Abrevaderos

The Economist defaming Ron Paul

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:09:00 +0000

The Economist's Lexington column of December 31st, 2011 continues the magazine's campaign of defamation against Republican Representative Ron Paul, currently a candidate for the Republican Party presidential primaries.

Week in, week out, The Economist has been supporting Mitt Romney for the Republican primaries. Every time any other Republican candidate rose in the polls, The Economist issued a tirade against them, always recommending the Republicans to choose moderate and electable Romney.

However, the latest column by Lexington on Ron Paul has tresspassed the line between criticism and defamation. Throughout the column Lexington keeps name calling Paul and his ideas as "hater", "whacky", "no-hoper", "rumpled", "obsession", "crusader", and "anti-government conspiracy theory [that] attract a lot of wingnuts". So much for The Economist's "measured" writing style.

Ron Paul is no nutty, as neocons and the Washington Post describe him, nor racist, as liberals and the New York Times want to portray him. He has stood by his ideas for decades in an unwavering fashion unknown to any other politician. His main policy is that he will "never vote for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution", which is not a bad method to maintain the government's policies within the electorate's mandate.

It is unlikely Paul will win the Republican nomination. However, his surge in the polls is a welcomed respite for all of us who have advocated the libertarian ideas against all odds, defamation and slander, and a much-needed encouraging voice of support for the few of us libertarians who are condemned to ostracism by the main-stream media, the establishment and its beneficiaries, and the easily-misled population.

Although I am utterly outraged and disgusted at this column, I sort of expected it since The Economist has shown an increasing scornful disregard towards the libertarian theories and proposals. It may be possible that "their relentless drift to the right might just lose the Republicans the election" (Lexington dixit) but this is: 1st, no problem and no business for readers who are not registered as supporters of any American political party; and 2nd, a complete lack of understanding of what libertarianism means, as libertarianism is NOT on the right or on the left but where the Nolan Chart indicates (here).

Therefore, a big "dislike" to The Economist and courage to libertarians.

Love and Freedom.

Imprudent citizens should pay for their rescue missions

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:27:00 +0000

The Regional Parliament of the Basque region in Spain has passed a new Taxation Act which charges the cost of rescue missions on whomever takes part in sports in a imprudent fashion. The main Spanish political parties, PSOE and PP, voted in favour of this clause, already in place in Cantabria and Cataluña, as they indicate it will foster a "responsible citizen". The parties opposing this clause claim that the activities considered "extreme sports" were chosen arbitrarily and that the general taxation already fund these rescue missions.

I advocated this rule earlier this year when discussing the rescue missions of Spanish fishermen and mountaineers. At the time some people considered my idea outlandish, ruthless, and heartless. This is a typical response to lots of my libertarian ideas, even though some of them become mainstream later on and then none of those naysayers say anything about it.

Let's remember what I wrote back in April 18th, 2011:

Should there actually be one, the "contract of the taxpayer with the State" should not include a clause like the following one: "The State shall make every effort to save the life of those citizens who put themselves in danger for private interests."

Such contract should include the following [clause]: "Any citizens who put themselves in danger (eg., mountain climbing, working in Lybia) should cover the costs of their rescue if not on a mission ordered by the State".

This latter clause simply follows one of the basic rules that should govern human societies: "benefits and risks must be borne by the same person or entity". Otherwise we are socialising the risks (everyone pays for rescue missions of private adventures) whilst privatising the benefits (the adventurer doesn't share the profits with the taxpayers). This basic rule would induce everyone to perform a correct benefit/risk assessment and would prevent countless opportunities for injustice.

Love and Freedom.

Eguiguren confirma la mezquindad de Zapatero

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:25:00 +0000

Cuando el ominoso ex-presidente Zapatero dijo después del atentado de la T4 que había ordenado "suspender las negociaciones" con la ETA, alguien muy cercano me indicó lo sinvergüenza que era por no haber ordenado la ruptura de las negociaciones ni siquiera después de un atentado mortal. Era otro ejemplo más de su inmundicia moral. Y siguió siendo un mentiroso cuando negaba que las negociaciones para vender Navarra a la ETA continuaban.

El ruín Eguiguren lo confirma ahora en El País, el mismo periódico que insultaba a los que alertaban de que las negociaciones habían continuado y el Gobierno mentía. Los defensores del PSOE y de El País deberían ahora dar explicaciones: escuché decir el 13 de marzo de 2004 que los españoles merecen un gobierno que no les mienta. Disgusting.

Love and Freedom.

