Get Bold, Barak

Get Bold, Barack
Ouse, Barack
By ROGER COHEN
texto traduzido: Viomundo

WASHINGTON — I was among the early and strong supporters of Barack Obama. America was stuck and it seemed to me he could take the country forward into the 21st century, which began so tragically in downtown New York and here in the nation’s capital. Like many, at midterm, I’m struggling with my disappointment.

Washington — Estive entre os primeiros e maiores apoiadores de Barack Obama. Os Estados Unidos estavam entrevados e me pareceu que ele poderia levar o país adiante no século 21, que começou tão tragicamente em Nova York e aqui na capital da Nação. Como muitos, na metade do mandato, estou enfrentando minha decepção

I’ve asked myself: Would Hillary Clinton, experienced and attuned to blue-collar America, have been stronger and more capable of lifting the national mood? I’ve thought to myself: Is it unfair to feel this disillusionment given the scale of Obama’s inherited problems? And I’ve wondered, given the visceral disrespect for the president from the Tea Party — a foul scorn full of innuendo that skirts the boundaries of racism — whether Obama could have done anything to reach across the aisle?

Já me perguntei: será que Hillary Clinton, experiente e ligada aos Estados Unidos blue-collar [nota do Viomundo: trabalhadores de colarinho azul, em geral de classe média baixa] teria sido mais forte e mais capaz de levantar o moral nacional? Já me perguntei: será injusto sentir desilusão com a escala dos problemas herdados pelo Obama? E me perguntei, dado o desrespeito visceral pelo presidente que vem do Tea Party — um desprezo mal cheiroso, cheio de sugestões que beiram o racismo — se Obama poderia ter feito qualquer coisa para se aproximar dos adversários?

To all these questions, at different times, I’ve had different answers. No, says one voice, get over it, he’s doing the best he could to lift America from the double whammy of war and economic meltdown. He’s smart and curious — and, anyway, just consider the mystical-nationalist-insular alternative.

Para todas estas perguntas, em momentos diferentes, tive diferentes respostas. Não, diz uma voz, esqueça, ele está fazendo o que pode para tirar os Estados Unidos de duas pancadas — da guerra e do derretimento econômico. Ele é inteligente e curioso — e, de qualquer forma, é preciso considerar a alternativa mística-insular-nacionalista.

Oh yeah, says another, he’s too cool a customer, a beguiling construct more than flesh and blood, an empty vessel for a misplaced idealism, a politician averse to pressing the flesh (and what else is politics?), a man who — not for nothing — tilts his chin upward when he speaks.

Ah, sim, diz outra resposta, ele é muito “cool”, uma construção mais do que uma pessoa de carne e osso, uma nave vazia para carregar idealismo, um político que não gosta de se relacionar com os eleitores (e o que mais é a política?), um homem que — não por nada — levanta o queixo quando fala.

Back and forth go the voices, but there’s no getting away from the disappointment. This president feels flat — and somehow not quite genuine. He should place above his bed the words of Jonathan Alter: “Logic can convince but only emotion can motivate.”

As vozes vão e vem, mas não tem como me afastar da desilusão. Este presidente parece vazio — e às vezes nem mesmo genuíno. Ele deveria colocar sobre a cama as palavras de Jonathan Alter: “A lógica pode convencer mas apenas a emoção pode motivar”.

On arriving in New York from London, I went to a party on the Upper East Side. It was a well-heeled crowd, almost all Obama supporters a couple of years back. “The guy’s a phony,” one guest said. “We need a Bloomberg, somebody who can manage,” said another, referring to the billionaire mayor of New York. “All this Clinton nostalgia, it’s because Obama is a loner, not interested in people,” said a third.

Ao chegar a Nova York vindo de Londres, fui a uma festa no Upper East Side [nota do Viomundo: reduto dos liberais de Nova York, onde morei na 83 com a Segunda, nos anos 80]. Era uma multidão de gente bem de vida, quase toda formada por apoiadores de Obama há alguns anos. “Ele é uma enganação”, um convidado disse. “Precisamos de um Bloomberg, alguém que saiba gerenciar”, disse outro, se referindo ao prefeito bilionário de Nova York. “Toda esta nostalgia em torno do Clinton é causada porque Obama é um solitário, não tem interesse nas pessoas”, disse um terceiro.

I was a struck by how people aren’t sure where Obama’s headed. There’s no narrative to the presidency. It was about believable change. Now the president seems less a passionate change agent than a careful calculator unsure of his core beliefs. In London, you know what Prime Minister David Cameron is about: rowing back the state and slashing the deficit. Agree or disagree, there’s a narrative. It helps.

