BST: The Great Escape, Part 1

Back when the Beatles were the new kids on the block, the British School of Teresópolis was popular among British and American expatriates and Brazilian parents eager to delegate the learning of English to their offspring. Also new at the time was a movie titled “The Great Escape,” which pretty well summed up the way a lot of us offspring viewed the arrangement. We even had a stern and unforgiving German nurse, a British math teacher,  a headmaster and a physical education teacher both of whom were eager to see how many of us could be trained to win metals for the Vaterland in athletic competition.

A normal day started with lineup and roll-call followed immediately by steeplechase race up a treacherous clay slope embedded with angular lumps of chert, then back down an equally steep and slippery goat trail to arrive, gasping and panting, at the main torture grounds. Divide and conquer was the motto as we lined up into freebooter and militaristic Drake, Churchill and Nelson “houses” to be broiled under the tropical sun seeking to outdo one another at the physical jerks popularized in Orwell’s totalitarian dystopias. 

The physical jerks weren’t so bad compared to the torture of being five millimeters taller than Suzy Ludwig, the most gorgeous heartbreaker there, and thus having to watch her muscular butt-cheeks ripple beneath a tiny pair of gym shorts throughout the entire ordeal. For a skinny adolescent with no girlfriend, it was Hell! 

Like Steve McQueen, I dreamt of escaping over the hill—this when I wasn’t wishing the Fraulein would notice my pathetic existence. Then it happened! I was wandering aimlessly when Robyn de Roo sidled up alongside and announced his intention of making a break for it. I was awash in friendship and sympathy as I handed him all the cash I had on me, plus half a stick of gum and a useful-looking piece of string. This altruistic camaraderie was of course seasoned with the very practical realization that with one of the handsome and roguish DeRoo brothers out of the county I might have a better shot at obtruding upon the notice of the pretty German girl. 

Don't miss Part 2: The Plot Thickens

BST: The Great Escape, Part 1

Back when the Beatles were the new kids on the block, the British School of Teresópolis was popular among British and American expatriates and Brazilian parents eager to delegate the learning of English to their offspring. Also new at the time was a movie titled “The Great Escape,” which pretty well summed up the way a lot of us offspring viewed the arrangement. We even had a stern and unforgiving German nurse, a British math teacher,  a headmaster and a physical education teacher both of whom were eager to see how many of us could be trained to win metals for the Vaterland in athletic competition.

A normal day started with lineup and roll-call followed immediately by steeplechase race up a treacherous clay slope embedded with angular lumps of chert, then back down an equally steep and slippery goat trail to arrive, gasping and panting, at the main torture grounds. Divide and conquer was the motto as we lined up into freebooter and militaristic Drake, Churchill and Nelson “houses” to be broiled under the tropical sun seeking to outdo one another at the physical jerks popularized in Orwell’s totalitarian dystopias. 

The physical jerks weren’t so bad compared to the torture of being five millimeters taller than Suzy Ludwig, the most gorgeous heartbreaker there, and thus having to watch her muscular butt-cheeks ripple beneath a tiny pair of gym shorts throughout the entire ordeal. For a skinny adolescent with no girlfriend, it was Hell! 

Like Steve McQueen, I dreamt of escaping over the hill—this when I wasn’t wishing the Fraulein would notice my pathetic existence. Then it happened! I was wandering aimlessly when Robyn de Roo sidled up alongside and announced his intention of making a break for it. I was awash in friendship and sympathy as I handed him all the cash I had on me, plus half a stick of gum and a useful-looking piece of string. This altruistic camaraderie was of course seasoned with the very practical realization that with one of the handsome and roguish DeRoo brothers out of the county I might have a better shot at obtruding upon the notice of the pretty German girl. 

Don't miss Part 2: The Plot Thickens

Para entender a Grande Depressão dos EUA--basta ler. 

Compre este livro na Amazon

Na Amazon:  A Lei Seca e o Crash. Todo brasileiro entende rapidinho o mecanismo desta crise financeira de 1929. Com isso dá para entender as de 1893, 1907, 1987, 2008 e os Flash Crashes de 2010 e 2015.

Blog americano... Libertariantranslator dotcom

Proofreader's Marks

If you write or translate you will need to become familiar with proofreaders marks. These are symbols people put in the margins to indicate suggestions for changes to the text.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXWDjusZKx4RHrDNcA-prUbPUtmYha21mm4ryWLXpw4IQZh9tpfyL1KK_YS9iarfS1N5jn-i180_mqYzSUwKKsNSnOqu9Lu-3FKFukNFrnf_gBDJghSACpJuPd2Mk-awaVqULPhTJYjG4/s1600/ProofreadersMarks-web.jpg

http://www.incidentalcomics.com/2016/10/proofreaders-marks.html

Livro novo, que não li

A book I have not read... is out. Here's the info courtesy of Thelma:

Vai ter o lançamento no sábado, às 11 horas, numa livraria bicho grilo no centro.

Thelma L Sabim
www.speakwrite.com.br
Curitiba (41) 3276-5659 USA (512) 837-5708
ATA & ABRATES Certified Translator
Juramentada JUCEPAR 12/219-T

Make every allowance for errors of knowledge; do not forgive or accept any breach of morality. Ayn Rand

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: 'Camila Rassi' via juramentados <juramentados@googlegroups.com>
Date: 2016-10-20 7:00 GMT-02:00
Subject: Assunto: Re: Lançamento do livro "A tradutora"
To: "juramentados@googlegroups.com" <juramentados@googlegroups.com>


Bom dia! 

