My Thoughts on Changes

Today is a happy day, I learned a new word. I was reading an old entry in  “El Interpretador” and the word “parresia” sent me running for the DRAE (something that doesn’t happen every day unless I want to make sure how to conjugate a verb…):

parresia.



(Del lat. parrhesĭa).

1. f. Ret. Figura que consiste en aparentar que se habla audaz y libremente al decir cosas, ofensivas al parecer, y en realidad gratas o halagüeñas para aquel a quien se le dicen.

Aha… Now, even though it comes from the Spanish Royal Academy and is supposed to be impartial, that’s a loaded cultural interpretation of the word. Quite accurate; we can be like that when talking to others. Furthermore, it works both ways…

Of course, being a Latin word I was certain there would be an English equivalent. Indeed, the word is actually spelled like in Latin: “Parrhesia.” Merriam-Webster has this entry for it:

Main Entry: par·rhe·sia 

Pronunciation: parzh()

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): -s

Etymology: Medieval Latin, from Greek parrhsia, from para- 1para- + -rhsia (from rhsis speech, speaking); akin to Greek eirein to say — more at WORD

: boldness or freedom of speech

Well, that’s quite different from the Spanish interpretation… Even though we may think talking with double meaning is akin to “boldness” or “freedom of speech”, it isn’t really the case.

From there I started to concatenate ideas. After those two entries, Google gave me this under “parrhesia”, courtesy of silva rhetoricae, Dr.Gideon Burton’s site at the Brigham Young University.

Either to speak candidly or to ask forgiveness for so speaking. Sometimes considered a vice.

Examples

Jesus used parrhesia in response to the Pharisees:

The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, “Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.” And he said unto them, “Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.” —Luke 13:31-32

Hmmm, talk about twists of interpretation… That entry also had a Related Figures link to the word “perissologia”, which is the original Latin spelling of the English “perissology”:

In general, the fault of wordiness. More specifically, periphrasis, circumlocution, synonymia, accumulatio, or amplification carried to a fault by length or overelaborateness.

==========

M-W has this:



Main Entry: per·is·sol·o·gy 

Pronunciation: persälj

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): -es

Etymology: Late Latin perissologia, from Greek, from perissologos speaking too much (from perissos + logos speech) + -ia -y — more at LEGEND

archaic : superfluity of words : PLEONASM

Oh my… Happy as a dog with two tails from having learnt something new, I went hunting for something where I could apply those words, specially “perissology”. Not so far, only a link away in Google News, I found this:

Concord Monitor Online Article – Bush: We’re in battle of the century – Your News Source – 03301

President Bush began a new effort yesterday to shore up flagging support for the war in Iraq, telling a veterans group that the fight against terrorism was no mere military conflict but “the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century.” 

The president responded to those – including some Republican allies in Congress – who have questioned whether the sectarian violence in Iraq has grown into civil war, casting doubts on the U.S. role there. “Our commanders and our diplomats on the ground in Iraq believe that it’s not the case,”Bush said. “They report that only a small number of Iraqis are engaged in sectarian violence, while the overwhelming majority want peace and a normal life in a unified country.”

Technorati Tags: bush, GWB, parresia, parrhesia, perissology

First of all, I still cannot fathom why would anything close to a nuclear confrontation be on the Iranians’ minds. Whatever Iran is doing on the nuclear armament race they are better off thinking suitcase nukes than long range, missile attacks on anybody. The U.S. didn’t spend 50 years of a Cold War sitting with their thumbs up their ass. They already have a nuclear arsenal and is mighty deadly. In such a confrontationl, either the Israelis or the U.S., would only have to sneeze a bugger size of nukes to wipe Iran off the map and have enough arsenal left to wipe the rest of the globe 10 times over. Suicide bombers only have a horrifying impact in the public opinion because their damage is directed to civilians, albeit limited in scope, and because they are repeatable (i.e. limited in number to the number of fanatics willing to pulp themselves and everyone else in a 50m radious). Iran taking the nuclear path, unless attacked first and in a path of total destruction, would be akin to gambling their entire population on a 5 minutes war. Furthermore, anything nuclear used close to Israel by other means would stink so much of Iran that reaction would be swift and on a shoot first, wonder later.

