I ARA CONTRA ECS-PANYA!

Felicitem-nos de la victòria de Catalunya al Mundial d'Hoquei. I ARA CONTRA ECS-SPANYA! A matxacar-los! Sincerament penso que ara és el moment -quan s'aconsegueixi el reconeixement- que els catalans que juguen a la selecció ecs-panyola facin un pas endavant i es plantin. Que es neguin a jugar amb l'ecs-panyola, i que s'ho muntin el Raposo i la resta de morralla ... i que es preparin perquè els esclafarem com a formigues.

Fins ara, objectivament, no es podia exigir a un jugador català que renunciés a jugar amb la selecció ecs-panyola (o amb la francesa). I no es podia perquè llavors se'l posava en un compromís (benentès, si hi renunciava calia aplaudir-lo, perquè feia molt més que, per exemple, els responsables de l'esport català, particularment el seguit d'inútils que van ocupar el càrrec de secretari general de l'esport en l´època CiU: ara recordo, els germans Sust, en Camuñas, en Vilaseca, l'únic a salvar -una mica, no gaire- és en Maldonado). Vull recordar, en aquest sentit, el jugador de bàsquet Roger Esteller, un patriota de pedra picada

Però un cop es donen les condicions objectives, és a dir, el reconeixement de la federació catalana per la federació internacional corresponent, llavors sí que és el moment, per l'esportista, de mullar-se. Doncs bé, optar per Catalunya, fer un pas endavant, positiu i engrescador.

Dilluns, tots amb la selecció d'hoquei.

Spanish king embarked on bear, wild boar hunt in Romania

"He is king. So what? We consider him a butcher."

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Spanish King Hunts Protected Species in Romania

A pack of hunters led by King Juan Carlos I of Spain killed nine bears, a wolf and a boar in a raid through the forests of central Romania last weekend. The bears and the wolf belong to species protected by international conventions Romania is part of, Romania Libera writes.
For its part, Ev. Zilei quotes a local environmental organization: "He is king. So what? We consider him a butcher."

The news of the hunt came to light through sources close to the environmental group AVES Foundation, active in the Covasna region. They told Romania Libera the hunters covered an area of several thousands hectares and were helped by some 50 peasants recruited from villages in the area.

The sources claim the king's men managed to bring down nine bears of little relevance as hunting trophies, according to the newspaper.

Despite Romanian PM Adrian Nastase's reputation as "the chief hunter of Romania", King Carlos was not invited by Romanian authorities, but by a group of Americans, according to an organizer of the event, quoted by Ev. Zilei.

Sarcany Arpad, owner of a Sfantu Gheorghe-based firm, claims he has been organizing such events for the Royal House for ten years. He says the Americans covered all the costs this time.

Arpad's toll differs from that of Romania Libera. 14 animals - five bears, two boars and a wolf among others - were shot down, he says, pointing that the King killed the wolf and a bear personally.

The environmental group Aves in Odorheiul Secuiesc, a town in the region, says it had learned "disgustedly" about the King's raid from its own sources. "Such bloody parties have been organized for dictators only... He is king, so what? We consider him a butcher", Aves says.

"If one goes to Africa, he can shoot a lion or an elephant, but one cannot bring down ten elephants at a time", the group president Laszlo Szabo-Szeley says.

Ev. Zilei writes the King was hosted at one of the hunting chalets that once belonged to Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. A local forestry official said the overall costs of the event rose to some 1.5 billion ROL (some 375,000 euro).

12 oct 2004

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Spanish king embarked on bear, wild boar hunt in Romania

BUCHAREST (AFP) Monday October 11, 2004

AFP/File

Spain's King Juan Carlos took part in a weekend hunt for bear and wild boar in central Romania as part of a private visit to the region, organisers said.

An official of the organisers, Abies Hunting, told AFP on condition of anonymity that the "Spanish king spent last weekend at Covasna and we finalised the details of the hunt. That's all I can say."

"The king arrived Friday evening and he stayed at a hunting lodge of Nicolae Ceausescu, where the former dictator often went before the fall of Communism in 1989," said Bardocs Csaba, mayor of Batani near the Carpathians forest where the Spanish king hunted.

"The hunting party itself took place on Saturday and from what I heard the king is supposed to have killed four or five bears and two wild boar," he added.

The Romanian agriculture ministry says some 342 bears and 555 wolves will be available for hunting in Romania next year but the figures are contested by environmental groups.

