EL PACTO DEL OLVIDO

Not much of a looker ill admit , just like the Famous Window Matisse painted during the WWI , it captures an elemental bleakness , the extraction of the spirit from being leaving a mass of inertness , the turning to rust of the consciousness , untended spilt blood;straw;dust; spent bullets; all-encompassing corrosion ; a dusk that will never see the dawn.All in all not a pretty picture.

Frederich Schiller ventured political policy should be akin to an artistic painting , aesthetically beautiful.According to this painting the Pact of Oblivion is ugly , ready to pounce at a moments notice.

The Pact of Oblivion is under the severest test as the Spanish economy suffers its first sustained period of downturn since the end of Franco led rule.The Spanish economy has always managed to grow since the return to democracy , it shifted from an agricultural weighting to a diversified semi-modern part of the EU.Manufacturing Industry ; quite astounding infrastructural developments and especially Construction have made Spain a major gainer in Europe.

Alas , the World economic downturn has found the Spanish economy exposed to negative aspects more than most in Europe.It has lost out , not being as established as the Northern economies , and more so has found the membership of the Eurozone means local National Government cannot tweak its currency to make Spanish goods and services more competitive in these tight , restricted and difficult times.


The Germans are a surplus economy , wishing the Euro to serve the need to curb inflation.The Spanish require a boost to trade by making it a cheaper option attractive to foreign investment.In a bizarre way the Spanish will envy the manoeuvrability of the UK , collapse of Sterling notwithstanding , to set its own lower rate to suit its needs rather being tied into the counter current of German development and requirements.

The net result is that Spain is a loser on two fronts.Lack of ability to raise funds to boost the internal economy ( only about a third of what France is proposing and barely an eighth of the German boost package) and also an Unemployment rate that is twice the EU average and getting to a worrying 14%.

This is where concern for the future course of the Pact of Forgetting comes into play.At first the pact , whether you are against it or for it , had seen Spain through the rough waters and raw emotions for the last 3 decades.Chile had their pacto to facilitate a relatively peaceful transition from Pinochet to the present, Argentina had a Pacto del Olivos ; South Africa have had their Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the UK has had the Good Friday agreement in the North of Ireland.Pacts as such , and the pacto del olvido in particular , deserve credit for getting a very difficult and tense situation from ground zero to a meaningful workable level in which parties can use the space to reconfigure their own internal past , come to terms with the process of making Amends , to forgive without forgetting , ultimately getting down to the task of working to reconcile , to get from a suspended state of war to a genuine cohesive working state.

The problem of the pacto , though , is that the fascists have never been brought to answer or accept responsibility of the rule of Franco , a process of redemption was literally put on hold , a no-fault arrangement , no stain on the conscious would be a more accurate description.By never having to answer whether Franco period was a good or bad thing means that , given the right opportunity Fascism , an unconstituted one at that , can easily make a comeback when economic or social circumstances allow the unaddressed extremism that has lain dormant , but very much alive , put aside whilst the economy was progressing, to make an entrance.Spain has teetered between extremes and now could be a time for the chips to fall one way or another.The tragedy of Spain in the early 19th century was that the International Community let the Spanish People down , the payback may be the rise of the right may re-embrace the International Community , especially parts of the Mediterranean Rim and eastern Europe , with an ideology that we had hoped was shaken of in the middle of the last century.

Anyway , back to Ayewrite.

This evening , as you can guess , we had a Symposium on the 70th Anniversary of the Spanish Civil War.The Great Historian Paul Preston , who has arguably written the best and most easily accessible primer on the war , as well as a rich bibliographical narrative of the archives in both English and Spanish was unwell and could not make it.

The other panellists included Chris Dolan ; Historian Paul Gray and Trade Unionist Dave Arnott.All gave moving accounts of , not only the local militias but also the substantial contribution made by the People Of Scotland in both sending People and Aid to the Peninsula , but also the fundraising efforts and the hosting of refugees , especially Children from various parts of Spain.

Alas , as always the establishment of the Catholic Church did not come out of it with flying colours.With such instances as the collection of the Church of 75,000 worshippers at Carfin in order to pray for the victory of Franco.

But the Final word must go to the Artist , who very perceptively points out NOTHING STAYS BURIED FOREVER.

BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH AT AYEWRITE

The only thing i had heard about Benjamin Zephaniah was that he once refused an honour from the British establishment and went on to make a documentary programme about other members of the minority communities who had accepted or rejected such rewards.

