for the doubts
I find sometimes that in Spanish, particular phrases work better than their English translations: in expressing a subtly different relation between subjects, they explain more while saying the same thing. An example: here in Argentina they say "Tengo ganas [de hacer algo]", which losely translated would be "I feel like [doing something]", but literally means "I have the desires to do something". And for nearly all my native-English-speaking friends, having the 'ganas' to do something is a very satisfying and meaningful way of putting it.
Yesterday I noticed another example of a common expression which is constructed differently in Spanish: "To be sure", in the sense of "To be on the safe side", is most commonly expressed "por las dudas", "for the doubts". Like, "I'm not sure if you got the message, so I'll send it again to be sure" would be "...I'll send it again, for the doubts". And it occurred to me that 'for the doubts' would be a helpful phrase in today's political crisis.
"Por las dudas", in its defensive, conservative tendency, could help us value first our own conservation. Perhaps this or that economic program will eventually result in greater equality, but given the doubts, shouldn't we make sure all of our citizens have alternative support systems in place? For lack of being sure, shouldn't we first make sure everyone can eat?
And today, more to the point: Perhaps we need to go to war against Saddam Hussein, to protect someone from future attacks. But por las dudas, because there are many doubts, we should wait first, and bomb later if at all. To begin the human destruction of a war with so many doubts is a massive and unforgivable mistake.
The other Spanish phrase that is so appropriate these days is "qué bronca". This word "bronca" doesn't have an exact translation in English, which is suprising to me because of the number of people who have this feeling. A dictionary will translate it as "anger", the phrase "me da bronca" translating to "it makes me mad". But bronca is more than that, a weighty mix of anger, disappointment, helplessness, and frustration.
In the past three days, since Mr. Bush's announcement and the beginning of this frightful war, my American and Argentine friends all seem to have more than their share of bronca. It's a kind of sickness, I think, that creeps beyond national boundaries and makes me just shake my head, so very angry and sad.
Yesterday I noticed another example of a common expression which is constructed differently in Spanish: "To be sure", in the sense of "To be on the safe side", is most commonly expressed "por las dudas", "for the doubts". Like, "I'm not sure if you got the message, so I'll send it again to be sure" would be "...I'll send it again, for the doubts". And it occurred to me that 'for the doubts' would be a helpful phrase in today's political crisis.
"Por las dudas", in its defensive, conservative tendency, could help us value first our own conservation. Perhaps this or that economic program will eventually result in greater equality, but given the doubts, shouldn't we make sure all of our citizens have alternative support systems in place? For lack of being sure, shouldn't we first make sure everyone can eat?
And today, more to the point: Perhaps we need to go to war against Saddam Hussein, to protect someone from future attacks. But por las dudas, because there are many doubts, we should wait first, and bomb later if at all. To begin the human destruction of a war with so many doubts is a massive and unforgivable mistake.
The other Spanish phrase that is so appropriate these days is "qué bronca". This word "bronca" doesn't have an exact translation in English, which is suprising to me because of the number of people who have this feeling. A dictionary will translate it as "anger", the phrase "me da bronca" translating to "it makes me mad". But bronca is more than that, a weighty mix of anger, disappointment, helplessness, and frustration.
In the past three days, since Mr. Bush's announcement and the beginning of this frightful war, my American and Argentine friends all seem to have more than their share of bronca. It's a kind of sickness, I think, that creeps beyond national boundaries and makes me just shake my head, so very angry and sad.
previously there was Tough times at the Herald
afterwards you have Still no choices
And yes, it's quite sad to have many people pigeonhole Americans -pro-and anti-war- as one and the same. It will take quite some time for people to realize the difference. [submitted on 21 Mar 03]
The lack of multi-national support doesn't bother me. Not every country was supportive of troops being sent to the Balkans which did receive U.N. sanctioning, but only after much pressure by the U.S. government. Not suprisingly the most vocal opponents were the same nations opposing the war in Iraq now (Russia, China, and France). Hardly anyone now doubts that sending troops in to stabilize the Balkans was a good thing. Many countries will always be opposed to U.S. actions based upon the economic success of the U.S. and fear that it will be strengthening it's position as the world's superpower. This has tempered the E.U.'s postion, specifically France and Germany, the so called "axis of weasels". It's funny how France is so opposed the U.S. invading Iraq, but it recently sent in troops to stabilize Cote d'Ivoire during a recent coup attempt which protects it's significant economic interest in the country. I suspect Argentina's strong feelings against the war has less to do with not agreeing with war itself or the need to remove Sadam from power, but more to do with anti-americanism.
I agree there are many issues at home including basic needs such as the lack of housing and food for some people. However, the opportunity for success is here, for everyone. Plenty of individuals have come to the U.S. with nothing and been successful. In what other country is that possible. Other countries emulate our music, our culture, our lifestyle, etc. We have a lot that others are envious of... [submitted on 21 Mar 03]
As an Argentine, I do not support the massacre, invasion and colonization of an independent country by the US and UK military forces. I do not support the attitude taken by the UN to withdraw the activities of its agencies in Iraq in order to allow the US forces to begin the strike.
I don't believe this war will contribute to stabilize the region. By the time, Mr Bush and his madness, have contributed to distabilize the UN and create differences within the countries of the European union.
I'm not against America. That's Bush psychotic discourse: "They are with us or against us." I don't agree with any of his words and lies. I'm with peace and selfdetermination. I'm a big fan of America but its nowadays behaviour is shameless.
I think that many countries in the world have a lot that americans are envious of... and today they have showed the world that they are capable of doing what's necessary to take possesion of those resources. Today they go for the Iraqui oil. What will be next? Fresh water? Lands? Unpolluted air?
