Dawn

Dawn

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Corruption again; TV dress codes;Dumb dogs; Beggars; Readers; and One liners.

The judge investigating the illegal financing of the governing PP party and the alleged illegal payments of black money to the President and other leading lights has announced he won't be calling them to testify. This puts the judge on the same hymn sheet as the Chief Prosecutor, who's made it crystal clear he wants the senior politicians brought down from the media hook upon which they're impaled. I'm not sure whether we're now supposed to conclude there's no fire below the considerable amount of smoke. But, if so, I doubt many will.

Malaya: To us in Spain, this doesn't mean the name of a country possibly now called something else, but the label to a corruption trial which has had everything and which has ended with the jailing of more than 50 Marbella council employees. This, of course, was the bailiwick of the late, extrovert Grand Theft Mayor, Jesús Gil. Indeed, the scams that have now been brought to an end(?) began in his era. The star defendant was one Sr Roca, Senior Planning Officer, who - from his pivotal position - earned himself a tidy fortune, estimated at €90m, in property, classic cars, artworks and aircraft. Only 10m of this has been recouped so far. During his tenure, Sr Roca also acquired ranches for breeding thoroughbred horses and rearing fighting bulls. And no one seemed to notice. Or maybe they assumed that, like Sr Fabra in Castellón, he was very lucky with the lottery.

Which reminds me . . . Here's the heartcooling story of the 12 guys who won the gold medal for Spain at the 2000 Paralympics Games in Sydney. The 'spoiler' is that 10 of these had no disability. Twelve years on, just about everyone seems to have survived court proceedings unscathed. Which will be a lesson to future fraudsters, I'm sure.

Different cultures, different religions? A Turkish TV presenter has been fired for wearing the sort of dress that's compulsory on Spanish TV. And which, I suspect, would be considered the equivalent of a burkha on Italian TV.

Having had one for 17 years, I wasn't at all surprised to read today that Border Collies are the smartest of dogs. At the other end of the spectrum, though, here's the thickest:-
  • Shih Tzu
  • Mastiff
  • Beagle
  • Pekingese
  • Bloodhound
  • Borzoi
  • Chow Chow
  • Bulldog
  • Basenji
  • Bassett Hound
  • Afghan Hound
I see, though, that some of these are foreign breeds. Maybe they couldn't read the exam paper in English. Some of them manage to combine stupidity with ugliness, raising the question of why on earth anyone would want to own one. I mean, the bulldog? Ugly, thick, unable to breed naturally and can't even breathe properly. The entire race should be put down as act of mercy. As should anyone who breeds them.

I listed the other day all the types of beggars we're plagued with during the summer. Well, here's how Madrid intends to deal with them, and other nuisances. In a word, draconially. Which my spellcheck tells me doesn't exist. Well, it does now.

Talking of municipalities . . . It's not only Spanish mayors who line their pockets. Here's how it's done in the UK, legally.

It's happened again - Readership numbers doubled yesterday and quadrupled overnight. And the only reason I can think of is that I used the words breasts and nipples in yesterday's post. Right now - even without the impact of the repetition of them here - we're on course for a record 24 hours. Can things really be this simple? Anyway, I tried yesterday to send a Welcome message to the latest reader to become a Member of this blog. But, as before, Google put me in a perpetual loop from which (obviously) there was no apparent escape. So, Welcome to Francis.

Talking of irritating social network sites . . . Facebook have come up with the daftest yet Suggested Reading(?) site - the bloody Spanish Ministry of Defence page!

Finally . . . For those lucky enough to remember Tommy Cooper, here's what someone thinks are his best 25 one-liners.

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