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Posts Tagged ‘Spain’

Take A Wild Guess

by Bunk Five Hawks X ( 79 Comments › )
Filed under Health Care, Humor, OOT, Open thread, Science, Technology at September 12th, 2011 - 11:00 pm

Although it’s been in my blog roll for years, it’s been a while since I ventured over to No Puedo Creer. “I Can’t Believe It” is a great website from Spain, and I’d use it to practice hobbling the spaniel with some of the commenters.

Without cheating, guess what those things are. You’re going to be amazed and disgusted at the same time, I guarantee it. I’ll update the thread with a link in an hour or so, so we can all be amazed and disgusted together on
The Overnight Open Thread.

_____________________________________

[Update: Do not click on this link if you haven’t read the thread or guessed as it’ll spoil the fun.]

Sovereign Debt 101

by 1389AD ( 104 Comments › )
Filed under China, Economy, Europe, France, Germany, Health Care, Healthcare, Progressives, Socialism, Spain, UK at January 2nd, 2011 - 3:30 pm

Why The World Economy Sucks

(h/t: yenta-fada)

What are we talking about here?

Business Dictionary offers a long-winded, technical definition of sovereign debt. In a nutshell, sovereign debt is debt that a government owes. If a debtor government cannot repay its debt, its creditors (bondholders) do not have the power to force it into bankruptcy and divide up its remaining assets. So if the debt goes bad, both the debtor government and its creditors are in a predicament.

Government debt. Under the doctrine of sovereign immunity, the repayment of sovereign debt cannot be forced by the creditors and it is thus subject to compulsory rescheduling, interest rate reduction, or even repudiation. The only protection available to the creditors is threat of the loss of credibility and lowering of the international standing (the sovereign debt rating) of the country which may make it much more difficult to borrow in the future.

The Greek Debt Crisis Explained in Four Minutes

Note: The above video makes some valid points about the financial house of cards that various governments are busily trying to prop up. That said, I place no faith in the ability of the IMF or any other international financial organization to do anything other than worsen the crash by attempting to delay the inevitable.

I also must point out that there is a tremendous difference between a private enterprise with a good credit rating borrowing at a low interest rate to invest in future productivity, and a government borrowing money for supposedly the same reason. Experience has proven governments to be incapable of investing borrowed money in anything that will result in economic expansion.

The real outcome of such wasteful spending will be more like this chilling ad by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW):

TV Ad: United States owes China


Originally published on 1389 Blog.


23 December: Night of Radishes

by Bunk Five Hawks X ( 340 Comments › )
Filed under Art, Food and Drink, History, Humor, Open thread, Spain, World at December 23rd, 2010 - 11:00 pm

Noche de Rabanos (Night of the Radishes) takes place every year, on the 23rd of December, in Oaxaca, Spain and is one of the most impressive vegetable festivals around the world.

The radish was brought to the Americas in the 16th century, and back then the vendors used to carve them and use them on their market stalls to attract customers. Although the origins of the festival cannot be traced to an exact period, it is considered that it all began in the year 1897, when the mayor of Oaxaca organized the first radish-art exposition. Everever since that first celebration, every year, this humble vegetable is meticulously carved into animals, warriors, kings, dancers and pretty much any shape you can imagine. The artists sometimes make use of other vegetables, like onion or lettuce to complete their work. There’s also a prize for the most beautiful piece displayed.

The carver’s work begins about three days in advance and on the 23rd of December, the day of the festival, the results of all their hard work is presented to the public. On that same day, especially in the morning, children have the chance to learn this incredible art of radish-carving, or at least some of its secrets.

The celebrations don’t end that day. They continue on Christmas Eve and Christmas  Day with other joyful “fiestas”, parades of floats, fireworks music and dancing.

Original story with more images from here. En honor a este día glorioso, obtener su rábanos, tallar ellos y enviar fotos para El Hilo Abierto de la Noche a la Mañana.

