The more the merrier

I am glad to report that I have recently discovered a couple of English-language blogs about Catalan/Spanish politics:

Catalonia Direct
Catalonia Info

and an updated entry from George@BCN. Keep it up, superb writing.

These new additions to the English language Catosphere, each with its own perspective, will serve to counter the pseudo-historic revisionism, the pack of lies and bullshit, and the Catalanophobe resentment of Spanish nationalism (past and present) apologist Kalebeul.

Update 19/02/2010:
I have added a few blogs to my blogroll and to the list of blogs I follow. Great stuff out there but there are some people that could do a bit better....

The uselessness of foreign correspondents

Apart from Robert Fisk, that is.

Today it was the final straw: foreign journalists covering Spain are quite a useless lot. Do they spend their time teaching Spanish part-time to make ends meet?

I understand that news are provided for a British readership but to accept that argument after the news coverage today is to accept that readers of British broadsheets are as braindead as tabloid readers.

Of all the things that have happened in Spain in recent weeks, the only one that got significant coverage in the UK press was the decision by the Catalan parliament to abolish “happy hour” and “irresponsible” drink promotions.

The Independent

The Guardian

The Telegraph

BBC News

Note: I will await until The Times’ journo catches up.

What about?

+ The corruption cases involving the PP in Mallorca and Valencia.

+ The independence referendums in Catalonia

+ The arrests of Basque politicians whose only crime was to meet up.

+ The banking crisis

But no, our collection of rent-a-word ex-pats decide to write back to their editors about some minor legislation about drinking. Dumbing down indeed.

Labour and the lost moral compass

There is a massive scandal engulfing British politics. It relates to the expenses system operated in the House of Commons, the British Parliament. It turns out that our elected representatives are milking the system and claiming for everything under the sun: not only mortgage interest but food, newspapers, toilet rolls, home furnishings, gardening, porn movies, swimming pool clearning, horse manure, anything and everything you can think of.

This story has been led by The Daily Telegraph, also known as The Daily Torygraph , since last Friday. When it started last week, I was a bit sceptical. I thought it was just the start to the campaign for next year’s General Election. I wrongly assumed the newspaper would only publish embarrassing revelations about the Labour party and would leave Conservatives MPs in peace. In case you are not too hot on British politics, this newspaper is a bastion of Conservatism, a proper right-wing, Euroskeptic, anti trade union, free-market newspaper. Nothing wrong with that: everybody is entitled to their own opinion. Apart from the crass Europhobia and its unrepentant Thatcherism, it is/could be a decent newspaper I would buy every now and then. But I don't.

Today however, it has been the first time in over 10 years that I have picked up a copy of The Daily Telegraph at Glasgow Airport on my way to London. Despite the flight being full exclusively of suited types, I was the only one to pick a free copy. The Daily Telegraph is not a popular read in Scotland, not least because of their Scottish Politics correspondent, a resentful, narrow-minded British Nationalist with a profound disdain for Scottish devolution.

Anyway, back to the story, I have been astounded at the lack of compunction by the shamed MPs. You see, what they did was within the rules, apparently. The rules that they themselves designed and policed. Reading these revelations made my blood boil. Had I seen any of these scumbags in the plane I would have given them a piece of my mind.

If you want to read about it, check The Daily Telegraph or BBC News.

But if that was not bad enough, just wait.

Yesterday, Tuesday 11 May, a Labour backbencher challenged the Speaker of the House about this issue. The Speaker is responsible for the office that manages the expense system. This parliamentarian raises her concerns about this mess. But this idiot, this disgraceful member of the Labour party, instead of acknowledging the scale of the problem, tries to bully the MP.

The following day, Tuesday 12 May, another parliamentarian puts it to the Speaker that he should consider the tone and the way he addressed his colleague.
The Ogre of Sprinburg declines:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8046601.stm

Right. But that is not enough.

Today as well, another of the Labour grandees, Lord Foulkes, [wiki] when challenged by a BBC journalist, instead of showing repentance, instead of apologising for the way MPs are screwing up taxpayers, furnishing their homes at our expense, tries to bully the journalist and retaliates back with a personal attack. Watch this:


The party of the people: Iraq war, backing of nuclear weapons on the Clyde (anyone remember CND?), ID cards, privatising NHS, tuitions fees, faith schools, PPP/PFI, privatising Royal Mail, infatuation with the banking industry, more tax loopholes than ever for the rich, and now this.

