Sunday, 30 March 2014

(ES) Belgium

Una “carga excesiva” de españoles

Bélgica ordenó en 2013 la expulsión de 4.812 inmigrantes europeos, 291 procedentes de España, porque pesaban demasiado en la red asistencial. Tres de ellos cuentan su suplicio

Esta semana, Alemania anunciaba que acabará con la "inmigración de la pobreza"

Dolores Cañizal, una de las españolas expulsadas, el jueves pasado, en Marbella. / Foto: García Santos
—Su carné de identidad queda retenido, señora.
—¿Por qué? ¿Qué pasa?
—Pesa sobre usted una orden de expulsión. Debe abandonar Bélgica en un máximo de 30 días. En caso contrario, podría ser detenida y conducida hasta la frontera.
El teléfono de Dolores Cañizal amaga con cortar su voz en cualquier momento. Dos años después de llegar a Bélgica en búsqueda de trabajo, está a punto de cruzar la frontera franco-belga de vuelta a España, de vuelta a la casa de sus hijos de la que salió “para no dar más guerra”. No retorna voluntariamente: en diciembre recibió una orden de expulsión por, según le dijeron en la escueta conversación que mantuvo con un funcionario belga de migraciones, abusar del sistema de la seguridad social. Como ella, casi 5.000 europeos —entre ellos 291 españoles— fueron expulsados del país en 2013, en virtud de la interpretación que el Ejecutivo belga hace de la directiva —por ser una “carga excesiva”— que regula el libre movimiento de personas en la UE.
A sus 66 años, esta castellana llevaba más de dos décadas viviendo en Marbella hasta que el paro le empujó a Bélgica en marzo de 2012. “Fue una mezcla de orgullo personal y ganas de quitar una carga a mis hijos”, apunta, con tono nervioso. No puede contener su desilusión y rabia. Llegó a Bruselas por la insistencia de un amigo que vivía allí y que le proporcionó alojamiento los primeros meses. No tardó mucho en encontrar trabajo en el décimo país con menos paro de la UE: pocos días después de lograr su carné de identidad —un documento imprescindible para trabajar legalmente en Bélgica—, firmó un contrato como asistenta de limpieza por horas en casas y oficinas. Al principio, la barrera idiomática fue un lastre, pero a medida que transcurrían las semanas la carga de trabajo y los ingresos crecieron. “Confiaban en mí”, relata al otro lado del teléfono, “aunque empezaba a estar mayor para un trabajo tan físico”. Una lesión en la espalda y las generosas condiciones que ofrece el —aparentemente— garantista sistema belga, acabaron por adelantar su jubilación. “Me dijeron que cobraría 981 euros mensuales, lo suficiente para poder vivir”, añade. “Nunca se me pasó por la cabeza el calvario que viví poco después”. Su intención no era jubilarse, pero la Seguridad Social le propuso esta fórmula —a pesar de que llevaba poco más de un año cotizado— y se acogió a ella.
El Estado busca amedrentar a quien recibe la carta”, dice Carlos G., que reclama su derecho a quedarse
Tras un año cobrando la pensión puntualmente, dejó de recibir la prestación que le correspondía en noviembre pasado. “Pensé que sería un error y no le di más importancia”. Sin embargo, dos días después recibió en el buzón la orden de deportación. La carta, con el membrete del Ministerio del Interior belga, le emplazaba a presentarse en las oficinas administrativas de Evere —uno de los 19 Ayuntamientos en los que se divide Bruselas—, de clase media, en la que residía, a unos 10 kilómetros al norte de la Grand Place. “No sabía por qué querían que fuera y cuando llegué, casi sin dirigirme la palabra, un funcionario me retiró la tarjeta de residencia”, el documento que permite a cualquier extranjero —sea o no comunitario— residir en el país un máximo de cinco años. “Cuando me dijeron que tenía que abandonar el país en un plazo máximo de 30 días no me lo podía creer, justo cuando empezaba a salir adelante”, añade emocionada. “Nunca había pedido una ayuda a los servicios sociales; ni me aproveché de las arcas públicas”.
Aquel día empezó un auténtico vía crucis para Dolores: sus ahorros apenas le permitían abonar las facturas, perdió la fianza del apartamento que acababa de alquilar, tuvo que hacer cábalas para comprar el billete de vuelta y regalar las pertenencias que no podía llevar en el equipaje de vuelta. “Ni siquiera me ha dado tiempo a venderlos”, desliza resignada.
El derecho comunitario permite a cualquier ciudadano europeo permanecer hasta tres meses en otro país de la UE con su DNI como único equipaje. A partir de ese momento, el permiso de residencia está condicionado a que la persona tenga un contrato de trabajo; disponga de un seguro médico y de recursos económicos suficientes para vivir sin necesidad de recurrir a ayudas sociales; esté estudiando en alguna institución educativa del país o sea familiar de primer grado de alguna persona que cumpla los anteriores requisitos. Si no cumple con al menos uno de estos condicionantes, la legislación europea deja la puerta abierta a una expulsión, pero la limita a “circunstancias excepcionales”.

