Syriza in Greece, Podemos in Spain. Is this where we are headed? All this & mid week Sports as well...

Negrito here with a mid-week Sports Special from Melbourne.  I flew in last night after more than 24 hours in the air and boy! my arms are aching (boom boom!) but it was all worth it!  Whilst Andy Murray's semi-final at the Aussie Open wasn't the best contest I've ever seen just being here in the sunshine puts some extra sheen on his victory for me.  Tomas Berdych began strongly, looking imperious in his first 3 service games, not dropping a point and it seemed the odds against a Murray victory were widening.  At the same time Murray was struggling to retain serve with each of his service game going to at least one deuce.  To be fair I'm not overly familiar with Berdych other than being aware that he was perhaps a bit of bogey player for Murray on the circuit, and there was a bit of extra edge with Murray's school friend and ex-assistant coach, Daniel Vallevrdu, now being retained on team Berdych.  However, even as he fired himself into a first set lead it was Berdych for me, who looked the more precarious of the two players.  In the second set it was Murray who finally found his feet as he stormed through the est 6-0 to even the match up.  

As the match continued neither player seemed able to maintain any sort of consistency with unforced errors peppering the play of both Berdych and Murray.  But it was Murray who gradually applied the pressure as Berdych appeared to falter psychologically, his play and his demeanour seeming ever more fragile to me.  In the end Murray triumphed to put himself into a 4th Aussie Open Final.  As yet his opponent is unknown, the second semi taking place tomorrow morning between Stan Warwrinka, last years winner, and World No.1 Novak Djokovic.  Murray must be hoping for a repeat of their last two meeting here which both ended being marathon contests.  With an extra day's recovery Murray must be feeling pretty good about the final whoever he plays, but he will need to be much more consistent than he was today if he wants to come out on top on Sunday.

Make sure you don't miss it on BBC1 08.15am.  Be there or be ....absent.

Now over to my sissy, Lola, for something completely different!

_____________________________________

Here in Spain we are heading towrads elections this year in May, the same month as they happen in the UK, though in neither country have manimals achieved suffrage, something I would certainly put right if I gained power!!  In the meantime we shall express our opinions publicly and hope that in time things change for the better!

Our in depth knowledge of Spanish politics is, in truth, not in depth (not least because of the Boss's imperfect Spanish) but that doesn't stop us having an opinion and getting involved.  Since Franco died in 1975 Spanish party politics has been largely dominated by either the Popular Party (PP) or the Socialists (PSOE) with the PP currently in power with Mariano Rajoy (commonly known as 'the Tramp' in this household) as their party leader and Head of State.

When the PP swept to power almost 5 years ago Spain was in a horrible mess; high and rapidly rising unemployment, a massive budget deficit and an economy in deep depression.  Now, as the next elections draw close things are marginally better.  Last months unemployment figures showed the biggest drop since the current financial crisis began but remains high at just under 24%, whilst the World Bank have set a revised growth forecast for the Spanish economy next year at 2%, interestingly a fraction higher than that forecast for the UK.

However, from where we sit in the 'campo' (or countryside) things still look pretty glum.  In the UK profitability, jobs and prosperity return to London first after crises and from there filter down to the rest of the country. Eventually!  In Spain it seems things run a similar course.  Speaking last year with some monied Londoners over on holiday they were only too happy to tell us how their daughter and friends were 'doing so well' working in Madrid for a Spanish TV company and they seemed to be under the wholly mistaken misapprehension that Spain was booming!  I was laughing (ironically) because it amazes me sometimes how well money insulates those who have it from those who don't, but even so these were not what I would have said were stupid or unusually naive people.  They merely pull the blinds down, as they most likely do at home in London, to the suffering and poverty around them.  "Oh I say, but my daughter says everyone in Spain is doing terribly well!"  Yes, maybe, but your daughter goes to expensive bars and restaurants where the vast majority of us wouldn't even get over the threshold let alone be able to pay for a starter!  As hu-mans you mate and socialise assortatively (i.e. we marry and socialise within our own social and economic register) so your daughters chances of meeting an unemployed tractor driver in some fancy bistro in Madrid are practically zero.  So, if you have a job, you tend to mix with others who are similarly employed.  In the same way if you're unfortunate enough to be out of work, you tend to hang around with others in a similar predicament.

Here in the hinterlands of Valenciana I know only a hand full of people who actually have jobs.  Everyone else loiters around the village bars (God alone only knows how they can afford it, but they do!  But, in truth I can't ask God, cos I don't really think he exists, but if anyone knows then he would know....if he was real), drinking the occasional terceo (bottle of beer), carajillo (brandy & coffee) or just plain old coffee if funds don't run to the brandy!  And they are all hopelessly pessimistic about ever working again.  Something I touched on last week (see blog entry 18/1/15 'Children are our future, so blah blah blah') was high youth unemployment all over Europe and here in Spain the problem is no different.  The Spanish nuclear family, traditionally so strong, is collapsing because for the first time the U25's are leaving home, leaving their families to go abroad and find work.  And what's more, they won't come back, or if they do, they won't come back the same.  Discontent is rife and widespread, and to be honest, it's a shame!  Hopelessness is the new by-word for what the future holds.  But it's not just Spain.