There is absolutely no policy difference between the Conservatives and Labour. None.

Somehow, even though I have never voted Labour whilst living in the UK, I do feel sorry for all the hardworking, if delusional, grassroots activists who can only witness in dismay how the party of the people has ended up being ruled by a spineless, warmongering, lying bunch of self-serving bullies.

The Labour party has lost its moral compass and the sooner there is an election the better.
After all, if we are going to be ruled by a bunch of self-serving arrogant twats, then I’d rather it was the genuine article. At least then we know where we all stand.

Time is a scarce resource

Regular readers will have noticed that I have been not very active of late. There are a variety of reasons:

+ Work: the credit liquidity squeeze and the return of volatility have resulted in longer hours at work.
+ Studies: the MBA thesis on credit default swaps is also taking longer that expected. Final deadline (I have already had a couple of extensions…) is 7 December 2007, so not a lot of time left.
+ Commuting: normally I drive from the outskirts of Glasgow to Edinburgh. This month, however I am trying to commute by train. Next year, if/when I have more time, I will write about public transport provision in the UK.
+ Too much to write about: frankly, there is too much happening. I feel overwhelmed with developments in Scottish/British politics and Catalan/Spanish politics. Where should I start. Thus, I feel easier to reply to other people’s blogs, even if they are slightly bonkers. Hello John and Trevor.

If all that was not enough, to be brutally honest, the few spare hours I have I’d rather spend them with my gorgeous, lovely, pretty and extremely patient girlfriend.

It has been a few interesting weeks. I have been accused of being both “obviously right-wing” and a “far-leftist” by Iberian Notes because of this post. Iberian Notes is a blog by a north American expat living in Barcelona which regurgitates the same bile and hatred towards Catalonia and its sense of nationhood and cultural, social and political identity as the most vicious and aggressive Spanish nationalist portals like Libertad Digital. Well it seems the guy used to work for them so no surprises there.

What I did not expect when I set up this blog (in September 2003 no less) is that I would be quoted out of context by El País newspaper:

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cataluna/Independentismo/elpepuespcat/20071107elpcat_15/Tes (Spanish)

The post the article is referring is this one: It’s time. I notice the journalist cites the comment left by Ox, but not my reply with web links, or Ox’s lack of counter-reply. I will dedicate another post to this article next week.

In any case, for the benefit of Mr Delclós and Ox, I did not equate political independence to a complete assurance of improving life expectancy; rather, the crux of the post, for anyone that wants to read it properly, is that +50 years of Labour rule in Glasgow has failed to address this and many other social issues, that a change in policy is required and that only the SNP can provide the cathartic change Scotland so much needs.

Can anyone argue back that keeping Labour in power will resolve the many social issues we face in the west of Scotland when they have proved to be incapable of doing so in +50 years?

US foreign policy: Weapons of Mass Destruction

Today, I have heard one of the most chilling programmes on the radio for a very long time. I used to work in a local radio station, and I listen to the wireless all the time, as I hardly watch much TV, apart from the news and Still Game.

It was a long day at work today, and I finished about 19.45h. On the way back, I realised that Hecklers, the new Radio 4 debate program was on. Excellent, I thought: long day in the office, but a pleasurable drive back from Edinburgh to Glasgow listening to informed opinions and intelligent debate.

But the proposer of tonight’s programme was one of the most dangerous and deluded people I have ever heard on the BBC.

Patrick Clawson, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, argues that
it would be better to have a war with Iran than to allow its government to
develop nuclear weapons. He debates the issues with a panel of hecklers,
including George Galloway, in front of an audience at Chatham House in London.

This individual argued, in his soft American tone and paused, affable, if slightly irritating speech, that it would be in the best interests of the West to go to war against Iran rather than to allow that country to develop nuclear weapons. Patrick Clawson is deputy director for research of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. More info on the interesting views espoused by Mr Clawson here…
Don’t want to go into a tangent here... but Near East? I always thought it was Far East but never mind...

After a few minutes listening to his disparaging arguments I started to feel sick. My legs were trembling. Listening to that man gave me the creeps. I was listening to a man advocating going to war against Iran as a pre-emptive step to bring stability to the region.
Now, where have we heard this line of argument before?