Lo que dice la directiva

Así reza el punto 16 de la directiva de 2004: “Los beneficiarios del derecho de residencia no podrán ser expulsados mientras no se conviertan en una carga excesiva para la asistencia social del Estado de acogida. (...) Conviene que el Estado examine si tal recurso obedece a dificultades temporales y que tenga en cuenta la duración de la residencia, las circunstancias personales y la cuantía de la ayuda concedida antes de poder decidir si el beneficiario se ha convertido en una carga excesiva para su asistencia social y si procede su expulsión”.
13 de los 28 países de la UE —entre ellos, la propia Bélgica, Alemania, Francia, Italia, Austria e Irlanda— practican expulsiones selectivas de inmigrantes comunitarios amparándose en la “carga excesiva” que suponen para sus arcas.
4.812 europeos —291 españoles— fueron expulsados de Bélgica en 2013, más del doble que un año antes.
El último en sumarse a esta interpretación de la legislación comunitaria ha sido el Gobierno alemán, que el miércoles anunció su intención de acabar con la “inmigración de la pobreza” imitando el efectista esquema belga.
La Comisión Europea ha ratificado la legalidad de las medidas belgas y alemanas y ha admitido “problemas puntuales” en algunos Estados miembros.
Sin embargo, el margen de maniobra que el texto otorga a cada país produce situaciones como la de Bélgica. Iván Salazar, responsable de ayuda social de la asociación Hispano-Belga que, como su propio nombre indica, tiende puentes entre España, Latinoamérica y Bélgica, lo tiene claro: “Las expulsiones de españoles se han multiplicado en los últimos meses”. Al principio, dice, les chocaba que tantas personas acudieran a la asociación con el mismo problema. “No sabíamos de qué hablaban cuando decían que les habían expulsado”, añade con tono pausado. “Pero con el paso del tiempo empezaron a llegar más y más casos”. La gran mayoría de ellos decide, como Cañizal, regresar a España.
Apenas seis kilómetros al este de la Hispano-Belga, vive Carlos G. y su pareja belga, Eliane Istace. Este catalán tuvo que echar el cierre en 2009 a las dos empresas que regentaba en Barcelona: un restaurante y una compañía de servicios de limpieza. El paro ya arreciaba y, de un día para otro, se vio en la tesitura de tener que emigrar. Probó suerte en Holanda, donde vivían unos conocidos, pero el idioma le obligó a buscar otros lares. “No duré ni un mes”, rememora. Acabó en Bruselas, a donde llegó con “poco dinero”. Como Cañizal, Carlos se hospedó las primeras semanas en casa de unos amigos mientras estudiaba francés: casi ocho horas diarias, con una ayuda social de 380 euros. “Es un país solidario”, apunta mientras apura un último trago de vino rosado. Acaba de cumplir 50 años y mantiene una actitud jovial: únicamente el pelo cano delata su edad.
Cuando su francés empezaba a ser lo suficientemente bueno, Carlos se acogió al artículo 60 —una fórmula que ofrece a los desempleados un salario a cambio de trabajar en ayuda social— y firmó un contrato en una residencia de ancianos de Etterbeek, el barrio en el que vive. “Todo iba bien: conocí a mi pareja, ganaba lo suficiente para vivir... Hasta que recibí la orden de expulsión”.
L.B., español de origen magrebí que ha recibido una orden de expulsión, el jueves, en Bruselas. / Foto: Demi Álvarez
De verbo fácil, maneja bien la intrincada terminología jurídica que rodea su caso —estudió tres años de Derecho— y se explica en un frañol que da fe de su total adaptación a la sociedad belga. Clava sus ojos en los papeles mientras se apagan los últimos rayos de sol del primer día de primavera en Bruselas. Su mirada denota rabia. “Voy a luchar porque es un sinsentido: es como si te ayudaran para luego echarte”. De momento, Carlos está centrado en ganar la batalla en los tribunales, que en abril resolverán su recurso, en el que ha llegado a renunciar explícitamente al seguro de desempleo. “No quiero más ayudas, solo que me dejen trabajar aquí, en mi entorno”. Por si su apelación no prosperara, Carlos aún guarda una bala en la recámara: que el Estado belga acepte su cohabitación con su pareja. Espera que la situación no se alargue mucho en el tiempo —“cumplo todos los requisitos y creo que ha sido un error administrativo; si no, no me lo explico”—, pero advierte de la frágil situación en la que se encuentran otros expulsados. “El Estado busca amedrentar a quien recibe la carta y que, presa del pánico, abandone Bélgica voluntariamente”.
En España no tuvimos problemas de racismo, y aquí, es institucional”, dice L.B., español de origen magrebí
Ese es el caso de L. B., su mujer y tres de sus cuatro hijos, que prefieren permanecer en el anonimato por miedo a represalias. Tras 26 años trabajando en Mallorca, este marroquí de Tánger se vio abocado a emigrar a Bélgica en 2011 para trabajar en la construcción, “como autónomo y sin la más mínima medida de seguridad”. Se explica en un castellano gramaticalmente perfecto y enseña su pasaporte español con orgullo: todos sus hijos han nacido en Baleares. La decisión de marcharse a Bruselas no fue fácil y se hizo aún más cuesta arriba cuando ya en Bélgica, solo dos meses después de empezar a cobrar una ayuda social de 600 euros “por la escolarización de los niños”, recibió la temida orden de expulsión. Desde entonces, apenas logra conciliar el sueño temiendo que les expulsen “en cualquier momento” del diminuto piso en el que viven, en el céntrico y multicultural Saint-Gilles. “Me han dicho que la policía puede presentarse en cualquier momento para ponernos en la calle”. Ha pasado casi un año desde que recibió el aviso de que debía abandonar Bélgica y el temor sigue latente.
“Solo espero que la situación mejore en España y que podamos volver”. Por lo pronto, su hijo mayor, de 18 años y sobre el que también pesa una orden de expulsión, ya se ha asegurado un puesto como repartidor de butano en su Mallorca natal durante los meses de julio y agosto. Mientras, estudia junto a sus hermanos pequeños en un colegio público del barrio. “Es importante que aprenda idiomas: habla español, árabe y francés, y ahora ha empezado con el neerlandés”, afirma L. B. Su gesto se tuerce al ser preguntado por la integración, uno de los puntos que la UE considera clave para frenar la expulsión. “Nos hemos sentido muy mal tratados en Bélgica, en España nunca tuvimos problemas de racismo y aquí, en cambio, el racismo es institucional”. Su rabia es tal que le lleva a preguntarse por los verdaderos valores europeos. “Somos españoles, somos europeos y no podemos vivir en Europa. ¿En qué consiste entonces la UE?”.

Thursday, 6 March 2014

(EN/ES) The decipherment of cuneiform script

The decipherment of cuneiform script


Already by the turn of the seventeeth century, European travellers in the Near East had begun to notice traces of what appeared to be writing, but in a totally unknown script. For many years there was great doubt that this was actually writing at all; even those who believed it was indeed writing feared that its secrets could never be unlocked. Although the task of deciphering this writing, now known as the cuneiform script, was indeed hard work, it was not impossible. Progress was slow, however, and the decisive breakthrough did not come until the turn of the nineteenth century with the work of a German schoolteacher, Georg Friedrich Grotefend, on Old Persian inscriptions found at the ancient capital of the Persian rulers, Persepolis. The names and titles of the famous kings of Persia, Darius and Xerxes, acted as his key. Over the course of the next half century, much progress was to be made in the decipherment of cuneiform.



