Monday, February 05, 2007
John Derbyshire at National Review has a piece on West African immigration to Europe, especially Spain. We have been posting on this story for at least 18 months, and we've seen very few articles in the international press on the tragedy of the boat people who die by the thousands on their way to the Canary Islands.
Breaking news: They busted an Al Qaeda / Salafist suspected terrorist this morning in Reus, near Tarragona. This guy, a Moroccan, was part of an infrastructure group that sent 32 suicide bombers to Iraq. And there are those who doubt that we are fighting the enemy, who openly declare their goal of killing or forcibly converting those of us who prefer Western liberal democracy, on the ground in Baghdad.
Yesterday in Bilbao 18 of the 19 members of ETA's youth squad, Jarrai, who have been sentenced to six years in prison each for membership in a terrorist organization, were arrested in the middle of a pro-ETA show of force. The puppy terrorists and Batasuna leaders like Otegi and Permach held a demo outside a jai alai fronton, and then the "youths" retreated inside the building while the rest of the demonstrators (without using violence) impeded the police from entering to arrest them. The cops were filmed hauling the punks away while the pro-ETA crowd jeered them.
In probably related news, somebody set off a small bomb at the Baracaldo train station last night.
The PP, the Foro de Ermua, and the AVT had a demo on Saturday in Madrid against negotiations with ETA in particular and the Zap government in general. More symbolic politics; the Right opposition calls one of these demos every couple of months, and I don't see what good they're doing. One of the problems with demos is that in general only the most rabid partisans turn out, and those people make your cause look bad. The lefty hippies and anarchists and that lot who show up for all their demos make most normal people react negatively to their cause, while the far-right wingnuts who show up at these PP demos yelling (often in pre-constitutional language) that Zap is behind the March 11 bombings have the same effect. I would suggest fewer demonstrations and more attention to the virtues of the free market, the rule of law, and a realistic foreign policy.
Barcepundit has more.
Racial tension in Badalona: A bunch of Romanian gypsies squatted in an apartment building in that Barcelona suburb, and the local residents kicked up a big stink, though there was no violence. The gypsies, who had trashed the place and had been having all-night parties, have moved on, and the crisis is over until it happens somewhere else in a couple of weeks or months or so. Meanwhile, the conflict in the town of Vidreres, where some twenty gypsy families have set up a trailer camp, is still on. Locals accuse gypsies of extorting money from them and of defecating in the streets.
Most Spaniards dislike gypsies a great deal, and I'd say that some of them hate gypsies. They say gypsies are dirty and steal and beat up their women. I'm not real fond of a lot of gypsies myself. Yeah, that's racist and prejudiced.
Unfortunately, there is some justification for these stereotypes. Most gypsies are part of the underclass, and many behave a great deal like some underclass people in the US--that is, with a values system of their own, quite different from mainstream society. I would not willingly go to gypsy neighborhoods like Can Tunis, La Mina, or parts of El Carmel here in Barcelona, because those are bad areas and you might get robbed. Nobody who wasn't looking to buy drugs would go to Can Tunis, and the cab drivers won't go there. Now, there is a gypsy area around Plaza Raspall in Gracia, and another around Calle de la Cera in the Raval, and those are decent neighborhoods inhabited by decent people. Some gypsies do live according to the standards of society in general. But a disproportionate amount of them don't.
The Times got an interview with hunger-striking terrorist Iñaki de Juana Chaos, guilty of 25 murders, including a photo of him in shackles in his hospital bed. I say if he wants to die, let him. I have no sympathy for such a person, and if Spain had the death penalty, he would have been a leading candidate for it. I'd have voted yes if I were on the jury.
Yesterday in Bilbao 18 of the 19 members of ETA's youth squad, Jarrai, who have been sentenced to six years in prison each for membership in a terrorist organization, were arrested in the middle of a pro-ETA show of force. The puppy terrorists and Batasuna leaders like Otegi and Permach held a demo outside a jai alai fronton, and then the "youths" retreated inside the building while the rest of the demonstrators (without using violence) impeded the police from entering to arrest them. The cops were filmed hauling the punks away while the pro-ETA crowd jeered them.
In probably related news, somebody set off a small bomb at the Baracaldo train station last night.
The PP, the Foro de Ermua, and the AVT had a demo on Saturday in Madrid against negotiations with ETA in particular and the Zap government in general. More symbolic politics; the Right opposition calls one of these demos every couple of months, and I don't see what good they're doing. One of the problems with demos is that in general only the most rabid partisans turn out, and those people make your cause look bad. The lefty hippies and anarchists and that lot who show up for all their demos make most normal people react negatively to their cause, while the far-right wingnuts who show up at these PP demos yelling (often in pre-constitutional language) that Zap is behind the March 11 bombings have the same effect. I would suggest fewer demonstrations and more attention to the virtues of the free market, the rule of law, and a realistic foreign policy.
Barcepundit has more.
Racial tension in Badalona: A bunch of Romanian gypsies squatted in an apartment building in that Barcelona suburb, and the local residents kicked up a big stink, though there was no violence. The gypsies, who had trashed the place and had been having all-night parties, have moved on, and the crisis is over until it happens somewhere else in a couple of weeks or months or so. Meanwhile, the conflict in the town of Vidreres, where some twenty gypsy families have set up a trailer camp, is still on. Locals accuse gypsies of extorting money from them and of defecating in the streets.
Most Spaniards dislike gypsies a great deal, and I'd say that some of them hate gypsies. They say gypsies are dirty and steal and beat up their women. I'm not real fond of a lot of gypsies myself. Yeah, that's racist and prejudiced.
Unfortunately, there is some justification for these stereotypes. Most gypsies are part of the underclass, and many behave a great deal like some underclass people in the US--that is, with a values system of their own, quite different from mainstream society. I would not willingly go to gypsy neighborhoods like Can Tunis, La Mina, or parts of El Carmel here in Barcelona, because those are bad areas and you might get robbed. Nobody who wasn't looking to buy drugs would go to Can Tunis, and the cab drivers won't go there. Now, there is a gypsy area around Plaza Raspall in Gracia, and another around Calle de la Cera in the Raval, and those are decent neighborhoods inhabited by decent people. Some gypsies do live according to the standards of society in general. But a disproportionate amount of them don't.
The Times got an interview with hunger-striking terrorist Iñaki de Juana Chaos, guilty of 25 murders, including a photo of him in shackles in his hospital bed. I say if he wants to die, let him. I have no sympathy for such a person, and if Spain had the death penalty, he would have been a leading candidate for it. I'd have voted yes if I were on the jury.
Anthony Daniels has a must-read piece in the New Criterion, a revisionist look at George Orwell and "Homage to Catalonia."
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Mark Steyn has a whack at the environmentalist fundies, who he calls the ecochondriacs, and what we call the Joan Saura and Imma Mayol show over here. Key paragraph:
The question is whether what's happening now is just the natural give and take of the planet, as Erik the Red and my town's early settlers understood it. Or whether it's something so unprecedented that we need to divert vast resources to a transnational elite bureaucracy so that they can do their best to cripple the global economy and deny much of the developing world access to the healthier and longer lives that capitalism brings.
