On January 2008 a little girl went missing in Huelva, a southern town of Spain. Last month (March), after her body had been found, Spain was shocked with the news that the suspect killer (in custody) had been convicted of sexual harassment to his own daughter years ago, but he never went to prison. Had he been in prison, everyone says, the latest death in Huelva would not have occurred.

An investigation was launched, and then we learned that the judge who did not send the killer to jail had been fined in the past for failing to implement the jail sentence of another criminal.

Although the death of this poor girl is the fault of the killer, the blatant failures and fiasco of the Spanish judicial system …

This week I am at the Bled “Future of the Internet” conference, where the European Commission tries to coordinate efforts among the research projects they fund with the goal of positioning Europe as a leader in the definition and research of the Future Internet (or “Internet of the Future”, or whichever name people want to call it).

There was a good opening speech by Dr. Žiga Turk, Slovenian Minister of Growth, relating future developments in the Internet to past developments in human communication technologies. The message was clear and true, and I think it most importantly highlights that such developments take place with little planning. For this reason, I believe that specific efforts to develop a Future Internet are superfluous and most likely inefficient. The …

Geraldine Ferraro, campaign adviser to Hillary Clinton, has resigned in the face of accusations of racism from the other democratic candidate, Barak Obama.

Ferraro’s comment in dispute was that part of the support that Obama has is due to the fact he is black.

This is not racism. This is a fact. It is entirely true that many people do base their vote on issues absolutely unrelated to the political program of the candidate they are voting. If the candidate is too short, too fat or too bald, he/she will be at a disadvantage over a candidate who is taller, slimmer and has hair. The same goes for other factors, such as the sex or race of the candidate.

If someone is voted because …

Short term memory is the worst problem and enemy of the people of Spain, and it is also the best ally of indecent politicians. In the wake of the assassination last week of an ex-councillor of the Basque Country town of Mondragón, several politicians claimed yesterday that alliances of their parties with ETA political brand “ANV” in several town halls should come to an end.

That’s strange… isn’t it? Why do they want to end such a relationship just now? Do they know now something they did not know earlier? Oh wait… don’t say that last week’s killing is related in any way. Is it because ANV refuses to denounce the assassination? Yes, this is why. …

Yesterday (March 8th 2008), the daughter of the slain former town councilor (Isaías Carrasco, killed by ETA last Friday), called for high turnout at today’s general elections in Spain, asked his father’s killing not to be used politically, and ended her speech cursing the assassins.

Her wish of high turnout is elemental and necessary, and it is also desirable in this general election, regardless of whether it is advantageous for one political party or another, as some say. The curse directed at the assassins is natural, understandable, and I fully back her in expressing it.

However, unfortunately, the very killing of her father, like every other terrorist killing (ETA’s or not), is a political act. Those killers intend to do politics by killing, and precisely for this reason, it …

Tomorrow, March 9th 2008, Spain goes to the polls to elect a new government. Yesterday, March 7th, 2008, criminal band ETA killed a person, Isaías Carrasco, who had served as a Mondragon town councilor with the socialist party (PSE).

This latest victim of ETA had no bodyguards, for his term as councilor had ended some time ago. He was an easy target of the assassins, as could be any of us.

The timing of this killing is significant. They picked precisely a time two days before the general election in Spain to commit their latest crime. Some analysts suggest this is because ETA wants to state “here we are, and we have the capability to kill”. Some say that ETA did this simply because it’s all …

“Delocalization”: a term used to refer to companies moving factories or other operations from their usual locations to new ones.

People (politicians included) like to complain about companies “delocalizing”, and taking jobs away from their region (be it a town, province, country or a continent). They love to argue that the departing company is only moved by profit and has no sensibility for society and the local community.

However, “delocalization” is actually an illusion built on the illusion that things will not or should not change.

Businesses (whether a local business or a multinational opening a new factory or branch) establish themselves in a particular location, at a particular point in time, when it is in their interest. Likewise, new conditions may drive the …

Year 2002: The Spanish Government, with support from the opposition, introduces new legislation to ban political parties which support, in one form or another, terrorism. The new laws were drafted quite clearly with political party Batasuna in mind. This party, linked to criminal band ETA, had representation in the Basque parliament, receiving public funds which ended up supporting ETA’s terrorist activities.

Year 2004: National elections to the Spanish Government: The PSOE (socialist party), until then the opposition party, became the party in power.

Year 2005: Local Basque elections took place. Batasuna, already declared illegal for supporting terrorist activity, could not run in this election. However, a new party, PCTV (EHAK by its Basque name), ran for office, despite it being heir to the …

The bandwagon of man-made climate change has all sorts of passengers, and seems to be the ideal pretext for just about anything nowadays.

The UK Government announced this week that the UK will begin building nuclear power plants again.

Nuclear energy has bad press for several reasons, including health concerns for nearby residents, difficult disposal of nuclear waste, and the danger of malfunction in the plant. There’s widespread opposition throughout Europe to building new nuclear power stations. Even UK’s announcement this week has been criticized by some groups.

However, what is unusual in the arguments to defend the construction of new nuclear power plants? The fight against climate change is publicized as the first reason that citizens should take into account to back nuclear energy. (references: …

Numerous reports on TV, radio and the press would require an analysis and revision to correct the distorted pictures of reality they convey.

One such example is the night newscast in Spanish TV channel “Cuatro”, of January 5th, 2008, reporting on the return of the Moroccan ambassador in Spain. Just a quick background note: After an official visit in November 2007 by the King and Queen of Spain to the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla (located on the north coast of Morocco), Morocco complained that the visit was a provocation (they claim Ceuta and Melilla are their territory). The Moroccan ambassador to Spain was recalled from Madrid.

The news piece last night argued that this diplomatic incident has been the only one between Spain and Morocco during …