. But he's 29 and right at his peak. I don't like spending big money for guys over about 26.
15 million for Deco, Oporto's center midfielder. We already have eighteen of those guys. Only if you're going to get rid of Xavi and Gerard or Cocu. He's 24, a good age to buy a player.
Other players in the rumor mill are Ronaldinho from Paris-St. Germain (I bet he costs more than 20 million) and M?rquez and Luisao from Monaco.
Barcelona has already signed Rustu, one of those many anonymous goalies with some experience out there, just like Dutruel and Enke and Hesp and Bonano and all the other goalies they've gone through over the last few years.
Now, supposedly, Laporta has 50 million with which to sign "two cracks (i.e. superstars) and three good players." Right. Let's look at who you have. De Boer and Cocu's contracts run out and I would not re-sign either of them. The club wants to negotiate with Kluivert to reduce his salary. I just bet he don't go along with that. So sell him. He's a good player, but he's earning superstar money and he's not playing like one. Sor?n and Mendieta have been "rented" from the clubs who own them; I would buy Sorin and send Mendieta home. Alfonso and Geovanni are now being "rented out"; I'd get rid of both for whatever I could get for them. They want to get rid of Riquelme and wouldn't mind unloading Rochemback. This leaves next year's team looking something like this: Rustu or Valdes, Gabri, Puyol, Navarro, Sorin; Motta, Xavi, Gerard, Overmars; Kluivert and Saviola. Ouch. That team sucks. You need two central defenders, two wingmen, one on each side, and two forwards.
They ought to think about buying a few Spanish players: maybe Atletico's Garcia Calvo, maybe Munitis from Racing, Joaquin from Betis for sure, Morientes if he comes cheap, Luque or Tristan from Deportivo, De Pedro from Real Sociedad--Joaquin on the right and De Pedro on the left would be a damn good pair of wingmen--maybe Baraja or Vicente from Valencia.
So how about this squad: Valdes; Puyol, Chivu, Garcia Calvo, Sorin; Joaquin, Xavi, Gerard, De Pedro; Ronaldinho and Kezman. With Laporta's 50 million and the, say, 25 million you'd get in a fire sale of Kluivert, Saviola, Riquelme, Rochemback, Alfonso, Geovanni, and Overmars, that ought to be doable.
They have decided on a coach: Guus Hiddink, who just won the Dutch league with PSV Eindhoven and was South Korea's coach in the 2002 World Cup. He has also coached Valencia, Real Madrid, and Betis. Not a bad choice, though I didn't know we were willing to accept Real Madrid's sloppy seconds.
Here's Dinesh D'Souza in Front Page on reparations and why they're not only a bad idea, but unjust. And check out this piece that Mickey Kaus linked to on the Council of Europe's proposal that might force us bloggers to give equal time to those we criticize. Now, that's not prior-restraint censorship, but if they actually begin enforcing this rule, I quit. I have no desire to provide a forum in which the SocioCommunists get half the space to express their ideas. Let them start their own blogs and get into the marketplace of ideas on their own merits.
Oh, well, if this dumb thing actually goes through, which it won't, we'll be able to make El Pais give us tons of space to spout off our points of view.
Here's Victorino Matus from the Weekly Standard on the most recent European conference at Lake Como. I hope he's right and that the Western Alliance will be able to patch up its wounds, and it suffered plenty. The Americans will not forgive the French for a good little while; they feel truly betrayed over the French threat of a Security Council veto. The Yanks would not have objected in the least to an abstention mixed with some anti-Bush rhetoric, but the threatened veto is not seen as the action of a friend who disagrees with you; it is seen as the action of an enemy.
Still, though, it's about time to get our relations back on track. I vote we don't do the French--or the Germans or the Belgians--any favors over the next few years, but that we don't become their open enemy either, and that we don't do anything petty and childish in seeking revenge. We should treat them fairly and politely but without warmth. It'll take a while to wake up those friendly feelings again, but it can be done, and that is much more important than the temporary fun we've been having bashing the French. Not that they didn't deserve it.
Oh, just a comment. There have been several short articles in the Vangua about the "xenophobic anti-French campaign" in the United States, based apparently on decreased sales of French wine and the wave of French jokes that swept the US this spring. Jeez. They dis us all the time, right and left, over nothing. It is absolutely impossible to pick up a newspaper in continental Europe that doesn't contain an anti-American slur somewhere; if nowhere else, the TV section will insult most of the movies on that night. But we tell a few jokes like the French rifle advertised for sale--never fired, only dropped once; that's the one that seems to make them the maddest--and there's a xenophobic campaign going. Jeez.
Oh, well, if this dumb thing actually goes through, which it won't, we'll be able to make El Pais give us tons of space to spout off our points of view.
Here's Victorino Matus from the Weekly Standard on the most recent European conference at Lake Como. I hope he's right and that the Western Alliance will be able to patch up its wounds, and it suffered plenty. The Americans will not forgive the French for a good little while; they feel truly betrayed over the French threat of a Security Council veto. The Yanks would not have objected in the least to an abstention mixed with some anti-Bush rhetoric, but the threatened veto is not seen as the action of a friend who disagrees with you; it is seen as the action of an enemy.