The question is whether what's happening now is just the natural give and take of the planet, as Erik the Red and my town's early settlers understood it. Or whether it's something so unprecedented that we need to divert vast resources to a transnational elite bureaucracy so that they can do their best to cripple the global economy and deny much of the developing world access to the healthier and longer lives that capitalism brings.
The European press, along with much of the American, makes me sick. Every Continental report on the war in Iraq denounces the Americans, the British, George Bush, and Tony Blair every single day.
I am repulsed by the press's total lack of concern for the majority of Iraqis who want to live in freedom and peace.
Remember, in 2005, 63% of Iraqis turned out to vote on their new constitution, and 78% of them voted in favor. Iraq has held several free elections with more than 50% turnout, including the one that put the current government in office.
But there are well-funded and well-armed gangs of terrorists who, for whatever reason, don't want peace. They prefer to kill, as we saw in the latest suicide-car bombing in a Baghdad market that killed at least 120 people. These gangs of terrorists operate almost exclusively in four provinces in the central part of the country, and they are committing the worst atrocities imaginable. They have killed tens of thousands of law-abiding people.
I do not understand why the press is not demanding that the terrorist gangs in and around Baghdad, who are aided by the Iranian and Syrian regimes and Al Qaeda, be crushed militarily. Every day they kill innocent people. Every day. And no one but the Iraqi government and the American and British armed forces is trying to stop them.
Don't fool yourselves. The terrorists operating today in Baghdad will be more than happy to operate in London and Paris as soon as they can.
Did Bush make mistakes? Yes, he made a lot. The most important was underestimating the threat of Islamist terrorism and not sending in enough troops for the postwar pacification of Iraq. The second was going to the United Nations, as if that gang of Third World dictators had any moral authority, to ask permission to take out Saddam. The third was giving any explanation for doing so, beyond a mere "Saddam is quite obviously a criminal who is a threat to world peace." And the fourth was not using US military power to interdict terrorists and their supply lines within Syrian and Iranian territory.
The fact that Bush made mistakes does not mean that the reason the war was fought was wrong, or that the war which is being fought now is wrong. No American war president has failed to make mistakes, some of them (Washington's near-crushing defeat at New York, the British capture of Washington DC, giving McClellan a field command, the defeat near the Yalu River, manufacturing incredibly crappy naval torpedoes, not firing MacArthur soon enough, backing down to Stalin at Yalta, screwing up the Treaty of Versailles, trying to defend the Philippines, choosing Vietnam as the place to stand up against the Communists, not taking Saddam out in 1991) much more serious than any George W. Bush has yet made.
Now Hillary Clinton, who voted for and vocally backed the Iraq War, has turned 180 degrees and is saying that if she had been president, the US wouldn't have invaded Iraq. She's also called for US troops to leave Iraq before Bush's second term ends.
What selfish hypocrisy. Hillary Clinton obviously cares nothing for the great majority of Iraqis, who support their democratic constitution and who are now being murdered by the hundreds by those who don't. And she does not realize that the people who are killing the Iraqis now are the same as those who want to kill the rest of us.
I am repulsed by the press's total lack of concern for the majority of Iraqis who want to live in freedom and peace.
Remember, in 2005, 63% of Iraqis turned out to vote on their new constitution, and 78% of them voted in favor. Iraq has held several free elections with more than 50% turnout, including the one that put the current government in office.
But there are well-funded and well-armed gangs of terrorists who, for whatever reason, don't want peace. They prefer to kill, as we saw in the latest suicide-car bombing in a Baghdad market that killed at least 120 people. These gangs of terrorists operate almost exclusively in four provinces in the central part of the country, and they are committing the worst atrocities imaginable. They have killed tens of thousands of law-abiding people.
I do not understand why the press is not demanding that the terrorist gangs in and around Baghdad, who are aided by the Iranian and Syrian regimes and Al Qaeda, be crushed militarily. Every day they kill innocent people. Every day. And no one but the Iraqi government and the American and British armed forces is trying to stop them.
Don't fool yourselves. The terrorists operating today in Baghdad will be more than happy to operate in London and Paris as soon as they can.
Did Bush make mistakes? Yes, he made a lot. The most important was underestimating the threat of Islamist terrorism and not sending in enough troops for the postwar pacification of Iraq. The second was going to the United Nations, as if that gang of Third World dictators had any moral authority, to ask permission to take out Saddam. The third was giving any explanation for doing so, beyond a mere "Saddam is quite obviously a criminal who is a threat to world peace." And the fourth was not using US military power to interdict terrorists and their supply lines within Syrian and Iranian territory.
The fact that Bush made mistakes does not mean that the reason the war was fought was wrong, or that the war which is being fought now is wrong. No American war president has failed to make mistakes, some of them (Washington's near-crushing defeat at New York, the British capture of Washington DC, giving McClellan a field command, the defeat near the Yalu River, manufacturing incredibly crappy naval torpedoes, not firing MacArthur soon enough, backing down to Stalin at Yalta, screwing up the Treaty of Versailles, trying to defend the Philippines, choosing Vietnam as the place to stand up against the Communists, not taking Saddam out in 1991) much more serious than any George W. Bush has yet made.
Now Hillary Clinton, who voted for and vocally backed the Iraq War, has turned 180 degrees and is saying that if she had been president, the US wouldn't have invaded Iraq. She's also called for US troops to leave Iraq before Bush's second term ends.
What selfish hypocrisy. Hillary Clinton obviously cares nothing for the great majority of Iraqis, who support their democratic constitution and who are now being murdered by the hundreds by those who don't. And she does not realize that the people who are killing the Iraqis now are the same as those who want to kill the rest of us.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
From the "With Allies Like These, Who Needs Enemies" department, here's Xavier Batalla in today's Vanguardia:
The Bush Administration has decided to turn the screws on the Iranian regime, which will not renounce its nuclear program, now minimized by Jacques Chirac, though he later rectified. Washington is officially motivated by the ideal of changing a dictatorship into a democracy. And in order to achieve this, it wants worldwide sanctions on Teheran, an initiatie that has caused concern among the other members of the Security Council.
Why is this initiative not convincing? Because the United States is the only member of the Security Council that has nothing to lose. Washington ended its political relationship and most of its commercial links with Iran a quarter of a century ago. And the Iranians are now buying automobiles from France, arms from Russia--which is courting them over natural gas--, and air conditioners from China, which in return gets 18% of the petroleum it consumes. The European Union, beginning with Germany, which sells generators to Taiwan, represents one-third of Iranian trade.
What a bunch of weasels.
From the "We're Not Anti-Semitic, We Just Don't Like the Way the Jews Are Running the World" department, by Manuel Castells, boldface mine:
...(The perspective of negotiations with Iran and Syria) is blocked, of course by Bush, but also by the powerful pro-Israeli lobby among the Democrats, including Senator Lieberman, who has the key to breaking ties in the Senate and who directly represents Israel's interests. And also Hillary Clinton, whose electoral base and financial support have decisive influence in the pro-Israeli media, particularly in New York.
