The satirical comic magazine El Jueves has been censored. Remember Zap promised us all €2500 for each new kid we have? So on the cover they ran a cartoon of Prince Felipe doing Princess Letizia doggy-style and saying, "You know what? If you get pregnant this will be the closest thing to working I've done in my life." Here's a link; scroll down to see the cover with the naughty bit Xed out. Not very funny or well-drawn, unfair to the Prince who actually works pretty hard as a PR rep for Spain, and in lousy taste, I agree.
However, censoring anything is an extremely bad idea. This whole fooferaw will simply draw more attention to the magazine.
Anyway, Judge Del Olmo of the National Court ordered the issue to be withdrawn from sale, and El Jueves's website is shut down. The basis for Del Olmo's action bans "calumniating or slandering the king and his descendants," lese-majesté, which is punishable by up to two years in prison.
That's ridiculous. The cartoon is clearly anti-monarchical political speech. I'm behind El Jueves, of course, even though it hasn't been funny since Ivà died back about 1994. What pissed me off is that the guy who drew the cartoon claimed disingenuously that it was a caricature of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and that Del Olmo's dirty mind was imagining things. What a jerk. At least show some guts and stand by what you said.
In case you're interested, after that flap about the caricatures of Mohammed in that Danish newspaper, El Jueves's response was a drawing of its sweating, nervous mascot (who wears a court jester's hat) with the title, "We were going to draw Mohammed, but we shit our pants!" The mascot says, "Mohammed? No Mohammed here. Just keep going," while erasing a drawing; all that's left of it are some sandals and the bottom of a robe. The editor said the point was "to ironize the fear that these people inspire," but added that "the reactions of our readers are one thing to keep in mind, but it's different if you publish a drawing that might get your country's embassy burned down."
One more link: The people spreading scare stories about the danger to the Sagrada Familia caused by the tunnel for the high-speed train under Calle Mallorca have made a fake news video showing the "consequences" if the tunnel is built. Note the horrible English subtitles. I need to call these folks up and offer my translation services.
Political news: Josep Piqué has quit as leader of the PP in Catalonia. Looks to me like he was pushed out, since PP headquarters in Madrid picked the candidates for the general election without consulting him. He resigned the next day. Daniel Sirera, who was the head of the Catalan PP youth organization, has replaced him, which just confirms that headquarters was all ready for Piqué's resignation.
They might have to hold new regional elections in Navarra, since the PP, the Socialists, and the Nafarroa Bai Basque nationalists cannot agree among themselves who is to form a government, and they've each got about a third of the deputies.
UPDATE Monday: I don't know why this post wasn't posted when I posted it, if that makes sense.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Antena 3 led off its afternoon news today with the steam pipe explosion in Manhattan, which killed one person. TV3, by the way, got the story wrong, saying it was a transformer that blew up. Both networks took the opportunity to remind everyone who might have thought that America is a normal place just like, say, most of Europe, that the panicked Yanks spend their lives shaking in fear of terrorism.
This meme is very common in the Spanish press, and I think it's rooted in the wishful-thinking idea that, well, the US may be richer and stronger and more important, but we're better than they are at quality of life and we have to continuously remind ourselves of this in case we forget. This is why there are so many reports on crime and guns in America, though violent crime in the US is not much higher than in much of Europe and suicide is far less common. It's also why there's so much to-do in the press about the so-called "Mediterranean diet" and its superiority to fast food, as if that were the only thing Americans ate.
The steam-pipe explosion that killed one person was clearly more important than the sinking of a cayuco south of Tenerife in which fifty African illegal immigrants are missing and feared dead. We have been saying for years, literally, that it is time for the international press to wake up to the horror story of the African boat people; they're too interested in criticizing the American plan to put up a wall along part of the Mexican border, though.
Breaking news: This morning a suspected ETA member bailed out of a taxi near Castellón when it stopped at a police roadblock. He left his sports bag behind him, which contained explosives. The guy is currently on the run but they'll get him pretty quick.
13.4% of people living in Catalonia are immigrants, almost one million total; the rate of immigration is slowing, but not by much. In 2006 more than 50,000 immigrants arrived, fewer than in 2004 and 2005 but still a lot. Some professor dudes say that many of the jobs immigrants are occupying are the lower-status ones abandoned by Catalan women as they move up in the job market.
They ran an extremely foolish documentary on channel 33 last night called "The Corporation," which featured about ten minutes of Michael Moore, along with the other usual suspects like Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Naomi Klein. It went through all the old bogus propaganda stories, from the alleged "business plot" against FDR to the alleged collaboration of American companies with Nazi Germany, and called for "democratic control" over corporate actions. Of course, what that means is giving the government control over the economy. Now you connect the dots and guess which political parties control channel 33. Note that, of course, they won't be showing "Free to Choose" anytime soon.
The Washington Post, Tech Central Station, and Spiked all say the movie's a bunch of crap. Here's the whole damn thing on YouTube in case you want to watch it.
This meme is very common in the Spanish press, and I think it's rooted in the wishful-thinking idea that, well, the US may be richer and stronger and more important, but we're better than they are at quality of life and we have to continuously remind ourselves of this in case we forget. This is why there are so many reports on crime and guns in America, though violent crime in the US is not much higher than in much of Europe and suicide is far less common. It's also why there's so much to-do in the press about the so-called "Mediterranean diet" and its superiority to fast food, as if that were the only thing Americans ate.
The steam-pipe explosion that killed one person was clearly more important than the sinking of a cayuco south of Tenerife in which fifty African illegal immigrants are missing and feared dead. We have been saying for years, literally, that it is time for the international press to wake up to the horror story of the African boat people; they're too interested in criticizing the American plan to put up a wall along part of the Mexican border, though.
Breaking news: This morning a suspected ETA member bailed out of a taxi near Castellón when it stopped at a police roadblock. He left his sports bag behind him, which contained explosives. The guy is currently on the run but they'll get him pretty quick.
13.4% of people living in Catalonia are immigrants, almost one million total; the rate of immigration is slowing, but not by much. In 2006 more than 50,000 immigrants arrived, fewer than in 2004 and 2005 but still a lot. Some professor dudes say that many of the jobs immigrants are occupying are the lower-status ones abandoned by Catalan women as they move up in the job market.
They ran an extremely foolish documentary on channel 33 last night called "The Corporation," which featured about ten minutes of Michael Moore, along with the other usual suspects like Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Naomi Klein. It went through all the old bogus propaganda stories, from the alleged "business plot" against FDR to the alleged collaboration of American companies with Nazi Germany, and called for "democratic control" over corporate actions. Of course, what that means is giving the government control over the economy. Now you connect the dots and guess which political parties control channel 33. Note that, of course, they won't be showing "Free to Choose" anytime soon.
The Washington Post, Tech Central Station, and Spiked all say the movie's a bunch of crap. Here's the whole damn thing on YouTube in case you want to watch it.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Time for another blog roundup.
Spanish Shilling comments on language use in Spain. Some of our regular readers will disagree with him.
Spanish Pundit has a news roundup. This is the first blog in English from Spain by a woman that I've seen.
Observing Hermann says Germans are stingy.
Notes from Spain doesn't see the point of going to Pamplona for the Sanfermines.
¡No Pasarán! slaps French bashers of McDo's.
La Liga Loca has the dope on the off-season Spanish football transfers.
LA-Madrid Files thinks there's too much porn on Spanish broadcast TV.
Ibex Salad has lots of Spanish stock market news, just in case you invest your money instead of spend it like most of the rest of us.
Guirilandia features a slice of Barcelona life.
Fausta sets us straight about the "shrinking Americans" story. I'm 183 cm, or 6 foot 1, and I'm noticeably taller than most folks around here. Younger Spaniards are a good deal taller than older Spaniards, but neither group matches the Americans or Northern Europeans.
Expat Yank spanks the new high mucky-mucks in the British foreign office.
Eursoc fills us in on aggressive Russian behavior in Europe.
Davids Mediakritik is tearing up the biased America-bashing German media. This is great.
Colin Davies just keeps on blogging from Pontevedra.
The Brussels Journal has a must-read post on the failures of Zap's foreign policy, especially toward Cuba. Don't miss this one.
A Fistful of Euros ponders the idea of European culture.
Spanish Shilling comments on language use in Spain. Some of our regular readers will disagree with him.
Spanish Pundit has a news roundup. This is the first blog in English from Spain by a woman that I've seen.
Observing Hermann says Germans are stingy.
Notes from Spain doesn't see the point of going to Pamplona for the Sanfermines.
¡No Pasarán! slaps French bashers of McDo's.
La Liga Loca has the dope on the off-season Spanish football transfers.
LA-Madrid Files thinks there's too much porn on Spanish broadcast TV.
Ibex Salad has lots of Spanish stock market news, just in case you invest your money instead of spend it like most of the rest of us.
Guirilandia features a slice of Barcelona life.
Fausta sets us straight about the "shrinking Americans" story. I'm 183 cm, or 6 foot 1, and I'm noticeably taller than most folks around here. Younger Spaniards are a good deal taller than older Spaniards, but neither group matches the Americans or Northern Europeans.
Expat Yank spanks the new high mucky-mucks in the British foreign office.
Eursoc fills us in on aggressive Russian behavior in Europe.
Davids Mediakritik is tearing up the biased America-bashing German media. This is great.
Colin Davies just keeps on blogging from Pontevedra.
The Brussels Journal has a must-read post on the failures of Zap's foreign policy, especially toward Cuba. Don't miss this one.
A Fistful of Euros ponders the idea of European culture.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
I asked my wife Remei about her memories of using Catalan during the Franco regime. She was born in a village named Vallfogona de Riucorb in 1960, and so was fifteen when Franco died and the transition to democracy began. Her parents were farmers who moved to the working-class Collblanc neighborhood in the Barcelona suburb of L'Hospitalet in the late sixties, and they spoke only Catalan with the family.
Says Remei, "It wasn't as bad as people say from my experience...In elementary school around 1972 we had an hour of Catalan class a week, it was like music, not really important like math or history...Outside class we spoke Catalan with the teachers who were Catalan, but they only used Spanish in class...It was mostly official, if you went to the city hall you used Spanish, and with the police. You always spoke Spanish with the Guardia Civil...In elementary school they told us that Catalan was a dialect, not a language. They made a big deal out of that...When I was born I was named Remedios, in Spanish, because that was the rule. I changed it to Remei in 1976 as soon as I could...In the early Seventies I remember music in Catalan, Serrat and La Trinca, and humor on the radio, I don't remember the comedian's name. My mom has some tapes by him. I don't remember TV in Catalan...In the village it was all Catalan, and in the city it was about 60 Catalan--40 Spanish. At work my parents spoke the language the clients spoke, just like today. People only knew how to write in Spanish, though...Nobody I know ever got in trouble with the government for speaking Catalan. About once a year you would meet an asshole (cabronazo) who would give you trouble and tell you to speak Spanish...Once I went to the doctor's office with my mom and she said, "Qui és l'últim?" and some woman said "Hable usted en cristiano, que no se la entiende."...I never felt discriminated against because I was Catalan. There was no pressure in my social class...In general things are much better today, of course. Catalan is really protected, actually."
I read this back to her and she said, "Perfect."
Says Remei, "It wasn't as bad as people say from my experience...In elementary school around 1972 we had an hour of Catalan class a week, it was like music, not really important like math or history...Outside class we spoke Catalan with the teachers who were Catalan, but they only used Spanish in class...It was mostly official, if you went to the city hall you used Spanish, and with the police. You always spoke Spanish with the Guardia Civil...In elementary school they told us that Catalan was a dialect, not a language. They made a big deal out of that...When I was born I was named Remedios, in Spanish, because that was the rule. I changed it to Remei in 1976 as soon as I could...In the early Seventies I remember music in Catalan, Serrat and La Trinca, and humor on the radio, I don't remember the comedian's name. My mom has some tapes by him. I don't remember TV in Catalan...In the village it was all Catalan, and in the city it was about 60 Catalan--40 Spanish. At work my parents spoke the language the clients spoke, just like today. People only knew how to write in Spanish, though...Nobody I know ever got in trouble with the government for speaking Catalan. About once a year you would meet an asshole (cabronazo) who would give you trouble and tell you to speak Spanish...Once I went to the doctor's office with my mom and she said, "Qui és l'últim?" and some woman said "Hable usted en cristiano, que no se la entiende."...I never felt discriminated against because I was Catalan. There was no pressure in my social class...In general things are much better today, of course. Catalan is really protected, actually."
I read this back to her and she said, "Perfect."
Tom at the Bad Rash has a post up castigating us, rather politely I must admit:
If you read other English-language blogs from Catalonia, you might get the impression that the story of Catalan being banned under Franco was made up by Catalan nationalists. This is completely untrue. Certain bloggers seem to have a perverse interest in undermining the history of Catalan, Catalonia and the repression during the Franco years. Make no mistake: under Franco, hundreds of laws and judgments were passed which effectively outlawed the use of the Catalan language. At best, the blogs which promulgate this myth are disingenuous. I reckon that they're aiming for an audience-pleasing tone of contrariety, which is, after all, the natural tone for successful blogs. Doesn't make it true, though.
I've never said Catalan wasn't repressed under Franco, and I of course deplore the treatment of Catalan-speakers under the dictatorship. What I have said several times is that Catalan's status changed many times under Franco's regime, and it's simplistic to just say "Catalan was banned."
In 1939, official use of Catalan was prohibited, including its use in schools, the civil service and legal system, books, newspapers, and broadcasting. However, of course, unofficial use could not be and was not prohibited; people used the language they always had with their families and acquaintances. I've never heard of anyone being executed or even going to jail for speaking Catalan to his mom, his buddies, the shop foreman, or the guy at the grocery store. My wife confirms this. So it's not like there was some sort of Gestapo or Stalinist linguistic terror, unpleasant as the anti-Catalan laws were, and that is what at least some Catalan nationalists are claiming.
Gradually, some of the anti-Catalan laws were relaxed; I wish I had more solid facts on this, and I've been searching the Internet for at least an hour, so it looks like I need to check down at the public library tomorrow.
I do know:
Publication of books in Catalan resumed in 1940, and by the early 1950s many books were being printed in Catalan as the dictatorship began to relax its control. (Key events: Reconciliation with the United Nations, the United States, and the Vatican.) Several literary prizes for books in Catalan were established during the Fifties. By the early 1960s, music and theater was permitted in Catalan--for example, Els Setze Jutges. Lluís Llach released the famous protest song "L'Estaca" in 1968 and was not arrested or anything. In 1962, the Edicions 62 publishing house was founded, and around that time Francoist censorship became less strict. Spanish and Catalan writers were henceforth basically permitted to write what they wanted as long as they didn't criticize the Franco government; therefore, there is a lot of '60s sociology, economics, and especially history still available in Catalan. Sometime during this period Catalan was permitted again on radio and TV. Catalan was reintroduced into the schools in 1971.
So, actually, after about 1950, Catalan wasn't treated particularly differently from Breton in France, Welsh in the UK, or German in northern Italy, and got rather better treatment than, say, Hungarian in Romania or Czechoslovakia. Or German anywhere east of the Oder.
I hold no brief for dictators in general or Franco in particular. I do have a problem with the exaggeration of Francoist evil for political reasons, which I smell behind some of the more outrageous Catalan nationalist claims (Franco banned the sardana, anyone?).
If you read other English-language blogs from Catalonia, you might get the impression that the story of Catalan being banned under Franco was made up by Catalan nationalists. This is completely untrue. Certain bloggers seem to have a perverse interest in undermining the history of Catalan, Catalonia and the repression during the Franco years. Make no mistake: under Franco, hundreds of laws and judgments were passed which effectively outlawed the use of the Catalan language. At best, the blogs which promulgate this myth are disingenuous. I reckon that they're aiming for an audience-pleasing tone of contrariety, which is, after all, the natural tone for successful blogs. Doesn't make it true, though.
I've never said Catalan wasn't repressed under Franco, and I of course deplore the treatment of Catalan-speakers under the dictatorship. What I have said several times is that Catalan's status changed many times under Franco's regime, and it's simplistic to just say "Catalan was banned."
In 1939, official use of Catalan was prohibited, including its use in schools, the civil service and legal system, books, newspapers, and broadcasting. However, of course, unofficial use could not be and was not prohibited; people used the language they always had with their families and acquaintances. I've never heard of anyone being executed or even going to jail for speaking Catalan to his mom, his buddies, the shop foreman, or the guy at the grocery store. My wife confirms this. So it's not like there was some sort of Gestapo or Stalinist linguistic terror, unpleasant as the anti-Catalan laws were, and that is what at least some Catalan nationalists are claiming.
