Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile.

- Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, British Philosopher/Mathematician/Essayist

We have another glorious day here on the Costa Blanca. I went to another planning meeting of our new radio situation and we are moving in a very positive direction. Fab FM will soon be heard over the airwaves. I will give the frequency once it has been secured. We have some serious planning ahead of us. The weather is glorious. How long will it last?

Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
24° C | 15° C	25° C | 14° C	23° C | 14° C	23° C | 13° C	24° C | 14° C
Clear	Clear	Clear	Clear	Clear

We can´t grumble at this….wall to wall sunshine. The pound sterling changes at 1 euro 13 and the euro is worth 88 pence.Some things circulating on the internet have genuine origins. The following has been sent to me as genuinely coming from the Inland Revenue. Personally, I see someone having a laugh….see what you think…….

This is a real reply from the Inland revenue.The Guardian newspaper had to ask for special permission to print it

Dear Mr Addison,

I am writing to you to express our thanks for your more than prompt  reply to our latest communication, and also to answer some of the points you raise. I will address them, as ever, in order.

Firstly, I must take issue with your description of our last as a “beggingletter”. It might perhaps more properly be referred to as a “tax demand”. This is how we at the Inland Revenue have always, for reasons of accuracy, traditionally referred to such documents. Secondly, your frustration at our adding to the “endless stream of crapulent whining and panhandling vomited daily through the letterbox on to the doormat” has been noted. However, whilst I have naturally not seen the other letters to which you refer I would cautiously suggest that their being from “pauper councils, Lombardy pirate banking houses and pissant gas-mongerers” might indicate that your decision to “file them next to the toilet in case of emergencies” is at best a little ill-advised. In common with my own organisation, it is unlikely that the senders of these letters do see you as a “lackwit bumpkin”  or, come to that, a “sodding charity”. More likely they see you as a citizen of Great Britain, with a responsibility to contribute to the upkeep of the
nation as a whole.

Which brings me to my next point. Whilst there may be some spirit of truth in your assertion that the taxes you pay “go to shore up the canker-blighted, toppling folly that is the Public Services”, a moment’s
rudimentary calculation ought to disabuse you of the notion that the  government in any way expects you to “stump up for the whole damned  party” yourself. The estimates you provide for the Chancellor’s disbursement of the funds levied by taxation, whilst colourful, are, in fairness, a little off the mark. Less than you seem to imagine is spent on “junkets for Bunterish lickspittles” and “dancing whores” whilst far more than you  have accounted for is allocated to, for example, “that box-ticking façade of a university
system.”

A couple of technical points arising from direct queries

1. The reason we don’t simply write “Muggins” on the envelope has to do
with the vagaries of the postal system;

2. You can rest assured that “sucking the very marrow of those with nothing
else to give” has never been considered as a practice because even if the
Personal allowance didn’t render it irrelevant, the sheer medical logistics
involved would make it financially unviable.

I trust this has helped. In the meantime, whilst I would not in any way wish
to influence your decision one way or the other, I ought to point out that
even if you did choose to “give the whole foul jamboree up and go and live
in India” you would still owe us the money.

Please send it to us by Friday.

Yours sincerely, H J Lee  Customer Relations

With best wishes,

Jill

Room 10 411

Contra

(cohn’-tra) (preposition) – against, opposed to, opposite to, contrary to

• Está en contra del plan. – He is opposed to the plan.
• Lo puse contra la pared. – I put it against the wall.

• Los pros y los contras – The pros and cons

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

Let´s go to the Spanish news for today. Please visit the links. I only add my comments.
Spain Press Review – Tuesday May 26 2009
The papers cover the European election campaigning along established party lines today and give a lot of space to North Korea…….Público says that Jaime Mayor Oreja attacked the Government on unemployment, while the Socialist candidate Juan Fernando López Aguilar challenged him to come up with some solutions.
El País has a photo of the two candidates in the studio and says that the first debate saw the recession and national policies being debated. The paper says Europe was eclipsed and notes that the PSOE Socialist party has now included the Gürtel corruption linked to the PP into the election campaign. El Mundo notes that Zapatero went to a rally in Sevilla using a military Falcon and ABC headlines with that story.
ABC says that the Government has tried to justify to use of a military plane as we went to Sevilla as Prime Minister not as a candidate. The paper says during the act he announced a new economic model for Spain.