Still, though, it's about time to get our relations back on track. I vote we don't do the French--or the Germans or the Belgians--any favors over the next few years, but that we don't become their open enemy either, and that we don't do anything petty and childish in seeking revenge. We should treat them fairly and politely but without warmth. It'll take a while to wake up those friendly feelings again, but it can be done, and that is much more important than the temporary fun we've been having bashing the French. Not that they didn't deserve it.
Oh, just a comment. There have been several short articles in the Vangua about the "xenophobic anti-French campaign" in the United States, based apparently on decreased sales of French wine and the wave of French jokes that swept the US this spring. Jeez. They dis us all the time, right and left, over nothing. It is absolutely impossible to pick up a newspaper in continental Europe that doesn't contain an anti-American slur somewhere; if nowhere else, the TV section will insult most of the movies on that night. But we tell a few jokes like the French rifle advertised for sale--never fired, only dropped once; that's the one that seems to make them the maddest--and there's a xenophobic campaign going. Jeez.
Monday, June 16, 2003
Here's the BBC's take on the FC Barcelona presidential elections and on the "possible signing" of David Beckham, which the Barcelona sports papers are reporting as nearly a done deal while the British press is saying no way he's coming to Barcelona. If I were Beckham I wouldn't come anywhere near a team that won't be back in the Champions' League anytime soon, and if I were the Barça I wouldn't try to sign him anyway since he's a player at his peak with only one direction to travel in his career--downhill. Players at their peak are at their highest price based on their past accomplishments--and they have one or two more good seasons left in them before they're clearly in the decline stage. You don't buy a player at his peak because he's already accomplished most of what he's going to. You don't buy seventeen-year-old kids, either. You buy players between 21 and 23 or so. These guys have already established that they're developing players--they're not just phenoms, but they're still cheap because they haven't accomplished much yet. They may not turn out to be great but they'll be at least competent.
Murph says that I might be right footballistically, but that the whole deal with signing Beckham is the publicity and the marketing. I say that the best publicity and marketing policy is having a winning team and that Becks is not the way to go to build a winner.
Also, who's going to be the coach?
Speculation by Murph: Joan Laporta will have the shortest honeymoon as president in history, since Real Madrid will almost certainly sign Beckham sometime this summer. "The squeals of delight from Laporta's pijo backers will turn to howls of rage when Becks puts on the white shirt, and he will be lame-ducked," says Iberian Notes' Official Inside Football and Political Ideology Prognosticator.
Murph says that I might be right footballistically, but that the whole deal with signing Beckham is the publicity and the marketing. I say that the best publicity and marketing policy is having a winning team and that Becks is not the way to go to build a winner.
Also, who's going to be the coach?
Speculation by Murph: Joan Laporta will have the shortest honeymoon as president in history, since Real Madrid will almost certainly sign Beckham sometime this summer. "The squeals of delight from Laporta's pijo backers will turn to howls of rage when Becks puts on the white shirt, and he will be lame-ducked," says Iberian Notes' Official Inside Football and Political Ideology Prognosticator.
First Axiom of Sustainable Forum-thought, according to Our Dear Leader:
This phenomenon is formulated thus: "The internalization of the consequences in time and space is the basis of sustainability". Restated in practice, this means that everyone has to learn to "eat dirt".
From a speech by Mayor Joan Clos of Barcelona, November 2002, linked to below.
This phenomenon is formulated thus: "The internalization of the consequences in time and space is the basis of sustainability". Restated in practice, this means that everyone has to learn to "eat dirt".
From a speech by Mayor Joan Clos of Barcelona, November 2002, linked to below.
Just a Year to Go--Forum 2004
We preview Barcelona life in the immediate future
by Alan Murphy and John Chappell
“ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE”
OFFICIAL FORUM-2004-THOUGHT COMPLIANCE DIRECTIVE #4032
All Barcelonans will be obliged to appear naked at the Diagonal Mar Fine Arts and Sustainable Urbanism Peace Camp at 6.25 AM tomorrow for the inauguration of the “International Workshop on Gender-neutral Encounter on Clothes-Optional Peace and Arts Sustainable Governability Project for Solidarity”. Organic pita bread and garlic-lentil casserole will be served for breakfast. All citizens must bring their pita-bread ration card, from which two Forum Solidarity Points will be subtracted.
Those with “NO TO WAR” already tattooed on their left buttock cheek will be exempted from the Semiotic-Workshop on Body Messaging this evening. Those who have not yet fulfilled their solidarious commitment will have the message tattooed this evening. All citizens with surnames A-M will report to the Rigoberta Menchu Tattooage and Ethical Body-Piercing Commissariat at the site of the Lenin Barracks in Plaza Espanya by 22.00. Those with surnames N-Z will report to The Jose Saramago Forumization and High-Colonic Enema Institute, at the Port Olympic, also before 22.00.
