Dawn

Dawn

Monday, December 22, 2008

It was an unusual night. Hits to my blog – usually around 25-30 – were 77. And one of these arrived after a search for mastodonic tits. What, in the name of heaven, can these be? And what sort of person can be interested in them?

Anyway, here’s a thought-provoking piece on global warming from that indefatigable sceptic, Christopher Booker. Who doesn’t believe in the man-made EU either.

Thank God for folk like those of the Plain English Campaign. They’ve criticised British supermarkets for the gobbledygook in which they describe Christmas food. I particularly like the term they’ve previously applied to the rubbish which comes from the mouth of every media-trained British policeman these days– ploddledegook.

The province of Pontevedra has seen its second case of domestic murder within two weeks. This time it was the mother of six kids, strangled as they slept by a husband who resented her coming back late from her waitress job. I’m not sure the incidence of these killings is any higher than in any other developed society but it’s certainly a high-profile issue for the Spanish media. As paedophilia is for their UK brethren. That said, with a week or two to go, the total for the year now looks set to pass that of the record for 2007.

The unfortunate woman in this case had worked late because Friday night was when everyone in Spain said farewell over dinner to all those they’d worked or studied with over the previous few months. Which I later realised was why the shops were remarkably empty on Saturday morning. Almost everyone in the city and it environs was sleeping late. But not my neighbour with the bloody hammer, of course.

El Pais informed us yesterday that the revenue from the new Galician windfarms will be around 431m euros a year and that the successful companies will make an eye-watering 15-20% profit a year. The paper adds that - just as in the UK - none of this would happen without grants and subsidies. It make one smile – well, me anyway – to see how those left of centre rail against avarice in the free economy but turn a blind eye to government-sponsored market distortion, greed and corruption in respect of schemes which are felt to serve some admirable political objective. Which takes us back to Christopher Booker, the EU and the infamous Common Agricultural Policy.

Some good bad news for Brits living in Europe but financed by a British income – “With Germany headed into its worst recession since the war, France contracting, Italy in the doldrums and Spain's already high unemployment soaring with the bursting of its property bubble, the Deutsche Bank expects the euro to be back down to $1.21 within a year. . . It is widely understood that the strong euro is no blessing and also that the eurozone recessions could be more stubborn and lasting than in Britain and the US because of the ECB's slowness to cut interest rates. The pound would then perk up.” Well, we will see. Meanwhile, here’s the less optimistic view.

Finally, here’s an informative article on the Galician delicacy I love to hate – the percebe. I got it from Google Alerts. Which, once again, failed to mention my blog. Happy bloody Christmas to the incompetents who manage this pathetic service.

PS. I’ve just noticed this was the second time this year someone arrived at this blog searching for mastodonic tits. You’d have thought he learned the first time they weren’t here. But doubtless it will be a recurring theme now that I've mentioned them again. Twice.

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