I
went for a blood test today and was attended by the guy who's been
jabbing me for 12 years now, usually for my annual check-up. Anyway,
he greeted me like a long lost brother, dealt as expeditiously as
ever with the blood-sucking then, as I got up to go said:-
David.That's
not a very common name in Britain, is it?
Yes,
I think it's quite common.
You
mean among the Jews?
No,
I mean among everyone.
It
means God or Son of God in Jewish, doesn't it?
Err
. . I really don't know. I thought that was Jehova. I'll ask my
Jewish sister.
Yes,
it does. And so does [indistinct]
OK.
I'll ask her about that too.
Your
results will be available today.
Thanks.
Until next time!
Until
next time, my friend.
Watching
Pontevedra FC play last Sunday, I noted that their sponsor is the the
provincial government. Or, putting it another way, the local
taxpayers. One wonders how long this can continue in these
increasingly straitened times.
The
Spanish president – Sr Rajoy – continues to play Hide
the Bailout,
not wanting to be humiliated by taking his begging bowl to the ECB
before October elections in his home region of Galicia. This strategy
has the added advantage of obscuring the fact he'll have to make
bigger cuts than those already announced. On the last score, however,
he seems to have been upstaged by Brussells, which has publicly
confirmed that harsher measures will be demanded. And supervised by
a trio of mandarins who'll be taking over the economic management of
the country. Which is not that joining the EU was supposed to be
about. It was done so as to achieve an endless flow of 'solidarity'.
Meaning, of course, someone else's money.
When
you look back, every member of the EU was perfectly happy when they
were getting what they wanted, simultaneously. Germany, for example,
was getting lots of nice exports and profits on banking deals. And
Spain was getting lots of bunce, cheap money and real estate profits.
It was only after it was all exposed to be a house of cards erected
on shifting sands that people began to whinge. And to make harsh
demands on others. But 'twas ever thus, I guess.
I
listened, with astonishment, today to a chap who, thanks to
Asperger's, is an autistic savant. Because, he said, of 'different
connections' in his brain he'd been able to publicly recite the
number Pi to more than 22,500 decimal places, over more than 5 hours.
And to learn Icelandic in a week. I wonder if one day we'll be able
to walk into a clinic and choose from a menu of brain re-connections.
Meanwhile, one can only admire the potential of the human brain. Even
if it does have to be mal-wired to achieve it.
Talking
of numbers . . . A week or two back, I saw the eminent feminist,
Naomi Wolf, make what I suspected were extraordinary claims about
rape in Sweden. This, of course, in support of Julian Assange. Both the incidence of
rape and the conviction rate for rape were, she stressed, the highest
in Europe. Needless to say, in reality these reflect different definitions of
rape and different police treatments of accusations of rape. So,
the claims were as valid as the 'true' facts that Canada and
Australia have the highest kidnapping rates in the world. A shameful
abuse of statistics by an intelligent woman. Blinded by her belief
that no information should be private and Assange is a hero for
publishing the stuff he did.
Finally
. . . A quote from The
Xenophobe's Guide to the Spanish, by Drew
Launay
Overall,
the Spanish react to and judge the individual, not the horde, and
what matters is whether or not people are amusing.
This,
of course, is in keeping with their view that the highest purpose in
life is to have fun.
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