Morris’ Weekly Blog

Morris' Weekly Blog is a weekly column, published on line every Monday morning, Central European time. It features news, views and my thoughts on Basque, Basques, and life in the Basque Country as well as issues affecting both expats resident in the Basque Country and tourists. All past columns remain on line and may be found in the "Navigation" box on this web page by clicking on " archives". Feedback is very welcome as well as comments written in English by readers. It is important to note that with the exceptions of the excerpts from reader's e-mail or comments, all of the rantings and ravings in this column are just MY OWN OPINION. This column should not be regarded as anything more than one man's very subjective and quirky opinion, flawed or otherwise, on life in the Basque Country. Comments are welcome. If you are aware of anything particularly newsworthy going on, please do let me know.

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Anónimo - Starting Up II

|127.0.0.xxx |08-01-2009 12:09:04

Well, here we go again, I have restarted my new column, Morris' Weekly Blog. I
had a couple of whacks at it before but I discovered that my blogs became
seriously infected with weird infiltrations of links to everything from casinos
to hard core porn of every single description. The mind boggles at how so much
filth can accumulate. Thus, I have turned off any comment function due to
this.
In any case the idea of a blog has been sitting in my mind for a long time
but only now have I decided to actually go ahead with it. This column will allow
me to be able to report on the comings and goings in our favourite corner of the
world but without having to insert information or news into the main area of the
site that will date quickly. Not only will you get my thoughts, ravings and
rantings about life in the BC but I will try to throw in some pictures as well
when technology allows for it.

I also aim to provide an outlet for
Engl...

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Anónimo - More observations on Mr. Keith Johnson's article

|127.0.0.xxx |08-01-2009 12:10:16

I am simply amazed at the furor and the scrambling that took face after the
publication of Keith Johnson's ham-fisted ramblings on the situation of Basque
in the Basque Country. I read his clumsy attempt at reporting on the language
situation and I was so dumbfounded at his lack of knowledge and absence of good
journalism that I actually sent him a quickly prepared reply at 2 in the
morning. I also sent a copy of my reply to izaronews.com.
By late morning the
following day, I was very much taken back by the response at my humble musings.
My little response was immediately put up on the izaronews.com website and I
started to receive congratulations from people that I had never met. I even got
a call from Euskal Telebista who sent a camera crew to my workplace to record my
take on Mr. Johnson's bombshell of an article.
The following week, Euskal
Telebista called me again to ask me to appear on a TV programme called
"Kalak...

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Mikel Morris - The following is my response:

|127.0.0.xxx |08-01-2009 13:16:16

Dear Mr. Johnson, My name is Mikel Morris and am the author of the leading
English-Basque dictionary (which you can see at www.euskadi.net/morris. Thus, I
feel that I am qualified to speak on this subject. It is a shame that you did
not contact expert people who are actually familiar with languages in general
and with Basque in particular. To begin with, Leopoldo Barrera is hardly an
authority to have an informed opinion of Basque since he knows hardly any Basque
(and I am skeptical as to whether he could get by in any other language other
than Spanish). It is scientifically false to say that a language is more ancient
than another and wholly inaccurate to say that a language such as Basque is
little suited to modern life. Every bona fide linguist knows that any language
can express any idea, especially when language planning has taken place.
I fail
to understand what you mean by \"newly minted\" words such as

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Mikel Morris

|127.0.0.xxx |12-01-2009 17:30:48

If I had known that my response would be read -- even appreciated -- by so many
Basques, I would have taken a lot more time to answer the unfortunate article in
a more detailed manner.

First of all, I do not think that Mr. Johnson was
told by the management at the Wall Street Journal to trash Basque culture in
general and to embarrass the Basque Government in particular. The article was
too poorly researched, worded, and focused to warrant any comment other than
dismissing it as a very poor, amateurish piece of journalism whose only claim to
credibility was the fact that it appeared in an otherwise very serious and
prestigious newspaper. In the end, in face of so much anger and pointed
criticism of his exercise in frivolity, Mr. Johnson was forced to issue an
apology in which he denied trying to run down Basque or that Mr. JosÃ©
MarÃa Asnar, as one of the advisors of the Wall Street Journal, had anything
to do with ...

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Anónimo - Coming to Grips with Immigration

|127.0.0.xxx |08-01-2009 12:14:28

The Basque Country, however you might wish define it, has always been at the
crossroads of "Continental Europe" and the Iberian Peninsula. Even in
the Middle Ages, transients, pilgrims, travellers, etc. trudged along its
highways and byways on their way to St. James or other areas of the Iberian
Peninsula. Only a few actually remained and only a few groups of peoples
actually settled down. The only verifiable ethnic group that was totally
assimilated by the Basque-speaking community was the mysterious "Agote"
or "Agot" (a.k.a. Cagot) group who ultimately settled around the town of
Arizkun, concretely in the borough of Bozate. They suffered horrendous
discrimination that outdid the the worst practices of apartheid and Jim Crow
(they were forced to enter churches in separate entrances, wear special clothes
to point them out, and work in only a few occupations). In all fairness to the
Basques. Agotes or...

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