Failure to comply will result in obligatory attendance at the Sustainability of Solidarian Forum-Thought, to be held at the Manresa Rock Quarry from August 1-31 2004.
As you all know, our right buttocks are being reserved for the “ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE” message to be inscribed there for the gala Closing Ceremony. Expect another directive on this during September.
Yours in solidarity,
OUR DEAR LEADER, JOAN CLOS
COMMISSAR FOR SOLIDARITY COMPLIANCE, INMA MAYOL
Announcement published in LA VANGUARDIA and other newspapers on May 16th 2004.
For further information click here for Our Dear Leader's 2001 speech on Forum-Thought.
Click here for the Ur-vision of the Forum by Our Dear Leader in December 2002.
We preview Barcelona life in the immediate future
by Alan Murphy and John Chappell
“ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE”
OFFICIAL FORUM-2004-THOUGHT COMPLIANCE DIRECTIVE #4032
All Barcelonans will be obliged to appear naked at the Diagonal Mar Fine Arts and Sustainable Urbanism Peace Camp at 6.25 AM tomorrow for the inauguration of the “International Workshop on Gender-neutral Encounter on Clothes-Optional Peace and Arts Sustainable Governability Project for Solidarity”. Organic pita bread and garlic-lentil casserole will be served for breakfast. All citizens must bring their pita-bread ration card, from which two Forum Solidarity Points will be subtracted.
Those with “NO TO WAR” already tattooed on their left buttock cheek will be exempted from the Semiotic-Workshop on Body Messaging this evening. Those who have not yet fulfilled their solidarious commitment will have the message tattooed this evening. All citizens with surnames A-M will report to the Rigoberta Menchu Tattooage and Ethical Body-Piercing Commissariat at the site of the Lenin Barracks in Plaza Espanya by 22.00. Those with surnames N-Z will report to The Jose Saramago Forumization and High-Colonic Enema Institute, at the Port Olympic, also before 22.00.
Failure to comply will result in obligatory attendance at the Sustainability of Solidarian Forum-Thought, to be held at the Manresa Rock Quarry from August 1-31 2004.
As you all know, our right buttocks are being reserved for the “ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE” message to be inscribed there for the gala Closing Ceremony. Expect another directive on this during September.
Yours in solidarity,
OUR DEAR LEADER, JOAN CLOS
COMMISSAR FOR SOLIDARITY COMPLIANCE, INMA MAYOL
Announcement published in LA VANGUARDIA and other newspapers on May 16th 2004.
For further information click here for Our Dear Leader's 2001 speech on Forum-Thought.
Click here for the Ur-vision of the Forum by Our Dear Leader in December 2002.
Sunday, June 15, 2003
David Skinner revisits his piece about the Toni Morrison PSAT question; of course, we were right. The sentence as it stands is grammatically correct. Also, it's patronizing to black people and just plain false, which was Skinner's main point. But it's not ungrammatical. We also point out to Skinner that we, at least, understood his point, as is demonstrated in our previous comment on this.
Damn, it's hot here in Barcelona, well over ninety F. This is unusual. Barcelona summer weather is normally low or mid-eighties by day, high sixties at night. I went down to the roast chicken stand to get Remei and the cats their Sunday chicken, and I thought I was going to die in there, what with the chicken roaster being on full blast. You know what's gross? People bring glass jars to the chicken guy and he fills them up with the chicken juice that's dripped to the bottom of the roaster. Ick.
It's normally pretty tolerable without air-conditioning, which we, along with most people, don't have. It's becoming much more popular these days, though, since affordable A/C units that actually work and can cool a whole apartment are on the market at less than a grand.
My strategy: Ventilation first. In Barcelona it's important that your apartment be oriented toward the sea; you get the breeze off the Mediterranean and sun in the morning. Our place, of course, fulfills that criterion--we're picky about this when finding a place to live.
Then, when at home, relax and take it easy while wearing as little 100% cotton clothing as possible. Are you overheated now? Is your T-shirt one of those 50-50 cotton/polyester things? There might be a connection. Take it off, just to be on the safe side.
Also, get a tall glass. Fill with ice cubes. Add 1/3 cheap rosé wine, 1/3 orange juice, and 1/3 Fanta lemon or 7-up. Take in moderation as needed.
It's fruit season here--I swear I've been eating a pound a day of apricots and cherries, which are at the peak of their season. Strawberries are now in decline but still available. They have these little yellow plums here which aren't much bigger than cherries--those are good.
Now it comes out. Remember the big nude-o photo shoot some joker set up on Montjuic a few days ago? Turns out our city government paid 100,000 euros to this joker Spencer Tunick to get everybody naked and pose them so he could photograph it. All in the Holy Name of Art, of course.
The circus in the Madrid region continues. The PP is calling for new elections. The Socialists are yelling that it's not fair and are accusing everyone of being corrupt. Everyone is pointing out to the Socialists that you can't charge corruption with no evidence, which as of now they don't have any of. The PSOE doesn't want to go to the polls again because they'd get creamed after this most recent enormous political gaffe. They have lost and they have lost badly. Even if they eventually wind up getting to keep the Madrid regional presidency, they are the laughingstocks of the country.
