Who was Johnny Gentle?

It´s another beautiful day here on the Costa Blanca. I look out of the window and see blue skies all the way down to the Mediterranean and realise just how lucky I am. There´s a bit of pollen about and it´s a slight problem but it won´t last. Let´s see if this glorious sunshine will stay with us.From the graphics we should have a few good days before a possibility of rain on Saturday.

Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
25° C | 16° C	26° C | 16° C	26° C | 16° C	29° C | 18° C	27° C | 14° C
Scattered Clouds	Scattered Clouds	Scattered Clouds	Chance of Rain 30% chance of precipitation	Partly Cloudy

The pound is worth 1 euro 13 and the euro is worth 87 pence today. The rates seem to have been a little steadier this week.

This is the time of the year when there´s always somebody I know trying to slim. Normally, I just let them get on with it as it´s a devil of a job to stick to a diet. The buzz word seems to be detox but there´s is a multitude of programmes to choose from. If you´re looking for a diet here´s one I haven´t come across before.

My own diet is a mixture of healthy eating, exercise and slip-ups!  I am quite disciplined but if there is enough temptation about I am likely to fall to a cream cake´s charms! Actually, one major weakness is jamon flavoured crisps. I find it impossible to control the urge to empty the packet.

Another item that always seems to be around me is the attempt to give up smoking. This insidious drug that gets its grip and won´t let go. If there is anyone still struggling to give up the weed is this any good?

I think the individual makes his/her own mind up when they want to give up smoking. However, if a little help is needed I´ve added in this programme.
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Here´s our Spanish word for the day……

El azar (ah-zar’) chance, fate; at random

• Escogé los números al azar. – I chose the numbers at random.
• Conocí a mi esposo por puro azar en Roma. – I met my husband by pure chance in Rome.

• los azares de la vida – life’s ups and downs

For more information and examples, visit the SpanishDict.com entry for El azar.

Today´s special birthdays include the following you might remember………

John Stuart Mill 1806 - Editor, philosopher

Jimmy Stewart 1908 – Actor

Joe Cocker 1944 – Singer, songwriter

Warren Cann 1952 – Musician (Ultravox)

Ronald Prescott Reagan 1958 – Dancer, talk show host, son of U.S. President Ronald Reagan

Nick Heyward 1961 – Musician (Haircut 100)

Also, we had the following major highlights on the is day in our history…………we´ll start in Spain

1506 – In Spain, Christopher Columbus died in poverty.

1520 – Hernando Cortez defeated Spanish troops that had been sent to punish him in Mexico.

1774 – Britain’s Parliament passed the Coercive Acts to punish the American colonists for their increasingly anti-British behavior …..In should think so too!

1830 – The fountain pen was patented by H.D. Hyde…..A brilliant invention and I bet we all didn´t know his name…

1874 – Levi Strauss began marketing blue jeans with copper rivets. ….I prefer zips!

1902 – Cuba gained its independence from Spain.

1927 – Charles Lindbergh took off from New York to cross the Atlantic for Paris aboard his airplane the “Spirit of St. Louis.” The trip took 33 1/2 hours.

1932 – Amelia Earhart took off to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She became the first woman to achieve the feat. ….what a fantastic feat this was!

In the world of music we remember old blue eyes today for in 1998, The funeral of Frank Sinatra was held at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills. Mourners in attendance included, Tony Bennett, Faye Dunaway, Tony Curtis, Liza Minnelli, Kirk Douglas, Angie Dickinson, Sophia Loren, Bob Newhart, Mia Farrow and Jack Nicholson.

There´s a bit of Beatles trivia to recall for in 1960, The Silver Beetles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe, and Tommy Moore) played the first night of a short tour of Scotland backing singer Johnny Gentle, at Alloa Town Hall in Clackmannanshire. Three of the Silver Beetles adopted stage names: Paul McCartney became Paul Ramon, George Harrison was Carl Harrison, and Stuart Sutcliffe became Stuart de Stael.

Let´s get the Spanish news next and please remember to visit the links to the original stories. I only add my comments.

Spain GDP falls by 3 percent in the first quarter
The real numbers are worse than the advance figures from the National Statistics Institute…The GDP in Spain for the first quarter of the year show a fell 3% over the year and by 1.9% over the quarter.  The numbers are a point worse than the advanced figure released earlier by the National Statistics Institute and are the worst seen in Spain since 1970.

