Friday, January 27, 2017

Winter Songs & Christmas Carols

As I was singing "c'mon it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with Aimee" (a personal adaptation of the song Sleigh Ride (Mitchell Parish lyrics, Leroy Anderson music), I was struck by a thought.

This song has no references to Christmas or religion, so differs from almost all traditional Christmas Carols. What popular seasonal songs are wholly "secular" ... ?

Sleigh Ride

Jingle Bells

Frosty the Snowman

Aside from this, it's late January, we've no snow outside (in Stockholm, Sweden), and no sleighs nearby... I did find Sleigh Ride composer Leroy Anderson was born to Swedish parents & visited here repeatedly.




Media is "Dancing With The Donald"

All enjoy the President Trump Two-Step.
Such antics.
And he sez the darndest things!

Controversy sells news.

Media fueled the Trump presidential campaign, trumpeting all his off-color antics. Now U.S. President Trump's America First Circus continues as he waltzes with corporate media in a symbiotic dance programmed to end in 2021.

We consumers tune-in to monitor the Latest. We gasp at Trump's "Unafraid to Risk it" style. He's reportedly edgy, misanthropic, and politically incorrect. He's got a manly history. As his tale weakens, stories of mega-money, bimbos & creepy kids wait in the wings. 

Both sides are parasites. So Entertaining!
Consuming Trump® News is the new & improved American Dream.
It's the greatest. Couldn't be better.

Buy your popcorn Here  (link)



Monday, January 23, 2017

Funneling Money to TRUMP®

US President Trump is still exposed to illegal kickbacks from his global hotel empire and many other business operations.

Is Trump too rich to be bribed?

Already wealthy (or still not enough) he should divest from all active participation in Trump® businesses.

Foreign elements recognize new possibilities. They want to generate conflict-of-interest & quickly buy shortcuts to favors.

On the new president's inauguration day, The Telegraph (UK) published a list of room rates for top Trump hotels. You can funnel funds to President Trump by staying at his hotels in the USA or overseas. Here are their cited 14 top choices (2 night stay; £/$ exchange @1.24):

1    Trump Washington DC (room = Trump Townhouse)  $58,900.
2    Trump Doral (Miami; Presidential Suite)  $17,180.
3    Trump Waikiki (Honolulu; Waikiki Penthouse Suite)  $7,513.
4    Trump Las Vegas (Penthouse Suite)  $5,130.
5    Trump Panama (Panama City; Executive Suite)  $3,880.
6    Trump New York (Park View Suite)  $3,435.
7    Trump Soho (New York; SoHo Suite) $3,220.
8    Trump Chicago (Grand Deluxe Lake View Suite)  $3,055.
9   Trump Vancouver (Executive Suite)  $2343.
10  Trump Doonbeg (County Clare, Ireland; Premier Courtyard View Suite)  $2,006.
11  Trump Toronto (Deluxe suite)  $1,793.
12  Albemarle Estate at Trump Winery (Charlottesville; Jefferson Grand Suite)  $1,314.
13  Trump Turnberry (Ayrshire, Scotland; Ocean View Suite)  $1,113.
14  Macloed House & Lodge (Aberdeenshire, Scotland; Garden deluxe king room)  $868.

These aren't always their top rooms.

Two nights over 2017 Valentine's Day in the Presidential Suite at the Trump Panama costs $6,003. (including the 10% taxes and complimentary wireless internet).

You can book MacLeod House & Lodge for your 2-night event (lodging up to 32 people) for $29,611. If American & non-EU guests reclaim 20% VAT, it's $24,676. Not too bad -- and maybe not enough to draw the notice of President Trump... 

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew) is filing a lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court claiming federal official U.S. President Donald J. Trump is illegally receiving gifts & emoluments (money) from foreign governments, which the US Constitution bans as corruption.

The strict rules on gifts & bribes are based on good reasoning. There are not exceptions for bribing a wealthy Cabinet Secretary, a top military General, or little-known Federal judges. President Trump is now a Federal EMPLOYEE.

Here's a link to U.S. Department of Justice rules, procedures, and Standards of Ethical Conduct. They begin (quote):
You may have heard it said that “public service is a public trust.” This means that each Federal employee has a responsibility to the United States Government and its citizens to place loyalty to the Constitution, laws, and ethical principles above private gain. The public deserves and should expect no less.