In Greece they now have the newly elected Syriza, a coalition of ultra left-wing parties that have swung to power on the back of promises to end the severe austerity imposed by the country's huge to debt to the EEC and the IMF.  Now for me, as a political initiate and relative non-entity, it beggars belief that a nation can so publicly announce their intention to snub what they owe.  The Greeks wish a return to the good times.  They are not alone.  But when push comes shove someone's gotta pay, and it seems that Greece and Syriza are looking to all of you non-Greek hu-mans to pay for their excesses.  And it seems, not just for their excesses yesterday, but for todays, and for the future as well.  I just cannot understand how such things can even be contemplated let alone be enough to get Alexis Tsipras's feet into the slippers of power in Athens!

In the run up to Syriza's victory we saw Pablo Iglesias, leader of Podemos in Spain, drumming up support (in Greek, which I must say, impressed me no end) for Tsipras.  Two years ago Podemos didn't exist. Iglesias is no doubt a visionary and a very capable, if not unusual politician (his ponytailed look is a bit of a departure I feel from the norm) and he is mobilising massive support from a disillusioned and lost populous. Podemos is the sister party of Syriza, an anti-austerity party winning much acclaim with the latest polls putting him 3rd behind the PP & PSOE, but only just.  And whilst I understand the appeal, especially from the disillusioned young and unemployed, I find it difficult to fall in line and swallow the message because I just cannot see how it can work.

Come the election in May we may well find Podemos winning out.  I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised. But why is it that Iglesias and his supporters, like those of Tsipras in Greece, feel that they, above everyone else, deserves to live the high-life, earn the money, avoid the taxes (because that's largely how the Greek and Spanish economies have got into this mess) and get everyone else to pay for their health care, pension funds and infrastructure?  Instead maybe they should be concentrating their energies on putting a stop to the Black economy and the innate corruption found in Mediterranean politics, because making a nation pay their own way, as they do everywhere else, is surely a much more profitable exercise than reneging on what you owe and giving those who have supported you the finger!

Lola Lush
Political Correspondent NN

Are Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) more or less social than your average MP (Homo sapiens rhetoricus)?

My remit here at NN is to be the Social Correspondent reporting on red carpet events such as movie premiere's, social gatherings and wot-not.  However, January in the Spanish mountains is not exactly a whirlwind of social engagements and high brow conversation!  Trying to discuss the do's and don't's of dining etiquette with a wild boar who has come down from the high mountains looking for, and I quote, 'a bit of scram,' is an exercise in futility!  These old boars have no table manners whatsoever!  And what's more trying to get the Boss to splash out and send me the Oscars is a similarly redundant exercise!  So, I'm a Social Correspondent without any parties!  What is a girl to do?

Nevertheless, one is a resourceful little pussy, if nothing else!  And if there's a good time to be had, then I'm just the girl to sort it out!!  But I find myself in somewhat of dilemma.  Social Correspondent I may be, but I'm only a year and half old so Dad (that's the Boss to you and me!) worries inordinately about me when I am out and about.  I can hear him sometimes calling me in for brekky (he's just got up....whilst I've been up all night doing....doing.....ah ah......and here we reach the crux of the dilemma) and I feel sort of obliged to attend and eat some fish or meat, just to be polite...you know how it is.......when the truth is I've been gorging on raw lizard, mouse souffle, mantis ettoufe and chilled rain water all night, but if I told Dad....sorry, the Boss.......if I told the Boss that he'd do his nut!  And why?  Well, hang on........I'm just checking if he's about!

Nope!  He appears to be having his nap!  Poor old boy!  So....come a bit closer....I'll talk quietly so as not wake him up!  This is the general routine when it gets close to bedtime.  The Boss shuts down all the office PC's, brushes his teeth, then gets us all ready for bed.  The Canine manimals go to their pen and us Feline manimals settle down on sofas, cushions, spare beds......as us pussies are want to do.  And then as soon as Dad's asleep I'm off....out the window, party gear on under my PJ's and I'm off looking for fun till I hear the old man calling me in for brekky!  If he asks I feign innocence, "What me?  No, no!  I just woke up early and wanted some fresh air!"  Of course, I purr like mad and rub round his ankles, and he believes anything I say.  "Sorry, what's that Dad?  No, no!  I wouldn't be able to stay awake all night.  I'm still a kitten-manimal, honestly!"  And this is why I have to find out of the way nooks and crannies to sleep in during the day!  If asked, I'm searching for inspiration for my column......on the inside of my eyelids!!!! lol

So with no social engagements to report on I'll spend my time anyway drawing up a comparison table between the behaviour of British MP's during PM Q's and my low brow friends from above, the wild boar!!