Every time Esperanza Aguirre, the PP candidate, comes on TV, she can barely restrain herself from cracking up. The irony is intense, since the Socialists have always demagogically smeared Aguirre as being stupid--supposedly when Saramago (Jose) won the Nobel Lit prize, she asked "Who is this woman Sara Mago?", which I don't believe because it's far too obviously an urban legend--and Esperanza the Supposedly Stupid is smiling like the cat that swallowed the canary while Zap is really quickly trying to make everyone forget that it was the "traitors' " votes that got him elected as boss of the Socialists.
The other thing is the Socialists did, in the early '90s, exactly the same thing as the PP is being accused of wanting to do now, in the so-called "caso Piñiero". The PP had won by a narrow margin in the Madrid region and two PP representatives turned coat and went over to the PSOE, giving them the presidency. Now the PSOE is accusing the PP of doing exactly what they did--benefitting from the votes of turncoats.
By the way, "to turn coat" in Spanish is "cambiar de chaqueta". I wonder which of the two languages the calque originates in, or whether we both got it from the French. Stands to reason the French would be the ones to invent that particular expression.
It's normally pretty tolerable without air-conditioning, which we, along with most people, don't have. It's becoming much more popular these days, though, since affordable A/C units that actually work and can cool a whole apartment are on the market at less than a grand.
My strategy: Ventilation first. In Barcelona it's important that your apartment be oriented toward the sea; you get the breeze off the Mediterranean and sun in the morning. Our place, of course, fulfills that criterion--we're picky about this when finding a place to live.
Then, when at home, relax and take it easy while wearing as little 100% cotton clothing as possible. Are you overheated now? Is your T-shirt one of those 50-50 cotton/polyester things? There might be a connection. Take it off, just to be on the safe side.
Also, get a tall glass. Fill with ice cubes. Add 1/3 cheap rosé wine, 1/3 orange juice, and 1/3 Fanta lemon or 7-up. Take in moderation as needed.
It's fruit season here--I swear I've been eating a pound a day of apricots and cherries, which are at the peak of their season. Strawberries are now in decline but still available. They have these little yellow plums here which aren't much bigger than cherries--those are good.
Now it comes out. Remember the big nude-o photo shoot some joker set up on Montjuic a few days ago? Turns out our city government paid 100,000 euros to this joker Spencer Tunick to get everybody naked and pose them so he could photograph it. All in the Holy Name of Art, of course.
The circus in the Madrid region continues. The PP is calling for new elections. The Socialists are yelling that it's not fair and are accusing everyone of being corrupt. Everyone is pointing out to the Socialists that you can't charge corruption with no evidence, which as of now they don't have any of. The PSOE doesn't want to go to the polls again because they'd get creamed after this most recent enormous political gaffe. They have lost and they have lost badly. Even if they eventually wind up getting to keep the Madrid regional presidency, they are the laughingstocks of the country.
Every time Esperanza Aguirre, the PP candidate, comes on TV, she can barely restrain herself from cracking up. The irony is intense, since the Socialists have always demagogically smeared Aguirre as being stupid--supposedly when Saramago (Jose) won the Nobel Lit prize, she asked "Who is this woman Sara Mago?", which I don't believe because it's far too obviously an urban legend--and Esperanza the Supposedly Stupid is smiling like the cat that swallowed the canary while Zap is really quickly trying to make everyone forget that it was the "traitors' " votes that got him elected as boss of the Socialists.
The other thing is the Socialists did, in the early '90s, exactly the same thing as the PP is being accused of wanting to do now, in the so-called "caso Piñiero". The PP had won by a narrow margin in the Madrid region and two PP representatives turned coat and went over to the PSOE, giving them the presidency. Now the PSOE is accusing the PP of doing exactly what they did--benefitting from the votes of turncoats.
By the way, "to turn coat" in Spanish is "cambiar de chaqueta". I wonder which of the two languages the calque originates in, or whether we both got it from the French. Stands to reason the French would be the ones to invent that particular expression.
Saturday, June 14, 2003
A couple of Kansas City natives are big news in the Vanguardia today. Tom Watson, who won five British Opens, had a terrific first round at the US Open and is still one of the leaders--he won't win, of course, but it was nice to see him have such a good first round. The Vangua seems to appreciate him and gave him a nice big sports feature story and a photo.
I have actually met Tom Watson. In the summer of 1984 I worked as one of those awful people who waylay you in the mall--in this case Metcalf South in Overland Park--and ask you if you want to help with a market research survey. I was sent out to get men 25 to 49 or whatever for a soft drink taste test study, which I am positive was part of the introduction of New Coke. I saw this gentleman walking through the mall, not knowing who he was. Seemed like a nice fellow, well-dressed and all--I never stopped people who looked grumpy or in a big hurry, even though I was supposed to. I stopped him and asked him to participate and he said sure and I brought him back to the testing center, where I was immediately informed that I had somehow snagged Tom Watson, the famous golfer. Mr. Watson was very kind and shook hands all around and was surveyed, and then we turned him loose.