Mr. Castells apparently does not know that, in the US, alleging that a person is not loyal to the US first and to any other country or organization second is considered bigotry and prejudice. For example, it wasn't until John F. Kennedy that the false idea that Catholics were loyal first to the Pope and only second to the United States was finally put to rest.
The Spanish media is also on a massive global warming kick; in an orgy of antiglobalization propaganda, La Vanguardia devotes its first-page main headline and three more interior pages to Green orthodoxy today.
The Bush Administration has decided to turn the screws on the Iranian regime, which will not renounce its nuclear program, now minimized by Jacques Chirac, though he later rectified. Washington is officially motivated by the ideal of changing a dictatorship into a democracy. And in order to achieve this, it wants worldwide sanctions on Teheran, an initiatie that has caused concern among the other members of the Security Council.
Why is this initiative not convincing? Because the United States is the only member of the Security Council that has nothing to lose. Washington ended its political relationship and most of its commercial links with Iran a quarter of a century ago. And the Iranians are now buying automobiles from France, arms from Russia--which is courting them over natural gas--, and air conditioners from China, which in return gets 18% of the petroleum it consumes. The European Union, beginning with Germany, which sells generators to Taiwan, represents one-third of Iranian trade.
What a bunch of weasels.
From the "We're Not Anti-Semitic, We Just Don't Like the Way the Jews Are Running the World" department, by Manuel Castells, boldface mine:
...(The perspective of negotiations with Iran and Syria) is blocked, of course by Bush, but also by the powerful pro-Israeli lobby among the Democrats, including Senator Lieberman, who has the key to breaking ties in the Senate and who directly represents Israel's interests. And also Hillary Clinton, whose electoral base and financial support have decisive influence in the pro-Israeli media, particularly in New York.
Mr. Castells apparently does not know that, in the US, alleging that a person is not loyal to the US first and to any other country or organization second is considered bigotry and prejudice. For example, it wasn't until John F. Kennedy that the false idea that Catholics were loyal first to the Pope and only second to the United States was finally put to rest.
The Spanish media is also on a massive global warming kick; in an orgy of antiglobalization propaganda, La Vanguardia devotes its first-page main headline and three more interior pages to Green orthodoxy today.
Soccer violence went too far again last night in Italy as a policeman was killed by a homemade explosive during rioting between the street gangs loyal to Palermo and Catania. Literally hundreds of people were injured, as both gangs fought one another and the police. The Italian league has been suspended indefinitely. Last week a soccer gang fight led to the beating death of one man, and last month a black French policeman shot a rioter dead after a PSG-Hapoel match, as a lynch mob chased him and a Jewish fan. Here in Spain, a couple of years ago, a Celta-Deportivo game ended up with a man kicked to death, and the Sevilla gang brutally beat a security guard inside the stadium with the cameras on.
I don't know why the authorities don't make the clubs ban these gangs. They should not be allowed in the stadiums. I bet what would work is holding the home club financially responsible for the actions of its followers. That'd end a lot of the violence right there.
The Fago murder case would make an all-time classic roman noir. The cops arrested the local PSOE leader, who had had both political and financial problems with the PP mayor, who was found filled full of bullets. The suspect confessed this morning and said he was the only one involved, which the media doesn't seem to believe. The town was apparently sharply divided between partisans and enemies of the mayor, and the sleazier TV shows are playing this up big.
Looks like the big electrical corporate merger war is over, with German utility E.ON bidding €38.75 a share for Endesa, Spain's biggest electric power company. This is, of course, a much better deal than Spanish utility Gas Natural was offering. Anti-Zap polemicists claimed that Zap and the PSOE were favoring a Gas Natural takeover, and the Zap administration certainly did everything it could to block E.ON's bid.
Barça plays Osasuna tomorrow night in Pamplona. Since Osasuna is the roughest team in Spain (reet tough buggers, says La Liga Loca) and since it's going to be cold, Ronaldinho is sitting out. Eto'o is finally coming back, though, after nearly five months out, and that ought to improve this team a lot. Meanwhile, Leo Messi might be ready for the match against Racing next week. Barcelona was able to cling on to first place without these two guys, and I imagine that as they get back in form, Barça will pull away from valiant but overmatched Sevilla and the circus that is Real Madrid. Watch out for Valencia, whose injured players are also coming back, and who have the best group of Spanish players in the league. They are the team I fear most.
I don't know why the authorities don't make the clubs ban these gangs. They should not be allowed in the stadiums. I bet what would work is holding the home club financially responsible for the actions of its followers. That'd end a lot of the violence right there.
The Fago murder case would make an all-time classic roman noir. The cops arrested the local PSOE leader, who had had both political and financial problems with the PP mayor, who was found filled full of bullets. The suspect confessed this morning and said he was the only one involved, which the media doesn't seem to believe. The town was apparently sharply divided between partisans and enemies of the mayor, and the sleazier TV shows are playing this up big.
Looks like the big electrical corporate merger war is over, with German utility E.ON bidding €38.75 a share for Endesa, Spain's biggest electric power company. This is, of course, a much better deal than Spanish utility Gas Natural was offering. Anti-Zap polemicists claimed that Zap and the PSOE were favoring a Gas Natural takeover, and the Zap administration certainly did everything it could to block E.ON's bid.
Barça plays Osasuna tomorrow night in Pamplona. Since Osasuna is the roughest team in Spain (reet tough buggers, says La Liga Loca) and since it's going to be cold, Ronaldinho is sitting out. Eto'o is finally coming back, though, after nearly five months out, and that ought to improve this team a lot. Meanwhile, Leo Messi might be ready for the match against Racing next week. Barcelona was able to cling on to first place without these two guys, and I imagine that as they get back in form, Barça will pull away from valiant but overmatched Sevilla and the circus that is Real Madrid. Watch out for Valencia, whose injured players are also coming back, and who have the best group of Spanish players in the league. They are the team I fear most.
Friday, February 02, 2007
It's about time for another blog roundup:
Expat Yank has more on the attempted kidnapping and beheading of a Muslim British soldier.
La Liga Loca has its Flustered Weekend Preview up.
Davids Medienkritik has a guest post up titled "Why the Amis Are the New Nazis." A must-read.
Patrick Crozier, the guy who helped set up Iberian Notes, has a thoughtful reconsideration of the First World War.
Pave France has a whack at Jack's flip-flopping on a nuclear Iran.
This video is hilarious. !No Pasarán! links to a rather weak French contestant on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"
The Euroserf has more on another EU attempt at censorship. Good thing the US has a First Amendment.
Roncesvalles remembers the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff.
Royals Review wants to know who the worst ever of our boys in blue was. I say Neifi Perez.
Publius Pundit has the text of Go To Hell Hugo's enabling act that makes him the Führer.
Rainy Day compares Jack Shafer and Christopher Hitchens.
Biased BBC has something nice to say about Jeremy Paxman.
Expat Yank has more on the attempted kidnapping and beheading of a Muslim British soldier.
La Liga Loca has its Flustered Weekend Preview up.
