Monthly Archives: May 2009

BNP party political broadcast utterly ridiculous

Politics, UK,

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]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2bIFXb3LyM[/youtube]

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

Franco / Has only got one ball

Spain,

…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.

Another political party banned in Spain

'Terror', Politics, 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.

Ciudadanos – showing their true colours

Catalonia, Politics, , , , , , ,

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!

TVE censors crowd disapproval of Spanish national anthem at Copa del Rei final

Catalonia, Politics, Spain, tv

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTJRhiOaNLk[/youtube]

When the Spanish national anthem was played on Wednesday night, it was met with whistling, klaxons and a lot of other noise from the predominantly Catalan and Basque supporters present. TV España switched to its outside broadcasting units in Barcelona and Bilbao in an apparent attempt to hide this, and then played coverage of the anthem being played, with edited sound. The sport director of TVE has been sacked for this ‘human error’ which actually looks a lot more like the Spanish national broadcaster trying to hide a potentially embarrassing truth.

More coverage at Cataloniablog.

Copa del Rei seen in Barcelona

Catalonia, Photo posts, , , ,

As I was walking back from the Mississippi station today, I happened to bump into a TV3 OB team and a bunch of Culés. I asked a likely young lass if, perchance, El Barça would be coming through shortly and she confirmed that they were on their way.

I stood around for about five minutes and then spotted the TV3 team moving into the middle of the road, a surefire sign that the bus was on its way. And then, there it was. Heralded by flashing blue lights, cheers and foghorns, the Barça bus made its way across Carrer Numancia towads us. The cup itself was displayed proudly at the front of the bus, and some figures could be seen behind the tinted glass, waving and cheering. I imagine Eto’o led the chants.

Behind the bus was a fleet of hundreds of motos and cars, horns sounding and flags waving.

But this was fairly subdued by Barcelona standards. Everyone knows that within a couple of weeks, we could all be celebrating a much bigger triumph. If Barça can win the Champions League and secure a historic triple (yes, that’s a big if, but it’s there to be won), Barcelona will party for days on end.

(All 9 pics here. By the way, the pics aren’t great: I was using our compact camera and I was somewhat hurried)

Norman Tebbit wants the far-right to do well in the European elections

Politics, UK,

…well, he didn’t say as much but what other explanation could there be for this?

Think about it: if the BNP and UKIP do well at the expense of Tories (and Labour), the result will probably be a rightward shift from the Conservative party, who are already confident of victory in the next general election anyway. That way, Tebbit wins. Grotty little man.