"Strong men also cry"
Some choice stories which I have failed to comment on over recent days:
Tomas Delgado - this is the man who killed a 17 year-old cyclist by running him over, and then attempted to sue the dead boy's family for €20,000 in order to pay for repairs to his car. Hundreds of people descended on the court in Haro, northern Spain, to show their utter contempt for this heartless bastard. He then withdrew the lawsuit, but not because he felt guilty or had had some sort of 'Road to Damascus' moment. No, he was just pissed off with the negative attention his family were receiving from the press. I have the feeling that if Ron Paul ever got anywhere near power, he'd probably pass a law approving such damages. Perhaps even kick the parents out of their home. I mean, it's an Audi.
Rudy Giuliani - this is the man who was incapable of opening his mouth without reminding people about September 11th, 2001. He has just retired from the race to become Republican nominee for US president after what might have been the most spectacularly poorly thought-out campaign in electoral history. At his last few speeches, he barely got 100 supporters showing up and you could almost feel sorry for him if he didn't constantly debase himself and his country by doing everything he could to cash in on the deaths of the victims in the Twin Towers.
John Edwards - this is the man who was never really going to make it. Nice but a bit dull, he could probably have been a decent president. As someone else put it, he failed because his two rivals have stories which are much easier packaged. Ah well, it'll probably make little difference anyway.
Martin Amis - this is the man who appeared on Start The Week on Monday criticising multiculturalism. He didn't really say much except that Muslims are inherently backward and that he "invented" multiculturalism. Actually, it's interesting that those who have abandoned the left to become neo-conservatives are now becoming quite fierce proponents of ethic nationalism (which is the only logical alternative to multiculturalism). It's really not that surprising, though, as these fellows all refer to 'the Enlightenment' (which created, among other things, nationalism) as the high point of human reason. They're all cribbing from the (interestingly named) Paul Cliteur anyway.
Share ThisBack in black (more site news)
You will, no doubt, be thrilled to know that my unplanned 'maintenance work' is now complete and that the blog is working at full speed again. I have restored all of the posts I lost (mostly in the correct order), checked the permalinks and so on and everything seems to be working.
However, I lost pretty much all of the comments from the last week (though I re-posted some of them Google's cache) as well as my blog roll (which will take an hour or so of annoying copy/pasting to restore). This is not, as some have suggested, a wild attempt at censorship. It was more the result of a situation where by the time I realised what kind of problem I had, it was already too late to back-up my data.
Tip to fellow WordPress users: set up a cron (or use a plugin) to backup your site automatically at least once a week. I recommend the WP-DB-Backup plugin which allows you to schedule backups and have them emailed to you automatically.
Right that's enough geek talk. I'll try and cover Tomas Delgado (the world's biggest arsehole) and silly tax rebates, later this evening.
Share ThisKaboom!
I've just managed to recover most of the site after some sort of serious database issue. Some of the most recent comments and posts have been deleted, But I will try to recover them too (I have a DB backup, luckily).
Normal business will resume shortly.
Share ThisDon't take photos of police cars
This morning, I took a turn around Cerdanyola with the idea of photographing some of the graffiti and posters I often see around the town. I got some half-decent shots around 'el Barrio' which is the part of the town made up of tower-blocks and little more. It's an area which has been improved recently but it's still clearly a poverty-stricken area.
Well, after getting a few decent shots in el Barrio, I moved on and spotted a decent shot of some police cars parked by the Policia Local station. I'd just taken my first shot (which was pretty crappy) when I looked up to see a policeman approaching with an angry/police look on his silly face. Now, I grew up living on and visiting various military installations and one thing I was always taught was: call the police 'Officer' because they like that. I used to be able to show my little ID card to Royal Marines guards and that was that. Let me tell you that being 27 in Cerdanyola del Vallès is not the same as being 12 in Dartmouth.
So this police officer decided that I should accompany him back to the police station because I was taking photos of the police cars outside it. He asked me what was my motive for photographing the squad cars and all I could say was "Nada… interes… arte?". They obviously thought I was some kind of potential Etarra (as if they wouldn't drive past photographing the police station if they really wanted to do a recce). I showed him the photo I'd taken (which was, incidentally, rubbish: I'd only had time for one shot) and he said "What exactly were you trying to photograph here?". I felt like saying, "Look, I know it's a shit photo… let's just leave it at that"… instead I muttered something about the lights on their cars. I probably looked like the worst kind of antisistema/ultraizquierda/ETA suspect they'd ever seen.
