Priorities in the crisis

Tough times require tough decisions.

It also requires that you have your priorities right.

So, what are the priorities of Rajoy? Let's see some examples:

• The subsidies for Science & Technology (including R&D) has been cut by 26% (Link)
• The budget for education is cut by 3.000 M€ (Link)

• The Catolic church will see no cuts in their subsidy of 156 M€ (Link), neither will they have to pay taxes for their buildings, which would be around 5 M€ (Link).
• The Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (CAM) increases their susidies for bullfighting (Link).

To be fair, not all these are decisions of Rajoy, but the increase of bullfighting subsidieries clearly could seem like an insult to many who are suffering the crisis. Rahoy should know that, and if Rajoy has no influence over Esperanza Aquirre, then he should resign.

The winner takes it all

This impressing graph shows how Apple and Samsung takes 99% of the revenue generated by the smartphone market.

"Stress test" - my ass

So, 11 months after Bankia passed the famous "stress test" imposed by the European Banking Authority (EBA) the Spanish state now feels forced to save the bank by taking a 45% stake in the bank (converting state-backed loan of 4 456€ to shares).

What the f**k did the "stress test" test, if it was not able to detect something wrong in a bank which, 11 months after, is described in the following manner by the Wall Street Journal: "...Bankia encapsulates all that has gone wrong with Spain's banking system." (Link)

Why should we trust any of these "quality stamps" that states or Europe willingly hand out, if we time after time can see that the quality of the quality stamps is, at the very best, questionable. Obviously these tests are made to calm down people for a while, rather than actually detect "rotten apples" in the basket.

There were voices already from beginning saying that the test was too lame (For instance, The Economist). Why did nobody listen to these voices?

I always try to teach my daughters to tell the truth. A person who lies will always know inside their heart that the have been dishonest.

But, in cases where a lie might be a way to avoid a worse situation, I also recommend them to never lie about anything that soon will be known anyway. Those lies will only make you look like a fool and non-worthy of your trust. As EBA right now.