Federal employees cannot accept unsolicited gifts worth more than $20 (and maximum $50 value over one calendar year from one person).  Until now, if there appears conflict-of-interest, federal employees have been urged to refuse gifts & money. Will Trump change this?

If we allow federal employee corruption, U.S. government procurement & the American goal of impartial justice will be badly undermined.


Saturday, January 21, 2017

Welcome New Government Employees

Top members of the new American government are already wealthy & powerful. Let's hope they understand they're now EMPLOYEES. The polarizing rhetoric depicts a conquering army, as if we've new bosses, rather than a new slate of public servants.


Wednesday, January 18, 2017

'Onlooker' Booker, US Senator

US Sen. Cory Booker is accused of pocketing Big Pharma cash, then voting to forbid desperate Americans from buying cheaper lifesaving drugs from Canada.

As detailed by Richard Eskow (link), Booker is a hypocrite who betrayed endangered Americans needing medical relief.

Sure professed progressive Democrat Booker voted down the Bernie Sanders / Amy Klobuchar budget amendment to allow prescription drugs from Canada for millions of America's desperately ill.

Those worst-off won't vote again, and most others will soon forget.

Booker is a looker with his eyes on the White House. Big Pharma can help him gain entry.  



Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Devil Ain't Far

Here's a comment on the ever-present danger of murderous nice folk - it's stuck with me, and is worth reproducing. Written by Doug Salzmann:

"It’s a very human reaction, in the face of such vile and hateful behavior and speech, to insist that the culprit is fundamentally different from — less than — "normal" human beings, like us. "We" could never do such things, believe in such evil madness, speak such despicable words.

But that’s not true. It’s a big lie. Given the "right" environment, the "right" experiences, the "right" frustrations and disappointments, the "right" programming and encouragement, virtually all humans are capable of atrocities such as Roof perpetrated.

We could all be Dylan Roof.

Hell, people only have to be told that they are heroes protecting the world from one sort of evil or another and they willingly napalm villages in Southeast Asia or blow up wedding parties with Hellfire missiles from air-conditioned easy chairs thousands of miles away.

If you’ve reached whatever age and place in life you’re at now without becoming "one of them," you’re not special or different; you’re just lucky."

Beware a Demagogue!

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Waiting for Trump GOLD

Are you one of the 62 million Americans who (supposedly) voted for Donald Trump? Do you eagerly await him "draining the swamp" ?? Will Trump Make America Great Again?

Cracker, You're plumb Out of Luck.

待ちぼうけ 
Only Waiting. ...
待ち惚け
wait in vain...

Trump promised, and you gave him what he wanted. Now, a more-mighty Trump dumped all obligations to little people.

He dumped Giuliani.

He dumped Gov. Chris Christie.

Look at last summer's Republican National Convention video - Trump had already decided Christie was poison (explained before, link)

Watch the candidate's final strong message (link here -- recognize the machine which made the video already enslaves America). Until Election Day, Mr. Donald Trump pledged to work With us & FOR US. Now those promises, and us, are simple bother.

President-elect Trump's uplifting messages stopped after his election. Jackals gathered round him; he welcomed the worst. Did YOU get a personal invitation to the great President Trump's inauguration? If yes, You're in Trump's 1% -- the rest of us are trash.

Trump offered Christie a "Big Embarrassment" brush-off



Saturday, January 07, 2017

Remote Murders

Abdulrahman Al-Aulaqi (Awlaki, or Al-Awlaki) was a 16-year-old American kid assassinated by drone missile on 14 Oct. 2011, just 15 days after his 40-yr-old American father Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki was similarly eradicated.

No court oversaw the orders for their termination, and no U.S. judicial review has either justified or condemned the extrajudicial killings.

Supposedly, US President Barack Obama was in ultimate control over these executions.

Was this extreme violence, and especially the killing of a young American boy, truly necessary?  The boy's family & the American Civil Liberties Union say NO  (see video)

America has gone to the ends of the earth to interfere with dangerous people; our military occupies their faraway lands. These forces should come home - as promised by Trump.