The thing is he didn't have to do that. He went out of his way to help out a kid making a minimum wage job--or was too nice to say "Go away and don't bother me," whatever--, and the kid didn't even know who he was. So I always root for Tom Watson.
There's also a back-page interview with Pat Metheny, who is in town. Metheny is one of those guys whose talent and creativity you have to respect, but whose music I'm not particularly interested in. I know Metheny and his brother, Mike, have done a lot for the Kansas City jazz scene, but he sure sounds like a jerk--and a schizophrenic--in this excerpt from the interview:
Q. Would you play for Bush?
A. No! No way! No.
Q. They say music soothes the savage beast.
A. Yes, but the beast has to have a certain sensitivity. And in this case, seriously, I don't think there's any sensitivity there. There is nothing that makes me think that Bush has the most remote appreciation of beauty.
Q. Is silence better?
A: I've never experienced it. We live in a world where silence does not exist. I always hear things.
I know it's "the savage breast", but the misquotation has made it over to Spanish and is now an accepted saying.
Now here's one for Andrew Sullivan's Sontag Award. It's Paul Auster, who is very popular here among our local Illustrated and Enlightened--a good rule of thumb regarding fiction is if the Barcelona critics like it, it's probably a bunch of pretentious crap. Anyway, he's in town for a month because the Catalan regional government has named his wife the Invited Author of 2003 with our tax money, and the Vangua gives him space for some cogent political analysis here.
Auster explained yesterday how the Bush Administration irritates him, just the same as the New Yorkers, "who are much more liberal than the rest of the country", t the point where some are already asking for independence. "A poetry magazine ran this headline on its last front cover: "USA OUT OF NYC". To the writer, "The Bush Administration is the extreme right, not even conservative. It's obvious what they're trying to do: destroy the (state?) governments, drive them to bankruptcy, so that they'll be unable to help anybody. Everything will be privatized except the armed forces. Bush is the devil, evil. He brings disaster. We had no right to invade Iraq. With "preventive war" we can invade any country in the world, because we're always threatened by something. Bush wasn't elected, he lost the elections and there was a legal coup d'etat."
Auster, by the way, shows his philistinism regarding Spanish culture when he states he is going to Madrid to meet Pedro Almódovar and then to Granada to see Lorca's house. Oh, jeez, has any American ever heard of any Spanish writers except García Lorca, who is massively overrated and is still known--not read by anyone but Spanish lit majors, though--today largely because of the manner of his death? Trust me, people, forget all that crap about how Lorca reaches down into the soul of Spain and puts the depth of sensitivity of the pueblo de España into words on the printed page. Spare me that "Verde que te quiero verde" stuff. And I personally wouldn't bother crossing the street to talk to Almódovar. We'd have nothing to say to one another. He would hate me and I probably wouldn't like him.
I have actually met Tom Watson. In the summer of 1984 I worked as one of those awful people who waylay you in the mall--in this case Metcalf South in Overland Park--and ask you if you want to help with a market research survey. I was sent out to get men 25 to 49 or whatever for a soft drink taste test study, which I am positive was part of the introduction of New Coke. I saw this gentleman walking through the mall, not knowing who he was. Seemed like a nice fellow, well-dressed and all--I never stopped people who looked grumpy or in a big hurry, even though I was supposed to. I stopped him and asked him to participate and he said sure and I brought him back to the testing center, where I was immediately informed that I had somehow snagged Tom Watson, the famous golfer. Mr. Watson was very kind and shook hands all around and was surveyed, and then we turned him loose.
The thing is he didn't have to do that. He went out of his way to help out a kid making a minimum wage job--or was too nice to say "Go away and don't bother me," whatever--, and the kid didn't even know who he was. So I always root for Tom Watson.
There's also a back-page interview with Pat Metheny, who is in town. Metheny is one of those guys whose talent and creativity you have to respect, but whose music I'm not particularly interested in. I know Metheny and his brother, Mike, have done a lot for the Kansas City jazz scene, but he sure sounds like a jerk--and a schizophrenic--in this excerpt from the interview:
Q. Would you play for Bush?
A. No! No way! No.
Q. They say music soothes the savage beast.
A. Yes, but the beast has to have a certain sensitivity. And in this case, seriously, I don't think there's any sensitivity there. There is nothing that makes me think that Bush has the most remote appreciation of beauty.
Q. Is silence better?
A: I've never experienced it. We live in a world where silence does not exist. I always hear things.
I know it's "the savage breast", but the misquotation has made it over to Spanish and is now an accepted saying.
Now here's one for Andrew Sullivan's Sontag Award. It's Paul Auster, who is very popular here among our local Illustrated and Enlightened--a good rule of thumb regarding fiction is if the Barcelona critics like it, it's probably a bunch of pretentious crap. Anyway, he's in town for a month because the Catalan regional government has named his wife the Invited Author of 2003 with our tax money, and the Vangua gives him space for some cogent political analysis here.
