Toddy, your sarcasm is not appreciated.
I can respect those with opinions different than my own. Yet, I refuse to accept or respect stereotypical, unfounded, and disrespectful view such as those which you have put forth in this thread.

CaliBasco,

FYI,

Fox News España, has for several years been known simply as Antena 3.

This thread has sure degenerated. Just thought I might bypass the pointless bickering and bring up something I find interesting. Apparently the president of Navarra wants to outlaw the ikurrina. It's one thing to be a fascist (as you must be to be in the Partido Popular) but this shows a blatant disregard for human life. There will be so much violence if this passes. I for one, will certainly not be hanging around autobuses, the ayuntamiento, or the guardia civil building for a while if this ikurrina ban goes through because I don't fancy being blown up by ETA shrapnel. This subject is very worrisome to me, and I think most would agree with me that there will be bloodshed if this ridiculous ban is put into place. Does anyone have any more info on this? My motivation for posting this is to find out anything about this I can, so if you know anything, let me know. Thanks,

Emilyka

I hang around the Guardia Civil building all the time! They're cool cats! With cool hats!

Emily, I'd be more worried about hanging around in the States these days.

Aster there you go again with your anti-American swings. Sorry, but this time I won't sink to that uneducated eurocentric level.

However, another interesting post"(as you must be to be in the Partido Popular)" Hmmm......so I guess the vast majority of Spaniards WHO SUPPORTED THE PP are ....are... are....no I can't even say it. But I will say the I LOVE PP I think Aznar and his party have largely brought Spain into the first world quickly. This has been an incredible feat.

Oh, I almost forgot, do the local businesses in the Basque country still have to give a " one arm behind back tax to eta?"

Asterault-

Hmm, interesting post. Normally I would not have a probelem with hanging around the aforementioned places. However, if the ikurrina is banned in Navarra these will become prime targets for bombings and other bloody displays of "nationalism". While you may be more concerned about hanging around the states, I live in rural Texas and remember, the war on terror is not the only thing that's going on the world. Not to be ragging on you too much, but were the Guardia Civil cool cats even when they provided the military force for Franco to rise to power?

First - I am off the subject :o - so jump ahead if you choose.

For quite a while now (2+ years) everyone participating on this board has gotten along. There is a give and take of opinions - always with respect for the individual. Humour has always had it's place as has good natured teasing. Lately, we seem to have sunk to pretty sorry depths. To resolve that, perhaps the motto "if you can't play by the rules - don't play" should apply !!!

MM, if I'm speaking out of turn, I apologize - There are a lot of us that really appreciate and love what you have created with this board - and I get mad when a specific person (or persons) abuse us all.

Puna (who, if she were in Spain might not be so blunt, nasty, and b*chy

I don't know if I'm one of those persons Puna, but if I am I am truly sorry:(

My intention on this thread is that this issue should be taken more seriously and, up till now, has not. I agree with Aznar in banning the party. I think this should have been done a long time ago and it's sad that it has taken so many deaths to get to this point. There are many other simple and complicated issues related to eta and the Basque culture. I think most Basque people are fine, if fact my daughter was conceived in San Sebastian. (he he he)

Oh, one last thing Puna, the world (especially Spain and the US in my opinion) should talk more through their conflicts...even if it gets a little heated cause we can always cool down at the end of the day as amigos with glass of great Spanish wine and a bottle of a great American microbrew
Salud y cheers!

You people need to lighten up, eh? The symbol would mean sarcasm.

Also, please read

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/troll.htm

>>>Troll Characteristics

- a lack of buy-in to the list philosophy or values
- generally low level of activity, with sudden spurts of interaction - or perhaps a new persona that has strong opinions on controversial subjects
- a confusing mixture of friendly posts with a confrontational style of interaction
- the use of provocative language and sweeping generalisations about certain topics or categories of people
- a lack of in-depth understanding of the topic
- a lack of personal information
- a lack of a genuinely unique perspective on the topic
- a lack of humour
- will insist on having done no wrong, regardless of its actions
- restarting topics that have already been done
- use of language that encourages the dialogue to enter topics that are controversial and likely to upset some team members
- the use of attention-seeking gimmick (e.g.: "I was once exploited by an XYZ", "My life is so difficult")
- they follow up their own articles if the group doesn't respond to their posts

Let me just get this out of the way first . Good insight into web personae Asterault.

I asked a Guardia Civil cat about his hat in May (two really ancient-looking GCs) since I'd heard that the flat back was symbolic of their willingness to fight on behalf of the fascis...er...motherland even with their backs to the wall. The old man chuckled and said, "it's just comfortable". There's always a chasm between truth and legend...I'll take legend anyday, and I still think they're cool.

Emilyka: PP=fachas is not an uncommon belief, and not one based in fantasy either...oddly enough, the PP is known by many to be the true fusion of church and state. Those who remember what the Falange was all about know that this is simply "deja vu all over again." Ahh, the sweet images of Franco building a basilica on the forced labor of POWs. *sniff* *sniff*...hey, is that the "Siglo de Oro" I smell?!

toddy: That was some majority in 2000. Wow, the "vast majority" of Spaniards, all 46.6% of them, voted PP in the election of diputados and a whopping 44.6% wanted PP senators. If that's not a mandate from the masses, I don't know what is.

Sincerely,
George W. Bush

Spain\'s Election Results