The Gag Law; Scapegoatting; UK election; Democracy?; NY NY; & A Football lesson.

About 2 years ago Spain's right-of-centre government introduced a 'Citizen Protection' Bill which finally became law a week or so ago. Despite the name, it's got bugger all to do with protecting citizens but everything to do with preventing protests against austerity, inequity and corruption. In fact, it's so bad that the only way to raise one's voice in Spain may be to do so as a hologram. The New York Times sees it as the most restrictive law in Europe and demands the EU do something about it. Which is about as likely as President Rajoy resigning, I fear.. You can read the NYT article here.

As mentioned, the prominent banker and (very) senior politician, Sr Rato, is under investigation for various crimes. Ironically, these seem to result from his using a 2012 Tax Office amnesty to declare his offshore wealth. This amnesty, is turning out to be anything but that, perhaps because, before yesterday, neither the Tax Office nor the government actually called it an amnesty, but a 'financial regularisation'. Anyone else who declared assets must now be quaking as they were assured there'd be only a small tax on the assets, not a lifetime in jail. Even more ironically, the PP government appears to be throwing their ex VP to the wolves so that it can boast of its anti-corruption credentials. So, yes, they do take us all for fools.

Over in the UK, 2 weeks ahead of the general election, one commentator sums up the situation thus:- All parties are trapped in a cycle of electoral bribery and reality avoidance. It suits them in the short term, but in the long term, it's killing our democracy.

Talking of democracy . . . Given the corruption in Spain and Greece, say, and the democratic deficiency of the EU, you have to marvel that the Anglo nations thought they could invade Iraq and Afghanistan and then set up a functioning, corruptio-free democracy in a part of the world where it was - and remains - unknown. Like honesty.

The trouble with dealing with someone who doesn't know there's both a Pontevedra province and a Pontevedra city is that they're likely to confuse the two. Especially if they're on the end of a phone line in, say, Colombia. Fortunately, I checked whether the windscreen company I urgently need really was in Vigo(Pontevedra province) and found it's here in Pontevedra city. Does this happen in New York?

Finally . . . If you're a football fan, you'll enjoy this account of the 5 things learnt from the Real Madrid-Atlético match earlier this week. Here's a once sentence taster:- Some top-class play-acting was on display from the first whistle, as it was in the first leg. No tackle was too tame for a player not to make out that he had been punched in the mouth.