Thought Shower, Deferred Success, and Misguided Criminals

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Apoclima
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Postby Apoclima » Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:18 am

Well, it does actually rhyme in Spanish!

I am the little thorn tree that flowers on the plain,
Aroma sweet to passersby, but he that picks gets pain.

Apo
'Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination.' -Max Planck

Stargzer
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Postby Stargzer » Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:28 am

Much better!

Or should that be "¡Mucho mejor!"?
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

M. Henri Day
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Postby M. Henri Day » Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:47 am

...
The Venezuelan president recited a song to him to Fox: "I am like the espinito that in the florea savannah, I give to aroma to him which passes and hawthorn to which she wags to me."
(Systranet translation)... :wink:
Larry, after learning to love your «Systranet» translations of non-English-lanugage literature, I am seriously considering writing a letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, which, as you know, awards the Nobel Prize for Literature every year, recommending your services. (By the way, as the Nobel Address by this year's laureate, Harold Pinter, seems unlikely to be made widely available in mass media in the United States, here's a link to the text in extenso in today's Guardian. It well repays reading.) Do I have your permission to do so ? After all, they need top translators to keep up with literary events 'round the world, and you and Systranet seem to be an unbeatable team....

With respect to the recent elections in Venezuela, I find Le monde diplomatique's take on the event rather more convincing than those aired in the links kindly provided us by Apo, supra. Read and judge for yourself (for those who do not read French, I shall try to remember to post a link to the English version when that becomes available online) !...

Henri

PS : Today's Washington Post contains an article on the Venezuelan government's sale of heating oil at discount prices to poor people in the Bronx and in Boston.....
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

uncronopio
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Postby uncronopio » Thu Dec 08, 2005 9:06 pm

I am always surprised by the fascination of the left with dictators that use a lot the words 'people' and 'popular'; particularly those with a varnish of legitimacy. Chávez has managed to destroy a country, increasing the percentage of people living under the line of poverty even on times with high oil (Venezuela's main export) prices. Corruption has reached levels beyond unerstanding.

Many years ago I lived in Venezuela and now the country is just a shadow of what it used to be, with a complete political crisis. The Economist reports a clean sweep in the latest election, although only 25% of people voted. Vcrisis provides another take on the issue. It is sad to see a beautiful country in such a poor state.

I use 'Feliz Navidad', (forget this: [strike]even when[/strike]) although I am not a Christian. I hope we all enjoy the time with our families and friends. I guess that the happiness of sharing time with the people we love will do for most of us.
Last edited by uncronopio on Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." -- Mark Twain

Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Thu Dec 08, 2005 9:29 pm

I use 'Feliz Navidad', even when I am not a Christian.
Does that mean you are sometimes a Christian?

Brazilian dude
Languages rule!

uncronopio
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Postby uncronopio » Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:06 pm

BD,

Well, if there is nice food involved I may pose as a Christian or a Muslim or whatever fills my stomach. :D Considering that you were going to read my post, I should have written 'although I am not a...'

Feliz Navidad
"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." -- Mark Twain

KatyBr
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Postby KatyBr » Fri Dec 09, 2005 1:18 am

BD,

Well, if there is nice food involved I may pose as a Christian or a Muslim or whatever fills my stomach. :D Considering that you were going to read my post, I should have written 'although I am not a...'

Feliz Navidad
Last edited by KatyBr on Fri Dec 09, 2005 1:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

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gailr
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Postby gailr » Fri Dec 09, 2005 1:25 am

I use 'Feliz Navidad', (forget this: [strike]even when[/strike]) although I am not a Christian. I hope we all enjoy the time with our families and friends. I guess that the happiness of sharing time with the people we love will do for most of us.
Considering that you were going to read my post, I should have written 'although I am not a...'
To really impress him, you should have used the subjunctive.
-gailr

Stargzer
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Postby Stargzer » Fri Dec 09, 2005 1:47 am

. . .
To really impress him, you should have used the subjunctive.
-gailr
Isn't that a different thread? :roll:
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

Apoclima
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Postby Apoclima » Fri Dec 09, 2005 4:28 am

On the Venezuelan government's sale of heating oil at discount prices to poor people in the Bronx and in Boston:

It is very easy (and fun, I suppose) to give away other people's money and, then, look, (wow, he's so) generous!

But I don't think that evoking feelings of gratitude and indebtedness is any way to make long term friends. Once the dole out stops, the friends are gone.

The utopian vision of a prosperous pan-communism is, as we have seen, a very thin and temporary veil, hiding the deep roots of both a procrustean conformism for the masses and a tolerable luxury for the party elite.

On a scheme to hoodwink America's poor: Hugo Chávez enlists a Kennedy for his anti-U.S. campaign
Therefore, it should come as no surprise to find oil, and its main byproduct – oil money, in every nook and cranny of Mr. Chávez’s ploy to buy consciences and meddle in the internal affairs of other nations.
It is estimated that the “Chávez” premium can be anywhere between $7-10 per barrel. Venezuela is the most hawkish –and unrepentant - of price hawks within OPEC. Chávez frequently say that “the fair price of oil should be closer to $100/barrel”. His threats to suspend shipments to the U.S. are a welcome source of volatility - ergo profits - for speculators. So, while 45,000 families in the Boston area might be getting a “three week” reprieve thanks to Mr. Chávez’s largesse, EVERY family in the U.S. is paying much more EVERYDAY for gasoline, diesel, heating oil, lubricants, electricity and so on, because of Hugo Chávez recklessness. U.S. consumers in turn are funding most of Chávez subversive schemes in the Hemisphere (keep in mind that the U.S. buys 70% of Venezuelas oil exports at full price, while Venezuelan consumers and many countries in Latin America get huge politically driven discounts).
And finally, in a recent conversation I had with Joe Kennedy on this same subject he screamed at me that his only interest was to “help the poor folks in Boston”. I googled all these good intentions and found a story in the Boston Herald that stated that “entities related to his Citizens Energy Corp. paid him [Joe Kennedy] more than $400,000 in 2003, the last year for which records are available.” Not bad for a non-profit executive willing to lend his name to a $9 million foreign disinformation campaign.
Apo
'Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination.' -Max Planck

Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Fri Dec 09, 2005 1:48 pm

To really impress him, you should have used the subjunctive.
-gailr
Even though I be not a Christian :?:

Brazilian dude
Languages rule!

M. Henri Day
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Postby M. Henri Day » Sun Dec 11, 2005 7:43 am

The use of the subjunctive for one's own position argues, if not for schizophrenia, perhaps for a certain degree of identity diffusion. Then again, it may simply indicate a healthy skepticism....

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

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gailr
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Postby gailr » Sun Dec 11, 2005 2:18 pm

Then how about if I were more orthodox?
-gailr

M. Henri Day
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Postby M. Henri Day » Sun Dec 11, 2005 2:29 pm

Like Pelasgus ? Sorry, just joking ! But on a more serious note, to me, «even though I be not a Christian», indicates my doubts as to whether I be or no, whereas «if I were more orthodox» indicates counter-factuality ; i e, that I am not. Do you others read these examples in the same way ?...

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Sun Dec 11, 2005 2:38 pm

I do.

Brazilian dude
Languages rule!


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