Our ocracy's oligophrenia over outcrop...

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The UK government has lost the plot completely. The Olly and May horror show continues: every single EU stipulation conceded, every UK red-line ignored...total surrender. Luckily, certainly with regard to the media hoo-hah over Gibraltar, the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, the Hon. Fabian Picardo QC reacted well; Mrs. may should read, understand and iterate his final paragraph:

"We will stick with Britain" press release HERE, pdf. Hat-tip Raedwald.




In a later press release, [PDF] also yesterday, Fabian Picardo gave a full statement after having talked with Treason May. He sounded reassured: "Theresa May made repeatedly clear despite clause 24 that she would negotiate to include us in the Withdrawal Agreement", but I would suggest he doesn't count his chickens: the 'Strong and stable' and 'No deal is better than a bad deal' mantras, amongst other, etc., spring to mind. Ian Duncan Smith on Sky News this morning [Guido] suggests slippery May has conceded over Gibraltar's future trading arrangements to Spain



In the same press release Picardo compared the crowing of Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez over the sovereignty of Gibraltar to 'pursuing the policy bidding of the Generalisimo [Franco] himself'. LOL.  

Our ocracy's oligophrenia over outcrop...

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The UK government has lost the plot completely. The Olly and May horror show continues: every single EU stipulation conceded, every UK red-line ignored...total surrender. Luckily, certainly with regard to the media hoo-hah over Gibraltar, the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, the Hon. Fabian Picardo QC reacted well; Mrs. may should read, understand and iterate his final paragraph:

"We will stick with Britain" press release HERE, pdf. Hat-tip Raedwald.

In a later press release, [PDF] also yesterday, Fabian Picardo gave a full statement after having talked with Treason May. He sounded reassured: "Theresa May made repeatedly clear despite clause 24 that she would negotiate to include us in the Withdrawal Agreement", but I would suggest he doesn't count his chickens: the 'Strong and stable' and 'No deal is better than a bad deal' mantras, amongst other, etc., spring to mind. Ian Duncan Smith on Sky News this morning [Guido] suggests slippery May has conceded over Gibraltar's future trading arrangements to Spain

In the same press release Picardo compared the crowing of Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez over the sovereignty of Gibraltar to 'pursuing the policy bidding of the Generalisimo [Franco] himself'. LOL.  

Opening offence...

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It appears that the EMT (Madrid's Municipal Transport Company) is going to incorporate a specific pictogram to prevent 'manspreading' (they explain this as an English term that refers to the posture of men who open their legs excessively). Apparently this is similar to what already exists in other transport systems worldwide; I've not seen it before although now I note that in NY there have been arrests for it more than two years ago, although "the judge expressed her skepticism about the charge because of the time of the arrests: "12:11AM, I can't believe there were many people on the subway"". Back to EMT, Madrid Town Hall's newsletter has the details, all in Spanish. There will be screams from many 'machos' against 'feminists' but in reality this is really just good manners regarding taking up too much space although I do know that there are members of the fairer sex who just think it's guys trying to display their goods or pretend they're well endowed but to be honest, even those with impressive 'wedding tackle' (no doubt that phrase will insult some as well...in fact calling females the 'fairer sex' triggers some!!) should be able to sit perfectly comfortably with their legs shoulder width apart. Rafa de la Rosa explains wonderfully on his Twitter feed (also in Spanish but the images anyone can understand!). When seen in context (image below) along with 'no littering', 'no smoking', 'no feet on seats' etc., you'll see this is nothing to get too upset about.

Opening offence...