On the other hand, even though Hizballah held their ground pretty good against a land confrontation with Israel, I agree with Debka that Iran’s interests have been hurt in this snafu. I believe Iran had hopes for an exponential scalation of hostilities. Not only didn’t happen, the logistics of resupplying Hizballah with arms would be daunting to say the least.

The real shame is Israel’s red and bullish reactions to insult and injury. The destruction of a country that has suffered so much in a civil war and a recent invasion wasn’t justified. A world in which disproportionate retribution is assessed on an enemy would never succed in peace and would guarantee perpetual hate. Not in the rest of the world and specially not in the Middle East.

DEBKAfile – Tehran Takes Gloomy View of the Lebanon War and Truce

After UN Security Council resolution 1701 calling for a truce was carried Friday, Aug. 11, the heads of the regime received two separate evaluations of the situation in Lebanon – one from Iran’s foreign ministry and one from its supreme national security council. Both were bleak: their compilers were concerned that Iran had been manipulatively robbed of its primary deterrent asset ahead of a probable nuclear confrontation with the United States and Israel.
While the foreign ministry report highlighted the negative aspects of the UN resolution, the council’s document complained that Hizballah squandered thousands of rockets – either by firing them into Israel or having them destroyed by the Israeli air force.
The writer of this report is furious over the waste of Iran’s most important military investment in Lebanon merely for the sake of a conflict with Israeli over two kidnapped soldiers.
It took Iran two decades to build up Hizballah’s rocket inventory.
DEBKAfile’s sources estimate that Hizballah’s adventure wiped out most of the vast sum of $4-6 bn the Iranian treasury sunk into building its military strength. The organization was meant to be strong and effective enough to provide Iran with a formidable deterrent to Israel embarking on a military operation to destroy the Islamic regime’s nuclear infrastructure.

Mmmwwaahaha!! We care coming to get you. We are like the Borg of language. Resistance is futile. Your grandchildren will recite Cervantes the same way they can now recite the Psalms…  Pass the Corona, please.

Oops!! I wrote this in English. Oh well, just a reminder that not all of us are “language challenged” -to put it mildly- and can juggle more than one.

CNN.com – Navarrette: What really bothers immigration foes – Aug 11, 2006

The Hutchison-Pence plan forces the anti-amnesty crowd to level finally with the rest of us about what really bothers them. If it is that people are here illegally, or that the border isn’t secure, then the plan has that covered. But if it’s the fear that Anglo-Saxon culture and the English language are being eroded by Spanish-speaking foreigners, and that the country is going down the tubes because of it — then this plan doesn’t offer much relief.

Damn!! 

The Blog | Marty Kaplan: How to Hack a Diebold Voting Machine | The Huffington Post

Hat tip to www.openvotingfoundation.org for the pix & tips. GEEKSQUAD update: You’ll also want a USB gender changer ($2.99) and a USB-to-serial converter ($24, but it can double as a keyring) in your pocket. Democracy rules!

Now that I’ve got your attention here are some theories on religion, culture and societies. I came across the article below after I followed a Google Alert on Debka to this other article.  Let’s call it the “Theory of conquering without wars”. I take this approach any time. As for societies changing, well, we can theorize all we want but the fact remains that the only fixed point in space about it is just that: Change. Societies are fluid. They may seem otherwise in a linear space-time continuum only because human lives are short and although history is a reference tool, it isn’t the steering wheel. Trying to hold down a given set of cultural values is like holding water with your hands. I agree that change can be somewhat steered, but, it cannot be controled. There are no Grand Plans that have passed the test of time.

Interesting site.

TCS Daily – Culture and the Demographic Crisis

Religion is the way that humans attempt to put into language, stories, art and ritual their guesses about such things. As a species whose major and unique specialization is language, we are meaning-seeking beings, and when the buck of meaning has been passed around the various contents of the world about us, it ends up usually in the plate of religion. One hypothesis about demographic collapse that might be worth checking out is that it happens when a nation loses its religion.

…………….