Gradually, some of the anti-Catalan laws were relaxed; I wish I had more solid facts on this, and I've been searching the Internet for at least an hour, so it looks like I need to check down at the public library tomorrow.
I do know:
Publication of books in Catalan resumed in 1940, and by the early 1950s many books were being printed in Catalan as the dictatorship began to relax its control. (Key events: Reconciliation with the United Nations, the United States, and the Vatican.) Several literary prizes for books in Catalan were established during the Fifties. By the early 1960s, music and theater was permitted in Catalan--for example, Els Setze Jutges. Lluís Llach released the famous protest song "L'Estaca" in 1968 and was not arrested or anything. In 1962, the Edicions 62 publishing house was founded, and around that time Francoist censorship became less strict. Spanish and Catalan writers were henceforth basically permitted to write what they wanted as long as they didn't criticize the Franco government; therefore, there is a lot of '60s sociology, economics, and especially history still available in Catalan. Sometime during this period Catalan was permitted again on radio and TV. Catalan was reintroduced into the schools in 1971.
So, actually, after about 1950, Catalan wasn't treated particularly differently from Breton in France, Welsh in the UK, or German in northern Italy, and got rather better treatment than, say, Hungarian in Romania or Czechoslovakia. Or German anywhere east of the Oder.
I hold no brief for dictators in general or Franco in particular. I do have a problem with the exaggeration of Francoist evil for political reasons, which I smell behind some of the more outrageous Catalan nationalist claims (Franco banned the sardana, anyone?).
Monday, July 16, 2007
Get this. A bunch of alleged "intellectuals and artists" have an Internet petition up calling for ex-prime minister Aznar to be tried for war crimes in Iraq. The only name among the top 100 signers I recognized was Noam Chomsky. Of the signers who claim to be from an organization, looks like 95% are some kind of Communist, of course. If you want to sign the petition, here's the link. So far I've signed as Ozzy Osbourne, the Duque de Feria, Ana Obregón, and Sid Vicious, but I'll bet you can be more creative than I can.
There is one more piece of news: A former Barcelona provincial subprefect has been arrested, along with two civil servants and an employee of the Russian consulate, and charged with collaborating with the Russian mafia. They were providing false Spanish work and residence permits to anyone the Russians wanted them to. I really don't know much about it, but people say the Russian mafia is powerful in Spain, and that some of the money behind the construction boom is theirs. I suspect that there is some truth behind the rumors, but that Russian mafia money is a minor factor, and the main stimulus for construction is simply that Spain is Europe's Sunbelt.
Fortunately, the biggest news around here is that a rubber warehouse in the Vallés suburbs caught on fire yesterday and emitted a huge plume of black smoke visible for miles, that the Spanish cops busted a bunch of Internet kiddie porn pervs, that they're definitely going to run the high-speed train near the Sagrada Familia through a tunnel under Calle Mallorca, and that Zap is currently ahead of Rajoy in the polls. No terrorism, no stock market crash, no Esquerra Republicana topping the surveys. All is well.
Oh, yeah, the Sagrada Familia is an "expiatory temple," which I think means you get some time off purgatory if you contribute. Anyone who contributes to the new work going on has very poor aesthetic sense, and should actually have to spend extra time in purgatory for the sin of bad taste. The newer side portal designed by Subirachs is just plain ugly, not to mention dumb, featuring a faceless anatomically correct Christ and a bunch of Roman centurions who look like Imperial Stormtroopers.
We spent the weekend out in the pueblo as usual; didn't do much but go to the pool and walk the dog. The pool is especially nice, very clean and with full bar service. There were no clouds and the sky was pale Mediterranean blue, not the deep blue you see in the midwestern US. I like to swim down to the bottom and then turn over on my back and look up; all you can see is the sky and the sun through six feet of water. A whole lot of swallows (I assume European swallows, though we're not too far from Africa) live in Vallfogona, and they like to fly over the pool and then peel out, dive, skim the surface for a tiny sip of water, and then pull up and out. It would be even cooler if they did it in formation.
One of the other nice things about the pueblo is that there is no noise. If you walk up in the hills you oftan can't hear any man-made sounds at all. It's quite a contrast from Barcelona, which is one of the noisiest places I've ever been--beats London, Paris, and LA, not to mention Kansas City.
Oh, yeah, the Sagrada Familia is an "expiatory temple," which I think means you get some time off purgatory if you contribute. Anyone who contributes to the new work going on has very poor aesthetic sense, and should actually have to spend extra time in purgatory for the sin of bad taste. The newer side portal designed by Subirachs is just plain ugly, not to mention dumb, featuring a faceless anatomically correct Christ and a bunch of Roman centurions who look like Imperial Stormtroopers.
We spent the weekend out in the pueblo as usual; didn't do much but go to the pool and walk the dog. The pool is especially nice, very clean and with full bar service. There were no clouds and the sky was pale Mediterranean blue, not the deep blue you see in the midwestern US. I like to swim down to the bottom and then turn over on my back and look up; all you can see is the sky and the sun through six feet of water. A whole lot of swallows (I assume European swallows, though we're not too far from Africa) live in Vallfogona, and they like to fly over the pool and then peel out, dive, skim the surface for a tiny sip of water, and then pull up and out. It would be even cooler if they did it in formation.
One of the other nice things about the pueblo is that there is no noise. If you walk up in the hills you oftan can't hear any man-made sounds at all. It's quite a contrast from Barcelona, which is one of the noisiest places I've ever been--beats London, Paris, and LA, not to mention Kansas City.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Fortunately, there isn't much news around here. They had a nasty bull run at Pamplona this morning and several people got hurt real bad, including one guy with broken bones in his ribcage and spine along with a concussion. An American caught a horn right in the ass, and some guy from Poland took a horn in the "perianal area," which sounds extremely unpleasant. TV3 has a photo. People, running with the bulls is dangerous, in case you hadn't figured that out already.
The Spanish woman injured in the Yemen terrorist blast who was in critical condition is now brain-dead, which means the toll rises to eight Spaniards and two Yemenis, not counting the suicide bomber.
The David Vitter prostitute scandal has hit the Spanish press, which is hammering on the hypocrisy theme. They have a point. If a Senator cannot keep his willy on a leash, he should not make pronouncements about what others do with their own unleashed willies. However, it is of course unfair to generalize from this one case that all Republican senators are hypocrites, or that hypocrisy is any more common in America than in Spain.
(Spanish hypocrisy isn't usually about sex; it's usually about solidarity and being holier-than-thou about the Third World, the consumer society, and ethical values. Lots of folks talk a good game about self-righteous do-gooder ideals around here, but very few follow up with any action.)
National Review said two things I thought were kind of silly; one was that "prostitution is illegal because prostitution is wrong," which makes no sense; why shouldn't people charge for having sexual relations, and how is that any more wrong than doing it for free? The other was that Larry Flynt has no moral standards. I'm not so sure. I bet Larry thinks that murdering people is wrong, and that robbing banks is wrong, and that raping children is wrong. He just doesn't think that either publishing nasty magazines or blackmailing hypocritical Republican senators is wrong.
They busted two more ETA terrorists in France yesterday; these guys were part of the cell in charge of stealing materiel, such as guns and explosives. Meanwhile, the cell they broke up in Santander was going to hit either the city hall or the courthouse with a car bomb.
Speaking of solidarity with the Third World, a Barcelona-based NGO called Intervida has turned out to be a scam; its directors have been charged with embezzlement, fraud, and conspiracy. Seems the contributions they were collecting went to buy real estate or shares in businesses, including the one that runs the Imax cinema here. Looks like they stole some €60 million.
The government has been running an ad campaign against domestic violence, which promises abused women that the law will do something to help and protect them. I call bullshit on that. 37% of the victims of domestic murder in the first half of 2007 in Spain had filed charges against their killers. 30% were under restraining orders. Two-thirds of the murders were committed in the victim's home, meaning the law is doing a lousy job keepìng violent men away from female victims. The first thing they need to do in domestic violence cases is get the woman out of there to a place where the man can't find her or can't get to her, and I have seen no signs of the government taking any such steps.
Barcelona signed Argentinian center-back Gabi Milito from Zaragoza for €17 million, the most they've ever paid for a defender. Milito is very good and is probably worth the money, especially since Puyol is injured and won't be able to start the season. These guys don't make all that much money, by the way. Milito, for example, will be paid €2 million a year, and he's one of the pillars of Argentina's national squad. I think Barça's highest-paid players like Ronaldinho get around €6 million a year. Kansas City designated hitter Mike Sweeney, who has sucked for years, is getting paid $11 million a year. There are lousy baseball players getting nearly double that. Also, Real Madrid signed Christoph Metzelder, another gimpy defender in the tradition of Woodgate and Samuel.
The Spanish woman injured in the Yemen terrorist blast who was in critical condition is now brain-dead, which means the toll rises to eight Spaniards and two Yemenis, not counting the suicide bomber.
The David Vitter prostitute scandal has hit the Spanish press, which is hammering on the hypocrisy theme. They have a point. If a Senator cannot keep his willy on a leash, he should not make pronouncements about what others do with their own unleashed willies. However, it is of course unfair to generalize from this one case that all Republican senators are hypocrites, or that hypocrisy is any more common in America than in Spain.
(Spanish hypocrisy isn't usually about sex; it's usually about solidarity and being holier-than-thou about the Third World, the consumer society, and ethical values. Lots of folks talk a good game about self-righteous do-gooder ideals around here, but very few follow up with any action.)
National Review said two things I thought were kind of silly; one was that "prostitution is illegal because prostitution is wrong," which makes no sense; why shouldn't people charge for having sexual relations, and how is that any more wrong than doing it for free? The other was that Larry Flynt has no moral standards. I'm not so sure. I bet Larry thinks that murdering people is wrong, and that robbing banks is wrong, and that raping children is wrong. He just doesn't think that either publishing nasty magazines or blackmailing hypocritical Republican senators is wrong.
They busted two more ETA terrorists in France yesterday; these guys were part of the cell in charge of stealing materiel, such as guns and explosives. Meanwhile, the cell they broke up in Santander was going to hit either the city hall or the courthouse with a car bomb.
Speaking of solidarity with the Third World, a Barcelona-based NGO called Intervida has turned out to be a scam; its directors have been charged with embezzlement, fraud, and conspiracy. Seems the contributions they were collecting went to buy real estate or shares in businesses, including the one that runs the Imax cinema here. Looks like they stole some €60 million.
The government has been running an ad campaign against domestic violence, which promises abused women that the law will do something to help and protect them. I call bullshit on that. 37% of the victims of domestic murder in the first half of 2007 in Spain had filed charges against their killers. 30% were under restraining orders. Two-thirds of the murders were committed in the victim's home, meaning the law is doing a lousy job keepìng violent men away from female victims. The first thing they need to do in domestic violence cases is get the woman out of there to a place where the man can't find her or can't get to her, and I have seen no signs of the government taking any such steps.
Barcelona signed Argentinian center-back Gabi Milito from Zaragoza for €17 million, the most they've ever paid for a defender. Milito is very good and is probably worth the money, especially since Puyol is injured and won't be able to start the season. These guys don't make all that much money, by the way. Milito, for example, will be paid €2 million a year, and he's one of the pillars of Argentina's national squad. I think Barça's highest-paid players like Ronaldinho get around €6 million a year. Kansas City designated hitter Mike Sweeney, who has sucked for years, is getting paid $11 million a year. There are lousy baseball players getting nearly double that. Also, Real Madrid signed Christoph Metzelder, another gimpy defender in the tradition of Woodgate and Samuel.
I've started a new site called Hard Country (hardcountry66.blogspot.com), where I hope to be posting at least once a week. It'll mostly be links to country, blues, rock, bluegrass, and American music in general. Links to the first two posts: A set of about fifteen 21st century country videos (more or less), and some Taj Mahal songs. Taj is playing Girona tomorrow night, on the steps of the cathedral, which sounds like a must-see to me. I can't make it, unfortunately, but you ought to try. He'll be there with the other guys from his trio; it won't be a full band. I'm not sure anyone around here has ever heard of Taj, but here's a chance to check him out live.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Even Toni Soler, a borderline Cataloony, says that ERC's lust to make teachers the language police is ridiculous, besides illegal. That's been pretty much the universal reaction around here, which is a good thing because it shows that these ERC national socialists are well outside the Catalan mainstream.
Other local news: They're going to cut the speed limit on motorways in the heart of the Barcelona metro area to 80 kilometers per hour, a little less than 50 mph, in order to reduce pollution. Outer areas will have a 90 kph speed limit. I don't know; there are arguments on both sides.
In favor: Barcelona's air is way too polluted, and 52% of particles in suspension are caused by motor vehicles. Also, the slower you drive the less likely you are to be killed in an accident, of course, and far too many people are killed in car wrecks around here.
Against: There are other ways to cut vehicle air pollution, including getting all cars that burn leaded gas off the road. The problem isn't new SUVs with big engines; they burn lots of gas but don't pollute much because they've got converters and filters and all that stuff. It's the old beaters that pollute the most. I have no idea why Barcelona doesn't have a park-and-ride system on the commuter train lines, either, and making the trains suck less might get a whole lot of cars off the road. Also, traffic is hellacious in Barcelona, and slowing the motorways down will cause more traffic jams, which waste everyone's time and lots of energy, and cause excess polluion as well. As for danger on the roads, I'm not sure the folks doing 120 are the problem; I think it's the folks doing 180 and the ones who are liquored up.
The cops busted another ETA terrorist at the bus station in Santander; he was packing a pistol, a detonator, and fake ID. They're looking for the woman who had been accompanying him; these two were apparently part of a cell based in Cantabria that was planning an attack.
The two etarras the French cops got near Paris last week turned out to be ETA's forgery brigade, so that's a big hit for them. Also, four leaders of ETA's youth squad got busted for what's called kale borroka, street terrorism; they'd been tossing molotov cocktails at bank branches and government offices.
ETA looks like it's about done; let's hope the two men killed at Barajas airport will be the last two. Murph says the cops must have a mole inside the organization, and his bet is Josu Ternera; I actually wouldn't be surprised if he's right this time.
The Pakistani army stormed the mosque in Islamabad causing the predictable massacre. La Vanguardia's correspondent, one Jordi Joan Baños, whose dateline is New Delhi, claims on page 3 that the army operation had the approval of Washington. I hadn't read that anywhere else, and I didn't know General Musharraf had to check with Langley before shooting up some Islamist terrorists.
Boy, Pope Benedict has really put his foot in it with this claim that the Catholic Church is the only true church. I know some Methodists who don't agree; I don't think most American Catholics are going to like it, either. This is not going to make him any friends, just like what the very Catholic La Vangua calls "the liberation of the Latin Mass." The Latin Mass calls for the conversion of the Jews. One would think Benedict would cut that little bit out, but he didn't even show that tiny bit of sense. This guy may be a brilliant theologian, but he's nowhere near another John Paul II, who did as much as anyone but Reagan and Thatcher to finally win the Cold War.
The scare over contaminated Chinese products has reached Spain, where some unfit toothpaste was distributed. Wariness of cheap Chinese goods seems to have just taken a sharp upswing in Spain. Now the Chinese have taken out and shot the former head of their food and drug agency for corruption. That seems a bit excessive to me, even if the government's justification is that his corruption led to the deaths of inncoent consumers.
La Vanguardia reports on the same page that 91% of legal executions occur in China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan, and the United States. That's lumping very different things together, since China officially executed 1010 persons in 2006 and the US 53. You could just as easily say that the Americans execute one-twentieth of the number that the Chinese do. La Vangua also fails to mention that you only get executed in the States if you've been convicted of first-degree murder.
Woody Allen has taken over the city; they cut off traffic on the Ramblas yesterday so that he could film there. Crowds are showing up to rubberneck. The PP has accused the governing Socialists, several of whom got their photos taken with Allen, of groveling indecorously before a foreign celebrity.
Three e-mail messages from La Vangua. "Just what we needed in Barcelona, an American comes and they let him cut off the streets in half the city. It's like going back forty years when the American navy came"; "We're still a Third World country that, when the American bwana comes, loses the last drop of its dignity"; "We can't absorb more tourists than the ones we already suffer from. It's not necessary to subsidize a movie with public funds to benefit the hotel owners and damage our quality of life."
They sound pretty bitter. I must say I'm not real happy at tax money going to benefit Woody Allen, either; I'd prefer to, say, burn it, or flush it down the toilet, or buy some cool automatic weapons for the cops.