Although the program is called Hecklers, it is nothing of the sort. The proposer has three slots in which he can develop his argument and the ‘hecklers’ (panellists) are not allowed to interrupt during the first 3 minutes or so of each slot. Then a bell goes off and the panel guests are allowed to raise questions. Today, George Galloway MP was always the first to speak up after the bell rang.

Whatever one thinks of Mr Galloway and his politics and media persona, it is undeniable that the man is a great orator, and one of the few MPs in Parliament willing to challenge the establishment. If only there were a few more like him, perhaps this country would not be now fighting a pointless and illegal war based on false “intelligence”. As much as I disagree with the majority of Gorgeous George’s politics, today he was top notch. He tore apart every one of the arguments put forward by Mr Clawson.

I recommend that you set aside about 1 hour of your time to listen to the program via the BBC Radio 4 website.

It shows to what extent American foreign policy is the cause, rather than the cure, for most of the ills in the Middle East and the Gulf region. For Mr Clawson, it is quite alright that Israel already has nuclear weapons pointing at Iran and other states, and that we (as in the US and the UK) are supplying conventional and nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The former is a theocracy where women are second class citizens. The regime in Saudi Arabia is probably the most tyrannical in the region, and certainly the least accountable to the population. As for Pakistan, it is a breeding ground for Al-Qaida terrorists, and a country divided between a secular or moderate population and the mullahs supporting Islam fundamentalism. What happens if the latter ever get into power and get control of the nuclear weapons supplied by the US and the UK?

Exactly this is what happened a few decades ago. In order to overthrow the Soviets from Afghanistan, the US financed and supplied the Mujaidins with training and conventional weapons. Once the Soviets were expelled from the region, they turned against the US and the West. These are the origins of Al-Qaida: US finance and training. The US trained and armed Osama Bin Laden. That is the result of US foreign policy.

You may be too young to remember: Iran was a democracy a long time ago. However, its leaders did not yield to US and UK foreign policy so the US&UK instigated a coup after Iran's elected government renationalised the oil industry; then the Shah took over and instituted a dictatorial regime. Read more about Operation Ajax in the Wikipedia. Yes, we (the US and the UK) instigated a coup against a democratically elected government to get control of Iranian oil.
The people of Iran rebelled, both the secular moderates (yes, there was a Communist Party in Iran...) and the Islamists joined forces and they did overthrow the dictator; sadly, the radical Islamists won the internal battle for government control. Then they turned against the US and against the West.

Remember the Iran/Iraq war of the ‘80s. Well, guess what: Saddam Hussein was supported by the West and supplied with the conventional and chemical weapons he used in the bloody war against Iran. We (US and UK) supplied Saddam Hussein and his regime with weapons. A few years later, the US and the UK bombarded Iraq, causing mass civilian casualties but without deposing the dictator. In 2003, we then have the illegal invasion of Iraq by the US-led coalition and the country is now is a much worst state, on the brink of civil war and engulfed in sectarian violence, than it was with Saddam in power. And now the Iraqis are turning against the US and the West.

Do you see a pattern emerging?

You can read all this and much, much more in the extraordinary, priceless, colossal book “The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East" by Robert Fisk.
Admittedly, I have not yet started reading the book. A certain master degree thesis on Credit Default Swaps is taking a lot of my spare time –about 1 year and 4 months to be exact.

So you can imagine my anger when this very dangerous man was arguing live on BBC radio 4, the moral and cultural backbone of Britain, that a US strike against Iran would somehow encourage middle-class Iranians to rebel and overthrow the tyrannical dictatorship of the Council of Guardians. It was frightening.

However “imperfect” (a word he constantly used to refer to the Non-Proliferation Treaty) the Iranian electoral system is, at least people can and do vote. The same cannot be said of Saudi Arabia, apparently the West's ally in the region, with its total disregard for human rights and lack of any progress towards democracy or a more equal society for men and women.

He also said that an attack against Iran would prevent the NPT from becoming irrelevant, even though there are “imperfections” (i.e: non-compliance) in the system. He said something along the lines of “I would hate to lose that imperfect instrument in the pursuit of the perfect instrument”. In other words: it is ok for the UK, the US, France, Israel, India, Russia and others to violate the terms and the spirit of the NPT, but not for Iran. Some hypothetical, yet-to-happen, imperfection is punished by war; current imperfections are ignored. To say this smacks of double standards would be an understatement.

