US challengers Oracle beat Alinghi to win America's Cup

Challengers BMW Oracle won the 33rd staging of the America's Cup after taking an unassailable 2-0 win over Swiss holders Alinghi.
They clinched the Cup with victory in Sunday's race off the coast of Spain by a margin of more than five minutes. Oracle are the first American team to win the trophy since America3 in 1992.The result has been hailed as a victory for modern design, with the radical 223 ft (68m) wing sail proving to be a massive advantage.
The regatta was originally to have been staged in 2009 but was held up by a lengthy series of court battles, which eventually saw the series take place without the usual challengers' regatta.
The America's Cup, which was first contested in 1851, is the oldest trophy in international sport.

Weather in Spain Week Feb 8th – 14th 2010

Monday:Overcast Day. Temp 11C. Overnight clear skies with a temp of 6C.

Tuesday: Sunny day but with a cold wind, temp of 16C. Overnight temp of 8C.

Wednesday: A fine sunny day with the wind abating. Clouds drifted in in the afternoon Temp 13C. Overnight rain temp of 10C.

Thursday: Cloudy start but brighter and sunny in the afternoon. Cold wind kept temp to 11C. Overnight temp of 6C.

Friday: Sunny but cold, with a sharp biting wind. Temp 9C. Overnight temp of 5C. A very cold day and night.

Saturday: Showers all day. Temp 10C. Overnight showers Temp 8C

Sunday: Overcast day afternoon. Rain overnight. Temp in day was 12C. Overnight 8C.

For an advanced forecast in the area I live in see http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/europe_forecast_7days.asp?locationID=3222 which is Mercia Airport, our nearest point on this site.

Chinese New Year

Unlike western calendars, the lunar Chinese new year calendar has names that are repeated every 12 years denoted by animals. 2010 is the Chinese year of the Tiger. In particular, this is the year of the Metal Tiger. February 14th 2010 marks the year of the Tiger with its association to bravery. How is Chinese New Year's Day determined?
In one sentence, the Chinese New Year is the second New Moon after the winter solstice. It is based strictly on astronomical observations, and has nothing to do with the Pope, emperors, animals or myths. Due to its scientific and mathematical nature, we can easily and precisely calculate backward or forward for thousands of years.

Valentines Day

Saint Valentine (in Latin, Valentinus) is the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. The feast of St. Valentine was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among those "... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God." As Gelasius implied, nothing was known, even then, about the lives of any of these martyrs. The Saint Valentine that appears in various connections with February 14 is described as,a priest in Rome or a bishop or a martyr in Africa

The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain. The popularity of Valentine cards grew in the twentieth century, where many Valentine cards are now general greeting cards rather than declarations of love.

           

In Spain Valentine's Day is known as "San Valentín" and is celebrated the same way as in the U.K, although in Catalonia it is largely superseded by similar festivities of rose and/or book giving on La Diada de Sant Jordi (Saint George's Day).  

You could Not make it Up (3)

Two Liverpool fans were taken to court after police allegedly deemed their chants of “Yanks Out” against the club’s controversial owners as “racist.” The fans were hauled off the streets by officers during a peaceful protest against the American multi-millionaires Tom Hicks and George Gillett before the Liverpool game against Arsenal at Anfield in mid-December.

They were taken to a police station, kept for six hours, before being charged with “an offence of public order.” A month later, at court the Crown Prosecution Service immediately withdrew their case due to a perceived lack of evidence.

Fat Cat MP charged (You could not make it Up)

David Chaytor MP is to have criminal charges brought against him for false expenses claims. The Bury MP, claimed a total of £12,925 for his rent payments (on a flat he owned) between September 2005 and August 2006.He stopped the claims for rent when he bought another flat in the same block using a mortgage. While keeping the original flat, he told the Commons his new property was his second home. This flipping of homes meant he could claim more than £11,000 in stamp duty and legal fees on his new purchase.

