Awake, for morning in the bowl of night has flung the stone that
puts the stars to flight.

And, lo, the hunter of the east has caught the
sultan’s turret in a noose of light.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable – Christopher Howse: ‘A Pilgrim in Spain’.

Cosas de España/Galiza

Spaniards have a way with ‘inconvenient’ rules but Spain’s alleged misuse of EU cash is said to be fuelling north–south tensions ahead of tough budget talks. I suspect Spain will eventually ‘apologise’ for an ‘administrative error’ and get a slap on the wrist. Or just tough it out, as it did with its illegal 2012 law on overseas assets until, after 10 years, it was forced to repay the fines imposed under it. In theory, anyway. Some of us decided not to apply for these in view of the reputation of the Hacienda for using any excuse to make taxpayers lives a misery.

The housing market in the major cities might be cooling.

And I thought the level of our local activity was high . . . .The Strait of Gibraltar is teeming with narco activity – with possibly 600 narco speedboats operating there.

I can’t say I noticed this (colonoscopied/sodomised) gargoyle during my recent visit to the Praza do Obradoiro in Santiago de Compostela. It’s caused quite a fuss here in Galicia. But, then, who would disagree with this sentiment: “When you touch a gargoyle, you’re not just touching a drain — you’re touching a piece of heritage that belongs to all of us.”

Two enterprising (disgruntled?) ex-employees of Pv city’s finest restaurant were dumb enough to leave behind sseveral clues to their identity, after nicking €9,000 in cash and several bottles of expensive wines.

Today was a big day for me. . . From my salón, I saw a car on the A57 in the hills north of Pv city. This expensive – but, to my mind, pointless – new bypass currently runs c.10km from near Vilaboa to the outskirts of Pv city but might never go any further towards its planned destination of A Estrada. Probably made a lot of money for some lucky folk.

P. S. TBH: That’s a lie. In the 4 hours I sat in my armchair today – reading and writing – I didn’t see a single vehicle on that autovia. Mind you, it is Sunday . . .

I’ve seen a lot of different Caminoers – more anon on this subject – but never before one carrying a dog on the back of his rucksack. Not to mention a year’s supply of dog food.

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. There’s growing speculation that a desperate Trump will re-start the war, regardless of the consequences.

The United States of Trump America

Corruption: Even Wall Street traders were shocked to learn that Trump conducted nearly 4,000 stock trades in a wild display of greed and corruption! Fresh financial disclosures reveal that Trump went on a massive stock-buying spree during the first 3 months of 2026, racking up thousands of transactions worth between $220 million and $750 million. Among the companies he bought heavily into are a Who’s Who of giant companies including Meta, Boeing, Nvidia, Apple, Adobe, Proctor & Gamble, and Oracle, all of which are subject to heavy regulation and decisions by his own administration. Particularly damning is the fact that Trump purchased millions of dollars worth of Oracle stock right around the time his administration was helping the company secure a major deal to keep TikTok operating in the United States.

The shrink, John Garnter, labels Trump ‘Hitler, lacking a frontal lobe but with nuclear weapons’. Worryingly, he estimates the chances of Trump doing so at 90%. And feels he’ll be at his most dangerous after he loses his (so far) unrestrained power after the mid-term elections in November. All his previous predictions, over 8 years, have proven correct.

Why Trump can’t spin this [China] failure. Podcast or Video

See below under The Usual Links for commentators I follow via podcasts or YouTube videos

The Way of the World/Social Media

Quote: All European states have been destabilised by the poison of social media and US digital nihilism. [And, probably, many more outside Europe]. I asked an AI engine for all the English terms for negative content [‘swill’] on the net and got these compact, focused glossaries for 3 categories:-

1. Political hate speech

• Hate speech/hate content – speech that attacks or uses pejorative language toward groups based on race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or other identity factors.

• Incitement/incitement to hatred 

• Ethnic or racial slur 

• Xenophobic/racist/homophobic/misogynistic rhetoric

• Dehumanising language – words that treat people as less than human

• Online harassment/targeted abuse 

2. Misinformation

• Misinformation – false or inaccurate information shared without intent to deceive (e.g., wrong stats, mislabeled videos).

• Disinformation – deliberately fabricated or manipulated content intended to mislead or harm.

• Malinformation – true information taken out of context or shared to harm (e.g., private data, doxxing‑like posts).

• Fake news – misleading or false stories presented as real news.

• Conspiracy theory – unfounded narrative explaining events as plots by powerful groups.