I am not envious of America. Plenty of individuals have come to Argentina with nothing and been successful too.
Thanks God, a whole World is possible beyond America's frontiers. Let me remind you that the world doesn't starts and ends in America.
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Have you looked up terrorism in the dictionary?
terrorism
"The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons." (Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language).
Today, Mr Bush has given us a master class on terrorism. Thank you Mr Bush! [submitted on 21 Mar 03]
And why for Amercians if you are against the war you are an anti-american?...don´t you think that argument it´s a litle weak?...the poor Americans....no one loves them...come on!!..."and all the world is against us"...dont be a child, the life of millions of humans is not a game, is not a matter of like or not like Americans, it´s an ethical matter...some thing that american government seems to forgeted...or never learned.
Your government say that they defend the Democracy and the Justice, but how come the Democracy of the world in the UN had decide against the war and you attak?...why America dont want to participate in the World Court of the Haya??....why America have supported and encouraged the Military govermments of Latin America? Arent you against the dictators?...America have only intervene in the world to support his economical interest...and this is the reason of this war. And this is the reason of why we are against it. [submitted on 21 Mar 03]
Let's identify some of the better ones:
1. Scrabble
2. The 1963 split-window coupe Corvette
3. The Dodge Viper
4. Blue jeans
5. The Dewey Decimal System
6. The Merriam-Webster dictionary
7. The warehouse retail store
And now let's look at the true stories behind these indisputably great contributions:
1. Scrabble was created by Alfred Butts, an New York architect by trade whom the great depression put out of work. Neither architecture, great depressions of any sort, nor any ridiculously precise game played professionally by Grade-A weirdoes were invented in America.
2. The 1963 split-window coupe Corvette belonged to the Stingray series of Chevrolet Corvette body styles produced from 1963 to 1967. The cars' design originated in a concept car called the Mako Shark, whose shape was inspired by and meant to invoke the impression of a shark. And we all know that sharks, the kind that swim around in the water, will be claimed by no American.
3. The Dodge Viper was actually put into motion in the 60s by Carroll Shelby, the Texan chicken farmer, race car driver, famous Mustang modifier, and current distributor of Pirelli tires to the western US. His first contribution to the world of insanely modified production cars was the Shelby Cobra, which he made by dumping an enormous Ford V8 engine into the beautiful but discontinued body of the AC Ace, a very British car. Shelby's creations were pretty but not aerodynamic enough to win the races at Daytona, so a junior engineer of his shop in California convinced Shelby to let him design an aerodynamic body shape based on principles laid out in the papers of an obscure German mechanical engineer, with whose calculations this kid had determined that it would take four times as much horsepower to get the Cobra to 200 mph than it did to get the car up to 100 mph. This kid had his way with the extremely rare Shelby Daytona, which is the mechanical and shapely ancestor of the Viper, which Dodge developed with the assistance and blessings of Carroll Shelby in the early 90s. So without the British body shells of the AC Ace, presented to Shelby as surplus from the AC factory, or the obscure papers of the German engineer and his nutso ideas of aerodynamics, the Viper would not have come about. (And by the way: if you want to make a race car American, you paint it white, not red, in which the Viper always seems to be photographed. Red belongs to the Italians.)
4. Blue jeans were originally the Plan B use of the fabric that Mr. Levi Strauss had tried to make tents out of and then sell to gold prospectors in California. In conjunction with a cigarrette, leather jacket, white undershirt, and Porsche 550 Spyder may be great and James Dean and all that, but just how blue-blooded American does the name Levi Strauss sound to you, bricolage notwithstanding?
5. The Dewey Decimal System, though American in development, refinement, and practice, never would have come about had Mr. Melville Dewey not been brainwashed by the ideas of John Locke, English philosopher, who believed that everything had its own place. And believe me, the DDS takes the idea of putting everything in its place very seriously. I cataloged myself one day using the system, though I prefer the Library of Congress classification number under which I fall, 'cause it begins with RC. No lie. RC537.C324 1977.
6. The Merriam-Webster dictionary of English is truly American, and also a damned good, portable, affordable, and usable dictionary of English. Mr. Webster wrote the first one because he thought the English shouldn't have the only claim to English language dictionaries, which until Mr. Webster, they did: Samuel Johnson wrote the very first comprehensive English dictionary (as we now recognize dictionaries) c. 1775, and James A. H. Murray (or more appropriately his surviving colleagues) brought it to a kind of perfection with the completion of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1928. So is a comprehensive and usable dictionary an American contribution, or perfection? Of course not! Like liberty fries, or "chips" as our mothertonguers call them, the whole production is abhorrently British!
7. The warehouse store may be mass-produced by the likes of Sam Walton, but any self-respecting Gen-Xer knows that Jeremy's fellow Scandanavians at IKEA have beat the Waltons in the pursuit of perfecting the usage of tens of thousands of feet of retail space within a single store. But if Wal-Mart ever adds poached salmon and new potatoes cooked in rosemary, garlic and olive oil to the menus of their store cafeterias, believe me, I'm there. [submitted on 22 Mar 03]
http://www.clarin.com/diari...
La TV estadounidense hace "patria" junto a los soldados en el frente
http://www.clarin.com/diari...
CNN le ordenó a su enviado en el norte de Irak que interrumpa la publicación de su weblog personal
Los weblogs reflejan testimonios de la guerra
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/... [submitted on 26 Mar 03]
As an American citizen I am thankful our government is aggressive in eliminating these threats. I can continue to feel secure, confident, and comfortable as I lead my life in the greatest nation the world has ever known. Do not be so quick to separate the American people from the government. The United States is as powerful as it is because we make it that way. That's the way we want it. [submitted on 26 May 03]