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El prólogo: escribir sin conclusión
Esto se alienta por el prólogo de Doce Cuentos Peregrinos de García Márquez. Acuerdo con ése en la medida en que pinta el escribir casi como una aflicción. Es una búsqueda sin fin. Cada esbozo conlleva la frustración de que ése tampoco me alcanzó representar la idea del cerebro. Fue por aquel sentimiento de frustración y sin-finitud que me dejé de escribir hace un par de años. Sin conclusión concreta, ¿apenas hay un propósito? Dejarlo de lado realmente me facilitó la vida. Me salvó del dolor de tratar de explicar los sentimientos sin poder, el mismo dolor por el que gritan los bebés antes de expresarse articulados; cuando gritan, no…
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El establishment: the establishment
“There are millions and millions of people who are tired of establishment politics, who are tired of corporate greed, who want a candidate that will help lead a mass movement in this country…” / “Hay millones y millones de personas que están hartas de la política del establishment, que se cansan de la codicia corporativa, que buscan a un candidato que les ayudara a guiar un movimiento masivo en este país…” I’ve heard this usage in Argentinean media—I say this in case it is a regionalism. I’ve seen other translations, like establishment: el statu quo and el establecimiento but I’ve never heard anyone say either of those. I suppose “la…
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Activism is worth it
Dedicated to the volunteers from Plymouth, New Hampshire, and around the country that built our win there, as well as my colleagues Introduction to the introduction Bernie dropped out. Uh oh! There are a lot of things that could be said about Bernie’s dropping out and the years that lead up to it. Bernie is probably one of the most impactful presidential candidates in American political history. The ruling class and the media suck. I wish there were a less candid way to say it but niceties don’t cut it anymore when it comes to those two. They can’t handle their responsibilities, which we’ve been saying for decades, and which…
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Pensar si: to wonder whether; to wonder if
I wonder whether we could train parrots to interpret between birds and humans.Pienso si podríamos entrenar al loro a interpretar del ave al humano. “Wonder whether / if” is usually translated as “preguntarse” or “quiero / me gustaría saber.” I think preguntarse entails a self reflection or awareness that wondering does not usually and to want to know connotes more resolve than does wondering. Wondering is a very vague or loose way of questioning a topic—not to be cliché, but it is much like letting the mind wander. “Pensar si” is just as vague.Unfortunately, things get a bit more complicated when you consider “wondering why…” Pienso por qué…? Honestly, I’m…
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Why I was really hopeful that less Americans had died from Coronavirus in 2020 than car crashes (more have died from Coronavirus)
It’s simple: driving cars is something that we do that is very dangerous but we do because we judge that the risk is worth the potential of reward. It’s incredible, really; the risk is very high and the reward often very low, with alternate means whereby we could obtain it, like driving to pick up some food from the store when we could have biked (if you look at the stats, however, biking is actually more dangerous than driving if you live in a city. A lower total of people die in bike crashes, but more bikers die per bike crash than car drivers die per car crash.) So, I…
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¿Cuáles son las lecciones de la cuarentena?
Mis primeras impresiones de la cuarentena revisaré—las que tuve en la primera y segunda semana; no sé de ustedes, pero ya me siento que me estén pasando. Aunque yo resistiera al principio, he aceptado las nuevas condiciones y empiezo dirigirme hacia el futuro y previsiones. Yo no soy bueno para pronosticar. Y no sumaría nada nuevo a la conversación con tan sólo anticipar dificultades económicos y sus repercusiones, o las muertes que vienen. Lo que yo preveo es un cambio en las conclusiones que formaremos. Será una toma de conciencia basada en las consecuencias de nuestras reacciones mentales a la condición de la cuarentena. Al principio, como yo, nos percatábamos…