They say the brown bear population has dropped by 60 percent over the last three years in Romania.

But Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, who is also chairman of the Romanian Association of Hunters, has strongly rejected the criticism.

THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT HONORS NAZIS

The past 12th October, during the celebration of the Spanish National Day, the Spanish state held a military parade in its capital Madrid. In this military parade also took part an old member of the “Division Azul” (Blue Division).

The “Division Azul” was an army of Spanish volunteers formed with the help of the fascist dictatorship of Franco, and this “Division Azul” went to fight next to the German Nazis during the Second World War from 1941 to 1945. They also made an oath of loyalty to Hitler.

The “Division Azul” was also known as the 250 Wehrmacht Infantry Division and was part of the nacionalsocialist forces put on trial by the International Tribunal of Nuremberg, and found guilty of committing crimes against peace and mankind.

The present Spanish government allowed to a soldier of the “Division Azul” to parade during the Spanish National Day…this is nothing else than the continuation of the same fascist government formed by the dictator General Franco (1939-1975), whom not only collaborated with the Nazis, but also persecuted the Catalan nation, its language and its culture killing thousands of Catalan people throughout the process.

Today 15th October takes place the commemoration of the murder of the Catalan President Lluís Companys, executed in October 1940 by the Spanish occupation forces after being handed over by the Nazis.

The present Spanish government has refused to apologize to the Catalan people and the family of the Catalan president executed by them, but the Spanish government makes homage to a soldier of the Nazis.

This gives away the real nature of the present Spanish state..



EXCERPT FROM freecatalonia.com

Leyla Zana: Kurds seek a peaceful solution within the territorial integrity of Turkey
 
Address by Leyla Zana, laureate of the Sakharov Prize in 1995
14.10.2004

Welcoming Leyla ZANA to the Chamber, President Josep BORRELL said Parliament was delighted to be able to hear her voice at last. When she had been awarded the Sakharov prize in 1995, the then EP President Klaus HÄNSCH had said MEPs were waiting impatiently for this day.

Mr Borrell said that when Mrs Zana had spoken her promise in Kurdish to work for the brotherhood of the Kurdish and Turkish people upon her election to the Turkish Parliament, she had done so in full knowledge of the likely consequences. She had paid a high price in lost years and in terms of her health. He praised her refusal to remain silent and her refusal to accept release on health grounds. Recalling Parliament's many resolutions demanding her release, he told Mrs Zana that her struggle had contributed to substantial changes in Turkey, such as the end of martial law and the fact that use of Kurdish was no longer banned. He praised her call upon her release for the Kurdish groups to maintain their cease fire. Finally, speaking in Kurdish, the President told her Parliament was honoured by her presence.

Leyla Zana responded by thanking the President both in Catalan and Spanish. She gave her address to Parliament partly in Turkish and partly in Kurdish.

Spanish National Day is rancid and out-dated. It's ongoing evidence that the central government in Madrid cannot tolerate political plurality in Spain
Marina Llansana,
Catalan Left Party



Parade exposes Spain's deep rifts

By Katya Adler
BBC, Madrid

"It's like asking a holocaust victim to appear in a parade with a former Nazi," said Gaspar Llamazares, the leader of Spain's opposition United Left Party.

He wasn't the only one to express distaste at the appearance in Spain's National Day parade this year of veterans from both sides of Spain's Civil War.

Marchers included those from the defeated Republican Army and from the Blue Division, loyal to Spain's military dictator Francisco Franco - which fought alongside the Nazis during World War II.

Many Spaniards, including Mr Llamazares chose to boycott Wednesday's festivities as a result.

"It's an insult to all those who died during Franco's dictatorship," said a group of students, who had organised an anti-National Day meeting in a Madrid Cafe. "But more than that, it's an insult to democrats everywhere."

But the Spanish Defence Minister, Jose Bono, defended his controversial decision to invite all Spanish veterans to the annual event.

"Look, I'm a socialist. I fought against Franco. I don't support the Blue Division but I do support Spain and this is a part of Spanish history.

"On National Day, one should be generous. And think about it - if you left out all the Spaniards you may not agree with: the Reconquistas, the Carlists, the Fascists... You wouldn't have many people left. It's all Spain."

Divisions
Many Spaniards agree with him.

