An Artist should really have a sense of his culture and community.

An artist who created a memorial for those killed in a dam disaster has sparked outrage after referring to Welsh language activists as the “Taliban”.
Giovanni Jacovelli, who produced a replacement memorial for 16 people who died after a dam failed and flooded Dolgarrog in 1925, caused controversy when he made the remark on Twitter.

After people questioned why the memorial was not also written in Welsh, he said:
He seems to have now deleted it

His comments sparked anger on the social media platform.
North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones was one of those to express his disappointment in the comments made by the currently-closed Conwy Valley Maze owner.

He said:

 “Shameful comment about my first language and culture, you should apologise and withdraw gracefully.”

 My own response  was
  Glyn Morris‏ @glynbeddau 22h22 hours ago

It's a pisspoor "artist" who has no feeling for community.

Mr Jacovelli  seems to have deleted  the  Tweet

 
He sems to be not entirely to blame for the area created the new memorial after a request from Dolgarrog Community Council.

Dafydd Williams, chairman of the community council, said he planned to speak with councillors to see if a translation of the memorial could be included.

“Mr Jacovelli has done a marvellous job in putting this together and when I asked him to do this job I told him that we wanted it to be the same as the old memorial.

“It wasn’t in Welsh either and I had said to do it the same.”
Cllr Williams said it was “my slip up” and said he was hopeful something could be done about it.

But surely the Council saw some preliminary sketches and approved Mr
Jacovelli's work before it started.

Even if he is not entirely to blame Mr Jacovelli response to criticism was appalling and he seems to have form 

In 2014 Members of Trefriw Community Council,council called police after Giovanni Jacovelli took it upon himself to gild carved wreath citing 'criminal damage'

I dn't know how good an artist Mr Jacovell is but he seems to be full of his sense of importance and if he seems to need to meet criticism positively especially when it's not a criticism of his art but of what is missing in this circumstance.
 

Casablanca and Catalonia two anthems against tyrrany,

This is not the first time I have alluded to the film Casablanca but as we see an authoritarian  government  trying to crush the independence movement in Catalonia  its worth revisiting this moment.

The visiting Nazi party decides to celebrate at Rick’s club, by starting a chorus of Die Wacht am Rhein much to the chagrin of everybody around them. Having had enough of it, freedom fighter Victor Laszlo starts up the band and with Rick’s approving nod they begin to play the French national anthem La Marseillaise. Soon all of the refugees from the Nazi’s war on Europe begin to sing along out the Nazi officers who eventually are forced to give up.

 

But it Madeleine Lebeau face that sums it all up

In Casablanca Lebeau's Yvonne was rejected by Bogart's Rick following a one-night stand.

She was seen drowning her sorrows at his nightclub, before making another drunken pass at him, after which he tasked a bartender with taking her home.

Yvonne later returned on the arm of a German soldier

The camera captures the (genuine) tears on her face, and later at the end of the anthem when she cries out Vive la France. France had fallen to Nazi forces, and many of the actors including Lebeaau performing in the scene were real life refugees from Europe^.

^{I write this because  the Independence movement  in Catalonia has been portrayed as a rich "region" of Spain wishing to stop subsidising  the rest of the country.}

 ^{The truth is that it is as a result of a long a long history of seeking independence  the last seeing  in 1914, the four Catalan provinces formed a commonwealth, and with the return of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939), the Generalitat of Catalonia was restored as an autonomous government. After the Spanish Civil War, the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan institutions and banning the official use of the Catalan language again.}

^{It is not a crude Blood and Soil Nationalism indeed the proponents argue they are not Nationalists but Indpendistas.}

For them however The reapers Catalonia´s national anthem is as potent as La Marseillaise