Fiquei surpreso pela fato de que as pessoas não sabem qual é o caminho desejado por Obama. Não existe narrativa nesta presidência. Era sobre mudança em que se podia acreditar. Agora o presidente parece menos apaixonado pela ideia de ser um agente de mudança e mais um calculista incerto de suas crenças principais. Em Londres, sabemos o que o primeiro-ministro David Cameron quer: reduzir o estado e cortar o déficit. Concorde ou não, é a narrativa. Ajuda.

Another foreign leader came to mind, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, now about to leave office after an extraordinary presidency. Here are two outsider politicians with lullaby-like names and the kinds of faces not previously seen on their nations’ banknotes, breaking molds of race or class. But there the resemblance ends.

Outro líder estrangeiro do qual me lembrei, o presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva do Brasil, que agora está próximo de deixar o poder depois de uma presidência extraordinária. Aqui estão dois políticos de fora do círculo de poder, com nomes fáceis de pronunciar e com rostos diversos dos que apareciam nas notas do dinheiro de suas nações, quebrando modelos de raça ou classe. Mas a comparação termina aí.

Lula proved all of a piece — one of eight children from the impoverished far north of Brazil, a former steelworker who repaired social fracture in one of the world’s most unequal societies. Obama has so far failed that critical authenticity test.

Lula experimentou de tudo — um de oito filhos do norte empobrecido do Brasil, um ex-operário metalúrgico que reparou a fratura social de uma das sociedades mais desiguais do mundo. Obama até agora fracassou no teste crítico de autenticidade.

There was an anti-establishment frisson to Obama, the black man who battled to overcome prejudice and America’s “original sin” to win the nation’s highest office. Yet he has revealed himself as an elite product of America’s elite schools, a politician who built his image with great intelligence but shows little taste for the nitty-gritty. Bipartisanship, when it’s not just oratory, begins with small gestures.

Havia um frisson anti-establishment no Obama, o homem negro que batalhou para superar preconceito e o “pecado original” dos Estados Unidos para conquistar o cargo mais importante do país. Ainda assim ele se revelou um produto da elite e das escolas de elite dos Estados Unidos, um político que construiu sua imagem com grande inteligência mas mostra pouco apetite pelos detalhes. Bipartidarismo, quando não é apenas oratória, começa com pequenos gestos.

I was talking to a Democratic Party donor, a Kansas City businessman. He said he’s given over $30,000 to Obama — and not a word of thanks. He was irritated. Lots of people think this president is too smug to write thank-you notes or make quick courtesy calls.

Estive conversando com um pequeno doador do Partido Democrata, um empresário de Kansas City. Ele deu 30 mil dólares para Obama e não recebeu uma nota de agradecimento. Está irritado. Muita gente acha que o presidente é muito convencido para escrever notas de agradecimento ou fazer chamadas de cortesia.

After the inevitable midterm defeat, Obama needs to make some decisions. He’s stuck on the 20-yard line in domestic and foreign policy. The facile attacks on “fat-cat bankers” have to end. They don’t convince the left and they infuriate the right. Prosecute, by all means, but don’t rail. And remember that Americans get good housekeeping in the end. One $787 billion fiscal injection is enough.

Depois da derrota inevitável nas eleições do meio de mandato, Obama precisa tomar algumas decisões. Ele está preso na defesa nas questões domésticas e de política externa. Os ataques fáceis nos “banqueiros gordos” precisam acabar. Eles não convencem a esquerda e deixam a direita furiosa. Processe-os, por todos os meios, mas deixe de falar. E lembre que os americanos tiveram uma boa limpeza doméstica. Uma injeção fiscal de 787 bilhões de dólares é suficiente.

Americans are trying to de-leverage. They’ll follow a president who says extending tax cuts for the rich is madness. They might buy a consumption tax. But the president has to lead.

Os americanos estão tentando se livrar das dívidas. Eles seguirão um presidente que diz que estender os cortes de impostos para os ricos é loucura [nota do Viomundo: herança deixada por George W. Bush]. Os americanos podem até aceitar impostos sobre o consumo. Mas o presidente precisa liderar.

Obama is confronting an international conviction that he’s hesitant. The agonizing review that led to the Afghan surge left an impression of uncertainty. In the end we got what some have called the Groucho Marx Hello, I Must be Going! plan, a brief reinforcement to be reversed in time for the 2012 campaign. In the Middle East, too, domestic politics have trumped change, with resulting equivocation and familiar paralysis.

Obama está enfrentando uma convicção internacional de que é hesitante. A revisão da estratégia que levou ao aumento das tropas no Afeganistão deixou uma impressão de incerteza. No final recebemos o que alguns chamaram de plano do Groucho Marx — Alô, estou de saída — um reforço que será revertido a tempo da campanha de 2012. No Oriente Médio, também, a política doméstica evitou mudanças, resultando em erros e a familiar paralisia.