We are told that Iran, according to Mr Clawson, is an “irrational player”, behaving according to an “apocalyptic theocratic view” of the world. At this point I almost choked on my chocolate bar. Is it not the President of the United States who had claimed that God had given him permission to go to war in order to prevent the threat of an Iraqi attack against the West? To me that sounds pretty much like an irrational player with a theocratic apocalyptic view of the world.

No nation has behaved more irrationally in the Middle East than the US. Supporting and arming some dictatorships; going to war against others; and doing both with some, as in Iraq. Yet, Mr Clawson, and the US political establishment, either Democrats or Republicans, are in complete denial about the havoc, mayhem and suffering US foreign policy has created around the world, especially in the Middle East.

The last point put forward by Mr Clawson is beyond surreal. He argues that an US-led attack against Iran would unite Iranians in blaming their own government for developing nuclear weapons and thus provoking a crisis. This popular rebellion would result in the Iranian regime engaging (i.e: yielding to US foreign policy) with the West. For someone who claims to be an expert in the Middle East, this is surely a joke.

But the warmongering lunatic goes on: according to him, an attack against Iran should not mean a land invasion of the country, but rather targeted, high-precision attacks against military objectives. Have we not heard this before? Yes, we have. As recently as 2003, when the US-UK coalition targeted attacks against Iraqi military infrastructure resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties and the destruction of hospitals. I also remember a certain aspirin factory in Sudan that was targeted with a combination of intelligence and high-precision weaponry.

Mr Clawson also argued that not only Iran’s population would rebel against their elected leadership following a US attack, but also that Iran’s neighbours would rise to the challenge and support US action too. This is the world of fantasy inhabited by the neocon revolutionaries in the US.

This last point was absolutely demolished by all panellists. One by one, audience members and panellists reduced Mr Clawson “lightweight argument”(quote from a former correspondent of the FT in Tehran) to what they are: absolute warmongering shite. The only voice of support came from, wait for it... an US Embassy employee.
Priceless if it was not so depressing.

What is scary about this man and his ilk is their level of delusion; their disregard for the facts about the Middle East, and the loss of human life; their arrogant ignorance of the damage US foreign policy has caused in the region in the last 40 years, 20 years or even since the ill-conceived invasion of Iraq. As with the Iraqi non-existent weapons of mass destruction, an enemy is created and the threat is hyped up in the friendly press, and thus war is justified. Their irrational minds see no flaw in this perverse logic, despite its disastrous consequences in Iraq, or in Iran decades ago.

War is still another option in the US foreign policy toolkit and the neocons have not learnt anything. And now they want to start another war against Iran. History will not be kind to these despicable people.

And the question for us in Britain is: what will PM Gordon Brown do? Will he be America’s lap dog like former PM Blair, or will he have an “ethical foreign policy”, as New Labour promised in 1997? I am not sure I want to know.

Next week, Hecklers will hopefully be less frightening and distressing. Tax specialist Richard Murphy argues at the free market Institute of Economic Affairs that Britain should stop trying to woo the foreign super rich with tax breaks.

Hopeless

This is an article dedicated to my friends with whom I shared the last weekend in June. It was a fantastic occasion, and I hope we all meet up again. It is also for the groom’s friends who had to put up with a couple of drunk numpties at the back of a coach shouting extremist anti-Catalan abuse.
It is a bilingual article, first English version, then version in Catalan.

;-)
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Hopeless

I have been quite busy over the last few weeks, which explains the lack of postings. Late in June, I went to a wedding in Reus, a city near Tarragona, and that weekend is going to be the conduit for this post.

The groom is a Catalan lad. He met his wife in Glasgow, Scotland, while on Erasmus. A group of guys, all friends of the groom went to the wedding. We are all from different areas of Spain. We all met in Glasgow while working for a doomed internet bank. Some travelled from the UK, others from the south of Spain. We all have differing political views, but we are all good friends and it was a wonderful occasion to meet up again.