Ruego al Rey que abdique

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:44:00 +0000

Nunca me había pronunciado sobre el Rey aunque sí tenía una opinión sobre él. Sin embargo, si me preguntan ahora sí que diría algo parecido a Federico Jiménez Losantos: si me llamara el Rey, le diría: "Su Majestad, los españoles le agradecemos los servicios prestados y le tendrán siempre en sus corazones por haber traído la Constitución; pero, por el bien de España, yo le ruego que abdique en el Príncipe."

Love and Freedom.

HBOS case

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:11:00 +0000

A bit more info on HBOS case. I lived in the UK through the summer of 2008 and I was outraged by this case because I was a taxpayer in Britain and I knew we would end up shouldering the burden (as it happened).

On the wake of the subprime mortgages HBOS was going under given the illiquidity inherent to the banking . Meanwhile, Lloyds (the most boring bank in the UK) was doing ok as it hadn’t gone into fancy financial toxic stuff.

But HBOS was Scottish, the UK PM Gordon Brown is Scottish and the Labour Party obtained lots of votes from Scotland. The government would be harmed by the demise of HBOS (as it had been with Northern Rock) and, as governments always do, they acted in their own interests: Gordon Brown pushed Lloyds’ CEO to acquire HBOS for political reasons, not for economical reasons.

Lloyds’ active shareholders didn’t want Lloyds to acquire HBOS: they kept appearing in the press. The independents in the press indicated that it was a very bad deal. It was apparent to everyone! HBOS’ own shareholders hadn’t taken up the rights issue in July 2008. It didn’t matter: Gordon Brown personally brokered the deal with Lloyds TSB. An official said: “It is not the role of a Prime Minister to tell a City institution what to do”.[that official was right, but the PM Brown intervened anyway].

The Lloyds TSB board have stated that merchant banks Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley were amongst the advisers recommending the takeover. [mmm wasn’t Morgan Stanley the underwriter that had been caught out? Banks have a too cosy relation with and too much influence on the governments. This will always happen: IMHO the solution is to curtail governments’ power.]

UK government assurance to save the banks and dispensation with respect to competition law and “don’t worry, public money is no one’s and the government will give it away” convinced just enough Lloyds shareholders to approve the takeover.

Result of the government’s strategy:

In late 2008 UK government loaned heaps of cash to Lloyds and ended up nationalising not only HBOS but the whole of Lloyds. [hey taxpayers’ money is free, isn’t it!]

From FT 2010: The dramatic scale of losses suffered by Lloyds Banking Group through the acquisition of HBOS was laid bare on Friday when the part-nationalised UK lender’s full-year results revealed it had made £30bn of provisions over the past two years on loans inherited from the deal.

Well done, Gordon. Thanks so much.

Still bastards in PSE-PSOE

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:38:00 +0000

The terrorist group ETA claims to have given up terrorism. They have played the same trick several times in the past, usually when they were being weakened by the police. Whoever believes them now is either a fool or one of their advocates.

The Spanish Socialist Party PSE-PSOE are now trying to give the ETA what these wanted to get through their terrorism. I recover an old post which still holds "Bastards in PSE-PSOE".

José Luís Rodríguez, Jesús Eguiguren, Alfredo Pérez: seréis recordados como viles traidores a España.

Love and Freedom.

Facebook discussion on the BBC

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:20:00 +0000

Borjabrela: The only way ahead with the BBC (and any other state-funded media) is scrapping the TV licence, thank her for her services and wish her a better life.

STOP STATE INDOCTRINATION.

RandomSpaniard: Done. My email to these guys: "I write to inform you that I live in the year 2011 Anno Domini and was not aware there was a Common Era.
I will not be paying my TV licence until the BBC returns to the same time dimension I live in. The ...See more
Less dramatic than it sounds, given we don't own a TV or pay the licence anyway.

Borjabrela: Excellent!

Labour-leaning colleague: I wish there was a dislike button, as having travelled in other countries I thank god we have the BBC every time I flick a TV on switch. The state/establishment bias on the BBC is no worse than the corporate bias of the commercial media and it has been the the commercial media that has used wholesale mysogny, xenophobia and scientific illiteracy to debauch our culture these past forty years.

Borjabrela: I don't pay for the corporate bias of the commercial media. I pay for the bias of the BBC. You like the BBC, you pay for it. I don't like the BBC, I should not be made pay for it. Period.