Spanish Press Review
Spain Press Review – Wednesday May 20 2009
A whole range of massive stories makes the choice of front page lead difficult for editors in Spain today…….The other main story is the sentencing of General Navarro in the Yak 42 case. El Mundo says he has been found guilty for ‘falsifying’ the identities of the Spanish soldiers who died in the military plane crash, and will spend three years in jail if the Supreme Court confirms the sentence.  PP Defence Minister at the time, Federico Trillo, has said he respects the sentence, but El Mundo notes that he is not in agreement with it as he said the military doctors acted in ‘good faith’.  ABC says the families think the sentence will not allow the matter to be closed.

Costa Blanca
Possible Mad Cow death in Alcoy
The identity of the female victim has not been made public as yet…………Meanwhile the health department say that all correct protocols have been followed, and the infection from the consumption of meat is extremely rare, and until now no cases have been seen in the Valencia region.

Costa de la Luz
54 immigrants rescued off Tarifa
The boat was adrift and found after one on board called the emergency services

Spain Culture News
Pedro Almodóvar announces new film on the Spanish Civil War
He made the revelation during the presentation of ‘Broken Hugs’ at the Cannes Film Festival

Spain Culture News
Beyonce wows Spain
The singer performed in Madrid on Tuesday and moves on to Barcelona Wednesday

National
17 alleged Islamic extremists arrested in Bilbao
The group are alleged to have funded an Al Qaeda group in Algeria………………..All those arrested are accused of belonging to an organised criminal gang which sent part of its takings to the Islamic Magreb Al Qaeda group. Money raised in Spain from burglaries, drug trafficking, credit card falsification and even begging was allegedly sent on to Algeria……………………….Bang them up for a long time.….

National
Socialists see some anti-recession measures diluted in Congress
45 resolutions from the State of the Nation Debate were passed in parliament on Tuesday……ongress has passed 45 Socialist resolutions which arose in the State of the Nation Debate last week, but the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, has seen several of his promises for action against the recession watered down as the price for gaining approval from the minority groupings.  The main area where the Government has given ground is in the end of mortgage tax relief planned for 2011 for those who earn more than 24,000 €. That cash limit has been removed and the matter will now have to be included in a future bill. Similarly the help for new car purchasers remains to be confirmed as does the plan to give all school children their own personal computer from the 5th primary level.

Canarias
PP President spent more than 300,000 reforming his residence
Paulino Rivero ran up a hotel bill of more than 11,500 € while the work was carried out….The President of the Canary Island regional government, Paulino Rivero, from the Canary Coalition party, spent more than 300,000 € on works to modernise his official residence in Las Palmas, while at the same time he claimed an 11,548 € hotel bill for where he stayed while the work was carried out…….sounds like he went on a course at Westminster!

National
Spanish PM defends right of young teenagers to choose to abort
16 year olds will not need parental consent to end a pregnancy under the proposed reforms to the abortion law……What has caused the most controversy in the proposed new legislation is the right to unconditional abortion up to 14 weeks at the age of 16, without any parental consent being necessary. The Prime Minister noted that experts in the field and most European countries fix the lower age at 16, but added that he believed it would be an exception if any young teenager chose not to tell her parents about her situation.

National
13 million Euro claim against Spaniard who designed file sharing programs
Pablo Soto is being sued by record companies for unfair competition…….The case by the Promusicae Spanish music producers association and major international companies in the music industry accuses the 30 year old of unfair competition and profiting from the work of others. They are claiming 13 million € for losses of earnings incurred from sharing of content which is protected by authors’ rights. Current legislation in Spain states there to be no crime in downloading music if there is no profit involved in doing so: Soto’s lawyers argue, as Público reports, that ‘the use made of a program does not depend on who created it, but on who uses it and for what’.

Costa Blanca
Gürtel case in Valencia: Ricardo Costa says there is no foundation to the allegations against him
The Partido Popular’s General Secretary in Valencia has declared in court in the corruption investigation

Costa Cálida
Two immigrant boats intercepted in Cartagena
Andalucía saw more arrivals in Almería and Cádiz

Costa del Sol
Estepona corruption case to get a novice judge
The job is to be offered to Magistrate School graduates after the only applicant was seen to be more needed in her current position

That´s about it for today. I´ll get the podcast out around 3 pm. I have yet another meeting to attend tonight. If you think it´s been a long time coming then there´s a group of us who thinkn the same! Keep the faith!