64%
of Spaniards are forecast to vote in the upcoming EU elections. This
is rather surprising, given the low opinion they have of their current
politicians. Perhaps it's in the expectation of a better form of
democracy. Some hope. I'd be surprised if more than 35% of Brits go
to the polls, being even less trusting of European politicians than
they are of their own. And most of those who do vote will be making a protest by supporting UKIP. Which will be a meaningless result.
Prospect
magazine has published a list of the world's greatest thinkers, as
elected by its readers. Three of the first 5 are Indian, which was
a bit of a surprise. But not as much as the inclusion of Pope Francis
at number 5.
Talking
of prominent Catholics . . . I was a little surprised to read
recently that the latter's number 2 - sacked from his position as
head of the Vatican's corrupt financial ministry - had ignored his boss's example of humility and moved into a vast apartment of great
splendour. Which possibly says something about the reactionary forces Pope Francis is up against.
One
of the numerous obligations imposed by the EU on its member states is
that everyone should have an internet speed of at least 30 megas by
some date in the future. Locally (i. e. in my barrio),
Telefónica don't seem much concerned with this but nationally
they've persuaded the government to bring in a law allowing them to
expropriate private properties - e. g. terraces - to install telecoms
infrastructure. Does this happen elsewhere, I wonder, as I plod along
with my 'up to 10 megas'. Meaning around 0.5 megas in practice.
Seven
years ago, a tube train crashed in Valencia. As with the recent rail
crash near Santiago, all the blame was heaped on the driver, who'd conveniently died in the accident. But now a judge has decided to question 3
technicians of the city's railway company, FGV and, once again, it's
the braking system which is the centre of the investigation. Better
late than never. Which is a comment which seems to be of general
application to the Spanish judicial system.
For
those who read Spanish, the blog
Guirilandia is an
excellent read. The author is a Spaniard living in London, writing
about how he finds life there. Today there's an article from Sergio
Delgado Somodevilla on what
a foreigner should do to fit in with British/London life and how to
overcome the psychological barriers to this
Finally
. . . A couple more beauties missed by the teenage sub-editors of the
Daily Telegraph:
- First Minister faces renewed demands for an apoogy after saying he admires 'some aspects' of Putin's leadership
- The Ecclestone daugter who lives on another planet
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