Real Madrid signed Saviola and a defender named Pepe from Oporto. Barça is going to sign Gabi Milito. He'll be the last Barcelona signing, and they're still trying to get rid of several players, including Belletti, Giuly, Ezquerro, and Motta. Sylvinho and Edmilson seem to have be off the hook, and no one's sure whether Gudjohnsen is staying or going. There were rumors about Tamudo and Luis Garcia leaving Espanyol, but it looks like neither is going to happen.
So I suppose the Barça squad will be: Goalies Valdes and Jorquera; fullbacks Zambrotta, Abidal, Sylvinho, Oleguer; center backs Puyol, Milito, Thuram, Marquez; midfielders Deco, Xavi, Iniesta, Toure, Edmilson, Dos Santos, Bojan; forwards Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Messi, Henry, and Gudjohnsen. That looks pretty good, and I think Barça has to be the favorite going into next season.
Other local news: They're going to cut the speed limit on motorways in the heart of the Barcelona metro area to 80 kilometers per hour, a little less than 50 mph, in order to reduce pollution. Outer areas will have a 90 kph speed limit. I don't know; there are arguments on both sides.
In favor: Barcelona's air is way too polluted, and 52% of particles in suspension are caused by motor vehicles. Also, the slower you drive the less likely you are to be killed in an accident, of course, and far too many people are killed in car wrecks around here.
Against: There are other ways to cut vehicle air pollution, including getting all cars that burn leaded gas off the road. The problem isn't new SUVs with big engines; they burn lots of gas but don't pollute much because they've got converters and filters and all that stuff. It's the old beaters that pollute the most. I have no idea why Barcelona doesn't have a park-and-ride system on the commuter train lines, either, and making the trains suck less might get a whole lot of cars off the road. Also, traffic is hellacious in Barcelona, and slowing the motorways down will cause more traffic jams, which waste everyone's time and lots of energy, and cause excess polluion as well. As for danger on the roads, I'm not sure the folks doing 120 are the problem; I think it's the folks doing 180 and the ones who are liquored up.
The cops busted another ETA terrorist at the bus station in Santander; he was packing a pistol, a detonator, and fake ID. They're looking for the woman who had been accompanying him; these two were apparently part of a cell based in Cantabria that was planning an attack.
The two etarras the French cops got near Paris last week turned out to be ETA's forgery brigade, so that's a big hit for them. Also, four leaders of ETA's youth squad got busted for what's called kale borroka, street terrorism; they'd been tossing molotov cocktails at bank branches and government offices.
ETA looks like it's about done; let's hope the two men killed at Barajas airport will be the last two. Murph says the cops must have a mole inside the organization, and his bet is Josu Ternera; I actually wouldn't be surprised if he's right this time.
The Pakistani army stormed the mosque in Islamabad causing the predictable massacre. La Vanguardia's correspondent, one Jordi Joan Baños, whose dateline is New Delhi, claims on page 3 that the army operation had the approval of Washington. I hadn't read that anywhere else, and I didn't know General Musharraf had to check with Langley before shooting up some Islamist terrorists.
Boy, Pope Benedict has really put his foot in it with this claim that the Catholic Church is the only true church. I know some Methodists who don't agree; I don't think most American Catholics are going to like it, either. This is not going to make him any friends, just like what the very Catholic La Vangua calls "the liberation of the Latin Mass." The Latin Mass calls for the conversion of the Jews. One would think Benedict would cut that little bit out, but he didn't even show that tiny bit of sense. This guy may be a brilliant theologian, but he's nowhere near another John Paul II, who did as much as anyone but Reagan and Thatcher to finally win the Cold War.
The scare over contaminated Chinese products has reached Spain, where some unfit toothpaste was distributed. Wariness of cheap Chinese goods seems to have just taken a sharp upswing in Spain. Now the Chinese have taken out and shot the former head of their food and drug agency for corruption. That seems a bit excessive to me, even if the government's justification is that his corruption led to the deaths of inncoent consumers.
La Vanguardia reports on the same page that 91% of legal executions occur in China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan, and the United States. That's lumping very different things together, since China officially executed 1010 persons in 2006 and the US 53. You could just as easily say that the Americans execute one-twentieth of the number that the Chinese do. La Vangua also fails to mention that you only get executed in the States if you've been convicted of first-degree murder.
Woody Allen has taken over the city; they cut off traffic on the Ramblas yesterday so that he could film there. Crowds are showing up to rubberneck. The PP has accused the governing Socialists, several of whom got their photos taken with Allen, of groveling indecorously before a foreign celebrity.
Three e-mail messages from La Vangua. "Just what we needed in Barcelona, an American comes and they let him cut off the streets in half the city. It's like going back forty years when the American navy came"; "We're still a Third World country that, when the American bwana comes, loses the last drop of its dignity"; "We can't absorb more tourists than the ones we already suffer from. It's not necessary to subsidize a movie with public funds to benefit the hotel owners and damage our quality of life."
They sound pretty bitter. I must say I'm not real happy at tax money going to benefit Woody Allen, either; I'd prefer to, say, burn it, or flush it down the toilet, or buy some cool automatic weapons for the cops.
Real Madrid signed Saviola and a defender named Pepe from Oporto. Barça is going to sign Gabi Milito. He'll be the last Barcelona signing, and they're still trying to get rid of several players, including Belletti, Giuly, Ezquerro, and Motta. Sylvinho and Edmilson seem to have be off the hook, and no one's sure whether Gudjohnsen is staying or going. There were rumors about Tamudo and Luis Garcia leaving Espanyol, but it looks like neither is going to happen.
So I suppose the Barça squad will be: Goalies Valdes and Jorquera; fullbacks Zambrotta, Abidal, Sylvinho, Oleguer; center backs Puyol, Milito, Thuram, Marquez; midfielders Deco, Xavi, Iniesta, Toure, Edmilson, Dos Santos, Bojan; forwards Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Messi, Henry, and Gudjohnsen. That looks pretty good, and I think Barça has to be the favorite going into next season.
Friday, July 06, 2007
You want Catalunacy? We got Catalunacy. Esquerra Republicana (ERC), our local national socialists, say they want to force all teachers to speak only Catalan at school. Not just in class to the students, but in the teachers' lounge and cafeteria, in conferences with parents (who may not know Catalan), and when talking with the janitors and other workers (who may not know Catalan). Well, actually, that last bit wouldn't be true anymore, because they want janitors and lunch ladies to pass a Catalan test or lose their jobs. Also, even outside class, teachers (even, like, math teachers) will have to monitor students' speech and correct them if they use incorrect Catalan. Students will have to address teachers only in Catalan.
Completely. Fucking. Ridiculous. Language. Fascism. There is nothing guaranteed to piss off Spanish-speakers as much as attempts to force them to renounce their own native language, the second- or third-most spoken in the world and the co-official language of Catalonia, for a comparatively minor language, the 88th-most spoken. Coercion won't make people want to learn Catalan, it'll put them off.
More ERC language fascism: They want to ban speaking Spanish on TV3. Specifically, they don't want TV3 to invite Spanish-speaking talk-show guests or interview Spanish-speaking people on the news. If a Spanish-speaker must be allowed to appear on TV3, then everything he says must be subtitled in Catalan. No Spanish-speaking characters in sitcoms or dramas or soap operas will be allowed.
And then the Cataloonies complain that many people in the rest of Spain don't like Catalans in general. Yes, that's ignorant prejudice; it makes no more sense to dislike Catalans than, say, Americans or Iranians or Bolivians or Laotians. But the Cataloonies, though a small minority, make so much unpleasant noise that other Spaniards automatically identify all Catalans with Cataloony linguafascism.
Completely. Fucking. Ridiculous. Language. Fascism. There is nothing guaranteed to piss off Spanish-speakers as much as attempts to force them to renounce their own native language, the second- or third-most spoken in the world and the co-official language of Catalonia, for a comparatively minor language, the 88th-most spoken. Coercion won't make people want to learn Catalan, it'll put them off.
More ERC language fascism: They want to ban speaking Spanish on TV3. Specifically, they don't want TV3 to invite Spanish-speaking talk-show guests or interview Spanish-speaking people on the news. If a Spanish-speaker must be allowed to appear on TV3, then everything he says must be subtitled in Catalan. No Spanish-speaking characters in sitcoms or dramas or soap operas will be allowed.
And then the Cataloonies complain that many people in the rest of Spain don't like Catalans in general. Yes, that's ignorant prejudice; it makes no more sense to dislike Catalans than, say, Americans or Iranians or Bolivians or Laotians. But the Cataloonies, though a small minority, make so much unpleasant noise that other Spaniards automatically identify all Catalans with Cataloony linguafascism.
Get this. The Woody Allen movie to be made in Barcelona will receive €1 million in subsidies from the Ayuntamiento and €500,000 from the Generalitat. In addition, Woody will get some cash from the central government depending on the movie's box office. Meanwhile, the press reports on Woody's every movement; they're playing up a story about Penelope Cruz and asshole actor Javier Bardem going out to dinner together. Several La Vanguardia columnists have already complained that all this falling down at Woody's feet is a bit provincial and rather undignified. But Barcelona loves it when people from the rest of the world takes notice of it. The city has a well-deserved high regard for itself, though they're still insecure about their new status as a place that people have actually heard of.
Zap shook up the cabinet. Nobody cares.
More Zap news: During the state of the nation debate in Congress, Zap came out with a surprise announcement that the government would pay €2500 to every couple producing a child after July 3. I didn't believe it was anything more than hot air, but it's actually going into effect. Is it a good idea? It's not much different from giving a tax exemption for dependents, I suppose, and I guess the state has enough money since they've been good about running a budget surplus--have to give a little credit here to Zap, though Aznar did the same thing. Rajoy pointed out that the PP's platform called for an €3000 payment for each new baby.
The San Fermín fiesta in Pamplona began today, and the town is full of Americans. Running with the bulls advice, if you insist on doing it: Watch a couple of times before you actually participate. Don't run drunk or hung over. If you fall, cover up but do not get up; an American was killed a couple of years ago when he fell in front of the bulls and tried to scramble out of the way. Don't get caught up in big crowds, especially not when going through the tunnel into the bullring; people have been trampled and crushed in pileups. Stay far away from lone bulls separated from the group; they're supposed to be the most dangerous. You may see people trying to touch the bulls; you're not supposed to do that.
They have encierros in a lot of other places in Spain, too; I think the most famous is San Sebastian de los Reyes, just outside Madrid, on August 28. Tudela is an interesting little town that's not too far from Pamplona, and they have a big fiesta lasting a week at the end of July. Here's the encierro schedule for July if you just can't get enough.
Sports news: Barça is still in the running to buy Chivu, but they're also trying to cut a deal to buy Gabi Milito from Zaragoza. They've made a deal with Milito and now they're trying to knock down the price. Supposedly FC Barcelona (basketball) shooting guard Juan Carlos Navarro is going to the NBA, but Barça wants too much money for him and he's not all that great.
Zap shook up the cabinet. Nobody cares.
More Zap news: During the state of the nation debate in Congress, Zap came out with a surprise announcement that the government would pay €2500 to every couple producing a child after July 3. I didn't believe it was anything more than hot air, but it's actually going into effect. Is it a good idea? It's not much different from giving a tax exemption for dependents, I suppose, and I guess the state has enough money since they've been good about running a budget surplus--have to give a little credit here to Zap, though Aznar did the same thing. Rajoy pointed out that the PP's platform called for an €3000 payment for each new baby.
The San Fermín fiesta in Pamplona began today, and the town is full of Americans. Running with the bulls advice, if you insist on doing it: Watch a couple of times before you actually participate. Don't run drunk or hung over. If you fall, cover up but do not get up; an American was killed a couple of years ago when he fell in front of the bulls and tried to scramble out of the way. Don't get caught up in big crowds, especially not when going through the tunnel into the bullring; people have been trampled and crushed in pileups. Stay far away from lone bulls separated from the group; they're supposed to be the most dangerous. You may see people trying to touch the bulls; you're not supposed to do that.
They have encierros in a lot of other places in Spain, too; I think the most famous is San Sebastian de los Reyes, just outside Madrid, on August 28. Tudela is an interesting little town that's not too far from Pamplona, and they have a big fiesta lasting a week at the end of July. Here's the encierro schedule for July if you just can't get enough.
Sports news: Barça is still in the running to buy Chivu, but they're also trying to cut a deal to buy Gabi Milito from Zaragoza. They've made a deal with Milito and now they're trying to knock down the price. Supposedly FC Barcelona (basketball) shooting guard Juan Carlos Navarro is going to the NBA, but Barça wants too much money for him and he's not all that great.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Let's do another blog roundup.
Barcepundit links to evidence that France's behavior regarding Rwanda was, oh, about a hundred times worse than anything the CIA ever did.
The Brussels Journal links to the European Union sex video whose purpose is to arouse and excite passion for the EU.
Colin Davies posts on Pamplona, Zap, and Spanish drivers, and answers my rhetorical question about who exactly thinks the SNP government is a success.
Davids Medienkritik takes an ignorant anti-American German journalist to the woodshed. Check it out.
Eursoc has a go at Gordon Brown's declining to put the new EU "agreement," that is, constitution, up for a referendum in Britain.
Expat Yank supports ethnic profiling. Me too. Here's an example: Let's say the KKK suddenly had a resurgence in Mississippi and started committing acts of terrorism just like the old days. Well, I would 100% support the FBI's paying extra-special attention to white people on the grounds that blacks are not too likely to be Klansmen.
Fausta supports the US-Colombia trade agreement and scorns its Democratic opponents. Publius Pundit has more.
LA-Madrid Files has a swipe at America-bashing Europeans who nevertheless love American technology.
Notes from Spain continues its series of posts by guest bloggers. Interesting. Diverse viewpoints here.
¡No Pasarán! slaps Zap.
Observing Hermann tries to explain the Tom Cruise-Germany flap.
Pejman has a long and illuminating post on Tocqueville's Democracy in America.
Rainy Day blasts another ignorant America-basher, this time a Brit.
Spanish Pundit has more on the fallout from the Yemen bombing.
Barcepundit links to evidence that France's behavior regarding Rwanda was, oh, about a hundred times worse than anything the CIA ever did.
The Brussels Journal links to the European Union sex video whose purpose is to arouse and excite passion for the EU.
Colin Davies posts on Pamplona, Zap, and Spanish drivers, and answers my rhetorical question about who exactly thinks the SNP government is a success.
Davids Medienkritik takes an ignorant anti-American German journalist to the woodshed. Check it out.
Eursoc has a go at Gordon Brown's declining to put the new EU "agreement," that is, constitution, up for a referendum in Britain.
Expat Yank supports ethnic profiling. Me too. Here's an example: Let's say the KKK suddenly had a resurgence in Mississippi and started committing acts of terrorism just like the old days. Well, I would 100% support the FBI's paying extra-special attention to white people on the grounds that blacks are not too likely to be Klansmen.
Fausta supports the US-Colombia trade agreement and scorns its Democratic opponents. Publius Pundit has more.
LA-Madrid Files has a swipe at America-bashing Europeans who nevertheless love American technology.
Notes from Spain continues its series of posts by guest bloggers. Interesting. Diverse viewpoints here.
¡No Pasarán! slaps Zap.
Observing Hermann tries to explain the Tom Cruise-Germany flap.
Pejman has a long and illuminating post on Tocqueville's Democracy in America.
Rainy Day blasts another ignorant America-basher, this time a Brit.
Spanish Pundit has more on the fallout from the Yemen bombing.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Snopes has an interesting historical piece debunking some legends about the signers of the US Declaration of Independence. Check it out.
Also, Al Gore's kid got busted for DUI and possession of marijuana along with some serious pharmaceuticals, including Valium, Xanax, and Vicodin. Now here's the good part. He was driving 100 mph on the San Diego Freeway at about two in the morning. In a Toyota Prius. So at least he was ecologically sustainable about it. Any chance now of the Dems laying off Bush's daughters?
And the Nuge himself has a piece on the "hordes of stoned, dirty, stinky hippies" hanging around San Francisco back in the Sixties. In the Wall Street Journal. Don't miss it.
Ted made one mistake: Mama Cass had a heart attack, probably from being too fat, not from drugs, says Wikipedia. And no, she didn't choke on a ham sandwich, she died in her sleep at a London hotel.
Also, Al Gore's kid got busted for DUI and possession of marijuana along with some serious pharmaceuticals, including Valium, Xanax, and Vicodin. Now here's the good part. He was driving 100 mph on the San Diego Freeway at about two in the morning. In a Toyota Prius. So at least he was ecologically sustainable about it. Any chance now of the Dems laying off Bush's daughters?