Els Segadors “The reapers” was already regarded as national anthem of Catalonia long before the Catalan government made that official in 1931. However, during Franco’s dictatorship, after the Spanish civil war, the song was forbidden and singing the hymn (or just talking Catalan) was punished heavily.
For 45 years the hymn survived nonetheless, and in 1976 people were allowed to sing it again. However, another 17 years had to pass, before the song, was officially declared national anthem of Catalonia for the second time in 1993.
The anthem is about the Guerra dels Segadors, (“The reapers’ war”), between 1640 and 1659. In its war with France (1635-1659) Spain had demanded that Catalunya supplies money and men to the Castilian army and forced Catalan peasants (mostly reapers) to accomodate Castilian soldiers.
The reapers suffered abuse, violence and exploitation which in May 1640 led to an uprising and The Reapers’ War that would last 19 years.

In Casablanca the singing of La Marseillaise was seen as a defiance of fascist tyranny . Today it  Els Segadors that is sound bacdeop of a stand against fasist tyranny.

Unfortunately most of Europe is not listening.

Jane Who?

Killer  Pub Quiz question?

Who is the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats?

Answer: Jane Dodds 

 How many if it was asked in the hundred such contest  held throughout Wales will get it right?

 Jane Dodds.She beat her only rival for the job Elizabeth Evans, taking 53.1% of the vote, after five weeks of campaigning. has just become the new leader of the Liberal Democrats in Wales

Ms Dodds replaces Mark Williams, who stepped down after losing his Ceredigion seat in June's general election.
She said: "It's an absolute honour to be elected as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats."
The party currently has no MPs in Wales; its only AM is Kirsty Williams, education secretary in the Welsh Government.
"Wales needs the Welsh Liberal Democrats more than ever," added Ms Dodds.
Ms Dodds received 587 votes, with Ms Evans getting 519. Turnout was 35.3%.

Ms Dodds has become leader with the Party having no Welsh MPs and their singular  Assembly member is locked into the Welsh Labour Government where she is unable as I wrote Yesterday to make the sort of impression that she made  on the opposition benches.

The situation means that the Liberal Democrats here in Wales had to change their rule book as previously the welsh leader had to be either a MP or AM.

According to her LibDem profile

Jane Dodds is a Welsh speaker, having been born and raised in Wrexham, North Wales and studied at Cardiff University. She then trained to be a social worker in child protection and has continued to work in that area for the last 20 years.
She has worked in local authorities and has also headed up the Children’s Section at the Refugee Council, supporting children from war torn countries who arrive in the United Kingdom on their own without family.
Jane has been a local councillor, with a Cabinet portfolio on affordable housing, and is a trustee of a Family Centre in Welshpool. She lives in Welshpool with her husband Patrick and is committed to fighting for Montgomeryshire.

I urge  the Welsh Liberal Democrats to create a Wikipedia page ASP, it a sign of the times that a Politician without one is a sign they are a loser

Min y to date Ms Dodds has faled in her attempts to get elected to either Westminster or Cardiff Bay

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2017: Montgomeryshire^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Glyn Davies	18,075	51.8	6.8
	Liberal Democrat	Jane Dodds	8,790	25.2	4.1
	Labour	Iwan Wyn Jones	5,542	15.9	10.3
	Plaid Cymru	Aled Hughes	1,960	5.6	0.4
	Green	Richard Chaloner	524	1.5	2.2
Majority			9,285	26.6	10.8
Turnout			34,891	70.1	0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.5

General election 2015: Montgomeryshire^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Glyn Davies	15,204	45.0	+3.7
	Liberal Democrat	Jane Dodds[11]	9,879	29.3	−8.6
	UKIP	Des Parkinson[12]	3,769	11.2	+7.8
	Labour	Martyn Singleton[13]	1,900	5.6	−1.5
	Plaid Cymru	Ann Griffith[14]	1,745	5.2	−3.1
	Green	Richard Chaloner	1,260	3.7	N/A
Majority			5,325	15.8	+12.3
Turnout			33,757	69.3	−0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.2

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Russell George	9,875	41.8	-1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Jane Dodds	6,536	27.7	-5.9
	UKIP	Des Parkinson	2,458	10.4	+10.4
	Plaid Cymru	Aled Hughes	2,410	10.2	-1.1
	Labour	Martyn Singelton	1,389	5.9	-5.5
	Green	Richard Chaloner	932	3.9	+3.9
Majority			3,339	14.1	+4.0
Turnout			23,600	48.5	+1.3

Ms Dodds is in a Catch 22 situation at the moment she needs to win a Parliamentary seat or more importantly an Assembly seat to raise her profile, but she needs a higher profile in order to to so,

Currently her chances in either  even on the Assembly lists look remote though events at Westminster are changing fast.