Boldness characterized Obama’s campaign; only that will get him re-elected in 2012. He needs to invigorate his team with doers rather than thinkers. He needs to become serious about balancing the budget. He needs a foreign policy that reflects a changed world not a churlish Congress.

A ousadia marcou a campanha de Obama; só ela poderá reelegê-lo em 2012. Ele precisa revigorar sua equipe com “fazedores” em vez de “pensadores”. Ele precisa encarar com seriedade o equilíbrio do orçamento. Ele precisa de uma política externa que reflita um mundo em mudança, não um Congresso dividido.

And he must admit to himself that perhaps the disappointed are not misguided but rational, even scientific — words he likes

E ele precisa admitir que talvez os decepcionados com ele não são mal aconselhados, mas racionais e até mesmo científicos — palavras das quais ele tanto gosta.

EUA somem na escuridão - America goes dark

America goes dark

EUA somem na escuridão

Por Paul Krugman

8 de agosto de 2010

The lights are going out all over America — literally. Colorado Springs has made headlines with its desperate attempt to save money by turning off a third of its streetlights, but similar things are either happening or being contemplated across the nation, from Philadelphia to Fresno.

As luzes se apagam em todo Estados Unidos. A cidade de Colorado Springs estampou nas manchetes dos jornais locais sua intenção desesperada de economizar dinheiro apagando um terço de seus semáforos, mas estão acontecendo coisas parecidas em todo o país, desde a Filadélfia até Fresno.

Meanwhile, a country that once amazed the world with its visionary investments in transportation, from the Erie Canal to the Interstate Highway System, is now in the process of unpaving itself: in a number of states, local governments are breaking up roads they can no longer afford to maintain, and returning them to gravel.

Contudo, um país que assombrou o mundo com seus visionários investimentos nos transportes, desde o canal de Erie até o sistema de autopistas interestatais, agora se encontra em um processo de despavimentação: em vários estados, os governos locais estão destruindo estradas que não já não podem mais manter e reduzindo-as a cascalho.

And a nation that once prized education — that was among the first to provide basic schooling to all its children — is now cutting back. Teachers are being laid off; programs are being canceled; in Hawaii, the school year itself is being drastically shortened. And all signs point to even more cuts ahead.

E uma nação que outrora valorizava a educação, que foi uma das primeiras a oferecer escolarização básica a todas as suas crianças, agora está fazendo cortes. Os professores estão sendo despedidos e os programas cancelados. No Havaí, até o curso escolar está acabando de maneira drástica. E tudo indica que no futuro mais ajustes serão feitos.

We’re told that we have no choice, that basic government functions — essential services that have been provided for generations — are no longer affordable. And it’s true that state and local governments, hit hard by the recession, are cash-strapped. But they wouldn’t be quite as cash-strapped if their politicians were willing to consider at least some tax increases.

Dizem-nos que não temos eleição, que as funções governamentais básicas – serviços essenciais proporcionados durante gerações – já não são viáveis. E é certo que os governos estaduais e locais, duramente açoitados pela recessão, estão sem recursos. Mas não estariam assim se seus políticos estivessem dispostos a considerar ao menos alguns aumentos de impostos.

And the federal government, which can sell inflation-protected long-term bonds at an interest rate of only 1.04 percent, isn’t cash-strapped at all. It could and should be offering aid to local governments, to protect the future of our infrastructure and our children.

E no governo federal, que pode vender bônus a longo prazo protegidos contra a inflação, com uma taxa de juros básica de 1,04%, não gasta o dinheiro. Poderia e deveria oferecer ajuda aos governos locais e proteger o futuro de nossas infraestruturas e de nossos filhos.

But Washington is providing only a trickle of help, and even that grudgingly. We must place priority on reducing the deficit, say Republicans and “centrist” Democrats. And then, virtually in the next breath, they declare that we must preserve tax cuts for the very affluent, at a budget cost of $700 billion over the next decade.

Mas Washington está prestando ajuda aos poucos, e até isso o faz a contragosto. Devemos dar prioridade à redução do déficit, dizem os republicanos e os democratas centristas. E logo, quase em seguida, afirmam que devemos manter as subvenções fiscais para os ricos, o que terá um custo previsto de 7 bilhões de dólares durante a próxima década.

In effect, a large part of our political class is showing its priorities: given the choice between asking the richest 2 percent or so of Americans to go back to paying the tax rates they paid during the Clinton-era boom, or allowing the nation’s foundations to crumble — literally in the case of roads, figuratively in the case of education — they’re choosing the latter.