In August 2007 he began claiming rent for another property he had designated as his second home. This cottage belonged to his mother Olive, who had moved into a care home because she had Alzheimer’s disease. The Commons had introduced new rules in July 2006 preventing MPs from claiming expenses on properties rented from relatives. Nonetheless, Chaytor claimed a total of £5,400 over the six months that he rented the flat from his mother. The relationship would not have been obvious to the Commons authorities as his mother, who died last year, had remarried and used the surname Trickett.

HOW CHAYTOR FLIPPED

January 2004 Chaytor pays off mortgage on Westminster flat

September 2005 Flips second home to the flat and claims £12,925 in “rent”

September 2006 Buys another flat in same block and flips second home. Claims £11,500 in stamp duty and legal fees

August 2007 Flips second home to mother’s Bury cottage and claims £5,400 in “rent”

February 2008 Flips second home to Todmorden and claims £1,500 for furnishings

Amazon Profits

This is from the BBC Financial news website – “Web retail giant Amazon saw fourth quarter earning surge 71 per cent thanks to a strong holiday season and heavy demand for its electronic book reader. Amazon said sales of electronics and general merchandise were particularly strong. International sales, representing the company's UK site were up 49 per cent.”
I was one of those who helped increase their sales. During December I had plenty of time for Christmas shopping, I was in the UK and could actually shop, especially in Liverpool One. So armed with a list off I went. I could not find anything electronic, that I wanted. Clothes, yes, Hardback books, yes, Toiletries, yes. I eventually found an IPOD touch (in John Lewis). Anything else electronic no. So after a fruitless day on the electronic side, I sat by the PC and ordered all the rest from Amazon, delivered within 2 days.
If retailers had a bad time over the Christmas period they can only blame themselves for not having the stock in the shops.

Polaris World on the Brink

Polaris World build large urbanizations around a golf course and have 4 or 5 ‘Worlds’ within an hours travel of the Villa. We initially looked into buying a property with hem, but, all the locations were well away from towns or villages so you had to live in their ‘world’. Their restaurants, shops, TV, rules etc. Not for us.

Polaris World is now facing debts of up to 100-million euros and that at least 15 businesses within the Polaris World Group of companies were in a state of insolvency, however, a ‘last chance ‘deal on the debt is now on the table. Polaris World, Spain’s second largest residential property builder, is believed to be close to reaching agreements with a number of creditors, which will allow it to avoid having to suspend payments.

During discussions the company has managed to pay Murcia town hall, 9 million euros. Bank guarantees for the Condado de Alhama golf resort and its accompanying 3,000 properties were used as collateral for the payment. 

Flying PIIGS

I follow the stock market, in a minor way. The Lady of the Villa allows me some money to ‘invest’. In doing so, I came across this story, which struck me as an example of political correctness gone a bit mad.  Here’s the background: Greece and Portugal have been grouped in an acronym, PIIGS, which stands for Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece & Spain.

Apparently, one PC correct soul at Barclay’s Capital took offense to the use of PIIGS to refer to those Mediterranean countries and banned the use internally. Bloomberg the finance brokers, wrote a piece on this with the awesome headline, ‘At Barclay’s Capital, PiiGS No Longer Fly.’ Unfortunately, another PC correct soul at Bloomberg must have taken offense and updated the online headline in the piece it to this:

Swine Acronym Ordered Out of Barclay’s Reports (Bloomberg, Feb. 5, 2010)

The securities unit of London-based Barclays Plc told analysts yesterday not to use the acronym for Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain in notes to clients, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News. 

The PIIGS nickname has grown increasingly popular in the last month as investors dumped assets in the euro zone’s smaller economies on concern the countries will struggle to control budget deficits.

Super Bowl XLIV result - Saints Win

Score Colts 17 - Saints 31.