A British army officer, Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, copied and published a trilingual (Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian) inscription which had been carved into the rock at Behistun, in Iran. This longer inscription allowed more Old Persian signs to be identified, and soon the Elamite version was also deciphered. By this time another language written in cuneiform script, Urartian (from the area around Lake Van), had also largely been deciphered.

The Akkadian texts known from Behistun and in ever increasing numbers from Mesopotamia itself posed a greater challenge; this form of cuneiform script made use of many more characters, and deployed them in differing ways. Some represented syllables, others whole words, others still had a different function; and not only could one sign be read several different ways, but also different signs could be used to render the same sound or word. Despite these obstacles, Akkadian soon yielded to the efforts of the decipherers, with the Irish and French scholars Edward Hincks and Jules Oppert leading the way.

A further challenge soon appeared, however. As Akkadian began to surrender its secrets, it became clear that not all of the Mesopotamian texts were written in this Semitic language. For some time afterwards controversy surrounded this apparently agglutinative language with no recognisable relation to any other known; was it a real language or just a cryptography of Akkadian scribes (as argued by the semitist, Joseph Halévy)? After much heated debate and an avalanche of new textual material from the French excavations at Al-Hiba, Sumerian was universally recognised as a language.

In the last years of the nineteenth century examples of another language written in cuneiform script began to come to notice. German excavations at the the Anatolian site of Boghazköy in the early years of the twentieth century unearthed thousands of tablets written in this language. The language turned out to be Hittite, the official language of the Hittite empire, echoes of which empire were already resounding in the other cuneiform sources.



In the 1930's, a new chapter in cuneiform studies was opened, following the discovery of texts written in totally different cuneiform script by a French expedition at the Syrian site of Ugarit. This system looked similar to the cuneiform long known from Mesopotamia but functioned very differently; instead of being logo-syllabic, the Ugaritic script was alphabetic. The language written in this cuneiform alphabet (of which there is more than one version) is Semitic and soon the texts, which included many myths and legends, were rendered comprehensible, at least more or less.

Although the greater part of the decipherment process has now been accomplished, many smaller challenges still lie ahead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Henry_Rawlinson,_1st_Baronet#Published_works

Thursday, 24 October 2013

(EN) London's economic boom leaves rest of Britain behind

London's economic boom leaves rest of Britain behind

Exclusive: Guardian analysis highlighting regional imbalance raises troubling questions about who is enjoying UK's recovery
London
London and the south-east’s share of growth in output has soared since 2007 while every other region except Scotland has declined. Photograph: Nicholas Bailey/Rex
London's economy is doing even better after the banking crash than during the bubble – while nearly every other part of the UK has seen its economy shrink by comparison. Exclusive findings published by the Guardian show that London and the south-east are racing away from the rest of the UK at a pace that would have seemed almost incredible at the height of the financial panic.
During the boom from 1997 to 2006, London and the south-east was responsible for 37% of the UK's growth in output. Since the crash of 2007, however, their share has rocketed to 48%. Every other nation and region – with the exception of Scotland – has suffered relative decline over the same period. The upshot is about a quarter of the population is responsible for half of the UK's growth, leaving the remaining three-quarters of Britons to share the rest.
The research also shows that the UK's highest-earners have become relatively more prosperous after the crash, while many on middle incomes are being squeezed hard. In austerity Britain, the top 20% of earning households are enjoying 37.5% of all Britain's income growth, even after accounting for taxes and benefits.
These findings will embarrass the government, especially as they come shortly before the release of the latest GDP figures on Friday. Ministers are poised to celebrate news that the economy is at last enjoying strong growth, and may even have racked up its best quarter in 13 years. But the Guardian's analysis raises questions about who is enjoying Britain's growth and how sustainable it is, and will fuel the debate over who should bear the burden for an economic crisis that began in the Square Mile.
The Guardian's analysis is based on official measures of gross value added, often used to assess regional and industrial performance, and was conducted by the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change at Manchester University.
The findings suggests that David Cameron has failed to meet some of his most important promises: on making Britain's economy less lopsided; on ensuring that the pain from its cuts would be fairly shared out; and that banks would lend more to small businesses.
In his first major speech as prime minister, Cameron described Britain as "more and more unbalanced, with our fortunes hitched to a few industries in one corner of the country". Analysis of the statistics shows that regional imbalance has grown sharply since the crash.
The chancellor, George Osborne, has repeatedly claimed that "we're all in this together". But while the highest-earning 20% of households have done well, and the fortunes of the bottom 20% have been boosted by the minimum wage, most of the rest – the so-called squeezed middle – have seen their incomes stretched.
UK lending by financial institutions UK lending by financial institutions Photograph: Guardian Osborne and the business secretary, Vince Cable, have exhorted banks to lend more to small businesses and to manufacturing. The Guardian's analysis of the Bank of England's own lending figures shows that the share of loans to manufacturers and other real businesses have fallen since the crash. In the decade to 2007, manufacturing and other "productive businesses" took 9.7% of all bank loans. From 2008 to 2012, however, that plummeted to just 5.9%. That compares with the 40% of bank loans to other financial institutions and the 52% of credit extended to individuals, much of which would have been used for mortgages.
In 2010, Cameron described Britain's economy as "unsustainable, unstable, unfair and, frankly, uninspiring", and said that transforming it would be his first priority. Three years on, these figures suggest no such transformation has taken place. Indeed, some of the coalition's policies have been criticised for only Britain's regional and social inqualities.
Infrastructure projects such as the Olympics and the Channel tunnel rail link have seen a huge amount of public spending flowing into London. Last year, the construction skills industry training board forecast that Greater London would receive more economic-development spending than than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland put together.
This has sat alongside policies aimed at making credit cheaper and easier, which have had the effect of making owners of homes and other assets better off. This month, Nigel Wilson, the chief executive of Legal and General, described the £375bn quantitative easing programme as "a policy designed by the rich for the rich".
Share of regional GVA growth Share of regional GVA growth Photograph: Guardian "Since the crash, London and the south-east have continued to pull away from the rest of the national economy. The wedge between them and the rest of Britain has been driven in deeper," said Adam Leaver at the Manchester Business School, and a member of Cresc. The academic team's work is drawn on the latest GVA (gross value added) figures, which end in 2011, but there are indications that the divide has only grown since.
This week, a Rightmove survey showed house prices jumping 10% in London in just on

Friday, 18 October 2013

(ES) BILINGÜISMO, ¿VENTAJA O INCONVENIENTE?