In this case, the father was sheltering with his extended family in the Awalik / Awalek tribal region of Yemen. How might the tribe retaliate? The tribal anthem was quoted by The Wall Street Journal as: "We are the sparks of Hell; whomever interferes with us will be burned."

PS - It's been reported on 29 January 2017 that the first US combat death of the Trump administration came in an action against members of this Al-Awlaki family; 30+ others died in the battle, including 8-year old Nora, daughter of the late American Anwar al-Awlaki (the below dead boy Abdulrahman's younger sister).

Nora, age 8. Shot in the neck by Seal Team 6, she bled-out after 2 hours.

Monday, January 02, 2017

Shitty Stockholm

Stockholm's a beautiful city until you need to find a toilet.

Then emerges the dark, cold cruelty of Nordic noir ... Sweden's capital has far too few public toilet facilities, and even if found -- it often costs money to use them.

Surely a few parking spaces could cheaply be converted with port-a-potties.















Use of toilets is a human right.

Stockholm's urban infrastructure is substandard & inhumane.
Young, old, you or me - it's dirty to use city bushes as toilets...
Wake Up and provide for people!



Thursday, December 29, 2016

Does Israel Support Hawaiian Colonization?

Did President Obama finally stand up to Netanyahu and defy the Israeli right-wing?

The Obama administration abstained from (voting for or against) United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334(2016) reaffirming Israeli settlements have no legal validity in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, and that Israel as occupying Power is obliged to abide by the Geneva Convention. The resolution passed 14-0-1.

Netanyahu supposedly is livid at Obama. More likely this is all a setup so Obama can soon be appointed an official "Envoy to the Middle East" under the veneer he'll resist Israeli bullying. Obama's Administration at its toughest has been a slightly disobedient lapdog while a key funder & servile friend of Israel. For nearly eight years, regardless of commitments, the two-state solution has made no progress. Occupied territories in the Middle East are politically unstable; civilian populations are suffering. It has seemed among the big powers, the quest for sustainable peace has been abandoned. Obama is accused (link) throughout his administration of turning his back on the large non-Jewish civilian population forced to live under Israeli occupation.

If Netanyahu is truly displeased with the USA, he can easily draw global attention to the American occupation of Hawai'i.

Otherwise, this is all a deceptive show.






Friday, December 23, 2016

Enjoy a Progressive Crèche

Have you looked at a crèche this year, or perhaps set-up a Nativity scene at home?

My home's next to the huge Gustav Vasa Church in central Stockholm (Sweden). This year the crèche attracted my attention because the church is closed for renovation. Behind a construction fence and among the rubble of reconstruction, we can see a huge star of lights and the crèche. It's a progressive crèche.

Somewhat similar to the Advent candles, where one more is lit each week, this crèche changes over the holiday season to follow the Nativity story.

Now it's 23rd December, and only animals are in the manger.

Sometime tomorrow, Joseph & Mary will arrive. And in the wee hours of the next morning, we can expect the Christ child. They'll be joined by the Magi, three wise men.

The progression is of course important. We should remember the birth was in a primitive manger, and not at better facilities nearby. There was no room at the inn for a heavily pregnant woman exhausted from long travels...

Please draw your own lessons. Merry Christmas!


Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Desecrating Graves Insults Hawaiians

US President Obama has family graves in Kenya maintained by Siaya County.  Obama's grandfather & father are buried in a respectful place in Kogelo village. The President's father died in 1982, during his son's senior year at Columbia College, New York City.


People around the world respect the dead. It's truly sad when the sacred is dirtied, deliberately or otherwise. Yet this week Obama played golf on Heleloa Hawaiian Cemetery -- (seized by U.S. Marines, bulldozed & dubbed Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course). Thousands of Hawaiians were honorably buried in this sacred place.

American film star Jennifer Lawrence was recently interviewed (link) laughing about scratching her rump on Hawaiian sacred stones. She then joked of destroying a site she'd been told was culturally sacred. These are atrocities -- NOT FUNNY.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVSEPx1JGVs

Now I'm looking at Jennifer's grandmama's gravestone photo in Sulphur Cemetery, Henry County, Kentucky, May She Rest in Peace. Fortunately my butt don't itch. Granny probably knew Jen's an ass. I expected better from President Obama, but surely it would not be proper to use his father's grave as a place for sports?  ... or a place to cut & paint my toenails? NO.

