I received an e-mailed spreadsheet of all the British MPs expenses. It does make interesting reading! The public look to their leaders to set the example we should follow.

Certain aspects of these fiddles are blatant fiddles and others less than subtle. Nobody in their right mind will view a house for ducks on a pond as a legitimate claim-even if it’s their second home! The expensive book cases are almost a distant memory now and the smell of horse manure will have receded. These MPs in the UK still think they have done no wrong in fiddling their expenses. They are blaming the House of Commons rules office and the party leaders reckon they are acting tough. I’m sorry, but these are all consenting adults who knew what they were doing was fiddling. …..make that stealing. Had we been found guilty in our jobs of the same misdemeanours we would have faced instant dismissal. Personally, I think they should both pay the money back and be prosecuted. When you realise that we have a publicity campaign in Spain on behalf of those trying to catch UK tax dodgers living here it might pay to remember that charity begins at home.

You do hear some funny things in Spain. I was told that after the final of the Copa de Reyes, despite being defeated by Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao toured the city in a bus. Apparently it was not open top and it had tinted windows. Nobody seemed to complain!  Here’s the word for today……

Gratis

(grah’-tees) (adverb) – free (no payment necessary)

• Entramos gratis al mueso. – We got into the museum for free.
• No pague nada. Es gratis. – Don’t pay anything. It’s free.

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

We have whispers of a change in the weather…can this be true?

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
23° C | 14° C	23° C | 14° C	24° C | 14° C	25° C | 16° C	27° C | 17° C

Saturday is given as a 50% chance of rain so be aware….have your Packamac at the ready!  The pouind has steadied at 1 euro 14 and the euro changes today at 87 pence.

Spanish news today includes President Zapatero´s use of a jet, successes in tennis at Roland Garros, Barcelona´s ongoing celebrations and a lynching in Malaga. Here´s the link for you to get all the Spanish news.

Here is something which will blow your mind. My friend Rockin Dave has suggested we take this amazing eye test http://www.midnightrock.eu/pages/eye_test.html

Today’s Birthdays

Charles II (England) 1630
Bob Hope 1903
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (U.S.) 1917
Noel Gallagher (Oasis) 1967
Melanie Janine Brown (Spice Girls) 1975
Sebastien Grosjean 1978

On this day

1660 – Charles II was restored to the English throne after the Puritan Commonwealth.

1911 – The first running of the Indianapolis 500 took place.

1922 – Ecuador became independent.

1953 – Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became first men to reach the top of Mount Everest.

1985 – 39 people were killed and 400 were injured in a riot at a European Cup soccer match in Brussels, Belgium.

1988 – U.S. President Reagan began his first visit to the Soviet Union in Moscow.

1990 – Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian republic by the Russian parliament.

1999 – Space shuttle Discovery completed the first docking with the International Space Station.

and finally, a ittle pop trivia that happened on this day in 1942. Bing Crosby recorded the Irving Berlin song ‘White Christmas’. It went on to become the biggest-selling single of all time with sales of over 30 million. (It was overtaken by the 1997 Elton John version of ‘Candle In The Wind’).

Podcast on the way