Na prática, boa parte de nossa classe política está demonstrando quais são suas prioridades: quando podem escolher entre pedir que 2% dos estadounidenses mais abastados voltem a pagar os mesmos impostos que durante a expansão da Era Clinton ou permitir que derrubem a estrutura da nação – de maneira literal no caso das estradas e figurada no caso da educação -, preferem este último.

It’s a disastrous choice in both the short run and the long run. In the short run, those state and local cutbacks are a major drag on the economy, perpetuating devastatingly high unemployment.

É uma decisão desastrosa tanto a curto como a longo prazo. A curto prazo, esses cortes estatais e locais implicam um pesado empecilho para a economia e perpetuam o desemprego, que é devastadoramente elevado.

It’s crucial to keep state and local government in mind when you hear people ranting about runaway government spending under President Obama. Yes, the federal government is spending more, although not as much as you might think. But state and local governments are cutting back. And if you add them together, it turns out that the only big spending increases have been in safety-net programs like unemployment insurance, which have soared in cost thanks to the severity of the slump.

É crucial que os governos estaduais e locais tenham em mente as duras críticas da população a respeito do elevado o gasto público durante o governo Obama. Sim, o governo federal estadounidense gasta, ainda que não tanto como pensam. Mas os governos estatais e locais estão fazendo cortes. E, se somamos, o resultado é que os únicos incrementos relevantes no gasto público foram com programas de proteção social, como o seguro-desemprego, cujos custos dispararam por culpa da gravidade da crise econômica.

That is, for all the talk of a failed stimulus, if you look at government spending as a whole you see hardly any stimulus at all. And with federal spending now trailing off, while big state and local cutbacks continue, we’re going into reverse.

Isso quer dizer que, apesar do que dizem sobre o fracasso do estímulo, se observamos o gasto governamental em seu conjunto, não vemos estímulo algum. E agora que o gasto federal está reduzido, ao passo que os grandes recortes de gastos estatais e locais continuam, vamos para trás.

But isn’t keeping taxes for the affluent low also a form of stimulus? Not so you’d notice. When we save a schoolteacher’s job, that unambiguously aids employment; when we give millionaires more money instead, there’s a good chance that most of that money will just sit idle.

Mas não é também uma forma de estímulo manter os impostos baixos para os ricos? Não se percebe isso. Quando salvamos o posto de trabalho de um professor, isso ajuda o nível de emprego sem dúvida; quando, ao contrário, damos mais dinheiro aos multimilionários, é muito possível que a maior parte desse dinheiro fique imobilizada.

And what about the economy’s future? Everything we know about economic growth says that a well-educated population and high-quality infrastructure are crucial. Emerging nations are making huge efforts to upgrade their roads, their ports and their schools. Yet in America we’re going backward.

E sobre o futuro da economia? Tudo o que sabemos sobre o crescimento econômico diz que uma população culta e uma infraestrutura de alta qualidade são cruciais para o crescimento. As nações emergentes estão realizando enormes esforços para melhorar suas estradas, portos e colégios. Contudo, nos EUA estamos recuando.

How did we get to this point? It’s the logical consequence of three decades of antigovernment rhetoric, rhetoric that has convinced many voters that a dollar collected in taxes is always a dollar wasted, that the public sector can’t do anything right.

Como chegamos a esse ponto? É a consequência lógica de três décadas de retórica antigovernamental, uma retórica que convenceu numerosos eleitores de que um dólar arrecadado por impostos é sempre um dólar mal gasto, que o setor público é incapaz de fazer algo bem feito.

The antigovernment campaign has always been phrased in terms of opposition to waste and fraud — to checks sent to welfare queens driving Cadillacs, to vast armies of bureaucrats uselessly pushing paper around. But those were myths, of course; there was never remotely as much waste and fraud as the right claimed. And now that the campaign has reached fruition, we’re seeing what was actually in the firing line: services that everyone except the very rich need, services that government must provide or nobody will, like lighted streets, drivable roads and decent schooling for the public as a whole.

A campanha contra o governo sempre planteou como uma oposição à fraude, aos cheques enviados a rainhas da segurança social que conduzem luxuosos cadillacs e a grandes exércitos de burocratas que, de um lado a outro, movem documentos inutilmente. Mas isso são mitos; nunca houve tanta fraude como assegurava a direita. E agora que a campanha começa a dar frutos, vemos o que realmente havia na linha do fogo: serviços que todos, exceto os muito ricos, necessitam, serviços que devem ser proporcionados pelo governo, como reformas nas ruas, estradas transitáveis e escolarização decente para todos os cidadãos.

So the end result of the long campaign against government is that we’ve taken a disastrously wrong turn. America is now on the unlit, unpaved road to nowhere.

