9. januar 2003

Aid at any cost? Fiona Terry of the Médecins sans Frontières foundation writes about the dilemma facing relief organisations operating under restrictive regimes; North Korea being a case in point. Relief workers are not permitted to assess needs, to communicate at all with the local population, and are unable to evaluate how the programmes work, if at all. Yet, to be able to operate in the Stalinist-ruled country, the aid organisations sign 'codes of conduct' with the government, accepting even the most extreme limitations on their work. How wanton violations of even the basic guidelines for humanitarian conduct should aid organisations put up with? Western relief organisations are effectively helping one of the most oppressive regimes in the world keep its power by feeding parts of its population. 10:50:24 PM    comment []

And are those two connected? "It appears highly likely that internet panellists are more politically interested and knowledgeable, and may perhaps be more inclined to take a leftwing stance on some issues, too."  (The Guardian) Also, take the ultimate in introspective internet polls: Do you trust the accuracy of internet polling? 10:30:41 PM    comment []

Blix says no 'smoking guns' found in Iraq UN chief inspector Hans Blix said to the press today that they have not found any 'smoking guns,' clear evidence of production of weapons of mass destruction, in Iraq. But he also added that it was clear that Iraq's declaration was incomplete, a charge immediately denied by Iraq. 9:34:41 PM    comment []

Lost battles of words Writers love their words. Most of them also like them to come approximately in the right order, in the right tense and so forth. Typically, parents chide their children for colourful neologisms and ungrammatical constructions, and teachers do the same with young pupils. Rightly so, I think. What is easily forgotten is that language wasn't given to Webster on stone tablets, forever unchangable, but it's a living thing, and it changes constantly. No matter how much we are in awe of Shakespeare's English, his language is not ours. There are laws for the development of languages. Spoken language is dictated by the shape of our mouths; how our tongue, palate and teeth combine with air from our lungs to form sounds. Some combinations are naturally cumbersome to utter, and there is a strong tendency to simplify over time. I guess once upon a time they pronounced 'women' as it is spelled; over time people found it easier to say 'wimin.' The written language stands as a monument over language once spoken, slowly moving along after the oral form, always a century or more behind. The older generation and the written language is a brake, slowing down the evolution of new language forms. For many people, authoritative writings give the supposedly 'correct answer,' telling us how it's supposed to be, instead of the other way around. The written language is, after all, based on the spoken. Thus, we just have to face that some of the forms that makes the pedants among us cringe will one day be taught in schools. I hope we will never see 'irregardless' accepted as a proper word, but the trend may well be there already. The little apostrophe continues to confuse. I wonder if one day the power that be will give up and declare it's acceptable to write 'PC's' when you mean "PCs" plural. Surely, I rest assured that the distinction between its and it's will continue to pose endless problems for foreign students of English and natives alike. And words change their meanings, too. Sometimes a word is hijacked, which may well lead a modern reader to be confused about what Nietzsche's The Gay Science is about. The same is true about words applied in politics. Somehow the word liberal has stuck to the political left in American English. In the rest of the world, it refers to a rightist! A lost battle. You just have to accept that the label has stuck, even though the word is misleading. And what about the monstrosity 'paedophile' (American 'pedophile') which should refer to someone who loves children? Another lost battle. The etymology of a word does not dictate its meaning. Neither does dictionaries, which are meant to document usage, not force it. It is, for bad and good, the meaning attributed to words in society that dictates their meaning. The writer must take his or her audience into account, and use language in a way that is understood. So, like the written forms, the lingusitically conservative among us just have to walk along, reluctantly, somewhere behind the vanguard of change. 8:16:21 PM    comment []

Not only Dubya There are more politicians other than George Bush jr that have problems with the English language. UK's Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is known to be less grammatically correct than his boss, as this funny "top ten" in the Guardian demonstrates. Prescott may not mince his words, but he certainly butchers them. Look for example at this monstrosity: "On housing and charities you have difficulties about the financing of long-term finances affecting those housing, very real problems and I'm sure that we agree with them, but it was good for conference but it wasn't much action, it was an awful lot of getting the conference going, yes I will give way." Not a minute too soon, Mr Prescott has signed up to the Plain English Campaign. Wonder if his more famous collegue overseas should join him? 5:37:07 PM    comment []

