Dawn

Dawn

Thursday, March 03, 2005

One of our local newspapers has issued a list of the 125 most influential Galicians in the country. The most immediately notable aspects of this are the scarcity of women and the inclusion at no. 8 of a Cardinal. It’s easy to forget just how Catholic a country Spain still is. But here’s a list of female forenames as a reminder:-

Concepción - Conception
Mercedes - Mercies
Dolores - Pains
Dolores Pena - Pains Sorrow
Asunción - Assumption
Soledad - Loneliness
Paz - Peace
Belén - Bethlehem
Cruz - Cross
Pilar - Pillar
Amparo - Protection
Angustia - Anguish
Inmaculada - Immaculate
Socorro - Help
Milagros - Miracles
Luz - Light
Esperanza - Hope
Estrella - Star
Remedios - Remedies
Encarnación - Incarnation

Back down on earth, the executives of a TV company have been arrested for large-scale fraud. Their simple scam was to solicit premium-rate phone calls in search of a prize for the answer to a simple riddle. Operators were instructed to keep the callers on the line for a minimum of 35 minutes. The unanswered riddle is how this obviously-phoney programme managed to run, to my certain knowledge, for at least 5 years before anyone twigged.

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