Portanto, o resultado final da prolongada campanha contra o governo é que demos um passo desastrosamente equivocado. Agora, os EUA transitam por uma estrada escura, sem luz, e sem asfalto, que não leva a lugar nenhum.

Tradução: André Rossi. Artigo traduzido de http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=111874. Fonte : http://www.attac.es/ee-uu-se-sume-en-la-oscuridad/.

Estudo formal X Assimilação

LANGUAGE LEARNING (ESTUDO FORMAL)


O conceito de language learning está ligado à abordagem tradicional ao ensino de línguas, assim como é ainda hoje geralmente praticada nas escolas de ensino médio. A atenção volta-se à língua na sua forma escrita e o objetivo é o entendimento pelo aluno da estrutura e das regras do idioma através de esforço intelectual e de sua capacidade dedutivo-lógica. A forma tem importância igual ou maior do que a comunicação. Ensino e aprendizado são vistos como atividades num plano técnico-didático delimitado por conteúdo. Ensina-se a teoria na ausência da prática. Valoriza-se o correto e reprime-se o incorreto. Há pouco lugar para espontaneidade. O professor assume o papel de autoridade no assunto e a participação do aluno é predominantemente passiva. No caso do inglês ensina-se por exemplo o funcionamento dos modos interrogativo e negativo, verbos irregulares, modais, etc. O aluno aprende a construir frases no perfect tense, mas dificilmente saberá quando usá-lo.
É um processo progressivo e cumulativo, normalmente atrelado a um plano didático predeterminado, que inclui memorização de vocabulário e tem por objetivo proporcionar conhecimento metalinguístico. Ou seja, transmite ao aluno conhecimento a respeito da língua estrangeira, de seu funcionamento e de sua estrutura gramatical com suas irregularidades, de seus contrastes em relação à língua materna, conhecimento este que espera-se venha a se transformar na habilidade prática de entender e falar essa língua. Este esforço de acumular conhecimento torna-se frustrante na razão direta da falta de familiaridade com a língua.
Exemplo clássico de language learning são os inúmeros graduados em letras, já habilitados porém ainda com extrema dificuldade em se comunicarem na língua que teoricamente poderiam ensinar.


LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (ASSIMILAÇÃO)


Language acquisition refere-se ao processo de assimilação natural, intuitivo, subconsciente, fruto de interação em situações reais de convívio humano, em que o aprendiz participa como sujeito ativo. É semelhante ao processo de assimilação da língua materna pelas crianças; processo este que produz habilidade prático-funcional sobre a língua falada e não conhecimento teórico; desenvolve familiaridade com a característica fonética da língua, sua estruturação e seu vocabulário; é responsável pelo entendimento oral, pela capacidade de comunicação criativa, e pela identificação de valores culturais. Ensino e aprendizado são vistos como atividades que ocorrem num plano pessoal-psicológico. Uma abordagem inspirada em acquisition valoriza o ato comunicativo e desenvolve a autoconfiança do aprendiz.
Exemplo clássico de language acquisition são os adolescentes e jovens adultos que residem no exterior durante um ano através de programas de intercâmbio cultural, atingindo um grau de fluência na língua estrangeira próximo ao da língua materna, porém, na maioria dos casos, sem nenhum conhecimento a respeito do idioma. Não têm sequer noções de fonologia, nem sabem o que é perfect tense, verbos modais, ou phrasal verbs embora saibam usá-los intuitivamente.

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First as tragedy, then as farce

The Farmer and the Money-lender - An Indian Fairy Tale

There was once a farmer who suffered much at the hands of a money-lender. Good harvests, or bad, the farmer was always poor, the money-lender rich. At the last, when he hadn't a farthing left, the farmer went to the money-lender's house, and said, "You can't squeeze water from a stone, and as you have nothing to get by me now, you might tell me the secret of becoming rich."My friend," returned the money-lender, piously, "riches come from Ram--ask him."

"Thank you, I will!" replied the simple farmer; so he prepared three girdle-cakes to last him on the journey, and set out to find Ram.

First he met a Brahman, and to him he gave a cake, asking him to point out the road to Ram; but the Brahman only took the cake and went on his way without a word. Next the fanner met a Jogi or devotee, and to him he gave a cake, without receiving any help in return. 

At last, he came upon a poor man sitting under a tree, and finding out he was hungry, the kindly farmer gave him the last cake, and sitting down to rest beside him, entered into conversation.

"And where are you going?" asked the poor man, at length.

"Oh I have a long journey before me, for I am going to find Ram!" replied the farmer. "I don't suppose you could tell me which way to go?"

"Perhaps I can," said the poor man, smiling, "for I am Ram! What do you want of me?"

