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

Ex PSOE president is accused of influence pedalling and, I think, taking bribes. He says the millions he got were genuine consultancy fees, a la Tony Blair, I guess. Though while still in office. Which relevant.

The son of a Spanish billionaire has been arrested and accused of killing his father – the founder of Mango – by pushing him off a hillside.

A major cultural change is taking place in Spain, they say. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday folk are doing their nighttime entertaining earlier than before, and preferring spirits to wines and beers. Whether this means they’re eating dinner for 10 or even 11 – and getting to bed earlier – I don’t yet know.

BTW . . . As was proven by a chat in my Pilates class today, the Spanish have no concept of ‘evening’. Or ‘midday’ for that matter. La tarde is suddenly succeeded by la noche.

I didn’t get the escritura today, either from the notary nor my lawyer. One needs patience in Spain.

The UK

Nice to see Arteta achieve the Premiership championship with Arsenal. He was a much loved player at my team – Everton – before he moved to Arsenal and later became the team manger.

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. There’s still widespread expectation of another round of ‘kinetic’ warfare.

The United States of Trump America

Trump’s once ‘modest (200m dollars) ballroom is now to house ‘The greatest drone empire you’ve ever seen’.

Trump srews Texas for the Republicans, putting a huge sum of money behind a vile copy of himself for the primaries.

The secret of Trump’s new best friend. Podcast or Video

Trump declares war on his own party and why his war is an economic disaster. Podcast or Video

One of the consequences of Trump being in power for more than 5 years is that the lid has been blown off US politics, fully revealing just how much they are dictated by money and how corrupt US politicians can be. Which elements go togehter, of ccourse.

I’m working on a summary of what Trump is good at and what’s he’s bad at – often a mirror image, of course. See Below for the first draft. Suggestions welcome.

Spanish

• Aciertar: To be right
• Vanagloriarse: To boast, brag, gloat, etc.
• Colegio mayor: Residence. Dorm. Boarding school(?

Did you know about . . . . ?

The student who fought a sleepwalking duel, in 1816 . . .

You Have to Laugh

Another uncomfortable Finn . . .

Finally . . .

TRUMP – First draft

What Trump is good at	What Trump is bad at
Lying	Telling the truth
Being corrupt	Being a politician
Making billions corruptly	Being a president
Blaming others for his mistakes	Dealing with dictators
Cheating those who work for him	Admitting mistakes
Defrauding his supporters	Taking responsibilty
Not answering questions	Apologising
Insider dealing	Showing sympathy
Golfing frequently	Showing empathy
Employing inadequate people	Restraining his anger
Insulting those who ask questions	Negotiating – bullhorn, threats and lawsuits
Being a reality TV star	Paying people who work for him
Faking Christian values	Running businesses, even casinos
Living in a fantasy world	Understanding non-MAGA voters
Adultery	Delivering on his campaign promises
Feeding his MAGA base	Being a faithful husband
Rash decision-making	Getting out of problems he’s created
Inconsistency	Appointing competent people
TACO-ing	Employing talented people
Controlling the narrative	Understanding the purpose of NATO
Insane posting	Cooperating with US allies
Making billionaires even richer	Compromising
	Dealmaking
	Recognising reality
	Being fatithul to those faithful to him
	Sleeping adequately

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 you.