Anyway, I had to present my ID card which the desk sergeant was asked to check. And I didn't show up on the computer, something which obviously made them more suspicious of me. I explained to the desk sergeant (the 'good cop') that there are often problems with my name, because in Catalonia they never understand foreign naming conventions. My name is technically Thomas R—— C—— Clarke and I've been identified with various combinations of the four names over the last five and a half years. This causes constant hassle with local authorities but La Caixa have always dealt with it very well.
Eventually, they found me on the computer (I told them to check my address) and they didn't seem very happy as they just handed me my Targeta de Residència and turned away. I said sorry again and went on my way. Later, I saw a Mossos car and I was so conscious of being questioned that I actually turned by camera off and turned away. All because I took a shit photo of some policia local cars.
Barcelona 'terror' suspects "planned suicide bombings"
It seems that six of the men arrested over the weekend in Raval were planning to commit suicide in (I presume) a synchronised series of bomb attacks on the Barcelona metro system. As if we didn't have enough problems with infrastructure here already.
The PP have been trying to use this as an excuse to force Joan Saura to resign because his statements to the Catalan parliament have not been as complete as they might have. Honestly, when will they learn? It's not like he alleged that the men arrested were members of ETA. I'm of the opinion that the fewer 'statements' made about such arrests, the better. Let's wait for the court proceedings to start.
Share ThisWilliamsburg Will Oldham Horror - Jeffrey Lewis
I'm a big fan of Will Oldham, a singer-songwriter who has worked under various monikers including Palace, Palace Music and the most recent: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. I'm going to post a few YouTube videos over the next few days which will highlight his genius and beard.
This is a song by Jeffrey Lewis, another singer-songwriter who is described as being 'anti-folk', whatever the hell that might mean. It's something of a classic, being a tribute to Will Oldham and featuring a Will Oldham look-alike.
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French bank used as excuse for everything
After the news emerged that Société Général (SocGen) had been defrauded to the tune of €5bn, gasps rang out across the financial world. Well, gasps and relieved sighs. Because it turns out that the entire financial crisis we're heading into now ('the worst in living memory') isn't caused by systematic problems with the capitalist financial system. Oh no. It's all SocGen's fault.
Share ThisManifesto: explained
"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
As quoted in an exhibition of Artists Against The War.
Share ThisStop the presses: former 'extremely rich' man now just 'very rich'
A desperately sad story in today's Pravda Guardian. Apparently, one of the victims hardest hit by the economic instability is one of those 'camera shy yet flamboyant' property tycoons who goes by the name of Robert Tchenguiz. The poor chap has lost £560m in recent months as a result of investing his money in property and pubs, neither of which have been hot bets of late. Yes, pity the Tchenguiz brothers. And although I was THRILLED to learn that his yacht is 'safe', I must say I worry whether he'll be able to 'date' the likes of Caprice Bourret (28) again.
When you hear about the sort of problems a man like this can suffer, it really puts your own silly mortgage repayments in perspective.
Share ThisTelemadrid, immigration and the Police Confederation
You may recall that last year, on the anniversary of the 11M bombings, Telemadrid, a TV station controlled by the PP's Esperanza Aguirre and her regional government, chose to mark the day and honour the victims by broadcasting a 'documentary' which gave credence to the most absurd conspiracy theory I've ever read. Basically, it supported the idea that the Socialist party had pacted with ETA to carry out the Madrid bombings so that they could win the elections a few days later and continue with their plan to 'destroy Spain'.
The other day, Telemadrid's magic realism department broadcast another 'documentary' which was designed to incite anger (and votes) against the PSOE. Investigating a plot to smuggle immigrants into Spain via a service corridor in Madrid's Barajas airport,the Telemadrid programme claimed that 'countless' immigrants are still flowing into Spain via this secret door. All this despite the journalists who made the film knowing full well that the Colombian gang who had been running people through this access route was liquidated by the police in July, and that security has been increased since the smuggling technique was discovered. [Video from El País, in Spanish]
More worryingly, journalist Laura Gómez used a hidden camera to film her 'secret arrival' in Spain using the door in question. "We're now in Spain!" she declared as she strolled through the security door. But she neglected to mention that the door's security measures had already been disabled for her by none other than Rodrigo Gavilán, spokesman for the 'Spanish Police Confederation' and fierce critic of the Socialist government. CCTV from the airport shows Gavilán and a uniformed police officer (now suspended) interfering with security measures before Gómez swanned through, but this footage never made it to the final cut of the 'documentary'. Shame.
