Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'
Covid
Sweden has avoided a lockdown so far: Has its strategy worked? Well . . Sweden may be faring comparably better in terms of excess deaths - the greater-than-usual number of deaths expected in a certain time period. Experts say excess deaths can indicate whether policies intended to combat the pandemic have unintended consequences, such as delaying treatment for other ailments. Click here for the answer to the question posed from ABC News. Or one answer, at least.
Cosas de España
Will Spain follow Germany and allow the Astra Zeneca jab for those over 65, and 55 here in Spain? I certainly hope so.
A HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for this item: We have a new media character - Isabel Medina Peralta, 'the Nazi'. She’s 18, beautiful, and poisonous. Says Vox Pópuli of her: This is Isabel Medina Peralta: the young fascist daughter of a former PP leader. The young Falangist has caused great controversy after her anti-Semitic speech in an act of tribute to the fallen of the Blue Division. Lenox also quotes El Español: Isabel Medina - the socialist Falangist: her father threw her out of home and her politics has cost her her job. The new face of Spanish Nazism was fired after her fascist and anti-Semitic views came to llght.
Cousas de Galiza
It was an unusual weekend - very warm and sunny on both days. Having left my back door open, I then had to c<atch and release 3 greenfinches which had flown from the nearby feeding station into my salón. I've heard they're not good to eat . . .
The Voz de Galicia this morning:- The weekend saw the first element of de-escalation, including in the hotel industry. After the excesses of Saturday, waiters yesterday warned customers of the rules before serving them: "Thank goodness the police came and evicted us[sic] from the terraces!" Possibly too late to avoid our 4th wave.
María's Tsunami Day 28.
Germany
Some strong stuff, which you might be able to read at length behind The Times' paywall here. . . . For us Germans, failure is especially bitter. It should have been the tale of the two German leaders who saved Europe. Last summer Angela Merkel and Ursula von der Leyen set off to liberate the continent from Covid-19, revive the eurozone economy, boost faith in the European Union that had been shaken by Brexit and, by doing so, secure their political legacy as outstanding European leaders. As it turned out, the only outstanding thing about their plan was its abject failure. The European Commission has failed to accomplish its most — indeed only — important task in the continent’s biggest crisis since the end of the war: to secure enough vaccine for all Europeans. And it is Britain’s incredible success that makes their failure so glaring. With every British jab, the European vaccine failure looks more and more like the tale of two leaders who put ideology over good politics and who were so eager to demonstrate the superiority of Brussels bureaucracy to the nation state that they forgot to do their job.
Less controversially . . . Germany is under pressure to change its vaccination strategy after her top vaccine regulator acknowledged that advice against giving the AZ jab to over 65s had been flawed. . . And: A team of German scientists has called on the government to follow the UK in delaying 2nd doses, after a study showed it could save up to 15,000 lives. The head of Germany’s Standing Committee on Vaccination, has said that errors had been made and that the whole thing had gone very badly.
The Way of the World
A TV dating show in which couples meet for the first time at the altar has become a sensation this season.
Can anyone really doubt that rolling news and social media companies are 2 large evils of our age? Or, rather, they are catalysts for the endless exposure of human weakness and badness?
The USA/Religious Nutters/Crooks Corner
Stand by but don't hold your breath. . . . A new QAnon claim has it that Trump will be inaugurated on March 20, in a ceremony which will kick off the long-awaited 'Storm' of mass arrests and the deaths of satanic pedophiles in the 'deep state'.
So . . . Is QAnon the only major conspiracy group set up and run by comedians?
English
It's often said there's no English word for the German schadenfreude. But, in fact there is - epicaricacy. Defined as: Deriving pleasure from the misfortune of another. But it does seem to be a recent invention and is unlikely to catch on. As of now, it's not recognised by either the OED or by Merriam-Webster.
Finally . . .
1. A new habit brought on by Covid.
2. Checking on the invention/acceptance of the word epicaricacy, I came across The Complete, Totally Comprehensive Politically Correct Joke Book, by G. Solomon - dedicated to all those who wish to learn the true limits of politically correct humor. This is its Contents page:-
Blacks 1-3
Blonds 4-9
Boys 10-13
Catholics 14-18
Children 19-23
Disasters 24-26
Doctors 27-29
Fat people 30-40
Gays 41-52
Girls 53-56
God. 57-80
Heaven 81-89
Hell. 90-96
Intelligence 97-97
Jews98-110
Jobs 111-113
Lawyers 114-129
Lesbians 130-137
Men 138-141
New Yorkers 138-139
Nurses 140-146
Pedophiles 147-158
People. 159-164
Pilots 165-175
Poor people 176-181
Professions 182-185
Religion 186-203
RichPeople 203-203
Sex 204-224
ShortPeople 225-229
SickPeople 230-238
Southerns 239-243
Stealing 244-247
Stewardesses 248-254
TallPeople 255-257
Teachers 259-269
Violence 270-272
Virgins 273-292
Women 292-299
Need I add that it comprises 300 blank pages? Which you can download as a pdf . . .