Thanks for the concerned mails. The cooperative gave us the day off, so I’m able to report that, far from being drunk or dead, I am in fact drownded, and that neither in the Jesus Sea, nor in the Odys-sea, but in the rippling Manchegan earthsea, where gypsies wear latex and smell of Eau de…
I’m beginning to suspect that some people come out walking principally for the bizarre drinking opportunities encountered on the way. This morning we were having coffee, shots and doughnuts in an Andalusian bar in Nou Barris (one of the many variations on the Collserola ridge route) when a ridiculously sleek blue car with XXL wheels…
It may come as something of a surprise to Europeans that Geoff Pullum and Prentiss Riddle expect a bus company to provide clearly articulated, comprehensive information.
Tired of my never-ending get-poor-slow schemes, I went gold-panning in the national park today with Lluís, who is 74 but doesn’t look a day over 90. Scrupulously avoiding bars and the agents rurals in them on the way up (mining is illegal in national parks unless you build a really big one), we found a…
Jia Qinglin is probably only alive and flourishing today because his best friend is called Jiang Zemin. In the mid-90s his wife was implicated in a massive corruption scandal in Fujian province, but neither she nor he suffered the normal consequence of such behaviour: execution. Instead Mr Jia was promoted to become party boss in…
With the famous three monkeys in charge of the local press, it is often easier to follow historical fraud cases than their modern counterparts. There’s an ultra-cool conference coming up called Justice and Money in History (ie French history) at the University of Bourgogne/Burgundy, which will cover subjects of local interest such as the C17th…
The Catalan regional government just opened up a teeny, weeny bit and published a page with gross salaries for members of the executive and senior civil servants. Here’s how the former compare (today’s rates) with their Scottish equivalents: catalonia scotland president/first minister €147,958.56 €182,336.27 conseller/minister €111,526.42 €130,421.74 I reckon that if you factor in the…
Here‘s something even idiots like me can understand: Branko Milanovic, World Bank economist and Carnegie bobo, explaining with reference to football why unfettered global markets will inevitably increase quality and increase and entrench inequality. The solution: regulation, with the UN as FIFA writ large. Hmm… Thank you, Geoffrey!
Doesn’t look like George Soros is too worried about the new green/red-tinged regional government: US billionaire investor George Soros plans to invest 110 million euros (133.2 million dollars) in Spanish tourism property, according to [Expansión]. Soros will invest an additional 110 million euros through his holding MedGroup, in which he owns 90% of the capital…
Shop deliveries free on foot in Leeds LS1-8 & LS13. Dismiss