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You say "you can't blame Aznar" for March 11; Unfortunately,
a lot of people here do blame him and the PP despite the fact that it was planned independently of Iraq/Afghanistan. People everywhere have a nasty habit of ignoring logic and pesky facts to simply believe what they want to believe. Perception is reality. The PP needs to somehow recognize this and capitalize on it rather than trying to talk the Spanish populace into believing what they would rather not. If they cannot, it will be a long while before they can get the 3/11 monkey off their back.
Peter,
You can blame him for his ETA obsession. If you have the facts that show that 3/11 was planned and directed by ETA, just show them. Otherwise just shut the fuck. So far they have nothing at all. And most important it doesnt make any fucking sense.
I liked how that woman said Zaplana didnt have the balls to look her in the eyes... that shows you the kind of scumbag politicians they are. I don't blame Zaplana, I wouldnt have the balls to do the same, if I had some conscious.
Joan, read Peter's comment again. Now read the 1st para of yours.
When you finish, repeat the process.
And then just tell us what's the relationship between them.
Oh, another thing, what do you mean by Aznar's 'ETA obsession'? That he wanted to put them in jail? That his policies have left the terrorist group in the weakest position ever, something that even ETA inmates are admitting?
ETA obsession? As far as I can recall, the government spokesman said that ETA was the main suspect but that anyway other possibilities were being considered. My recollection from the government's statements those days is that ETA was the main suspect (which was not surprising anyway) but certainly not the only one.
Let's be realistic. Who could be expected to have hard evidence right after the bombing? I bet that the previous government would also have been grilled if they had plainly said - in an exercise of intellectual honesty - that it was still too early to come up with reasonable assumptions. They would then have been accused of being a bunch of inepts. People were anxious for an explanation.
PS. Congratulations for your blog, John. Keep up the good work!
Tan aficionat a La Vanguardia i no dius res de Roy Bourgeois que va sortir l'altre dia a "La contra"??
Vaja, que raro.....
Serà que estàs d'acord amb gentusa com Kissinger, V.Walters, Nixon etc...?
Serà que en el fons no et sembla malament eliminar governs legítims per molt que siguin procomunistes, serà que els interesos de les industries americanes estna per sobre dels drets de les poblacions de paisos pobres (aqui podriem començar i no acabariem mai) serà que en el fons consideres l'amèrica llatina el pati del darrera dels USA, serà que si jutgen Pinochet també haurien de jutjar molts polítics i dirigents americans de la teva mateixa corda ideològica....
El lliberalisme americà està tan tacat de sang com el comunisme o el feixisme, el que pasa que ho fa d'una manera més intel.ligent i "elegant".
O no?
OT: It's all about O...I...L.... after all:
Iraq's oil ministry has awarded the country's first post-war oilfield development contracts to Turkish and Canadian firms, an oil official said on Thursday. Turkey's Everasia won the contract to develop the Khurmala Dome field in the north, said the official who declined to be named. A Canadian firm named IOG will develop the Himrin field, the official added. The contracts involve constructing new flow lines, building gas separation stations and measures to stop water emerging from wells. Drilling will be done by the ministry's digging division. Unlike production sharing contracts Iraq could negotiate with oil majors after elections due in January, the contracts do not involve contractors after construction or as operators. The cost of the three projects combined has been estimated at $500 million. Their small size and scope has failed to attract the interest of major international oil companies.
Qwerty, some of us who enjoy this blog do not understand Valencian. Could you please translate?
Gz,
Ay, que poco sabes... Nos molesta muy poco que lo llames Valenciano... Es que es una verdad com un templo... Llámalo como quieras, es la misma lengua. Y nos encanta que lo reconozcas.
all that may be true, but yahoo says that you guys in catalonia can now buy juan carlos ii and queen sofia caganers for your christmas decorations. i'm surprised some enterprising left wing catalan hasnt made a fortune peddling a bush caganer; i think it'd be a big hit here in the blue states.
Gz has a point. We have no language police around here, and everyone can write just exactly what he wants, but if you want to communicate with all the readers it might be a good idea to use English.
Joan, Sorry to tell you this dear but... no eres más tonto porque no te entrenas..
Saludos desde Mallorca.. dónde se habla mallorquin , ma-llor-quin
So long dude
Saludos desde Buenos Aires.. dónde habla argentino, repito, che: ar-gen-ti-no, no como en Mallorca, donde lo que sí habla Julien es es-pa-nol, que se nota que no es de pueblo, como otros que rondan por aquí...
Bones festes!
PS: please translate the above -seasons' greetings!- accordingly. I'm looking forward to widely diverging versions in Catalan, Valencian, Majorcan, Minorcan, etc., better than Xmas pudding with brandy butter to 007 on telly..get cracking, you expert linguist lot!
Tan aficionat a La Vanguardia i no dius res de Roy Bourgeois que va sortir l'altre dia a "La contra"??
Vaja, que raro.....
Serà que estàs d'acord amb gentusa com Kissinger, V.Walters, Nixon etc...?
