My friend Franco Aleman at Barcepundit and Laurence Simon are involved in a minor dust-up regarding Ceuta and Melilla. These are two Spanish cities on the north coast of Morocco which have been Spanish territory for several hundred years, and their populations are Spanish--that is, they speak Spanish, have Spanish names, are Catholic, eat Spanish food, follow Spanish cultural customs, etc. The people of Ceuta and Melilla overwhelmingly want to stay part of Spain.

Democratically, it's clear that Ceuta and Melilla should stay Spanish, even though Morocco claims the cities and every now and then starts a minor diplomatic crisis. (Remember the Great Perejil Island War of 2002?)

Piece of history: Spain took over the northern strip of Moroccan territory in 1912 at the pre-WWI height of imperialism; France got the rest. When Morocco became independent again in 1956 and Spain gave up the northern strip, it kept Ceuta and Melilla, which it had held since time immemorial.

The most logical analogy, I think, is Gibraltar, which has been British territory for several hundred years and whose population overwhelmingly wants to stay part of Britain. Even though Spain claims the city and every now and then starts a minor diplomatic crisis, the will of the inhabitants should be supreme.

Another logical analogy is Hawaii, which was independent until American businessmen overthrew the native ruling dynasty in 1893; the US annexed the islands in 1898, at the pre-WWI height of imperialism. We just went in and took over, and made Hawaii a state in 1959.

Of course, nobody in Hawaii wants to be independent again except for a handful of wackjobs. Following the democratic rule of the desire of the great majority, Hawaii, just like Gibraltar and Ceuta and Melilla--and the Falklands, and Puerto Rico--should stay right where it is.

The Times has a rather fawning profile of Zap, but it does include a few basic facts on the man that you may not have known about. The piece makes the point that Zap has avoided screwing up the economy, for which we have to give him some credit. Things ain't perfect, but he has cut some corporate taxes and has generally avoided interfering too much in the business world. Spain's two chief economic concerns are the trade deficit and inflation, both of which are fueled by increased domestic demand, meaning that people have money to spend and things to spend it on, and neither of which is horribly bad.

The piece comes right out and calls Zap an "accidental prime minister," which he is, but it's not something the Spanish press ever says. There is a meme propagated by the illustrated and enlightened among us, a group which includes many hacks and flacks employed by Spain's media corporations, saying that the Spanish people voted against the PP because they were fed up with Aznar's policies. False. The Spanish people voted against the PP because the majority thought that Aznar's involvement in Iraq was responsible for the Madrid bombings, and preferred to cut and run. No bombings, no Zap as prime minister.

It appears that Zap has put his foot in it big-time with his statements on the Israeli-Hezbollah war and especially with his appearance wearing a kefiya or however it's spelled.

Even El Periodico says in the second paragraph of its lead international story:

Everything may have been a misunderstanding, but the three times Zapatero has spoken about the conflict in Lebanon he has given the impression that he condemned Israeli bellicism more severely than the European Union. He has consistently called for "the cease of hostilities" between both sides, but at first he said, "Israel is wrong, since one thing is self-defense and another thing launching a generalized attack on Lebanon." Then he demanded that Israel "respect human rights and international law," and finally he accused Israel of "using abusive force against innocent civilians." And, to top it off, on Wednesday he posed in Alicante with a kufika--the Palestinian scarf--around his neck."

The rumors going around are that Zap has consistently been very critical of Israel in private, to the point of near-obsession.

Israel, of course, is extremely angry, and the Israeli ambassador warned that "relations between Spain and Israel are not at a good moment." Translation: Zap, who would love to play peacemaker, will have a total of zero influence at any possible peace deal. Impotent and powerless. Zap's Alliance of Civilizations, an idiotic attempt to set up some sort of parallel UN, seems even more worthless every day.