Davids Medienkritik has a guest post up titled "Why the Amis Are the New Nazis." A must-read.
Patrick Crozier, the guy who helped set up Iberian Notes, has a thoughtful reconsideration of the First World War.
Pave France has a whack at Jack's flip-flopping on a nuclear Iran.
This video is hilarious. !No Pasarán! links to a rather weak French contestant on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"
The Euroserf has more on another EU attempt at censorship. Good thing the US has a First Amendment.
Roncesvalles remembers the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff.
Royals Review wants to know who the worst ever of our boys in blue was. I say Neifi Perez.
Publius Pundit has the text of Go To Hell Hugo's enabling act that makes him the Führer.
Rainy Day compares Jack Shafer and Christopher Hitchens.
Biased BBC has something nice to say about Jeremy Paxman.
John Leo speaks truth to the Thought Police at City Journal.
Dumb bit of censorship around here: Idiot alleged actor-comedian Pepe Rubianes has been charged with "insulting Spain," which is apparently against the law, and is facing a €21,000 fine. He spewed venom against Spain and Spaniards using the crudest and most ignorant language on TV3 back in January 2006, as you may remember. If he is charged with "inciting to hatred," he may be looking at three years in jail. Now, for sheer anti-American hatred, it's hard to top this 2003 Rubianes diatribe which we posted back then.
Though Iberian Notes despises Rubianes, we defend his freedom to be an asshole. Which he most certainly is.
More Spanish TV censorship, or at least what they'd call censorship if it was the Super Bowl: They aired the Goya Awards ceremony, Spain's equivalent of the Oscars, on a half-hour delay, I suppose so that no one would say anything offensive. Great. I'm in favor. The TV people have the right to do whatever they want, since it's their show. They can censor invited guests; if the guest doesn't like being censored, he doesn't have to go on the show.
But the Spanish media howled long and hard that the Yanks were committing puritanical censorship when they put the Rolling Stones on a five-second delay at the Super Bowl last year and told them not to sing the line "You'd make a dead man come" from "Start Me Up." I haven't heard any such howling now that they're doing it over here.
Dumb bit of censorship around here: Idiot alleged actor-comedian Pepe Rubianes has been charged with "insulting Spain," which is apparently against the law, and is facing a €21,000 fine. He spewed venom against Spain and Spaniards using the crudest and most ignorant language on TV3 back in January 2006, as you may remember. If he is charged with "inciting to hatred," he may be looking at three years in jail. Now, for sheer anti-American hatred, it's hard to top this 2003 Rubianes diatribe which we posted back then.
Though Iberian Notes despises Rubianes, we defend his freedom to be an asshole. Which he most certainly is.
More Spanish TV censorship, or at least what they'd call censorship if it was the Super Bowl: They aired the Goya Awards ceremony, Spain's equivalent of the Oscars, on a half-hour delay, I suppose so that no one would say anything offensive. Great. I'm in favor. The TV people have the right to do whatever they want, since it's their show. They can censor invited guests; if the guest doesn't like being censored, he doesn't have to go on the show.
But the Spanish media howled long and hard that the Yanks were committing puritanical censorship when they put the Rolling Stones on a five-second delay at the Super Bowl last year and told them not to sing the line "You'd make a dead man come" from "Start Me Up." I haven't heard any such howling now that they're doing it over here.
My favorite comic magazine is Viz from England. They run a regular feature called the Profanisaurus, a glossary of crude and vulgar terms, which has greatly expanded my vocabulary. Here are a few words and expressions; let's see if you can provide definitions.
budgie's tongue (n.)
to crank (v.)
flavour of the month (n.)
Cleveland steamer (n.)
to draw an ace (v.)
heirbags (n. pl.)
biddy fiddler (n.)
belly warmers (n. pl.)
dirty Sanchez (n.)
ankle spanker (n.)
airplane blonde (n.)
banjo cleaner (n.)
wide-on (n.)
to tip one's concrete (v.)
crumpet trumpet (n.)
to shell (v.)
salad dodger (n.)
Catalan custard (n.)
to use live rounds in a training exercise (v.)
to Pink Floyd (v.)
to disengage the airbrakes (v.)
Heinz jacuzzi (n.)
shuttlecock (n.)
reserve chute (n.)
budgie's tongue (n.)
to crank (v.)
flavour of the month (n.)
Cleveland steamer (n.)
to draw an ace (v.)
heirbags (n. pl.)
biddy fiddler (n.)
belly warmers (n. pl.)
dirty Sanchez (n.)
ankle spanker (n.)
airplane blonde (n.)
banjo cleaner (n.)
wide-on (n.)
to tip one's concrete (v.)
crumpet trumpet (n.)
to shell (v.)
salad dodger (n.)
Catalan custard (n.)
to use live rounds in a training exercise (v.)
to Pink Floyd (v.)
to disengage the airbrakes (v.)
Heinz jacuzzi (n.)
shuttlecock (n.)
reserve chute (n.)
Thursday, February 01, 2007
They had an anti-global warming protest this evening in Europe: everybody was supposed to turn out all their lights between 7:55 and 8 PM. Of course, I turned on all my lights, opened the windows, and cranked up the Hag doing "The Fightin' Side of Me." Remei said I was being childish, but I thought it was pretty funny. I didn't notice any participation on my street; everybody kept their lights on as far as I could tell.
Supposedly Woody Allen is going to film a movie in Barcelona with Penelope Cruz next summer. I haven't actually liked any Woody Allen movies since about "Annie Hall." Penelope Cruz is certainly one hot babe, though she was even hotter before the plastic surgery, of course. As an actress, I'm not much of a judge, though I have noticed that the only character she ever plays is a hot babe. If you've never seen "Jamón, Jamón," check it out, as Penelope is at her most babelicious.
Go to Hell Hugo has passed an enabling act which will allow him to make laws. I know that comparing someone today with the Nazis is a sign you have lost the argument, but I'm going to do it anyway. It was the enabling act that the Reichstag passed that allowed Hitler to seize total power in Germany. Venezuela right now still has hope: the press hasn't been completely muzzled and the opposition isn't in jail yet. This is going to be the last straw, though; Venezuela has officially become a dictatorship. I would leave now. Meanwhile, the shit is about to hit the fan in Ecuador. New President Rafael Correa has threatened "mucha violencia" if a new constitutional convention is not called.
Fausta has more at Pajamas Media.
Democratic Representative Loretta Sanchez has accused Democratic Representative Joe Baca of calling her a "whore." Where's the feminist wing demanding Baca's resignation? Oops, he's a Hispanic Democrat, not a white Anglo Republican.
Half of Spanish households now have an Internet connection. That seems kind of low.
The Audiencia Nacional, Spain's highest non-appeals court, has ordered that the CNI, the National Intelligence Service, declassify all information on alleged secret CIA flights in and out of Spain. Meanwhile, Germany has demanded the extradition of thirteen alleged CIA agents, which of course will happen when George Jones sings rap.
