Live News From Spain As It Happens

Lenox said:
Saturday, June 16, 2012 @ 8:58 AM

'...Spain is not Uganda' (Until you come to the subject of retroactively illegal viviendas, Land Grab and the arbitrary Ley de Costas that is).

George said:
Saturday, June 16, 2012 @ 9:19 AM

Sorry-this is not a comment on Uganda (where I often visited in the early sixties); it was a dump then and will have gotten worse.
My comment is about a community EGM, as our President has called one because he wants to resign. Is it correct that he can only resign at a AGM and that the position as President is for one year, and also an EGM can not be called simply for him to resign?

frederick said:
Saturday, June 16, 2012 @ 5:13 PM

sixties is a long time ago. i am sure that many (maybe most) would have the same opinion as you george. i know many who love it and do not have any desire to live in europe. i must admit they are all non africans of various ethnicity. i have no knowledge of the opinions of the indigenous population. i was last in australia in the sixties,i would not be able to judge it today without visiting there.

Winston Goodluck said:
Sunday, June 17, 2012 @ 11:07 AM

No, Spain is not Uganda but more like Nigeria. Except the Spanish are far more advanced in corruption, scams and thieving from the innocent. At least the likes of Uganda and Nigeria openly admit they have to clean their act up, whereas Spain is proud to be the corrupt scumbags of the world.

Jasper said:
Monday, June 18, 2012 @ 12:47 PM

I am always suspicious about people who cannot speak/write their own language. George just ignores grammar and syntax.

It suggests to me a lack attention to detail and a formulation of erroneous conclusions from preconcieved ideas about all issues.

For that reason I will go with Winston Churchill on this one and not George.

Churchill articulated exceptionally well in English and also said some nice things about Uganda almost sixty years ago.

Churchill also aprreciated the good things in life. Yeah, I will go with his opinion about Uganda.

Observer said:
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 @ 12:39 AM

@ Jasper

I find your comment amusing and your conclusion, based on your argument, is wrong.

1) You say you are "suspicious about" people who cannot speak/write their own language and that you find that "Churchill... aprreciated" the good things in life. It is ironic that someone so high and mighty, up on his/her high horse, judging others for their spelling and grammar, makes mistakes. You should've written "suspicious of" and "appreciated", and the comment was posted by "Winston Goodluck", not "Churchill". By the way, it's funny that someone whose mother tongue ISN'T English (surprise!) is correcting you. Don't just assume that because someone writes in English it is their mother tongue.
2) Just because Winston Goodluck expressed a favorable opinion of Uganda over Spain, does not make him/her (in the world of the Internet, people hide behind often made-up names) correct. To make an informed opinion, one should read from various sources. Regarding this issue, I have read comments from Ugandans on both sides of the spectrum: those who are critical of Rajoy, and those who recognize Uganda's... limitations, even to the point of being critical of their own country. From the Spaniards comments, most criticize Rajoy's arrogance and lack of diplomacy. What this boils down to, in my humble opinion, is that Rajoy made a remark not intended for public display and hence permitted himself to make an undiplomatic comment. Is his comment forgivable? Certainly not. But the comment of one person need not rope in others.

Observer said:
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 @ 12:42 AM

And there is a typo in my post which I only just caught. Darn having a small screen: "the Spaniards' comments". That small, insignificant looking apostrophe is actually quite significant! =)

Observer said:
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 @ 12:53 AM

And there is a typo in my post which I only just caught. Darn having a small screen: "the Spaniards' comments". That small, insignificant looking apostrophe is actually quite significant! =)

Observer said:
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 @ 1:16 AM

@ Jasper

You also misspelled "preconceived" as you typed "preconcieved": "i before e except after c" is the rule that you English speakers teach.

By the way, Winston Goodluck also made a grammar mistake "Spain is... the scumbags of the world". It should be "scumbag", singular not plural.

Jasper, moderate points of view tend to be a bit better than aggressive ones, even if the aggressive ones are written better. Also, seeing as you are suspicious of people who cannot write properly, you should then opt to disregard Winston Goodluck's comment.

Jasper said:
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 @ 1:42 PM

I actually meant Winston Churchill and not Winston Goodluck.

I cannot see how anyone could conclude that I was referring to Goodluck's piece. Where in his piece does he coomment "about Uganda almost sixty years ago"?


Regarding Churchill and Uganda the word "pearl" leaps to mind.

Talking about moderate points, I am not quite sure how calling a country a dump is an example of moderation.

Observer said:
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 @ 5:28 PM

@ Jasper

I didn't suggest that you go along with any of the comments written. However, I misunderstood your original comment and thought you liked the comment written by Winston Goodluck, and I also thought you were mixing comments together as there was someone else who wrote about Uganda sixty years ago.

I agree that Sir Winston Churchill had fine things to say about Uganda; I am well aware of his "Uganda is the pearl of Africa" comment. However, again, it is preferable to read from a variety of different sources, especially when you take into consideration the things Churchill did to/said about Poland during WWII -- not very nice things there, yet I would go visit Poland now that it has recovered quite a bit from everything that happened to it. (By the way, I'm not Polish either.) Consider that lots of things have changed in sixty years (I'm sticking with this number, since you mentioned it but the real number is one hundred; please continue reading for my explanation). I would not have gone to the Soviet Union or to Eastern Germany back then, but since then I have visited Germany extensively and might consider visiting Russia in the near future. (I'm not German or Russian either.) Don't forget that sixty years ago, Uganda was still a protectorate of the United Kingdom when Churchill made the comment, but when that ended it was ruled by the dictator Idi Amin. Things change; it is important to be aware of how they changed. The only two constants in life, two things you can bet your life on that will happen to all of us no matter how many years pass, are taxes and death.
Also, note that the "pearl" comment was actually over 100 years ago. He wrote that comment in his book "My African Journey", published in 1908. So even more changes have occurred since then.
Don't misunderstand my comment as being Churchill bashing (not sure how you could, but I'm clearing things up just in case), as I consider him to have been a remarkable leader for Britain in difficult times. (To clear any doubts: I'm not British, or of any part of the United Kingdom, presently or ever. Hence I'm not Ugandan either.)

Steve Cummings said:
Sunday, July 1, 2012 @ 12:23 PM

I never though the day would come when, on a Sunday morning, I would be "discussing Ugandan affairs"!

You have to be a certain age to understand this one. :>)