And the Nuge himself has a piece on the "hordes of stoned, dirty, stinky hippies" hanging around San Francisco back in the Sixties. In the Wall Street Journal. Don't miss it.
Ted made one mistake: Mama Cass had a heart attack, probably from being too fat, not from drugs, says Wikipedia. And no, she didn't choke on a ham sandwich, she died in her sleep at a London hotel.
Quick news roundup: Interior minister Perez Rubalcaba said that the ETA terrorists caught near the Franco-Spanish frontier with a car and 165 kilos of explosives were planning an attack "with victims" for today or tomorrow, supposedly to coincide with the State of the Nation parliamentary debate. They were going to set off the bomb by hand with detonating cord in order to foil frequency inhibitors.
The Yemeni police have arrested eleven suspects in the bombing that killed seven Spanish tourists and two Yemeni citizens. Yemen is also saying that Al Qaeda wants to put pressure on the government because it is holding Qaeda members in jail, and that the specific goal of the bombing was to hurt Yemen's interests and image.
I'm surprised at how little attention the Yemen bombing has received in the international press. Seems pretty important to me. By the way, TV3 is reporting that this was the bloodiest terrorist attack in the history of Yemen, which isn't true if you count the attack on the USS Cole.
This is important: The European Commission has hit Telefonica with a €150 million fine for abusing its dominant position in the Spanish Internet market. Telefonica has been charging its competitors so much for access to the ADSL system that they can't compete on price. Brussels says Spaniards pay 20% more than other European citizens for Internet, while 20% fewer Spaniards are connected and the growth in the number of connections is 30% less. I remember reading somewhere that Internet speed in Spain is close to the slowest in Europe, far behind more technically sophisticated places. This is by far the biggest telecoms fine ever handed out by the EC, ten times more than any other.
The Yemeni police have arrested eleven suspects in the bombing that killed seven Spanish tourists and two Yemeni citizens. Yemen is also saying that Al Qaeda wants to put pressure on the government because it is holding Qaeda members in jail, and that the specific goal of the bombing was to hurt Yemen's interests and image.
I'm surprised at how little attention the Yemen bombing has received in the international press. Seems pretty important to me. By the way, TV3 is reporting that this was the bloodiest terrorist attack in the history of Yemen, which isn't true if you count the attack on the USS Cole.
This is important: The European Commission has hit Telefonica with a €150 million fine for abusing its dominant position in the Spanish Internet market. Telefonica has been charging its competitors so much for access to the ADSL system that they can't compete on price. Brussels says Spaniards pay 20% more than other European citizens for Internet, while 20% fewer Spaniards are connected and the growth in the number of connections is 30% less. I remember reading somewhere that Internet speed in Spain is close to the slowest in Europe, far behind more technically sophisticated places. This is by far the biggest telecoms fine ever handed out by the EC, ten times more than any other.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
The Spanish media is reporting that the suicide bomber in Yemen had asked the locals whether the group of tourists were "Westerners," though I bet he really said "infidels." When he was told they were, he waited for them to get on the road and then crashed his car into their vehicles. Obviously he must have had his car bomb already prepared, so this was a planned attack, not a spontaneous one; however, if this story is true, the suicide bomber didn't care precisely who he blew up, as long as they weren't Muslims.
Antena 3 made rather a big deal out of the likelihood that the tourists were not targeted for being Spaniards in particular, but infidels in general.
Five of the victims were Catalans, including two women who were teachers at the same high school in the Horta neighborhood of Barcelona and their husbands. Another of the seven was a Basque woman who had been on a local TV reality show, so they're showing plenty of film of her. One of the wounded is a Basque woman who is in critical condition with shrapnel in her head; they're going to fly the dead bodies and the other wounded back to Spain tomorrow, but this woman cannot be moved from the Yemeni hospital.
Get this comment from La Vanguardia's website: "Message for the planners of the Yemen attack: you got the wrong target. All deaths from terrorism are horrible, but the Catalans and Basques are the ones who have supported the Arab cause the most and have fought against Bush's war." And this one: "Iraq wasn't a war, it was a senseless invasion, the whim of a demented man. Today the invasion has brought the war of all wars...Killing for killing's sake, and destroying for destroying's sake, sooner or later will boomerang."
That's right, it's America's fault. As usual. As if Islamist terrorism had begun with the fall of Baghdad. And as if Spain were not an enemy of Islamist terrorism for the simple facts that 1) Spaniards are infidels and 2) Islamists claim Spain as part of their homeland, just as they claim Israel.
More terrorism news: Yesterday five ETA members were arrested in France. Three of them were busted fifteen kilometers from the Spanish border in a van with 165 kilos of explosives, detonators, an assault rifle, and other goodies. They were all armed with pistols but put up no resistance. One of them is a big fish, suspected of being ETA's head operations planner--that is, the guy who decided who would be killed how, where, and when. The cops suspect they were going to pull an immediate attack.
Two more etarras were caught at a roadblock outside Paris; there isn't much information on them. One was armed.
Today they had the big State of the Nation debate in the Congress of Deputies. Zap and Rajoy called each other big stinky poopheads. Zap promised to turn the Barcelona commuter train system over to the Generalitat, so now it'll be badly run by Catalan bureaucrats instead of Spanish bureaucrats. Ah, progress.
Liverpool has bought Fernando Torres from Atletico de Madrid for like 24 million euros, which sounds like way too much, and the Sun says that Barça has offered 18 million for "Fat Frank" Lampard, who Barcelona does not need unless it plans to get rid of Deco and/or Xavi. Which they've said they're not going to do.
Antena 3 made rather a big deal out of the likelihood that the tourists were not targeted for being Spaniards in particular, but infidels in general.
Five of the victims were Catalans, including two women who were teachers at the same high school in the Horta neighborhood of Barcelona and their husbands. Another of the seven was a Basque woman who had been on a local TV reality show, so they're showing plenty of film of her. One of the wounded is a Basque woman who is in critical condition with shrapnel in her head; they're going to fly the dead bodies and the other wounded back to Spain tomorrow, but this woman cannot be moved from the Yemeni hospital.
Get this comment from La Vanguardia's website: "Message for the planners of the Yemen attack: you got the wrong target. All deaths from terrorism are horrible, but the Catalans and Basques are the ones who have supported the Arab cause the most and have fought against Bush's war." And this one: "Iraq wasn't a war, it was a senseless invasion, the whim of a demented man. Today the invasion has brought the war of all wars...Killing for killing's sake, and destroying for destroying's sake, sooner or later will boomerang."
That's right, it's America's fault. As usual. As if Islamist terrorism had begun with the fall of Baghdad. And as if Spain were not an enemy of Islamist terrorism for the simple facts that 1) Spaniards are infidels and 2) Islamists claim Spain as part of their homeland, just as they claim Israel.
More terrorism news: Yesterday five ETA members were arrested in France. Three of them were busted fifteen kilometers from the Spanish border in a van with 165 kilos of explosives, detonators, an assault rifle, and other goodies. They were all armed with pistols but put up no resistance. One of them is a big fish, suspected of being ETA's head operations planner--that is, the guy who decided who would be killed how, where, and when. The cops suspect they were going to pull an immediate attack.
Two more etarras were caught at a roadblock outside Paris; there isn't much information on them. One was armed.
Today they had the big State of the Nation debate in the Congress of Deputies. Zap and Rajoy called each other big stinky poopheads. Zap promised to turn the Barcelona commuter train system over to the Generalitat, so now it'll be badly run by Catalan bureaucrats instead of Spanish bureaucrats. Ah, progress.
Liverpool has bought Fernando Torres from Atletico de Madrid for like 24 million euros, which sounds like way too much, and the Sun says that Barça has offered 18 million for "Fat Frank" Lampard, who Barcelona does not need unless it plans to get rid of Deco and/or Xavi. Which they've said they're not going to do.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Update: Libertad Digital is reporting that Foreign Minister Moratinos told a press conference that a seventh Spanish tourist had died, along with a second Yemeni. The bombing was carried out by a "suicide car" that crashed into the two vehicles transporting the Spaniards. The identity of the victims is still not known. No one has claimed responsibility, but Yemeni authorities have blamed Al Qaeda. The LD story includes a photograph of the wrecked vehicles.
Breaking news: Six Spanish tourists were killed in a terrorist bombing in the city of Marib, Yemen. A Yemeni driver was killed as well, and seven more Spanish tourists were wounded. TV3 is speculating that it was Al Qaeda. TV1 says it was a car bomb, and that Al Qaeda had demanded the release of some of its members in jail in Yemen and had threatened unspecified consequences.
I bet this doesn't change the mind of anyone around here, though.
I bet this doesn't change the mind of anyone around here, though.
The big story around here is, of course, the terrorism situation in the UK. Both TV3 and Antena 3 have been reporting on it pretty reasonably. Just my guess, based on the simple bombs that didn't work and the non-standard (and pretty damn crazy) technique used at the Glasgow airport: These guys are amateur terrorists with little or no experience and few contacts with Al Qaeda higher-ups.
Another guess I have is that US-UK-NATO intelligence knows a good bit that we don't, and they have got wind of an Al Qaeda spectacular planned for sometime this week to coincide with the July 4 holiday in the US.
Withdrawing from Iraq is not going to help us defeat Al Qaeda. In fact, it would have exactly the opposite effect.
Rafael Ramos in La Vanguardia gets all of pages 3 and 4 to be incredibly patronizing and snide about Gordon Brown and the British democratic system. Just a few pearls:
Politically, the wave of frustrated terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom have been the perfect trampoline for the launching of Gordon Brown's mandate.
Seems Raffy's implying the old Cui bono? explanation that Noam Chomsky uses so often for these attacks.
(We watched) Gordon Brown play the great statesman and address the nation proclaiming that "Al Qaeda will not triumph."...He put on his best suit and tie, searched for the solemn expression that his advisors tell him transmits an image of solidity, and proclaimed, "Al Qaeda will not change the British way of life." It is not clear exactly what the British way of life is.
That's a pretty snotty portrait of Brown, who it seems Raffy does not like. It's also opinion, not appropriate for a news report.
The attacks have allowed Brown to put the security and order issue in first place, which plays in his favor. When the voters feel threatened, whether by war or terror, they tend in general to close ranks behind the government in office.
More attribution of less-than-noble motives to Brown.
One of Brown's great initiatives since he was Chancellor of the Exchequer consists of cultivating a British patriotism inspired by American, with the cult of the flag included.
What's so offensive about American patriotism? As if there weren't much waving of nationalist flags around, say, Barcelona.
Yesterday Brown, perhaps influenced by his advisors, could not resist the temptation to imitate Bush and Blair with rotund statements for television.
It's pretty obvious Raffy thinks that everything a democratic politician does is done for only one reason: to manipulate the voters. To the Vangua's editors: If I wanted to read Noam Chomsky theorize in Le Monde Diplomatique, I'd buy it.
The Scottish prime minister, nationalist Alex Salmond, whose first two months leading his country are considered a complete success...
Wait! What? Isn't this editorializing? Who considers them a success? And why is Scottish nationalism cool while American and British patriotism are not?
Salmond has presented himself as an integrating nationalist who is going to fight against the stigmatization of the Islamic community on the basis of stereotypes and individual actions, while Brown immediately cast the blame "in general lines" on Al Qaeda, defending the British way of life, and advancing down the road of the war of civilizations in the footsteps of Bush and Blair.
Oh, so that's why. What a pile of shit. Isn't it Britain where something like 40% of Muslims approve of suicide bombings? That's no stereotype. And what precisely is wrong with blaming the attempted bombings on Al Qaeda?
The TV series 24, whose protagonist Jack Blair regularly resorts to torture to extract information, has fed the debate about how far the legitimacy goes of the treatment that suspects of terrorism receive from the representatives of the state with the objective of preventing attacks. During the night, whatever the severity of the interrogation or the degree of cooperation of the suspect...
Yep, here goes Raffy explaining serious issues with examples from popular culture and accusing the British police of torturing the guy riding shotgun in the flaming car.
Question: Do any of you think Raffy's report is anywhere near fair or balanced? Or has he committed libel about fourteen times here? I think he's committed libel, and Brown would have a good shot in a lawsuit, especially in Britain. But I also know that it certainly would not be worth the trouble.
And, remember, this is La Vanguardia, the top-selling newspaper in Catalonia with a circulation of nearly 200,000. With this kind of news reporting, no wonder many of them are so ignorant about the rest of the world. It's much better to know nothing and admit it, like the Americans, than to know next to nothing and firmly believe it, as in Spain.
Another guess I have is that US-UK-NATO intelligence knows a good bit that we don't, and they have got wind of an Al Qaeda spectacular planned for sometime this week to coincide with the July 4 holiday in the US.
Withdrawing from Iraq is not going to help us defeat Al Qaeda. In fact, it would have exactly the opposite effect.
Rafael Ramos in La Vanguardia gets all of pages 3 and 4 to be incredibly patronizing and snide about Gordon Brown and the British democratic system. Just a few pearls:
Politically, the wave of frustrated terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom have been the perfect trampoline for the launching of Gordon Brown's mandate.
Seems Raffy's implying the old Cui bono? explanation that Noam Chomsky uses so often for these attacks.
(We watched) Gordon Brown play the great statesman and address the nation proclaiming that "Al Qaeda will not triumph."...He put on his best suit and tie, searched for the solemn expression that his advisors tell him transmits an image of solidity, and proclaimed, "Al Qaeda will not change the British way of life." It is not clear exactly what the British way of life is.
That's a pretty snotty portrait of Brown, who it seems Raffy does not like. It's also opinion, not appropriate for a news report.
The attacks have allowed Brown to put the security and order issue in first place, which plays in his favor. When the voters feel threatened, whether by war or terror, they tend in general to close ranks behind the government in office.
More attribution of less-than-noble motives to Brown.
One of Brown's great initiatives since he was Chancellor of the Exchequer consists of cultivating a British patriotism inspired by American, with the cult of the flag included.
What's so offensive about American patriotism? As if there weren't much waving of nationalist flags around, say, Barcelona.
Yesterday Brown, perhaps influenced by his advisors, could not resist the temptation to imitate Bush and Blair with rotund statements for television.
It's pretty obvious Raffy thinks that everything a democratic politician does is done for only one reason: to manipulate the voters. To the Vangua's editors: If I wanted to read Noam Chomsky theorize in Le Monde Diplomatique, I'd buy it.
The Scottish prime minister, nationalist Alex Salmond, whose first two months leading his country are considered a complete success...
Wait! What? Isn't this editorializing? Who considers them a success? And why is Scottish nationalism cool while American and British patriotism are not?
Salmond has presented himself as an integrating nationalist who is going to fight against the stigmatization of the Islamic community on the basis of stereotypes and individual actions, while Brown immediately cast the blame "in general lines" on Al Qaeda, defending the British way of life, and advancing down the road of the war of civilizations in the footsteps of Bush and Blair.
Oh, so that's why. What a pile of shit. Isn't it Britain where something like 40% of Muslims approve of suicide bombings? That's no stereotype. And what precisely is wrong with blaming the attempted bombings on Al Qaeda?
The TV series 24, whose protagonist Jack Blair regularly resorts to torture to extract information, has fed the debate about how far the legitimacy goes of the treatment that suspects of terrorism receive from the representatives of the state with the objective of preventing attacks. During the night, whatever the severity of the interrogation or the degree of cooperation of the suspect...
Yep, here goes Raffy explaining serious issues with examples from popular culture and accusing the British police of torturing the guy riding shotgun in the flaming car.
Question: Do any of you think Raffy's report is anywhere near fair or balanced? Or has he committed libel about fourteen times here? I think he's committed libel, and Brown would have a good shot in a lawsuit, especially in Britain. But I also know that it certainly would not be worth the trouble.
And, remember, this is La Vanguardia, the top-selling newspaper in Catalonia with a circulation of nearly 200,000. With this kind of news reporting, no wonder many of them are so ignorant about the rest of the world. It's much better to know nothing and admit it, like the Americans, than to know next to nothing and firmly believe it, as in Spain.
We're back after spending the weekend out in Vallfogona; didn't do much except go hiking / walking / trudging with the dog up the hill on the Segura road. The wheat's been harvested but the barley hasn't, and the almond trees look pretty good, with lots of big green nut pods. The blackberries aren't anywhere near ripe yet, but it's cherry season; there's a tree up the hill that belongs to some of Remei's cousins that we have permission to raid.
