I
approached a crossing in town today, where the lights for
drivers were flashing amber. Believing this gave pedestrians
priority, I stopped and signalled them to cross. But they all
refused. Probably because their little human figure was red. So, now
I'm more confused than ever. If the flashing amber lights are
equivalent to green, what's the point of them? Why do you need to
'proceed with caution' if no one is ever going to put a foot on the
tarmac?
Sometimes
in English you're obliged to use the plural possessive 'their' when
the subject is singular. Someone has suggested that, as 'their' - like
'your' - used to be both singular and plural, then this use should be
brought back into modern English. I have an alternative suggestion -
born of regular typos - that we should spell it 'their' for plural
and 'thier' for singular.
The
latest (bizarre) development in the case of the Possibly Criminal
Princess is the the Spanish tax authorities (La Hacienda) have
ordered the investigating judge to back off and leave her alone, as
they don't consider her to have done any wrong. Which is hardly the
point, is it? I guess we can assume that they're acting as a proxy for
the government, who'd rather not see her in the dock and
sentenced to jail. Or even to community service.
I
was going to say how tired I am of reading that Galicia is not only
Celtic but also perpetually 'misty'. And to add that I can't recall
the last time I saw a mist. But I just looked out of the window and
there's one rising above the river.
Something
to cheer up Sr Rajoy perhaps - The threat of the Scots voting for
independence next year - never a big one - appears to be receding further. Canny as he is, Mr Salmond may have to be happy with a form of independence within the United Kingdom. Something which many believe
was all he really ever expected to get.
Finally
. . . The EU and the eurozone. It's wrong to say there's no common
ground between believers and non-believers. Everyone agrees the
institutions aren't working. And that that they're causing truly
massive damage to several economies in the process. Disagreement
arises as to where to go next. More Europe or Less Europe, with the
dominatrix, Mrs Merkel, sending out conflicting signals and poor M
Hollande grubbing round trying to build up an alliance against her to
promote more Europe for everyone else but less for France. As
to what happens next, it's anyone's guess, as usual. The only
certainty is that unemployment numbers will continue to rise in
Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and elsewhere.
Meanwhile,
it's salutary to divide the last decade into two, almost equal
phases. The first, from 2002 to 2007, saw EU policies designed to
help Germany recover from the trauma of unification and the
restructuring of its economy. The winner during this phase? Germany,
of course, as 'rules' re debt levels were ignored and ludicrously low
interest rates invited, and got, a credit-fuelled asset boom. And
then there was Phase 2, from 2007 to 2012, when the consequences of
Phase 1 hit home. The losers are obvious but the winners? Well,
Germany again. Little wonder some people think she should put her
hand in her pocket a bit more to help the less fortunate. Isn't the
EU supposed to be about 'solidarity'? Which always means the richer
(more efficient and less corrupt) states transferring money to the
poorer (less efficient and more corrupt) states.
Anyway,
here's a scathing comment by our Ambrose on the way the Troika has
handled the problem of Greece. Which was shown precious little
solidarity. Being only a little pawn in the great game. As Ambrose
writes: What we see is a near perfect
exhibit of what is wrong with the European Project. There is no
mechanism of accountability. The buck stops nowhere. Can anyone see things changing soon?
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