Get this. Zap is so desperate to play some sort of international role that he and Turkish prime minister Erdogan have volunteered themselves, as co-sponsors of the Alliance of Civilizations, as mediators. They sent out a communique condemning "all forms of terrorism," warning that "we cannot accept bombs or missiles falling on the civil population," and "firmly censuring the disproportionate use of force." Yeah, that sounds real neutral and even-handed.

Spanish commentators like to say that Spain is particularly influential in the Islamic world because of historical connections, something that I do not believe in the least. And if they do have any influence, it hasn't done a damn bit of good.

By the way, Spain did not establish diplomatic relations with Israel until 1986.

La Vanguardia's anti-Semitic and anti-American cartoonist Toni Batllori has shown his true stripes again today with this hoary old argument.

The poorly-drawn (Batllori has no artistic ability) cartoon shows a man speaking to us. He says:

"Listen up, a question. Is opposing the Tripartite being anti-Catalan? Is opposing the PSOE government being anti-Spanish? Is opposing the Bush administration being anti-American? No, right? Well, criticizing the decisions of the Israeli government is not being anti-Semitic, OK?"

Wrong, Toni. Opposing ONE particular government or leader or policy is not racist. But opposing EVERYTHING a country does, as you do regarding Israel and the United States, most certainly is. And siding with a country's enemies, as you do regarding Israel and the United States, most certainly is. And intentionally ignoring a country's point of view, as you do regarding Israel and the United States, most certainly is. And attacking the individual citizens of a country, as you do regarding Israel and the United States, most certainly is.

Toni doesn't care who's in charge of the Israeli government; he automatically supports its enemies, no matter what, even if Israel is under attack. That is anti-Semitism in its most obvious form. Toni, I remember when you did a cartoon several years ago showing an Israeli soldier holding a gun on a Palestinian with the caption, "Now you be the Jew and I'll be the Nazi."

Disgusting.

Look what I found on a blog linked by Barcelona Indymedia: photographs of the demonstration in Plaza Sant Jaume this evening. You can see the Israel Estat Genocida sign. They're very proud of themselves. Makes me want to cry.

Other signs read "Israelis, you bastards, you're killers," "Bush, Blair, Olmert, genociders," a cartoon showing an American fist driving an Israeli dagger into a globe, which is labeled "World Peace," "Freedom Palestine and Lebanon, solidarity with the oppressed peoples," and more bollocks.

Here's another set of demonstration photos. The most offensive sign is in English; shouldn't be hard to read.

And check out this poster by Barcelona Indymedia calling on people to demonstrate. The text reads:

Call for solidarity
Let's stop state terrorism!
More than 100 dead civilians
More than 300 wounded
We call on you to demonstrate in front of the embassies of Israel, the United States, and also UN offices
Organize campouts, meetings, and protests
Demand the end of Israeli aggression!
The youth of Lebanon
Besiege them as they besiege us!

The Jew-haters had their demonstrations today in Madrid, Barcelona, and other Spanish cities. The largest, most visible sign at the Nuremcelona rally in the Plaza Sant Jaume, at least ten meters long by three high, read "Israel Estat Genocida"--that is, "Israel Genocidal State." And, get this, on the sign the letter S in Israel was replaced by a swastika.

I am speechless. About the only thing I can say is that only about four or five thousand people were there--that's all the plaza holds--and so the great majority of Barcelonese were not present. I apologize to the world for what some people in my city did today.

Zap and the Socialists have continued their disgraceful behavior toward Israel. The PSOE, along with the Communists and the two largest labor unions, CCOO and UGT, has called a demonstration for today at 7:30 PM in Madrid "as a rejection of the disproportionate Israeli military action in Lebanon and Gaza."

The demo will call for "an immediate cease of military action, since acts of war that question the legitimate aspirations and rights of the peoples that hope to live in peace and with dignity cannot be tolerated...There can never be a military solution to this conflict...With so many violations of international law, we are watching the unreason of a new violation of the Geneva Convention of the laws of war...The end of violence, obedience of international law, the lifting of collective punishments, and massive humanitarian aid for the peoples affected by this conflict." That is, they want to rub Israel's face in the mud and the US to pay for it.