The first time I saw PM Q's I was stunned by the social depravity on show; all that jeering, shouting down and generally raucous behaviour reminded me of a dinner party I'd attended one night.  As you can guess, it was Vinnie and Shazza, our resident boars who'd invited us round for a bite.  And to be fair, that was all there was for us......I mean I'm always keen to try new things but once you've had one almond, you've pretty much had them all!  And on the evening in question, it was almonds for starters, main and dessert!  My sissy, Dijon Dudette was on the verge of tears...not because she was hungry....but because she couldn't stop laughing at the noise Vinnie, in particular, made when attacking his food.  "Sounds like an old fashioned hoover, but it (i.e. the food!) disappears up his snout faster than dust up a Dyson!"

Nevertheless, comparisons abound....so here we go!

Table 1.  Behavioural and Social Compatibility Comparison between Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) & domesticated Politicians (Homo Sapiens rhetoricus).  Each behaviour or social correlate is scored out of 10, the lower the rating the higher the Sociability Index.

	Boar	MP’s
Ability to eat food without snorting	9	7
Dinner conversation subject matter	7	7
Frequency of bitch-slapped marital & public partners	8	3
Question avoidance & bullshitometer reading	2	9
General believability when speaking	3	8

Well, the evidence doesn't lie!  With a Sociability Index (SI) of 6.8 MP's are significantly less agreeable socially than wild boar (SI 5.8).  On most categories the boar and the MP's scored pretty evenly.  For example the ability of both subjects to rouse an interesting dinner conversation from scratch was poor.  No surprise there I'd say!  

But in 2 categories the MP's suffered badly (see Table 1) and these 2 scores are the main reason why the MP's SI is higher than that of the boar.  The first category is that of Bitch Slapping frequency.  To be clear here we're talking about verbal bitch-slappings and not physical abuses.  The data shows that in a domestic situation MP's are no more likely than a wild boar to chastise their respective partner/families, but once those data are combined with that from a public arena the degree of MP bitch-slapping rises dramatically, largely I would suggest because of the hooliganistic and juvenile behaviour they tend to exhibit during PM's Q's! Further, one can also see quite clearly from the Table that the area your average MP suffers most by comparison to a wild boar is on 'question avoidance' and the amount of bullshit they have to espouse in order to sound remotely believable.  The wild boar by contrast scores highly in this category and 3 times less likely to try and bullshit you.  The general feeling was that if you asked a wild boar a question they were likely to hit you straight back with a direct answer. For example, when asked how they deal with delays at Medical Facilities (Vets or Doctors) the boar replied unequivocally, "I'd head butt the f****r!  Problem solved!" Your average MP when confronted with the same question tended to waffle, quote irrelevant statistics, knock the opposition and generally try and attempt to baffle us with bullshit.

So there we have it!  Quite a shock I know for some of you, but the facts are that a wild boar is infinitely more agreeable than an MP.

  

Belated Weekend Sports Report with Negrito

Hi Folks!
Negrito here with all your Sports News.  And what a weekend it was!  Full of footy shocks, tennis tales and cycling woes, we've got a story for everyone!

We'll begin with Friday nights woeful performance by Manchester United in their 4th round FA Cup tie at Cambridge United's Abbey Road stadium.  The Boss, as you may know, is an MU fan and he was not a happy bunny, I can tell thee! United set their stall out from the first minute and a sparsely furnished affair it was, the ball being pushed impassionately along the midfield line, before it patiently came back the same way again a few minutes later, no forward ground having been made.  And so it continued, LVG going for the Squarest team award which he should win hands down with what seemed to be no more than handful of forward passes during the whole 90 minutes.  Appreciating that the big teams don't want to be embarrassed by getting their bums kicked by lower division sides, but United just looked paralysed with fear, giving Cambridge the impetus, much as West Ham did against Bristol City on Sunday afternoon.  The United players were static throughout, expecting maybe to pass their way through a well organised Cambridge side who pressed the big names hard from the outset.  Only late in the game when Ander Herrera replaced Fellaini was their any attempt at link-up play between the far-from united factions of defence, midfield and attack.  But even then, when Herrera made a run, either the player on the ball ignored the run, or, if the ball did come then it was invariably too late and too slow.  And who was running into space created by Herrera's run?  Nobody, that's who!  The whole team seemed to be wearing leaden boots.  No-one was prepared to make a run or bust-a-gut to win a 50/50 ball or to latch onto a quickly slipped through pass.  The movement from United was non-existent, their play too laboured, too slow and too predictable. Without wishing to take anything away from Cambridge, the MU players are plainly of better quality, but in terms of wanting the win the boot was firmly on the other foot!

And on to Saturday when the fairies obviously sprinkled some magic dust on the ties and we saw PL teams eating humble pie on numerous occasions.  It really was a whacky weekend when form counted for nothing and league positions were forgotten, then turned on their heads.  MOTD highlights don't really show enough of the match to be able make any in depth analysis, but even so I loved seeing Jose Mourinho's Chelsea get their gold-plated arses badly tarnished by League 1 Bradford City.  What a treat!  Bradford took their goals superbly and by all accounts took the game to Chelsea, in the end fully deserving their amazing win. Big congrats to them and Saturday's other giant killers Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers who all disposed of PL opposition.  Fantastic!