18-10-2013

BILINGÜISMO, ¿VENTAJA O INCONVENIENTE?

Tener la capacidad de comunicarse en dos idiomas también genera inconvenientes. Así lo ha demostrado el proyecto científico Consolider Brainglot que, desde hace seis años, ha estado centrado en el análisis de la base neurocientífica del bilingüismo.

La profesora Núria Sebastián, que forma parte de la Universitat Pompeu Fabra, ha sido la encargada de dirigir este revelador proyecto. Sin embargo, también ha podido contar con la ayuda de cien investigadores pertenecientes a varias universidades españolas.

Durante el desarrollo de esta investigación, cuyos resultados fueron expuestos en el IV Workshop on Bilingualism and Cognitive Neurosciencie, han sido examinados los mecanismos de conocimiento neurológico que posibilitan el aprendizaje de lenguajes diferentes.

Las aptitudes que el bilingüismo confiere a las personas, según el proyecto Consolider Brainglot, son las siguientes: disposición para utilizar un mayor número de áreas cerebrales y mayor adaptación frente a los cambios que una persona monolingüe.

Sin embargo, no todo son ventajas para el bilingüismo. Este análisis ha servido también para descubrir que aquellas personas bilingües, que lo sean desde pequeñas, presentan una menor eficacia en el procesamiento de información. Esto significa que la persona bilingüe está continuamente eligiendo en qué idioma habla y este acto, a la hora de expresarse, contribuye a entorpecer la emisión de las palabras.

Asimismo, esta investigación ha incluido otro aspecto que plantea una duda determinada: ¿por qué la dificultad para aprender un segundo idioma aumenta en edades avanzadas? La respuesta a esta pregunta se resuelve de modo sencillo: porque la primera lengua aprendida ha llenado un espacio prioritario en el cerebro y, como consecuencia, deja menos espacio para el nuevo idioma.

Quizá resulte evidente, tras conocer estos resultados, que también las cosas buenas pueden contener una parte negativa. No obstante, a pesar de cualquier inconveniente que pueda acarrear, el aprendizaje de idiomas representa un beneficio en sí al que no debería renunciarse.

Thursday, 3 October 2013

...


(EN) Spain's cowardly purge of the journalists who ask difficult questions

Spain's cowardly purge of the journalists who ask difficult questions

The dismissal of journalists at Spain's state-funded broadcaster RTVE shows how Mariano Rajoy's government has lost the plot
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy
Spain's prime minister Mariano Rajoy is convinced that government's unpopularity 'is the state media's fault, staffed as it is with unsympathetic journos who keep talking about cutbacks and unemployment.' Photograph: Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images
"No news is good news", the old dictum goes. But someone should explain to Mariano Rajoy, Spain's prime minister, that it only qualifies as good news if there really is no news. This doesn't mean firing as many journalists as you can. Even if you sack almost everybody from TV and radio, as will soon be the case if the purge of Spanish public-sector broadcasting is to continue, there will still be news, and that news will presumably be just as bad as it has been up until now. Getting a new cohort of faithful journalists to suppress or distort the facts won't turn it into good news; it will turn it into what is technically known as "lies".
Ana Pastor, Xabier Fortes, Juan Ramón Lucas, Fran Llorente … the casualty list from the Spanish national broadcaster (RTVE) reads like a competition for the most popular journalist in the country. But as the spin doctors would put it, state broadcasting in Spain has never been about the popularity of the channel, it's about the popularity of the government. And with polls already indicating a 16% fall in support since March, this government seems to be running low on that.
And yet to Rajoy it's simply unbelievable that his austerity policies – harsh, unpopular and, what is probably worse, ineffective – may have anything to do with the quick erosion of his political capital. He and his advisers are convinced that it is the national broadcaster's fault, staffed as it is with unsympathetic journalists who keep talking about cutbacks and unemployment. That the government's reaction has been to make them unemployed and to cut back on RTVE budgets is an irony that seems to have escaped ministers.
Purges are not news at RTVE. But in 2006, at least, a decision was made to put an end to this Tony Soprano-like approach to human resources. A new law was passed that required a two-thirds parliamentary majority for key appointments in RTVE. The government has seen it as a matter of the utmost urgency to scrap that law and return to the good old vendetta system. That, rather than the personal fate of a particular number of news anchors, is what is worrying, because this Putin-esque "changing the rules of the game as you go" game is quickly becoming the government's only firm policy. It has also tried to change the way in which judges are selected, and is toying with the idea of touching up the electoral law, without seeking any consensus with the rest of political forces, in order to tip the scales in its favour in an upcoming regional election.
But then there's also the way in which journalism is understood, or misunderstood, in Spain. Maybe the sacked journalists are left-leaning or progressive. So what? While everybody expects reporters working for private media organisations to be biased to the point of militancy (as they are), those working for the state media are not supposed to have any views at all. Actually, the opposite is true: all views should be represented. That's the point of having a public media – those who lose elections pay taxes too.
Spain has always struggled with impartiality and objectivity. Impartiality – never taking sides – is neither possible nor desirable in journalism. Objectivity is what is needed, and that means simply handling the raw data with care and with honesty.
That is why it's interesting that most of those who have been dismissed are interviewers, a job that only makes sense when the journalist takes the opposing side. Politicians in Spain are not used to being contradicted, or even pressed to answer a question. They expect the interviewer to nod sheepishly while they deliver their speech, and most do. The newly jobless represented a new trend in Spanish political journalism: they asked real questions to our political leaders. That's why they were popular. And that's why the government, increasingly, is not.

(EN) Libertad de prensa en España 0


Wednesday, 2 October 2013

(EN) Old English



English has changed a lot in the last several hundred years, and there are many words once used that we would no longer recognize today. For whatever reason, we started pronouncing them differently, or stopped using them entirely, and they became obsolete. There are some old words, however, that are nearly obsolete, but we still recognize because they were lucky enough to get stuck in set phrases that have lasted across the centuries. Here are 12 lucky words that survived by getting fossilized in idioms.

