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

Ceuta

• Spain’s intelligence agencies have been put on high alert after a coordinated Moroccan social media campaign called for a mass march to ‘liberate’ Ceuta.
• Says, Lenox Napier here: Spain is stuck with two difficult stepchildren that are both a huge financial and political burden. [Not unlike the UK with Gibraltar, then.]
• I’m not sure Morocco taking possession of the 2 enclaves wouldn’t have any significant consequences for the rest of the world Right now, you can’t enter or exit the Med without passing through Spanish territorial waters. I’ve read that these would be lost if Morocco owned Ceuta and Melilla.

Backing for Spain’s right has broken through the 50% mark for the first time in the current parliament as resentment

Four times a day I pass a site belonging to the Xunta, used to keep cars impounded from criminals. Especially drug dealers. The number of vehicles there has increased very significantly recently. Perhaps this only means there haven’t been, over the summer months, the auctions at which these are sold off. While arrests continued.

Germany

What to make of the AFD victory in Saxony-Anhalt?

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism.

The United States of Trump America

Walking into and out of town this morning, I got to wondering about how a list of Trump’s core beliefs would look. It ended up rather long. And, of course, it’s impossible to know which of these he actually believes and which he gives the impression of believing.

This is my list. It’s perfectly possible I’ve missed some things:-

About himself

• Stable
• A genius
• An expert on a wide range of subjects (construction, swimming pools, grass, nuclear arms, aircraft carrier design, etc.); knows more than anyone in the world
• Ordained by god
• Very religious, albeit ‘privately’
• The healthiest US president ever
• 6 foot 3 inches tall. (190.5cm)
• 260 pounds (118ko)
• The greatest ever president
• The most successful president ever
• The most popular president ever, at least with Republicans
• The most powerful man in the world*
• The greatest ever dealmaker
• A winner. Never loses
• Never wrong
• Loved by Europeans
• A great friend of Xi, Putin and Kim Jong Un.
• Admired by all of them.

About his personal philosophy

• Might is right
• Obeying the law is for weaklings
• Women should be submissive
• Mistakes should not be admitted
• Apologies should never be made
• The end justifies the means
• Lying is permissible. The bigger the lie the better
• Insulting people is a good policy
• Humiliating people is a good policy

About his achievements

• Made America great again
• Created the new Golden Age
• Stopped the rest of the world laughing at the USA
• Made it the hottest country in the world
• Delivered the best economy the USA has ever had
• Won a war against Iran
• Brought Russia and China back into the G20*

About other people

• All who disagree with him on anything are low IQ, nasty and ugly
• If you’re a celebrity, you can do what you like with women
• People who oppose date centres are idiots
• Democrats are communist lunatics
• Ditto anyone Left of him

About geopolitics

• It’s all about power
• The world should be divided into spheres of influence
• Strong, autocratic leaders are admirable – Xi, Putin and Kim Jong Un
• These should control discrete spheres of influence
• The US has a right to hegemony in the Western hemisphere
• The US has a right to interfere in any country in this hemisphere
• Canada should be part of the USA
• Venezuela should be part of the USA
• The USA should control Greenland
• The USA should control Cuba
• The USA has the best military in the world and should use it in the interests of the USA
• Some countries are shitholes, who don’t deserve US help in any way.
• Rich countries helping helping poor countries is stupid
• Global warming is a Chinese hoax, designed to weaken the USA
• Traditional US allies are a waste of time and ignorable/expendable. Except when needed
• NATO is useless and should be disbanded
• Ditto the UN
• Israel is to be supported always
• Spain is a terrible country.
• Spain is about to become Islamic.
• Ditto the UK
• Ditto Germany

About economics

• All countries with a positive trade balance with the USA are ripping it off
• Tariffs are wonderful
• Tariffs are paid by the companies exporting to the USA
• Tariffs aren’t taxes on US citizens
• Tariffs have increased foreign revenue to the US
• Inflation should be be low(nil?), whatever the prevailing economic circumstances
• A rising stock market means the economy is doing well and everyone is benefitting from it.
• AI is wonderful
• Cryptocurrency is wonderful

About government

• Democracy is a weak form of government 
• Autocracy isn’t bad.
• Oligarchy is good
• The DOJ should work for him personally, not the state
• The rich should be taxed lightly
• It’s fine to pardon convicted people who support him especially with money.
• In subordinates, loyalty is everything, Far more important than capability
• The Executive should be free to do what it wants
• The Supreme court should be biased in the president’s favour, via nominees
• The president should be immune from prosecution
• The president has a right to make billions while in office, by whatever means he/she can
• The voters don’t care how he/she does this
• All election he loses are rigged
• Any Republican who opposes him should be insulted and ejected from office via primaries

*Sadly, true.

A propos . . . Trump channels Snow White and Muhammad Ali in a series of manic Labor Day ‘Greatest’ posts

It’s quite hard to believe that US voters have not once but twice elected this appalling man into the most powerful office in the world. After all, he’s never hidden any of the above. Which doesn’t really make him a ‘unique politician’. Though he surely is. One hopes.

An interesting view on the folk who’ve thrice voted for Trump

As for the future under Trump – as we all are, not just US citizens . . . This is a disturbing video on Trump’s personality and psychopathy, featuring the eminent psychiatrist who was editor of the 2017 book The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump. Given that things have panned out exactly how it was predicted back then, and how much worse Trump is than he was 9 years ago – both physically and mentally – we need to take seriously what she predicts about his future actions and, above all, about his reactions to diminishing power.

Relevant Books

• To be published in October. Can be pre-ordered now: Wtf America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. On Amazon or here.
• The final pages of Kurt Andersen’s fascinating run through the USA’s history – Fantasyland: How America went haywire. A 500 year history.

Spanish

• Runrún: Murmur
• Actualidad: Current events
• Telón de fondo: Backdrop

English

Upspeaking: ‘A feature of some variants of English where declarative sentences can end with a rising pitch similar to that typically found in yes/no questions. It has been claimed to be especially common among younger speakers and women’.

Finally . . .

A sentiment seen today: A mountain of self-regard does not necessarily result in an equivalent tower of self-knowledge.

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

The Usual Links

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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. And this, on the annual costs of owning property here.