Auster explained yesterday how the Bush Administration irritates him, just the same as the New Yorkers, "who are much more liberal than the rest of the country", t the point where some are already asking for independence. "A poetry magazine ran this headline on its last front cover: "USA OUT OF NYC". To the writer, "The Bush Administration is the extreme right, not even conservative. It's obvious what they're trying to do: destroy the (state?) governments, drive them to bankruptcy, so that they'll be unable to help anybody. Everything will be privatized except the armed forces. Bush is the devil, evil. He brings disaster. We had no right to invade Iraq. With "preventive war" we can invade any country in the world, because we're always threatened by something. Bush wasn't elected, he lost the elections and there was a legal coup d'etat."
Auster, by the way, shows his philistinism regarding Spanish culture when he states he is going to Madrid to meet Pedro Almódovar and then to Granada to see Lorca's house. Oh, jeez, has any American ever heard of any Spanish writers except García Lorca, who is massively overrated and is still known--not read by anyone but Spanish lit majors, though--today largely because of the manner of his death? Trust me, people, forget all that crap about how Lorca reaches down into the soul of Spain and puts the depth of sensitivity of the pueblo de España into words on the printed page. Spare me that "Verde que te quiero verde" stuff. And I personally wouldn't bother crossing the street to talk to Almódovar. We'd have nothing to say to one another. He would hate me and I probably wouldn't like him.
Thursday, June 12, 2003
Here's Roger Kimball taking apart the press and the frenzy over the "looting" of the Iraqi national museum.
Here's some lovely invective from loudmouth Ann Coulter:
According to an ABC poll, 48 percent of Americans have an unfavorable impression of Hillary, 53 percent of Americans don't want Hillary to ever run for president, and 7 percent of Americans have been date-raped by Bill Clinton.
And if this open letter from Dick Morris to Hillary is the truth, Bill Clinton is guilty of assault and battery along with probably over a thousand other felonies. You know, I just don't see Eisenhower beating up on one of his political advisors. Ignoring or scorning, maybe. Tackling and trying to punch, no.
According to an ABC poll, 48 percent of Americans have an unfavorable impression of Hillary, 53 percent of Americans don't want Hillary to ever run for president, and 7 percent of Americans have been date-raped by Bill Clinton.
And if this open letter from Dick Morris to Hillary is the truth, Bill Clinton is guilty of assault and battery along with probably over a thousand other felonies. You know, I just don't see Eisenhower beating up on one of his political advisors. Ignoring or scorning, maybe. Tackling and trying to punch, no.
The political circus in Madrid continues. It looks very much like the two defectors from the Socialist Party are going to throw the government of the Madrid region to the PP. There goes the Socialists' big electoral prize and boy, are they pitching a fit. Manuel Chaves, the Socialist party president, says that "economic and development interests that do not want the Socialists to govern in Madrid" are behind the two Socialist defectors. Gas, the Commies' leader, is accusing the PP of somehow being behind "a conspiracy to change and twist the majority will of the citizens of Madrid who decided that the left should govern." The PP is going to sue Gas for slander. Typical leftists; there's always a secret conspiracy of nefarious forces of evil thwarting them from making the world perfect for The Children.
The PP's response to the Socialist accusations of conspiracy is, says José María Aznar, "Solve your own problems." Adds Mariano Rajoy, "If you've got problems, don't blame them on everybody else." They say that the Socialists are the ones who put these two people on their electoral list and they are the ones who were unable to maintain their loyalty, so this whole circus is their own damn fault. Touché. Score one for Aznar and Rajoy.
The press is disgusted at this show of complete incompetence on the part of the Socialists and their striking out blindly in anger when they don't get what they wanted. There is near-complete unanimity, except in El País, the Socialist house organ, and the SER, the Socialist radio network, that the conspiracy and corruption accusations are unfounded. Says Alfredo Abián in the Vangua's page 2 signed editorial, "At this late stage in the game, the new PSOE is springing more leaks than the Prestige (the ship that sank off Galicia). And at the rate things are going, there are few doubts that we'll have the PP for a long time more." The Vangua's lead editorial on page 28 blasts Zap and Gas and their ilk, "(Saying this was) a maneuver by the PP to prevent the PSOE-IU coalition from governing in the Madrid region and not justifying it with accurate facts and evidence is no more than a simple insinuation that, for one thing, contributes to the poisoning of the political climate."
Enough of these clowns. They couldn't manage to catch the clap in Tijuana.
The sociologists strike again. The Soc department at the University of Barcelona, domain of Eulàlia "Chemical Lali" Solé (from now on Inma Mayol is "Anthrax Inma"), has a study out on homosexuality and adolescence. Now, this is a serious subject, and gay kids frequently do have psychological problems. I imagine that a lot of real work has been done on this subject and that it's something that is generally considered as significant among health and education professionals in the West. But is it true that in the US 30% of teenage suicides are caused by homosexuality-related traumas, as they say? I doubt it.
