Dawn

Dawn

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Gigolo News: if you missed this in my blog a couple of weeks ago, here's the story of the misled males. Or silly studs.

Spain's disaffected – and there's quite a lot of them – are not yet rioting but there's a suggestion here they might get round to it next week, when the Pope puts in an expensive appearance in Madrid. I rather hope not, as my younger daughter is also visiting for the World Youth Day. And I care very much more about her wellbeing than the Pope's.

Charles Butler of IBEXSalad has cited this fascinating article on German banking. Not to mention German society at large. It hasn't pleased all German commentators but I'm with the American who felt it had put them in a rather positive light. Charles's own take on the article is that “Readers might note the point at which an interviewee describes Germans as people who do not think the other party to an interaction is lying – and imagine what domestic mayhem can break loose when they find themselves married to a culture that has not the slightest expectation that the counter-party to even the most banal of street corner conversations is actually telling the truth.” For my part, I've long wondered what would happen when the Germans and Dutch, etc. found out where their money was going. Like the corruption-wreathed vanity project on the edge of Santiago, for example. Anyway, as someone who's long described the Spanish bum as phoney, the line in the article I liked best was this one - “Other countries used foreign money to fuel various forms of insanity. The Germans, through their bankers, used their own money to enable foreigners to behave insanely.”

Oh hell, I can't resist another quote - “At the bottom of this unholy mess is the unwillingness, or inability, of the Greeks to change their behavior.
That was what the currency union always implied: entire peoples had to change their ways of life. Conceived as a tool for integrating Germany into Europe, and preventing Germans from dominating others, it has become the opposite. For better or for worse, the Germans now own Europe. If the rest of Europe is to continue to enjoy the benefits of what is essentially a German currency, they need to become more German. And so, once again, all sorts of people who would rather not think about what it means to be “German” are compelled to do so.” The Spanish becoming German? No chance. I hope. There just has to be some other solution. Two euros?

Finally . . . When walking my canine guest this morning, I noted that twelve of the fourteen cars in my street had all four corners bashed or scratched. And most of them – including mine - had tell-tale abrasions down the passenger side, suggesting the driver had misjudged some wall or other. My excuse, though, is that I was hit by a flying
contenador as I drove down the hill in a gale.

Finally, finally . . . This will mean nothing to many but I've just enjoyed seeing England annihilate the no. 1 cricket team in the world, India, to go to the top of the international rankings.

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