Yankee's desecration of Hawai'i, Mokapu & elsewhere, invites spiritual retaliation. Continuing dishonor by U.S. soldiers, visitors & officials is misguided, unsustainable & clearly wrong.

Reach into My Grave !
Mokapu putt, squatter shame
Shaka President ?


 

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Absentee Capitalist Crimes

Did 63 million Americans truly vote for Donald Trump? If so, more than 60 million will soon feel betrayed.

President Trump now promises to assist big business. He's likely to help Russia & Israel before he helps us.

Some counsel "wait & see" ... but Trump's long record as a deceptive sack of shit is sure to extend. He's chosen to surround himself with sleazy people. His idea of patriotism is to repatriate wealth to Trump® & his buddies.

He seemed successful reaching out to Joe & Ruby-Sue Dumfux. In the few weeks since Election Day, these people are already left behind, holding promises. We'll all pay for their gullibility.

Joe & Ruby-Sue probably missed today's memo from Japan, which displays the modus operandi of crony capitalism. "Government to help fund Fukushima decontamination, easing Tepco’s burden" explains that the nuclear power operator TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company, a private firm), will not pay the costs for their disastrous Fukushima nuclear plant meltdowns

In essence, crony capitalism fails -- and the public pays for cleanup.



Monday, December 12, 2016

US Democracy Dead

Close Presidential election results in the states of Michigan and Pennsylvania have been declared beyond review: recount procedures have been halted by partisan officials.

Although election laws provide scope for recount, America's major political parties, Republican & Democrat, have joined forces in denying the people a better understanding of results.

Welcome to Corruption, USA


Brittle PM Theresa May

Make way for a snooty wet rag!

Prime Minister Theresa May seeks to channel the poise & dignity of Her Majesty the Queen, or Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla Parker-Bowles). But dismally poor efforts result in may hem.

The wench is bad news.
More to be added ....


Monday, December 05, 2016

Monsanto Sucks


The Feds sided with scumball Monsanto: Local people have no control over potential poisoning of their land, air, water and ocean with pesticides, industrial chemicals or GMO (genetically modified organisms). 

Democracy in Action? 
Rich Man Government clearly says FUCK YOU.

Success at the polls in November 2014 for a GMO moratorium meant little. Agribusiness forces regrouped and challenged the limits in the courts.

Democracy is used as a tool of control, and ignored when inconveniencing the powerful.

Of course, toxic Bayer / Monsanto chemicals run off the land into the ocean. They float on the water and react to strong sunshine.  Enjoy swimming in a chemical soup? Hawaiian efforts to protect nature were crushed by overseas profiteers. Welcome to Maui stupid tourist.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Polluted President Park














We almost want to feel sorry for her. Single woman, led astray. Now seemingly apologetic and willing to compromise...

But President Park was an iron despot elected by using the intelligence services to seed social media with slurs and lies about her opponents (link a, link b). She crushed the teacher's union (link c), and vindictively destroyed the careers of those who criticized her, including many small-scale artists (link d, link e). She forced most of the media into fear. She repeatedly promised benefits to families, the poor & elderly that ultimately were Lies.

She did not work alone.

President Park does not deserve pity.
Park & colleagues deserve prison.

I recommend Seodaemun Prison (서대문형무소), where criminals are on display.



Sunday, November 27, 2016

Sad Korea

The people of South Korea have allowed their leadership and the US occupying military to use North Korea as a political football. Healing the North-South division of Korea requires great statesmanship and continuous effort.

The goal of Korea's unification is hugely important -- and should never be a trading card gambled among partisan politicians.





Foolish Korea

I've great respect for Korea.

South Korea is in turmoil due to corruption within the offices of President Geun-hye Park. Visitors and non-Koreans are troubled by ongoing public demonstrations throughout central Seoul (and in other cities). The energies of the crowds and police are unsettling, with major potential for escalating violence.

This post focuses on a harmful dimension overlooked by Koreans: there's commonly huge variation in estimating Korean crowd size. Today's BBC report is typical:

"Huge rallies have been held across South Korea for what are thought to be the largest protests so far demanding President Park Geun-hye steps down. ... Organisers said 1.5 million were in Seoul ... Police put the turnout in the capital at 270,000."