But this weekend reunion with my friends also made me realise that there is no hope of Spain ever becoming a modern western, civilised, truly democratic, respectful of its cultural and linguistic diversity, at-ease-with-itself, multilingual and multinational state. Never has happened and never will. Many Spaniards favour an expression that roughly translates thus: “Nationalism is an illness that is cured travelling” (El nacionalismo se cura viajando). What they don’t realise is that their nationalism has no cure. It is embedded in the Spanish psyche, inherent to the existence of the Spanish state in its present form since the Wars of Succession 1700-1715. It does not matter if a Spaniard is well educated and has travelled around Europe. Spanish nationalism is very persistent.

For most of my dear friends, Catalan language is a nuisance, not something to be cherished or protected by the Spanish State. In Spain, in Spanish, end of story. For them, anyone speaking Catalan in public is a show of defiance, an example that something has not been “resolved” in Spain. The mere existence of Catalan language in the same terms as Spanish in some aspects of public life in Catalonia irks them and fills them with animosity.

When one suggests that if Spain were like Switzerland or Canada language would not be an issue, they protest: “Canada, Belgium, Switzerland… bla, bla, bla, Spain is Spain cojones”. And that is the problem: Spain will never change. Spain will never accept Catalan culture and nationhood as an equal part of the Spanish State cultural framework. It never has, it never will.

On the way back from the wedding, the groom’s friends sang some songs. The same songs people sing at every wedding. The same cheery, silly, embarrassing, apolitical, childish songs everyone sings at weddings throughout the world.

However, some of the songs, God forbid!, were in Catalan. Fuelled by alcohol, my esteemed friends’ true feelings came to the fore. A stream of abuse started, snide abusive remarks were made and the true extent of their disliking of anything Catalan became apparent. It is a great credit to the groom’s friends, to whom this post is dedicated, that there was not any confrontation despite the constant and unnecessary provocation. More so when you consider we were all pretty drunk. As for myself, I was sleeping for most the journey, trying to forget about the excruciating pain in my stomach. Only when I woke up and heard my friends embarrassing themselves, I realised what we, as Catalans, are against. Not even successful, educated, travelled people will accept Catalan as equal to Spanish in public life. For them, Catalan is a “family language”, a folkloric, slightly irritating historical legacy that is a thorn on Spain’s side. It is as if for some Spaniards the sound of Catalan being spoken pierces, literally, their ears.

The next day, when we were all sober and I was up for a good debate, we talked about politics. Nationalist Spaniards have a great arsenal of quotations, metaphors and paradigms to use when advancing their case. Fair enough, they have over 300 years of practising, developing their own national discourse, and the full support of their public and private TV stations and radio networks, and dozens of newspapers. We, tiny Catalans, with two TV stations controlled by the PSC-PSOE, and a handful of newspapers and radio stations, cannot compete in equal terms against Spain’s nationalist rhetoric.

My favourite one is when they use the artificial carve-up of Spain into 17 Autonomous Communities (administrative regions) to level down Catalonia to the same status as Murcia or La Rioja. By doing that they try to portray Catalonia as irritating and selfish. Or when they use the metaphor of the block of flats, and arguing that Catalonia is akin to the neighbour from hell; the one that wants to change the rules for everyone. (Perhaps we want our own key to open the door?) Language is obviously a favourite, and bilingualism is the greatest thing to happen to mankind… as long as it is confined to Catalonia, and more specifically to Catalan speakers. I always wonder… if bilingualism is so good, surely the Spanish State would make more of an effort to ensure EVERYONE in Spain was bilingual in two of the official languages of the Spanish State? Canada or Switzerland spring to mind.

And yes, you find the odd Spaniard who understands, the one that does not succumb to Spanish nationalism, the one who sees languages as mere tools of communication and not a political weapon. But they are the tiny, silent minority. For every Miguel Herrero y Rodríguez de Miñón, there are 1000 Fraga, or Bono, or Acebes or Aznar. For every Spanish democrat, as understood in the true sense of the word, there are 1000 Spanish nationalists. And I keep saying this to my friends and they keep ignoring me: if Spain was like Switzerland, if Spain was a neighbourhood and not a prison, to keep the metaphor going, a pro-independence party like ERC would not be the third party in Catalonia. The truth, my dear Spanish friends, is that the PP, the main representative of Spanish nationalism, is a marginal party in Catalonia, and most people regard the PP for what they are: a bunch of unreconstructed Francoist who would not hesitate to send the Army to Catalonia to crush the wish of the people. Again. Like their forefathers did.