In a nutshell then, Telemadrid has yet again used subterfuge, misinformation, lies and misleading footage in an attempt to smear the Socialist government. And they chose their target very carefully. Because there are illegal immigrants who arrive in Spain, but a lot of them come via routes which don't need them to pass through some secret corridor in Barajas. The PP and their TV station know full well that Spain's enormous coastline, proximity to Africa and custodianship of the Canary islands are all major factors affecting the level of immigration to Spain, for which it is still difficult to blame the Socialists (I'm sure they'll give it a go soon though). So to make immigration a real election issue, they had to partially fabricate a documentary, again, in their pursuit of mistruth.
The sad thing is that they broadcast it just too late to be nominated for an Oscar. Can we hope for a Best Supporting Actress gong for Laura Gómez in next year's ceremony?
By the way, this Gavilán is an interesting fellow. He's spokesman for the 'Spanish Police Confederation', outspoken in his attacks on the government's immigration policy and something of a talk-show regular, where he likes to make political remarks and complain about the politicisation of the police service. He has also publicly alleged that left-wing groups and the students' union are 'friends' of Batasuna and ETA, though he presented no evidence to support this claim. Incidentally, this 'Confederation' is little more than a far-right wing pressure group with links to the Spanish Legion and Los Peones Negros, and it was also at least partly responsible for disseminating the 11M conspiracy theory… and so, it all comes full circle.
Of course, police officers should have the right to form professional and labour organisations. But when these are used to promote anti-democratic propaganda, with the direct collusion of the so-called 'centrist' PP, well… these creeping tentacles of right-wing activism worry me.
Share ThisIf you like it so much why don't you go live there?
Just discovered this excellent site (thanks to Popbitch) which consists of the exasperatingly stupid and mad comments people leave on sites like the BBC's Have Your Say. By far the best one seen so far has to be:
One of the most basic laws in the universe is the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This states that as time goes by, entropy in an environment will increase. Evolution argues differently against a law that is accepted EVERYWHERE BY EVERYONE. Evolution says that we started out simple, and over time became more complex. That just isn't possible: UNLESS there is a giant outside source of energy supplying the Earth with huge amounts of energy. If there were such a source, scientists would certainly know about it.
I'll be honest - I'm not sure I believe how genuine this is. But it's hilarious all the same. Read more at ifyoulikeitsomuchwhydontyougolivethere.com
Share ThisThese New Puritans - Not The Fall
It takes a lot of balls to name your band with a reference to The Fall. These New Puritans (apparently abbreviated to TNPS) have done just that and after they were featured in the Guardian the other day, I thought I'd check them out. You know, see whether they live up to their name.
The answer is: no, they don't. They're basically a mixture of Franz Ferdinand and The Klaxons - and not the best bits of either band, for that matter. I've been intrigued by several newspapers and websites referring to them as actually sounding like The Fall. I figure this was more lazy journalism than impossible fantasy: These New Puritans have nothing of Mark E. Smith's vitriolic wit or poetry, let alone a proper-sounding jangly guitar. In Numbers, the lyrics go "What's your favourite number? / What does it mean? / Number 1: the individual / Number 2: duality / Number 3: …numerology is all shit". Talking about the song, lead singer Jack Barnett says, "It’s our attempt to recreate numerology in a song. It’s a pop song with a dubby beat. But I say “numerology is all shit”, so it’s all deconstructed immediately". Hmmm.
Anyway, here's Elvis, another of their songs.
Share ThisOn the smudging of the political spectrum
One of the interesting things I've noticed when reading opinions from normal American voters (not bloggers - I mean people on forums, Yahoo! Answers and the like) is how confused many of them are when it comes to understanding the political ideas espoused by many of the candidates in the race to become president. For example, the view is often expressed that Hillary Clinton ought not be president because she is a 'socialist'. Other Democratic candidates are equally dismissed as representing the 'far-left' or espousing 'socialist healthcare'. Several times, I've been called a 'Leninist', 'Communist' or 'Stalinist' after questioning the official version of events from Downing Street or the White House. The New York Times, The Guardian and MSNBC News are all regularly referred to as being 'of the left', 'far-left', 'socialist' and even 'communist', despite the fact that they are broadly establishment-friendly liberal media outlets. In Spain, Aznar and the FAES-Libertad Digital-El Mundo alliance have regularly referred to the PSOE as 'the socialists, communists and anarchists' - language borrowed almost word for word from Franco's fascist dictatorship.