  

The weekends second live game on the BBC was the West Ham vs Bristol affair mentioned above, but it was once again the team from the lower division that took the game by the scruff of the neck.  The spell cast over the big names of Premier League football this weekend was finally broken when Sakho came off the bench to knock in yet another header this season to end brave Bristol City's cup run.  But the first half had hinted at yet another upset as once again the big names showed nothing and Steve Cotterill's bright looking Bristol set the early pace.  For us watching at home it seemed as if yet another PL side started the game with fear of losing at the forefront of their minds, rather than believing in themselves and playing their normal game. Luckily for Big Sam (Allerdyce) West Ham finally got their foots on the ball and managed to scrape past Bristol, much to their relief.

Weekends like this past one are what footy is all about for me.  The PL big names shot through with self-doubt as the underdogs came on, baring their fangs, drawing blood from their blue-blooded opponents as they subsequently staggered, stumbled and finally lost their footing completely.  I have no doubt that if MU or West Ham had been up against other PL opposition that they would have performed to their usual high standards, which inevitably leads to the question 'why do the big names struggle (year after year) to put the minnows to bed?'  And I can only think it is fear.  Fear of losing, but not just losing, it's losing to opposition so far beneath them that even the very thought of losing beforehand is just not an option, and yet year after year we see the tables turned.  You've gotta love it, but in truth it shouldn't happen....ever!

Watching the expensively assembled MU team hesitate, fumble and finally fail against a Cambridge side put together for less money than Wayne Rooney tips the waiters at The Ivy, I couldn't help thinking that they were so scared of humiliation and defeat that they became physically paralysed, unable to make even the shortest of passes effectively.  That fear seeped into their everyday play rendering each and every one of them impotent whenever they had the ball.  The lack of imagination and creative play was quite shocking.  This wasn't just a bad performance; it was truly horrible!  But it would be unfair to say that United, Chelsea, Man City and the PL's other FA Cup strugglers were poor solely because they were scared; I have no wish to take credit away from the so-called underdogs by undermining their achievements with excuses for the big knobs.  Without exception the lower division sides came out to play football and to try and win.  They were under no illusions but came out attacking nevertheless, hoping to win the game, and if not to win, then to put on a good show for their fans and followers.  It's just such a shame that the cream didn't float to the surface, preferring instead to languish and curdle the mix, leaving many fans wondering what happened.  I can tell them.......it was the 4th round of the best Cup competition there is!  Bring it on!

Moving onto tennis, Andy Murray and his aerodynamic Adam's apple (see blog entry 20 Jan 2015) have moved smoothly though all challengers to the Australian Open semis with the loss of just a single set.  With Federer (knocked out early on by Murray's defeated quarter final opponent, Nick Kyrgios) and Nadal out of the way (beaten by Murray's next opponent Tomas Berdych), and Djokovic and last years winner, Stan Warwrinka, in the top half of the draw, Murray must thinking he's in for a really good chance of taking this title.  At the end of 2014 Djokovic was peerless, but he hasn't started 2015 in anything like the same manner.  With both Stan's and Djokovic's quarters yet to begin, Murray must try to concentrate on his own game, but with yet more big names set to tumble out (Nishikori and Raonic are up against Warwrinka and Djokovic respectively) the urge to get carried away must be immense.  Murray is, however, an avid footy fan and he would no doubt be aware of the FA Cup giant killings this weekend and must be hoping that a similar fate doesn't await him.

And finally, Team Sky's Richie Porte secured 2nd place just 2 seconds behind BMC Racing's Rohan Dennis in the Tour Down Under, the UCI's first world tour event of the 2015 season.  In Argentina Cav also took his first win of the year in the Tour de San Luis, but for me at NN perhaps the biggest cycling news of the past few days is that Lance 'Lack of Charmstrong' reckons he's served his time and should be allowed to compete once again.  Mind you, he must be about 64 years old by now ("Hey, no problem man!  I got a drug for that!"), so I don't think Chris Froome will be losing any sleep at the possibility of Lack of Charmstrong's return.  Apparently Lack of Charmstrong trains on his own now!  Quelle surprise!  Wonder if he's figured out why that is.......we digress!

See you soon Sports Fans

Our first Restaurant Review.....almost!

Since the inauguration of NN we have covered a wide range of subjects from politics to manimal welfare to the arts to sport and much more, but as yet we haven't had a restaurant review and being the resident food critic I think this is way overdue and I am here to right this outrageous wrong.