I am sorry, my own parents are immigrants from the south of Spain, but this enforced union has not worked, it is not working and will never work. We should follow separate paths as nations, each freely to choose its own destiny. Spain is Spain and will never change, and Catalonia is Catalonia and probably it will never change. We should part amicably. We should be free of each other. Catalonia tried to change Spain and some still do, like CiU. It is a mistake. Catalonia should leave Spain behind and join the club of the free nations in Europe. We should be friends and good neighbours. Nothing more, nothing less.

This post is for all of the groom’s friends that were inside that coach. And also to the ones that were not there but have probably heard about the disrespectful, abusive and quasi-fascist chants coming from the back of the coach: there is no hope for Catalonia in Spain. No Hope. Nope. The only hope for Catalonia is to become an independent state in the EU. Sovereignty and Independence. Via democratic means. Dialogue, negotiation, debate, “federalism” do not work. Spain does not want to become a federalist state like Germany or Switzerland or Belgium or Canada. Catalonia should not try to change Spain again.

Remember your history lessons at High School. The Lliga Regionalista tried to “reform” Spain, but it did not work; then it was the pre-Civil War ERC, with Macia and Companys, who tried to “engage” with Spain; and after the end of Franco’s 40 year dictatorship, it was CiU who tried to “explain” it to Spain. They achieved nothing. It has been over 100 years of different Catalan moderate parties trying to make Spain more like the rest of Europe. It has not worked, it is not working. Look at the PSOE or PP: as the great Josep Pla said: “nothing is more alike to a right-wing Spaniard than a left-wing Spaniard”.

It will never work. Let’s give up on Spain. Let’s secure Catalonia’s future in Europe as a free nation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sense esperança

He estat bastant ocupat durant les darreres setmanes, la qual cosa explica la manca d’articles. Cap a finals de juny, vaig anar a un casament a Reus, una ciutat prop de Tarragona, i aquell cap de setmana serà el fil conductor d’aquest article.

El nuvi és un noi català. Un grup de xicots, tots amics del nuvi vàrem anar al casament. Som tots de diferents àrees de l’Estat espanyol. Tots nosaltres ens varem trobar a Glasgow mentre treballàvem per un internet bank condemnat al fracàs. Alguns viatjàvem des de el Regne Unit, altres des del sud d'Espanya. Tots nosaltres tenim diferent idees polítiques, però tots som bons amics i va ser una ocasió meravellosa trobar-se una altra vegada.

Però aquest cap de setmana de reunió amb els meus amics també ha fet adonar-me que no hi ha cap esperança que Espanya mai es transformi en un estat occidental modern, civilitzat, veritablement democràtic, respectuós de la seva diversitat cultural i lingüística, sense por de si mateix, multilingüe i multinacional. Mai no ha passat i mai no passarà. Molts espanyols afavoreixen una expressió que aproximadament es tradueix així: "El nacionalisme és una malaltia que és curat viatjant" (El nacionalismo se cura viajando). Allò què no s’adonen és que el seu propi nacionalisme no té remei. Està arrelat en la psique espanyola, inherent a la pròpia existència de l'estat espanyol en la seva forma present des de les Guerres de Successió 1700-1715. No importa si un espanyol té una bona educació i ha viatjat per Europa. El nacionalisme espanyol és molt persistent.

Per a la majoria dels meus estimats amics d'altres zones d'Espanya, la llengua catalana és una nosa, no quelcom que ha de ser celebrat o protegit per l'Estat Espanyol. A Espanya, en espanyol, i s’ha acabat. Per a ells, que hom parli català en públic és una demostració de desafiament, un exemple que alguna cosa no s’ha "arreglat" a Espanya. La mera existència de llengua catalana en els mateixos termes que la llengua castellana en alguns aspectes de vida pública a Cataluny els fastigueja i els deixa farcits d'animositat.

Quan hom suggereix que si Espanya fos com Suïssa o el Canadà la llengua no seria un assumpte a debatir, protesten: "Canadà, Bèlgica, Suïssa... bla, bla, bla, Espanya en espanyol, collons". I aquest és el problema: Espanya mai no canviarà. Espanya mai no acceptarà la cultura catalana i el nostre sentiment nacional com a una part igual del marc cultural de l’Estat espanyol. Mai no ho ha fet, i mai no ho farà.