1. wend

You rarely see a "wend" without a "way." You can wend your way through a crowd or down a hill, but no one wends to bed or to school. However, there was a time when English speakers would wend to all kinds of places. "Wend" was just another word for "go" in Old English. The past tense of "wend" was "went" and the past tense of "go" was "gaed." People used both until the 15th century, when "go" became the preferred verb, except in the past tense where "went" hung on, leaving us with an outrageously irregular verb.

2. deserts

The "desert" from the phrase "just deserts" is not the dry and sandy kind, nor the sweet post-dinner kind. It comes from an Old French word for "deserve," and it was used in English from the 13th century to mean "that which is deserved." When you get your just deserts, you get your due. In some cases, that may mean you also get dessert, a word that comes from a later French borrowing.

3. eke

If we see "eke" at all these days, it's when we "eke out" a living, but it comes from an old verb meaning to add, supplement, or grow. It's the same word that gave us "eke-name" for "additional name," which later, through misanalysis of "an eke-name" became "nickname."

4. sleight

"Sleight of hand" is one tricky phrase. "Sleight" is often miswritten as "slight" and for good reason. Not only does the expression convey an image of light, nimble fingers, which fits well with the smallness implied by "slight," but an alternate expression for the concept is "legerdemain," from the French léger de main," literally, "light of hand." "Sleight" comes from a different source, a Middle English word meaning "cunning" or "trickery." It's a wily little word that lives up to its name.

5. dint

"Dint" comes from the oldest of Old English where it originally referred to a blow struck with a sword or other weapon. It came to stand for the whole idea of subduing by force, and is now fossilized in our expression "by dint of X" where X can stand for your charisma, hard work, smarts, or anything you can use to accomplish something else.

6. roughshod

Nowadays we see this word in the expression "to run/ride roughshod" over somebody or something, meaning to tyrannize or treat harshly. It came about as a way to describe the 17th century version of snow tires. A "rough-shod" horse had its shoes attached with protruding nail heads in order to get a better grip on slippery roads. It was great for keeping the horse on its feet, but not so great for anyone the horse might step on.

7. fro

The "fro" in "to and fro" is a fossilized remnant of a Northern English or Scottish way of pronouncing "from." It was also part of other expressions that didn't stick around, like "fro and till," "to do fro" (to remove), and "of or fro" (for or against).

8. hue

The "hue" of "hue and cry," the expression for the noisy clamor of a crowd, is not the same "hue" as the term we use for color. The color one comes from the Old English word híew, for "appearance." This hue comes from the Old French hu or heu, which was basically an onomatopoeia, like "hoot."

9. kith

The "kith" part of "kith and kin" came from an Old English word referring to knowledge or acquaintance. It also stood for native land or country, the place you were most familiar with. The expression "kith and kin" originally meant your country and your family, but later came to have the wider sense of friends and family.

10. lurch

When you leave someone "in the lurch," you leave them in a jam, in a difficult position. But while getting left in the lurch may leave you staggering around and feeling off-balance, the "lurch" in this expression has a different origin than the staggery one. The balance-related lurch comes from nautical vocabulary, while the lurch you get left in comes from an old French backgammon-style game called lourche. Lurch became a general term for the situation of beating your opponent by a huge score. By extension it came to stand for the state of getting the better of someone or cheating them.

11. umbrage

"Umbrage" comes from the Old French ombrage (shade, shadow), and it was once used to talk about actual shade from the sun. It took on various figurative meanings having to do with doubt and suspicion or the giving and taking of offense. To give umbrage was to offend someone, to "throw shade." However, these days when we see the term "umbrage" at all, it is more likely to be because someone is taking, rather than giving it.

12. shrift

We might not know what a shrift is anymore, but we know we don't want to get a short one. "Shrift" was a word for a confession, something it seems we might want to keep short, or a penance imposed by a priest, something we would definitely want to keep short. But the phrase "short shrift" came from the practice of allowing a little time for the condemned to make a confession before being executed. So in that context, shorter was not better.

Wednesday, 18 September 2013

(EN) A truly multilingual capital for the European Union

A truly multilingual capital for the European Union

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Published 16 September 2013, updated 17 September 2013
To meet Brussels’s exceptional linguistic challenge, the 'Marnix Plan' wants to mobilise Brussels’s diverse linguistic competence into an exciting collaborative project, writes Philippe Van Parijs.
Philippe van Parijs is a Belgian philosopher, professor at the universities of Louvain, Leuven and Oxford, a prominent 'Brusseler' and founder of the Marnix Plan.
The European Union praises its linguistic diversity, the multiplicity of the native languages of its citizens. But linguistic diversity is a curse if it is not coupled with multilingualism, or the learning of other people’s languages.
In Brussels, as in most European cities, linguistic diversity is growing. A representative sample of 2500 registered residents (0.2% of the population of the Brussels region) sufficed to reveal the presence of 104 distinct native languages, up from only 72 in a similar sample ten years earlier. Over the same period, the proportion of Brusselers unable to speak either French, Dutch or English at more than a basic level rose from 2 to 8% of the population (see Rudi Janssens, Meertaligheid als cement van de stedelijke samenleving). No need to explain that this generates a major challenge in terms of job opportunities, social cohesion and civic participation.
In most places, the best way to address this challenge consists of accelerating the acquisition of the single dominant and official language of the nation. In Brussels, this is not an option.
First of all, Brussels has two official languages. One of them is French, the dominant language in the city: one third of all Brusselers has French as their sole native language; one third as one of their native languages (jointly with Dutch, Arabic or other languages); and over half of the remaining third learned it at a later stage in life.
The other official language is Dutch, the native language of the majority of this country of which Brussels is the capital, and the sole official language of the region surrounding Brussels, Flanders. Moreover, Brussels is the main seat of the European institutions and the main location of the EU-wide civil society. It has witnessed the growing importance of English as the European lingua franca. Overall, 89% of the Brusselers claims to speak French well or very well, 23% does so for Dutch and 30% for English.
Against this backdrop, Brussels’s challenge is clearly exceptional and requires an exceptional response. In 2001, a group of European intellectuals was mandated by European Commission president Romano Prodi to think about how Brussels could “best fulfill the needs and role of a European capital”.
In its final report — the first quasi-official document that dared to use as a title Brussels, Capital of Europe —, the group suggested the creation of an institute for multilingualism: “Brussels is the city with the highest concentration of people speaking different languages, the highest quality and expertise in translation and interpretation services and a population that has learned to respect, learn and diffuse bilingualism as a common practice. The proposal is to create from this comparative advantage an opportunity for development that would benefit both Belgium and the European institutions,” the report read.
More than a new institution, however, Brussels needs a bottom-up initiative aimed at mobilising intelligently the linguistic wealth and goodwill available locally, not least among its many ‘Europeans’. This requires early learning and stimulating teaching of more than one language in all Brussels schools, but also drawing on an effective collaboration between all types of schools, media, social partners, voluntary associations and — above all — families. Such a bottom up initiative will be publicly launched on 28 September under the name ‘Marnix Plan for a Multilingual Brussels’.
Philippe de Marnix de Sainte Aldegonde (1540-1598) was born and grew up in Brussels. Best known as William the Silent’s chief adviser in the revolt against Spanish rule, he spoke seven languages and wrote books in French, Dutch and Latin. In one of them, he formulated what may well be the first plea for the simultaneous learning of several languages through immersion at a young age. This is the book he is shown holding in the statue that represents him at the front of a primary school built in the 1890s for the boys of the Marolles, one of Brussels’s poorest neighbourhoods. Marnix himself targeted children of princes and noblemen. Our Marnix Plan is meant for all Brusselers, not the least for the children of recent foreign origin who now form the majority of Brussels’s pupils. 
The Marnix Plan for a Multilingual Brussels aims to develop among all layers of the Brussels population the coherent learning of several languages, combining a priority for French, Dutch and English with the encouragement of the transmission of all native languages.
To make this happen will require changes in the school curriculum. But school cannot do everything. The Marnix Plan is above all an attempt to identify the many relevant existing initiatives, to stimulate new ones and to weave them all into an exciting common project. It is about spreading knowledge and enthusiasm though its website and its public events. It is about convincing all Brusselers that learning languages and helping other learn languages should be a normal daily activity, economically valuable for each of them, absolutely crucial for the lasting dynamism of the capital of Europe, and moreover enriching and gratifying in all sorts of ways.