Labour-leaning colleague: The BBC is democratically accountable: this sometimes means the wishes of the majority(those who want a counterweight in the form of state funded media) sometimes outweigh the minority (those who would not pay for it). The BBC is a good thing for society and we know this because people keep voting for it. All you have to do to get rid of it is elect a party with its removal on their manifesto. This democratic accountability is in stark contrast to the corporate media, where whilst I have never bought a Murdoch paper, the minority that do are considered sufficiently powerful to corrupt the political and law enforcement fabric of this country - something which directly affects me as a non-purchaser.

RandomSpaniard: LLC, nobody has ever been given a choice on the BBC so stop fantasising about democratic accountability. All the main parties have colluded to keep it place and not give voters a choice.

Labour-leaning colleague: They haven't colluded. If there was a strong move in public opinion against it you can bet it would appear on a manifesto. The conservatives in particular despise it - Thatcher hated the BBC, but recognised it would have been electoral suicide to touch it. Even when the establishment does feel brave enough to move against public opinion and attack the BBC (Hutton report) or after the tv faking scandals of a few years ago people still love the BBC. It is one of the core British institutions and a huge part of the nation's intellectual and cultural life.

Borjabrela: LLC, "democratically accountable" are two words used by authoritarian people who want to force unwilling individuals to fund their wishes (just like you). The same way that the fact that Hitler and Franco won polls didn't make them any more "democratic". What is "democratic" by the way? It is one of those words manipulated by socialists/authoritarians to deceive the population. Any time anyone uses the "democratic" argument is discredited in my opinion in the same way that you claim any time anyone uses the "nazi" argument is discredited.

Also I don't need a strong move in public opinion against the BBC for me to deem the BBC a despicable attack to my liberty and therefore for me to consider retaliation actions. The same way that the strong move in some countries to chop female gonads doesn't make this practice any more acceptable in my opinion. STOP STATE INDOCTRINATION still beholds.

It happens that individuals who are against the State are less organised and have less will to use the resorts of power offered by the State (ie., libertarians don't hold a grip in any political party like the unions do) or the mass-manipulation methods (like the liberals do with the BBC). This causes a bias in favour of the state in the governing elite. This does not indicate that my opinion is less valid.

Finally, it makes me laugh that socialist/authoritarians usually use the argument of "evil corporativism influencing the government and hence people's lives" against anti-statist individual-freedom advocates. Don't you guys realise that the main issues in that sentence are: 1, there is a government which can be used as a channel to dominate people's lives, so the solution is to limit government's power; and 2, corporativism is the result of no freedom of competition usually endorsed by the governments. People in power both in government and business collude, but it happens that Tesco/Times can't send me to prison whereas the government would send me to prison/fine me if I don't pay the BBC licence.

Love and Freedom.

Film on Mitterrand

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 09:11:00 +0000

Heidi Ellison's review of the film Le Promeneur du Champ-de-Mars, directed by Robert Guédiguian and based on the book Le Dernier Mitterrand by Georges-Marc Benamou, casts some light on the real person of Socialist François Mitterrand, President of France for 14 years (1981-95).

He was also a consummate politician who was not above lying to preserve his position. Although he knew he had prostate cancer and a short life expectancy at the beginning of his first term in office, he never told the public [...].

Shortly before his death in January 1996, the existence of a long-term mistress and a teenage daughter, Mazarine Pingeot, was revealed in the press, which had known about them all along but dared not reveal their existence because of France’s strict privacy laws and for fear of retribution from the president.

A man who did not tolerate opposition lightly, Mitterrand went so far as to order illegal wiretapping of his perceived enemies. Even the actress Carole Bouquet’s phone was tapped, for reasons that are not entirely clear.

And, in an issue treated in the new film, he never really came clean about his participation in the collaborationist Vichy government during World War II before he switched sides and joined the Resistance.

This last bit about the collaboration with dictatorships before switching to the winning democratic side is something many Spanish Socialist politicians know a lot about.

My old post gives more interesting information on Mitterrand.

Love and Freedom.

Discurso de Arcadi Espada para Ciutadans en Madrid

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 08:07:00 +0000

Discurso de Arcadi Espada para Ciutadans en Madrid: Un texto que todo español debería leer.

http://estaticos.elmundo.es/elmundo/blogs/elmundopordentro/documentos/Ciutadans_en_Madrid.pdf

A mi juicio, restablecer la confianza y la complicidad entre españoles debería ser una tarea prioritaria en estos momentos para cualquier partido político. [...]

España no es una idea. Es una acción. Es un Estado de Derecho. Es un pacto constitucional que ha dado a sus habitantes los que probablemente sean los mejores
años de su historia. Pero España, sobre todo, es una acción diversa. Una de las calamidades intelectuales de nuestro tiempo es cómo los nacionalismos se han apoderado del concepto de la diversidad. Porque, paradójicamente, la gran víctima de la hegemonía del nacionalismo, es la diversidad. La garantía de la diversidad catalana, vasca, andaluza, gallega, valenciana, es España. [...]