Interestingly enough, PSOE gay activist Pedro Zerolo referred to "Bush, Blair, and Aznar's lies about Iraq" as justification for the demo, and called on PSOE minions to "struggle to defend the spirit of 'No to the War'." Of course, homosexuals are not persecuted in Israel, but they are hanged in Iran. Zerolo didn't mention that. Nor did he mention anything about terrorism or Hezbollah's bloody record.

Now, get this. Spanish Jewish leader Mauricio Hachuel became indignant at Zap's statements that Israel's attack was "disproportionate," and called it an "anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic statement."

Foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, in the presence of Israeli ambassador to Spain Victor Harel, had the gall to lecture Hachuel, saying, "I will not tolerate as a member of the Spanish socialist government your publicly calling the prime minister anti-Semitic...The serious error that Jewish representatives commit many times is confusing criticisms with attitudes against the Jewish people...Let this be the last time that you publicly denounce, condemn, and express yourself in such a way about the anti-Semitism of a government of Spain." Moratinos also brushed off Zap's appearance with a Palestinian scarf, calling it "unimportant."

What unmitigated gall. Moratinos is not fit to be dogcatcher.

Zap and the PSOE are behaving irresponsibly, immorally, and stupidly. They are unworthy of governing a serious country that plays a genuine role in the world, because this kind of childishness demonstrates that they are only fit to carry placards at demonstrations. If they had any real power, they would tragically misuse it. Fortunately, they are impotent.

Aimless thoughts while listening to Hayes Carll:

The Economist completely shreds Jacques Chiraq. Read this one if you read nothing else today.

La Vanguardia's Victor M. Amela makes a ridiculous comparison and throws in a little Jew-bashing for good measure:

Beirut is Barcelona. Tomas Alcoverro, our Barcelonese in Beirut, has always said so. And, today, after a week of bombing, more than ever: they are now bombing families like ours, mistreating them as they mistreated us here in 1938. The same as always. How many more plagues must the Lebanese suffer? Do the sons of Moses hope to destroy all the firstborn sons of Lebanon?

La Vangua also gives Beirut Bob Fisk a full page, again.

Sports update: La Vangua's top story, the big headline on the front page and everything, is about...FC Barcelona! Seems a judge ruled that club president Joan Laporta has to call new elections for the board of directors. I have no idea why the opposition within the club wants elections now, right after Barça won the double, when Laporta seems sure to be massively reelected to another term.

Meanwhile, rumor has it that Barça will sign Zambrotta and Thuram and Madrid will sign Cannavaro and Emerson, as players flee Juve and Milan.

Mini-blog roundup:

Guirilandia has a collection of videos of tourists shot by Spaniards in Spain. Very funny.

Barcepundit comments on Zap's disgraceful photo op wearing a Palestinian scarf.

Davids Medienkritik lays into Der Spiegel again, and includes a link to a great Josef Joffe article. (I've actually been following Joffe for years; he's the best German commentator I know of.)

Rainy Day attacks the vampirism of the Continental press. (Note: The sleazeball softcore porn magazine Interviu that published the photos of Princess Diana is owned by Grupo Zeta, the same company that puts out Ferreres's employer El Periodico.)

Expat Yank rewrites history Al-Jazira style.

In case you were wondering about Ted Nugent, Snopes has verified this foreign policy statement.

El Periodico's bag of shit editorial cartoonist Ferreres has exceeded himself in his hate for Israel and Jews. El Periodico is the top-selling newspaper in Catalonia with a circulation of more than 200,000, and this is what their readers seem to want.

Wednesday's cartoon is a new low.

The captions read: Hitler: "We had the right to defend ourselves, too." Mussolini: "Until they decided to take it away from us."

Makes me want to puke.

One of the Guardian's bloggers has a post on a story by El Mundo saying that one-third of Spaniards "still back Franco." The story actually says that 30% of Spaniards feel that the July 18 coup attempt "was justified." Half of PP voters agree, as do, surprisingly, 18% of PSOE voters, and, get this, 13% of Communist voters.