Mais informações sobre o livro:

“A Tradutora”, de Cristovão Tezza, mostra Brasil dividido durante a Copa do Mundo

“A Tradutora”, de Cristovão Tezza, mostra Brasil dividido durante a Copa do Mundo Pelos olhos da tradutora Beatriz, novo romance do autor de “O Filho Eterno” revive a agitação política do país durante o Mundial em Curitiba

A pixador is one of those juvenile delinquents who mess up other people's paint jobs with illegible scrawl. Grafitti artist is the wrong translation, for it suggests talent or ability. Thanks to the gruff, loveable and cantankerous Everett True, here is another translation just as bad, but more entertaining.

The Republicans claim that if you vote for a balanced candidate, that would help the Dems win again like they did in 2008 and 2012 (after the Bush asset-forfeiture crash). The Dems say voting for someone who is not an insane looter would only help a Republican win.

A website was formed to cancel out votes, much the way in Brazil people not interested in 33 communist, fascist and prohibitionist parties vote NULO and EM BRANCO. Search and you will find thousands of government pages explaining that those are NOT the same thing. NULO means "none of the above," whereas EM BRANCO means "none of the above," see?

The US system is simpler. Here's a video that explains it:

This is much like the Fimose and Espinha (Charges.com.br) agreement to each cancel the other's vote in Brazilian elections. This cartoon may have been the original idea behind Balancedrebellion.com

The difference is that the BalancedRebellion vote drains off part of the spoiler vote effect. I personally approach with unruffled equanimity the prospect of Republicans committing cyanide Kool-aid suicide because Hillary won after they voted Libertarian. Paddypower.com bookies are betting 6 to 1 the pro-choice party wins and 5 to 1 the life-begins-at-erection party loses. Paddypower is run by Irish bookies using actuarial math to make money on outcomes. Unlike rigged polls putting the adversaries neck-and-neck, they care as little about who wins across the ocean as the Republicans have chances of winning.

The good news about the odds is that feminists who believe in choice but do not believe in looter kleptocracy can vote Libertarian with no fear that God's Own Prohibitionists are therefore going to put a girl-bullying madman into the highest office. This third-party choice multiplies the power of your vote by anywhere from 600% to 3600%, and the LP.org platform is not anti-choice.

We went through this before in 1932. See how the Crash and Depression weighed into that election with the entire economy at stake (kind of like 2008). Live on Amazon Kindle for the price of a pint.

Election news talking blues

Instead of 33 parties in 3 categories, the US still has but 7 parties in 4 categories. Two, however, hog the spotlight, as in 1960. 

http://reason.com/blog/2016/10/14/do-trumps-groping-clintons-lying-johnson

Rindo para não chorar

O mais bem-desenhado entre as charges que conheço é o sinfest.net. 
Nesta época, o cartunista, Tatsuya, mexe com os partidos entrincheirados...

Desde 2007 EUA viraram, bem... veja você.

Distance Voting

Another deadline looms. Now is a good time to find out about voting in the November elections. My candidate was nominated much later than the entrenched party candidates, and I was surprised at how little time we have left.

Here's a link:
https://www.fvap.gov/fwab-privacy-notice

The mailing part is kind of a joke. Nobody mails anything in Brazil. The last thing mailed to this address was from the US, and it was delivered to a neighbor a block away. But there is a way to Sedex stuff to a local voter, kind of like proxy voting in a corporation.

Right now we are looking for someone in São Paulo or Porto Alegre willing to drop off ballots at the American Consulates. The Consulate in SP is kind of like a wartime bunker. To approach you have to use their website and fill out forms days in advance. The website only works intermittently, and the place is best approached with your hands raised and empty.

Cheerfully,

Bilingual Voting Machines

Bilingual Voting Machines have arrived--if you can believe what you see in political cartoons.  Locally you can vote for any party you want... provided that party is firmly committed to the initiation of force to get things done. Any party that isn't, ain't on the ballot machine. It's that simple.

Voting is mandatory, albeit not exactly at gunpoint. The idea was cooked up in the People's State of Australia back when populated largely by transportees. According to proponents, the idea was to keep those favoring a gold standard from intimidating (and occasionally shooting) those who wanted a currency backed by the promises of politicians (as in 1923 Germany and 1992 Brazil). Nowadays there is no gold standard currency, thanks in part to Ian Fleming's revelation that gold is easily made radioactive. In Australia and Brazil the League of Non-Voters consists entirely of Orwellian "unpersons." These worthies are not themselves vaporized--just their documents. This makes it impossible to open a bank account, rent anything, operate a vehicle, etc. until they kneel, confess, make penance--perhaps by reciting something akin to the Eisenhower Pledge of Allegiance--and rejoin the fold of the goodthinkful by paying a punitive tithe to The Political State.

With all this nonsense in place to force the sanction of the victim, would it be asking too much to let the victim verify that his or her vote was counted the way it was cast? Anyone with a smartphone can read barcodes or QR codes to look up all kinds of websites and information, just not whether their ballot was switched, trashed or altered. The switching, trashing and forging of ballots has been a constant feature of all elections for the past two centuries, according to newspapers. If this is such a bad thing, does it not make sense to let the voter verify the way his vote was counted? We check deposits using Automatic Teller Machines all the time suing a secret password. Asking for honest politicians is asking too much. So why not have verifiable voting?