Un catalán al que limitan su posibilidad de ser español es como un español al que limitaran su posibilidad de ser europeo. Una pérdida injustificable. Un pésimo negocio ciudadano. [...]

España respecto a los nacionalismos, comprendidos los oximorónicos y ornitorrínticos nacionalismos democráticos, es una vigilancia… democrática. [...]

Y ahora me permitirán que firmemente, aunque sin énfasis. Con frialdad y en caja baja. Seco, sinecdótico y sin música les diga viva españa.

Love and Freedom.

Spanish PM Zapatero gone

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 08:02:00 +0000

It scares me to death what these weak politicians who unfortunately rule Spain nowadays might give us up in order not to defend the Nation. Zapatero and his friends resemble Agila II and his gang of witiza-ists, who wouldn't hesitate to sell their own countrymen to the Muslim Caliphate in vengeance.

Love and Freedom.

MBA at LBS: Lesson 1

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:38:00 +0000

Hello again dear readers!

Lots of things have happened since I last wrote to you. For instance, I was accepted to the MBAs of both Insead and London Business School. After a lengthy, careful thought process I chose to join the London Business School. And so here I am, sharing the next two years with other 400+ ambitious potential leaders.

The first lesson from the MBA reinforces an idea I already had: Whereas one of the most difficult things to achieve is to convince someone to change their mind in one-to-one conversations, convincing many people by using techniques of mass persuasion is among the easiest ones.

In our Understanding General Management module we discussed two cases: Honda and Apple. We all know that it is very hard to persuade someone in a one-to-one conversation that Honda is better than Yamaha or that Macs are better than PCs if they already had a predetermined view. The first report of each case conveyed a positive view of the company, which seemed to explain its success; during the debates that followed most people seemed to believe this report and voiced very positive opinions on the leaders of these companies (Soichiro Honda and Steve Jobs).

However, the second report of each case portrayed a more realistic, even slightly negative version of the story to explain the success of the company. Suddenly, almost everyone changed their mind, bought in the last version and suggested they always knew the first version was not realistic and expressed their concerns about the qualities of the company leaders.

It looks like MBA candidates are no better than the average citizen.

Love and Freedom.

Resultados de Ciudadanos en Blanco en las Elecciones Municipales 2011

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Mon, 23 May 2011 21:40:00 +0000

Ciudadanos en Blanco ha conseguido mandar al paro a 4 políticos en España. La primera vez que se dejan escaños vacíos en España.

En Sevilla Ciudadanos en Blanco ha conseguido 2.062 votos (séptimo partido), un éxito teniendo en cuenta que el presupuesto para la campaña ha sido de 40 euros.

En Cádiz Ciudadanos en Blanco ha conseguido 450 votos; está muy bien pues sólo ha habido 2 personas haciendo campaña, una campaña que he patrocinado yo (así que sé lo poquito que nos hemos gastado).

En sus primeras elecciones para la Asamblea de Madrid CenB ha recibido casi 20.000 votos (sexto partido).

En estas elecciones municipales de 2011 ha habido más de 500.000 de votos en blanco en toda España además de los casi 40.000 votos a Ciudadanos en Blanco.

Definitivamente el voto en blanco y los escaños vacíos son opciones que algunos votantes quieren usar. Considerando que es una opción que no es violenta ni va en contra de los derechos humanos establecidos en la Constitución, el voto en blanco computable debería ser legalizado. Si algunos creen que no es una opción interesante, pues que no la voten.

Love and Freedom.

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:43:00 +0000

Should there actually be one, the "contract of the taxpayer with the State" should not include a clause like the following one: "The State shall make every effort to save the life of those citizens who put themselves in danger for private interests."

Such contract should include the following: "Any citizens who put themselves in danger (eg., mountain climbing, working in Lybia) should cover the costs of their rescue if not on a mission ordered by the State".

Love and Freedom.

www.LondonStays.es - Inglés en Londres, Reino Unido y Malta

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 01:56:00 +0000

¡Hola!

Somos LondonStays, una empresa nacida en el entorno estudiantil de la Universidad de Cádiz. VISITA NUESTRA WEB www.LondonStays.es.

En LondonStays gestionamos estancias de estudio en el Reino Unido y Malta (academias, Becas MEC de idiomas, alojamiento, etc.). Nuestro objetivo es ayudarte a aprender inglés mientras disfrutas de una experiencia en el extranjero.