What you need to read is the extensive list of comments (scroll down on the Guardian's page). Not surprisingly, nearly all of them are anti-Franco, which is more than fair enough, but the number of comments idealizing the Second Republic shows that the leftists lost all the battles except that of propaganda. Also, I was shocked at the number of comments by English-speakers, some of whom say they live in Spain, that showed utter contempt for it. Check these out:

Spanish authorities act as if there is no law if they want. There are corruptions one after another. This is not yet a "so-called democratic conutry."

The hatred and obsessive intolerance exhibited by many Spaniards towards Catalonia and the Basque Country, and to anyone of even mildly progressive opinion is, I believe, unknown in Northern Europe.

Spain is a pathetic nation thanks to Franco's 40 years. Everything has to be thought out by others, nobody will accept responsibilty, shops still have only one person taking the money, you as a customer have no rights and so on.

...perhaps close to half of "Spaniards" look fondly on the "good old days" of slaughter via the Nazi and Fascist war machines. Probably not a country I would want to be part of...

The saddest thing about the Spanish is that they point blank cannot open their minds.

We leave for France next year, beaurocratic it may be but not totally corrupt like Spain. In many ways I will be sad to leave but can see that with the fattest and most unfit population in Europe it can only be a matter of time before their health system collapses along with everything else.

I can assure you that the Spanish have some way to go to match the tolerance of the Irish or the British.

...seeing a significant number of Spaniards' aggressive attitudes towards people of opposite criterium in lieu of simply trying to discuss the matter in a civil and mild mannered way is befitting of a manner typical of the intolerance shown to all those who refused to agree with the totalitarian principles of the victors of the SCW.

Spain, of course, is much more complex than any of these commenters seem to understand.

Personal comment: A few Spanish readers have accused me of being contemptuous of Spain in the past. I plead not guilty; I have constructively criticized (i.e. not just complained but suggested changes) many things about Spain over the last four years, but I've never said anything like these commenters.

Today is the 70th anniversary of the failed army coup that triggered the Spanish Civil War; though preliminary conflict began on the 17th, in Spain the 18th is considered the day the war began. There is currently a movement among elements of the Spanish left to "recover historical memory," a phrase that is repeated over and over. The problem is that the historical memory the left wants to recover is partial and one-sided.

Since I am American, I have no axe to grind in favor of either side in that disastrous war that killed half a million, the majority murdered behind the lines by both sides. (Spanish Civil War combat actually wasn't particularly bloody; something like 200,000 died in the fighting at the front, about 100,000 on each side, in nearly three years. Neither side was particularly well-armed, well-trained, or well-organized, though the Nationals were more so than the Republicans.)

There were no good guys in the Spanish Civil War, nothing resembling good guys on either side among the leaders. They were all a bunch of killers who wanted to exterminate the enemy. That is the historical memory that should be recovered. There were no heroes, just killers and victims, and many of the victims had been killers themselves.

La Vanguardia's lead editorial yesterday was sensible and moderate:

...The memory of the Republican and Catalanist victims is being taken advantage of in order to idealize the Republican side and lay down a moral lecture, not only on the past, but also on the present...It is not possible to establish, as it seems that the (Zapatero) administration is attempting on occasion, a canonical and institutional vision of the war without falling into false idealism and Manicheanism...The attempt to reintroduce into today's politics the supposed morel superiority of one of the two sides reopens in the present the tragic wounds of the past.

Note that La Vanguardia is by no means calling for the Civil War to be forgotten. Rather, it is criticizing those who are trying to make political capital today by manipulating the past and calling it "the recovery of historical memory."

However, look at some quotes from the English-language press on the occasion of the anniversary:

From the Guardian:

Spain will mark the 70th anniversary of its devastating civil war tomorrow without official ceremony - in keeping with the so-called "pact of silence" that underpinned the transition to democracy. But as the date approaches, the Socialist-led government is putting the finishing touches to a controversial law intended to help heal the wounds on the losing Republican side. Officials are expected to reveal the text of the Law of Historical Memory on Friday, three days after the anniversary of the July 18 military uprising against the Second Spanish Republic that brought the dictator Francisco Franco to power.