Spain Culture News
Queen Sofia opens new Sorolla exhibition at the Prado
The Valencia region is proud of its famous painter…………………Queen Sofía has opened a new exhibition of the work of Joaquín Sorolla at the Prado Museum in Madrid and described the collection as ‘brilliant’.

Massive hailstorm destroys fruit crop in Spain
The province of Navarra saw hail the size of golf balls on Monday……….Hail the size of golf balls fell in the Spanish province of Navarra on Monday, causing widespread damage to car and house windows.

Costa del Sol
Prison for Málaga shipwreck survivors
Three Spaniards were rescued but the body of a fourth was found nearby……A judge has ordered that three Spaniards who were rescued by the Guardia Civil on Friday when their boat sunk off La Araña beach in Málaga, be held in prison. In a strange move the judge considers the three to be responsible for the death of a fourth person.

Costa del Sol
Costa del Sol workers see no pay rise this year
Unions say that demonstrations have not been ruled out, claiming employers have failed to give wage increases…….65,000 workers in the tourist industry on the Costa del Sol have not seen any wage increase this year, and workers in shops and construction are in a similar situation. 200,000 workers in total.

Costa Cálida
Murcia undecided on Government’s new car sale plan
Madrid and La Rioja say they will not take part in the scheme

Spain Sports News
Rafa Nadal through the first round at Roland Garros
His 29th consecutive win at the venue beats the previous record of 28 set by Bjorn Borg…….this guy is very special. Come on Rafa!

Spain Sports News
Henry and Iniesta will play for Barcelona
Both players trained with the squad in Barcelona yesterday and travel to Rome today…..bad news for United! Come on Thierry……sorry Dave W in Mirador de Benidorm (Rabid Man United Fan last seen at a bar in La Nucia frothing at the mouth!)

National
Live TV debate between the candidates in the European Elections in Spain
The programme concentrated far more on domestic rather than European policy……Campaigning continued yesterday in the European elections with the two heads of the candidate lists meeting in a live debate on television. However there was very little about Europe in the debate between the Socialist, Juan Fernando López Aguilar and PP candidate Jaime Mayor Oreja.

Mayor Oreja centred his attack on unemployment and the economic crisis, also attacking language policy and abortion, while López Aguilar described the PP as being on the right wing of the European right wing, and called for a change in Europe as has been seen in the United States with Barack Obama. Mayor Oreja claimed it was the Socialists’ fault that Spain was on the periphery of Europe…………..Nothing too surprising here!

National
Corruption allegations against Manuel Chaves
El Mundo claims that he gave a grant to a company where his daughter was the legal representative……Spain has woken up to new corruption allegations today, with El Mundo claiming that the ex President of the Junta de Andalucía, Manuel Chaves, gave a grant of ten million € to a company, the legal representative of which had been named two months previously as his daughter Paula Chaves Iborra………maybe her company was the best option?

National
León soldiers in quarantine over Swine Flu virus
All amongst the group of 91 visited the Madrid military academy which was the scene of an outbreak last week………………Two soldiers who visited the military academy in Hoyo de Manzanares, Madrid, last week are under observation after showing possible symptoms of infection with the A(H1N1) virus. They are amongst a group of 91 from El Ferral military base in León who were at the Madrid academy last week, and who have now been ordered into quarantine by the Defence Ministry.

Costa del Sol
Two passengers injured as brakes fail on Vélez tram
The tram ploughed into three parked cars and a lorry before it came to a halt………………….Two passengers received hospital treatment on Monday when a failure in the braking system caused the Vélez Málaga tram to run on past the last stop on the line, ploughing into three parked vehicles. The accident happened at 9am at the Jurado Lorca park, when the tram continued past the end of the line onto the second phase of the transport system, which is not yet in service and is currently used for parking.

