Dawn

Dawn

Monday, January 23, 2012

My apologies for forgetting that both of the Republican frontrunners have daft names and calling Mr Romney 'Matt', when his name is 'Glove'. Sorry, 'Mitt'. And sorry, Mitt, that you were unexpectedly trounced by the chap with the name of an amphibian and a reputation for an interest in extra-marital sex. Which really should have put paid to his prospects in conservative South Carolina but obviously didn't. Mainly, it seems, because of some very effective "attack ads" from his camp directed at Mr Romney. Things could get very dirty now. Mitts off, as they say.

Fascinating developments around the Scottish independence referendum. Firstly, the Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, has said that England will be better off without Scotland. Of course, he's pushing at an open door, given that there's a higher percentage of people in England in favour of independence than in Scotland. 36% against 33%. Secondly, Spain has said it will 'veto' independence. Which turns out to mean it will try to stop Scotland becoming an EU member. The Scots have pointed out that Scotland already is a member and has been for almost 40 years. As I said a week or two back, the concern in Madrid is that even just the talk over the next two years will put wind in the sails of the Basques, the Catalans and even the Galicians. Though, in the case of Galicia, most people recognise the economics are wrong. But if they find oil up in the Galician hills . . . .

Spain's king Don Carlos has a reputation for being something of a womaniser. As well as for having shot his brother a while back. Accidentally, of course. In ten years in Spain, I've never seen any of this in the media. Until now. In a recently published book - The Solitude of the Queen - it's claimed he's a 'professional womaniser' and that he hasn't shared a bed with the queen since 1976. And that he was recently comforted in hospital, at 74, by a 25 year old translator. Which does sound pretty professional.

Finally . . . Coming home last night, I was passed by around twelve young men dressed as ducks, presumably on their way to a good night out. I say "dressed" but it was more than that. Each of them had yellow leggings and large webbed feet and was straddling the fore and aft parts of a (large) duck. Assisted by a pair of straps attached to the body of the duck and passing over the shoulders. Or maybe it was a chicken. Anyway, what really caught my attention was that, with the temperature at seven degrees and falling, none of the young men was wearing anything more than a T-shirt. Quite mad.

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