WTF? The Raven does not like acronyms like LOTR. Lost philological battle, I'm afraid, my friend. I am a lazy typist, and laziness is what makes the world go forward. Along with optimism and entrophy. 4:44:52 PM    comment []

I have always feared that would happen to me Tim, presumably the one For Whom the Blog Tolls, has just received a cease and desist letter I suspect he has feared for a long time. As one who has frequently engaged in some of the same dubious activities Tim now finds himself in legal trouble over, this case has instilled in me deep fears for the future. Appeasement? Detente? Please! 4:10:58 PM    comment []

Why spam deluges hotmail I guess I am not the only one sick and tired of receiving lots of spam to my hotmail account every day. The ineffective spam filters lets a lot of it through. Wired has a recent article about how spammers mine the massive hotmail userbase, allowing it to spam a new account almost immediately. And the hotmail staff seems less than interested in dealing with the problem. 3:53:11 PM    comment []

Israeli Supreme Court lifts poll ban on Arabs The Israeli Supreme Court has unanimously overturned the ban on Azmi Bishara and Ahmed Tibi (picture), two Arab Israeli lawmakers who had been accused of supporting Palestinian attacks and barred from election by the politicised Election Commission. Israel has 1.2 million Arab citizens, and this case was widely considered a watershed test for Israeli democracy. I wrote about and criticised the controversial decision earlier. In another development, Ariel Sharon's party is sliding in the opinion polls after he has been charged with a serious case of corruption. It still appears likely, however, that Sharon will be able to form a right-wing government after the election. 3:08:04 PM    comment []

Free books Copyright is undeoubedly a good thing when not taken to extremes. One good thing about it is when it expires. A lot of very fascinating books are fully available online. One example that I hit upon during a recent googling, is E. D. Morel's "The Black Man's Burden" from 1920. It is one of the early examples of the growing public outrage in Europe over the ruthless colonisation of Africa by Europeans, what amounted to wholesale theft of entire countries by gangs of armed thugs not even under government control (as the case was in Rhodesia). It serves as a good background story the devlopments in both Europe and Africa that are still one source to the strained relationships to this day. This is just one of the books available through BoondocksNet. 2:48:46 PM    comment []

Increasing British opposition to war with Iraq Prime Minister Tony Blair faces growing opposition to war from within his own Labour party. As weapons inspections has revealed no evidence of weapons of mass destruction, up to a 100 Labour MPs are reported to be on the verge of open rebellion, and junior ministers in Blair's own government may resign. The Tory opposition is taunting the prime minister with being unable to even keep his cabinet behind his policy on Iraq. 1:03:27 PM    comment []

US President allowed to detain citizens as enemy combattants "A federal appeals court handed the Bush administration a major victory today in ruling that a wartime president has the authority to detain indefinitely a United States citizen captured as an enemy combatant on the battlefield and deny that person access to a lawyer." (NYT) It's not hard to see that such a provision is necessary for extreme emergenices. Obviously, during a (theoretical) civil was thousands of war prisoners could not have a right to have a lawyer. Also this case appeared more clear-cut than some horror scenarios argued by civil rights groups; Yasser Esam Hamdi was caught on the battlefield in Afghanistan. But whether it is necessary to apply such rules to the tiny number of 'war prisoners' taken now is another discussion. 3:36:50 AM    comment []

Want to give Michel bigger boobs? Before After (projected) A college girl has set up the web page giveboobs.com for people to donate the $4,500 her breast augmentation will cost. She is admittedly indecisive, every sane person around her advises her against it, but still seems to think she'll be happier with bigger breasts. She set up the site on November 30th, and has already accumulated $477.81. One catch, though. She says if she doesn't get all the money needed for the surgery, she will decide against. What will she do with the profit in that case? The subject of breast implants is a sensitive one, and I sometimes wonder why. Nobody objects to someone who fixes their teeth for aesthetic reasons. Why not breasts? Well, breasts are closely associated with sexuality, and that always makes people jumpy and irrational. Still, I think Michel should stay 34A and have some fun with her new money, but I guess those are just my ideas about breasts. 2:39:41 AM    comment []

Scary art Chilean artist Sebastian Utreras has opened an exhibition in Santiago with photographs of people with scars. He says that looking at scars allows one to look into the "darkest and deepest hideaways of the human soul." 2:21:55 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.02.03; 00:36:38.