Serà que en el fons no et sembla malament eliminar governs legítims per molt que siguin procomunistes, serà que els interesos de les industries americanes estna per sobre dels drets de les poblacions de paisos pobres (aqui podriem començar i no acabariem mai) serà que en el fons consideres l'amèrica llatina el pati del darrera dels USA, serà que si jutgen Pinochet també haurien de jutjar molts polítics i dirigents americans de la teva mateixa corda ideològica....
El lliberalisme americà està tan tacat de sang com el comunisme o el feixisme, el que pasa que ho fa d'una manera més intel.ligent i "elegant".
O no?
Amic John? Ets aquí?
I actually don't mind if someone wants to post in Catalan or Valencian, but I'll be a bit lost when and if they do. It may surprise Joan to learn this, but no courses were offered in Catalan at my local high school in the good ol' EEUU. How provincial of us to only offer Spanish, German, French and Latin. I was mightily disappointed, of course, but I survived. I took Spanish instead.
As for qwerty's anti-US rant (that is what it is, isn't it?), I believe an appropriate response in Catalan is FOT EL CAMP. But I'm not 100% sure, either.
Oh Julien,
What an amazing display of ignorance... And you seem so proud of yourself, you ig-no-rant fuck.
Why didnt you post it in Ma-jor-can?. You don't give a fuck about your regional language, other than to say it has nothing to with Catalan.
You see... I speak and understand perfectly more than a dozen languages... Catalan, Valencian, Majorcan, Menorcan, Ibizan, Lleidatà, Tortosí, Spanish, Andalusian, Mexican, Argentinian, Colombian, Cuban, Chilean, Dominican, American, British,... I'm a fucking genius and you're a wanker (that's british you know).
Chinga tu madre, pendejo.
joan, i'm sort of sensing a hostile and somewhat negative vibe from your post; i could be wrong about that, maybe it's just me, but that's what coming through here. my apologies if i'm reading that the wrong way, though.
Gz,
There are so many bilingual, trilingual people here. Hell, some of us speak around 30 different languages (Note my sarcasm). It seems like I haven't been paying too much attention to your previous posts and I dont know you that well. I thought you were Spanish trying to offend Qwerty with the "valencian" thing. Many people think we want to call it all Catalan, and that's not really what we care about, but the unity of the language. Spanish nationalists want it to see divided, and eventually dead. That's why we have all this ridiculous issue with Valencian, Majorcan, and all that shit.
Despite of the efforts of Spanish nationalists in Valencia, a single version of Catalan-Valencian was presented to Brussels. Majorcans didnt even try. It seems like there are less idiots in Majorca (Apart from our friend here) than in Valencia.
MERRY CHRISTMAS-BONES FESTES!!! (This is valid in Catalan, Valencia, Majorcan, Andorran, etc, etc...)
akaky,
Don't worry, It's all in good fun. BTW Enterprising left wing sounds like a complete oxymoron to me. I like your Bush caganer idea though. With the good American business sense, it could be a huge success there... think about it... I would also sell Osama Bin Laden caganers.
Does any of you know the American band called the "The Twilight Singers"? fronted by the charismatic Greg Dulli, former frontman of the legendary Afghan Whigs. That's music.... Check them out!.
They played in Barcelona on wednesday night... What an amazing concert...
LOL, John you were giving some ideas to export the Catalan culture and make Catalonia and its people known overseas. Well, your banner shows a book entitled "the Catalan". We are known and famous already!... At least in the world of chess...
In case it disappears, here it is:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obido...e=xm2&
ref=nosim
Joan you actually went to amazon and sought "the catalan" ? Dude, you are far worse than i thought. By the way there's no such thing as Spanish nationalism; there's Spanish patriotism. John explained it some posts ago. Really, take care.
Lieber Pinxo/Panxo,
Zis ist precisely vat I keep telling ze Chews and ze Polacken an zimilar verrmin..."zere's no such zing as Cherman Nationalism, god forbid! ONLY Cherman Patriotism, aka "Verfassungspatriotismus" or "patriotismo constitucional", but, despite our unremitting efforts, our selfless love for the Vaterlan leaves these lowly races with primitive intellects distinctly unimpressed, wallowing as they are wont to in narrow-minded, parochial nationalism as well as styling themselves as "victims".
Please Mr/Ms Pinxo, could you suggest vat ve kan do to improve our bashed-up image along Spanish lines, would any of your celebrated "anti-Nazionalista" intellectuals care to give us a few talks on how this master-nation of yours was blessed with foolprof immunity against nationalism, as recorded by this blog? Danke for your help und sehr guten Festen to all!
Pinxo, I'm going to disagree. There are some Spains-in-the-Ass out there. For example, I consider the boycott of Catalan products to be silly and self-defeating, and I think people who sign onto it are making the wrong decision. I don't see why you can't be a Catalan patriot and a Spanish patriot at the same time. Remei is both. You love your country and the people and the culture but you don't want to force your ways on anyone else. And I think it's possible to love both Catalonia and Spain in the same way. I mean, for example, Texas is the US state that has the strongest identity, and most Texans consider themselves to be members of the same group. And they're proud of Texas, sometimes irritatingly so. But, at the same time, most Texans consider themselves to be very American, too.
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