Four years ago Kirsty Williams  was 23rd  among the "Top 50 most influential Liberal Democrats:" according to the Telegraph,

I doubt Jane Dodds would make the top 100 now and one wonders apart from the 1000 plus Welsh LibDems (I am surprised there's that many)   who voted in the leadership election and political wonks like my self how many people will have heard of her.

The tasks she faces his huge and I wish her well. I would much prefer  7 Welsh LibDems (as part of a protest vote) in the assembly than 7 a Ukip clowns.

But if Ms Dodds fails to win either a Parliamentary seat or join Kirsty Williams in the Assembly she may well become remembered for being a Pub Quiz question that stumps the participants.

DET joins La Pasionaria in becoming a Labour Puppet.

So Independent AM and former Plaid Cymru leader Dafydd Elis-Thomas is to join the Welsh Government as a minister.

Labour First Minister Carwyn Jones has announced a wide-ranging cabinet reshuffle - promoting five AMs.
"Lord" Elis-Thomas will be minister for culture, tourism and sport - a deputy to economy secretary Ken Skates.

So what is in it for DET apart from a junior Cabinet position under  the man responsible for the Iron Ring debacle? 

Could he have come to some agreement with Labour if he intends to stand again in Dwyfor Merionith? 

He currently has a healthy majority in the last Assembly Elections

Welsh Assembly Election 2016: Dwyfor Meirionnydd

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Plaid Cymru	Dafydd Elis-Thomas	9,566	47.3	+0.7
	Conservative	Neil Fairlamb	3,160	15.6	−4.8
	Labour	Ian MacIntyre	2,443	12.1	−0.6
	UKIP	Frank Wykes	2,149	10.6	+10.6
	Independent	Louise Hughes	1,259	6.2	+6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Churchman	916	4.5	−0.3
	Green	Alice Hooker-Stroud	743	3.7	+3.7
Majority			6,406
Turnout				46.7
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing	+0.4

The assumption is that if he stood as an Independent he would win though he could possibly split the ( I was going to say Nationlist vote) Plaid vote and gift the seat to the Tories  who also came second in the UK General Election.

General Election 2017: Dwyfor Meirionnydd^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Plaid Cymru	Liz Saville Roberts	13,687	45.1	+4.2
	Conservative	Neil Fairlamb	8,837	29.1	+6.4
	Labour	Mathew Norman	6,273	20.7	+7.2
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Churchman	937	3.1	-0.9
	UKIP	Frank Wykes	614	2.0	-8.8
Majority			4,850	16.0	-2.2
Turnout			30,312	68.0	+2.9
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing	-1.1

But Labour must also fancy their chances would really stand aside for what after all is a political Maverick?

There may be an opportunity for Jac O' the North New Nationalist Party to enter the mix.



Could DET have promised to  endorse a Labour Candidate if he chooses not to stand though this has been something of a curse in the past such  when surged Plaid, Conservative and Liberal Democrat supporters to give their first or second preference votes to David Taylor Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales, saying he wants to “stop Ukip in their tracks”.

It was won by Plaid's Arfon Jones (possibly the PCC in the UK)

DET is 71 not particularly old and may not be thinking of entering retirement just yet.

After all ending  his political career as Junior Minister in "Not a Coalition"  where like the former Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams  he will find he has no Independence and will be a Labour Puppet.

