Friday, July 7, 2023

Italiano plus

 Lettera a Repubblica +

Caro Direttore


Nei quotidiani italiani sembra essere sempre più frequente l'uso di espressioni di lingua inglese, come “beauty, summer green,  youTuber, Suv, leader, borderline, narcotest, killer, tilt, mandare in tilt, meme, cushion,” ecc., apparse tutte (e molte altre) nelle edizioni di la Repubblica, la Stampa, e il Corriere nelle scorse settimane. È da presumere che questi inserimenti non presentano nessun ostacolo per il lettore, che anzi, grazie a questi inserimenti e all'arricchimento della la lingua italiana che ne consegue, il lettore è in grado di comprendere e godere il sonetto che segue, scritto da ChatGPT, sotto la mia richiesta di scriverlo usando solo l'italiano arricchito dai suoi odierni elementi stranieri.



In realms of words, a poet's raid unfolds, 

Where flat tax tempts the fiscal hearts of men, 

Weekend killer, Halloween's spoiler, bold, 

Influencer's network, shaping lives again.


Skaters glide with grace upon the street's scene, 

Social underdog rises, finds their voice, 

Dossier of secrets, cash and punk convene, 

Memes and fracking, lockdown's pressing choice.


Serial killer's speaker weaves a tale, 

Matched with Halloween rave, seductive fire, 

Business and sadness in a dance prevail, 

While fiction leads, passions never tire.


Within these words, a universe unfurled, 

Where Shakespeare's spirit meets a modern world.


Monday, July 3, 2023

Affirmative action

To NYT

 “Why are we rewarding children for privileges and advantages accrued by prior generations?” asked Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights,” which is handling the case of those who would remove legacy admission priviliges to key universities like Harvard.

Good question. Maybe we shouldn’t. But let’s note this: that if we exclude from privileges those who acccrued advantages in past generations, that is, if it is only the here and now that counts, should we then not also go thumbs down on those movements which would favour those who were disadvantaged in past generations—which is the essence of the affirmative action position just struck down by the Supreme Court? In other words, isn’t Espinoza-Madrigal arguing against the same, supposedly underprivileged,  people he is setting out to help?

Ermes Culos