Teacher Maria, in the crowds gathered along Madrid's main boulevard, said: "Spain can't go forward until we have a past.

"We have to face up to the parts of our history we don't like, in order to have the chance for a healthy future."

But this where the irony lies.

Jose Bono said he planned the gesture as a symbol of reconciliation, of peace and harmony in modern Spain. In fact it just emphasised the deep political rifts that still exist in Spanish society and that date back to the Spanish Civil War.

It's not really surprising.

Germany began its process of national reflection, of coming to terms with its dark Nazi past, immediately after losing the war in 1945.

But in Spain the 'bad guy' won. Francisco Franco's military dictatorship lasted for 40 years and when it ended, Spaniards were too frightened to rock the boat of their fragile democracy (the last attempted military coup in Spain was in 1981).

And so they chose to look forward, rather than looking back.

Unpatriotic
Yet the past hangs like a suffocating blanket over modern Spain. Unmarked mass Republican graves dating back to the Civil War are found all over the country.

Modern political debate can easily slide back into the old insults of the past.

During the Civil War, the Republicans carried their red, yellow and purple flag. Many left-wing organisations in Spain (though not the Socialist Party) still bring that flag to street demonstrations.

It was a common sight, for example, during the anti-Iraq war demonstrations here.

"The flag issue" as it's often referred to here, sparked another controversy during Wednesday's celebrations. Though this time, it wasn't Civil War related.

In a nod to Spain's 17 regions, with their varying degrees of autonomy and desire for eventual independence, the official words dedicated to Spanish citizens who lost their lives for their country were changed this year.

A sentence declaring: "They would not have died under any other flag", was omitted.

Tolerance
As a result, the regional Catalan President, Pasqual Maragall, decided to attend the Madrid celebrations for the very first time.

But what was celebrated as a coup in Madrid, was blasted in Barcelona by other Catalan nationalist politicians.

Marina Llansana, of the Catalan Left Party, ERC, said Mr Maragall had no business participating in a Spanish military parade.

"Spanish National Day is rancid and out-dated," she said. "It's ongoing evidence that the central government in Madrid cannot tolerate political plurality in Spain."

In the end, this year's National Day celebrations were overshadowed by controversy - and not just on a domestic level.

The annual festivities mark the day Spain's role in the world changed forever - when, on 12 October 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered the Caribbean islands during a Spanish-sponsored expedition.

Neighbours
Spain's changing role on the modern world stage was evident during the military parade.

French soldiers were invited to take part, whereas the US marines, present at the event since the 11 September attacks three years ago, were struck off the guest list.

Ever since his election earlier in 2004, the new Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has shown a strong determination to befriend France and Germany and a definite disregard for what Washington wants.

As was evident from his swift withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq this May.

Perhaps Spain's new foreign policy can best be described as a forward march towards Europe and an about-turn on the United States.



Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/3738684.stm

Published: 2004/10/13 15:57:34 GMT

© BBC MMIV

BALLANT AMB NAZIS: MARAGALL I EL DIA DE LA RAÇA

L'espectacle ofert per Maragall, el president-zombie, i ara també, el president amic dels feixistes, nazis i franquistes, ha arribat al límit. Aquest individu no sap el que és no fer el ridícul. Ell sí que fa el ridícul, i molt. L'insult que molts catalans i catalanes que se senten representats per aquest individu -no és el meu cas, però- han rebut quan han vist que ha assistit a un akelarre feixistoide, organitzat per un fill de falangista -ja ho vaig dir en un post anterior: els pares de la Falange, els fills del GAL, tot queda a casa- i amb un representant de la Division Azul com a actor principal, és del tot intolerable.

A partir d'ara, quan qualsevol rata sociata parli de progressisme i globalització i titlli de no sé què als independentistes, doncs nosaltres ja sabem què hem de dir. Maragall, feixista. Maragall, nazi.

I és que la veritat, en Maragall ha fet història, petita, però història. No s'ha posat a l'alçada d'un Prat de la Riba, d'un Francesc Macià, d'un Lluís Companys, d'un Josep Irla o fins i tot, fins i tot, d'un Josep Tarradellas, no. En Pasquis s'ha posat a l'alçada d'un Alfons Sala, president de la Union Monárquica Nacional i de la Mancomunitat, nomenat digitalment (a dit) per Primo de Rivera, el 1923. S'ha posat a l'alçada de tots aquells que assumiren el càrrec de president de la Generalitat entre octubre del 34 i febrer del 36, és a dir, quan l'Estatut del 32 es va suspendre. S`ha posat a l'alçada de tots els col.laboracionistes amb el franquisme, incloent-hi, per descomptat el seu protector, Josep M. Porcioles, o el seu íntim, Joan Antoni Samaranch i de tota aquesta trepa que també guanyaren la transició (bé, excepte dos, que, aquests sí, passaren per (la) caixa).