And from the Telegraph:

As Spain re-established democracy in the decades since Franco's death in 1975, there was a tacit agreement among most Spaniards not to dwell on the past or seek to punish those guilty of abuses. The process to break that "pacto de olvido" ("collective pact of forgetting") began with the arrival in 2004 of a socialist government under Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose own grandfather was shot by Nationalist troops in the war. This year his government declared "A year of Historical Memory" and has made concerted efforts to collect millions of documents from around the world to shed light on one of the darkest periods in Spanish history. On Friday the government is expected to go a step further when it reveals the text of the Law of Historical Memory, a controversial measure intended to help heal the wounds on the losing Republican side.

See, I don't buy into this "pact of silence" stuff. Spanish TV is full of documentaries, Spanish bookstores are full of books, Spanish newspapers are full of articles, and Spanish politicians are often full of hot air about the Civil War. Like slavery in the United States, the Civil War is the overriding topic in modern Spanish history. Also notice that the Guardian does not mention word one about the civilian victims killed by the Republicans; estimates range from 50,000 to 100,000.

I'll be working on a series of pieces on the Spanish Civil War: the first, which ought to be ready tomorrow, will deal with the months leading up to the attempted coup in an attempt to explain why it happened.

Just checked the referral log; here's the ranking of the five best Google search topics over the last week:

5. "spaniards are ignorant"

No, no, only the enlightened and illustrated among us are.

4. "barcelona salou naked photo"

I did once link to lots of naked photos, here, but they're not from the beach at Salou.

3. "spainiards people who wear their clothes"

Now this shows a rather unhealthy fetishistic tendency. My guess is the guy looking for naked photos is probably more emotionally stable.

2. "drunken british girls platja d'aro"

The Fat Slags!

1. "algerian pornos"

Clearly the winner. No, I have never linked to Algerian pornography, nor do I plan to.

Pointless thoughts as people are killed around the world:

Hezbollah fired at least five missiles into Haifa, while the Israelies have cleaned up all the Hezbollah border posts along the southern Lebanese frontier. Hezbollah is going to deeply regret having started this exchange of violence. Kofi Annan has called for UN peacekeeping troops to be sent in. Yeah, right, what country in its right mind is going to send troops into Lebanon? And I assume he's asking for the Americans to pay for it again.

All the Spanish TV stations have been endlessly playing the film of Bush saying to Vladimir Putin, "We have to get Syria to put pressure on Hezbollah until they stop this shit." Well put, Mr. Bush!

Our enlightened and illustrated alleged intellectual class around here is talking about how the Israelis are using what they're calling "collective punishment" in Gaza and Lebanon, which is forbidden by something like the UN charter that isn't worth a damn when you''re dealing with Hezbollah and Hamas. I dunno. My understanding is that collective punishment is what the Nazis did at Lidice, murdering all the inhabitants of the village which the British-backed freedom fighters had used as their base when they sent Reinhard Heydrich straight to hell. Knocking out a bridge or a power station isn't the same thing.

As for the Israeli shelling, it's aimed at military and infrastructure targets, not civilians. Tragically, some two hundred Lebanese civilians have already died. That's what happens in war, sad to say, and perhaps Hezbollah should not have killed and kidnapped those soldiers. Hezbollah, of course, is deliberately targeting Israeil civilians and has done so throughout its existence.

From what I've put together, Israeli strategy is to trap Hezbollah terrorists inside the Beirut area, and so they have blockaded the coast, taken out the airport, and knocked out the roads leading to Syria. They will not go in heavily on the ground, but continue air strikes until they have wiped out Hezbollah's command and control and left individual terrorists on their own. Hezbollah is going to be wiped out, despite hints the Israelis are dropping that they will stop their attacks if their hostages are returned. Syria will do nothing, as Israel would crush it if it tried. If Iran behaves belligerantly, the Israelis might even take out their nuclear installations.