Check out these quotations from sociologist Ester Nolla, "We have to break with heterosexual language and neutralize heterosexuality as we did with sexism", and from sociologist Öscar Guasch, "The Spanish state practices a regime of apartheid, promoting a heterosexual lifestyle."
Oh, Lord. Look, people. Heterosexuality is the norm. 95% of human beings are heterosexual. Heterosexual behavior is necessary for the propagation of the species, which according to Charles Darwin is the goal of each living organism: to reproduce itself. Now, for some reason, 5% of people are not heterosexual. That's fine. As long as you're kind and honest and fair and considerate and love your neighbor, you're ace with me. I don't care what you do in bed or where you go to worship or what continent your ancestors came from. Hell, we're all originally from Africa anyway. But trying to deny that an enormous majority of people are heterosexual and that all societies consider heterosexuality as the norm is just plain nuts.
Something else about this so-called study that bugs me is that it is clearly activism masquerading as science. Its purpose was to "analyze the problems of discrimination and violence that affect non-adult gay or lesbian persons in Catalan society." That's begging the question. What the point of the study would be, if it were legitimate, would be "Do gay and lesbian adolescents face problems of discrimination or violence in Catalonia?", and my answer would probably be, "Yes, but don't a lot more people than gays and lesbians suffer from violence and discrimination in schools, especially at the hands of bullies? Isn't violence and discrimination against anyone a problem? And isn't the best way to stop it a hard line on discipline in the schools, punishing any student who uses any violence, verbal or physical, against anyone, and kicking out the ones who don't want to be there and just cause trouble? Let's look at the problem as a whole instead of focusing on only those victims who are homosexual, and let's crack down on those who are causing the problem."
Oops, that would, like, imply that actions have consequences and we wouldn't want to get into that. It would also imply that one has a limited number of chances to fuck up before one is officially labeled a fuckup, and that's not very inclusive, is it? These damn sociologists are the ones who caused all the goddamn problems in the schools anyway with their goofy dictates.
Note: The Vangua's photo shows some sociologists sitting around a table, on which is prominently displayed a book titled, "Paula tiene dos mamás." I'll bet you dollars to pesetas that it's the Spanish translation of that educational classic Heather Has Two Mommies.
The PP's response to the Socialist accusations of conspiracy is, says José María Aznar, "Solve your own problems." Adds Mariano Rajoy, "If you've got problems, don't blame them on everybody else." They say that the Socialists are the ones who put these two people on their electoral list and they are the ones who were unable to maintain their loyalty, so this whole circus is their own damn fault. Touché. Score one for Aznar and Rajoy.
The press is disgusted at this show of complete incompetence on the part of the Socialists and their striking out blindly in anger when they don't get what they wanted. There is near-complete unanimity, except in El País, the Socialist house organ, and the SER, the Socialist radio network, that the conspiracy and corruption accusations are unfounded. Says Alfredo Abián in the Vangua's page 2 signed editorial, "At this late stage in the game, the new PSOE is springing more leaks than the Prestige (the ship that sank off Galicia). And at the rate things are going, there are few doubts that we'll have the PP for a long time more." The Vangua's lead editorial on page 28 blasts Zap and Gas and their ilk, "(Saying this was) a maneuver by the PP to prevent the PSOE-IU coalition from governing in the Madrid region and not justifying it with accurate facts and evidence is no more than a simple insinuation that, for one thing, contributes to the poisoning of the political climate."
Enough of these clowns. They couldn't manage to catch the clap in Tijuana.
The sociologists strike again. The Soc department at the University of Barcelona, domain of Eulàlia "Chemical Lali" Solé (from now on Inma Mayol is "Anthrax Inma"), has a study out on homosexuality and adolescence. Now, this is a serious subject, and gay kids frequently do have psychological problems. I imagine that a lot of real work has been done on this subject and that it's something that is generally considered as significant among health and education professionals in the West. But is it true that in the US 30% of teenage suicides are caused by homosexuality-related traumas, as they say? I doubt it.
Check out these quotations from sociologist Ester Nolla, "We have to break with heterosexual language and neutralize heterosexuality as we did with sexism", and from sociologist Öscar Guasch, "The Spanish state practices a regime of apartheid, promoting a heterosexual lifestyle."
Oh, Lord. Look, people. Heterosexuality is the norm. 95% of human beings are heterosexual. Heterosexual behavior is necessary for the propagation of the species, which according to Charles Darwin is the goal of each living organism: to reproduce itself. Now, for some reason, 5% of people are not heterosexual. That's fine. As long as you're kind and honest and fair and considerate and love your neighbor, you're ace with me. I don't care what you do in bed or where you go to worship or what continent your ancestors came from. Hell, we're all originally from Africa anyway. But trying to deny that an enormous majority of people are heterosexual and that all societies consider heterosexuality as the norm is just plain nuts.
