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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