Was
this predictable? Yes, of course it was. For example, by all who
warned a one-size-fits-all currency would be a disaster for
weaker economies. Christopher Booker, for one. Can anything stop it?
Well, Germany leaving the EU and revaluing its currency would be a
good start. But that ain't going to happen. Meanwhile, politicians
and bureaucrats together claim that the euro crisis is well over and
everything is heading in the right direction. It isn't. As The
Economist
says this week, they're fooling themselves, if no one else, and
"sleepwalking through an economic wasteland". And the
reason for inactivity is a lack of will to do even the things already
agreed to be vital, such as a true banking union.
Which is
comforting.
Will
things get any better quickly? I rather doubt it. Is it any wonder
that "Across
Europe voters have grown resentful of both their own politicians and
the EU". But will there be revolts? I rather doubt that too. So,
it's a recipe for the wilfully blind leading the wilfully docile.
Has
anything like this ever happened in history before? Possibly in
Germany during the Weimar Republic and then under the National
Socialists. And look where that got us. As for the immediate future,
as The
Economist
puts it- Europe
will be under a shadow for years to come. The cost will be measured
in disillusion, blighted communities and wasted lives. Unlike Japan,
though, the euro zone is not cohesive. For as long as stagnation and
recession tear at democracy, the euro zone risks a fatal popular
rejection. If the sleepwalkers care about their currency and their
people, they need to wake up. My
guess is they will sleep on. Cushioned by their obscene salaries and
expense accounts. See here for the full article.
Back
in the prosaic, humdrum diurnal struggle, I tried today to get a new
Terra email address, following their decision to cancel all existing
addresses. This should have been a doddle but, in fact, there were
problems at every single stage of the process. Never more so than
when I was asked to give the country I was in. The options list would
only give me ten countries, all beginning with A. Which is how I came
to be a resident of Antarctica. Don't believe me? Well, see
here:-
Felicitaciones.
Tu usuario fue creado con:
nombre
completo: Colin Davies
sexo:
Masculino
usuario:
colin
país:
ANTARCTICA
FIFA
have announced that Gibraltar is to have full international status,
though it's not clear if they'll ever play against Spain or the
Balkan state which voted against this. Meanwhile, here in Spain, the
development has led to a lunatic knee-jerk response from those of the far right
for whom this is the beginning of the end of the civilised world. The
same people who can, at the drop of a hat, give you pages and pages
of reasons why Ceuta and Melilla are not Spanish colonies but
'enclaves' and an integral part of Spain. And who visit Franco's
grave on every anniversary of his belated death. Nutters all.
The
most popular names for dogs in Spain are Luna
(Beauty), Linda, Laika, Rocky, Toby; Chispa (Spark), Kira, Lola,
Canela(Cinnamon!) and Chiqui(Cheeky, of course). And the most popular
breed is said to be 'mongrel'. Not here in snobby Pontevedra it
ain't, amigo. All of which reminds me that when I first came to
Spain, speaking almost no Spanish, I formed the view that most dogs
here were called Ben. Because their owners kept calling 'Ben here!'
Or Ven aquí!
in Spanish. For 'Come here!'. Quite a natural assumption, I think.
However stupid it now appears.
Finally
. . . WTF does
The
Times
ask me every couple of days or so to 'register', when I am already
paying to escape their paywall? Can't their software distinguish
between a paying customer and someone who's only allowed just 10 free
reads? It seems not. Maybe Google should talk to them.
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