Wednesday, 11 September 2013

(EN) Cockney Accent

Glaswegian cockney: the EastEnders effect

Scottish soap opera fans are apparently dropping their Rs and introducing glottal stops to their original accents
Eastenders
EastEnders: popular in Glasgow innit? Photograph: BBC/PA
Name: Glaswegian Cockney.
Age: It's been around for at least a decade, probably longer.
Appearance: It's a sound, not a sight.
Then can you please describe what it sounds like? Like a typical Glaswegian accent that has been infiltrated by certain telltale cockney speech patterns.
Ah, thanks for that. It's nae bovver.
What? That's just an example – where the "Th" sound in bother is pronounced as a "V". Other changes include an "F" sound at the end of "tooth", dropped Rs, and a way of pronouncing "people" so it comes out "peepow".
Why are they doing it? Are Glaswegians trying to make themselves harder to understand? They're not doing it on purpose. They're getting it from television.
I watch television, and it's not happening to me, bruv. It's not just any television. According to the authors of a study published in the American journal Language, the effect was most prominent in "people who had strong psychological engagement with characters in EastEnders".
If you're really psychologically engaged with someone off EastEnders, a funny accent is probably the least of your problems. Apparently emotional involvement is the key. "Linguists used to think TV couldn't change the way we speak because you don't interact with people on TV," said Jane Stuart-Smith, professor of phonetics at the University of Glasgow.
So getting caught up in the misadventures of Dirty Den, Nasty Nick, Pat Butcher, Tiff, Grant Mitchell, Robbie, Ricky and Dr Legg is what turns you Cockney. When was the last time you watched EastEnders?
Ages ago. I was starting to get worried about my glottal stops. Don't worry – actual social interaction between peers still has a much stronger effect than telly.
Is Sharon still on it? Yes. Yes, she is.
Good. Ye canny have Eastenders wi'out Sharon in it, innit. Sorry, mate – not a word.
Do say: "They used to claim watching Neighbours would make us all talk like Australians, and that turned out to be total nonsense?"
Don't say: "No, I mean I want some actual apples and pears. Don't you people ever eat any fruit?"

Tuesday, 3 September 2013

(EN) Why learning languages...

Languages: the state of the nation

Is supply meeting demand? Are enough people learning languages in the UK today to meet our current and future needs?

languages state of nation
Languages: The State of the Nation report cover Photograph: British Academy
Does supply match demand when it comes to the range of languages offered in our schools and universities? How well are we equipping people with languages, alongside other crucial employment skills? Are we providing a broad enough spectrum of the population with language skills? The British Academy's State of the Nation report draws together the baseline data on foreign language demand and supply in the UK in order to deepen our understanding of these issues and consider how best to address them.
Strategic deficits in language learning have already been identified in policy and research papers prepared by the British Academy among many others. This report forms part of the Academy's language programme and is the first comprehensive review of the empirical data available in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The report looks at:
• the policy background and health of language learning in each of the four parts of the UK;
• the demand for, and current supply of, language skills in the workplace; and
• the UK's capacity to meet economic, social, cultural and intellectual needs through languages, both now and in the future.

It highlights language issues that the four parts of the UK have in common and, where they diverge, seeks to learn from their distinct experiences. The State of the Nation report, which will be updated at regular intervals, aims to monitor the situation and to provide stimulus for the development of future policy solutions.

A wide range of data from government departments, employer organisations, exam boards and other national and international bodies are used in the report. In addition, two new pieces of research were also specially commissioned for this report: the first, Beyond English – Britons at work in a foreign language, draws on a survey of UK employers known to be using foreign language skills in their work, conducted in collaboration with Rosetta Stone; the second, Labour market intelligence for languages, explores which languages are requested by employers and which sectors recruit for language skills, and identifies job roles and other related information.
The report presents both a longitudinal perspective on the UK's supply of graduates with high language competencies into the labour market and future-scoping of emerging strategic needs. It highlights a 'vicious cycle of monolingualism', which in turn is causing market failure in the demand and supply of skilled linguists across all sectors of the UK economy.
The State of the Nation report calls for a concerted and joined-up efforts across government, education providers, employers, language learners and the wider community to ensure that language policies respond to new economic realities. To support this call for a new, strategic approach the report identifies five key priorities for action that will support the UK's aspirations for growth and global influence.
1. Develop a strategic approach to providing a wider range of languages for the workplace, adding to rather than replacing current provision.
2. Increase the number and social spread of language learners in schools.
3. Provide more courses at all levels which combine languages with the development of other vocational skills, including STEM subjects.
4. Stimulate demand and support employers in the effective management of language skills.
5. Improve information-gathering for identifying demand for languages in the economy and within specific industries, and the way that this is communicated to learners and course providers.

