Is it the end of the world?

I heard a story yesterday that made me chuckle, but also left me feeling a little unsettled. A friend's colleague quit work without warning a couple of weeks ago, effectively vanishing before he'd even explained why he was leaving. This sort of event can be pretty worrying for co-workers, particularly during a recession (was he laid off? does he know something we don't know?). So it must have been something of a relief for his colleagues when they saw an email from him appear in their work inboxes. It turns out that he does know something that the rest of us don't.

In his communication, he announced that he was in Brazil and that the reason he'd gone there was simple: next year there will be an apocalyptic event and he wanted to find some high ground (literally) from which to sit it out. He seems to be referring to the impending impact of the comet Sedna which a handful of Bible-code 'scholars' and other eschatologists believe will take place some time between 2010 and 2012. Claiming correlation with the '3rd prophecy of Fatima', the gibberish of Nostradamus and Mayan astrology (among other, even less reliable sources), the doom-sayers foresee a great cataclysm after the comet strikes the Atlantic ocean.

I've always been fascinated by theories that claim to know not only the cause but the date of a forthcoming apocalypse. These people are even more self-assured by holding 'secret' knowledge than traditional conspiracy theorists – indeed, many modern eschatologists are conspiracy theorists who have encountered apocalyptic prophecy presumably because it tells of an even bigger conspiracy, a cosmic one.

The trouble is, it's hard to know who to trust. There are reports of comet strike in 2010, geomagnetic storms in 2011, and the famous Mayan doomsday 'predicted' for December 22nd 2012, to name but a few. And what happens when these events fail to occur (as I'm certain will happen)? Then the eschatologists will 'reinterpret' their texts and come up with another date.

I suppose that in the end, I'd rather not be in the same office as someone who seriously believes that they have secret knowledge relating to the end of the world. They're probably best off sitting on a mountain in Brazil, waiting for the rapture that will never come.

Here's a representative apocalyptic website, picked at random. Note the numerous factual discrepancies when trying to link cosmic events with Earth events (something you'll also see on conspiracy theory websites).

July 1, 2009 | Filed Under General | 15 Comments 

Dr. Coldlove, or: Why I learned to stop worrying and love the aircon

This post is related to my last, partly because it deals with my unpopular suggestions for dealing with common problems and partly because it involves mosquitoes ('the devil's moths' as I call them*).

Last night, with an indoors temperature of 30º and level of humidity that a fan would not shift, only direct, we elected to put the air conditioning on all night. It was a simple enough decision. Gemma turned to me and said "I think we should put the a…" but by then, I'd already closed all the windows and found the remote control for our air-con unit. We continued to watch Star Trek: First Contact with the pleasant, and pleasantly guilty, feeling of cool air caressing our youthful skins. (Well, Gemma has a youthful skin; despite being YEARS younger than her, mine has developed the reddish hue and blood-vesseled texture of a Plymouthian living in Spain**).

We slept right through the night with barely a stir, except for when it got too cold. One of the many advantages of sleeping with the air conditioning on is the fact that it's cooler when you want to sleep. Another advantage is that while you have the windows closed, all but the most ingenious mosquitoes are barred from entry to your boudoir. A disadvantage is that any cigarette smoke from the sitting room that wasn't expelled before the airlock was sealed becomes your 'smoke buddy' for the night (though this probably helps some people maintain a minimal nicotine blood level and for that reason it should probably be counted as another advantage). There are no other real disadvantages… unless everyone does the same. Because that would cause massive amounts of carbon to be released into the atmosphere, by way of electricity generation.

So I ask you, people of Barcelona, Toulouse, Marrakesh, Los Angeles, Singapore, Perth (Australia, obviously) and Mumbai: tonight, switch your air conditioning off. I won't, because I need it. But if you took some time to think about the future of the planet, you would.

__

* I refer to moths as 'the devil's butterflies' and mosquitoes as 'the devil's moths'.

** I was born in Freedom Fields

*** Obviously the title could have been "Dr. Coldlove, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the aircon" but I decided against it

June 18, 2009 | Filed Under Home | 4 Comments 

Multiple species extinction – would it be that bad?