Hankyoreh reports: "For Nov. 26, the organizers estimated 1.5 million people had gone to Gwanghwmun Square in central Seoul by 9:40 pm, with another 100,000 taking to streets in Busan, 70,000 in Gwangju, and 40,000 in Daegu, for a total of 400,000 more. (Police estimated 270,000 for Seoul and 50,000 for the rest of the country.) It was the biggest demonstration in history."

Can we trust official figures? 
Or is this deliberate misstatement? Support for President Park is reported elsewhere to be in single digits (recent reports say 4%): do numbers have basis in fact?

Koreans look stupid & unreliable when continuously tolerating gross misinformation.


Tuesday, November 22, 2016

TPP Sucked

Assorted stories tell of how the TPP, Trans Pacific Partnership, "took more than a decade of tough negotiation."

But it was Big Business negotiating, using lobbyists and crooked politicians - the text was kept secret and great efforts kept the public in the dark.

Drafting TPP had no checks & balances except a cabal of thieves slicing up the world. TPP should be used as toilet paper & flushed away into history.

TPP was a dirty trick. Sayonara TPP.


Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Friday, November 11, 2016

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job"

The new regime will soon take control of America.
Scare stories & distortions will face reality.
We'll see the true measure of our new President Trump.
(Of course, when anything collapses, he'll blame his orcs)

Good Luck America.


Arrogance Sunk Democrats

Too early to say how the Trump presidency might progress, but it was a close race the Democrats handled badly.

Clinton's Vice President choice of Tim Kaine was arrogant. Nice lawyer bloke, but not a choice to invigorate the young, anti-establishment, or poor. Hillary's camp decided they needn't offer much to progressives, offering only vague promises to the many people who'd come out for Bernie Sanders. Major Error.

In hindsight, Clinton should have selected Michael Moore as her running mate. He'd have delivered Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and added substantially to Democrat totals elsewhere. We could be watching Moore struggle with his grooming & weight, instead of experiencing Trump flim-flam & America's liquidation.

Naomi Klein, typically a great analyst, says "the force most responsible for creating the nightmare in which we now find ourselves wide awake (is) neoliberalism." She goes on to criticize "the rise of the Davos class" ...

What's kinda funny is that many Trump voters (probably most of them) have no idea of what Davos signifies. They instinctively know "something stinks!" Nor was this election failure solely the fault of the Clintons either. Obama's eight years should have been sufficient for delivering a more unified nation, but he chose too much "same-old, same-old"... Obama's first announced appointment in 2008 was a big disappointment: Rahm Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff. Political insiders riddle both major parties, and extremists populate the security agencies, like vermin in the corn meal. It's not a question of race or religion, but rather the need to propound a unifying vision where people feel they are participating. Perhaps the new administration can clean house ... but probably not.




Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Mon sta

You've seen it in the movies so many times: the Creature, hungry for blood & human meat. The lady runs, but trips... then clumsily clenches her shoe to recover dropped cosmetics while the misshapen fiend grows terribly near.

Billionaire Boy Trump is more dangerous than Ms.Hillary. He is ruthless. He hungers for pussy, and he wants more wealth & power.

The rich woman is no saint - she's an eager tool of big banking & finance, and a savvy manipulator. She'll work harder for Israel than for small-town America. She'll struggle to hold together our expensive overseas empire & "security state" homeland... She probably cannot reverse US federal disintegration.

Each tells lies... dark & dirty.

But the monster & mob of demonic republicans are far worse.
Don't imagine a small head start is enough. Break his legs, cut off his feet. Vote him dead. Reconfirm the monster is finished. His contempt for humans is legendary. His contribution crummy, tiny, unmeasurable. Don't allow him to rise again.


Monday, November 07, 2016

Bernie's Argument Copied by Trump

Trump can pay for top speechwriters.
"Tell people what they want to hear."

But we know TRUMP's® a dude who ONLY helps himself.
Trump ain't gonna "start helping You & your family"
He's a fat rich weasel who cares nothing for anyone.