The former La Pasionaria was possibly the most effect speaker on the Opposition benches and the Assembly is worse off as she is silenced  by joining Carwyn's government.

But he still will have his Peerage and could possibly count of that to ensure he does not enter obscurity and will still be able to take the occasional dig at his former party.

Which may be his only goal in life these days.

Madrid seeks to end democracy in Catalonia.

Surely the news that a judge in Madrid has ordered eight members of the deposed Catalan government to be remanded in custody pending possible charges over last week’s declaration of independence should awaken anyone who supports democracy  to what  is probably the worst attack on demonically elected official   in Europe in living memory

Carmen Lamela, sitting in Spain’s national court, jailed the eight former ministers – including Puigdemont’s deputy, Oriol Junqueras – on Thursday while they are investigated on possible charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds.

The Madrid Government   will probably use this to disbar candidates in their  imposed elections in December.

There has also be suggestions that if Pro-Independence parties win in December  Madrid will dissolve the parliament again.


The referendum was approved by the Catalan parliament in a session on 6 September 2017 along with a law which states that independence would be binding with a simple majority, without requiring a minimum turnout. After being suspended, the law was finally declared void on 17 October and is also illegal according to the Catalan Statutes of Autonomy which require a two third majority in the Catalan parliament for any change to Catalonia's status.


This is the excuse many on the British Liberal  Left use to support the Heirs of Franco in Madrid.

But it is a false argument the Statues of Autonomy  were set by Madrid to prevent any "Regions" of Spain voting to secede.

It is an argument that Apartheid was legal because the government in South Africa at the time said so

Even a two thirds majority in the Catalan Parliament would still have had the same response from Madrid. 

First and foremost, the Spanish Constitutional Court already declared the referendum illegal after it was challenged by Spain's central government. The Court cited the Constitution of 1978 which talks of the sovereignty of the Spanish people and the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation in Articles 1 and 2 respectively. Moreover, this is not the first time Catalonia faced opposition from the judiciary. The Court, in 2010, discarded a change to the Constitution that would have given the Catalan language, spoken by more than 75% of the Catalan population, a preferential status. 


Prior to the referendum, opinion polls showed that 71% of the population wanted the referendum to be held, but only 41% were likely to vote 'yes'. 

But what of the vote itself?

As John Dixon over at Borthlas points out?

 It’s true that, on a 100% turnout, and assuming that everyone who didn’t vote would have voted against independence, the unionists would have won.  I’ve touched on the actual figures before; the problem with that assertion is that it makes too many assumptions, amongst them that the deceased could not only have voted enthusiastically, but would also have unanimously voted against independence.  Given the actual figures that we do have, it’s hard to see on any turnout less than 99% how the unionists could ever have won; and I find it hard to believe that, even on a very good day, the turnout could have been higher than 90%.  70% is a much more likely figure, and with 37.8% already having been counted as voting yes, the yes side had an unassailable lead.

In Australia where voting is compulsory in the 2017 House of Representatives election Turnout was 90.98% and  additionally the number of Informal Votes (Spoilt Ballots) was 5.05%.

Clearly if we accept  the ballot was counted fairly then the Yes vote would have won.

Yet the argument is still put forward that the vote was illegal and the assumption that those who did not vote would have led to rejection of Catalan Independence constantly made.

Those who are doing so would be better off arguing that a free and fair Referendum should be held n the Independence question , but they side with those in Madrid who declare this will never happen.

Public to be kept in dark over Welsh Rail Franchise tenders,

A Welsh Government spokesperson said the franchise process was designed to see "experts in the field deliver the best solutions for Wales - ensuring that every pound spent has a direct benefit to passengers and communities".
The government added the invite included "sensitive details" which, if released at this stage, "risks derailing the process".

An official said,

"Once the service provider has been appointed, early next year, we will make further documents, including the full tender document, public,"

The Welsh Government said making tender invites public "risks" the process.
 The Welsh Government said their "competitive, outcome driven process" is a
 "world first" where they provided the bidders with "priorities" rather than an invitation to tender documents, which happened in England, similar to the 2006 South Western franchise.