There have been claims that the "sovereign" Lebanese government needs to step in and do something. Like what? They've got no power or influence.

Meanwhile, forty people were killed today in Baghdad when terrorists mortared a marketplace. Now, I remember being here during the Bosnia war, when all the illustrated folks around here were demanding that someone do something about the shelling of Sarajevo, especially after the Serbs hit that marketplace and killed about forty civilians. I don't hear the same shouting for someone to do something about terrorism in Iraq; in fact, all I hear are calls for those who are trying to do something to pull out and go home. Consistency has never been a strong point of the Perennially Indignant, as P.J. O'Rourke called them.

No one seems to be paying any attention to the terrorist bombings in Bombay, at least not in the media around here.

Lopez Obrador, of course, is behaving extremely irresponsibly, not accepting his defeat and calling for the citizenry to resist. He will fail.

J. M. Hernandez Puertolas says in La Vangua something that I've been trying to tell the PP for years, literally.

A reasonable doubt exists whether PP president Mariano Rajoy is falling into overacting when he describes a country sunk into apocalyptic chaos. Egged on by his media supporters, the implicit message of that trio spraying gasoline on the fire, Angel Acebes, Eduardo Zaplana, and Vicente Martinez Pujalte is evident: the PSOE stole the 2004 elections from us, so let's have new elections as soon as possible. The Democratic Party adopted a similar strategy toward George W. Bush's first victory, and look what happened to Kerry.

My general opinion is that all is fair in politics, but the foaming-at-the-mouth wing of the PP is going much too far when it accuses Zap and his administration of being "traitors." I don't like Zap or his administration or the PSOE, and I would vote against them every time, but they are behaving more or less as they are supposed to as an elected left-wing government. They are acting in good faith. I didn't much like the Catalan statute, either, and I don't see what Zap has to negotiate about with ETA, but the fact remains that Spain is a democracy and trying to undercut the elected government's legitimacy is a very dangerous step. Reminds me more than a little of Lopez Obrador.

The PP needs a change in leadership. This bunch is going to lead the party to sure defeat in 2008.

Monday's blog roundup while listening to Tom Russell:

La Liga Loca fills us on Spanish football gossip, including Real Madrid signing speculations, Pablo Ibañez's faux pas, Mallorca's new stadium name, and more.

The Corner links to a fascinating six-year-old article by an American officer titled "Why Arabs Lose Wars."

Davids Medienkritik takes apart Der Spiegel's anti-American Washington correspondent.

Biased BBC is outraged at coverage of the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Meryl Yourish has links to several pieces on Israeli strategy.

Right Wing News explains why the US supports Israel.

Akaky is surrealistically satirical about government intervention.

Rob and Rany are slightly optimistic about our beloved Kansas City Royals.

Trevor blasts the language police, no matter where they turn up.

Aimless thoughts while sitting in the air-conditioning and listening to KBON out of Eunice, Louisiana (click on "KBON Listen Live Here"):

Zap made a disgraceful speech this afternoon at a Socialist party rally in Ibiza:

...Those who carried out the war in Iraq told us that after the intervention, the expansion of democracy and a future of peace would come. I hope they learn from the lesson these most recent events and the disaster they have meant. Today, more than ever, a new culture of international order is necessary, that will impose a new form of dealing with conflicts, supported by citizens, countries, and governments that represents a call for understanding, not imposing order unilaterally.

Zapatero demanded that the Israeli government "cease hostilities" and "respect international law."

...Struggle against terrorist violence does not justify the loss of innocent human lives. The authority that derives from the United Nations must make all possible efforts to put an end to this insanity of hostilities that may have serious consequences.