Desperation reveals a flash of honesty, BUT
Republican fat cats will never deliver community-focused progress.
They are the rich political establishment.
They are the bosses.
Republicans profit by grinding your family as fertilizer.
Market forces operate on your labor.
Rich Republicans skim-off the Good Life.
...Their system leaves you shit and pain.
Your servitude makes their livelihood.
Billionaire boy does NOT feel your pain.

After subtracting false promises,
and in "an approved message"  (link)
which (sad & tragic) always will be true,
this rhetoric reflects America's needs:

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Empty Park in Korea

The election of Park Geun-Hye (박근혜) as President of Korea was anti-democratic, manipulated by the National Intelligence Service (links here & here)

Korea's President is now accused of recklessly sharing highly sensitive information with a buddy outside the government. Media has gone further (link) quoting insiders by name who claim Choi Sun-sil (최순실, sometimes rendered "Choi Soon-sil") was allowed to interject herself into Cabinet appointment decisionmaking, and "there aren't any issues where the President can decide on her own. It’s basically only possible once Choi has been asked about and approves everything." Of course, this lax system has horrible implications for state security, and warns against allied nation information sharing with South Korea's government.

Choi's family is now virtually accused of witchcraft. A confidential cable to the US National Security Council from Deputy Chief of Mission Stanton in Seoul (via Manning & Wikileaks, link) labeled father Choi Tae-min a "Korean Rasputin" and "Rumors are rife that the late pastor had complete control over Park's body and soul during her formative years and that his children accumulated enormous wealth as a result." The elder sister Choi Soon-deuk and her daughter Chang Si-ho (alternately Jang Si-ho, Choi Sun-sil's niece) are implicated, as are other family members, who reportedly bankrolled Park Geun-hye's political launch. Sinister innuendo at highest level government!

The wealthy Choi daughter, now 60, was tracked to Germany, where she gave an exclusive interview to Segye Ilbo (세계일보) a Unification Church newspaper. (Other media claim this interview "suggests fresh layers of entanglement" -- as the Unification Church or 'Moonies' are powerful & exceptionally controversial). Nothing's really new in this scandal however - the seeds have been germinating for decades.

Now the Park administration is collapsing. Too much was built on corruption. Most importantly, Park's management style is similar to the dictatorial pattern of her father. The Park administration's authoritarian & vindictive policies would not allow the great genius and industry of Korea to properly blossom -- instead, Korea's future is burdened by Hell Joseon.

This recent Choi Sun-sil scandal should surprise nobody. Korea has allowed its top ranks to be stuffed with yes-men, who in turn have corrupted business, the universities, and government. Choi is now hiding overseas, leaving behind a damaged nation with an empty central park.

Choi Sun-sil reportedly controls President Park Geun-hye



Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Republicans Abandon Ship

Is House Speaker Paul Ryan a Republican Party Traitor ?

He's collaborated with TRUMP® & laughed at The Donald's jokes.

Ryan has ridden the fence over Trump being a sexual predator and chauvinist pig. Ryan's Republican Party, and Rep. Paul Ryan himself in Wisconsin, deserve a crushing defeat.

Republican Banter is now intolerable.


Stain on Spain

The UK has snubbed Spain for centuries, and continues.

Taking advantage of internal succession conflicts in 1704 after the death of Spanish King Charles II, the British and allies took over Gibraltar.

The Brits have never relaxed their grip on The Rock. Spain contests Gibraltar's sovereignty.

Still the cheeky Brits lecture the Spanish, though British power is considerably diminished.

Most recently, the Russians were due to call at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in north Africa for naval refueling, a procedure recently often repeated.

But the Brits didn't like it -- according to the BBC:
"The UK would be "extremely concerned" if refuelling went ahead."

"British Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, said: "We'd be extremely concerned that any NATO member should consider assisting a Russian carrier group that might end up bombing Syrian civilians.""

The Telegraph (British newspaper) reported:
"Former British Defence Minister Sir Gerald Howarth said it would be "wholly inappropriate" for a NATO member to refuel the Russian vessels"

"Lord West, a former head of the Royal Navy, explained "There are sanctions against Russia and it's an extraordinary thing for a NATO ally to do""

Expect Spain to back down -- allowing the UK to dictate Spanish policy.