The controversy about Basque premier Ibarretxe's testimony on charges of meeting with an illegal political party, ETA-front Batasuna, has turned into a much-needed debate on the independence of the judiciary. In Spain, judges do not even pretend to be apolitical; instead, there are several major political organizations of judges, one leftist, one conservative, and one sort of in the middle. There are also some non-affiliated judges. This is, of course, absolutely wrong. A judge must interpret the law as she is wrote, not through his political perspective.
A bunch of ETA-wannabe fourteen-year-old kids profaned the grave of Gregorio Ordóñez, the Basque PP leader murdered by the ETA. That's just sick. Agreed, it's merely symbolic, but it shows total lack of respect for human life. This is the sort of person that the 15% of crazy mental Basques who support ETA produce, and that is one evil subculture. I'm not sure we'll ever completely crush ETA as long as such a significant fraction of society is pro-murder.
La Vanguardia says straight out that the UN is planning a pro-Kyoto Protocol campaign in order to pressure the United States. They plan to produce a whole series of reports to be released during all of 2007. Quote: "The Inter-Governmental Group of Experts on Climate Change (that is, the usual gang of crooks) has a program for the year that seems like the perfect script to put the US up against the ropes." Naturally, the Vangua's headline is "UN increases pressure on Bush to accept Kyoto." Of course, it's not Bush who's blocking American acceptance of the Kyoto Protocol, it was the Senate, who voted 95-0 against it back in 1997. During the Clinton administration.
They thought of a brilliant idea to reduce automobile traffic in Barcelona. They're planning to reduce tolls on turnpikes entering town for cars carrying two persons or more, in order to provide an incentive for people to carpool! Gee, that's creative and original! Next thing you know they'll actually build parking lots near suburban train stations so people can "park and ride"!
I was just disgusted by this story. (Note: I've been a vegetarian for 25 years.) There is an organization in Catalonia that wants to preserve historic breeds of farm animals. Great, sounds good to me, I love animals, and it'd be a shame for the Catalan donkey, of which about 300 remain, to disappear. So up in the Pyrenees, THEY KILLED TWO OF THEM AND TURNED THEM INTO DONKEYBURGERS, which 500 people ate. This was supposedly in order to get media attention. Said Jaume Mora, "Our goal is to promote the Pallars region as a gastronomic tourist destination, and we think this could be attractive." What exactly is attractive about eating donkey meat?
Supposedly Woody Allen is going to film a movie in Barcelona with Penelope Cruz next summer. I haven't actually liked any Woody Allen movies since about "Annie Hall." Penelope Cruz is certainly one hot babe, though she was even hotter before the plastic surgery, of course. As an actress, I'm not much of a judge, though I have noticed that the only character she ever plays is a hot babe. If you've never seen "Jamón, Jamón," check it out, as Penelope is at her most babelicious.
Go to Hell Hugo has passed an enabling act which will allow him to make laws. I know that comparing someone today with the Nazis is a sign you have lost the argument, but I'm going to do it anyway. It was the enabling act that the Reichstag passed that allowed Hitler to seize total power in Germany. Venezuela right now still has hope: the press hasn't been completely muzzled and the opposition isn't in jail yet. This is going to be the last straw, though; Venezuela has officially become a dictatorship. I would leave now. Meanwhile, the shit is about to hit the fan in Ecuador. New President Rafael Correa has threatened "mucha violencia" if a new constitutional convention is not called.
Fausta has more at Pajamas Media.
Democratic Representative Loretta Sanchez has accused Democratic Representative Joe Baca of calling her a "whore." Where's the feminist wing demanding Baca's resignation? Oops, he's a Hispanic Democrat, not a white Anglo Republican.
Half of Spanish households now have an Internet connection. That seems kind of low.
The Audiencia Nacional, Spain's highest non-appeals court, has ordered that the CNI, the National Intelligence Service, declassify all information on alleged secret CIA flights in and out of Spain. Meanwhile, Germany has demanded the extradition of thirteen alleged CIA agents, which of course will happen when George Jones sings rap.
The controversy about Basque premier Ibarretxe's testimony on charges of meeting with an illegal political party, ETA-front Batasuna, has turned into a much-needed debate on the independence of the judiciary. In Spain, judges do not even pretend to be apolitical; instead, there are several major political organizations of judges, one leftist, one conservative, and one sort of in the middle. There are also some non-affiliated judges. This is, of course, absolutely wrong. A judge must interpret the law as she is wrote, not through his political perspective.
A bunch of ETA-wannabe fourteen-year-old kids profaned the grave of Gregorio Ordóñez, the Basque PP leader murdered by the ETA. That's just sick. Agreed, it's merely symbolic, but it shows total lack of respect for human life. This is the sort of person that the 15% of crazy mental Basques who support ETA produce, and that is one evil subculture. I'm not sure we'll ever completely crush ETA as long as such a significant fraction of society is pro-murder.
La Vanguardia says straight out that the UN is planning a pro-Kyoto Protocol campaign in order to pressure the United States. They plan to produce a whole series of reports to be released during all of 2007. Quote: "The Inter-Governmental Group of Experts on Climate Change (that is, the usual gang of crooks) has a program for the year that seems like the perfect script to put the US up against the ropes." Naturally, the Vangua's headline is "UN increases pressure on Bush to accept Kyoto." Of course, it's not Bush who's blocking American acceptance of the Kyoto Protocol, it was the Senate, who voted 95-0 against it back in 1997. During the Clinton administration.
They thought of a brilliant idea to reduce automobile traffic in Barcelona. They're planning to reduce tolls on turnpikes entering town for cars carrying two persons or more, in order to provide an incentive for people to carpool! Gee, that's creative and original! Next thing you know they'll actually build parking lots near suburban train stations so people can "park and ride"!
I was just disgusted by this story. (Note: I've been a vegetarian for 25 years.) There is an organization in Catalonia that wants to preserve historic breeds of farm animals. Great, sounds good to me, I love animals, and it'd be a shame for the Catalan donkey, of which about 300 remain, to disappear. So up in the Pyrenees, THEY KILLED TWO OF THEM AND TURNED THEM INTO DONKEYBURGERS, which 500 people ate. This was supposedly in order to get media attention. Said Jaume Mora, "Our goal is to promote the Pallars region as a gastronomic tourist destination, and we think this could be attractive." What exactly is attractive about eating donkey meat?
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Aaron Hanscomb has a piece up on Front Page on anti-Semitism in Europe, and is kind enough to link to us. This one is much better than the Front Page piece we linked to yesterday.
Seems that the city of Miami is planning a celebration, to be held in the Orange Bowl football stadium, when Fidel dies. I'd hold off on the party until democracy is reintroduced in Cuba. By the way, Fidel hasn't been out in public for more than six months.
Iker Aguirre, the ETA guy who got arrested a couple of days ago on a France-Barcelona train, had been ordered by ETA leader Garikoitz "Cherokee" Aspiazu to plan a major attack in Valencia in the next three months. The proposed targets were Valencia harbor, which is being prepared for the America's Cup, and tourist areas in Alicante province. The attacks were to go off in April and May, right before the municipal elections. Crush these bastards now. To hell with "dialogue."