De fet, això no pot estranyar ningú. És públic i notori que en Maragall és cada cop més col.lega d'en Piqué i de tota la patuleia pepera (per exemple, de l'inefable Enrique Lacalle). El problema Maragall comença a agafar dimensions preocupants. Aquest individu ens pot ficar en un carreró sense sortida.

SOBRE EL "CATALANISTA QUÍMICAMENT PUR" I ALTRES REFLEXIONS

En Maragall s'ha autodefinit com a "catalanista químicament pur" i no com a nacionalista. Algunes reflexions al respecte.

1. En primer lloc, sobta la reinvindicació de la "puresa" en un individu com aquest. Fins ara ens tenia acostumats a bescantar aquest concepte, sobretot quan teoritzava sobre la cultura catalana. S'ha de ser mestís, multicultural, plural i no sé quantes bajanades més, sempre i quan no se sigui "purament català" o "català" ras i curt. Aquesta visió ha fet forat fins i tot en alguns amics, coneguts i saludats meus, que arriben a sentir vergonya de tenir els dos cognoms catalans, perquè els fa massa de la ceba. De fet, he comprovat que existeix una determinada fauna, a Vic, a Girona, per exemple, que els emprenya ser "tan" catalans, que es passen amb bous i esquelles a l'espanyolisme pretesament cosmopolita, línia "El País". I és que només et pots dir Sánchez o Pérez, per sentir-te ciutadà del món, ser "cool" i "fashion". Fixeu-vos a quin nivell d'autodi s'ha arribat en aquest país. El mateix autodi que et pot fer votar a favor del Tractat que pretén establir la dita Constitució Europea, que ens nega com a poble i com a llengua.

2. En la frase d'en Maragall, hi ha implícit que el nacionalisme és una, en termes agustinians, degradació del catalanisme. El catalanisme és pur, el nacionalisme és degradat. Aquesta és clarament una visió que pretén legitimar el catalanisme provinicalista o regionalista del segle XIX, quan encara el nacionalisme (incloent l'independentisme) no s'havia desenvolupat doctrinàriament i orgànica. Maragall, doncs, blasma tota la "falsa ruta" que representen aquelles formacions que defensen que Catalunya és una nació i que per aquest motiu té el dret a decidir el seu futur de forma sobirana, a autodeterminar-se. De passada, Maragall, també insulta als milers de morts (al camp de batalla, assassinats pels nazis o pels espanyols) que van donar la vida per aquests ideals. Per Maragall, Catalunya ha de ser una "província" o una "regió" oberta, simpàtica i ecs-panyola de pro.

3. El discurs federalista que acompanya al seu "catalanisme" és una enganyifa. En primer lloc, el federalisme catalanista era clarament sobiranista, mentre que el federalisme maragallià és ecs-panyolista fins al moll de l'ós. En segon lloc, a l'Estat ecs-panyol no hi ha ningú que es vulgui federar amb la Catalunya maragalliana. Bé, potser les Illes, el País Valencià (a partir del 2007) i fins i tot l'Aragó (tot i que ho dubto). Si és així jo m'hi apunto. Però l'Ecs-panya de debò, quan sent parlar de federalisme, treuen les pistoles.

Altres temes. El criminal i assassí, condemnat a 70 anys, Rodríguez Galindo, general de la Guàrdia Civil, membre del GAL, i protegit principal de Felipe González, ha sortit de la presó "per motius de salut". Caram, caram, amb el tarannà Zapatero. Suposo que ha sortit perquè està en estat terminal, perquè és només quan s'està en aquest estat, que la resta de presos reben l'ordre d'excarceració, i fins i tot n'hi ha alguns que moren dins de les cel.les per manca d'una atenció sanitària adient. Penso que aquest favor que Zapatitos ha fet al senyor X , no ha estat prou denunciat. I és que l'estat de dret, serveix pel que serveix, per passar-se per l'arc del triomf, els grans principis.