Durant la tornada del casament, els amics del nuvi cantaven algunes cançons. Les mateixes cançons que es canten a tots els casaments. Cançons igual d’alegres, ximples, avergonyidores, apolítiques, infantils que tothom canta a casaments arreu del món.

Tanmateix, algunes de les cançons, Déu meu del cor!, eren en català. Encesos per l’alcohol, els veritables sentiments dels meus apreciats amics van sortir a la llum. Un riu d’insults començà, els comentaris injuriosos i sarcàstics es feien en veu alta, i el veritable abast de la seva antipatia per tot el que sigui català es tornà aparent. Diu molt dels amics del nuvi, a qui aquest article va dedicat, que no va haver-hi cap confrontació malgrat la provocació constant i innecessària. Més si tenim en compte que anàvem tots una mica bufats. Pel que fa a un servidor, vaig estar dormint duant la major part del trajecte de tornada, intentant oblidar el dolor insuportable al meu estómac. Només quan em vaig despertar i vaig escoltar els meus amics deixant-se en ridícul, vaig adonar-me'n contra què, com a catalans, estem lluitant. Ni tan sols gent reeixida, educada, brillant, que ha viatjat una mica pel Món, acceptarà el català igual que el castellà a la vida pública. Per a ells, el català és una "llengua familiar", un llegat històric folklòric una mica irritant, i que és una espina per a Espanya. És com si per a alguns espanyols el so de la llengua catalana foradès, literalment, les seves oïdes.

Al dia següent, quan tothom estava seré i jo tenia ganes per a un bon debat, vàrem parlar de política. Els nacionalistes espanyols tenen un gran arsenal de citacions, metàfores i paradigmes per a utilitzar en la seva causa. No és d’estranyar, tenen prop de 300 anys de pràctica, desenvolupant el seu propi discurs nacional, i el ple suport de les seves cadenes de TV públiques i privades, cadenes de ràdio, i dotzenes de diaris. Nosaltres, els pobrets catalans, amb dues estacions de TV controlades pel PSC-PSOE, i un grapat de diaris i emissores de ràdio, no poden competir en igualtat de condicions contra la retòrica espanyolista.

La meva tàctica preferida és quan utilitzen l'artificial divisió administrativa de l’Estat Espanyol en 17 Comunitats Autònomes per provar de rebaixar Catalunya al mateix nivell que Múrcia or La Rioja. Fent això proven de representar una Catalunya malficiosa i egoista. O quan utilitzen la metàfora del bloc de pisos, i argumenten que Catalunya és com el veí que no deixa de tocar els collons a tothom; el que vol canviar les regles per a tothom. (Potser nosaltres volem la nostra pròpia clau per obrir la porta?) La llengua és òbviament el tema favorit, i el bilingüisme és la cosa més gran per a la humanitat... sempre que es limiti a Catalunya, i més específicament a catalano-parlants. Sempre em pregunto... si el bilingüisme és tan bo, segurament l'Estat espanyol esmerçaria més esforços per a assegurar-se que TOTHOM a Espanya fos bilingüe en dues de les llengües oficials l’Estat Espanyol? El Canadà o Suïssa em venen al cap.

I sí, a voltes trobes l'espanyol que entén, el que no sucumbeix a nacionalisme espanyol unitarista, aquell que veu llengües com a simples eines de comunicació i no una arma política. Però són la minoria minúscula, silenciosa. Per cada Miguel Herrero y Rodríguez de Miñón, hi ha 1000 Fraga, o Bono, o Acebes o Aznar. Per cada demòcrata espanyol, entès en el sentit veritable de la paraula, hi ha 1000 nacionalistes espanyols. I continuo dient això als meus amics i em continuen ignorant: si Espanya fos com Suïssa, si Espanya fos un veïnat i no una presó, per a anar jugant amb les metàfores, una partit independentista com ERC no seria el tercer partit a Catalunya. La veritat, estimats amics espanyols, és que el PP, el representant principal de nacionalisme espanyol, és un partit insignificant a Catalunya, i la majoria de la gent considera el PP com el que són: un grapat de nostàlgics neo-Franquistes,que no dubtarien a enviar l’exèrcit espanyol contra la gent a Catalunya per aixafar la voluntat popular del nostre país. Una altra vegada. Com els seus pares i avis.

