Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain
Spain- What next for Vox? Politico has a guess here.
- Life's a bad beach.
- I've not seen any Game of Thrones but am not terribly surprised by this article about atrocious dubbing of it here in Spain.
- Incidentally . . . If you were to ask me how many people in this city of 80,000 souls are aware I've been writing about them for 17 years, my answer would be 'About 3'. Not sure what that signifies.
- Richard North this morning: Despite the very obvious threat of giving a rampant Farage an electoral platform, it seems that the two party leaders, May and Corbyn, are unable to get their collective acts together and stop the absurdity of the UK taking part in the European elections. One cannot expect the opportunist Farage to refuse the gift handed to him on a plate by two politicians who have clearly transcended mere incompetence to bring crass ineptitude to new levels in the annals of British politics. In their inability to manage the Brexit process, they have completely lost control of the political agenda, handing it to a shallow demagogue who will do what demagogues do, and have done through the ages. . . We have an unprecedented political mess on our hands. Normal politics has ceased, held in suspension awaiting resolution of this interminable drama. And the longer the delay, the more damage done to the nation – not only economically but also in terms of self-esteem. Click here if you want to read of RN's views on Farage and his dangerous demagogic fantasies. Madness on stilts.
- When I was 17, I came to believe that a benevolent autocracy was probably the best form of government. I soon gave up this belief, of course, but surveying the destruction wreaked on the UK by politician, demagogues and voters, I am now beginning to wonder if I was right to dod so.
- The fact is that the chances of achieving a cross-party agreement on anything in Britain, let alone something as divisive as Brexit, are vanishingly small. A deal cobbled together by a few hand-picked loyalists on both sides simply won’t fly. It would wreck the Tory party and precipitate a crisis on the Labour left, with dozens of resignations on both sides. And I've been know to say US and Spanish politics are tribal!
- I think I've mentioned there's rather a large difference between DB's nationwide and urban performances. For example, as regards the latter, in Cologne and Hamburg. DB is state-owned, of course, and government investment in the national infrastructure is said to have been inadequate. A warning for those who think the British rail system should be re-nationalised?
- Interesting times . . . Fragmentation, splits in mainstream parties, a surge among populists across Europe and Brexit chaos are set to deadlock the EU after European elections in two weeks’ time. An increase in the number of far-right and populist MEPs elected to the European parliament, including more than 20 seats for the Brexit Party, is expected to complicate key decisions in Brussels this summer and autumn. The first complication, described as a “mess” by a senior European commissioner, will be the election of 73 British MEPs, dominated by Nigel Farage’s party and Labour.
- Just how silly this [stock] market has gotten is exemplified by Beyond Meat, a 10-year old company whose fake burgers – combining the worst of terrible burgers and unrecognizable industrially processed plant substances – whose shares following the IPO have skyrocketed to give the company a market capitalization of $4.6 billion though it has persistently lost money on its fake burgers and had sales in 2018 of only $56 million. It’s apparently easier to sell stocks in this environment than it is to sell fake burgers. So the company is now valued at 83 times revenues. This is nuts.
- The would-be Emperor, Fart the Modest:-
Spanish
- Word of the Day: Calor
- Just in case you don't already know them, below are the 6 ways to avoid dementia. If I get it, it'll prove that this advice is total nonsense.
- How else can I end today except by saying that, although a supporter of the other team in Liverpool, I'm very happy for the city after the astonishing triumph against Barcelona last night. Especially as I didn't watch the match as I believed it could never happen. I imagine that many Spaniards outside Cataluña feel much the same . . . Logically, I should change allegiance. But football loyalties don't work that way. Sadly.
Six ways to swerve fate, and slow ageing's effect on your brain: Neuroscientist, Hannah Critchlow
Dementia is one of the scourges of contemporary life – it’s estimated that 7.7 million people will develop the condition every year. There is a genetic component in a small proportion of cases and the NHS offers genetic screening for some high-risk families, but studies have also implicated lifestyle issues, including obesity, low physical-activity levels, depression, lack of social contact, smoking and leaving education early, as contributing factors.
Either way, the underlying mechanism causing the debilitating symptoms of dementia is nerve cells dying off. Until the late 1990s, conventional wisdom said that a person is born with all the neurons they’ll ever get, meaning that dementia was effectively a slow death sentence, impossible to evade.
But in a wonderful set of experiments, performed initially in mice, it was demonstrated that movement induced stem cells to develop into fully formed neurons through a process called neurogenesis. Even more incredibly, the simple act of combining physical activity with exploring a new environment and interacting with different individuals helped these newly born neurons to integrate fully into the existing circuit, to survive and flourish.
I asked Dr Rogier Kievit, research fellow at the Medical Research Council’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, who has dedicated his career to investigating the ageing process in the general population, what he did to protect his own brain from its effects. We compiled a list of the things we can all do to build our brain’s resilience as we age. Top of the protection tips is, surprise, surprise...
1. Being physically active
It doesn’t have to be running. Thirty minutes of low-level work-out such as walking, swimming or cycling three times a week is great for the brain and body. Whatever your size, whatever your timetable, get out there and be physically active. It will not only potentially ramp up your neurogenesis but also keep your capillaries healthy.
2. Get a good night’s sleep
There is mounting evidence to show that sleep helps to consolidate connections between neurons, enabling a host of processes, such as turning new knowledge into banked memories. Sleep also gives your immune system the chance to clear away any toxins made in your brain during the day so that they are less likely to accumulate and kill off neurons.
3. Stay socially active
Spending time with friends and family, discussing things, learning from other people, taking on board their perspectives and ideas helps to keep your brain process dynamic and is generally associated with better wellbeing.
4. Check your diet
Any food that is associated with poor cardiovascular health (animal fats, processed foods, too much sugar) is also associated with poor cognitive health. The general rule is to eat for your heart and brain as one. This protects against micro-strokes that could asphyxiate neurons.
5. Keep learning
Learning early on in life helps to protect against cognitive decline in later life. Research shows that the longer people stay in education the more likely their brain will age healthily. But lifelong learning of any kind, inside or outside formal education, is a great strategy for maintaining brain health.
6. Stay positive
Better mental health is associated with better cognitive health: if you’re feeling blue you’re less likely to find the motivation for, or derive pleasure from, exercise, looking after yourself or getting out and about for social interaction. Writing a gratitude journal each night before you go to sleep makes it easier to wake up in a more motivated mood, keen to replicate some of the adventures you experienced the day before and seek out new ones.
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