I don't even know where to start. 1) Democracy has been expanded in Iraq; they have an elected government that is in control of most of the country, and they've had three elections. 2) Iraq has most certainly not been a disaster, since Saddam is no longer in power and the country is no longer a threat to anyone. 3) Zap, you and your Porto Alegre altermundialist dreamers have no power to "impose" anything, and thank Jesus Christ Almighty that you don't, because you'd try to appease the terrorists and next thing you know there would be stonings of adulteresses in the Plaza Real.

4) Zap wants the ISRAELIS to cease hostilities? Uh, they didn't start it. 5) Nobody, at least not Israel and the US, wants innocent civilians to be killed, but that's what happens when cowardly terrorists hide behind the people. You can't hit Hezbollah without hitting an inhabited area, because that is where the killers take refuge. Besides, Hezbollah has been attacking Israeli citizens DELIBERATELY for decades. 6) Authority? United Nations? LMFAOROTF. 7) Zap seems not to be aware that the only reason Osama hasn't already retaken Andalusia is because the US and NATO are protecting Spain, which is not militarily capable of defending itself.

Meanwhile, the world's biggest pompous self-important ass, Hugo Chavez, is threatening "another Holocaust" if the "Israeli elites" and "US empire" don't do as he says.

I botched the story on Maragall and the regional election, forgetting that November 1, Todos los Santos, is of course a day off work in Spain. It's his Socialist cohorts who want to hold the regional election on a workday, while the rest of the parties want it to be held on a Sunday, as has become traditional. Maragall, though, has irritated everybody by setting it on Todos los Santos, a midweek holiday.

You know, I'm still pissed off at Toni Soler for his crack last week that Socialist candidate Montilla doesn't speak Catalan well enough to be regional premier. Montilla was on the news this afternoon giving a press conference in Catalan, and that reminded me of Soler's bigotry. No, Montilla's first language is not Catalan, and so he has a pretty strong accent. But his grammar and vocabulary are perfect, and what more can you ask? By the way, Soler, do you know any other languages? I bet Montilla's Catalan pronunciation is better than yours in English.

Most Irritating Local Celebrities:

7. Maruja Torres. Bitter, angry bitch who writes for El Pais.
6. Lluis Llach. Very dull Communist Cataloony folksinger and gay activist.
5. Maria de la Pau Janer, celeb-authoress heavily subsidized and promoted by regional Culture department. Many have started and few have finished her books.
4. Toni Soler, unfunny radical Cataloony talk-show host and occasional newspaper columnist.
3. Pepe Rubianes, hateful stand-up comic who applauds when Americans are killed.
2. Raimon. Worst folksinger ever. Llach at least can play the guitar.
1. Joel Joan, unfunny actor and scriptwriter fond of insulting people from other parts of Spain.

Any more nominations? Josmar is hors de categorie, of course.

The Italian football federation has made its ruling. Juventus, Fiorentina, and Lazio go down to second division and Milan is stripped of its Champions' League berth, as Juve loses its last two league titles. Rumors about which players are going where are flying, and I've heard Real Madrid is interested in Cannavaro, Thuram, Vieira, Zambrotti, Ibrahimovic, Trezeguet, and Kaka. Inter has already picked up Toni.

Saturday blog roundup while listening to Slow Down by Keb' Mo' (Kevin Moore):

The Rottweiler blasts the Vatican's response to the Israeli-Hezbollah war.

¡No Pasarán! attacks Chiraq. Pejman also comments.

Rainy Day takes on the Iranians and their Hezbollah clients.

Silflay Hraka debunks global-warmingism and explains why the Republicans will win the November congressional elections.

Right Wing News makes fun of the Dems' newfound desire to reach conservative Christian voters.

Expat Yank explains the American point of view on the "NatWest Three."

Get this bit from the Guardian, that "Yankee Go Home" standard-bearer, on the Israeli-Hezbollah war:

But if the situation shows signs of escalating, the Bush administration may have to drop its hands-off attitude and get more actively involved. Unlike his predecessors, George Bush shows little inclination, to get personally involved in the thankless task of handholding Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. But that is what may be needed. If the president insists on staying away from the fray, at least the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, should get stuck in to defuse a political crisis that is having a direct economic impact well beyond the region.