Weather in Spain Week 5 Feb 1st – 7th 2010

Monday: Sunny and bright day with a cold wind. Temp 11C. Overnight clear skies with a temp of 6C.
Tuesday: Another bright and sunny with a cold wind. Temp 10C. Overnight clear skies with a temp of 5C.
Wednesday: Bright and sunny. Temp 15C. Overnight temp of 8C.
Thursday: Overcast day with rain in the late morning and afternoon. Temp 13C. Rain gave way to a nice sunny evening Overnight temp 9C
Friday: Hottest day of the year so far 21C. Sunshine all day. Overnight 12C.
Saturday: Another beautiful day. Temp 18C. Overnight 8C.
Sunday: Sunny day but with a coldish wind. Temp 17C. Overnight cloudy. Temp 10C.
For an advanced forecast in the area I live in see http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/europe_forecast_7days.asp?locationID=3222 which is Mercia Airport, our nearest point on this site

Americas Cup in Valencia Spain 8th February

The best-of-three race series for the 33rd America’s Cup is due to begin next week in Valencia. There is little doubt at all that, whatever happens on the water, the eventual winners will probably be decided in the New York courts. What is absolutely beyond question is that the series — maybe just two races — will be the most expensive test of pride in the history of sport.

The 33rd America’s Cup is more a battle of design and budget. Never before has the event seen two such radical craft: A total of nearly £100m has been spent on the design and construction of the two radical new boats. No details of expenditure have been released by either team but Oracle’s mighty 190ft wing sail is reported to have cost a scarcely credible £3m alone.

NFL Fix

After missing all of the NFL games on TV last season and this season, I can, thanks to the BBC have an American Football fix. The BBC is a terrestrial partner of the NFL in the UK, and will show live coverage of Super Bowl XLIV from Miami, Florida tomorrow. The Lady of the Villa is not pleased! She hates American Football.
I will be supporting New Orleans.

Santander Profits increase 30% in UK

SANTANDER, the Spanish financial giant, will revealed this week that its three British banks have seen a 30% jump in profits.

Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley made about £1.5 billion last year. Santander has been one of the big winners in the credit crunch, escaping losses on American sub-prime mortgages. Full-year figures for the Spanish parent are expected to show pre-tax profits of about €11 billion (£9.5 billion).

However, analysts remain concerned that Santander will be caught up in the problems of Spain’s domestic economy. BBVA, its rival, last week revealed a 16% drop in profits after bigger-than-expected provisions on commercial property deals.

Emilio Botin, Santander’s chairman, has said he expects the bank to match last year’s record profits. It looks set on expansion and is seeking to buy 300 branches put up for sale by Royal Bank of Scotland.

Eurozone unemployment rate hits 10% Spain's is 19%

The unemployment rate in Spain has increased to 19.5%.Unemployment in the 16 countries that use the euro hit 10% in December for the first time since the single currency was introduced in 1999.

Spain continues to have the highest rate in the eurozone - rising to 19.5% in December. Some 21% of under-25s in the eurozone were unemployed in December 2009, with Spain suffering the highest rate of all, at 44.5%.Separate figures released by the country's National Statistics Institute show that in the final three months of 2009, 4.33 million people were unemployed in Spain.

Euro Rate over last three years

January 2007                1.50687 EUR

June 2007                    1.48036 EUR

December 2007           1.38419 EUR

January 2008                1.3386 EUR

June 2008                    1.26366 EUR

December 2008           1.09921 EUR

January 2009                1.08962 EUR

June 2009                    1.1674 EUR

December 2009           1.11153 EUR

The list above gives the average Euro rate against the pound over the last three years. As you can see in January 2007 one pound bought 1.50 Euros. In December 2009 one pound bought 1.11 Euros.

In the area I live in, which I call “Little Brittan” it means a lot. Most of the people in the area are British and they rely upon pensions and savings from the UK. Many, like us, move money across on a regular basis. So far it cost one-third more since January 2007 to live in Spain.

To the locals, both Spanish and British it means less to go around, villas cost more to buy to a Brit, so prices are dropping. Restaurants and bars are closing as people stay in more (a bottle of wine is 5 Euros in a bar, same wine 2 euros from a super market). Establishments that close lay off the staff, usually Brits, and they leave. Less people less money more places close down. This is the cycle we are now encountering in Spain.