Then the farmer told the whole story, and Ram, taking pity on him, gave him a conch shell, and showed him how to to blow it in a particular way, saying,
"Remember! whatever you wish for, you have only to blow the conch that way, and your wish will be fulfilled. Only have a care of that money-lender, for even magic is not proof against their wiles!"

The farmer went back to his village rejoicing. In fact the money-lender noticed his high spirits at once, and said to himself, "Some good fortune must have befallen the stupid fellow, to make him hold his head so jauntily." Therefore he went over to the simple farmer's house, and congratulated him on his good fortune, in such cunning words, pretending to have heard all about it, that before long the farmer found himself telling the whole story--all except the secret of blowing the conch, for, with all his simplicity, the farmer was not quite such a fool as to tell that.

Nevertheless the money-lender determined to have the conch by hook or by crook, and as he was villain enough not to stick at trifles, he waited for a favourable opportunity and stole the conch.

But, after nearly bursting himself with blowing the conch in every conceivable way, he was obliged to give up the secret as a bad job. However, being determined to succeed he went back to the farmer, and said, coolly, "Look here; I've got your conch, but I can't use it; you haven't got it, so it's dear you can't use it either. Business is at a standstill unless we make a bargain. Now, I promise to give you back your conch, and never to interfere with your using it, on one condition, which is this,--whatever you get from it, I am to get double."

"Never!" cried the farmer; "that would be the old business all over again!"

"Not at all!" replied the wily money-lender; "you will have your share! Now, don't he a dog in the manger, for if you get all you want, what can it matter to you if I am rich or poor?"

At last, though it went sorely against the grain to be of any benefit to a money-lender, the farmer was forced to yield, and from that time, no matter what he gained by the power of the conch, the money-lender gained double. And the knowledge that this was so preyed upon the farmer's mind day and night, so that he had no satisfaction out of anything.

At last, there came a very dry season,--so dry that the farmer's crops withered for want of rain. Then he blew his conch, and wished for a well to water them, and lo! there was the well, but the money-lender had two!--two beautiful new wells! This was too much for any farmer to stand; and our friend brooded over it, and brooded over it, till at last a bright idea came into his head. He seized the conch, blew it loudly, and cried out,

"Oh, Ram! I wish to be blind of one eye!" And so he was, in a twinkling, but the moneylender of course was blind of both, and in trying to steer his way between the two new wells, he fell into one, and was drowned.

Now this true story shows that a farmer once got the better of a money-lender--but only by losing one of his eyes.

"A Nincompoop" by Anton Chekhov

by Anton Chekhov

A few days ago I asked my children's governess, Julia Vassilyevna, to come into my study.

"Sit down, Julia Vassilyevna," I said. "Let's settle our accounts. Although you most likely need some money, you stand on ceremony and won't ask for it yourself. Now then, we agreed on thirty rubles a month..."

"Forty."

"No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay the governess thirty. Now then, you have been here two months, so ...."

"Two months and five days."

"Exactly two months. I made a specific note of it. That means you have sixty rubles coming to you. Subtract nine Sundays... you know you did not work with Kolya on Sundays, you only took walks. And three holidays..."

Julia Vassilyevna flushed a deep red and picked at the flounce of her dress, but - not a word.

"Three holidays, therefore take off twelve rubles. Four day Kolya was sick and there were no lesson, as you were occupied with Vanya. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven - nineteen. Subtract... that leaves... hmm... forty-one rubles. Correct?"

Julia Vassilyevna's left eye reddened and filled with moisture. Her chin trembled; she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but - not a word.

"Around New Year's you broke a teacup and saucer: take off two rubles. The cup cost more, it was an heirloom, but - let it go. When did not I take a loss! Then, due to your neglect, Kolya climbed a tree and tore his jacket: take away ten. Also due to your heedlessness the maid stole Vanya's shoes. You ought to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more rubles off. The tenth of January I gave you ten rubles..."

"You did not", whispered Julia Vassilyevna.

"But I made a note of it."

"Well... all right."

"Take twenty-seven from forty-one - that leaves fourteen."

Both eyes willed with tears. Perspiration appeared on the thin, pretty little nose. Poor girl!

"Only once was I given any money," she said in a trembling voice, "and that was by your wife. Three rubles, nothing more."

"Really? You see now, and I did not make a note of it! Take three from fourteen... leaves eleven. Here is your money, my dear. Three, three, three, one and one. Her it is!

I handed her eleven rubles. She took them and with trembling fingers stuffed them into her pocket.

"Merci," she whispered.

I jumped up and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger.

"For what, this - 'merci'?" I asked.

"For the money."

