Back
in the UK, the trial of the (ex)wife of the British MP accused of
taking the rap for his motoring offence has ended in farce, with the
judge dismissing the jury for asking him dumb questions about how
they should go about deciding on guilt or innocence. There'll now be
a re-trial. Though I don't suppose they'll check whether the next 12
good men and true have a combined IQ of more than 120. That would be
judgmental. The unconscionable sin of the 21st
century.
The
government is already squeezing 2% of GDP out of the budget this
year, largely in the form of higher taxes. It is the most draconian
belt-tightening since the Second World War. This is happening when
construction is in free-fall and industry is shedding 30,000 jobs a
month, pushing unemployment to a 15-year high. The longer it goes on,
the greater the “hysteresis” effect of lasting damage to labour
skills. “The situation
is catastrophic. Austerity policies are not working because of the
fiscal multiplier,” said the head of the Industrial Research
Centre. “Regaining our monetary sovereignty is the only way to
rebalance accounts and relaunch growth. Our leaders have to decide
whether their priority is the stability of the eurozone or the sound
economic health of the country.”
Spain?? No, France, actually. In the same boat, it seems.
Corruption:
It gets worse for the PP governing party. Now it transpires they've lied about the date on which they 'let go' the guy who's got
them into so much trouble by compiling data on illegal payments and
distributions. And possibly publishing it as well. President Rajoy
now has even more questions to anwer, though I don't suppose he will.
Not his style. Prepare for more bluster. And fatuous statements from
his subordinates.
Córdoba's
Grand Mosque is one of the buildings you must see before you pop your
clogs. Sadly, the centre of it has been converted into a cathedral
and the whole place is, therefore, managed by the Catholic Church.
Nonetheless, the critical parts of the old mosque remain intact and
could be used for Muslim prayer. Indeed, nine men have tried to pray
there this week, resulting in a fight and their arrest. One would've
thought this could be settled amicably, with Muslim prayer being
allowed at specific times. In the spirit of ecumenecalism which was
much vaunted not so long ago. But I am not optimistic. Common sense and religion are not natural bedfellows. To say the least.
I
think I've mentioned the multiplicity of languages down here on the
Cost del Sol. This morning I spent ten minutes trying to decide which
nothern European tongue I was listening to before I realised the
speaker was Scottish.
China
is now the biggest ivory market on Earth. According to a recent
survey, fewer than 33% of the population realise that elephants have to die to be relieved of their tusks: 70% think they grow back, like fingernails.
Like tiger paws, I guess. Or bear spleens.
Finally
. . . As the Russian armies advanced on Berlin, they took –
and interrogated – thousands of German prisoners. One of these was
recorded as saying, with a degree of bitterness, The
only promise that Hitler ever kept was the one he made in 1933 – Vote me
into power and in ten years time Germany will be unrecognisable.
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