• Hoax – an outright fiction passed off as true.

• Clickbait/outrage bait – headlines or posts designed to provoke anger or fear

• Propaganda – one‑sided, emotionally charged information promoting a political agenda.

3. Self‑harm/suicide

• Self‑harm or suicide content – sometimes with glamorising/graphic images or videos 

• Triggers/triggering content 

Spanish

• Diligencias: Court case, prosecution (from the police).
• Ingle: Groin.
• Pícaro: Quizzical, cheeky, naughty, mischievous

You Have to Laugh

The funniest thing on TV this week? Each telling the jokes of the other without having seen them in advance.

Finally . . . Did you know?

These are the reasons suggested by an AI engine for why Israeli violence gets more media attention than violence – some of it even worse – elsewhere:- Many commentators, journalists, and media analysts have addressed this question, usually under labels like selective compassion, double standards, framing bias, or dehumanization. A common argument is that Gaza/Israel is unusually visible because of Western geopolitical involvement, while suffering in places like Sudan, Ethiopia, Haiti, or Myanmar is less “newsworthy” to Western outlets and audiences.

Common explanations

• Geopolitics and Western responsibility. The conflict is tied directly to U.S. and European foreign policy, arms, diplomacy, and alliances, so it draws more sustained scrutiny than many African conflicts.

• Media framing and language. Critics argue Western coverage often centers Israeli perspectives, treats Israeli violence as “self-defence,” and gives less context about Palestinian conditions and history.

• Audience identification and “selective compassion.” Writers like Gideon Rachman have argued that wars become more salient when audiences can personalize victims and identify with them, which helps explain why Gaza and Ukraine get more attention than long-running crises in Africa.

• Practical news economics. Reporting from Sudan, Ethiopia, or similar crises is often more expensive and dangerous, so coverage is thinner even when the human toll is enormous.

• Racialized and colonial assumptions. Some analysts say Western media and publics are more likely to empathize with conflicts involving people perceived as closer to them, while undercounting African suffering through habits shaped by colonialism and Islamophobia.

So, the short – and the most common – answer is not that Israel-Palestine is objectively the only or worst violence, but that it sits at the intersection of Western interests, identity politics, media routines, and unequal empathy.

I was surprised that antisemitism didn’t get a citation as a possible factor. So, I asked about this and got this response. Which is not quite what I was asking about:–

The antisemitism angle is central to how this conflict is perceived and policed in Western public discourse. Simply put, people do get more scrutinized if their criticism of Israel is expressed in ways that echo classic antisemitic tropes, or if they are in a visible movement that is already under suspicion for antisemitism.

How antisemitism surfaces in this debate

• Distinction between criticism and antisemitism. Experts stress that sharp criticism of Israel as a state, its policies, or its army is not inherently antisemitic; antisemitism shows up when you blame or demonize Jews as a people, invoke myths about “Jewish power,” or imply that Jewish life should not exist in a given territory.

• Surge in antisemitic incidents. Studies and reports show that each major escalation in Israel–Palestine is followed by spikes in antisemitic harassment, vandalism of synagogues, and hate speech, especially in Western Europe and North America.

• Politicized use of the label. Some researchers argue that “antisemitism” is sometimes used deliberately to discredit pro‑Palestinian activism, by conflating anti‑Zionism or criticism of Israeli military actions with hatred of Jews, which can also feed Islamophobic narratives.

In short, the antisemitism dimension both reflects a real and serious problem (antisemitic acts rise with every escalation) and becomes a political tool that can shape what gets criticized, how loudly, and who is deemed “respectable” in the debate.

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts.

The Usual Links . . .

The US commentators I follow, all on Podbean
and/or YouTube for free:-

• The Daily Beast Podcast/Video

• Inside Trump’s Head Podcast/Video

• The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent Podcast

• The Rest is Politics US Podcast/Video

• The DSR Network Podcast

• The Politics Girl Video. Amusing

• The Daily Show Video. Very amusing

You can get my posts by email as soon as they’re published. With the added bonus that they’ll contain
the typos I’ll discover later. I believe there’s a box for this at the bottom of each post. If you do this but don’t read the posts, I will delete your subscription. So perhaps don’t bother if you have other reasons for subscribing . . .

I can also be read on X at Thoughts from Galicia. I no longer post on Facebook.

For new readers: If you’ve landed here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try here.
If you’re passing through Pontevedra on the Camino, you’ll find a guide to the city there.

If you´re thinking of moving to Spain, this link should be useful to