The only other review i had heard was that he was , to say the least, zany , a punk rock poet kinda guy.

After the grave disappointments of the Fisk Saturday performances we could have done with something to raise the standards.

I met an old Friend from the Glasgow Anti-war days , pre-Iraq invasion.We both wondered if he would be any good , she was not even sure if he would be doing a performance or merely talking about his work.

As soon as he entered the Hall , we knew we are in for the best of all things , entertainment; education and a lot of laughs.

The best one can do is let him do the talking.

This was one he started doing recently by special request as the credit crunch bites and sobers everyone up:

Below are 2 more superb high quality performances.

The first is a about Christmas from the point of views of turkeys , it is such a comic routine it is easy to forget that it is a poem.

The second is a satire on the Mainstream to right media and shock-jocks/opinion formers called Rong Radio , dont let the rap music put you off , stick with it right to the end.


He has a very pro-Palestinian outlook and mentions the PSC amongst his favourite Honours and Patronage list.

HENKESBOOTS AT AYEWRITE

I have never eyeballed a CelticMinder or Sportswinger until earlier today.

The beauty of "knowing" People on the net is that you never know who they are in real life , one can only imagine them as they come across in what they write.Henkesboots has always been amongst my very favourites.

At first i always imagined Henke as being a Woman , you know what i mean , posting how-long-is-a-piece-of-string-comments , moving goalposts when the debate is not quite going your way , answering every question with an accusation....all those wonderful things that make us love Woman so.

My suspicions were first aroused that he may be a man when he volunteered to play in the Celtic Minded 5-a-side-team.


When i had determined to take the piss out him on my blog , he suddenly declared himself in a thread to be 6ft 6" and full of Muscles.So that put a damper on my plans.

At the Ayewrite fest i finally saw him.He is a very handsome and elegant man.And also a brilliant Man Manager.He let the brilliant Nick Davies play a free role with his precise and astute critical analysis of the role of todays journalistic standards.On the contrary , he kept the wayward mercurial Robert Fisk on a short leash.Robert Fisk , left unrestrained by a quality Chair , is a bit like Aiden Mcgeady in the old days when he would dribble and dribble and dribble , running in ever increasing concentric circles with his head down looking at his navel until spectacularly , with a stramash and De-Canio type histrionics running into touch.

Henkesboots was having none of that , whenever Fisk got anywhere near going off the deep end our Man would step in without at any time looking threatening or disrespectful.Our backroom staff could learn a lot from him.

Henkes best performance was for the questions segment.He pointed his fingers sometimes left, sometimes right , occasionally centre , had the wee Ushers with the microphones pressing away at anyone who put their hand up.A Brilliant Performance all round.If henkesboots had been in the dugout at Love street today we would have won 3-0 no problem.

After that went to see Robert Fisk again at the GFT , talking about T.E.Lawrence.Another mixed bag performance of profound observation seasoned with astonishing breathtaking lapses displaying an almost Childish naivety which sometimes undermines his own theses.

Dont get me wrong with these observations.All in All Fisk is a brilliant and highly articulate advocate , getting Mainstream Audiences to have empathy with the plight of the Palestinians and realising the end of this historic grave injustice is the only way to have a proper long term real Peace in the region and world at large.

ROBERT FISK at AYEWRITE

Today got off to a very breezy start.First thing this morning i managed to nab some Bruce Springsteen tickets for Hampden park on July 14th.4 for myself and 2 for the wife in a separate part of the ground , well im entitled to enjoy myself.This will be Hamzahs first Concert.What a neat way to make a debut.

Also arrived Christy Moore tickets for The Royal Concert Hall in October , perfect seats , right in the middle 5 rows from the front.When things start of like that you know this is going to be a something- good- is- going-to-happen-day start to finish.

In the evening We went to see Mr. Fisk at the Mitchell Theatre.I and the wife enjoyed it a lot , though Hamzah made the perceptive observation he could complete the sentence Robert started for him.Not the first Person to say that.Hamzah especially liked that Ruth Wishart was the Chair , wherever we end up she seems to be before us like an apparition.

Robert was on fine form , the audience warmed to his appraisal , the academics , as they always are , were in various states of chagrin at holes in his narrative , i myself appreciated he had convinced everyone the war on the Palestinians is a Colonial Project , Peace can only be made when it is ended.I always have the attitude that if a person can speak ill of the Occupation and Settlements , then we should settle for that.