Basque Country premier Juan José Ibarretxe of the PNV has been summoned to testify as a witness in the case against Otegi, Petrikorena, and Barrena, the leaders of ETA-front political party Batasuna. Seems that Batasuna, though it was banned for supporting terrorism by the Political Parties Act, held an official meeting in April 2006 with Ibarretxe. This is illegal, since Batasuna is not allowed to carry on any kind of political activity unless and until it breaks with ETA. All the Basque nationalist parties held a protest demo in Bilbao that brought out 45,000 people according to the local police. The problem with the Basque nationalists is you're never sure whose side they're on, since they condemn ETA but oppose a government crackdown.
Francesc-Marc Alvaro takes a whack at Anti-System Imma Mayol in today's Vangua, calling her words "absurd," "an invitation to satire," "ultramoralizing and decorative parlor-pink fetishism," "frivolous," "an official imposture," and "far from reality."
Seems there was a riot last night at the Internment Center for Foreigners in the Zona Franca; a bunch of the prisoners beat up the guards and some of the other inmates. The riot was suppressed by the strong-arm squad. These guys are all of North African origin and mostly have long police records; they rioted because they heard rumors that they were going to be deported. I'm not sure why we haven't deported the lot already.
La Vangua has a full-page story on Paris Hilton today. Why? Why would anyone in Barcelona care? We have our own trashy celebrities over here and we don't need any more.
Iker Aguirre, the ETA guy who got arrested a couple of days ago on a France-Barcelona train, had been ordered by ETA leader Garikoitz "Cherokee" Aspiazu to plan a major attack in Valencia in the next three months. The proposed targets were Valencia harbor, which is being prepared for the America's Cup, and tourist areas in Alicante province. The attacks were to go off in April and May, right before the municipal elections. Crush these bastards now. To hell with "dialogue."
Basque Country premier Juan José Ibarretxe of the PNV has been summoned to testify as a witness in the case against Otegi, Petrikorena, and Barrena, the leaders of ETA-front political party Batasuna. Seems that Batasuna, though it was banned for supporting terrorism by the Political Parties Act, held an official meeting in April 2006 with Ibarretxe. This is illegal, since Batasuna is not allowed to carry on any kind of political activity unless and until it breaks with ETA. All the Basque nationalist parties held a protest demo in Bilbao that brought out 45,000 people according to the local police. The problem with the Basque nationalists is you're never sure whose side they're on, since they condemn ETA but oppose a government crackdown.
Francesc-Marc Alvaro takes a whack at Anti-System Imma Mayol in today's Vangua, calling her words "absurd," "an invitation to satire," "ultramoralizing and decorative parlor-pink fetishism," "frivolous," "an official imposture," and "far from reality."
Seems there was a riot last night at the Internment Center for Foreigners in the Zona Franca; a bunch of the prisoners beat up the guards and some of the other inmates. The riot was suppressed by the strong-arm squad. These guys are all of North African origin and mostly have long police records; they rioted because they heard rumors that they were going to be deported. I'm not sure why we haven't deported the lot already.
La Vangua has a full-page story on Paris Hilton today. Why? Why would anyone in Barcelona care? We have our own trashy celebrities over here and we don't need any more.
One clear sign of anti-Americanism (and anti-Semitism, and anti-everythingelseism) is out-of-context criticism. That is, if you're talking about something completely different and you throw in some America-bashing for no particular reason, you're most likely an anti-American. You are especially likely to be anti-American if your bashing is an oft-repeated stereotype.
So get this on the back page of La Vanguardia this morning. One Lluís Amiguet interviews one Clément Rosset, who is billed as a French-Spanish "philosopher." One of Rosset's pearls is: "Iberian culture knows how to find happiness in the tragedy of living." Huh? Since when? What a dumb generalization.
Anyway, Amiguet asks Rosset, "Why are we so afraid?"
First, who's "we," white man? I'm not particularly afraid of anything I can control; yes, I'm "afraid" of getting run over by a bus, as anyone sensible would be, but I don't exactly dwell on the subject, since I'm generally pretty careful to stay out of the path of oncoming buses. And as for things I can't control, I just have to accept that shit happens, and you play the hand of cards you get dealt.
But Rosset answers,
Because when you deny death, illness, and pain, you are much more afraid of everything. You fear that a sick person or even a dead one will sneak into the shopping mall and wake us up from the dream of consumption. Look at the United States: they live sunk in continual paranoia.
For some reason anti-Americans love to think that American society lives shaking in fear and panic. It's the most frequently-repeated Yank-bashing meme I see. Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth; in fact, I think Spanish society is more paranoid than American. You hear many more conspiracy theories over here; there's always some hidden power group that controls everything. Rosset manages to work in another Yank-bashing meme, that American society cares about nothing except for material consumption. And, of course, who says Americans deny death, illness, and pain? Seems to me that if we're a bunch of crazy Jesus freaks, as another oft-repeated meme goes, that means we're very concerned with the subjects of death and the afterlife, right? But with an anti-American, you can't win either way.
Amiguet replies, "The Frightened States of America."
Says Rosset,
Precisely because they have decided to hide the dark side of existence. If you accept it naturally, you are much less afraid, because you accept that someday you will get sick, die, get old, be ugly, sad, maybe you'll be alone, very alone...
1) The Americans have "decided to hide the dark side of existence?" How was that decision made? Did we take a vote or was it imposed by the Bush administration? 2) It seems healthier to me not to dwell on or obsess about unpleasant facts like illness and death that we cannot control. If you go around thinking about that stuff all the time, as Rosset seems to be recommending--he says, "The central question of philosophy is that we are going to die," and "We must be conscious of the immense joke of this existence: we are all going to die," you're likely to be miserable. Yes, we all know we are going to die, but why ruin a nice sunny morning contemplating it?
So get this on the back page of La Vanguardia this morning. One Lluís Amiguet interviews one Clément Rosset, who is billed as a French-Spanish "philosopher." One of Rosset's pearls is: "Iberian culture knows how to find happiness in the tragedy of living." Huh? Since when? What a dumb generalization.
Anyway, Amiguet asks Rosset, "Why are we so afraid?"
First, who's "we," white man? I'm not particularly afraid of anything I can control; yes, I'm "afraid" of getting run over by a bus, as anyone sensible would be, but I don't exactly dwell on the subject, since I'm generally pretty careful to stay out of the path of oncoming buses. And as for things I can't control, I just have to accept that shit happens, and you play the hand of cards you get dealt.
But Rosset answers,
Because when you deny death, illness, and pain, you are much more afraid of everything. You fear that a sick person or even a dead one will sneak into the shopping mall and wake us up from the dream of consumption. Look at the United States: they live sunk in continual paranoia.
For some reason anti-Americans love to think that American society lives shaking in fear and panic. It's the most frequently-repeated Yank-bashing meme I see. Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth; in fact, I think Spanish society is more paranoid than American. You hear many more conspiracy theories over here; there's always some hidden power group that controls everything. Rosset manages to work in another Yank-bashing meme, that American society cares about nothing except for material consumption. And, of course, who says Americans deny death, illness, and pain? Seems to me that if we're a bunch of crazy Jesus freaks, as another oft-repeated meme goes, that means we're very concerned with the subjects of death and the afterlife, right? But with an anti-American, you can't win either way.
