The EU has asked Spain for further information
about the incident down Ceuta, when 15 'Southern Saharans' died in an
attempt to swim into the African enclave, after the
Guardia Civil had fired rubber bullets at or 'above' them. The response
from Madrid has been classically two-pronged. 1. Mind your own
business. This has got nothing to do with Brussels, and 2. These
attempts at mass illegal immigration is an EU problem. Give us
several millions to finance measures to prevent it.
Talking of Madrid . . . Its offer to give easy
Spanish citizenship to Sephardic Jews has been met by a huge level of
interest. Though it's doubted many of those entitled will
actually move here. The attraction - now that Spain has waived the
obligation to give up one's existing nationality - is that one can
have dual citizenship. Just in case. More here.
Talking of un-refusable offers . . . . The mayor
of a tiny village in the Almerian Alpujarras would be happy to give
you a house, provided only that you have children and are happy to move
there. For, with its population of 360 falling, the village can no
longer justify a school. The mayor admits there's not much to do in
the place - and that anyone with practical skills will be especially
welcome - but it's certainly an opportunity for someone. Or three.
More here.
And talking of Jews . . . I was fascinated see
that Orthodox Jews in Israel are refusing to obey a new new which
obliges them to do military service. One of their arguments is that
praying and studying the Torah is a full-time and useful occupation.
Albeit one that doesn't pay much. Meaning they exist on the dole.
Nice work if you can get it, even if it does mean you have to all
wear the same strange garb and sport the same silly hairstyle. And
that's just the men.
Having been given an entire jamón recently
and having bought a jamonera, I've entered the world of
ham-carving. I eschewed the special knife and used a standard British
carving knife, sharpened on one two of the several things my father
used. But I doubt I'm yet ready for this sort of thing. My father, by
the way, would have been an excellent ham-carver. The family joke was
that he cut the meat so thin we could read a newspaper through it.
And - over the years - he wore down the knife so much with sharpening
that I genuinely thought all carving knives were only a quarter of an
inch wide, with an arc from one end to the other. This, of course,
was back in the days when every family in the UK sat down for a full
roast dinner on a Sunday. I suspect these days few Brits would know
what a carving knife was. Never mind a roast.
Somewhere out there is the person who first used
the now-ubiquitous word 'trolls' for the vile idiots who bedevil
Comment sections on the internet. And tweetland as well. How
wonderful it must feel to see your novel usage catch fire. But,
anyway, the Spanglish for 'troll' is trol and the plural is
troles, just in case you need
them. Oh, and the Spanglish for 'tweet(s)' is tuit(es).
Finally . . . Here's a cartoon which, after 2
marriages, was bound to appeal to me. And possibly a few more men as
well.
Have you given any thought to what I said to you on that dark stormy night in the country 14 years ago?
Weather note: I don't think it rained here
yesterday. And the sun is up this morning. The birds are tweeting -
in their amusingly old-fashioned way - and there's a bee seeking
pollen in the rosemary flowers. Life is suddenly a lot better.
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