Nuestros precios son los más competitivos del mercado; lo puedes comprobar en www.LondonStays.es o contactando con londonstays@brela.es.

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Para los mayores, también ayudamos a buscar empleo temporal inscribiendo a nuestros clientes, si lo desean, en agencias inglesas de búsqueda de empleo, de "au pair"/"nannies" o de hostelería. Ofrecemos también servicio de traslado desde el aeropuerto y seguro de viaje para la estancia.

Nuestras academias están situadas en la zona céntrica de cada ciudad y son acreditadas por el British Council (equivalente inglés del Instituto Cervantes). El alojamiento puede ser en piso compartido, residencia o familia.

Si tienes alguna duda, puedes llamarnos al teléfono (+34)675013167 o escribirnos un email a londonstays@brela.es. Y VISITA NUESTRA WEB www.LondonStays.es.

Esperamos que confíes en nosotros para tu estancia en Inglaterra.

Un saludo,

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+34 675013167
LondonStays
www.LondonStays.es

Ismael Serrano

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:54:00 +0000

Ismael Serrano has a lovely voice that has made him a millionaire; good for him (and for his listeners). But he has a number of political opinions that make him a stupid ignorant; I feel sorry for him and his (politically-aligned) followers.

Particularly "Papá, cuéntame otra vez" is a sung list of the immature, false, hypocritical political ideas usually held by stubborn losers who don't want to accept that reality continually proves them wrong.

Love and Freedom.

Where is home?

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 20:53:00 +0000

My opinion about where home is located is the following:

Should, at some point in your life, the location where the person who you want to live and found a family with lives coincide geographically with the location where you have a job which you are interested in pursuing long-term, then you are bound to remain at that place, even though you may not have thought about it before. In other words:

(family/partner + interesting job) at some location = that location is your home

...even if it's in the Patagonia.

Until that point in your life, home is usually located where the family of which you are offspring is found.

Love and Freedom.

+++++++++

Mi opinión sobre dónde está tu hogar es el siguiente:

Si en un momento de tu vida el lugar donde vive la persona con la que quieres vivir y fundar una familia coincide geográficamente con el lugar donde tienes un trabajo que te interesa proseguir a largo plazo, en ese sitio acabas quedándote, aunque nunca se te hubiera ocurrido antes. Es decir:

(familia/pareja + trabajo interesante) en cierto lugar = ese lugar es tu casa

... aunque sea en la Patagonia.

Hasta ese momento tu hogar suele localizarse donde se encuentre la familia de la que eres prole.

Amor y Libertad.

La quema de brujas en España

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:00:00 +0000

¿Hemos de creer que en tal o cual ocasión determinada hubo brujería, solamente porque los brujos así lo dicen? No, naturalmente, no debemos creer a los brujos, y los inquisidores creo que no deberán juzgar a nadie a menos que los crímenes puedan ser documentados con pruebas concretas y objetivas, lo suficientemente evidentes como para convencer a los que las oyen.

Alonso de Salazar, Inquisición de Logroño (1690)

Como Marbregal indica acertadamente, gracias a la intervención de Alonso de Salazar el proceso de Logroño de 1690 sería la última vez que la Inquisición española condenaría a muerte a alguien por crímenes de brujería.

Mi comentario a Marbregal:

Alguna vez me comentaste que, en tu opinión, la existencia de la Inquisición Española fue un adelanto judicial a su tiempo, ya que, a través de esta institución, la persecución popular denominada "caza de brujas" fue reconducida por el Estado de modo que hubo algún tipo de reglas formales en su ejecución, al contrario de lo que sucedía (y siguió sucediendo durante varios siglos) en todos los demás países europeos, donde las hordas populares linchaban a las "brujas" sin ningún tipo de enjuiciamiento previo (¡y, por supuesto, sin miramientos!).

Por lo tanto, en contra de la versión llena de desprecio que promueve la leyenda negra española distribuida por el mundo (principalmente por el Reino Unido), la Inquisición Española pudo ser ejemplo de los intentos por desarrollar un código del enjuiciamiento que tuviese en cuenta la igualdad de los ciudadanos ante la ley (continuando la labor iniciada por Francisco de Vitoria y Bartolomé de las Casas con respecto a los nativos americanos).

Bien dices que los juicios no deben ser anacrónicos. Sin embargo, hoy día se hacen juicios anacrónicos con demasiada frecuencia y el narcisismo de la sociedad moderna hace olvidar a sus engreídos miembros que somos enanos a hombros de gigantes.