However, that said, there does remain one small obstacle to my righting this terrible oversight.  I think my colleagues, and the Boss in particular, were extracting the urine when they appointed me restaurant critic for NN.  I mean, as much as I would love to visit a restaurant and comment on the grub, I'm a feline manimal and try as I might I can't get in!  For some strange reason when I start speaking to them their first reaction is to get a bit freaked out!  If I didn't know better I'd say they'd never seen a talking manimal before, let alone one who can speak Spanish as well as English!  But since I know that's not such an oddity (all us manimals here speak several languages.....take Negrito for example, he's trilingual; English, Spanish and the universal language of 'lurve') this cannot be the problem.  Anyway, I chewed the problem over whilst I sat and devoured my 3 o'clock snack - a platter of cold meats, 1/2 kg blue cheese, 1/2 kg non-blue cheese, 2 whole trout, 1L milk, a bag of Haribo Teddy Bears and a bar of Dairy Crunch; not much really, but it was only a snack! - and then it came to me!

You see, the problem wasn't so much that I couldn't get in to the restaurants, as they all closed the doors when I got near!  "Why?", I hear you cry.  "Why won't you let Sonny Tiger in?"  

I'll tell you why, shall I.  That ha-ha, ever-so-funny, hilarious Boss and my so-called friends had set me up!  As each restaurant closed it's doors I was able to glance behind me and spy the NN team chuckling behind their disguises.  Yes, their disguises!!!  Did they really think I wouldn't spot Rudi dressed as Audrey Hepburn - I mean, as far as I know, Ms. Hepburn didn't have whiskers!! - and Mister Cool dressed as David Ginola! Putting on a wig and holding a bottle of shampoo mate, ain't much of a disguise!  And the Boss dressed up as Mariano Rajoy!  Since when would the Spanish Head of State visit our part of the world?!!!  

That was when I smelled a rat!  Luckily, because I'd already eaten the rat escaped digestion, but even so I was onto them!  So when we got back to the newsroom I confronted the team and they spilled the beans - which I did eat, cos I can't resist beans!  They make thy fart!  And I loves to fart!  

It seems I was given the job solely because I like my food.....just a little bit mind...... and I might be just a teensy, weensy bit overweight (though by who's standards I'd like to know!  As far I'm concerned I'm just 'well-covered')  and this because I always 'clean my plate,' ....well, and anyone else's plate within paw reach - I hate waste after all - but they went and told one local restauranteur, who became scared I'd eat him out of house and custom and so once he saw me approaching he promptly battened down the hatches, then WhatsApp'd his mates who all did the same!  Hence.....no restaurant review!

Where's all me trimmings?

Is that the starter?

So instead I give you two pictures....one of my hero, Adam Richman, who can eat almost as much as me, and another of a roast chicken, cos that's what I'm eating right now to console myself!

 I'll be back soon with more tasty tit-bits to make your mouth water.

Sonny Tiger for NN, hungry and in Spain!

  

Culture at NN? You'd better believe it!

All of us at NN love BBC nature documentaries and last night's Winterwatch (BBC2) was no exception. The night time shots of the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) population at Blakeney Point were amazing. We were transfixed, even little Sonny Tiger who could only speculate what the seals might taste like!! That boy!! His mind is always on food!

Chris Packham's commentary was hugely informative, as usual, especially when he pointed out the 'body slapping' the bulls indulge in, was a 'cultural' oddity restricted to the seal populations found on the East coast of the UK. But that one little word; culture, encompasses so much biologically and anthropologically speaking, that I was pushed to investigate the term further.

Interestingly, until very recently culture was deemed to be a specifically hu-man trait. Such is the hubris of mankind, but I digress.

According to Chambers, culture is defined (rather loosely) as 'the result of cultivation; refinement in manners, thought, taste, etc,' with the adjective cultured meaning 'well educated, esp in the arts,' indicating rather strongly, I would suggest, that only hu-mans can be cultured! 

However, in recent decades this rather narrow definition has undergone some 'refinement,' especially with regard to animal behaviour where it is now widely assumed that many animals (e.g. many primate species; chimpanzees [Pan trogoldytes], Japanese macaques [Macaca fuscata]; in birds; cowbirds [Molothrus ater], starlings [Sturnus vulgaris] ) possess culture, including apparently, the grey seals at Blakeney.

Hiya!!

But empirically, how does one go about proving that a particular animal species, or indeed a particular population of a species, possesses culture?  

Table 1, below, lists one train of thought where there are 8 conditions, each of which needs to be satisfied empirically (through experimentation) in order to demonstrate that a species has culture. The table is fairly self-explanatory, and since this isn't a scientific paper I shan't be running through a long-winded explanation of each condition individually, suffice to say that in order to satisfy each condition in turn may take many years of pain-staking research which can often end up being summarised in a single word, often missed, in a BBC documentary. That Chris Packham can describe the 'body slapping' of the bull seals as 'culture' would indicate to me that some scientist, somewhere has gone through the painful, time-consuming process of doing just that. As a Canine layman I would suggest that perhaps the hardest one to prove these days might be 'diffusion' since in the wild habitat fragmentation might limit the interaction between different groups, or populations, of the same species.

Looks like the Boss!

