Dawn

Dawn

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Noise; Monuments; Political accounts; Wind subsidies; My denuncia; Metaphors; & A correction.

I've mentioned that both Britain and Portugal are (far) quieter than Spain. But "noisy" can also mean "vital" and I'm reminded, again, of the comment of a neighbour who responded to a comment from me about the noise in Spain years ago with: "No noise means dead".

It's a little surprising but there are still a few monuments to Franco around Spain. Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that some Republican monuments were not destroyed during the 36 years of his dictatorship. These can be seen here.

The ex VP of the governing PP party is being investigated for possible criminal activities. This follows the discovery that he has many millions of euros and much property around the world. What interested me is that he has 28 accounts in different banks around Spain. If you or I have even one account, the Tax Office knows all about it. So, how come they didn't, it seems, know about his prior to a 2012 amnesty which he took advantage of? Unwisely, it now seems.

Also being investigated are politicians who are suspected of receiving kickbacks from companies who produce the wind turbines for Spain's numerous parques eólicos. As one investigator put it:- The payments of €110m are without commercial logic.

I made my police report about my burglary yesterday - my denuncia. It's normal at times like this to be told you've not brought at least one document so will have to return. And we came perilously close to this because I'd left my passport at home. The Guardia Civil clerk told me the photocopy of my passport wasn't really enough as he needed to see a real photograph of me. As he mused over whether to accept the copy - and I decided I wouldn't expose my expired Identity Card(NIE) - I happily recalled I had my driving licence with me. And all ended well.

I find that, when one talks to theists, they tend to use a lot of metaphors when explaining their beliefs and answering questions about God's behaviour. For example: "Well, God could know about that but he's like the guy who leaves the room before the football results are announced as he's going to watch Match of the Day and doesn't want to know the results. I thought of this when listening to a psychic in a debate I was watching on Sunday as he was explaining why he'd just told someone that the wrong spirit was in the room:- "Well, you don't always know who's on the bus when you get on it". Which apparently meant that you can call up a spirit but you never know which spirit is going to answer your summons. Conveniently.

Finally . . . My thanks to those readers who kindly pointed out - unlike the Portuguese chap I showed the foto to - that the street sign CANAS TRAS was actually CANAS-TRAS, or CANASTRAS. The Street of Basketmakers. Not Canes Behind.

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