The mother-in-law, Rosa, has been living with us for the past two months, and we moved her out to the pueblo this weekend. She can just barely take care of herself if you leave her more-or-less prepared food, and the folks in town know she's there and will check in on her. She's a cranky old bat and the cerebral atrophy she's been diagnosed with doesn't help any; she only tried to take her walking stick to me once and to Bart the cat once during the last two months, though, so she's less violent than she used to be. Rosa has her good side, she's loyal and generous and wants to be helpful, but her bad temper gets in the way. If you can take her mind off her crankiness, though, she's easy to deal with. Food helps. She likes food.
I learned something about her: She's afraid of different kinds of food at first. She'd never bought anything at the supermarket that she hadn't lived all her life with. So I introduced her to bean sprouts, arugula, cashews, mangoes, cherry tomatoes, avocadoes, Modena vinegar, Fruit and Fiber cereal, and Dijon mustard, all of which she likes. She wasn't too big on the Mexican hot salsa, though.
The mother-in-law, Rosa, has been living with us for the past two months, and we moved her out to the pueblo this weekend. She can just barely take care of herself if you leave her more-or-less prepared food, and the folks in town know she's there and will check in on her. She's a cranky old bat and the cerebral atrophy she's been diagnosed with doesn't help any; she only tried to take her walking stick to me once and to Bart the cat once during the last two months, though, so she's less violent than she used to be. Rosa has her good side, she's loyal and generous and wants to be helpful, but her bad temper gets in the way. If you can take her mind off her crankiness, though, she's easy to deal with. Food helps. She likes food.
I learned something about her: She's afraid of different kinds of food at first. She'd never bought anything at the supermarket that she hadn't lived all her life with. So I introduced her to bean sprouts, arugula, cashews, mangoes, cherry tomatoes, avocadoes, Modena vinegar, Fruit and Fiber cereal, and Dijon mustard, all of which she likes. She wasn't too big on the Mexican hot salsa, though.
Friday, June 29, 2007
I don't understand the do-gooder soft-headed progre peaceniks around here.
This morning the cops busted a fourth Al Qaeda member here in Barcelona; they had already arrested three of them (not two) on Tuesday. These guys were running a cell that recruited jihadis for training camps in North Africa and then sent them on to their martyrdom in Iraq. They are wanted by the Moroccan police, and will probably be extradited.
People, it's right here under our noses. Al Qaeda is operating in Barcelona. It is recruiting people who live here. They then go to Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Lebanon, and blow people up. The six Spanish soldiers killed in Lebanon were probably Al Qaeda victims. The nearly 200 who died on March 11, 2004 were definitely Al Qaeda victims. Why do all politically correct Catalans oppose fighting Al Qaeda on the ground in Iraq, which is where the war on Islamism is going to be won or lost?
Part of me thinks they're so shortsighted that they prefer an Al Qaeda victory to an Anglo-American victory, just because they despise the United States so much.
This morning the cops busted a fourth Al Qaeda member here in Barcelona; they had already arrested three of them (not two) on Tuesday. These guys were running a cell that recruited jihadis for training camps in North Africa and then sent them on to their martyrdom in Iraq. They are wanted by the Moroccan police, and will probably be extradited.
People, it's right here under our noses. Al Qaeda is operating in Barcelona. It is recruiting people who live here. They then go to Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Lebanon, and blow people up. The six Spanish soldiers killed in Lebanon were probably Al Qaeda victims. The nearly 200 who died on March 11, 2004 were definitely Al Qaeda victims. Why do all politically correct Catalans oppose fighting Al Qaeda on the ground in Iraq, which is where the war on Islamism is going to be won or lost?
Part of me thinks they're so shortsighted that they prefer an Al Qaeda victory to an Anglo-American victory, just because they despise the United States so much.
In Spain, summer officially starts on San Juan, June 24, and not much happens until October or so. This is why there's not much news from around here, which is a good thing.
Former economics minister Rodrigo Rato is going to resign as head of the IMF as of September. The March 11 bombings trial ends on Monday, but the sentence won't be handed down until October. The verdict, of course, is going to be guilty. The Spanish cops arrested a man and a woman in Cadiz for trying to collect a ransom for the missing English girl in Portugal; it looks like the arrestees have nothing to do with the kidnapping. The King and Queen are in China, and the Chinese kindly offered to rent a pair of pandas to the Madrid Zoo. (The renting is fair enough, since it's my understanding that the money goes to protect panda habitats.) Housing prices are rising a lot more slowly than they were a couple of years ago. But they're still rising. Two Spanish players, Rudy Fernandez and Marc Gasol, were chosen in the NBA draft, but I'm not sure either is really NBA quality. Barça signed Eric Abidal, and is now trying to get a center-back; if they can't get Chivu from Roma, they want Gabi Milito from Zaragoza or Andrade from Deportivo. For some reason the Spanish press is covering the Paris Hilton whooptedoo. Why anyone would care, I don't know, especially on this side of the Atlantic. We have enough idiot pseudocelebrities over here already.
Former economics minister Rodrigo Rato is going to resign as head of the IMF as of September. The March 11 bombings trial ends on Monday, but the sentence won't be handed down until October. The verdict, of course, is going to be guilty. The Spanish cops arrested a man and a woman in Cadiz for trying to collect a ransom for the missing English girl in Portugal; it looks like the arrestees have nothing to do with the kidnapping. The King and Queen are in China, and the Chinese kindly offered to rent a pair of pandas to the Madrid Zoo. (The renting is fair enough, since it's my understanding that the money goes to protect panda habitats.) Housing prices are rising a lot more slowly than they were a couple of years ago. But they're still rising. Two Spanish players, Rudy Fernandez and Marc Gasol, were chosen in the NBA draft, but I'm not sure either is really NBA quality. Barça signed Eric Abidal, and is now trying to get a center-back; if they can't get Chivu from Roma, they want Gabi Milito from Zaragoza or Andrade from Deportivo. For some reason the Spanish press is covering the Paris Hilton whooptedoo. Why anyone would care, I don't know, especially on this side of the Atlantic. We have enough idiot pseudocelebrities over here already.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
I'm currently working on a Spanish sixth-grade social studies text, of which the last three chapters are devoted to history, mostly Spanish and European, between the voyages of discovery and today. Of course I can't mention the company or the title, but I can say that the textbook follows the official curriculum and has been approved by the Ministry of Education.
The text's interpretation of history is rather bizarre.
It doesn't mention the 1492 expulsion of the Jews and Muslims who refused to convert to Catholicism.
It mentions the forced conversions of the Muslims in the caption of a picture; it does not mention the rebellions of the Moriscos, which were brutally crushed and ended with more expulsions.
It doesn't mention the Inquisition or the Counter-Reformation. No one gets burned at the stake in the Plaza Mayor of Madrid, of which there is a large photo.
It mentions the Santa Hermandad, saying it was responsible for "security," but without going into the ugly details.
It fails to speculate that these expulsions and repression might have contributed to the decline of the Spanish Empire.
It does not mention the bloodiness of the Aztecs; it briefly mentions "sacrifice," but not human sacrifice.
Cortex and Pizarro get one sentence between them. War and battle are not mentioned, just "conquest."
It does not mention the great Indian die-off, caused mostly by epidemics but also by Spanish abuse and mistreatment.
It does not mention slavery in Spanish America or the large Spanish participation in the slave trade.
It does not mention the eighty-year Dutch War for Independence.
It does not mention the Spanish Armada and the failed invasion of England.
It blames imperial decline on "famines, epidemics, and wars" without mentioning the many shortcomings of Spanish society and culture.
It does not admit that following the War of the Spanish Succession, Spain was a French satellite state for a century.
It includes a Marxist analysis of the Industrial Revolution, including class struggle between workers and bourgeois; it fails to mention the growth of the salaried middle class, managers and technicians and clerks. Remember Orwell's 1984, in which Winston looks at a history text that includes a drawing of a fat bourgeois dressed in black with a top hat? THIS BOOK ACTUALLY INCLUDES ONE OF THOSE.
It calls the Peninsular War "The War for Independence," but doesn't mention that Spain sided with France until 1808 and saw its fleet destroyed at Trafalgar. It doesn't mention Joseph Bonaparte or the Duke of Wellington.
It doesn't mention the independence of Spanish America, or the wars that it involved. Simon Bolivar is not mentioned.
It doesn't mention the Carlist Wars.
It doesn't mention the Cuban war of independence or the Spanish-American War, which is a little surprising.
It mentions World War I, but doesn't say which countries it was fought between, and it doesn't mention the Russian Revolution. In fact, the word "Communism" does not appear.
World War II receives the same treatment; only Hiroshima and the Holocaust are mentioned. Adolf Hitler is not mentioned. Neither are Lenin and Stalin.
The Spanish Civil War gets four pro-Republican paragraphs. The killings behind the lines on both sides are not mentioned.
The Franco regime gets four paragraphs.
"Inequality in the 20th Century" gets two pages, including the code words "society of consumption," "social inequality," and "ecological problems."
"The European Union" gets two pages, too.
Interesting to compare this version of national history with that taught in American schools, which is all about the rights of minority groups and women, and how mean white men were to Indians, blacks, women, Chinese, Japanese, and people of alternative sexuality.
The text's interpretation of history is rather bizarre.
It doesn't mention the 1492 expulsion of the Jews and Muslims who refused to convert to Catholicism.
It mentions the forced conversions of the Muslims in the caption of a picture; it does not mention the rebellions of the Moriscos, which were brutally crushed and ended with more expulsions.
It doesn't mention the Inquisition or the Counter-Reformation. No one gets burned at the stake in the Plaza Mayor of Madrid, of which there is a large photo.
It mentions the Santa Hermandad, saying it was responsible for "security," but without going into the ugly details.
It fails to speculate that these expulsions and repression might have contributed to the decline of the Spanish Empire.
It does not mention the bloodiness of the Aztecs; it briefly mentions "sacrifice," but not human sacrifice.
Cortex and Pizarro get one sentence between them. War and battle are not mentioned, just "conquest."
It does not mention the great Indian die-off, caused mostly by epidemics but also by Spanish abuse and mistreatment.
It does not mention slavery in Spanish America or the large Spanish participation in the slave trade.
It does not mention the eighty-year Dutch War for Independence.
It does not mention the Spanish Armada and the failed invasion of England.
It blames imperial decline on "famines, epidemics, and wars" without mentioning the many shortcomings of Spanish society and culture.
It does not admit that following the War of the Spanish Succession, Spain was a French satellite state for a century.
It includes a Marxist analysis of the Industrial Revolution, including class struggle between workers and bourgeois; it fails to mention the growth of the salaried middle class, managers and technicians and clerks. Remember Orwell's 1984, in which Winston looks at a history text that includes a drawing of a fat bourgeois dressed in black with a top hat? THIS BOOK ACTUALLY INCLUDES ONE OF THOSE.
It calls the Peninsular War "The War for Independence," but doesn't mention that Spain sided with France until 1808 and saw its fleet destroyed at Trafalgar. It doesn't mention Joseph Bonaparte or the Duke of Wellington.
It doesn't mention the independence of Spanish America, or the wars that it involved. Simon Bolivar is not mentioned.
It doesn't mention the Carlist Wars.
It doesn't mention the Cuban war of independence or the Spanish-American War, which is a little surprising.
It mentions World War I, but doesn't say which countries it was fought between, and it doesn't mention the Russian Revolution. In fact, the word "Communism" does not appear.
World War II receives the same treatment; only Hiroshima and the Holocaust are mentioned. Adolf Hitler is not mentioned. Neither are Lenin and Stalin.
The Spanish Civil War gets four pro-Republican paragraphs. The killings behind the lines on both sides are not mentioned.
The Franco regime gets four paragraphs.
"Inequality in the 20th Century" gets two pages, including the code words "society of consumption," "social inequality," and "ecological problems."
"The European Union" gets two pages, too.
Interesting to compare this version of national history with that taught in American schools, which is all about the rights of minority groups and women, and how mean white men were to Indians, blacks, women, Chinese, Japanese, and people of alternative sexuality.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
TV3 is reporting that two Al Qaeda operatives were arrested in Barcelona this morning. They're Moroccans and recruiters for jihadi volunteers; their network sends recruits to training camps in the Sahara and then on to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Spain passed the United States in the list of the world's top cocaine users. 3% of Spaniards have used cocaine within the past year, and it's 7% of high school students. In the EU as a whole, less than 1% of persons used cocaine. One in five European cocaine users is Spanish. This sounds to me like a problem. Hypothesis: As Richard Pryor, I think, said, "Cocaine is God's way of telling you that you have too much money." There's lots of cash floating around in Spain.
There's an insect plague in southern and western Catalonia, some kind of tiny little black fly whose bite hurts like hell. The Generalitat is going to spend half a million euros fumigating the creeks and streams where it breeds. Sounds like something useful to do with our tax money.
Barça signed Yaya Toure, who is supposed to be a hell of a good defensive midfielder. He will replace Edmilson, and maybe Marquez as well. They announced today that Motta is definitely out, along with Saviola, of course.
Amnesty International issued one of its tendentious reports saying that 102 countries practiced torture. So of course TV3's report paid attention only to Amnesty's charges against the United States. As usual. By the way, Amnesty says it's all America's fault because we have "legitimized the use of torture," which obviously had a great deal of influence over the behavior of North Korea, Iran, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda, who would never, never have tortured anyone if there weren't a prison camp at Guantanamo where a few hundred very dangerous people are held.
I suppose you saw that Cameron Diaz was criticized in Peru for carrying a bag with a Maoist red star and a quote from Chairman Mao. Peruvians in general don't much like Maoists, since Shining Path killed quite a few people in the name of Mao. What I want to know is why Cameron Diaz would think that wearing Communist symbols, including the infamous Che T-shirt, is cool. I'm sure she knows that wearing a swastika T-shirt would get her well-deserved public scorn. I don't see a difference between the two, myself, though the Che T-shirts are useful as they show at a glance that a person is too ignorant for you to waste your time with.
Current big political stink: They're trying to decide what route the high-speed train (AVE) will take below Barcelona between Sants and Sagrera stations. One proposal runs close to the Sagrada Familia, and a hoohaw is being made about the vibrations causing the thing to fall down or something. I doubt it; lots of subway and train tunnels have been dug under lots of cities, and Notre Dame and Saint Paul's haven't collapsed yet. Hell, the blue line of the subway already runs right under the Sagrada Familia. Also, if all the new construction they're doing collapses, I'll be more than happy anyway, since it's ugly as hell. They should have stopped building when Gaudi died and just left it.
Oh, yeah, I read somewhere that the Sagrada Familia does not have a municipal building permit, and apparently never had one. This does sound like something that ought to be worked out just for the sake of coherence.
Spain passed the United States in the list of the world's top cocaine users. 3% of Spaniards have used cocaine within the past year, and it's 7% of high school students. In the EU as a whole, less than 1% of persons used cocaine. One in five European cocaine users is Spanish. This sounds to me like a problem. Hypothesis: As Richard Pryor, I think, said, "Cocaine is God's way of telling you that you have too much money." There's lots of cash floating around in Spain.
There's an insect plague in southern and western Catalonia, some kind of tiny little black fly whose bite hurts like hell. The Generalitat is going to spend half a million euros fumigating the creeks and streams where it breeds. Sounds like something useful to do with our tax money.
Barça signed Yaya Toure, who is supposed to be a hell of a good defensive midfielder. He will replace Edmilson, and maybe Marquez as well. They announced today that Motta is definitely out, along with Saviola, of course.
Amnesty International issued one of its tendentious reports saying that 102 countries practiced torture. So of course TV3's report paid attention only to Amnesty's charges against the United States. As usual. By the way, Amnesty says it's all America's fault because we have "legitimized the use of torture," which obviously had a great deal of influence over the behavior of North Korea, Iran, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda, who would never, never have tortured anyone if there weren't a prison camp at Guantanamo where a few hundred very dangerous people are held.
I suppose you saw that Cameron Diaz was criticized in Peru for carrying a bag with a Maoist red star and a quote from Chairman Mao. Peruvians in general don't much like Maoists, since Shining Path killed quite a few people in the name of Mao. What I want to know is why Cameron Diaz would think that wearing Communist symbols, including the infamous Che T-shirt, is cool. I'm sure she knows that wearing a swastika T-shirt would get her well-deserved public scorn. I don't see a difference between the two, myself, though the Che T-shirts are useful as they show at a glance that a person is too ignorant for you to waste your time with.