En las Islas Británicas la brujería estuvo tipificada como crimen punible con la muerte hasta 1735 y la última ejecución por brujería ocurrió en Escocia en 1727. El Acta de 1735 eliminó el crimen de brujería pero lo sustituyó por el delito de fraude; esta Acta fue usada para perseguir gitanos y espiritualistas ¡hasta 1950!

En Francia la última ejecución por brujería tuvo lugar en 1745; en Alemania fue en 1775, en Suiza fue en 1782 y en Polonia, en 1793.

Estas fechas son posteriores al 1690 en casi un siglo y prueban que, pese a la leyenda negra sobre la Inquisición Española, la sociedad española del siglo XVII no estaba más retrasada en este aspecto que el resto de la sociedades europeas.

El retraso de España vino después causado por la ausencia de Revolución Industrial y la política de sumisión a Francia.

Love and Freedom.

Éxito de Escons en Blanc/Ciudadanos en Blanco

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:38:00 +0000

[In English below]

El domingo 28 de noviembre de 2010 tuvieron lugar las elecciones al Parlamento autonómico de Cataluña.

La coalición Escons en Blanco/Ciudadanos en Blanco (Eb/CenB) ha conseguido más de 18.000 votos en dichas elecciones. Este resultado es un éxito teniendo en cuenta que el presupuesto de su campaña era de unos 5.000 euros aproximadamente (según tengo entendido). Comparen este presupuesto con el de los partidos políticos usuales: de los que tienen representantes en el Parlamento de Cataluña, Ciutadans son los que tienen un presupuesto menor, estimado en 200.000 euros. Probablemente el ratio votos/presupuesto de Eb/CenB sea el mayor de todos los partidos políticos que se presentaban a estas elecciones.

Ciudadanos en Blanco es el nombre de la agrupación que intentará presentarse a las elecciones regionales y municipales en toda España. Ciudadanos en Blanco es una agrupación ciudadana de voluntarios que prestan sus nombres para que el voto en blanco compute ya que, según la legislación actual, el voto en blanco (emitido mediante un sobre vacío) es válido pero no cuenta en la distribución de los escaños. Ciudadanos en Blanco se compromete a dejar el escaño vacío, a no cobrar y a reclamar que el voto en blanco sea computable.

Para más información visita www.ciudadanosenblanco.com.

Amor y Libertad.

---------

Elections for the regional Parliament of Catalonia were held on Sunday 28th November 2010.

The coalition Escons en Blanc/Ciudadanos en Blanco (Eb/CenB, Seats in Blank/Citizens in White) has obtained more than 18,000 votes in that election. This result is a success, considering that its campaign budget was about €5,000. Compare this budget with those of the usual political parties: of those parties with representatives in the Parliament of Catalonia, Ciutadans are the ones with a smaller budget, estimated at 200,000 euros. Eb/CenB's votes/budget ratio is probably the greatest of all political parties running in these elections.

Ciudadanos en Blanco (Citizens in White) is the name of the group that will try to stand for council and regional elections in Spain. Ciudadanos en Blanco is a citizen group of volunteers who lend their names to make the blank vote to be computed since, in accordance to current legislation, the blank vote (cast by means of an empty envelope) is valid but does not count towards the distribution of seats. Ciudadanos en Blanco promises to leave the seat empty, to forgo any monies and to work for the blank vote to count in the distribution of seats.

For more information visit www.ciudadanosenblanco.com

Love and Freedom.

Introducing the axis of upheaval

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 02:50:00 +0000

Article written by Niall Ferguson, Professor of History at Harvard University, published by The Times on March 14th, 2009 (as underlined by Borjabrela)

In 2002 George W. Bush warned of an Axis of Evil that was assisting terrorists, acquiring weapons of mass destruction, and "arming to threaten the peace of the world". According to President Bush, the Axis of Evil had three members: Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

Barack Obama faces a larger and potentially more troubling axis: an axis of upheaval. What unites them is not so much their wicked intentions as their instability, which the global financial crisis only makes worse every day.

When Mr Bush's speechwriters coined the phrase Axis of Evil, they were drawing a parallel with the wartime alliance between Germany, Italy and Japan. The axis of upheaval, by contrast, is more reminiscent of the decade before the outbreak of the Second World War, when the Great Depression unleashed a wave of global political crises.

There is good reason to fear that the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression could have comparable consequences for the international system.

Three factors made the location and timing of lethal organised violence more or less predictable in the last century. The first was ethnic disintegration: violence was wordst in areas where majorities lived uneasily side by side with religious or linguistic minorities. The second factor was empires in decline: when imperial rule crumbled, battles for power were most bloody. The third was economic volatility: the greater the magnitude and frequency of economic shocks, the more likely conflict was.