Friday, 30 August 2013


(EN) Belgium boots out unemployed migrants

Belgium boots out unemployed migrants

JOBLESS foreigners are being forcibly ejected from Belgium following a public outcry at a massive surge in immigration, it was revealed yesterday.

Jobless-foreigners-are-being-forcibly-ejected-from-Belgium Jobless foreigners are being forcibly ejected from Belgium
Belgian authorities have introduced a law allowing the withdrawal of residency rights from any newcomers remaining unemployed for six months after arriving in the country.
The crackdown is being seen as a huge turnaround for the country that is home to many EU institutions and was previously seen as one of the most welcoming nations in Europe for migrants.
Amazingly the Belgians seem to have a better idea as to their own interests than we do
Euro MP Derek Clark, the Ukip employment spokesman
Euro MP Derek Clark, the Ukip employment spokesman, said: “Amazingly the Belgians seem to have a better idea as to their own interests than we do. If they can do it to protect their taxpayers and welfare system, then why on earth can’t we?”
Many of the migrants being turfed out of Belgium are thought to have moved there from Spain in response to the worsening Spanish recession.
Some are understood to have originally migrated to Spain from Latin America.

(EN) EUROPE..THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

Unemployed headlines

To counter a flood of desperate migrant workers, Belgium - the spiritual home of the European Union itself - is forcing unemployed EU citizens to leave the country, reports PublicServiceEurope.com

Spaniards fleeing the crisis may have reason to be thankful for European Union laws that give them the freedom to search for work across the 27-member bloc. But in Belgium, the jobless have discovered that these rights are fast diminishing. After cutting benefits for EU job-seekers earlier this year, Belgian authorities are now withdrawing residency rights from those who remain unemployed for six months after arrival.

Faced with a flood of migrant workers, the government says it has been forced to take action to prevent "abuse" of the benefits system. "The town hall calls people in using any old excuse," says Gustavo Nielsen, a Brussels-based lawyer who helps job-seekers from Spain, Latin America and Italy. "Once they arrive, they hand over their residency documents and they don't get them back. This is now a very frequent practice." Without proof of residency, jobseekers have little choice but to leave the country or enter the underworld.

"Once this happens, they don't come back to us," says Nielsen. The not-for-profit association where he works, Maison de l'Amerique Latine, is one of the first points of contact for increasingly desperate economic migrants from southern Europe. Nielsen and his colleagues talk to around 15 people a day, either in person or over the phone and internet. Jobseekers come in waves, he says, particularly after time-limited benefits in Spain and Italy run out. Some come alone, others with their families.

"Until a few months ago they had the right to benefits during the first three months of their job search," Nielsen says, adding: "But they don't have this anymore." Gert-Jan Sterckx, spokesman for Belgium's state secretary for immigration Maggie De Block, confirms this: ""The law was changed to prevent abuse of our welfare system. Similar measures have been taken in other countries." Nielsen is understanding. "Belgium can't help everyone," he says.

The extent of the flood is difficult to measure given that many migrants do not get in touch with officialdom. "The Spanish government says between 30,000 and 40,000 have left but I wonder if they want the real figures to be published," says Antonio Navarro Candel, chairman of the committee of Spanish residents in Belgium. While many trained, educated Spanish workers have found work in Belgium, others come for a few months and then leave. "It's a disaster," he says. Some Brussels newcomers are migrating for the second time. Latin Americans who moved to Spain during the boom years are in many cases forced to move on again.

"Two or three people approach me every week - it's a very serious problem; they are mainly looking for work and somewhere to live," says Father Oscar Londono Builes, who preaches every Sunday to around 300 Latin Americans at the Riches Claires Catholic Church in central Brussels. Desperate jobseekers started to arrive around a year ago, he says, and the pace of arrivals has increased over the last six months. "Some of them have debts back in Spain that cannot be repaid," he adds. "Some feel welcome here, others less so. It varies from town hall to town hall. They say there is nowhere for them to learn French. After three months many have to leave."

In his sermon on November 18, Father Oscar told his congregation that Europe was experiencing a "small apocalypse" triggered by a "neo-liberal" economic system "that enriches a few but condemns millions to live in misery". There is anecdotal evidence that migration flows have begun to reverse. Latin Americans are returning from Europe to their continent in the belief that there are better job prospects there. Spaniards are going too.