Something else about this so-called study that bugs me is that it is clearly activism masquerading as science. Its purpose was to "analyze the problems of discrimination and violence that affect non-adult gay or lesbian persons in Catalan society." That's begging the question. What the point of the study would be, if it were legitimate, would be "Do gay and lesbian adolescents face problems of discrimination or violence in Catalonia?", and my answer would probably be, "Yes, but don't a lot more people than gays and lesbians suffer from violence and discrimination in schools, especially at the hands of bullies? Isn't violence and discrimination against anyone a problem? And isn't the best way to stop it a hard line on discipline in the schools, punishing any student who uses any violence, verbal or physical, against anyone, and kicking out the ones who don't want to be there and just cause trouble? Let's look at the problem as a whole instead of focusing on only those victims who are homosexual, and let's crack down on those who are causing the problem."
Oops, that would, like, imply that actions have consequences and we wouldn't want to get into that. It would also imply that one has a limited number of chances to fuck up before one is officially labeled a fuckup, and that's not very inclusive, is it? These damn sociologists are the ones who caused all the goddamn problems in the schools anyway with their goofy dictates.
Note: The Vangua's photo shows some sociologists sitting around a table, on which is prominently displayed a book titled, "Paula tiene dos mamás." I'll bet you dollars to pesetas that it's the Spanish translation of that educational classic Heather Has Two Mommies.
Kitten Update: She can eat a whole 80-gram can of tuna within a couple of minutes. Now that we've cleaned her up and that her own efforts are taking effect, her white bits of fur are now actually white. She and Oscar have been spending their free time chasing one another and the Superball up and down the hallway. Bart is the only one of the established cats who is still furious. Keep those suggestions for names coming. Folks, this is a high-quality kitten we're talking here, not like this here loser. Hurry up before someone else adopts her; you don't want to miss out on having your own warm furry ball of fluff.
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
There's bad news today regarding two of Spain's biggest social problems, illegal immigration and domestic violence. Nine immigrants drowned when their raft sank off the Canary Isle of Fuerteventura, the island closest to the Moroccan coast. So far in 2003 ten rafts are known to have sunk, with 67 confirmed dead or missing and presumed dead. These statistics include 15 drowned off Fuerteventura in January and 12 drowned from a raft found between Tenerife and Grand Canary in February. Yet the Spanish media go wild when a truck full of illegal Mexicans get found dead somewhere in West Texas. The problem in both countries seems to be the same to me; more people want to come to Spain and the US than, at least some believe, either country can handle. As long as that attitude persists, there will be illegal immigration and some illegal immigrants will die, since illegal immigration is by definition dangerous and full of low criminals likely to take your money and dump you in the sea under the pretext of guiding you to the promised land. By the way, Iberian Notes strongly supports the execution of "coyotes" who abandon their "clients" to die. That's first-degree premeditated murder with the aggravating factors of extortion and breach of promise. Hang them. They're scum.
More than forty people have died in Spain this year as victims of domestic violence. Yesterday, in the crummy part of the Sant Andreu working-class area of Barcelona, a man beat his common-law wife to death with a hammer. The two were fiftyish alcoholics. They had met seven months ago and she invited him to live with her, since he had nowhere to go. The two argued and fought all the time, according to the neighbors, and threats of violence were heard several times by different witnesses. The cops spent a lot of time breaking up fights at their place. Once she locked him out and he took off all his clothes and pounded on her door until three in the morning (there's the pacifism and tranquility of nudism for you). She finally got a restraining order. Not much later he jumped her from behind when she opened the street door to her apartment building; he was waiting inside and clubbed her to death with a hammer. She had been out walking her dogs. The reporters point out that the dogs, found in a state of shock by the woman's body, immobile and trembling, were the only so-called irrational animals in this story. This, of course, is another case of premeditated murder with aggravating circumstances, including violating a restraining order and breaking and entering to get into her building. There's no insanity defense since he knew what he was doing and knew that it was wrong. Hang him. He's scum.
More than forty people have died in Spain this year as victims of domestic violence. Yesterday, in the crummy part of the Sant Andreu working-class area of Barcelona, a man beat his common-law wife to death with a hammer. The two were fiftyish alcoholics. They had met seven months ago and she invited him to live with her, since he had nowhere to go. The two argued and fought all the time, according to the neighbors, and threats of violence were heard several times by different witnesses. The cops spent a lot of time breaking up fights at their place. Once she locked him out and he took off all his clothes and pounded on her door until three in the morning (there's the pacifism and tranquility of nudism for you). She finally got a restraining order. Not much later he jumped her from behind when she opened the street door to her apartment building; he was waiting inside and clubbed her to death with a hammer. She had been out walking her dogs. The reporters point out that the dogs, found in a state of shock by the woman's body, immobile and trembling, were the only so-called irrational animals in this story. This, of course, is another case of premeditated murder with aggravating circumstances, including violating a restraining order and breaking and entering to get into her building. There's no insanity defense since he knew what he was doing and knew that it was wrong. Hang him. He's scum.
In the wake of the great nude "No to the war" assembly in the holy name of Art, Baltasar Porcel reminds us, in today's Vanguardia, that he danced nude on stage in the last, uh, act at the opening night of "Hair" in Paris in 1969. I do not want to see the photos, thank you.
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