September 20, 2003
Accents In English
It's Not What You Say, It's The Way That You Say It: George Bernard Shaw famously remarked that every time an Englishman opens his mouth it's guaranteed that another Englishman will despise him. This website offers a motley and unintentionally hilarious collection of the many, ever-growing pronunciations of the English language. The variety is so wide you could almost be listening to different languages. But is a particular accent still an anti-democratic barrier, strictly revealing your position on the socio-geographic ladder, as it was in the days Nancy Mitford discussed U and non-U vocabulary? Or have upper-class accents in the U.K. and U.S. (note the Boston Brahmin samples), once coveted and preferred, now become the opposite: unforgivable impediments? Does posh speech exist in Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand as it does in the U.K. and U.S.? In other words: Does it still matter? (Quicktime Audio for main and fourth link; Real Audio for third.)
Well...now what?
CIO Magazine reports estimates that by the end of 2004 one in 10 IT jobs at U.S. IT companies and one in 20 at non-IT companies will move offshore. And yet, as it turns out...the "savings" that these companies are touting are largely imaginary. (more inside)
Coming up next...
Upcoming.org is a collaborative event calendar that looks like it's going to be interesting. (Reviewed here by some guy.)
Marathon Monks
A 44-year-old Buddhist priest completed a seven-year, 24,800-mile running ritual on Thursday in Japan. The grueling ritual is performed by the gyoja, or "Marathon Monks," of the Tendai School of Buddhism at Mount Hiei. The ritual began in the year 831 with the monk So-o, and involves periods of running, walking, and chanting and praying to the Japanese deity Fudo Myo-o.
Garret Hardin and wife die, possible suicide
Garret Hardin and his wife Jane were found dead last Thursday in their house of Santa Barbara (California), presumably a double suicide. His 1968 essay Tragedy of the Commons (a critique of both communism and laissez-faire capitalism in the light of natural resources constrains) was one of the most widely known works of this expert in population and ecology. Garret was 88 and Jane was 81 and both were in poor health. Last week celebrated their 62nd anniversary.
They were members of the Hemlock Society (now know as End-of-Life Choices).
Arrogance of Power
US soldier kills rare tiger in Iraq zoo
...during a drunken night of revelry involving - you guessed it - feeding the animals. Geez, this occupation gets better every day.
...during a drunken night of revelry involving - you guessed it - feeding the animals. Geez, this occupation gets better every day.
Getting it wrong and right in Iraq
Wrong moves, right moves As the occupation of Iraq starts to look more like Lebanon, the Illinois contrasts the fallacious tragedy of forging a police force from infantry, and contrasts that with the MP's from the 223rd. The infantry is trained for full-scale war. Infantry soldiers are taught to meet any force, or any threat of force, with overwhelming counter-force. This mindset wins wars, as proved by the rapid defeat of the Iraqi military during the April invasion. But it poses a huge problem during post-war peacekeeping, as demonstrated in Fallujah on September 12--and in late April, when the infantry fired on a large crowd of unarmed protestors in Fallujah, killing 13. more inside...
Necktie history (for pirates)
For all you pirates out there: The history of the necktie.
Get it? as though it were "talk like a businessman day" for pirates.
Get it? as though it were "talk like a businessman day" for pirates.
CarPants
New lfo video on Warp
Japanese schoolgirl watch. [Safe for work]
It's a madhouse!
The Dangerous Inventions of Post-Modernism
The Aletheia Forum's searing critique of post-modernism When faced with moral questions, post modernism turns to invention but not truth for answer. The result are insane inventions like totalitarianism. Hence "the deep affinity, the holding hands under the table between postmodern intellectuals and totalitarian regimes."
Enduring freedom
Eight women and children killed by US bombing in Afghanistan. Nothing on CNN or BBC so far. An MSNBC/AP report describes the victims as "tribesmen", others described them only as "gypsies".
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