For example, a commonly accepted form of chimpanzee culture these days, and one that many TV naturalists would be familiar with, is termite fishing with sticks. Historically, chimpanzees ranged from the West coast of Africa to the East, but now due to hu-man intervention their range is much more localised and disparate, such that at Gombe, Tanzania in East Africa termite fishing can be observed, whilst in West African populations (such as that in the Tai forest, Ivory Coast) it is absent. Does that mean that this behaviour is not then a cultural innovation? I think not. I'm really just playing Devil's advocate to illustrate the potential difficulties a researcher might encounter in his/her quest to prove their hypotheses.

Table 1. Conditions of criteria for recognising cultural acts in non-hu-man species (from Kroeber, 1928; McGrew & Tutin, 1978)
Innovation	New pattern is invented or modified
Dissemination	Pattern acquired by another from innovator
Standardisation	Form of pattern is consistent & stylised
Durability	Pattern performed outwith presence of demonstrator
Diffusion	Pattern spreads from one group to another
Tradition	Pattern persists from innovators generation to the next
Non-subsistence	Pattern transcends subsistence
Naturalness	Pattern shown in absence of direct hu-man influence

All this begs the question, why on earth are going on about this on your blog?

Well, I'll tell you, shall I? That one word, culture, set me to thinking whether we at NN possess culture. We have no empirical data to prove this one way or the other. But I would suggest that we have anecdotal evidence that would indicate that us Manimals at NN are indeed cultured.  

This is Nacho. She is Mum to all but one of the Feline manimals here at NN. Sadly, Nacho is no longer with us but her legacy remains and Mini, Dijon and Rudi are all her progeny. Sonny came from, we're not sure where, but he just walked in our door looking for a job when he was no more than 6 or 7 weeks old!! Anyway, the point is that Nacho began a trend which the kidlets have continued. Us Canine manimals love a walk. Nothing new there, but after a time Nach started to come with us! A Feline manimal going for a walk....unheard of! But there she was. The habit then spread to her sis, S.B. (also sadly gone), and latterly to her kids, who now work with me at NN.

And now Sonny has taken up the baton as well. So when the Boss takes us for a walk now it's very often it's 4 doglet and 4 catlet manimals. Which is great for us, cos it means we don't have to look for anyone to chase as they're right there! What fun baby!

So, whilst the manimals at NN might not fit every one of the criteria listed above (Table 1) it comes pretty close. The only one which might be in some dispute is the last criterion, an absence of hu-man influence, and that's just because we're not sure if the Boss qualifies as a hu-man or not (see picture above of the chimpanzee)!

And finally, back on Winterwatch once again young Master Packham was holding an absolutely stunning Eagle owl. We live in Spain, as you may know, and as it happens we have an Eagle owl living in the forest just behind our house. At dusk it can be seen swooping low across the almond groves out front, it's resonant call sounding like a deep bass pan-pipe, and as beautiful as it may be (one morning it was there on our gate as we opened the front door) it is certainly deadly. The Boss thinks it is responsible for the loss of both Nacho and S.B., which it may well be because the hunters kill everything else and food must at a premium for a large predator such as this, which may explain why he's 'ordering off the normal menu.' So it just means that all of us watch our backs right now because we don't want to lose any more family!

That's all for now folks.

Weeknd Sports Report with Negrito

Howdy Folks.
Time for a sports round-up; our first of the year and we're going straight for the jugular with questions such as, 'Is Jose Mourinho the worst tempered manager of all time?' and 'Is LVG the man to save United?' And finally, 'does Andy Murray's massive Adam's apple inhibit his serve?'

All this and much more with Negrito at NN....read on for all the facts and goss.

Football : Here at NN we like to cover the stories that others miss and in light of Chelsea's arse-kicking of Swansea 0-5 we are asking why is Mourinho such a grumpy old bugger?  In the post-match press interviews you'd think they'd lost 5-0 instead of having put in what was perhaps the best (first) 45 minutes of football we've seen so far in the PL this season.  He was as glum as a dog without a bone and I couldn't help wondering if he'd got a parking ticket just before the kick-off because I've seen happier looking Pugs than him!  C'mon Jose, what's the problem?  Didn't Roman give you a big enough January transfer budget this year?  Or did one of the police dogs use your leg as a watering post?  We know all about the theory behind the hang-dog face.....court the controversy and keep the pressure off the players!  But really!  Would a smile hurt that much?  We asked 100 people that question and we're now looking for the Pointless answer!  Can you guess what it is to win the coveted Pointless trophy?