"But you know I have cheated you, for God's sake - robbed you! I have actually stolen from you! Why this 'merci'?"

"In my other places, they did not give me anything at all."

"They did not give you anything? No wonder! I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach you... I am going to give you the entire eighty rubles! Here they are in an envelope all ready for you... Is it really possible to be so spineless? Why don't you protest? Why be silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws - to be such a nincompoop?"

She smiled crookedly and I read in her expression: "It is possible."

I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and, to her great surprise, gave her eighty rubles. She murmured her little "merci" several times and went out. I looked after her and thought: "How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!"

LiveMocha

O LiveMocha é um site muito bom, melhor que o Busuu, na minha opinião. Além dos exercícios "padrão" do próprio site, há atividades enviadas pelos próprios usuários. Digo mais, para que você avance no curso, é necessário uma contribuição através do envio de atividades, você pode por exemplo enviar uma atividade de português para algum estrangeiro que esteja aprendendo o idioma.

Gender and Society What Women Want

Exercícios de inglês

                                             clique na imagem para aumentar

O English Exercises é um site com vários exercícios curtos de inglês, com respostas e explicações. Vale a pena gastar uns minutinhos para verificar o conhecimento adquirido nas aulas e ao mesmo aprender novas estruturas e expressões.

ps. É possível selecionar o nível de conhecimento e o site exibe a nota ao final de cada exercício.

Brazil-Turkey 1, sanctions 0

THE ROVING EYE
Brazil-Turkey 1, sanctions 0
By Pepe Escobar




As D-Day approached in Tehran, it was as if the whole world was watching a numbers game. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on his way to Iran, said the chances of convincing the Islamic Republic to accept a nuclear fuel swap deal were close to 99%. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, after meeting with Lula in Moscow last Friday, said the chance was more like 33%. And the United States State Department, via Secretary Hillary Clinton, was all out pre-emptive, betting in fact on 0%.

Lula won the bet. If this was a football match - next month's World Cup will be followed by billions around the globe - the final result would be Brazil-Turkey 1, United States 0, with the golden goal struck in the final minute of extra time.

full text here

Teacher's note: This is not the text we read in class, that one is here.

The Corporation

Phrasal Verbs Reference

The following table is an alphabetical reference chart of the most commonly used English phrasal verbs with following explanations. You should remember that native speakers of English tend to use phrasal verbs in everyday conversation and generally reserve one-word verbs (i.e. "investigate" instead of "look into") for more formal occasions such as business letters etc.

Please note that all phrasal verbs marked by an asterisk (*) are NON-separable verbs (i.e. the preposition MUST follow the main verb. For example: I called on Dan NOT I called Dan on!). Verbs that are not marked by an asterisk (*) are separable verbs (i.e. the preposition may or may not follow the main verb. For example: I brought the children up OR I brought up the children).
IMPORTANT
Remember that separable phrasal verbs using a pronoun as the object of the verb MUST be separated (I brought them up NOT I brought up them)

A	Ask out	Ask someone to go on a date
B	Bring about	cause
	Bring up	1) rear children 2) mention or introduce a topic
C	Call back	Return a telephone call
	Call in	Ask to come to an official place for a special reason
	Call off	cancel
	Call on*	1) visit 2) ask a student a question in class
	Call up	Call on the telephone
	Catch up (with)*	Reach the same position or level as someone
	Check in*	Register at a hotel
	Check into*	investigate
	Check out	1) borrow a book from a library 2) investigate
	Cheer up	Make (someone) feel happier
	Clean up	Make clean and orderly
	Come across*	Find by chance
	Cross out	Draw a line through
	Cut out	Stop an annoying activity
D	Do over	repeat
	Drop by*	Visit informally
	Drop in (on)*	Visit informally
	Drop off	Leave something/someone somewhere
	Drop out (of)*	Stop going to school or class
F	Figure out	Find the answer by logic
	Fill out	Complete a form
	Find out	Discover information
	Get along (with)*	To have a good relationship with
	Get back (from)	1) return from somewhere 2) receive again
	Get in, get into*	1) enter a car 2) arrive
	Get off*	Leave any vehicle
	Get on*	Enter any vehicle
	Get out of*	1) leave a car 2) avoid some unpleasant activity
	Get over*	Recover from an illness
	Get through*	finish
	Get up*	Arise from bed, a chair etc.
	Give back	Return something to someone
	Give up	Stop doing something
	Go over*	Review or check
	Grow up*	Become an adult
H	Hand in	Submit an assignment
	Hang up	1) Stop a telephone conversation 2) put up clothes on a line or a hook
	Have on	Wear
K	Keep out (of)	Not enter
	Keep up (with)*	Stay at the same position or level
	Kick out (of)	Force (someone) to leave
L	Look after*	Take care of
	Look into*	Investigate
	Look out (for)*	Be careful
	Look over	Review or check
	Look up	Look for information in a reference book
M	Make up	1) invent 2) do past work
N	Name after	Give a baby the name of someone else
P	Pass away*	Die
	Pass out	1) distribute 2) lose consciousness
	Pick out	Select
	Pick up	1) go to get someone 2) take in one's hand
	Point out	Call someone's attention to
	Put away	Remove to an appropriate place
	Put back	Return to original position
	Put off	Postpone
	Put on	Dress
	Put out	Extinguish a cigarette, fire
	Put up with*	Tolerate
R	Run into	Meet by chance
	Run across	Find by chance
	Run out (of)	Finish a supply of something
S	Show up*	Appear, come to
	Shut off	Stop a machine, equipment, light etc.
T	Take after*	Resemble
	Take off	1) remove clothing 2) leave on a trip 3) leave the ground (aeroplane)
	Take out	1) take someone on a date 2) remove
	Take over	Take control
	Take up	Begin a new activity
	Tear down	Demolish, reduce to nothing
	Tear up	Tear into many little pieces
	Think over	Consider
	Throw away	Discard; get rid of
	Throw out	Discard; get rid of
	Throw up	Vomit
	Try on	Put on clothing to see if it fits
	Turn down	Decrease volume
	Turn in	1) submit classwork 2) go to bed
	Turn off	Stop a machine, equipment, light etc.
	Turn on	Start a machine, equipment, light etc.
	Turn out	Extinguish a light
	Turn up	Increase volume or intensity