Em sap greu, adés els meus pares són immigrants del sud d’Espanya, però aquesta unió per la força no ha funcionat, no està funcionant i mai no funcionarà. Hauríem de seguir camins separats com a nacions, cadascuna lliure per a escollir el seu propi destí. Espanya és Espanya i mai no canviarà, i Catalunya és Catalunya i probablement mai no canviarà. Ens hauríem de separar amigablement. Hauríem de ser lliures l’un de l’altre. Catalunya ha provat de canviar Espanya i alguns encara ho estan intentant, com CiU. És un greu error. Catalunya hauria de deixar enrere Espanya i unir-se al club de les nacions lliures d’Europa. Hauríem de ser amics i bons veïns. Res més, res menys.

Aquest article és per a tots els amics del nuvi que eren dins d’aquell autocar. I també a aquells que no eren allà però probablement han sentit parlar dels cants irrespectuosos, injuriosos i quasi feixistes que venien del darrere de l’autocar: no hi ha cap esperança per a Catalunya dins d’Espanya. Cap Esperança. Res de res. Com diuen en anglès, "fuck all". La única esperança per a Catalunya és convertir-se en un estat independent dintre de la UE. Sobirania i independència. Democràticament. Diàleg, negociació, debat, "federalisme" no funcionen. Espanya no vol convertir-se en un estat federal com Alemanya o Suïssa o Bèlgica o el Canadà. Catalunya no hauria d’intentar canviar Espanya una altra vegada.

Recordeu les lliçons d'història a l’Institut. La Lliga Regionalista va intentar "reformar" Espanya, però no funcionà; després va ser la ERC de la República, amb Macia i Companys, que intentaven “treballar amb” Espanya; i després de 40 anys de dictadura franquista, ha estat CiU qui ha intentat “fer pedagogia” a Espanya. Cap no ha aconseguit res. Han estat més de 100 anys de diferents partits catalans, moderats tots ells, que han intentat fer Espanya més com la resta d’Europa. No ha funcionat, no està funcionant. Mireu el PSOE o PP: com el gran Josep Pla deia: "el que més s’assembla a un espanyol de dretes, és un espanyol d’esquerres.”

Mai no funcionarà. Deixem estar Espanya. Anem a assegurar-nos el futur de Catalunya a la Europa de les nacions lliures.

Whatever next?

I am watching Question Time, tonight, Thursday 5th July. I cannot believe my ears. Davina McCall, host of the UK version of Big Brother, has morphed into a political pundit. What next?

The debate has started around the topic of the terrorist threat from the fundamentalist Islam, and the interventions of some members of the audience show their delusion and lack of knowledge.

As much as I despise the New Labour government that took this country into an illegal and ill-advised war in Iraq, I do not share the view this country’s foreign policy is somehow responsible for our becoming a terrorist target.

The crazymen who tried to kill as many innocent civilians as possible last weekend in London and Glasgow do not care about the UK’s foreign policy or anything else for that matter, not even their own lives. Whatever this government does in terms of foreign policy, the nutters will continue to blow themselves up trying to kill as many innocent civilians as possible. End of story.

I used to have a lot of sympathy for Palestine, I used to despise the West’s foreign policy in the Middle East. I still do. It has been a shambles and a disgrace. I attended the big demonstrations against the illegal war in Iraq, and I still attend the anti-Trident (Trident is a UK government sponsored system of nuclear weapons of mass destruction based in the Clyde, near Glasgow) rallies. But the nutters will not hesitate to kill me, you and all of us just because of the simple fact we are infidels. It is that simple.

There is a numptie talking, telling off a young guy. What he said is spot on, but she ticked him off because his language was aggressive. Well, at least he makes his point of view known by debating in a TV programme, rather than blowing himself up in Harvey Nichols. I was once on the Left, but not anymore. It has taken a while, the best part of about 10 years. But the discourse of the so-called ‘Left’ and its apostles is as irrational as we hear from the ‘neo-cons’. Softly-softly approach with the subhumans who support Jihad will not get us anywhere. Islam will have to sort out this problem internally.

Thank goodness the debate is about to end. What a waste of time.