In at least one of the world's regions - the greater Middle East - two of these three factors have been present for som time.

Now the third variable, economic volatility, has returned. The "Great Moderation" has been obliterated by a financial chain reaction now triggering collapses in asset prices, production and trade around the world.

It won't be as bad as the Great Depression that began in 1929 because governments worldwide are trying to repress this new depression with policies undreamt of 80 years ago, but Depression Lite will cause a substantial increase in unemployment and a painful decline in incomes. Such pain nearly always has geopolitical consequences.

There are some parts of the world where upheaval is the norm: Congo, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan. As the global crisis snuffs out what little remains of economic activity, events have fanned the flames of Islamist radicalism: rising unemployment means more frustrated young men with nothing better to do than to fantasise about jihad. Expect also gains for sabre-rattling nationalists.

History suggests that it is precisely when such regimes feel insecure that they are most likely to take foreign policy risks. Vladimir Putin declared at Davos, "Provoking military-political conflicts is also a convenient way of deflecting people's attention from mounting social and economic problems".

The most likely recruits to radical Islamist organisations are not the millions of dirt-poor slumdogs but the relatively well-off educated twentysomethings who have glimpsed prosperity only to have their hopes dashed.

The crisis of globalisation is bringing trouble to parts of the world we thought had been made safe for democracy. The financial crisis is proving to be most sever among the newly industrialised countries of Asia: South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Of the three, Thailand is the most politically vulnerable.

Eastern European countries, many of which were formerly Communist, are paying the price of a reckless borrowing binge: Latvia, Ukraine. The Soviet Union may be gone, but it has left a legacy of Russian minorities all over Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Adding economic volatility to the mix of ethnic disintegration and post-imperial conflict is a recipe for upheaval.

The problem is that, as in the 1930s, most countries are looking inward, grappling with the domestic consequences of the economic crisis and paying little attention to the wider world crisis. This is true even of the US.

The US gross federal debt is going to balloon to 100 per cent of GBP within ten years. For US foreign policy, this implies that resources available for policing the world are certain to be reduced.

Economic volatility, plus ethnic disintegration, plus empires in decline: that combination is about the most lethal in geopolitics. We now have al three. The age of upheaval starts here.

I find this article interesting and accurate. I hope you find it the same.

Love and Freedom.

Sahara Libre Mercado

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Se ruega difusión. Se ruega adjuntar el siguiente santo y seña:

Amor y Libertad.

Please distribute freely. Please attach the following password:

Love and Freedom.

Armistice Day Memorial

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:10:00 +0000

The whole floor at my workplace is right now (11AM, London) observing a two-minute silence in memory of Armistice Day. The silence is overwhelming.

Love and Freedom.

Sesión fantasma en el Congreso

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 00:06:00 +0000

Buenas tardes:

Hay sesiones fantasmas en el Congreso casi todos los días y los diputados sólo aparecen a la hora de la votación para apretar el botoncito según la orden de su jefe de grupo parlamentario. Ved el siguiente vídeo:

¿Qué os apostáis a que, si Ciudadanos en Blanco gana algún escaño, los mismos diputados que ni siquieran iban a trabajar (su trabajo es estar sentados en una silla) prepararán una norma con el objetivo de impedirles dejar el escaño vacío para hacer computable de facto el voto en blanco?

Qué desgracia de partitocracia.

Love and Freedom.

Huerta de Soto delivers 2010 Hayek Lecture at LSE

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 18:47:00 +0000

This year's Hayek Lecture at LSE will be delivered by the leading Austrian School economist Jesús Huerta de Soto, professor at the King Juan Carlos University of Spain.

The Hayek Lectures are organised by The Cobden Centre.

Date: Thursday 28 October 2010
Time: 6.30-8pm (doors open at 6pm)
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building, London School of Economics
Speaker: Professor Jesús Huerta de Soto

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis.

Read Daniel Hannan's mention of Huerta de Soto's on the Daily Telegraph.

You may already know that I am a proud member of the Libertarian Pulguitas Society, i.e., the group of Spanish libertarians living in London who met through the reading of Albert Esplugas's blog and who have monthly "quedadas" to conspire against the State. As already noted by my co-conspirator Random Spaniard, the members of the Libertarian Pulguitas Society will attend Huerta de Soto's lecture. Everyone is invited and we hope to convince you to join the libertarian movement.

Love and Freedom.