Following Louis van Gaal's successes at the World Cup with his Dutch team, we ask do his favoured tactics work in the PL?  The Boss at NN is a die-hard MU fan (poor bar-steward!) and so, on his behalf, I must question whether the 3-5-2 tactics that worked so well in Brazil for LVG, actually work with MU? Acknowledging that he has had notoriously bad luck with injuries thus far, especially at the back, so that for the odd match things may well have been forced onto him, I still question whether a 5-man midfield is working given that the 3 at the back seem completely at odds with each other and what is being asked of them.  Marcus Rojo has yet to convince this canine that he was worth the millions paid for him.  He seems unable to function with any of his compatriots at the back.  This may be down to the fact that Jones, Evans and Smalling are being asked to defend in a way that appears to be as alien to them as E.T. is to the rest of us!  And what's more, they don't seem to be getting more accustomed to the system as the season wears on.  In fact at the back United look as inept now as they did on the first day of the season.  The fact that they are in 4th place is more down to the competitiveness in the PL than their own good, consistent play.  Going forward there is no doubt that they are fearsome, if not yet awesome, but the frailties at the back seem to be rubbing off on Rooney et al  because with RVP, di Maria, Rooney and Falcao you must say they should be scoring a lot more than they are.  So, is LVG the man to put United back on their pedestal?

At NN the jury is still out.  Last season we were never convinced that David Moyes was the right choice. He just wasn't big enough for the job.  There is no doubting LVG's pedigree; he is a proven manager with a successful track record, so like Fergie before him, I hope the board give him time and money enough to complete the job and hope against hope (cos we're fed up with the Boss's tears!) that he invests well.  We're not convinced letting de Gea go would be the right decision.  Without him United may well be in a relegation battle this year instead of fighting for a place in Europe next season.  Investing in Bale, which appears to be the direction LVG is heading, at the expense of de Gea would be bad business, as good a player as Bale is. Rather than spending £100m on another front man, they'd do better to get hold of 2 top class centre backs to reinforce the line in front of de Gea.

Tennis: After Andy Murray's first round success over qualifier Yuki Bhambri we ask the question that no-one else in tennis has the 'balls' to ask.  Does Andy Murray's massive Adam's apple inhibit his serve and his all round game?

We have conducted independent wind tunnel tests with this question in the forefront of our minds and can confirm right now that wind tunnels are indeed extremely windy places, and that once in profile position Murray's obstruction, that has been likened to El Capitan, the cliff face scaled so famously last week by Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson, can block out the sun and indeed affect the weather, thus bringing us to the inevitable conclusion that Andy's apple is a hurdle to his further success and advancement in the game.  

However, the fact remains that in spite of this enormous handicap Murray does still seem to be inordinately successful for a Brit tennis player which leaves us wondering if he was whacking the ball back on a level playing field (l.e. he was born anywhere else than Britain, AND had a less than monumental Adam's apple) would he win the lot and go on to be the greatest player in history?

Sorry Andy, but the truth hurts!  Only one question left to ask, does the Adam's apple hurt too?

Cycling:  With the Tour Down Under kicking off the UCI's pro cycling 2015 calender, we're looking at Team Sky's Richie Porte and asking has he got what it takes to triumph in his backyard tour.  We asked our old mate Crocodile Rundown (a distant rellie of Crocodile Dundee but with much more cycling know-how and knowledge) what he thought of Porte's chances.  Here's what he had to say!

"Aw, Porte's a boy alright!  He's got two legs and can defo ride a bike so I reckon that puts him in with a shout provided he can stay off the XXXX thereby allowing the team mechanics to dispense with the stabilisers!  Nothing worse than a pissed team leader.  You end up riding twice as far as the rest!"

So there you have it, straight from the Horse's Mouth (that's a bar on the beachfront) where we found old CR 7 parts to the wind.  Who's wind it was he didn't say and all we could say for sure was that it stunk like an outback dunny!  

And that's all the Sports News for now.  I'm off to peer in the magic mirror and ask some relevant questions of myself, like 'who is the fairest sports reporter of all?'

BFN

Negrito

Children are our future, so why are they leaving in droves?

Editorial
Sunday Comment from NN, Spain

It was interesting, if not predictable that Obama and Cameron would emerge this week after 2 days of talks to announce they would work together to counter the 'poisonous ideology' of Islamic extremists and would (most likely) flout privacy laws in order to achieve their aims makes me somewhat uneasy.

In their joint press conference on Friday Cameron said, "We face a poisonous and fanatical ideology that wants to pervert one of the major religions, Islam and create conflict, terror and death.  With our allies, we will confront it wherever it appears," with Obama adding that they would work together to build "strategies to counter violent extremism that radicalises recruits and mobilises people, especially young people, to engage in terrorism."  (See Reuters for more details)

It is widely accepted that many young people are recruited via social media and I agree that something needs to be done to try and combat this type of recruitment and radicalisation, but it's a very slippery wicket.  If legislation is passed that allows the authorities to close or limit the reach of the sites from where recruitment may or may not occur then Western governments run the risk of being labelled hypocrites.  How can one extol the virtues of Charlie Hebdo to espouse their form of free speech (agree with it or not) and on the other hand legislate against others because they may promote subversive material?

It is a very sticky situation and I'm not sure that anyone knows quite how to combat the problem.  I agree with both Obama and Cameron that something needs to be done to counter Islamic extremism, but I'm not sure that fighting it by passing one-sided, or selective legislation is the way forward.  In the same way tackling the threat militarily is, I think, not the answer.  I think all these will achieve is the radicalisation of the next generation and then the next, and the next.....

