Manifestación OFICIALIDÁ

[is]

Hi Art and Chris:

Thanks again for your feedback on the public advocacy idea for Asturian-Americans. I’ve been thinking of the optimal way to showcase our concerns without undermining the ‘inclusive’ character of the AsturianUS online community.

In a hypothetical “Asturias Watch”, our inputs would have to be non-partisan. That is the assumption whenever I read (most) of the threads posted here. We want to improve the model that already exists and pool our insights. As you mention, this is an all-inclusive group of people with interests in everything from evolutionary biology to ethnographic history to programming, cookery and energy economics. That means we need to reach a consensus on issues as they arise.

The NIAC (National Iranian American Council) tries to show different angles to political questions by giving members the choice of drafting two different letters to their Congress representatives. In other cases, where a consensus is ‘assumed’, this is a moot point. The recent case of physical abuse against an Iranian-American student at UCLA is not something any one would ‘sympathize’ with. Therefore, there was only 1 letter form.

Likewise, our hypothetical “Asturias Watch” would have a clear ex ante position on, say, the ransacking of archaeological sites, the non-transparency of a large-scale public tender, municipal corruption or the continued refusal to grant language rights to speakers of Asturian/Galician-Asturian.

We have an asset as Asturian-Americans that is almost intrinsic: our unique perspective. All we need to do is agree on a series of principles like non-discrimination, transparency, environmental protection, etc and channel it. Our initiative could be a lesson for people in Asturias to shrug off their passivity and become more pro-active. Otherwise, we are stuck with more of the same each time we return to Asturias. I, for one, am tired of the abuses that take place unchecked.

Is

Check out this story for a case from back in May where a supposedly avantgarde museum blighted the landscape of Castro, a beautiful hamlet with an Iron Age hillfort in Grandas de Salime, Western Asturias:


http://www.wild-spain.com/article.php?sid=64

[Carlos]

Aquí os pongo algunas fotos más de las que estuve tomando durante la manifestación.
-------------------
[trans. Art]
I'll post for you here some more photos from those I took during the protest.


Éste es el grupo de gaiteros que llevaba instrumentos en Do. Los dirige Flavio Benito, antiguo gaitero de Llan de Cubel, director de la banda de gaitas La Raitana, profesor en la Escuela de Música Tradicional de Nava, y gran amigo mío. Es el que aparece delante del todo, hacia la derecha, con chaqueta beige:



This one is the group of gaiteros [bagpipers] playing instruments in the key of C. They were directed by Flavio Benito, the former gaitero of Llan de Cubel, director of the Band of Gaitas La Raitana, professor in the School of Folk music in Nava, and my great friend. He is the one that appears in front of the group, towards the right, with a beige jacket.


Éste es el otro grupo de gaiteros, con instrumentos en Si bemol. Tuvieron que tocar en dos grupos separados porque no era posible afinar las dos tonalidades. Juntos sumaron cerca de 200 gaiteros:



This is the other group of gaiteros, with instruments in the key of B flat. They had to play in two separate groups because it was not possible to tune [their bagpipes which were made in two different] keys. Together they added up to nearly 200 gaiteros.


Y éste es el amigo Is, que no me reconocía porque mi foto es antigua y ahora tengo barba Sin embargo, cuando le dije quién era, enseguida se prestó a "posar". Tuve que retocar un poco la imagen, creo que ahora se podrá leer bien el cartel en inglés:



And this one is our friend Is, who didn't recognize me because my photo is old and now I have a beard. Nevertheless, when I told him who I was, he was immediately open to "posing." I had to alter the image a little. I believe that now you can read the poster in English easily.


Saludos
----------------
Best wishes!

[is]

Gracies, Carlos. Prestoume la semeya col cartelo, vou manda-yla a los mious primos! Ya na segunda semeya, la gaita en si bemol yía la mesma que la bretona? Peimeque paecense abondo a los 'binious' de Bretaña, pero nun escuitara el son porque taba mui atras na manifestacion. En tou casu, gracias pola tua xeira de fotografo extra-oficial. Un saludin,

Is