Dawn

Dawn

Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Even better stuff

Spanish Generosity: It's reported that Spaniards are the most supportive Europeans when it comes to foreign aid. This sits well with the accolade of also being the best at donating their organs. On the other hand . . . Spain has only taken in eighteen of the 17,000 refugees it promised to shelter 4 months ago. Though it's probably not approriate for a Brit to comment on this.

Gibraltar: The - inevitably aggressive - comments from the Spanish Foreign Minister – Motormouth Magallo – have naturally caused a similar response from The Rock's Chief Minister. Magallo, he says, is acting like Franco routinely did. As if that weren't enough, he's also compared him to North Korea's leader. All good, dirty fun. Reportedly, Spain is considering closing its airspace to flights heading to Gib and imposing a border tax of €50, each way – in what the PSOE party here has described as "an escalation of bravado" between the 2 governments and the cheap scoring of political points by the (outgoing?) PP party.

Some Personal Notes:
  • Chocolate: As someone who never passes up the chance to eat at least one Mars Bar, one Snickers bar and 100gm slab of this a week, I was delighted to read this morning that it's not only good for your heart, reduces the risk of strokes and helps protect your skin from the sun but also makes you smarter. By improving your memory and abstract thinking. At least, I think that's what the article said. BTW . . . Have you noticed how the above bars have progressively reduced to a weight of 50gm, while the prices have increased?
  • The Pope's Legions; They continue to besiege me on Google+ but it finally dawned on me today that this is because I allow the entire 'Public' to post on my page. But not now. Problem solved.
  • Good Company?: This blog, dear reader, broke through the 1,000 barrier yesterday. Says Google. This isn't the first time but the last time was a one-off. Now, it looks like being a regular event. Needless to say, I'm very gratified. And wondering how the hell to make money out of this.
Talking of money . . .

Obscenity?: Some pretty tennis player has admitted taking a banned substance and lost her Nike contract. This is the main item on Sky News this morning – which says a lot – and they've been tossing around her annual income numbers – 20, 23, 25, 30 million dollars - as if they were peanut totals. Anyway, with her huge accumulated earnings todate, I doubt the lady will really miss Nike's millions, earned mostly from selling cheaply-made trainers at high prices to poor kids. Presumably these can now be donated to charities around the world.

Finally . . . An English national anthem?. These are the candidates to replace the God Save The Queen dirge that compares so badly with, say, every other national anthem. In slightly reducing degrees of dirge-ness:

And, just for the hell of it, here's the last 2 singers in a lovely joint rendition of the WW2 sentimental favourite, We'll Meet Again. Cue tears for everyone over a certain age. Hayley Westenra, by the way, is known as a crossover artist. From opera to pop. Whatever, she's bloody good.

As for the national anthem competition . . . I wonder if Sam Johnson – if he were still here – would again say that this is the equivalent of the choice between a flea and a louse?

One of Pontevedra's handsome squares in the old quarter:



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