Current big political stink: They're trying to decide what route the high-speed train (AVE) will take below Barcelona between Sants and Sagrera stations. One proposal runs close to the Sagrada Familia, and a hoohaw is being made about the vibrations causing the thing to fall down or something. I doubt it; lots of subway and train tunnels have been dug under lots of cities, and Notre Dame and Saint Paul's haven't collapsed yet. Hell, the blue line of the subway already runs right under the Sagrada Familia. Also, if all the new construction they're doing collapses, I'll be more than happy anyway, since it's ugly as hell. They should have stopped building when Gaudi died and just left it.
Oh, yeah, I read somewhere that the Sagrada Familia does not have a municipal building permit, and apparently never had one. This does sound like something that ought to be worked out just for the sake of coherence.
Let's do another blog roundup, since it's been at least a week.
Notes from Spain has an interesting series up of several posts by guestbloggers, all folks who write in English from Spain. Check it out.
Observing Hermann has news on the Tom Cruise-Scientology-Germany thing; by the way, Drudge reported it wrong yesterday. The German military said it would ban Cruise from filming at military sites, but the country of Germany itself did not, and probably cannot, ban Cruise from making a movie there.
Robert Duncan reruns a 2003 piece on the confusing Spanish Gas Natural-Endesa corporate-government brawl in which regional nationalism raised its head as usual.
Roncesvalles reports on thug street violence in Germany, with photos.
Samizdata features a fine piece of verse on the silly new sporran law.
South of Watford comments from the left on the deaths of the six soldiers in Lebanon. Spanish Pundit has more from the right, including photos.
The Dissident Frogman flays French government and politics in general.
A Fistful of Euros reports that a wacky German Holocaust denier who was sentenced to prison is getting support from the flaky American extreme right. Sounds like they deserve one another. Reminder to AFOE: These nutballs have little to no influence on American opinion. Nobody pays any attention to them.
The Brussels Journal, meanwhile, has a completely different story; they say that the wacky guy is not a Holocaust denier, but an anti-abortion activist, who compared abortion with the Holocaust. That's a rather different kettle of fish, methinks, well within the bounds of free speech and not Holocaust denial at all. The BJ says that a lot of this guy's supporters are European, not just American.
Colin Davies, as always, is full of information about Spain; today it's politics.
Davids Medienkritik links to a criticism of German media exploitation of Guantanamo.
Eursoc has an extensive rundown, from the sceptical position, of the EU treaty agreement or whatever it is.
Fausta has more on Correa and Morales, part of the Axis of Evel Knievel along with Chavez and Castro.
La Liga Loca names his all-star Spanish League team; only Messi and Iniesta from the Barça make it, which seems about right to me. Only questionable choice: Poulsen instead of Albelda or Xavi.
LA-Madrid Files points out what's wrong with the Spanish movie industry: It makes crappy movies.
Notes from Spain has an interesting series up of several posts by guestbloggers, all folks who write in English from Spain. Check it out.
Observing Hermann has news on the Tom Cruise-Scientology-Germany thing; by the way, Drudge reported it wrong yesterday. The German military said it would ban Cruise from filming at military sites, but the country of Germany itself did not, and probably cannot, ban Cruise from making a movie there.
Robert Duncan reruns a 2003 piece on the confusing Spanish Gas Natural-Endesa corporate-government brawl in which regional nationalism raised its head as usual.
Roncesvalles reports on thug street violence in Germany, with photos.
Samizdata features a fine piece of verse on the silly new sporran law.
South of Watford comments from the left on the deaths of the six soldiers in Lebanon. Spanish Pundit has more from the right, including photos.
The Dissident Frogman flays French government and politics in general.
A Fistful of Euros reports that a wacky German Holocaust denier who was sentenced to prison is getting support from the flaky American extreme right. Sounds like they deserve one another. Reminder to AFOE: These nutballs have little to no influence on American opinion. Nobody pays any attention to them.
The Brussels Journal, meanwhile, has a completely different story; they say that the wacky guy is not a Holocaust denier, but an anti-abortion activist, who compared abortion with the Holocaust. That's a rather different kettle of fish, methinks, well within the bounds of free speech and not Holocaust denial at all. The BJ says that a lot of this guy's supporters are European, not just American.
Colin Davies, as always, is full of information about Spain; today it's politics.
Davids Medienkritik links to a criticism of German media exploitation of Guantanamo.
Eursoc has an extensive rundown, from the sceptical position, of the EU treaty agreement or whatever it is.
Fausta has more on Correa and Morales, part of the Axis of Evel Knievel along with Chavez and Castro.
La Liga Loca names his all-star Spanish League team; only Messi and Iniesta from the Barça make it, which seems about right to me. Only questionable choice: Poulsen instead of Albelda or Xavi.
LA-Madrid Files points out what's wrong with the Spanish movie industry: It makes crappy movies.
Monday, June 25, 2007
National Review links to a Real Clear Politics article speculating on "The Return of Authoritarian Great Powers," specifically China and maybe Russia. Not for a good long while, I don't think, and the author seems to agree:
But the most important factor remains the United States. For all the criticism leveled against it, the United States -- and its alliance with Europe -- stands as the single most important hope for the future of liberal democracy. Despite its problems and weaknesses, the United States still commands a global position of strength and is likely to retain it even as the authoritarian capitalist powers grow. Not only are its GDP and productivity growth rate the highest in the developed world, but as an immigrant country with about one-fourth the population density of both the European Union and China and one-tenth of that of Japan and India, the United States still has considerable potential to grow -- both economically and in terms of population -- whereas those others are all experiencing aging and, ultimately, shrinking populations. China's economic growth rate is among the highest in the world, and given the country's huge population and still low levels of development, such growth harbors the most radical potential for change in global power relations. But even if China's superior growth rate persists and its GDP surpasses that of the United States by the 2020s, as is often forecast, China will still have just over one-third of the United States' wealth per capita and, hence, considerably less economic and military power. Closing that far more challenging gap with the developed world would take several more decades.
The article includes a vital point about 20th-century history that most European analysts sort of skip over:
Throughout the twentieth century, the United States' power consistently surpassed that of the next two strongest states combined, and this decisively tilted the global balance of power in favor of whichever side Washington was on. If any factor gave the liberal democracies their edge, it was above all the existence of the United States rather than any inherent advantage. In fact, had it not been for the United States, liberal democracy may well have lost the great struggles of the twentieth century. This is a sobering thought that is often overlooked in studies of the spread of democracy in the twentieth century, and it makes the world today appear much more contingent and tenuous than linear theories of development suggest.
Definitely go check it out.
But the most important factor remains the United States. For all the criticism leveled against it, the United States -- and its alliance with Europe -- stands as the single most important hope for the future of liberal democracy. Despite its problems and weaknesses, the United States still commands a global position of strength and is likely to retain it even as the authoritarian capitalist powers grow. Not only are its GDP and productivity growth rate the highest in the developed world, but as an immigrant country with about one-fourth the population density of both the European Union and China and one-tenth of that of Japan and India, the United States still has considerable potential to grow -- both economically and in terms of population -- whereas those others are all experiencing aging and, ultimately, shrinking populations. China's economic growth rate is among the highest in the world, and given the country's huge population and still low levels of development, such growth harbors the most radical potential for change in global power relations. But even if China's superior growth rate persists and its GDP surpasses that of the United States by the 2020s, as is often forecast, China will still have just over one-third of the United States' wealth per capita and, hence, considerably less economic and military power. Closing that far more challenging gap with the developed world would take several more decades.
The article includes a vital point about 20th-century history that most European analysts sort of skip over:
Throughout the twentieth century, the United States' power consistently surpassed that of the next two strongest states combined, and this decisively tilted the global balance of power in favor of whichever side Washington was on. If any factor gave the liberal democracies their edge, it was above all the existence of the United States rather than any inherent advantage. In fact, had it not been for the United States, liberal democracy may well have lost the great struggles of the twentieth century. This is a sobering thought that is often overlooked in studies of the spread of democracy in the twentieth century, and it makes the world today appear much more contingent and tenuous than linear theories of development suggest.
Definitely go check it out.
As you probably know, six Spanish soldiers on the UN peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon were killed in a bomb attack on their convoy. Three more soldiers were wounded. It was a car bomb loaded with 50 kilos of explosives triggered at a distance. The Spanish convoy was not outfitted with "frequency inhibitors," which can prevent remote controls from functioning. Spain has about 1100 troops in Lebanon.
Defense minister Alonso declared that yes, it was a terrorist attack, but he doesn't think Hezbollah did it. Well, who else would have done it? Rajoy told Zap that he'd sent Spanish troops into combat areas and should stop bragging about being a pacifist.
Three of the soldiers were Colombians. About 7500 of the Spanish military's 85,000 troops are Latin Americans; the quota is a maximum of 9%. In 2006, the US military had about 69,000 foreign citizens serving, about 5%, with the largest contingents from Mexico and the Philippines. Less complaining from the international Left that the US is recruiting foreign "mercenaries," please.
La Vanguardia's Beirut correspondent Tomás Alcoverro, who I believe to be on somebody's payroll, calls for UN forces to get out of Lebanon, and especially for Spanish troops to get out, apparently because he thinks those who live there should be left to kill one another. He blames the whole thing on the Lebanese government and on American support for it, though he doesn't bother mentioning the actual killers.
Thanks to the members of Spain's armed forces for their sacrifice, and condolences to the families of the dead soldiers.
Defense minister Alonso declared that yes, it was a terrorist attack, but he doesn't think Hezbollah did it. Well, who else would have done it? Rajoy told Zap that he'd sent Spanish troops into combat areas and should stop bragging about being a pacifist.
Three of the soldiers were Colombians. About 7500 of the Spanish military's 85,000 troops are Latin Americans; the quota is a maximum of 9%. In 2006, the US military had about 69,000 foreign citizens serving, about 5%, with the largest contingents from Mexico and the Philippines. Less complaining from the international Left that the US is recruiting foreign "mercenaries," please.
La Vanguardia's Beirut correspondent Tomás Alcoverro, who I believe to be on somebody's payroll, calls for UN forces to get out of Lebanon, and especially for Spanish troops to get out, apparently because he thinks those who live there should be left to kill one another. He blames the whole thing on the Lebanese government and on American support for it, though he doesn't bother mentioning the actual killers.
Thanks to the members of Spain's armed forces for their sacrifice, and condolences to the families of the dead soldiers.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
I honestly don't know what to think about the European Union summit; La Vanguardia is reporting they made a deal, that the Poles managed to get the reallocation of power delayed until 2017, and that France is claiming victory because they got a light version of the rejected Constitution of 2005 through. Apparently there will be "more foreign policy and law enforcement cooperation," but the document will not be a constitution and certain limits, unspecified by La Vangua, will exist. It's still not a done deal, as there will be referendums in Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. I bet the Dutch, Danes, and Czechs vote no. Zap and Moratinos are trying to take the credit and talk up how important their participation in the discussions was. Guys, if you have to go around telling people you're important, you probably ain't.
Hugo Chavez update: He's buying nine submarines, armed with anti-aircraft missiles, off the Russians. Just what the Venezuelan people need. Uh, Hugo, Russian subs have a rather disappointing track record, tending to sink. He's also bought attack helicopters, fighter planes, and air-to-air missiles from our friend Putin. France refused to sell subs to him, a first for the French, notorious for arming pretty much everybody and his dog. Meanwhile, you've heard that he's opening up a Kalashnikov factory in order to arm every bunch of nuts with a grudge throughout Latin America.
La Vanguardia reports that Spanish farmers and ranchers, mostly small landholders who emigrated to Venezuela in the 50s and 60s, are being forced off their land by gangs of Chavista thugs who claim they are taking over the land to create alleged cooperatives. They then collect government subsidies and do no work, so nothing is produced. 16,000 farm cooperatives have been created in Venezuela; only 200 have not gone broke already. There's been a wave of kidnappings for ransom, 30 in the last 18 months, which the Spanish farmers consider to be government intimidation.
Says La Vangua's reporter Joaquim Ibarz: "The result is the asme as in an African country: lack of investment, decline of production, fear, crime, impunity, poverty, and chaos." He visited a Caracas supermarket and found no sugar, meat, eggs, milk, cooking oil, or beans on the shelves. "Scarcity increases because productive land is invaded by people without experience and ranchers and farmers do not invest for fear their land will be expropriated. The control of food prices leads to scarcity, as the government forces food to be sold for less than the cost of production." I'm a little surprised at La Vangua printing anything so liberal-capitalist; let's hope it's a trend.
Congratulations to Sevilla, who had the best season of all the Spanish football clubs: they won the European Supercup against Barcelona, their second consecutive UEFA Cup against Espanyol, and the Spanish Cup against Getafe. They finished third in the league, winning a Champions League spot for next year, and were only two points off winners Real Madrid. These guys are a professional team with no big superstars that plays good football, and they've had a season to remember. Hope they don't lose many of their good players to bigger teams.
Some guy from England had a very good idea: he's going to pay a few million quid to buy second-division Malaga. Now all he has to do is invest twenty million more in players and he's got a Spanish First Division team, with all the money that's worth. And Malaga is by far the most desirable market with no First Division team, with 600,000 in the city and a million more along the Costa del Sol; also, it doesn't have another historic club that you'd be competing against. The other smart thing some genius ought to do is buy the Ciudad de Murcia second-division club, which is selling its spot in Division Two. Then move the club to Madrid and spend twenty million on players to get up to First Division, and you've got a team in Europe's third-biggest city.
Political speculation: If the PP gets the same results in the upcoming general election that it got in the municipals, it will be strengthened in such important areas as Madrid, Valencia, Cadiz, Malaga, and the Balearics. The Socialists only gained strength in a couple of out-of-the-way places like Cuenca and Orense. This shift in the vote in dynamic, growing areas is likely to give the PP a relative majority. Sun Belt hypothesis for Spain's booming Mediterranean coast, anyone?
Al Gore and his traveling circus sideshow are in town again doing the global warming shtick. He said if Greenland melts his 16-room house will be under water, or something like that. Of possible interest to Americans: Al introduced himself as "the next President of the United States." Now an Al-Hillary-Obama three-way would be really fun...wait, I didn't mean that, I meant a presidential campaign with three contenders...He drew an audience of 1500, which is probably better than he'd do in Kansas City, as part of the First International Meeting of the Friends of Trees. I shit you not. The Friends of Trees.
Today is San Juan, so last night was firecrackers night and all the kids in town blew their little fingers off, I hope.
La Vanguardia runs an entire page of anti-Israeli bigotry by a photographer named Bru Rovira, who blames Israel for the Hamas-Fatah civil war. Just a few pearls: "The jailers have no desire to find a just solution...the occupier's main strategy is dehumanization...the repression of the Israeli army...where are the schools and the hospitals?...the Jewish and democratic (sic) state...half of the Palestinian population was expelled by the Israeli army...a war with intolerable massacres...Israel imposed and Arafat protested, shouted, and signed...the most brutal episodes began...extrajudicial executions...the massacre at Jenin, completely leveled by the army and the bulldozers. An undetermined number of civilians died...the complete suffocation of the economy and political system."
Hugo Chavez update: He's buying nine submarines, armed with anti-aircraft missiles, off the Russians. Just what the Venezuelan people need. Uh, Hugo, Russian subs have a rather disappointing track record, tending to sink. He's also bought attack helicopters, fighter planes, and air-to-air missiles from our friend Putin. France refused to sell subs to him, a first for the French, notorious for arming pretty much everybody and his dog. Meanwhile, you've heard that he's opening up a Kalashnikov factory in order to arm every bunch of nuts with a grudge throughout Latin America.
La Vanguardia reports that Spanish farmers and ranchers, mostly small landholders who emigrated to Venezuela in the 50s and 60s, are being forced off their land by gangs of Chavista thugs who claim they are taking over the land to create alleged cooperatives. They then collect government subsidies and do no work, so nothing is produced. 16,000 farm cooperatives have been created in Venezuela; only 200 have not gone broke already. There's been a wave of kidnappings for ransom, 30 in the last 18 months, which the Spanish farmers consider to be government intimidation.
Says La Vangua's reporter Joaquim Ibarz: "The result is the asme as in an African country: lack of investment, decline of production, fear, crime, impunity, poverty, and chaos." He visited a Caracas supermarket and found no sugar, meat, eggs, milk, cooking oil, or beans on the shelves. "Scarcity increases because productive land is invaded by people without experience and ranchers and farmers do not invest for fear their land will be expropriated. The control of food prices leads to scarcity, as the government forces food to be sold for less than the cost of production." I'm a little surprised at La Vangua printing anything so liberal-capitalist; let's hope it's a trend.