I've been puzzling over what function mosquitoes play in the web of nature. I mean, obviously their main function is to bite my legs while I'm eating supper, as well as identifying the single square inch of my large skin not coated with Mosi-Guard and biting that area repeatedly at 3am before giving my ear a quick fly-by just in order to wake me up. But beyond that, does the mosquito really serve a function in nature's great system?

I suppose that there are a handful of species of birds that feast on mosquitoes at this time of year. But I'd be happy to put up with, say, 20 species of birds gone for all eternity if it meant no more blood-sucking Culicidae bothering me and millions of other people each year. I mean, if we're going to make species extinct, surely it could serve some greater good?

June 16, 2009 | Filed Under Home | 6 Comments 

Updated: Reports of electoral fraud in Spain

As mentioned in comments on my last post, there are reports today of numerous discrepancies in vote counting across Spain. Many of these incidents involve relatively small numbers of votes. But taken together, there are enough examples to plausibly suggest a widespread campaign against parties of the left, and those supporting independence for some of the 'autonomous regions' in Spain.

The story is being widely reported in the Catalan and Basque pro-independence media but has had few mentions in the mainstream Spanish press. The main party apparently affected by these discrepancies is Iniciativa Internacionalista (II-SP), which the Spanish government failed to have banned shortly before the elections. Zapatero's government accused II-SP of being a front organisation for ETA but failed to present evidence supporting this claim to the courts. II-SP received a vote of support from Arnaldo Otegi, spokesman for the outlawed Basque party Batasuna days before the elections. PP leader, Mariano Rajoy named them "the ETA list", while UPyD leader Rosa Díez declared that II-SP "is ETA". Apparently taking the lead from the USA's former right-wing government, neither party leader deigned to share their evidence with the voters they were appealing to.

The allegations fall into three groups: (a) the general feeling that the huge increase in blank and spoiled votes coincides a little too smoothly with II-SP and other parties faring more poorly than expected; (b) specific examples of localities reporting examples of discrepancies between town-hall and Spanish Ministry of Interior official figures; and (c) inexplicable displays of support for far-right parties in areas where they have never previously shown any support (normally at the expense of another party which did worse than expected).

It's too late for me to scurry around collecting examples of the three groups now, but the comments pages of this Avui story list several (at least one of which, the Vilafranca del Penedès one, seems to have been 'corrected', though by which side, I can't tell). Rab is sure that the way that these discrepancies affect specific parties suggests a fraud. I'll wait and see what appears tomorrow before I make the same judgement.

UPDATE

OK this is getting silly.

María Teresa Fernández de la Vega (Spanish VP)'s constituency recorded no votes for the PSOE

Europe of the Peoples-Greens have denounced irregularities

II-SP officials removed from recounts

Numerous towns appear to have returned erroneous numbers, major Spanish press outlets stay silent

June 9, 2009 | Filed Under Catalonia, Politics, Spain | 7 Comments 

EU parliament election results in Catalonia

For coverage of Spain as a whole, take a look at Graeme's posts here and here.

The results in Catalonia were a mixture of 'more of the same' and a disappointingly low turn out. The PSOE-PSC won again, albeit with a share of the vote that dropped from 42% to 35%. CiU were next, their share increasing 5 points to 22%. In fact, CiU were the only major party to see their actual number of votes rise in a worryingly low turnout of 37%. The PP gained a 1 point increase in their share of the vote, while ERC came fourth with a small drop in their share.

Interestingly, there were 72,681 spoiled or blank votes, which taken together constitute the 6th biggest constituency in the election, after IU-ICV who got 6% of the total vote. I'm told by a friend that there were also 6 times as many of these spoiled or blank votes than there were in the last EU parliament election.

Among the newer parties running this year, Iniciativa Internacionalista gained more votes than Rosa Diez's UPyD – but both failed to get 1% of the vote here. Veritas and Esquerra Anticapitalista received 0.36% and 0.26% respectively.

The older style fascist parties look to have made some gains but their numbers are still so low that it's hard to be too worried. The Falange Española de las JONS nearly tripled their number of votes… to a total of 1,575. The Falange Auténtica and Democracia Nacional also increased their number of votes, but the total number of people voting for far-right parties in Catalonia (no, I'm not including the PP), remains very low.