The Spanish who rushed to the booming building industry are now unemployed as builders shut up shop leaving property half finished. Areas of land marked out with roads but no housing. Some Spanish ‘builders’ have returned to farming displacing eastern Europeans who filled their places. They get paid less, so less money in the economy.

The eastern Europeans are not returning home but try to get unemployment benefit here in Spain, no where near as easy as in the UK. So lots of charity organisations supply food parcels.

Spain is not over the worst. It’s to come.

Rafael Benitez denies Juventus agreement

Rafa Benitez has issued a statement dismissing reports he is to join Juventus while reaffirming his commitment to the Reds. Several Italian newspapers claimed the Spaniard had agreed terms to take over at the Turin giants in the summer. But in a statement, sought to quash the continued speculation.

"Contrary to reports in the Italian media this weekend, I want to make it absolutely clear I have no agreement with Juventus," Benitez said.

"I have not and will not be meeting Juventus or their representatives or any other club.

"I have a long-term contract with Liverpool and I'll repeat what I said on Friday that I am happy here and my only focus is to do my job as well as I can to get the team back into to the top four, beginning with the derby against Everton."

Let us hope it is true, especially the final sentence

Spain Recession to Continue In 2010

On the same day as the UK announced it has formerly exited the recession, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have confirmed that Spain will remain in recession throughout 2010, with low growth forecast for 2011.

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, still thinks Spain will be the only developed country to show no growth in 2010, expecting it to shrink by 0.6%.

There is increasing concern in particular over the level of property related debt in the construction industry that is currently estimated at over 320€ billion.

Books Read in January 2010

The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown. Just like his others this is a fast moving pacey novel. Typical DB with lots of twists and turns and unexpected plot changes. However, that said, it seems to be written as a film script short chapters with lots of cutting back to other threads. Also the ending was disappointing. No spoiler on what it was but for me it just fizzled out after a hectic story. 4 Stars.

The Third Twin – Ken Follet. I like KF his Pillars of the Earth and World without End are stormers. This is a more modern based novel that was well researched and well written but the plot was obvious and long winded. Not one of his best. 2 Stars.

Deep Black - Andy McNabb – I must admit I am a fan of his and enjoy his books. This one of the Nick Stone series covers a huge timeline in the Bosnia and Iraq wars. Can’t say everyone would enjoy it but being a fan I did. Can’t understand why there are 102 very small chapters! 3 Stars.

Knots and Crosses – Ian Rankin. This is the first Inspector Rebus novel (although he starts of as a Sergeant) and my first read of any Ian Rankin book. A Serial killer with a grudge against Rebus with enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. Enjoyed it a lot and will be getting the second book in the series (of 20)! 3 Stars.

Get Her Off The Pitch – Lynn Truss. The author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves does it again. Totally entertaining book about her time as a sports journalist with the Times. Funny, well observed and well written. A pleasure to read, got to be 5 Stars.

Weather in Spain Week 4 Jan 25th – 31st 2010

Monday: Bright start with a few clouds around. Became cloudier with showers later. Temp 9C. Overnight rain temp 6C.
Tuesday: High winds and driving rain all day. Temp 7C. Overnight cold and cloudy. Temp 5C.
Wednesday: Overcast and cold with occasional showers. Temp 8C. Overnight overcast with showers temp 6C.
Thursday: Bright and sunny day with a temp of 17C. Overnight clear but cold temp 6C.
Friday: Bright and sunny all day temp 16C. Overnight clear skies temp 7C.
Saturday: Another beautiful sunny day with clear skies and a temp of 17C. Overnight again clear skies but cold. Temp 6C
Sunday: 4th sunny and clear day on the run. Temp 16C. Overnight cold 5C

For an advanced forecast in the area I live in see http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/europe_forecast_7days.asp?locationID=3222 which is Mercia Airport, our nearest point on this site