Congratulations to Sevilla, who had the best season of all the Spanish football clubs: they won the European Supercup against Barcelona, their second consecutive UEFA Cup against Espanyol, and the Spanish Cup against Getafe. They finished third in the league, winning a Champions League spot for next year, and were only two points off winners Real Madrid. These guys are a professional team with no big superstars that plays good football, and they've had a season to remember. Hope they don't lose many of their good players to bigger teams.
Some guy from England had a very good idea: he's going to pay a few million quid to buy second-division Malaga. Now all he has to do is invest twenty million more in players and he's got a Spanish First Division team, with all the money that's worth. And Malaga is by far the most desirable market with no First Division team, with 600,000 in the city and a million more along the Costa del Sol; also, it doesn't have another historic club that you'd be competing against. The other smart thing some genius ought to do is buy the Ciudad de Murcia second-division club, which is selling its spot in Division Two. Then move the club to Madrid and spend twenty million on players to get up to First Division, and you've got a team in Europe's third-biggest city.
Political speculation: If the PP gets the same results in the upcoming general election that it got in the municipals, it will be strengthened in such important areas as Madrid, Valencia, Cadiz, Malaga, and the Balearics. The Socialists only gained strength in a couple of out-of-the-way places like Cuenca and Orense. This shift in the vote in dynamic, growing areas is likely to give the PP a relative majority. Sun Belt hypothesis for Spain's booming Mediterranean coast, anyone?
Al Gore and his traveling circus sideshow are in town again doing the global warming shtick. He said if Greenland melts his 16-room house will be under water, or something like that. Of possible interest to Americans: Al introduced himself as "the next President of the United States." Now an Al-Hillary-Obama three-way would be really fun...wait, I didn't mean that, I meant a presidential campaign with three contenders...He drew an audience of 1500, which is probably better than he'd do in Kansas City, as part of the First International Meeting of the Friends of Trees. I shit you not. The Friends of Trees.
Today is San Juan, so last night was firecrackers night and all the kids in town blew their little fingers off, I hope.
La Vanguardia runs an entire page of anti-Israeli bigotry by a photographer named Bru Rovira, who blames Israel for the Hamas-Fatah civil war. Just a few pearls: "The jailers have no desire to find a just solution...the occupier's main strategy is dehumanization...the repression of the Israeli army...where are the schools and the hospitals?...the Jewish and democratic (sic) state...half of the Palestinian population was expelled by the Israeli army...a war with intolerable massacres...Israel imposed and Arafat protested, shouted, and signed...the most brutal episodes began...extrajudicial executions...the massacre at Jenin, completely leveled by the army and the bulldozers. An undetermined number of civilians died...the complete suffocation of the economy and political system."
Friday, June 22, 2007
TV3 is reporting that Barça has signed Thierry Henry from Arsenal for €24 million. I'm not sure how good a move this is--he's probably got a couple more good years in him, we hope, but who knows? Also, somebody is going to have to sit down, and that somebody is most likely Samuel Eto'o, who is not going to be happy with this. Oh, well, Barça has four forwards for three spots now, and when one of them gets hurt they'll have someone to cover for him. They were hoping Gudjohnsen would be that guy last year, as Larsson had been the year before, but that didn't happen.
Meanwhile, an Euromed fast train derailed in El Prat, fortunately with nobody on board, and this has blocked the train line to the airport and to Sitges until Monday. This is ridiculous. Renfe, the Spanish railroad monopoly, is clearly not getting the job done in the Barcelona area, where the commuter trains are constantly late or cancelled. Privatization, anyone?
The story on the ETA car loaded with explosives in Huelva: Seems that they had a scout car running ahead of the explosives car, and the scout car ran into a police checkpoint and alerted the terrorists behind them who were transporting the explosives, who abandoned their car at the side of the road. The Spanish cops are positive that ETA has an operatiive cell in Andalusia.
Tony Blair is going to convert to Catholicism, as everybody had speculated. Good for him, I hope he's happy, but is this actually a big deal? One thing about Blair: I still think he was wrong on all the small stuff and right on most of the big stuff. I think the fact that he is sincerely religious helps to show that he thought he was doing the right thing on the Iraq war. Which we still have to win.
The Poles are standing firm and they're going to block the Franco-German proposal for a new EU treaty. Sarko and Merkel have convinced the Brits, but the Czechs and Dutch are still with the Poles. Theory: The Poles don't trust either the Germans or the Russians any farther than they can spit, and neither do the Czechs. I sure wouldn't.
Under pressure to close down Guantanamo, the Bush administration says it might ship the prisoners to Afghanistan. Sounds good to me; I don't care where those arms-bearing terrorists are locked up, as long as they can't escape.
The CIA is releasing "unflattering documents" that had formerly been classified; looks like the worst stuff they can find are assassination attempts on Castro and surveillance of a few reporters. Unpleasant and wrong--I mean the spying on reporters, not trying to knock off Castro, which sounds like a good idea to me--but come on, folks, it's not precisely as bad as what the KGB was up to in those days.
Everyone is reporting that a Generalitat study says that Catalan, with 9 million speakers, including me, is the 88th most spoken language in the world. All right! We're number 88! Ahead of Swedish and Bulgarian!
Meanwhile, an Euromed fast train derailed in El Prat, fortunately with nobody on board, and this has blocked the train line to the airport and to Sitges until Monday. This is ridiculous. Renfe, the Spanish railroad monopoly, is clearly not getting the job done in the Barcelona area, where the commuter trains are constantly late or cancelled. Privatization, anyone?
The story on the ETA car loaded with explosives in Huelva: Seems that they had a scout car running ahead of the explosives car, and the scout car ran into a police checkpoint and alerted the terrorists behind them who were transporting the explosives, who abandoned their car at the side of the road. The Spanish cops are positive that ETA has an operatiive cell in Andalusia.
Tony Blair is going to convert to Catholicism, as everybody had speculated. Good for him, I hope he's happy, but is this actually a big deal? One thing about Blair: I still think he was wrong on all the small stuff and right on most of the big stuff. I think the fact that he is sincerely religious helps to show that he thought he was doing the right thing on the Iraq war. Which we still have to win.
The Poles are standing firm and they're going to block the Franco-German proposal for a new EU treaty. Sarko and Merkel have convinced the Brits, but the Czechs and Dutch are still with the Poles. Theory: The Poles don't trust either the Germans or the Russians any farther than they can spit, and neither do the Czechs. I sure wouldn't.
Under pressure to close down Guantanamo, the Bush administration says it might ship the prisoners to Afghanistan. Sounds good to me; I don't care where those arms-bearing terrorists are locked up, as long as they can't escape.
The CIA is releasing "unflattering documents" that had formerly been classified; looks like the worst stuff they can find are assassination attempts on Castro and surveillance of a few reporters. Unpleasant and wrong--I mean the spying on reporters, not trying to knock off Castro, which sounds like a good idea to me--but come on, folks, it's not precisely as bad as what the KGB was up to in those days.
Everyone is reporting that a Generalitat study says that Catalan, with 9 million speakers, including me, is the 88th most spoken language in the world. All right! We're number 88! Ahead of Swedish and Bulgarian!
Arts and Letters Daily links to a TCS interview with Bryan Caplan; we linked to a longish article by him on the same subject a few days ago. Caplan's thesis is that voters often make irrational decisions, especially regarding free markets, and that sometimes the voters should not get what they want. Check it out.
I knew I'd seen Caplan's name before and here's where: a few years ago he wrote a fascinating article titled "The Anarcho-Statists of Spain," one of the best pieces I've ever seen on the Spanish Civil War.
I knew I'd seen Caplan's name before and here's where: a few years ago he wrote a fascinating article titled "The Anarcho-Statists of Spain," one of the best pieces I've ever seen on the Spanish Civil War.
I've always thought that Gandhi, King, and Mandela, the multiculturalists' holy trinity, were highly overrated. Their chief virtues were their bravery--it takes some guts to stand up against the authorities when you're a member of what they consider an inferior group--and Gandhi's and King's non-violence. Mandela, notoriously, approved of violence.
However, none of the three was particularly altruistic--each worked toward the benefit of his own people, just like any other nationalist does. We're not talking Wilberforce or Henry Ward Beecher, members of the dominant group who worked for the rights of the dominated group. Or Lyndon Johnson and Earl Warren, who did much more to put an end to Jim Crow than King did. Johnson rammed literally dozens of civil rights laws down Congress's throat, and Chief Justice Warren backed him all the way. Or Eisenhower; when Little Rock tried to defy the Supreme Court and maintain segregated schools, Ike sent in the Airborne and Arkansas got the idea that things had changed.
Also, working against a system that does bad things does not necessarily make you a good person. Look at the Communists around the world. Sure, here in Spain they opposed Franco, and Franco was a bad guy, but the Communists were just as bad and might have been even worse. We're not talking about a democratic opposition or intellectual dissidents here.
Finally, Gandhi, King, and Mandela were fighting British imperialism, American Jim Crow, and South African apartheid, respectively. All bad things, I will agree, and they are all happily long gone. But these three men were dealing with more or less civilized opponents, who shrank from using extreme violence and repression. None of them would have lasted five minutes under Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Castro, Ho, Kim, or Saddam. Or even such comparatively mild dictators as Mubarak, Pinochet, or the king of Morocco.
However, none of the three was particularly altruistic--each worked toward the benefit of his own people, just like any other nationalist does. We're not talking Wilberforce or Henry Ward Beecher, members of the dominant group who worked for the rights of the dominated group. Or Lyndon Johnson and Earl Warren, who did much more to put an end to Jim Crow than King did. Johnson rammed literally dozens of civil rights laws down Congress's throat, and Chief Justice Warren backed him all the way. Or Eisenhower; when Little Rock tried to defy the Supreme Court and maintain segregated schools, Ike sent in the Airborne and Arkansas got the idea that things had changed.
Also, working against a system that does bad things does not necessarily make you a good person. Look at the Communists around the world. Sure, here in Spain they opposed Franco, and Franco was a bad guy, but the Communists were just as bad and might have been even worse. We're not talking about a democratic opposition or intellectual dissidents here.
Finally, Gandhi, King, and Mandela were fighting British imperialism, American Jim Crow, and South African apartheid, respectively. All bad things, I will agree, and they are all happily long gone. But these three men were dealing with more or less civilized opponents, who shrank from using extreme violence and repression. None of them would have lasted five minutes under Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Castro, Ho, Kim, or Saddam. Or even such comparatively mild dictators as Mubarak, Pinochet, or the king of Morocco.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Quick news brief: The cops found an ETA car with 100 kilos of explosives and detonators in Huelva province. It was not set to explode; presumably, the explosives and detonators would have been used to make several bombs.
A Madrid judge declared the Latin Kings an illegal organization. In Catalonia, though, they're an officially recognized cultural group that gets subsidies from the regional government.
A big kerfuffle is being made over the negotiations on Germany's proposed lite EU treaty. Spaniards, who are real big on the EU because it gives Spain lots of money and because a lot of them trust European bureaucrats more than Spanish politicians, hope that opposition from the UK and Poland will fail. Don't be so sure. I don't think many of the EU states are going to want to give up much more power to Brussels. France and Holland already voted no, remember, and no British government is going to give up its control over the currency or its own foreign and defense policy.
Puyol popped a ligament at an exhibition game in South Africa and will be out for three months, which is probably not such a bad thing because he needs the rest. Oh, get this, the Barça players were invited to meet Nelson Mandela and only five showed up. Garments are being rent over the squad's lack of solidarity.
From Wikipedia:
In 1961, Mandela became the leader of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (translated as Spear of the Nation, also abbreviated as MK), which he co-founded. He co-ordinated a sabotage campaign against military and government targets, and made plans for a possible guerrilla war if sabotage failed to end apartheid. A few decades later, MK did indeed wage a guerrilla war against the regime, especially during the 1980s, in which many civilians were killed. Mandela also raised funds for MK abroad, and arranged for paramilitary training, visiting various African governments.
A Madrid judge declared the Latin Kings an illegal organization. In Catalonia, though, they're an officially recognized cultural group that gets subsidies from the regional government.
A big kerfuffle is being made over the negotiations on Germany's proposed lite EU treaty. Spaniards, who are real big on the EU because it gives Spain lots of money and because a lot of them trust European bureaucrats more than Spanish politicians, hope that opposition from the UK and Poland will fail. Don't be so sure. I don't think many of the EU states are going to want to give up much more power to Brussels. France and Holland already voted no, remember, and no British government is going to give up its control over the currency or its own foreign and defense policy.
Puyol popped a ligament at an exhibition game in South Africa and will be out for three months, which is probably not such a bad thing because he needs the rest. Oh, get this, the Barça players were invited to meet Nelson Mandela and only five showed up. Garments are being rent over the squad's lack of solidarity.
From Wikipedia:
In 1961, Mandela became the leader of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (translated as Spear of the Nation, also abbreviated as MK), which he co-founded. He co-ordinated a sabotage campaign against military and government targets, and made plans for a possible guerrilla war if sabotage failed to end apartheid. A few decades later, MK did indeed wage a guerrilla war against the regime, especially during the 1980s, in which many civilians were killed. Mandela also raised funds for MK abroad, and arranged for paramilitary training, visiting various African governments.
What a disgrace. In Austin, Texas, a lynch mob killed a passenger in a car that hit a child, who was slightly injured. There aren't many details, fortunately, but it seems that the crowd surrounded the car and beat the passenger to death.
This would be getting a lot more press if it were a white lynch mob killing a black man, but in this case it was a black lynch mob killing a Hispanic man.
Now let's see what law enforcement does.
This would be getting a lot more press if it were a white lynch mob killing a black man, but in this case it was a black lynch mob killing a Hispanic man.
Now let's see what law enforcement does.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
It's been a long time since we did a blog roundup. So let's do one.
A Fistful of Euros has a good, long piece on European demographics in response to an article in the Economist. Check it out.
Biased BBC reports on the internal BBC study that determined the network is indeed biased.
Colin Davies has more groovy stuff on Gallego politics and fiestas and weather.
Ray comes out of the closet at Davids Medienkritik! Congratulations!
Eursoc comments on the French legislative election.
Expat Yank slaps around pro-Argie Brits.
Guirilandia has the dope on Barcelona street scams (with video) and deviant sexuality. Notes from Spain features more deviancy.
Kaleboel warns us that Spanish vultures have invaded Holland, with video.
La Liga Loca has the first half of his report on the Spanish football weekend up. Nicholas Mead has more.
LA-Madrid Files demolishes a self-hating Yank.
Spanish Pundit has more on Spain, the EU, Cuba, and Palestine.
A Fistful of Euros has a good, long piece on European demographics in response to an article in the Economist. Check it out.
Biased BBC reports on the internal BBC study that determined the network is indeed biased.
Colin Davies has more groovy stuff on Gallego politics and fiestas and weather.
Ray comes out of the closet at Davids Medienkritik! Congratulations!
Eursoc comments on the French legislative election.
Expat Yank slaps around pro-Argie Brits.
Guirilandia has the dope on Barcelona street scams (with video) and deviant sexuality. Notes from Spain features more deviancy.
Kaleboel warns us that Spanish vultures have invaded Holland, with video.
La Liga Loca has the first half of his report on the Spanish football weekend up. Nicholas Mead has more.
LA-Madrid Files demolishes a self-hating Yank.
Spanish Pundit has more on Spain, the EU, Cuba, and Palestine.
I thought this was funny. I'm mother-in-law sitting, and I put on my Pogues greatest hits CD. My mother-in-law asked, "Isn't the singer really old?" Well, yes, his body probably had about 80 years on it by the time this stuff was recorded, and probably has 80 more on it now, making him 160 in Shane years. I remember once he claimed he had been drunk since the age of thirteen. Not that he'd been drinking, that he'd been drunk.
She actually doesn't care what kind of music I play, though she seems to prefer swing and standards. She'll tolerate the Ramones, though.
She actually doesn't care what kind of music I play, though she seems to prefer swing and standards. She'll tolerate the Ramones, though.
The political news around here is that the Convergència i Unió coalition may break up. CiU is moderate-conservative and Catalan nationalist, and they're the second-biggest vote-getters in Catalonia. Convergencia is the more moderate and more Catalanist of the two parties, and Unio is more conservative and less Catalanist; Unio is part of the European Christian Democrats.
A lot of people think that Convergencia was basically Jordi Pujol's personalist party, and that it will fragment into at least three groups, one aligning with ERC, one with the PP, and the third with Unio. Pretty much the only things that ever held this lot together were Pujol and the fact they all hate the Catalan Socialists.
