Dawn

Dawn

Monday, August 22, 2016

Ponters Pensées: 22.8.16

Spanish Politics: Here's a commentary on acting-President Rajoy's plight:-



Err.  . .  Ahem . . . Cough! Cough! In the hypothetical event of my failed investiture . . . Cough! Cough! Cough! There'll be a third general election at Christmas.  Buuut . . . THE FOOTBALL SEASON HAS STARTED!

I'm not sure that cof is the Spanish for 'cough' . . . I thought it was tos.

The Euro and the Global Economy: Here's an article from an economist who's been blowing the whistle on the EU and its precious euro for at least 15 years, Joseph Stilglitz. Some quotes:- From its conception, the eurozone was a project carrying a staggering amount of ideological luggage that effectively blinded its creators to deep flaws in the system. In addition to such structural problems, the response of eurozone officials to the debt crisis that erupted in Greece in 2010 has effectively doomed large parts of the monetary bloc to perennial depression . . . The prioritization of a single currency was not based on economic science. It was blind faith. . . When challenged about democracy, prosperity, and solidarity. It says, “We have no solidarity. We don’t pay attention to democracy. And we know our system is not working and the only way we can keep you in is by threatening you.” To me, that response was symbolic of why the EU is not working. Says it all, really.

Will Self: This is a British writer and TV personality. I've been ambivalent about him for years, enjoying much of his stuff but finding myself irritated by his regular (and arrogant?) use of words which 99.9% of Brits won't know. But here's his podcast on modern art and I have to say I agree with every word of it.

Galicia's 3 International Airports: The Voz de Galicia went to town on these yesterday, highlighting a welcome increase in passenger numbers this summer, but excoriating local politicians for talking sense about rationalisation but doing absolutely nothing to achieve it. Thanks, of course, to Spain's infamous localismo and the resulting internecine war between the cities of Santiago, Vigo and La Coruña. When I first travelled through Oporto's facility in the late 90s, if was almost a toy airport and you could get from landing to driving off within 15-20 minutes. Now, it's a vast place which cheekily advertises itself as The airport for all Galicians. I wan't surprised, therefore, to read that Santiago had lost 8 international routes to Oporto in recent years. In contrast, it wasn't much of a shock to read that Oporto will easily surpass its 2020 target of 12 million passengers a year. Madness. With economic consequences. Spain at its worst.

Pontevedra's Semana Grande: This ended last night with the traditional 3rd fireworks spectacular in 7 days. Crisis? What crisis? Today will see the cyclists of the The Tur d'España passing through the city – and round the famous roundabout bottleneck at the bottom of our hill – en route to Sanjenjo/Sangenjo/Sanxenxo. I expect they'll clear the traffic from the coast road for this. So, not a day to head for the beaches on this side of the ría.

Finally . . .  An ancient witchhunt:  That old bore, Alfie Mittington, has finally said something interesting in his comment yesterday on the Inquisition. Here's more details on the 17th century incident he mentions.

Finally, Finally . . . Mor jamón puns. Anyone got any worse ones?

Eddie Cochran: J'món Everybody!

Ella: Sing Hallelujah, j'món get happy.

The Doors: J'món, Baby, Light my fire!

The Drifters: J'mon over to my place.

Garry Glitter: J'amón, Come In and Get on!

[That's more than enough! Ed.]

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