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It appears that the EMT (Madrid's Municipal Transport Company) is going to incorporate a specific pictogram to prevent 'manspreading' (they explain this as an English term that refers to the posture of men who open their legs excessively). Apparently this is similar to what already exists in other transport systems worldwide; I've not seen it before although now I note that in NY there have been arrests for it more than two years ago, although "the judge expressed her skepticism about the charge because of the time of the arrests: "12:11AM, I can't believe there were many people on the subway"". Back to EMT, Madrid Town Hall's newsletter has the details, all in Spanish. There will be screams from many 'machos' against 'feminists' but in reality this is really just good manners regarding taking up too much space although I do know that there are members of the fairer sex who just think it's guys trying to display their goods or pretend they're well endowed but to be honest, even those with impressive 'wedding tackle' (no doubt that phrase will insult some as well...in fact calling females the 'fairer sex' triggers some!!) should be able to sit perfectly comfortably with their legs shoulder width apart. Rafa de la Rosa explains wonderfully on his Twitter feed (also in Spanish but the images anyone can understand!). When seen in context (image below) along with 'no littering', 'no smoking', 'no feet on seats' etc., you'll see this is nothing to get too upset about.

Overseas operations...

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Today, April 2nd 2017 is the 35th anniversary of the start of The Falklands War. The Argentine claim is presumably based around proximity only because they have no real legal claim, none; to be honest, not even proximity applies really.



Now another Spanish-speaking nation is rumbling about a territory that it has no real claim to (but at least they used to own it for more than a couple of months); unfortunately for them the Mons Calpe - one of the 'Pillars of Hercules' - the 'Mountain of Tariq' was formally ceded to the British Crown as part of the Peace of Utrecht. British sovereignty over Gibraltar was confirmed in two later 18th Century treaties.

"The Catholic King does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to the Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging; and he gives up the said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely with all manner of right for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever."

Part of Article X, Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht between Spain and Great Britain  (1713) 

There is no case to answer; there is no reason to sell, gift, combine sovereignty or change the current status of Gibraltar at all, in any way: time for the Spanish government to stop azotando un caballo muerto, or as they might say, dar patadas de ahorcado.

Overseas operations...

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Today, April 2nd 2017 is the 35th anniversary of the start of The Falklands War. The Argentine claim is presumably based around proximity only because they have no real legal claim, none; to be honest, not even proximity applies really.

Now another Spanish-speaking nation is rumbling about a territory that it has no real claim to (but at least they used to own it for more than a couple of months); unfortunately for them the Mons Calpe - one of the 'Pillars of Hercules' - the 'Mountain of Tariq' was formally ceded to the British Crown as part of the Peace of Utrecht. British sovereignty over Gibraltar was confirmed in two later 18th Century treaties.

"The Catholic King does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to the Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging; and he gives up the said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely with all manner of right for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever."
Part of Article X, Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht between Spain and Great Britain  (1713) 

There is no case to answer; there is no reason to sell, gift, combine sovereignty or change the current status of Gibraltar at all, in any way: time for the Spanish government to stop azotando un caballo muerto, or as they might say, dar patadas de ahorcado.

Obvious ownership...

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Treaty of Utrecht, 1713.

Just as we know the sun rises in the East, so we know that Spain is in political difficulty whenever we hear 'sabre-rattling' over Gibraltar. Interesting article in The Spectator in July: "But the very possession of Gibraltar means a hostile Spain, and the weight of that hostility is limited only by her military strength. That strength may at any time assert itself to an extent which has not been suspected, and the recovery of Gibraltar, or the neutralisation of its value to England, is to such a nation precisely the kind of object to arouse enthusiasm, and to create a new point of military departure. More- over, even if the power of Spain were to remain as weak as it is sometimes assumed to be, nothing short of an unquestioned military advantage of primary importance should determine us to accept her certain hostility, in the event of war with a Mediterranean Power. Oh, I forgot to mention, it was July 1883, from their archive.

Another interesting article is ARTICLE X of the 1713 Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht between Spain and Great Britain (a.k.a. Treaty Of Utrecht): "The Catholic King does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to the Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging; and he gives up the said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely with all manner of right for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever."...for ever, get it?! All this was reconfirmed in later treaties. That said, in ARTICLE X1 of the same treaty Britain took possession of Minorca, which changed hands 3 times during the 18th Century but was finally and permanently repossessed by Spain under the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, so they know we could hand it back but the Minorca episode took three battles during three different wars...