Wind of Change

I ______ the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
_________ to the wind of change
An August _______ night
________ passing __
Listening to the wind of change

The ________ closing in
Did you ever ______
That we could be so ______, like brothers
The ________'s in the air
I can ______ it _____________
Blowing with the wind of change

Chorus:
_______me to the magic of the __________
On a glory ______
Where the children of __________ dream away
In the wind of change

_________ down the street
Distant __________
Are _________ in the _______ forever


I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change

The wind of change ________ straight
Into the face of time
Like a stormwind that will _____
The __________ bell for peace of ______
Let your balalaika ______
What my guitar wants to say

Chorus

Word Bank

listening = hearing, paying attention.
soldiers = member of the military.
follow = go after.
summer = one of the four seasons of the year when it’s hot.


everywhere = in every place, in every location.
think = deliberate, conceive in the mind; believe.
world = planet; planet Earth; universe, cosmos; a lot, very much.
future = coming time, coming events, opposite of past.
feel = physically sense; emotionally sense.
close = near, adjacent; intimate.

moment = infinitely short period of time.
take = transport
tomorrow = the day after today.
night = period of time after the evening; darkness.

buried = interred, placed in the ground and covered with earth.
memories = recall; recollection; saved mental impression.
walking = moving along
past =in a time gone by; previously, opposite of future.

ring = call on the telephone (British); bid, call, sound a bell.
blows = exhale; inflate; wave.
freedom = liberty; independence.
wants = desire; need.
mind = brain, human consciousness.

Yellow Submarine - The Beatles

Blowing in the wind

CNM – CUT Intermediate Lessons
How many ______ must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many _____ must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the ______?
Yes, 'n' how _____ times must the cannon balls ___
Before they're forever _________?
The ________ my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The ________ is blowin' in the wind.
How many years can a ____________exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're ___________ to be ______?
Yes, 'n' how many times must a man turn his ______,
Pretending he just doesn't ___?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
How many times must a man look up
Before he can really see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many _____ must one man have
Before he can hear people ___?
Yes, 'n' how many ____ will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Word box

answer - deaths - seas - see - head - ears- sand - many - banned - mountain - allowed - free - cry - roads

Stand by me

Stand by me – John Lennon Recording
CNM –CUT Intermediate lessons

When the ______ has come
And the land is _______
And the moon is the only light _____ see
No I won't be ______, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darling, darling, stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me
If the sky that we ______ upon
Should tumble and ______
And the ___________ should crumble to the _____
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a ______
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me, stand by me-e, yeah

Whenever you're in _______ won't you stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me
Darlin', darlin', stand by me-e, stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me.

wordbox

tear - trouble - we'll - look - night - mountains - sea - fall - afraid - dark

The Human Body

Clique na imagem para ampliar.

Fruits and Vegetables

Busuu.com

Galera,

É o seguinte, esse site aqui: Busuu.com funciona como uma comunidade das pessoas que estão aprendendo algum idioma. Eu já me cadastrei por lá e estou aprendendo Francês e Alemão e colaborando com Português e Inglês.
abs