If I'm reading it right, this guy wants Bush to intervene in the war in order to palliate its economic impact on the UK, an attitude which doesn't jibe at all with the Guardian's usual imperialism-capitalism "no blood for oil" rants. Note the standard European call for the Americans to step in whenever the shit hits the fan and their own interests are at stake.

Getting up on my high horse while listening to Townes Van Zandt again:

One thing I despise is medical quackery. These quacks are con men cheating their victims, who are sick and desperate people. They are contemptible scum.

So on Wednesday, the Vanguardia's top story in its Society section was titled: "Natural therapies pass the exam." And it only gets worse.

"Natural therapies," that is, fraudulent ones, will become "regulated" in Catalonia in September. That means legalized and, I presume, paid for through Social Security, the National Health equivalent. Non-medical personnel ("practitioners") practicing "natural therapies" will be licensed if they have been in practice for at least five years; if they have not, then they must pass an exam. The Colegio de Medicos, the equivalent of the AMA, ALREADY accredits actupuncturists and homeopaths, for Christ's sake.

According to La Vanguardia, the "therapies" regulated are:

"Chinese or Oriental medicine"

Acupuncture

Moxibustion

Tui-na

Chi Gong

Naturopathy

Homeopathy

Kinesiology

Shiatsu (acupressure)

Podal reflexology

Lymphatic drainage

Diafreotherapy

"Holistic liberation of stress"

All these unscientific frauds are going to be not only perfectly legal, but actually licensed by the state!

I spent a couple of hours today trimming back the blogroll and cutting out dead links. If I removed you and you want to get back on the list, tell me. Sasha Castel, Robert Duncan, Fausta, Dr. Weevil, and Iain Murray, please tell me where you're blogging now so I can relink.

I'll add several new links to the blogroll next week.

Today's stage of the Tour de France just ended, with Menchov beating out Leipheimer and Landis at the finish line. This was the big day, the first mountain stage with five category 1 climbs including the Tourmalet and the Portillon. They finished in Spanish territory at Baqueira Beret, a well-known ski resort in the Pyrenees. It's in the Aran Valley, a small corner of Catalonia where the native language is Aranese, not Catalan. Aranese is a dialect of Occitan, and it's spoken by like a thousand people.

I like the Tour de France. I like endurance sports, since the only sport I was ever good at was distance running. What I actually like most about the Tour is the French countryside, though.

In case you were wondering who all those people dressed in orange waving flags that look like the Union Jack in orange, green and white, they're Basques and that's the regional flag. Fine, great, wonderful, being proud of your land and supporting your homeboy cyclists is totally cool with me. The guys with the flags showing a large black blotch with four arrows pointing to it and the slogan "Euskal Presoak Euskal Herria" are not fine, great, or wonderful, though. They're ETA supporters calling for ETA prisoners to be concentrated in prisons in the Basque Country, which the government won't agree to because if they were all together they'd take the prisons over like the IRA did the Maze.

In the recent past the Basque fans, especially, have been notorious for getting drunk and spewing insults and spit at Lance Armstrong. This year they appear to be much better behaved.

I'm rooting for Juan Antonio Flecha and Levi Leipheimer this year. Flecha is from here in Barcelona, he's a gutsy middle-of-the-pack guy who wins an occasional sprint. He went on a break today with two other guys and stayed in front for at least half the race. Everybody likes him, too, he seems like a real nice guy. Leipheimer is a guy whose career I've followed with some interest; he used to be one of Lance's team and then struck out on his own in 2003, I think, and has done well, finishing in the top ten in the Tour every year since. I particularly like him because in his spare time he works to help homeless and abandoned animals, which is one of my personal causes. Leipheimer was in the front three today, the guys who sprinted it out, along with another guy I like, Floyd Landis.

Landis takes over the yellow jersey for tomorrow. Leiphemer is farther back in the standings, since he had a disastrous time trial that cost him five minutes.