Obvious ownership...

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Treaty of Utrecht, 1713.

Just as we know the sun rises in the East, so we know that Spain is in political difficulty whenever we hear 'sabre-rattling' over Gibraltar. Interesting article in The Spectator in July: "But the very possession of Gibraltar means a hostile Spain, and the weight of that hostility is limited only by her military strength. That strength may at any time assert itself to an extent which has not been suspected, and the recovery of Gibraltar, or the neutralisation of its value to England, is to such a nation precisely the kind of object to arouse enthusiasm, and to create a new point of military departure. More- over, even if the power of Spain were to remain as weak as it is sometimes assumed to be, nothing short of an unquestioned military advantage of primary importance should determine us to accept her certain hostility, in the event of war with a Mediterranean Power. Oh, I forgot to mention, it was July 1883, from their archive. Another interesting article is ARTICLE X of the 1713 Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht between Spain and Great Britain (a.k.a. Treaty Of Utrecht): "The Catholic King does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to the Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging; and he gives up the said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely with all manner of right for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever."...for ever, get it?! All this was reconfirmed in later treaties. That said, in ARTICLE X1 of the same treaty Britain took possession of Minorca, which changed hands 3 times during the 18th Century but was finally and permanently repossessed by Spain under the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, so they know we could hand it back but the Minorca episode took three battles during three different wars...

Oriol's opening...

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The election results from Catalonia - called 2 years early - make interesting reading; they do signal that probably nothing will get done, as with all rainbow coalitions (not yet formed but necessary). There were slight changes in the political make-up of the autonomous Catalan Parliament (see image left; click to enlarge. To see the votes and seats click HERE) but by far the biggest winner was Oriol Junqueras of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Republican Left of Catalonia) who [Ows edit: text from here on was edited at 1pm to make it clearer] is leader of what became the second biggest party, they are staunchly pro Catalonian Independence but against the austerity measures that have been introduced by the ruling Convergència i Unió party (Convergence and Union) who were also the biggest loser (despite still winning!); Artur Mas, the leader of CiU had called the early election: "El 'plan Mas' fracasa" says El Periodico (images also from there); the DT headline says it best: "Spain's Catalan separatists win election but punish Mas". Another point to note not really reported as far as I have seen: those clearly nationalist parties (CiU, ERC and CUP) lost seats compared to the combined total of the 2010 elections when they had 76; back then there was no CUP but included SI (Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència). Another big loser was the PSC (Socialists' Party of Catalonia) although they are against Independence so we can safely presume they lost a big chunk to ERC and to Joan Herrera's ICV-EUiA (Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds - Esquerra Unida i Alternativa, a greeny lefty mini coalition mouthful: Initiative for Catalonia Greens - United and Alternative Left!) also anti-austerity and who also did well. However, the PPC (right-wing popular Party) and the Ciutadans – Partit de la Ciutadania (Party of the Citizenry), both against independence, grew their number of seats and their percentage of votes. Make of all that what you will!

Oriol's opening...

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The election results from Catalonia - called 2 years early - make interesting reading; they do signal that probably nothing will get done, as with all rainbow coalitions (not yet formed but necessary). There were slight changes in the political make-up of the autonomous Catalan Parliament (see image left; click to enlarge. To see the votes and seats click HERE) but by far the biggest winner was Oriol Junqueras of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Republican Left of Catalonia) who [Ows edit: text from here on was edited at 1pm to make it clearer] is leader of what became the second biggest party, they are staunchly pro Catalonian Independence but against the austerity measures that have been introduced by the ruling Convergència i Unió party (Convergence and Union) who were also the biggest loser (despite still winning!); Artur Mas, the leader of CiU had called the early election: "El 'plan Mas' fracasa" says El Periodico (images also from there); the DT headline says it best: "Spain's Catalan separatists win election but punish Mas". Another point to note not really reported as far as I have seen: those clearly nationalist parties (CiU, ERC and CUP) lost seats compared to the combined total of the 2010 elections when they had 76; back then there was no CUP but included SI (Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència). Another big loser was the PSC (Socialists' Party of Catalonia) although they are against Independence so we can safely presume they lost a big chunk to ERC and to Joan Herrera's ICV-EUiA (Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds - Esquerra Unida i Alternativa, a greeny lefty mini coalition mouthful: Initiative for Catalonia Greens - United and Alternative Left!) also anti-austerity and who also did well. However, the PPC (right-wing popular Party) and the Ciutadans – Partit de la Ciutadania (Party of the Citizenry), both against independence, grew their number of seats and their percentage of votes. Make of all that what you will!