Table of results:

moz-screenshot-10

Full table available at El País.

June 9, 2009 | Filed Under Catalonia, Politics | 3 Comments 

Primavera Sound 2009 review

This year's Primavera Sound was one of my favourites yet. Although our friends from impoverished Hackney couldn't make it, I know they were there in spirit. I also behaved myself and resolutely refused to kick any chaps in the balls, a major improvement on last year.

Partly as a result of better behaviour, and partly because Gemma and I found it easier to strike out on our own, we saw more bands this year and certainly enjoyed more of what we saw. The new system for drinks tickets, which involved buying them drink by drink at vending machines was disatrous at the beginning of the festival, but ended up being simpler and more efficient. In contrast with Summercase (which won't happen this year), the Rock Delux stage faced the stepped amphitheatre it occupies, so while sat we didn't have to crane our necks to see the bands.

Anyway, here's my breakdown of the bands we saw – graded according to my patented binary review system.

Thursday

Spectrum – 1

The Vaselines – 1

Joe Crepusculo y los Destructores – 1 (a surprisingly good Spanish band)

My Bloody Valentine – 1

Yo La Tengo – 1

The Bug – 1 (an early highlight)

Aphex Twin – 1

Friday

Tokyo Sex Destruction feat. Gregg Foreman – 1

Spiritualized – 1

Carsick Cars – 1

Art Brut – 1

Sun O))) – 1

Throwing Muses – 1

The Mae Shi – 0

Jarvis Cocker – 1

Saint Etienne – 0

Saturday

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis – 1

Plants & Animals – 0

Herman Dune – 1

Neil Young – 0

Oneida – 0

Deerhunter – 0

Ghostface Killah – 1

Sonic Youth – 1

Black Lips – 1

You'll notice very few 0s in this review. I can't say why that is, but my hunch is that I had fewer must-sees on my list than in previous years, meaning I was free to enjoy plenty of bands I'd never heard much from. My main disagreement with how the festival was organised was the way Neil Young was billed. When he started, there was a block of over an hour when no one else played on any stage, meaning that we were effectively forced to watch his show. By all that's sane, I should probably be a bigger fan of Neil Young than I am. But the truth is that he leaves me just a little cold, and this episode of dedicating the entire early part of Saturday night to him (I suspect it was a contractual obligation), pissed me off. Plus, there was a terrible artist on stage all through his set, 'creating' a two-dimensional representation of the concert as Young and his band played. Half the time, it looked like nothing more than a turd.

Despite that, Primavera Sound 2009 was, for me, a great festival. We caught up with loads of old friends, made some new ones, and enjoyed some excellent concerts. Roll on Primavera 2010!

June 5, 2009 | Filed Under Catalonia, Music, Review | 3 Comments 

Mayor Oreja: "Francisco Camps is the most honourable of all Spaniards"

Christ, imagine what he thinks about the rest of them!

Story in El País (in Spanish).

June 3, 2009 | Filed Under PP, Politics, Spain | 3 Comments 

European elections 2009 – who to vote for?

Next Sunday, schools and other public buildings across Spain will open their doors as polling stations for the elections for the European Parliament. I always quite enjoy these days, mainly because I'm only allowed to vote in EU and local elections, despite the fact that I've lived here for seven years now. Anyway, I've spent some time thinking about who I'm going to vote for and I just can't make up my mind.

The first problem is the parties. I've talked before about how many political parties compete here for power, with some relatively small parties (like ERC in Catalonia) occasionally achieving power at a regional and even national level. The EU elections are made even more fun by the fact that they have whole new parties which all look very familiar but which are formally aligned to groupings in Brussels. With the major parties, this isn't too complicated: the PSOE/PSC (social-democratic) becomes the European Socialist Party and the PP (right-wing) becomes the European People's Party.