 So it would be interesting to compare the tenders with the priorities which you can see in above link.


The winner of the new 15-year franchise will be announced in December.

 But industry expert Prof Stuart Cole told BBC Wales: "I don't understand why the Welsh Government hasn't published its tender documents."

 "The English Department for Transport publish their bidding documents so the public, politicians, passengers, pressure groups and commentators can comment on the proposals.
"The passengers are the people that really count and I would have thought it would have been quite useful for the Welsh Government and Transport for Wales to hear their input."

An invitation to tender is generally a public document," said Bruce Williamson of Railfuture, which campaigns on rail-related issues.

"So franchise bidders know what they are bidding for and the passengers, the key to success for rail companies, and passenger groups can have their input on the level of service proposed. It's a bit of a missed opportunity."

We could well find in December that the franchise has been awarded to a company that has made no commitment to meeting  the Welsh Government's own priorities  by then it will be to late for others to make their contributions.

 Once again we are being kept in the dark by an arrogant that believes that it can bypass democratic input  fro others and it seems this applies to Cardiff Bay as well as Westminster.

 

Are accusation about Fallon and Green there to distract from more serious issues?

 I wonder if there's not a plan among the Tories to damp down the growing sexual harassment scandal by providing snippets which some may think is just a case f men trying it n

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon was once rebuked by a journalist for putting his hand on her knee during dinner, his spokesman has confirmed.

Radio presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer had recounted the "mildly amusing" incident without naming Sir Michael.
After his identity was revealed in the Sun, she tweeted saying she had not been "remotely upset or distressed".
A spokesman for Sir Michael said he had apologised when it happened in 2002.
Ms Hartley-Brewer, a former political editor of the Sunday Express and regular political commentator, has criticised "wild rumours and claims" circulating at Westminster.
She said she did not consider herself a victim after the incident which happened over dinner at the Conservative Party conference.

Now we have Prime minister Theresa May's deputy, Damian Green, is to be investigated following an allegation of inappropriate behaviour.

Activist Kate Maltby wrote in The Times that he "fleetingly" touched her knee in a pub in 2015, and this year sent her a "suggestive" text message after she posed in a corset for the paper.
The Cabinet Secretary is to consider whether he broke the ministerial code.
Mr Green has described the claims as "absolutely and completely untrue".
Ms Maltby, a writer and academic some 30 years younger than Mr Green, said the encounters left her feeling "awkward, embarrassed and professionally compromised". 

Could it be that there is a ruse to get the public( indeed from Women as well as Men) thinking well 

"Come on who hasn't tried it on"  in this way . 

But such behaviour hides  what could be some serious  sexual attacks by MPs and whilst  we should beware  of a Witch Hunt we should expose the most serious cases.

What we should not be doing is being distracted  by the above claims (even if they were unwelcome) and putting it down to as I say "trying it on".

As thee Blogger AAV puts it  




but he also points to a sinister purpose of the origins of the document he writes

I've seen an uncensored copy of the Tory sex pest dossier and it's an absolute mess. The big problem with it is that it's not actually a list of MPs accused or suspected of sexual misconduct, it's more like a list of sex-related issues that could be used to blackmail MPs into silence or conformity.
Thus the list combines details of absolutely outrageous sexual misconduct, alongside stuff like extramarital affairs, consensual relationships, and the unusual private sexual proclivities of certain MPs (all ideal blackmail material).

The suspicion is that  the Tory whips have used the dossier to make there are no rebellions from those who are  "on the list".

How many serious cases have been known by the Tories (and it does not just apply to them) have been ignored because it gives power to the Whips and the leadership or the argument that it would "harm the party"?


Someone once said that they didn't care what Bill Clinton did in the Bedroom so long as he didn't try and tell us what we should do.

The problem is when a Politician use their power to sexual harass those beneath them.