Lost in translation? Spanish senators allowed to debate in five languages | World news | The Guardian

Image via Wikipedia

The upper chamber of Spain’s parliament has caused controversy by allowing senators to debate in five of the country’s languages, with interpreters employed to turn their words into a tongue they all speak perfectly: Castilian Spanish. Critics claim that allowing senators to speak Catalan, Galician, Valencian and the Basque language of Euskara has turned the Spanish senate into a tower of Babel. They accuse the senate of wasting public money at a time of swingeing public spending cuts. The first orator to use one of the newly permitted languages was the Socialist Ramon Aleu, who chose to speak in Catalan. His decision forced other senators in the chamber to reach for the earpieces through which interpreters were converting his words into the Castilian Spanish he had used in previous speeches. The bill for the 25 interpreters who are needed to turn the languages into Castilian Spanish is €12,000 (£10,000) for each day of debating, according to Spanish media.

via Lost in translation? Spanish senators allowed to debate in five languages | World news | The Guardian.

Strange Random Translation Quote:

Translation quality assessment proceeds according to the lordly, completely unexplained, whimsy of “It doesn’t sound right”. – Peter Fawcett

 

Related articles

• Web is getting ‘Spanishized’ (your-story.org)
• Spanish Congress Rejects Internet Censorship Law (yro.slashdot.org)
• Video: Sergio Ramos nearly sparks national crisis in Spain over regional languages (offthepost.info)
• Mexican Senate pulls out of ACTA (boingboing.net)
• Jury hears tapes of ex-CIA operative in English (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Google Translate for Android gets Conversation Mode (onsoftware.en.softonic.com)

BBC News – A traditional Nativity scene, Catalan-style

Image via Wikipedia

Outside Barcelona Town Hall, the Christmas crib takes pride of place on the cobblestones. Mary, Joseph and the shepherds are all gathered around the baby Jesus in his manger, as loudspeakers emit the occasional animal sound for extra, rustic effect. But this is Catalonia, and no crib is complete without one additional figure.He is known in Catalan as the caganer. That translates most politely as ‘the defecator’ – and there he is, squatting under a tree with his trousers down. At the nearby Christmas market amid the sprigs of holly and Santa hats rows of miniature, crouching country boys are lined up for sale. Innocuous-looking from the front, their buttocks are bare and each one has a small, brown deposit beneath.

BBC News – A traditional Nativity scene, Catala…, posted with vodpod

Strange Random Nativity Quote:
“This is the third time; I hope good luck lies in odd numbers. . . . There is divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance or death.” – William Shakespeare (English Dramatist, Playwright and Poet, 1564-1616)

Related articles

• Weird Christmas Decoration:Cagnar (koolnews.wordpress.com)
• The News Tribune: Nativity scene at Capitol grounds (seattlepi.com)
• Pop Culture Caganers (neatorama.com)
• Wikileaks boss in nativity scene (bbc.co.uk)
• Brookville, Indiana: Leave Our Nativity Scene Alone (pumabydesign001.wordpress.com)

Barcelona rebels against tourist invasion | World news | The Observer

Banksy - Image via Wikipedia

He, or she, is a Catalan cross between Banksy and an anti-tourism league. At night the mystery graffiti protester roams the streets of Barcelona‘s old quarter leaving behind markings on the streets that divide them into separate lanes for the tourists and the “normal” Barcelonans.

Every day the city hall sends out workmen to paint over the markings, afraid that someone is trying to push away the tourists who bring in welcome wealth but increasingly make native Barcelonans feel jostled off their own streets.

via Barcelona rebels against tourist invasion | World news | The Observer.

Strange Random Tourism Quote:

If it’s tourist season, why can’t we kill them? – Unknown Source

Related articles by Zemanta

• Finding the Best of Barcelona (weuropetravel.suite101.com)
• Brian Viner: ‘I’d been warned about pickpockets in Barcelona – and then I was robbed’ (independent.co.uk)
• You: Barcelona rebels against tourists (guardian.co.uk)
• Mysterious ‘Banksy mural’ uncovered by council workers in Manchester (telegraph.co.uk)

Spring Poetry Underground

If you’ve changed metro lines at Diagonal station recently, you may have noticed some strange words hanging down from the ceiling of the tunnel. It’s all part of the Metropolitan Transport’s “Cultural Spring” programme, involving Dance, Literature and Music events. We sent our roving reporter down to check it out and this is what she found…

Get more information about the Cultural Spring programme here (only in Spanish or Catalan).

Strange Random Underground / Subway Quote:

“I didn’t get a toy train like the other kids. I got a toy subway instead. You couldn’t see anything, but every now and then you’d hear this rumbling noise go by.” – Stephen Wright

Related articles by Zemanta

• Journeys: In Spain, Chefs Extend Empires to Hotels (travel.nytimes.com)
• 2008 Les Sorts Rosat (atfirstglass.com)
• “Internet is making education available to many more people these days” (downes.ca)
• 9 Of The World’s Best Subways (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)