El Roto Thinks the Same as Me?

I don't see any good coming from Spain's Historical Memory Law, the one that literally looks for the buried bodies from the past. A lot of nasty shit went down during the civil war - on both sides. Now that PSOE is in power, they are looking for all the nasty stuff that Franco did. As soon as PP gets back in there, will they start looking for the nasty stuff the communists did on behalf of the Republic?

If I am reading El Roto correctly, and that usually is not an easy task, it seems he also doesn't think the wounds from the war last through the generations.

Maybe it's time to, if not forgive or forget, time to move on and solve some present problems?

Really? They Still Don't Ask a Native Speaker?

It seems like such a simple thing to do. Let's say I'm a Spanish advertising executive and I have a great idea building on Obama's famous campaign slogan, "Yes We Can", and oh yeah, I really don't speak English - I just think I do. Why wouldn't I run my idea past a couple of native speakers? In fact, why aren't there native speakers on staff of my advertising firm if I am selling English language ads?

We all know that this used to happen all the time in Spain, the English on commercials, bill boards, t-shirts, etc. just isn't quite right, but in 2010, on a big ad campaign, this still happens?

What's funny about this story is the supposed English language expert from the Complutense University tries to correct the awkward "Yes We Want!" slogan and she still gets it wrong...

They could have found any American student on the street or Brit in a pub, to tell them that the correct response to, "We want to learn another language!" is... "YES WE DO!"

Just a Picture - Sol Finally Finished

Okupa Nightmare

Can someone please tell me how this is possible? Do Spanish authorities live in some parallel universe where normal logic doesn't apply?

These people live in an apartment for 21 years, they go on vacation and have to rush back because Okupas have taken over their place. How long does it take to get the lowlifes out? 16 months! My favorite quote is when the judge on the case wouldn't evict the criminals because, "The squatters don't have funds to find another place"!

"Human rights" have run amok. No wonder no one will rent out an apartment in Spain. You can't even get people you didn't rent to - out of your piso.

If this happens to me I might be going to jail because I'm going in my place swinging a baseball bat.

Burying your Lead

On the front page of El Pais' English language Herald we have this story headline. Sounds like another boring budget article:
Continue to page 3 and now the story says "One in Five Spaniards Lives in Poverty"

Sounds like that whole "living in poverty" thing should be the lead of the story - but then El Pais would be reporting bad news about the current situation and government handling of it - can't have that can we?

No More Free Porn - Big Daddy Says

Spain's Big Daddy, the European Union, says no more free porn on open air broadcast TV. The fun ends in 2010. The children (Spain) must behave and start acting like adults.

I wrote about this before here. The truth is I really could not believe that complete hard-core porno was on the air after around 11:00 pm. Obviously there are children awake at 11:00 PM in Spain that could watch it.

What's becoming obvious about the European Union is - they really are in control. All the bans and rules and regulations are coming, and will come from them and Spain really just has to say, "Yes sir"! Even if there is a so-called vote on EU rules, if the EU does not like the outcome they will just have another election until it turns out like they want.

So be prepared Spain for a whole bunch of changes coming from Big Daddy EU. Porno, booze laws, smoking, bullfighting of course, environmental laws, what else?

A Black Dove? El Pais?

Ok. I'm as surprised as anyone that Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize after only a few months on the job. Man, Europe really, really, hated George Bush. Just having a new guy in there is getting them way excited - even if he hasn't done anything yet. Excited enough to give him the Nobel Peace Prize for ... not being Bush.

But what is going on with this Black Dove cartoon in El Pais by Forges? Or maybe it's a crow? Is it absolutely necessary to continue to obsess on this president's "Blackness"?

They really do not have a clue on how to deal with - or start ignoring - race do they?