Tuesday, 6 August 2013

(ES) LA MAFIA POLÍTICA DESTRUYE LA ENERGÍA SOLAR DEL PAÍS CON MÁS SOL DE EUROPA



image
Con el  terror que tienen las eléctricas a que se “desestabilice” el consumo eléctrico (por no decir desaparecer), a alguien en contra de lo que la lógica dicta, se ha propuesto sepultar la industria foto-voltáica (ahora que es más necesaria que nunca) en un pozo sin fondo, en algún momento del 2010 alguien ha decidido privatizar el sol….si si has leído bien, en España totalmente al contrario de Europa, se impone un peaje a quien genere electricidad y la inyecte a la linea… en vez de recibir ganancias, pero eso no es todo, si te pillan recogiendo fotónes de luz solar para tu propio consumo te puede caer una multa de 30 millones de euros. Tal cual si de una droga se tratara. Cometer el sacrilegio de ser independiente energéticamente puede costar muy caro, el sol ahora es sólo para unos pocos privilegiados y las compañías eléctricas en las cuales están de consejeros ex-presidentes y ex-ministros del partido dualista ppsoe.
“La Unión Española Fotovoltaica (UNEF), que agrupa a unas 300 empresas y representa a un 85% del sector, asegura que, de implantarse estos cambios, sería más caro el autoconsumo solar que recurrir al suministro convencional. “Se impide el ahorro a los consumidores y se paraliza la entrada de nueva competencia en el mercado eléctrico”, contemplan.”
prestamos-placas-solares
A si que si estabas pensando que con esta falsa crisis provocada, la mejor opción era precisamente tener unas placas solares que bajaron un 80% su coste y tener la oportunidad de desconectar de la red eléctrica y su factura estafa, ya puedes ir olvidándote.
En España se ha privatizado el sol sin la consulta de sus ciudadanos, sin la consulta al sistema solar sin la consulta al universo etcétera….
Firma por un autoconsumo gratuito! http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Derecho_al_Autoconsumo_GRATUITO_y_Responsable_de_Recursos_como_la_Energia_Solar_la_Energia_Eolica_y_el_Agua_de_Mar/
Aquí está la propuesta de ley
Más información de Elpais:
El Sol ya no es gratis
La posibilidad de producir tu propia electricidad utilizando recursos renovables —paneles solares o pequeños molinos eólicos instalados en una propiedad privada— es algo muy atractivo para los hogares españoles. “De cada 50 llamadas que entran al mes, 35 son de particulares interesados en el autoconsumo”, asegura Francesc Mateu, gerente de Sol Gironés, empresa especializada en energías renovables y pioneras en este sector. “De momento les decimos que tienen que esperar hasta septiembre u octubre, a que las cosas estén más claras”, añade.
La tendencia a la tarifa plana en la factura de la luz, en la que cada vez hay que pagar una mayor cantidad de fijo y menos por el gasto energético, y las tasas específicas que impone el decreto de autoconsumo, que todavía no se ha aprobado, encarecen esta alternativa frente al consumo convencional.
El Gobierno se ha propuesto que el autoconsumo energético se implante poco a poco y sin alterar el sistema eléctrico español. Para ello se reserva el derecho de subir y bajar esas tasas o peajes específicos, y que denominan “de respaldo”, en función de como vaya evolucionando el sector. “Vamos a pagar un peaje por la energía recibida del sol”, resume Mario Sorinas, de la empresa oscense Electrobin, con más de 20 años de experiencia en energía solar.
La autarquía energética está más que consolidada en países como Estados Unidos o Japón. Muchos países europeos la tienen implantada con diferentes fórmulas. “Es el futuro”, coinciden varios expertos en energía. Permite generar tu propia electricidad con energías renovables y darle un descanso al medio ambiente y al bolsillo. También existe la posibilidad de ceder la energía sobrante a compañías eléctricas y recuperarla cuando se necesite o, directamente, venderla, algo que se conoce como autoconsumo con balance neto. El Gobierno de España ni se lo plantea. El proyecto de decreto de autoconsumo deja bien claro que no se remunerará la energía sobrante que se vierta a la red.
Ahora mismo, en España se puede producir energía de forma privada y consumirla en el momento, una modalidad que se denomina autoconsumo instantáneo. La última legislación es de 2011. Antes no se hacía porque no salía rentable. El abaratamiento hasta en un 80% de las instalaciones fotovoltaicas en los últimos cinco años y el incremento de la factura de la luz la han convertido en una opción de ahorro muy interesante en época de crisis. La utilizan desde granjas de vacas hasta supermercados, residencias geriátricas, restaurantes y algún consumidor particular. La energía sobrante no se puede almacenar en baterías porque está prohibido. Cuando no hay sol o viento, hay que engancharse a la red y pagar la factura normal.
No hay un registro oficial de autoconsumo. La revista económica Alimarket ha contabilizado 43 casos. Otro fichero, elaborados de forma voluntaria por los autoconsumidores en el portal Energética 21, los eleva a 74.
Sol Gironés, con 14 trabajadores, está echando el resto con el autoconsumo instantáneo. “Está funcionando y bien, sobre todo con empresas como cárnicas u hostelería, que dependen mucho de cámaras frigoríficas, y en las que la factura de la luz se lleva al menos el 15% de sus gastos fijos anuales”, relata su gerente. Con estos sistemas llegan a reducir entre un 20% y un 30% su consumo, aunque tienen un caso en el que han logrado una bajada del 44%. Hasta ahora no pagan impuestos de ningún tipo por este tipo de generación de energía.
La reforma energética ha caldeado enormemente al sector renovable. “De todos los escenarios posibles, este es el peor”, resume José Donoso, director general de la Unión Española Fotovoltaica (Unef), que representa al 85% de la actividad del sector. “Sin que todavía se haya aprobado nada específico sobre autoconsumo, ya se lo han cargado”, añade. Donoso se refiere al incremento en la parte fija de la factura eléctrica, y que supondrá un 77% de subida en este tramo para una tarifa doméstica —algo de lo que los productores domésticos no pueden prescindir— y una bajada del 23% en la parte del consumo —la que reduce con la autoproducción—.
“Hasta ahora, el gasto se podía repartir en un 30% de parte fija y un 70% de parte variable. Se camina al 50%-50% por lo que cualquier iniciativa de generar tu propia potencia se desincentiva”, aporta Ignacio Cruz, investigador de la división de Energías Renovables del Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Tecnológicas y Medioambientales (CIEMAT).
“Esto es un rejonazo de muerte al balance neto y al ahorro energético”, opina Javier García Breva, consultor deenergías renovables y exdirector del Instituto para la Diversificación y el Ahorro de Energía (IDAE). Este especialista mantiene que se trata de medidas puramente recaudatorias para que las eléctricas ingresen más. Unesa, la patronal de las grandes eléctricas, ha rehusado valorar la situación del autoconsumo hasta conocer mejor los cambios legislativos.
Con los cambios conocidos hasta ahora el tiempo de amortización de las instalaciones fotovoltaicas crece considerablemente. Si antes de la reforma hacían falta 12 años para recuperar la inversión de una instalación en un domicilio de 2,4 kilovatios de potencia ahora harán falta 23 más, según cálculos de Unef. Este consumidor es el más tocado, ya que en los casos de instalaciones de servicios o para regadío los tiempos de amortización se han incrementado 5 y 4,75 años respectivamente.
Con todo, siempre hay quien ya trabaja en buscarle la vuelta. Sol Gironés asegura que sus clientes están reduciendo la parte de potencia contratada, la que registrará mayor incremento en la factura, porque el autoconsumo instantáneo les permite tener sus necesidades energéticas cubiertas. Otra de sus metas es conseguir que el autoconsumo doméstico sea rentable.