Former Spanish PM Aznar: The West must stand by Israel

by Phantom Ace ( 196 Comments › )
Filed under Europe, Islamic Invasion, Islamic Supremacism, Israel at June 17th, 2010 - 2:00 pm

History is full of ironies. Yesterday’s enemies are today’s friends. In Spanish politics, the Partido Popular is the direct descendant of Franco and the Falangists. It is well known that the Spanish Right had anti-Jewish attitudes. This stems from the perception that during the Islamic occupation of Spain, Jews supported the Arab occupiers and benefited at the expense of  the native population. This view is actually an exaggeration and a myth. None the less it was a perception that lead to the inquisition and expulsion of the Jews from Spain. A black mark on what was otherwise a great and glorious time for the Latin people. It was the Spanish Empire that stopped the Turks cold in the 1500’s and prevented their takeover of Europe.

The Right in Spain however has disavowed the old anti-Jewish view and during the Prime Minister-ship of Jose Maria Aznar they apologized for the inquisition and expulsion. Spain at that time supported Israel as Aznar knew that Islam was the enemy of both Jews and Spanish.  Aznar’s goal was to make Spain a world power again and part of an anti-Islamic coalition, which has been the nation’s traditional role. After the 2004 Madrid bombing the Partido Popular was voted out and the Partido Obrero Socialista Espanol (Progressives) came to power. Under PM Zapatero Spain has become a Dhimmi state and subservient to the fascist European Union. Now with unemployment at 20%, the Spaniards have had enough and the PP is set to return to power. Once this occurs Israel and the Jewish people will have another ally in their camp.

Jose Maria Aznar writes an awesome piece explaining why the West must support Israel.

For far too long now it has been unfashionable in Europe to speak up for Israel. In the wake of the recent incident on board a ship full of anti-Israeli activists in the Mediterranean, it is hard to think of a more unpopular cause to champion.

In an ideal world, the assault by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara would not have ended up with nine dead and a score wounded. In an ideal world, the soldiers would have been peacefully welcomed on to the ship. In an ideal world, no state, let alone a recent ally of Israel such as Turkey, would have sponsored and organised a flotilla whose sole purpose was to create an impossible situation for Israel: making it choose between giving up its security policy and the naval blockade, or risking the wrath of the world.

In our dealings with Israel, we must blow away the red mists of anger that too often cloud our judgment. A reasonable and balanced approach should encapsulate the following realities: first, the state of Israel was created by a decision of the UN. Its legitimacy, therefore, should not be in question. Israel is a nation with deeply rooted democratic institutions. It is a dynamic and open society that has repeatedly excelled in culture, science and technology.

Second, owing to its roots, history, and values, Israel is a fully fledged Western nation. Indeed, it is a normal Western nation, but one confronted by abnormal circumstances.

Read the rest: If Israel goes down, we all go down

Aznar gets the strategic thinking correctly. If Israel falls, Spain and Europe are next. Hamas, the Muslim Brother, Al-Qaeda and Hizballah all have stated that after Israel,  Spain is the next target. Aznar’s Pro-Israel attitude is not just confined to the Right in Spain, but all over the Latin world, It is the political Right that supports Israel. Examples of this are Colombia, Chile, Panama, Marco Rubio here in the US and yours truly! Us Rightwing Latins know our history and know it was Islam that came close to exterminating us. Our Roman ancestors discovered the one true God thanks to a group of Jews, the early Christians. Many Spanish are themselves of Jewish origin and some of the greatest figures in Spanish history had Jewish backgrounds. 

Unlike the Latin Leftists who are filled with hatred at Israel, us on the Right now the importance of that nation.  We are natural allies and Aznar understands this.

Addedum By Speranza: Jose Aznar gets it! 

Yes there are some signs of intelligent life in Spain. Former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar (a great friend of this country which means that Barack Obama would probably want nothing to do with him) recognizes that the attacks on Israel ultimately have the destruction of the West as their objective. So sad that a great man like Aznar was replaced by a leftwing milquetoast such as Zapatero!