La democracia es incompatible con el socialismo (y viceversa)

noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:46:00 +0000

Francisco Largo Caballero dijo 20 de enero de 1936 en la provincia de Jaén:

“La clase obrera debe adueñarse del poder político, convencida de que la democracia es incompatible con el socialismo, y como el que tiene el poder no ha de entregarlo voluntariamente, por eso hay que ir a la Revolución.”

Los socialistas, ya sean nacionalistas como los partidarios de los Nazis o descafeinados y corporativistas como los partidarios del PSOE, no son demócratas por definición.

Esta incompatibilidad de los socialistas con la democracia y con la libertad se muestra una vez más en el acoso infame a Jesús Gómez Ruiz, concejal del PP en Leganés, vilipendiado por estatistas y demás sectarios autoritaristas de España por expresar la siguiente opinión liberal en su artículo Los principios de la legislación española sobre educación donde criticaba que se conceda al Estado la suprema capacidad para decidir los límites de la libertad religiosa, o lo que es una "secta" o lo que constituye una "educación integral" de los alumnos. Gómez Ruiz termina su crítica con un corolario:

“Si concedemos al Estado la suprema capacidad de decidir los límites de la libertad religiosa, lo que es una "secta", y lo que constituye una educación "integral", habremos entronizado el despotismo. Por el mismo expediente, habría que desposeer a los padres comunistas de la tutela de sus hijos, por pertenecer a la secta más criminal que la Historia jamás haya visto y por inculcar a sus hijos una representación teórica de la realidad absolutamente falsa que les provocará en el futuro serios problemas de adaptación social y un agudo sentimiento de infelicidad; y acto seguido enviar a estos niños (y a los padres también) sin pérdida de tiempo a un ‘campo de reeducación’ ”.

Gómez Ruiz deja claro en su artículo que él no está de acuerdo en que se conceda al Estado tal suprema capacidad por lo que tampoco está de acuerdo en desposeer a los padres comunistas de la tutela de los hijos. Esta tolerancia con el discrepante y la defensa de la libertad de expresión, a pesar de que permite a los estatistas continuar propagando sus mentiras y seguir agrediendo a los ciudadanos, es parte indispensable del ideario liberal. Es una más de las cualidades que nos diferencias de los estatistas, intolerantes de la libertad individual por definición.

Love and freedom.



Jonathan Tepper on TV3: "Spanish fiesta has ended so, if you want jobs, lower real salaries"
noreply@blogger.com (borjabrela) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 00:16:00 +0000
Jonathan Tepper, partner in the Variant Perception, is considered an expert on Spanish economy since he produced a report on the Spanish banks in August 2009: "Spain: The Hole In Europe's Balance Sheet", where he said something like "Investors are smoking crack if they believe that Spanish banks  are among the strongest in Europe". Here you have it (on TV3!!):



Le he comentado a él directamente: 

Lo has clavado, estoy de acuerdo con todo lo que has dicho (¡que siendo 30 minutos hablando es decir mucho!). 

Sólo  por buscar tres pies al gato creo que perdiste una oportunidad buenísima para  gritar "End the FED!!" cuando en el minuto 38 el entrevistador se quejó  de la hipocresía de los bancos. Los bancos piden prestado dinero fiat  baratito al BCE sufragado por inflación y riesgo socializado entre los  ciudadanos europeos y prestan al gobierno llevándose el carry trade. La  única solución para eso es la separación del monopolio del dinero y de  los tipos de interés del poder estatal. La socialización de las  pérdidas de los amiguetes del gobierno es un ejemplo de "fallo de  Gobierno" que puede ser solucionado con más y mejor Mercado.
 
Y segundo: estoy de acuerdo en que muchos jóvenes españoles no  tienen los estudios adecuados y por tanto no producen más que un valor de €400 de  salario, pero esto no es porque no haya gasto en educación, al revés,  sino porque hay demasiado gasto público en educación pero es un derroche total. Con chavales estudiando hasta los 16 años cuando ni quieren ni son capaces;  con un sistema educativo basado en las chorradas socialistas, progresistas,  following Labour's "comprehensive school" model; pero, sobre todo,  con una epidemia de TITULITIS de universitarios que se dedican a beber mientras aprueban  Turismo, Psicología o Ciencias Audiovisuales cuando no hay demanda para  ellos cuando salen de la universidad y terminan trabajando donde hay  demandas de trabajadores (en Carrefour y en Agroman). El desastre de la educación pública es otro ejemplo de "fallo de Gobierno" que puede ser solucionado con más y mejor Mercado.
 
Y parafraseo al Sr. Tepper: "The Spanish fiesta has ended so, if you want jobs, lower real salaries"

Love and Freedom.