Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain
Spain- Dear dog.
- On the other side of the moneda. . . .
- But the humans here do rather better.
- A very overdue advance.
- A better than average article on Gib and the problems in store for the UK from an ever more 'nationalist' Spain.
- Am I unfair to see this headline as a classic example of Spanish 'regionalism'?: There are only 57 countries in the world without Gallegos:-
- In Brussels the Project has always been understood to be about the creation of a federal state, with economics as the servant of the political project. After all, how else would the euro have survived? So many countries have seen their economies crash and are mired in debt. A recent paper from Germany’s Centre for European Policy shows that whilst the euro has brought a net gain of €21,000 per capita to Germans, in France it has cost €56,000 per capita and in Italy €74,000 - even more in other states, all in pursuit of the greater good.
- Theresa May and her circle of advisers did not understand how the EU works, and consequently followed a negotiating strategy in 2016 that was doomed to fail, the former UK ambassador to the EU Sir Ivan Rogers has said. There's a surprise! Plus, of course, she never wanted to do it in the first place.
- The emergence of a distinct political class at the turn of the century – a back-scratching, culturally homogenous, post-ideological, self-interested coterie whose members have more in common with each other than their constituents – is a central reason why so many voters are attracted to populism of Left and Right
- Political fashions change. Once, the future seemed to belong to smiling Tony Blair types (or Bill Clinton epigones) who sought to offend as few people as possible, settle down on the TV studio sofa and try to look and talk as unlike politicians as it was possible to do. Locally and nationally, victory tended to go to the centrist candidates with the fewest enemies. Now, people want leaders with something to say, who stick out from the identikit politicians - even if they are hated for doing so. Take Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, socialists who haven’t changed their views in decades. Until recently, this confined them to obscurity. Now, both have found an appeal that astonishes those still using the late-1990s political playbook.
- And then there's the flag-hugging, lie-spewing Fart, in a class of his own.
- Word of the Day:- Tiquismiquis
- Odd Old Word: Naked-bed: A person undressed in bed was said to be in naked bed.
- An 'iconoclastic' pop star called Keith Flint (wild-eyed frontman of The Prodigy, the anarchic dance band) has done the right thing and died young. You can tell how old I am by the fact that I've never heard of him, and wonder if my 2 adult daughters have.
- P. S. I've just read that The Prodigy were known as the godfathers of rave and were the premiere dance act for the alternative masses. So, now you know. They made themselves a fortune, of course, by spitting at the establishment.
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