According to the Economist the reasons that Western youngsters join IS, among other Islamic groups, are manifold and surely the governments in the West should be looking more at the reasons for the disenchantment and disenfranchisement of the West's young people rather than by trying to shut the gate after the proverbial horse has bolted!  It appears that many may be merely looking for some substance in their life, a bit of meaning to counter the boredom of unemployment or a life with little or no prospect of a meaningful or satisfying future in their homelands.  

Reproduced from The Economist 

I think many people are dismayed by the two-tier society we inhabit these days.  The gap between the rich and the poor, the have's and the have-nots, is growing.  In our 21st Century world should there really be people who go hungry, wherever they live, whatever their religion?  Should there really such a gap between those at the top and those who struggle to make ends meet.  Poverty, hunger and the resurgence of diseases such as typhoid and polio (I realise this is largely due to anti-biotic resistance, but politics also plays it's part) are problems that should not be occurring today.  I understand and fully appreciate it's easy for me sitting here to just say why don't they do this, or do that.  The mechanics and logistics of politics mean that much of what should happen never does just because of the various political systems within which we all live.  But that said, I would assert that if Western governments put greater effort into solving the problems at home, this might make the recruitment of our brothers and sisters that much harder.  After all, if one is generally happy and fulfilled then what reason would there be no reason to leave, would there?

Throughout human history Wars are traditionally fought by the young.  And now in the 21st Century, after the longest period of peace (is that what this is?) in modern history the boundless energies of youth are not being harnessed in any sort of constructive way.  Is it any wonder the youth in the West look on enviously at their generational compatriots in the Middle East and see that they fight for a principal, fight for each other and have something to believe in, whereas at home all they have is a once-a-fortnight visit to the dole office to gee them up.  The natural optimism of youth is irrepressible and yet in the West we seem to want to pull the teeth of our young men and women, telling them to be happy with a life of inequality, unemployment and little or no prospect of a home life, a home of their own and then we tell them to sit back and be good little citizens.  Is it any wonder youth crime, drug taking and now radicalisation are all on the rise.  The street gang members of the 90's are today's radicalised.  The mods and rockers of the 50's and 60's are today's disenfranchised.  You can see, this is not a new problem.  It's just a shame that what we don't have are new answers to a very old question.

In retrospect, I think National Service should never have been stopped, but sadly one can't go back, no matter how much one might wish to.  

Policy makers want to look at what is missing from the lives of the disenchanted youth (see chart above for estimated numbers of foreign fighters recruited by IS) that they can look at the videos of IS and imagine that life could be better under their banner than at home.  For me, that says more about what they leave behind than what they're running too.

It's not about restricting Western freedoms further.  That surely, ultimately plays into the hands of IS and anyway, once a freedom has been taken away it's much harder to return it.  This is no doubt, the thin end of the wedge!  Monitoring our emails, phone calls and spending habits, or restricting our movements as a means of 'securing our own safety' are examples of freedoms that we will never get back.  Happy people have nothing to hide and if we spent more time trying to make our people happy, by giving them a future that they can invest in, something to look forward to, to work for, then surely having Big Bro peering over your shoulder won't be necessary.  So, be brave policy makers; level the playing field and give everybody the same opportunities.  Make all education free; make health free, cap the salaries of all fat-cats no matter what industry they are in - we're all pissed off at the criminal bonuses bankers, for example, receive even after plunging the world into recession - ensure everyone who works earns a living wage, one that enables everyone to put a decent meal on the table.  Stop world hunger, end world poverty and promote equality across all boundaries.  Invest in our youth; stop punishing them for being young.  Give youth the chance to shape their own futures in a world we can all be proud of and we might just find that a few more stay at home.

None of this is easy, but it is all possible.  It can all be achieved.  It can be done in stages, bit by bit and as it happens the simultaneous dismantling and disarming of the terror machine may well accompany it.  Happiness at home is the extremists worst enemy. They pray on disenfranchisement, loneliness and dissatisfaction offering the excitement of a life with guns, the chance to mould their own futures, even if it wasn't exactly what they anticipated their lives would be when they were children.  Take that away and you disarm the extremists, their promotional videos become just that; videos.   

As the song suggests, 'children are our future.'  The problem is that no-one in the West believes that any more, especially the kids themselves, so who can blame them for looking for something else to fill the void in their lives.  The governments of the West must find ways to fill those voids with something more constructive than just talk and empty promises of a bright future.  Just because the youth are young don't make the mistake of thinking they are stupid.  We need to give youth a chance, a chance to grow, to experience, to learn and to choose what is right, what is wrong, what their lives can be, what they should be and we need to be strong enough to trust them to come to the right decisions off their own back.  

Perhaps then we can all go to the shops or take a flight to our holiday destination without fearing that our families are in mortal danger!

Have a good week.