Obvious objurgation...

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LOL! Guido reports on how the 'rare Midas touch' of Crash Gordon mentioned on Tuesday lasted very little time indeed - no surprise. There will be no 'tranquillity': "Europe and Spain will continue down this autopista of economic tears until they are both willing to make the tough sacrifices that come with establishing a more coherent political and economic union." [Link]



Talking about tranquil Spain (NOT!) "When things go wrong, they really go wrong. Cuidado, Querida España", [Link] Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Telegraph, hat-tip Raedwald; while your there Raedwald has had several interesting things to say about Spain recently.

Obvious objurgation...

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LOL! Guido reports on how the 'rare Midas touch' of Crash Gordon mentioned on Tuesday lasted very little time indeed - no surprise. There will be no 'tranquillity': "Europe and Spain will continue down this autopista of economic tears until they are both willing to make the tough sacrifices that come with establishing a more coherent political and economic union." [Link]

Talking about tranquil Spain (NOT!) "When things go wrong, they really go wrong. Cuidado, Querida España", [Link] Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Telegraph, hat-tip Raedwald; while your there Raedwald has had several interesting things to say about Spain recently.

Outgoing opportunities...

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[Edited - 'dead' image removed]
...36 degrees centigrade today, 41 in the car. Back in my old haunts for a bit I was catching up on last week's outrage and was surprised to read this today: "Catalonia has become, for the first time ever, the main area of emigration".



This really is a bad sign; one of the main drivers - if not the powerhouse - of the Spanish economy is seeing a fall in it's lifeblood. 

Outgoing opportunities...

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[Edited - 'dead' image removed] ...36 degrees centigrade today, 41 in the car. Back in my old haunts for a bit I was catching up on last week's outrage and was surprised to read this today: "Catalonia has become, for the first time ever, the main area of emigration".

This really is a bad sign; one of the main drivers - if not the powerhouse - of the Spanish economy is seeing a fall in it's lifeblood. 

Olé, olé, olé, olé...

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Just over four years ago in Vienna, Cesc Fabregas scored a penalty against Italy that put Spain into the semi finals of Euro 2008: Spain's first victory over the Italians in a major tournament for the first time since the very first time the teams first met! That victory was still 'only' after a penalty shootout, "so the official records still show that the Spanish have only registered one victory in a major finals over the Azzurri: their first-ever meeting at the 1920 Olympics." [Guardian] Since then the Italians have shown who's boss time after time...so tonight history was on the side of the Italians: history got stuffed; like so many things when faced with what is surely the best team ever to grace a football field. And to finish on one twitter comment on the BBC's (click on image) online commentary: "The reign of Spain continues in Ukraine..."

Olé, olé, olé, olé...

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Just over four years ago in Vienna, Cesc Fabregas scored a penalty against Italy that put Spain into the semi finals of Euro 2008: Spain's first victory over the Italians in a major tournament for the first time since the very first time the teams first met! That victory was still 'only' after a penalty shootout, "so the official records still show that the Spanish have only registered one victory in a major finals over the Azzurri: their first-ever meeting at the 1920 Olympics." [Guardian] Since then the Italians have shown who's boss time after time...so tonight history was on the side of the Italians: history got stuffed; like so many things when faced with what is surely the best team ever to grace a football field. And to finish on one twitter comment on the BBC's (click on image) online commentary: "The reign of Spain continues in Ukraine..."