Dawn

Dawn

Monday, November 17, 2014

Sputnik reborn; Funny map; British madness x 3; 3rd World Britain; & J&Ms galore.

If you can't get the Russian TV channel, RTV, don't fret. For now there's Radio Sputnik to give you Moscow's fascinating take on world affairs. Yesterday its lead items were 'Humanitarian aid' is heading for Ukraine; Western sanctions are folly; Winston Churchill wanted the Americans to nuke Russia; and Analysis of world leaders’ body language shows that Vladimir Putin is happy, while David Cameron is contemptuous and Angela Merkel is insecure. You couldn't make it up.

Back in Spain, someone has produced a map of corruption there, showing how widespread and deep it is. Not just a case of "a few bad apples", then. Lest you get carried away with the impressive police activity, it's noteworthy that, while more than 1,900 people have been charged, only 170 have been convicted so far.

A man in the UK was last week barred from entering a falconry display because he was alone and there would be children present. Such is the paedophilia obsession there. And my daughter and her fiancé were told they couldn't serve hot chocolate at their wedding reception as it might go cold and thus present a health risk. Such is the reach of the Health & Safety empire.

On the subject of British madness . . . The road sign for old folk likely to be crossing the road is a stooped individual with a stick. This may have to be changed - at some cost - because objections have been made about this influencing employers not to take on anyone over 50.

One of the things that fascinate/amuse Spaniards about the UK is the use of separate hot and cold water taps. To them, this denotes the absence of the modernity so visible in Spain. Glossing over the state of Spain only 50 years ago, here is Guirilandia's list of the 5 Third World things about London. If you can't read Spanish, the pictures tell the story well enough.

Finally . . . In Steinbeck's book Sweet Thursday, there's a character called Jesus and Mary. As I recall, it took me a while to figure out this was one person, not two, but I digress. Today I learnt that, not only are my future in-laws called Joseph and Mary but that almost everyone else in the family is called either Joseph or Mary. Catholics, of course. Happily, my future son-in-law is called Michael. Or Baz for short . . .

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