Amiguet replies, "The Frightened States of America."
Says Rosset,
Precisely because they have decided to hide the dark side of existence. If you accept it naturally, you are much less afraid, because you accept that someday you will get sick, die, get old, be ugly, sad, maybe you'll be alone, very alone...
1) The Americans have "decided to hide the dark side of existence?" How was that decision made? Did we take a vote or was it imposed by the Bush administration? 2) It seems healthier to me not to dwell on or obsess about unpleasant facts like illness and death that we cannot control. If you go around thinking about that stuff all the time, as Rosset seems to be recommending--he says, "The central question of philosophy is that we are going to die," and "We must be conscious of the immense joke of this existence: we are all going to die," you're likely to be miserable. Yes, we all know we are going to die, but why ruin a nice sunny morning contemplating it?
Monday, January 29, 2007
Go read this article at Front Page; it's a rather foaming-at-the-mouth denunciation of the Zap government, and the translation from Spanish is not particularly good. The author, of course, is totally biased against Zap and the Socialists; while he makes many good points, especially regarding Zap's (and leftist Spain's) anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism, he goes too far in more than one place. Even the title, "Spain: the European Iran" is a bit excessive. "The Zap Government: Wannabe France-Loving Weasels" would be more like it.
Here are a couple of paragraphs:
Zapatero introduced what the calls “the process,” Spain's very own Oslo Accords. The idea is to give the Marxist Leninist group ETA everything it asks for (including whole parts of Spain like Navarra, in a move some say reminiscent of Hitler’s claims over Czech Republic) in order to “bring peace.”
While I completely agree that Zap is a fool, he doesn't want to "give ETA everything it asks for."
Zapatero’s numbers are plunging faster than Bush’s.
Not yet they're not, unfortunately.
...but after putting his men in charge of many important business and banks, Zapatero promised Endesa to a government-friendly Gas Natural.
I've heard speculations of this sort, but haven't seen any proof.
(People are asking) if Moroccan dealings in Córdoba and Seville expelling non-Muslims from whole neighborhoods are not “occupation.”
I haven't heard about anything of this sort.
Saudi petrodollars are bribing increasing amounts of Spanish journalists through Muslim organizations in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Murcia to talk about Iraq, but also about the Wahhabi version of the Middle East. Journalists earning less than 1000 EUR a month are driving BMW cars, and there seems to be a pact of silence inside many Spanish newspapers not to ask a single word.
If you're going to make charges like this, you've got to have proof. Some specific examples would be nice. I think Spanish journalists tend to be more incompetent and biased than corrupt. Possible exception: Tomás Alcoverro. I am convinced this guy, who owns a house in Beirut, is in somebody's pocket. But I can't prove it.
No wonder why Spanish Jews are considering aliyah.
I hadn't heard they were.
A country ready and willing to receive tourists? No, tourists should avoid it right away.
The Zap government infuriates me too, but you can't blame the whole country. Be anti-Zap, but not anti-Spain.
Here are a couple of paragraphs:
Zapatero introduced what the calls “the process,” Spain's very own Oslo Accords. The idea is to give the Marxist Leninist group ETA everything it asks for (including whole parts of Spain like Navarra, in a move some say reminiscent of Hitler’s claims over Czech Republic) in order to “bring peace.”
While I completely agree that Zap is a fool, he doesn't want to "give ETA everything it asks for."
Zapatero’s numbers are plunging faster than Bush’s.
Not yet they're not, unfortunately.
...but after putting his men in charge of many important business and banks, Zapatero promised Endesa to a government-friendly Gas Natural.
I've heard speculations of this sort, but haven't seen any proof.
(People are asking) if Moroccan dealings in Córdoba and Seville expelling non-Muslims from whole neighborhoods are not “occupation.”
I haven't heard about anything of this sort.
Saudi petrodollars are bribing increasing amounts of Spanish journalists through Muslim organizations in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Murcia to talk about Iraq, but also about the Wahhabi version of the Middle East. Journalists earning less than 1000 EUR a month are driving BMW cars, and there seems to be a pact of silence inside many Spanish newspapers not to ask a single word.
If you're going to make charges like this, you've got to have proof. Some specific examples would be nice. I think Spanish journalists tend to be more incompetent and biased than corrupt. Possible exception: Tomás Alcoverro. I am convinced this guy, who owns a house in Beirut, is in somebody's pocket. But I can't prove it.
No wonder why Spanish Jews are considering aliyah.
I hadn't heard they were.
A country ready and willing to receive tourists? No, tourists should avoid it right away.
The Zap government infuriates me too, but you can't blame the whole country. Be anti-Zap, but not anti-Spain.
Friday, January 26, 2007
From the "We're Not Anti-Semitic, We Just Oppose the Israeli Government" department:
The Madrid suburb of Ciempozuelos, governed by the PSOE, of course, has announced that it will celebrate "Palestinian Genocide Day" on Saturday. In case you didn't know, Saturday is the international Holocaust day of memorial. Israeli ambassador Victor Harel said, "This is an act of pure anti-Semitism, in which the memory of the Jews and Israel are offended with monumental falsehoods." Harel called the Ciempozuelos mayor and city council "insensitive, ignorant, and acting in bad faith."
Meanwhile, the Asturias regional government, run by the PSOE, of course, financed and published a book called "Internationals in Israel" that calls Israel "a terrorist state" and calls for its "total defeat."
Zap met with the European Jewish Congress on Friday and said he was against anti-Semitism. However, he doesn't seem to have done anything about the behavior of his own party.
The Madrid suburb of Ciempozuelos, governed by the PSOE, of course, has announced that it will celebrate "Palestinian Genocide Day" on Saturday. In case you didn't know, Saturday is the international Holocaust day of memorial. Israeli ambassador Victor Harel said, "This is an act of pure anti-Semitism, in which the memory of the Jews and Israel are offended with monumental falsehoods." Harel called the Ciempozuelos mayor and city council "insensitive, ignorant, and acting in bad faith."
Meanwhile, the Asturias regional government, run by the PSOE, of course, financed and published a book called "Internationals in Israel" that calls Israel "a terrorist state" and calls for its "total defeat."
Zap met with the European Jewish Congress on Friday and said he was against anti-Semitism. However, he doesn't seem to have done anything about the behavior of his own party.
I was wrong to give credit yesterday to the Zap government; they actually did want the Audiencia Nacional to grant house arrest to ETA terrorist De Juana Chaos. They blamed the 12-4 vote by the judges on "pressure from the PP." The Basque regional government, headed by the PNV, called the decision "a mistake." Meanwhile, the cops busted an ETA terrorist on the train between the French border and Barcelona. The guy was carrying instructions for manufacturing bombs and stealing cars and six fake IDs, among other things. He's got a record for terrorist attacks, rioting, and concealing weapons.