This phenomenon casts light on two particular points worth looking at. Firstly, that the propaganda of the cold war era still courses through many people's veins. People still fear socialism in a more primal way than they fear even Islamism or other far-right ideologies. The United States is not at risk of getting a socialist president any time soon, so why is this irrational fear perpetuated? The reason is that the USA represents a spectacularly unequal capitalist society and has all the accompanying problems that might be expected. Rather than noting that socialism might offer a solution to some of these problems (as it clearly does), people are instead encouraged to have a Red Dawn* style view of socialism. The true 'threat' of socialism is, of course, an empowered and united labour force.
The second point is that it has become standard practice to label any political opponent who is even slightly to the left of yourself as 'socialist' or 'communist'. Hillary Clinton, on any normal political spectrum, would be regarded as having a centre-right political ideology. But it is not uncommon to hear commentators and citizens alike using the term 'socialist' to describe her point of view. And I'm not just talking about Mark Levin or equally perverse 'shock-jocks' and fetishists. Mainstream media outlets like Fox News Channel (a channel which, incidentally, spends a lot of time criticising the 'mainstream media'!) have regularly used terms like 'socialist healthcare', 'socialised education' and so on as a scare tactic. Actually, public health and education, free at the point of use, are generally accepted now as being good for society, good for business, good for the country. It's the word 'social' which seems to scare people so much. all the while, the right is referred to as merely 'conservative'.
Spain has had a left of centre government in power for the last four years and despite the PP-FAES-Libertad Digital-El Mundo alliance's shrill warnings about 'the end of Spain', dark terrorist conspiracies and economic collapse, Spain seems to be doing OK. This is the reason why the PP rarely challenges the PSOE on any policy issue except when it touches on concepts of 'national unity' and alleged threats to tradition. Rather, they spend their time posturing and holding press conferences, much as they did when they were in power. Despite being from the 'far left', the country is doing fine. But I know that this is a story which won't be told in the United States, where fear of a single word still dominates political discourse.
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*Red Dawn - if you haven't seen this film, try to download it or something. It's a fiercely jingoistic anti-Soviet propaganda movie from about 1984 starring Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, and it recounts the events following a Soviet-Cuban invasion of the United States. I imagine it gave a lot of impressionable teenagers nightmares and a firm hatred of socialism, which was exactly its intention. It's a pretty terrible film but also quite amusing in parts.
Share ThisA wonderful time in the mountains
God, I love this country. Just when I think that I've got Catalonia's number, I go somewhere new and fall in love all over again. This weekend, we went skiing in Port del Comte in the Solsones comarca. It's right on the edge of the Pyrenees, and thanks to its location, it offers fantastic views towards the main mountain range, as well as back across Catalonia to Monseny, Montserrat and beyond.
The skiing was great, though it's clear that there isn't enough snow on the mountains except in areas where the cannons work overnight. The temperature (especially on Saturday) was phenomenally high for mid-January but it actually made for near-perfect skiing conditions.
Gemma and I took some photos of the trip, especially of the views from the Prepirineu towards Montserrat which could be seen springing up out of a layer of cloud covering the plains of Lleida and Barcelona provinces. We also had the opportunity to eat at the stunning Cap del Pla restaurant on the highway between Port del Comte and Solsones. Cap del Pla is a very traditional masia-style place with a €15 menu which is incredibly filling and utterly delicious. I went for Favetes (beans served with ham and black pudding), Galtes (pig cheeks) and Crema Catalana (crème brûlée), accompanied by pa amb tomaquet (toast with tomato and oil), a porró of wine and a cigaló (coffee with brandy) - potentially the most Catalan meal it is possible to have, and all quite delicious.
The Fall - Victoria
A great song to start your weekend to: Victoria performed by The Fall. One of the great cover versions, in my opinion.
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a blog by Tom Clarke in Barcelona, Catalonia, covering politics, culture and society
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