Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
- Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain.
If you've arrived here because of an interest in Galicia or Pontevedra, see my web page here. Garish but informative.
Spain
- Interesting to read that Spain ranks very high on the number of recommended daily units of alcohol around the 28 members of the EU:-
Men
1. Spain: 4.0
27.The UK: 1.6
27. The Netherlands: 1.0
28. Bulgaria: 0.8
Women
3. Spain: 2.0
10. UK: 1.6
27. Netherlands: 1.0
27. Slovenia: 1.0
28. Bulgaria: 0.8
The UK
- In a sentence . . . When Mrs May brings the further-mutilated [by the EU] Brexit compromise back to Westminster, these are the 3 lousy options MPs will have to choose between: Swallow fake Brexit (which everyone despises); Risk a no-deal hard Brexit (for which no one has prepared); or 3. Call another referendum (which no one wants). Happy times.
- Meanwhile, The Guardian has finally declared that the Trump-May joke of a press conference was 'extraordinary'. Adding that Not even Donald Trump can defuse a diplomatic hand grenade after it's exploded.
- And the cartoonist of The Times has given us this insight into what No 10 insiders call Trump's Fuck-you diplomacy:-
The USA
- It's some time since I first expressed my horror and disgust at TV ads for shysters who preach the 'prosperity gospel', to largely poor folk. This, as the article below puts it, is a uniquely American fusion of Christianity and capitalism that believes God will grant [financial] success to those with enough faith, and exhorts its followers to live a life of “triumph”. Naturally, it encourages adherents to donate generously to their church and its leaders. One of these, Joel Osteen, is worth an estimated $50m. Another, Jesse Duplantis, recently asked his followers to pay for a new $54m jet. Needless to say, these preachers and their deluded followers are avid supporters of Trump. Not so much Mormons as Morons. The First Church of Christ the Multi-millionaire. But all part of the rich American pageant, I guess. The truly gullible bit. The good news, for humanists, is that this madness is contributing to the flight of the country's young away from religion. Or at least the lunatic fringes of it.
Galicia/Pontevedra
- Back to prostitution. . . I don't think there's the equivalent here of the British crime of 'living off immoral earnings'. So it's difficult to do anything – assuming there was the political will to do so – about people who merely rent rooms to women. But it certainly is possible to arrest traffickers of women. And this has just happened in Meis, near Pontevedra. A Brazilian Club owner had lured 3 young Venezuelan women here with the usual promises and landed them with the usual large debts, to be worked off in the usual way.
- Even I was surprised to read that half of Europe's heroin – not just cocaine – passes through Galicia. Specifically our Rías Baixas The gangs behind this business are reported to be Dutch, Turkish, Bulgarian, Colombian and 'Albanian-Kosovan'. Impressive international cooperation, then.
Finally . . .
The World Cup . . .
- I didn't know that Luka Modric is not very popular with many citizens back home. This is because he's accused of making false statements in a tax-fraud trial relating to his move to Tottenham Hotspur in 2008. And he might well end up in clink.
- I fancy France to be too good for a – surely tired – Croatia today. But I will be delighted to be wrong.
© David Colin Davies, Pontevedra: 15.7.18
Prosperity preachers fuel faith in Trump: The Times
A muggy summer’s evening in the heart of Brooklyn is not natural territory for a Texan preacher, but 10,000 people turned up on Friday for Joel Osteen’s Night of Hope. They poured into the Barclays Centre, usually known for its basketball games and Jay-Z concerts, to listen adoringly to a slick evangelist bearing a message of hope and self-improvement.
The crowd was buoyed not just by Osteen’s loving gospel, but also by the political events of the past week, which saw Brett Kavanaugh, a deeply conservative judge, nominated to become Donald Trump’s second pick for the Supreme Court.
Following on from the appointment of Neil Gorsuch, another staunch conservative, the nomination has emphasised to many evangelicals why Trump is their favourite president for decades, and why they intend to turn out for him in high numbers again in November’s mid-term elections.
“Judge Kavanaugh is brilliant,” said Jody McNulty, a businessman from Long Island who had driven in with his wife, Alisha, to see Osteen’s show. “He [Trump] made a good choice. The pendulum in this country swings to the left and to the right. It went pretty far to the left, but now President Trump is bringing it back to the centre.”
Osteen is perhaps the most famous proponent of what is known as the prosperity gospel, a uniquely American fusion of Christianity and capitalism that believes God will grant success to those with enough faith, and exhorts its followers to live a life of “triumph”. It is a message that resonates with Trump, who attended the church of prosperity-style preacher Norman Vincent Peale as a boy.
The prosperity gospel also encourages its adherents to donate generously to their church and its leaders — Osteen is worth an estimated $50m (£38m) and was criticised last summer for taking four days to open his Houston church to refugees from Hurricane Harvey. Another prosperity preacher, Jesse Duplantis, recently asked his followers to chip in for a new $54m jet.
Lakewood church in Houston, founded by Joel’s father, John, is a family business for the Osteens. Osteen’s wife, Victoria, preaches alongside him and the Night of Hope features cameos from his 84-year-old mother, Dodie, and 19-year-old daughter, Alexandra, who sings in the Christian rock band that warms the crowd up into a state of ecstatic excitement before Osteen comes on stage.
Osteen is one of many evangelical leaders to have lavished praise on Trump, calling him “an incredible communicator” and “a friend of our ministry”, despite the president’s at times unchristian behaviour.
But it is the Texan’s emphasis on worldly triumph that has led many to associate him closely with the president. Trump has retweeted Osteen’s mantras: “Life is too short to hang around cynical people. Find people who will believe in your dreams and celebrate your victories.”
Evangelical support for Trump has rallied around issues such as moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and cutting funding to Planned Parenthood, the pro-choice reproductive health group. But at the heart of evangelical support for Trump is a pact: he appoints solid conservative judges and gets unwavering Christian voters in return.
Some 81% of evangelical voters supported Trump in 2016. Many were buoyed by a list of approved judges that was provided to Trump by conservative legal groups in 2016. Both Kavanaugh and Gorsuch were on the list.
“The political fight over the Kavanaugh appointment is going to energise the Christian community to come out in great numbers once more,” said Jim Daly, the president of Focus on the Family and one of a number of evangelical leaders who have met often with Trump.
“A lot of Christian voters weren’t thrilled with candidate Trump, but they were willing to hold their noses,” Daly said. “Sometimes you need an alley fighter in your corner. What he’s done with the judicial nominations has confirmed this for many voters.”
This includes Bob and Nancy Griffin, from Massachusetts, who drove down to see the Osteen show on Friday night. “He’s our inspiration,” said Nancy. “Even on Sundays I listen to him before we go to church.”
She’s excited about the Kavanaugh nomination. “I think he’s a good judge who will return to the constitution,” she said. “That’s what the country needs.” Will it encourage her to vote for Trump
No comments:
Post a Comment