Costa Blanca
Pensioner dies while swimming off a Costa Blanca beach
The 75 year old who died off the coast of Teulada-Moraira is reported to be foreign…..A 75 year old man died this Monday while swimming off the coast of Teulada-Moraira. The victim’s name has not been released, but he is understood to be foreign, although his nationality has not been given in reports.

Spain Business
The price of a room with a view in the Albayzín
A square metre in the Albayzín is 1,000 Euro more than the city’s average…….Despite falling prices, the Albayzín is still one of the most expensive places to buy property in Granada, and is second only to the city centre. The purchaser can expect to pay more than 1,000 € over the city’s average for a square metre, for an area which is noted for having few amenities

Costa Cálida
Five arrests in Lorca municipal cleaning company investigation
The ex Town Hall auditor is reported as one of those in custody………………….There have been five arrests in connection with a corruption investigation into the municipal cleaning company in Lorca, Limusa, by order of Instruction Court No. 4 in the town. One is the former PSOE councillor responsible for cleaning, Miguel Miras, and another suspect also connected to the Town Hall is named as Francisco Poyatos, the auditor at the Town Hall in Cartagena. He held the same position in Lorca up until two years ago.

Let´s now look at today´s birthday File

Al Jolson 1886
John Wayne 1907
Robert Morley 1908
Peter Cushing 1913
Jay Silverheels 1919
Peggy Lee 1920

Ray Ennis (The Swinging Blue Jeans) 1942

Stevie Nicks 1948

Hank Williams, Jr. 1949
Lenny Kravitz 1964

……and a little bit of trivia from the world of pop.………..
1978, on Irish television today; at 4.00 ‘Top Cat’, 4.30 ‘Skippy’ and at 5.30 a program called ‘Youngline’ a series for young people highlighting their interests. On todays show a feature on a new pop group, The Hype (U2).

1977, Billy Powell singer with The O’Jays died of cancer. (1972, hit ‘Back Stabbers’, 1973 US No.1 & UK No.9 single ‘Love Train’). Originally known as The Triumphs, and then The Mascots, they took the name “The O’Jays”, in tribute to radio disc jockey Eddie O’Jay.

This Day in History..……

1521 – Martin Luther was banned by the Edict of Worms because of his religious beliefs and writings.

1660 – King Charles II of England landed at Dover after being exiled for nine years.

1670 – A treaty was signed in secret in Dover, England, between Charles II and Louis XIV ending the hostilities between them.

1691 – Jacob Leiser, leader of the popular uprising in support of William and Mary’s accession to the English throne, was executed for treason.

1736 – The British and Chickasaw Indians defeated the French at the Battle of Ackia.

1805 – Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned King of Italy in Milan Cathedral.

1896 – The last czar of Russia, Nicholas II, was crowned.

1908 – In Persia, the first oil strike was made in the Middle East.

1940 – The evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, began during World War II.

1946 – A patent was filed in the United States for an H-bomb.

1946 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill signed a military pact with Russian leader Joseph Stalin. Stalin promised a “close collaboration after the war.”

1959 – The word “Frisbee” became a registered trademark of Wham-O.

1969 – The Apollo 10 astronauts returned to Earth after a successful eight-day dress rehearsal for the first manned moon landing.

1972 – The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) was signed by the U.S. and USSR. The short-term agreement put a freeze on the testing and deployment of intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles for a 5-year period.

1975 – American stuntman Evel Knievel suffered severe spinal injuries in Britain when he crashed while attempting to jump 13 buses in his car.

1991 – A Lauda Air Boeing 767 crashed in Thailand, killing all 223 people aboard.

1994 – U.S. President Clinton renewed trade privileges for China, and announced that his administration would no longer link China’s trade status with its human rights record.

1998 – The Grand Princess cruise ship made its inaugural cruise. The ship measured 109,000 tons and cost approximately $450 million, making it the largest and most expensive cruise ship ever built.