In Catalonia, CiU (Catalan Christian democratic) affiliate with the European Liberal Democrat and Refrom Party and ERC (Left-wing Catalan nationalist) form part of the European Free Alliance grouping. ICV-EUiA (Catalan green communist) splits into its two constituent parties, with ICV forming part of the European Greens party and EUiA affiliating with the Party of the European Left. Ciudadanos (Spanish nationalist) forms part of the Libertas group (which includes the French party Hunting, Fishing Nature, Tradition), while UPyD (Centrist Spanish nationalist) has no EU affiliation – though I believe that they are contending. There are various other small parties taking part (like II-SP, for example) but I can't find a complete list of all parties running candidates in Catalonia. You can find a detailed examination of several of the groupings' positions on particular topics here (in Spanish).

Here's my breakdown of why I don't want to vote for any of the larger parties:

PSOE-PSC – in government in Spain and Catalonia; I don't like the way this party operates, though I'd obviously choose them over the PP. Installing that oaf Montilla as president of the Generalitat and giving extra money to the Church are two good examples of the sort of judgements they will make when politicking.

PP – no one in their right mind would ever consider voting for this bunch of half-wits. Their disgraceful behaviour in power and in 'opposition', now culminaing in multiple high-level corruption cases and their perverse insistence on blocking attempts to provide decent funerals to the thousands left in mass graves by Franco's thugs.

CiU – too conservative for my liking, their pact with the PP happened years ago but still stinks. They also have this really grating sense of their own right to power (ok, most politicans do but CiU's are just too slimy).

ERC – I know more about this party's lack of management capabilities than I can safely write about. They had an opportunity to modernise or stay on the gravy train recently; they chose gravy.

ICV – Saura's abysmal handling of security in Catalonia (lots of Mossos to thump students, not so many to catch thieves) leaves me cold. Even if he is a generous lover.

EUiA – don't trust the communists. They pacted with the PP in Cerdanyola. I mean, can you imagine?

C's – not a chance. Same goes for UPyD and any other tinfoil groups out there.

So where does that leave me? Is there a decent Troskyite anti-bullfighting pro-referendum Priorat wine party?

May 31, 2009 | Filed Under Catalonia, PP, Politics, Spain | 5 Comments 

Wow! FC Barcelona win the Champions League 2-0

Barça's victory celebrated
Barça's victory celebrated (From FC Barcelona.com)

What a fantastic evening! I must admit, I had my doubts… especially during the first 10 minutes. But Barça proved that they deserved the treble they've won. The game was, in my opinion, a thoroughly exciting affair. Manchester United played extremely well but failed to capitalise off the chances they had. The much-maligned Valdes also made sure that the shots on goal weren't… goals.

The two goals, from Eto'o and Messi, were both heart stoppers – and both were loaded with individual significance.

I can't really be bothered to write more now (I've sent an email to my Australian sisters, who each received a Messi shirt for Christmas), and frankly I'm in the mood for relaxing.

We couldn't have asked for more from what has been, arguably, the finest Barça team ever fielded.

Bona nit!

May 27, 2009 | Filed Under Football | 2 Comments 

FC Barcelona, the penya and Primavera

So here we are. Unless things go on for much more than 90 minutes tomorrow evening, in 24 hours we'll know the outcome of the Champions League final. F.C. Barcelona face Manchester United in what should be a mega-clasico of a match. We're going to watch the game at the Penya Barcelonista de Cerdanyola del Vallès, the same bar where we saw Barça win three years ago, and where we saw them knock Chelsea out just three weeks ago.

If you've never been to an official penya (they exist for most football clubs but around here they're predominantly F.C. Barcelona-affiliated), these official supporters' clubs are often the finest places to watch a good football match, provided you back the penya's team. You need to make sure you get there early, though. For the second semi-final, I got there over an hour before kick-off and barely managed to snag a couple of stools in the non-smoking area (shock, horror!). For tomorrow's game, I've booked a table in the smoking area – three years ago, I did the same thing, and when I offered my name, the owner simply shook her head and said 'Els estrangers', 'the foreigners'. This time, she at least admitted she knew me and allowed 'Tom' to go on her bit of paper. We'll see how well this works out around 8 tomorrow evening.

I'll avoid predicting the outcome of the game because my hope that Barça will win is far greater than any knowledge I'd ever profess to having of the game. Suffice to say: I reckon it'll be hard for both clubs, and while Man U may be favourites, I do think that Barça can win it.