The two major public opinion stinks going around are 1) the way dishonest renters are taking advantage of the Spanish law requiring a judicial order for an eviction, causing landlords not to want to rent out their apartments and 2) the panic in the middle-class Barcelona suburbs (urbanizaciones) over the perceived rising crime rate. Yesterday a homeowner in Sudanell, Lleida province, faced with a home invasion, shot one man dead and wounded another inside his house. The cops busted a third robber, and a fourth got away. La Vangua reports on its front page that suburban residents are starting up their own neighborhood patrols.
Weirdness: A Colombian woman named Darling Vélez applied for Spanish citizenship. They told her that the first name "Darling" was unacceptable; seems that Spanish law prohibits "ridiculous" first names, and first names that do not clearly indicate the sex of their bearer. Ms. Vélez will have to change her first name or be denied citizenship. That's absurd. Who the hell is some bureaucrat to judge that the name "Darling" is ridiculous? And I know an American woman named Joan. What, will she be forbidden Spanish citizenship because "Joan" is a male name in Catalonia? Or an American woman named "Harriet," which is a male name in Basque? And what about a Chinese person named, say, Ziaoshang? How are we going to detect the sex of that one? How about if the government stays out of what people decide to name their kids?
It's cold. There's snow all over Spain. Spanish drivers do not know how to drive in snow, which is understandable since it does not snow much here. Therefore, the highways are snarled up all over the country.
Manuel Trallero, who has pissed me off in the past, comments in La Vangua that Communist-Green pro-squatter anti-system third assistant mayor Imma Mayol goes to the same private eye doctor that he does, rather than using the public health system like my mother-in-law.
The two major public opinion stinks going around are 1) the way dishonest renters are taking advantage of the Spanish law requiring a judicial order for an eviction, causing landlords not to want to rent out their apartments and 2) the panic in the middle-class Barcelona suburbs (urbanizaciones) over the perceived rising crime rate. Yesterday a homeowner in Sudanell, Lleida province, faced with a home invasion, shot one man dead and wounded another inside his house. The cops busted a third robber, and a fourth got away. La Vangua reports on its front page that suburban residents are starting up their own neighborhood patrols.
Weirdness: A Colombian woman named Darling Vélez applied for Spanish citizenship. They told her that the first name "Darling" was unacceptable; seems that Spanish law prohibits "ridiculous" first names, and first names that do not clearly indicate the sex of their bearer. Ms. Vélez will have to change her first name or be denied citizenship. That's absurd. Who the hell is some bureaucrat to judge that the name "Darling" is ridiculous? And I know an American woman named Joan. What, will she be forbidden Spanish citizenship because "Joan" is a male name in Catalonia? Or an American woman named "Harriet," which is a male name in Basque? And what about a Chinese person named, say, Ziaoshang? How are we going to detect the sex of that one? How about if the government stays out of what people decide to name their kids?
It's cold. There's snow all over Spain. Spanish drivers do not know how to drive in snow, which is understandable since it does not snow much here. Therefore, the highways are snarled up all over the country.
Manuel Trallero, who has pissed me off in the past, comments in La Vangua that Communist-Green pro-squatter anti-system third assistant mayor Imma Mayol goes to the same private eye doctor that he does, rather than using the public health system like my mother-in-law.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
The Audiencia Nacional voted this morning to keep hunger-striking terrorist De Juana Chaos in prison; he's currently in the hospital, but he will not be sent home under house arrest, as he is demanding. Good. One thing about this guy is that he is not a repentant former terrorist, he's one of the most violent ETA loyalists. He's tried to escape from prison several times, has sent threatening letters to judges, and has celebrated ETA murders while behind bars. By the way, to the Zap government's credit, they're against turning him loose too.
There's a flu outbreak here in Catalonia. Hasn't hit me yet. The hospitals are full. Almost 200,000 people a day are seeking flu treatment in Spain. Meanwhile, more than 50,000 Catalans are on waiting lists for non-urgent operations. More than 14,000, including my mother-in-law, are awaiting a cataracts operation, about 6000 for bunions, 6000 more for knee replacements, and 5000 for hernias. I'm not complaining about the Spanish public health system, they've treated me very well, but it does have its disadvantages.
Somebody wrote a letter to La Vanguardia today pointing out that Ms. Anti-System, Imma Mayol, makes about €100,000 a year as third assistant mayor.
Tourists spent €8.6 billion in Catalonia in the first eleven months of 2006.
Some guy got stopped Monday night in Cunit at an alcohol checkpoint and he blew 0.68 mg/l on the breath test, so they immobilized his car, charged him, and turned him loose. About an hour later, the same cops were still manning the same checkpoint. The same driver came along in a different car. This time he blew 0.71.
Reminds me of a small-time drug dealer who lived next door to me in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1991-92. This guy's name was Tim, and he wasn't very smart. So one night he's driving home from the Jet Lag Lounge--Tim used to try to get me to go down to the Lag with him, saying, "There's some fine lookin' ladies at the Lag," which was true if your idea of a fine lookin' lady included missing teeth--and the cops nail him for drunk driving. So Tim goes back to the Lag the next night, and what do you know, the cops nail him for drunk driving again. He told me, "I think I can get out of this one. The cop accused me of drinking beer, and everybody knows I only drink Crown." This legal strategy did not work, and Tim got weekends in jail for three months. He instructed me to watch his stash, which he kept under the doghouse in the back yard.
There's a flu outbreak here in Catalonia. Hasn't hit me yet. The hospitals are full. Almost 200,000 people a day are seeking flu treatment in Spain. Meanwhile, more than 50,000 Catalans are on waiting lists for non-urgent operations. More than 14,000, including my mother-in-law, are awaiting a cataracts operation, about 6000 for bunions, 6000 more for knee replacements, and 5000 for hernias. I'm not complaining about the Spanish public health system, they've treated me very well, but it does have its disadvantages.
Somebody wrote a letter to La Vanguardia today pointing out that Ms. Anti-System, Imma Mayol, makes about €100,000 a year as third assistant mayor.
Tourists spent €8.6 billion in Catalonia in the first eleven months of 2006.
Some guy got stopped Monday night in Cunit at an alcohol checkpoint and he blew 0.68 mg/l on the breath test, so they immobilized his car, charged him, and turned him loose. About an hour later, the same cops were still manning the same checkpoint. The same driver came along in a different car. This time he blew 0.71.
Reminds me of a small-time drug dealer who lived next door to me in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1991-92. This guy's name was Tim, and he wasn't very smart. So one night he's driving home from the Jet Lag Lounge--Tim used to try to get me to go down to the Lag with him, saying, "There's some fine lookin' ladies at the Lag," which was true if your idea of a fine lookin' lady included missing teeth--and the cops nail him for drunk driving. So Tim goes back to the Lag the next night, and what do you know, the cops nail him for drunk driving again. He told me, "I think I can get out of this one. The cop accused me of drinking beer, and everybody knows I only drink Crown." This legal strategy did not work, and Tim got weekends in jail for three months. He instructed me to watch his stash, which he kept under the doghouse in the back yard.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