There's a conflict on between Convergencia leader Mas and Unio leader Duran Lerida; both want to be the overall boss of the coalition. In addition, Convergencia would prefer to center on the region of Catalonia; they hope to cut a deal with the Socialists in Madrid, putting Mas in as Catalan premier. In exchange for backing Zap in the Congress of Deputies, Montilla would step down at the Generalitat. Unio would prefer to focus on Spain and gain a couple of ministries in a Zap cabinet, a nice juicy one for Duran Lerida.
Note: Both Convergencia and Unio are counting a few chickens before they hatch. General elections are coming up in January or February, and both C's and U's plans are based on doing well. If they do badly, they won't be in a position to cut any deals, and especially not if Zap gets beat by Rajoy, which might happen. Or if Zap takes an absolute majority, less likely but still possible.
Also, if CiU breaks up, they'll divide the moderate nationalist vote and dilute its strength, making it even less likely that they'd be in a position to cut a deal with anyone.
Soap opera in France. Segolene Royal and François Hollande have split up sentimentally and politically. Now they're going to fight it out for Socialist leadership. He wants to stay in till 2008, and she wants him out now. This is great. How much you want to bet that if Hillary doesn't become president in 2008, she divorces Bill in 2009? Meanwhile, Sarko's UMP comfortably won the second round of the legislative election last weekend, though they actually lost about fifteen seats. He will have no problems putting through whatever legislation he wants.
EU weaseliness: The EU's foreign ministers voted to "reopen an open and general dialogue" with Cuba, at the request of Zap and Moratinos. I despise Zap, but I'd dislike him less if he weren't so pro-Castro. I don't get it; I don't see what he has to gain by backing a Communist dictatorship. All I can figure out is that he must actually like Castroism and believe in the Revolution. What a dope. The Zap regime also introduced a proposal to, get this, lift the diplomatic sanctions the EU laid on Cuba after the 2003 roundup of dissidents. The dissidents have not been freed, by the way. The UK, Sweden, and the Czechs, to those countries' credit, blocked that bit of groveling; the Czechs wanted to slap heavier sanctions on Cuba.
The Boys of the Squad, our regional police force, is supposedly tracking down three Islamist cells in Catalonia. Two of them recruit jihadis to go commit terrorism in Iraq, and the other falsifies documents in order to get Pakistani Al Qaeda prospects into Spain. I'm not sure they should have announced this until they'd actually captured these guys.
Rumors: Barça may unload Rafael Márquez as well as the other eight guys who are definitely out. La Vanguardia says they want to sign Eric Abidal, fullback at Olympique Lyon; Yaya Touré, midfielder at Monaco; center-back Chivu at Roma; and Thierry Henry. Supposedly they want to buy Diego Forlán; that rumor's been around for a while. I would not sell Marquez, he's young and has upside though he had a poor season, and I wouldn't spend a lot of money on Henry, he's only got about one more year left. Gudjohnsen supposedly has an offer from Man United. Saviola's pissed off, and he's claiming he might go to Real Madrid. Ronaldinho and Eto'o are staying, says the club. Deco was not mentioned. Frank says he's going to be a tough disciplinarian next season. Everybody seems to agree that there was not enough discipline last season, and that's why they blew the title. Sounds like a simplification to me, but I'm all for being a hardass on the players. If I were paying these guys millions of euros, you can guarantee there'd be clauses in their contracts specifying no doing anything the slightest bit unhealthy.
A lot of people think that Convergencia was basically Jordi Pujol's personalist party, and that it will fragment into at least three groups, one aligning with ERC, one with the PP, and the third with Unio. Pretty much the only things that ever held this lot together were Pujol and the fact they all hate the Catalan Socialists.
There's a conflict on between Convergencia leader Mas and Unio leader Duran Lerida; both want to be the overall boss of the coalition. In addition, Convergencia would prefer to center on the region of Catalonia; they hope to cut a deal with the Socialists in Madrid, putting Mas in as Catalan premier. In exchange for backing Zap in the Congress of Deputies, Montilla would step down at the Generalitat. Unio would prefer to focus on Spain and gain a couple of ministries in a Zap cabinet, a nice juicy one for Duran Lerida.
Note: Both Convergencia and Unio are counting a few chickens before they hatch. General elections are coming up in January or February, and both C's and U's plans are based on doing well. If they do badly, they won't be in a position to cut any deals, and especially not if Zap gets beat by Rajoy, which might happen. Or if Zap takes an absolute majority, less likely but still possible.
Also, if CiU breaks up, they'll divide the moderate nationalist vote and dilute its strength, making it even less likely that they'd be in a position to cut a deal with anyone.
Soap opera in France. Segolene Royal and François Hollande have split up sentimentally and politically. Now they're going to fight it out for Socialist leadership. He wants to stay in till 2008, and she wants him out now. This is great. How much you want to bet that if Hillary doesn't become president in 2008, she divorces Bill in 2009? Meanwhile, Sarko's UMP comfortably won the second round of the legislative election last weekend, though they actually lost about fifteen seats. He will have no problems putting through whatever legislation he wants.
EU weaseliness: The EU's foreign ministers voted to "reopen an open and general dialogue" with Cuba, at the request of Zap and Moratinos. I despise Zap, but I'd dislike him less if he weren't so pro-Castro. I don't get it; I don't see what he has to gain by backing a Communist dictatorship. All I can figure out is that he must actually like Castroism and believe in the Revolution. What a dope. The Zap regime also introduced a proposal to, get this, lift the diplomatic sanctions the EU laid on Cuba after the 2003 roundup of dissidents. The dissidents have not been freed, by the way. The UK, Sweden, and the Czechs, to those countries' credit, blocked that bit of groveling; the Czechs wanted to slap heavier sanctions on Cuba.
The Boys of the Squad, our regional police force, is supposedly tracking down three Islamist cells in Catalonia. Two of them recruit jihadis to go commit terrorism in Iraq, and the other falsifies documents in order to get Pakistani Al Qaeda prospects into Spain. I'm not sure they should have announced this until they'd actually captured these guys.
Rumors: Barça may unload Rafael Márquez as well as the other eight guys who are definitely out. La Vanguardia says they want to sign Eric Abidal, fullback at Olympique Lyon; Yaya Touré, midfielder at Monaco; center-back Chivu at Roma; and Thierry Henry. Supposedly they want to buy Diego Forlán; that rumor's been around for a while. I would not sell Marquez, he's young and has upside though he had a poor season, and I wouldn't spend a lot of money on Henry, he's only got about one more year left. Gudjohnsen supposedly has an offer from Man United. Saviola's pissed off, and he's claiming he might go to Real Madrid. Ronaldinho and Eto'o are staying, says the club. Deco was not mentioned. Frank says he's going to be a tough disciplinarian next season. Everybody seems to agree that there was not enough discipline last season, and that's why they blew the title. Sounds like a simplification to me, but I'm all for being a hardass on the players. If I were paying these guys millions of euros, you can guarantee there'd be clauses in their contracts specifying no doing anything the slightest bit unhealthy.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Nobody in Spain was talking about anything but football today. The League championship was down to the last game. If Real Madrid won, they won the league; if they didn't, then Barça could take the title with a victory. The games were played simultaneously, and Barça got out to an early lead over Nastic while Mallorca took the lead over Real Madrid. For about sixty minutes it looked like the title was Barcelona's, and then Madrid scored, and scored, and scored again, and they won the league fair and square. There is no way Barcelona should ever have let this one get away, they had a lead of several points with just a few games to go, but they did. You can't win them all, but this was one they shouldn't have lost.
The papers are saying no big shakeup of the Barça squad. Rijkaard will stay, and so will Ronaldinho and Eto'o. On their way out: Motta, Sylvinho, Edmilson, Belletti, Gudjohnsen, Giuly, Ezquerro, and Saviola. Supposedly they're going to sign Chivu; this rumor is a little solider than others I've heard because it was in La Vanguardia and not one of the notoriously unreliable sports papers.
I noticed something down at the bar this evening, since of course the game was on pay-TV. The place I go is frequented by working-class guys who are perfectly OK but not too refined or well-educated or anything like that, and none is particularly good-looking. However, three of them have recently scored with fairly attractive chicks who they normally wouldn't have a chance with, and they were all there for the big game tonight.
All three of these girls are Eastern European, and a Spanish working-class guy with a steady job looks pretty good to them. So there's one social result of immigration: it has improved the sex lives of at least a few of the locals no end. I'm guessing that Asian, Latin American, Arab, and African girls tend to stick with their own folks, but the Eastern Europeans, who I'm guessing are often more mature and self-reliant and came here on their own, aren't so locked into their own communities. I'm also guessing that Spanish guys are much more likely to hit on white women than those of other races.
The papers are saying no big shakeup of the Barça squad. Rijkaard will stay, and so will Ronaldinho and Eto'o. On their way out: Motta, Sylvinho, Edmilson, Belletti, Gudjohnsen, Giuly, Ezquerro, and Saviola. Supposedly they're going to sign Chivu; this rumor is a little solider than others I've heard because it was in La Vanguardia and not one of the notoriously unreliable sports papers.
I noticed something down at the bar this evening, since of course the game was on pay-TV. The place I go is frequented by working-class guys who are perfectly OK but not too refined or well-educated or anything like that, and none is particularly good-looking. However, three of them have recently scored with fairly attractive chicks who they normally wouldn't have a chance with, and they were all there for the big game tonight.
All three of these girls are Eastern European, and a Spanish working-class guy with a steady job looks pretty good to them. So there's one social result of immigration: it has improved the sex lives of at least a few of the locals no end. I'm guessing that Asian, Latin American, Arab, and African girls tend to stick with their own folks, but the Eastern Europeans, who I'm guessing are often more mature and self-reliant and came here on their own, aren't so locked into their own communities. I'm also guessing that Spanish guys are much more likely to hit on white women than those of other races.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
On the exclusion of writers in Spanish from the Catalan delegation at the Frankfurt Book Fair:
Josep Bargalló, extremist Cataloony and head of the Institut Ramon Llull, in charge of this shindig which is costing all Spanish taxpayers €12 million from the Ministry of Culture, said in the regional Parliament on March 7, "The protagonists will be the writers who express themselves in Catalan; if we invite them, the authors in Spanish will come only for the dialogues and to talk about Catalan literature...We want to explain our reality as it is and, yes, we are plurilingual, but what makes us different from others is the Catalan language; without it there would be no Catalan culture in Frankfurt."
From La Vanguardia on May 6, 2007: "Until a week and a half ago, the principal Catalan authors in Spanish had not received an official invitation from the Generalitat to go to Frankfurt."
Quimera has an excellent summary of the whole kerfuffle, reminding us that on May 26, 2006, the Catalan Parliament passed a confusing resolution; "CiU and ERC were completely convinced they had agreed to the absence of Spanish at the fair. The press interpreted it that way as well. PSC and ICV understood, however, that they had agreed to give preponderance to Catalan without excluding Spanish. But from the text of the parliamentary resolution, according to which Catalan was "the unique identifying characteristic" of Catalan literature, it was difficult to deduce anything but the exclusion of authors in Spanish."
Josep Bargalló, extremist Cataloony and head of the Institut Ramon Llull, in charge of this shindig which is costing all Spanish taxpayers €12 million from the Ministry of Culture, said in the regional Parliament on March 7, "The protagonists will be the writers who express themselves in Catalan; if we invite them, the authors in Spanish will come only for the dialogues and to talk about Catalan literature...We want to explain our reality as it is and, yes, we are plurilingual, but what makes us different from others is the Catalan language; without it there would be no Catalan culture in Frankfurt."
From La Vanguardia on May 6, 2007: "Until a week and a half ago, the principal Catalan authors in Spanish had not received an official invitation from the Generalitat to go to Frankfurt."
Quimera has an excellent summary of the whole kerfuffle, reminding us that on May 26, 2006, the Catalan Parliament passed a confusing resolution; "CiU and ERC were completely convinced they had agreed to the absence of Spanish at the fair. The press interpreted it that way as well. PSC and ICV understood, however, that they had agreed to give preponderance to Catalan without excluding Spanish. But from the text of the parliamentary resolution, according to which Catalan was "the unique identifying characteristic" of Catalan literature, it was difficult to deduce anything but the exclusion of authors in Spanish."
Extremely obnoxious snobbery from yesterday's El Periódico: Woody Allen is in town making preparations for his next movie, which is to be filmed here. Now, though I haven't liked any Allen movies since Annie Hall, and I can't stand the man personally, I admit this is news, and that a visit from Woody would get coverage in any city that he was going to film in. The local press has gone nuts, though, reporting on Allen's every movement in Barcelona, and Arturo San Agustín wonders in his column whether the excessive attention lavished on Allen is a sign that Barcelona is more provincial than it would like to believe.
So far so good; that's actually not a bad topìc for a throwaway column.
Now check out San Agustín's last sentence:
"Woody Allen (is) a director who some of us Europeans like more than the numerous fat Yankees who come here on cruise ships."
What a dick.
So far so good; that's actually not a bad topìc for a throwaway column.
Now check out San Agustín's last sentence:
"Woody Allen (is) a director who some of us Europeans like more than the numerous fat Yankees who come here on cruise ships."
What a dick.
Friday, June 15, 2007
CNN reports on bullfighter José Tomás's comeback corrida in Barcelona, which has sold out the Monumental bullring, which seats 19,000. The local press is reporting that thousands of out-of-town aficionados are paying scalpers up to €600 for a seat.
This is controversial around here because Catalan nationalists consider bullfighting to be non-Catalan, a foreign import. That's not true; Barcelona has held bullfights for centuries, had three bullrings operating in the early 1900s before heavy migration from the rest of Spain, and in 1835 saw a local revolt touched off by a bullfight gone wrong. In addition, bullfighting is popular in the town of Olot and in the Catalan towns on the Ebro.
It is true, though, that bullfighting is not as popular in Catalonia as in other parts of Spain. Andalusia and Castile are the heartland of bullfighting, but it's also popular in the Basque Country, Navarre, Aragon, and Valencia. As far as I know, the only Latin American countries where bullfighting is big are Mexico, Colombia, and Peru.
One thing is that it's not considered a sport, but rather a performance. Those who appreciate it consider it an art. I am not one of them.
I've changed my position on bullfighting at least twice. At first I thought it was barbaric and repulsive. Then I began to think that, well, I don't like it but it is part of the culture and has a long history, and who am I to tell Spaniards what to do? Now I've sort of gone back to my original idea. Just because it's part of the culture doesn't make it right, but so many people like it that you really can't ban it, that would be a miscarriage of democracy. But people should damn sure stop patronizing it unless they stop killing the bulls. The Portuguese don't kill the bull. Seems to me that doing it Portuguese-style would be a reasonable compromise.
This is controversial around here because Catalan nationalists consider bullfighting to be non-Catalan, a foreign import. That's not true; Barcelona has held bullfights for centuries, had three bullrings operating in the early 1900s before heavy migration from the rest of Spain, and in 1835 saw a local revolt touched off by a bullfight gone wrong. In addition, bullfighting is popular in the town of Olot and in the Catalan towns on the Ebro.
It is true, though, that bullfighting is not as popular in Catalonia as in other parts of Spain. Andalusia and Castile are the heartland of bullfighting, but it's also popular in the Basque Country, Navarre, Aragon, and Valencia. As far as I know, the only Latin American countries where bullfighting is big are Mexico, Colombia, and Peru.
One thing is that it's not considered a sport, but rather a performance. Those who appreciate it consider it an art. I am not one of them.
I've changed my position on bullfighting at least twice. At first I thought it was barbaric and repulsive. Then I began to think that, well, I don't like it but it is part of the culture and has a long history, and who am I to tell Spaniards what to do? Now I've sort of gone back to my original idea. Just because it's part of the culture doesn't make it right, but so many people like it that you really can't ban it, that would be a miscarriage of democracy. But people should damn sure stop patronizing it unless they stop killing the bulls. The Portuguese don't kill the bull. Seems to me that doing it Portuguese-style would be a reasonable compromise.
Check this out. Fark links to this story explaining that the rules for the Miss Spain contest have been changed, and from now on mothers will be allowed to compete as well.
Here's what Fark didn't link to. Ms. Angela Bustillo, the lady who was disqualified as Miss Cantabria because she had a child, got a boob job and took off most of her unmentionables for Spanish trash mag Interviú. Check out the whole gallery of photos. Not safe for work unless you work at a strip bar.
Here's what Fark didn't link to. Ms. Angela Bustillo, the lady who was disqualified as Miss Cantabria because she had a child, got a boob job and took off most of her unmentionables for Spanish trash mag Interviú. Check out the whole gallery of photos. Not safe for work unless you work at a strip bar.
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