And if they do, it'll set off a great long weekend of celebrations. Because while I'll be in the office the next day, whatever happens, Thursday night sees the start of Primavera Sound – Barcelona's pop festival and officially the first party of the summer (well, that's what I always say). The lineup is pretty good, and this year I'll probably be aiming to take in a few newer bands I don't know so much about (any recommendations are welcomed). The festival runs until Saturday, but even better news is that Monday is 'second Easter', meaning we get another day off! Skill!

So it could be a brilliant few days or just a very good few days. And you can't say fairer than that.

Força Barça!

May 26, 2009 | Filed Under Catalonia, Home, Music | 3 Comments 

BNP party political broadcast utterly ridiculous

If you haven't seen it, this is the ad that Charlie Brooker wrote about in his column on Monday. It has to be the worst conceived, most amateurish political ad I've ever seen done in earnest. Oh, and "Don't turn it off!" is such a David Brent way of starting it (not that he'd have ever voted for them, seeing as he wanted the world to be 'colour blind'). The comments on the YouTube page are also well worth a look – they're mostly mocking. Sadly, we can no longer leave comments… funny, that.

Anyway, here's the ad:

YouTube Preview Image

Contrast that rubbish with the SWP's latest poster campaign and we see that the left are still far better at humour, taste and design.

Closing In

May 22, 2009 | Filed Under Politics, UK | 1 Comment 

Franco / Has only got one ball

…or apparently he did, anyway.

Yes, it seems that Spain's fascist dictator lost a testicle when he was injured during a battle in 1916. Which was, curiously, the same year that Hitler is alleged to have lost one of his.

Could it be that the loss of a testicle in 1916 made an under-skilled military man predestined to become a vile monster?

Perhaps they should dig him out of his slave-built mausoleum in the Valle de los Caídos to check. They could knock that awful place down while they're at it.

May 18, 2009 | Filed Under Spain | Leave a Comment 

FC Barcelona wins the Spanish league

Just a quick post to say well done to Barça, who won the Spanish football league tonight.

An unrelated thought: has Spain considered that it could probably rely on 12 points in Eurovision from an independent Catalonia? Maybe they'll rethink that referendum policy?

May 16, 2009 | Filed Under Catalonia, Spain | 1 Comment 

Another political party banned in Spain

Iniciativa Internacionalista, a new party formed for the EU elections, has been banned by the Spanish supreme court. The court judged that it is a reformed edition of Acción Nationalista Vasca and Batasuna. and therefore represents the political wing of separatist group ETA.

The party, which seems to have been standing accross Spain, describes itself as supporting 'state socialism', the protection of rights, an end to capitalism in Europe, independence for the Basque and Catalan countries, and has links with some internationalist/Trotskyite groups in Spain. The Spanish government, which retains the right to ban any political party it alleges is working to represent ETA at the ballot box, stated that it had received information from state security forces that various members of II have differing levels of contact with multiple far-let, violent and 'terrorist' groups in the Basque Country. Among those accused are the party's leader, writer Alfonso Sastre [ES].

It should be clear to anyone that banning political parties is not the way to deal with problems in a democracy. Whether or not Spain is still deemed to be 'emergent', it strikes me that this is not the measured action of a mature government. And now, the illegalisation of parties is beginning to affect polls in the other regions of Spain.

May 16, 2009 | Filed Under 'Terror', Politics, Spain | 2 Comments 

Ciudadanos – showing their true colours

I was amused to read today that Albert Rivera, that young chap with the dead eyes, has been ousted [CAT] as leader of the Spanish nationalist party Ciudadanos. "Ciudadanos, Partido de la Ciudadanía" (catchy name, huh?), stormed onto the political scene a couple of years back, using promises of only speaking Spanish and… er… that's about it… to attract disillusioned falangists and other Madrid-centralists to its smelly cause.

This isn't the first time that the C's have had major internal issues, but coupled with the fact that they're now standing as part of far-right group Libertas in the EU elections, I think it's time we forgot about this flash in the pan. Hopefully we'll be able to say the same about UPyD soon!

May 16, 2009 | Filed Under Catalonia, Politics | Leave a Comment 

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