I do not personally accept this Spenglerian future of decline. As an
immigrant myself, and a believer in the free movement of capital,
information, and labor, I cannot accept any solution that shuts the
borders. There are counter-examples to the pattern I have suggested,
such as China and India, which kept their cultural and demographic
vitality and their religious love and veneration through millennia of
invasion — and another exception perhaps, America itself. I believe
that it is possible to have a high and reflective civilization whose
transcendent love, faith and hope burn as hotly as that of the mullahs,
and in which one can still hear the lovely din of a schoolyard at
recess. But if I were still a European, as I once was, and not an
American, as I now am, I might not be so sure.

About Cuba and its future…

RIA Novosti – Opinion & analysis – Cuba to suffer without Fidel

It is no use talking about the possibility of change, since it is forthcoming anyway. But we can consider possible changes. I’m afraid that both Castro’s supporters and adversaries will not like my forecast.
To begin with, the upcoming changes will be extremely painful for Cubans, judging by Russia’s experience. Although Cuba is much smaller, it will go the same way as Russia did on its way from an authoritarian regime to democracy, from total censorship to freedom of the press, from a one-party to a multiparty system, and so on. Cuba has some unique national, economic and geographic features, such as proximity to the United States, but the common features of a transition period will most likely dominate.
So the transition will not be smooth and painless. Fidel’s brother Raul or some mediocre politician will take over for a short time and do their best to keep the country under control. This is a useless but psychologically understandable intention. In any case, the regime will fight for power tooth and nail. But Fidel’s regime will collapse overnight, just like communism crumbled in the Soviet Union, because it was not made for compromise, modernization or true democracy. Historically, such regimes cannot survive.

Well, I thought Debka would take the prize for literary flair in their reporting but some in the Islamic world can write with imagination too… Hmmm, I really wonder… The whole region has had, for millenia, some of the greatest poets and writers in the world. Their verse and prose are full of metaphors and a richness of style that is very difficult to emulate in the West.

I wish we weren’t reading about war, terrorism and injustice. I would spend a lot more time reading some of what is written in the MIddle East.

So Much for Israel’s 1.2 Kilometer “Security Zone” :: from www.uruknet.info :: news from occupied Iraq – ch

The IOF “is still nearly 20 miles from the Litani and even after reaching the river there will still be concentrations of Hezbollah units in and around the Palestinian refugee camps of Tyre. Here Israel will encircle the city, lay siege to it, instead of a frontal assault and use artillery and air attacks to eliminate any enemy rocket fire,” reports Willard Payne for News Blaze, quoting the pro-Likudite DEBKAfile. Translation: in standard Zionist fashion, the IOF will engage in a medieval siege of the ancient Phoenician city with a history going back to 2700 BC, according to the Ionian traveler and storyteller Herodotus. Its 117,100 inhabitants will be ethnically cleansed and those who remain will be exterminated, a now well established Israeli modus operandi.

Don’t you love it when things like this see the light of day? No wonder people in other countries are always wary of so called ‘philanthropic organizations’ that come bearing gifts. I know, I grew up under a military dictatorship and the sole mention of USAID, for example, would raise the hair in the back of our collective necks as a suporter of a regime that oppressed, disappeared and tortured its people for over a decade. I thought these dinosaurs were children of the Cold War. It appears they are just the children of an imperialist mentality.

Diana Barahona and Jeb Sprague: Reporters Without Borders and Washington’s Coups

The I.R.I., an arm of the Republican Party, specializes in meddling in elections in foreign countries, as a look at NED annual reports and the I.R.I. website shows. It is one of the four core grantees of the NED, the organization founded by Congress under the Reagan administration in 1983 to replace the CIA’s civil society covert action programs, which had been devastated by exposure by the Church committee in the mid-1970s (Ignatius, 1991). The other three pillars of the NED are the National Democratic Institute (the Democratic Party), the Solidarity Center (AFL-CIO) and the Center for International Private Enterprise (U.S. Chamber of Commerce). But of all the groups the I.R.I. is closest to the Bush administration, according to a recent piece in The New York Times exposing its role in the overthrow of Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide:
“President Bush picked its president, Lorne W. Craner, to run his administration’s democracy-building efforts. The institute, which works in more than 60 countries, has seen its federal financing nearly triple in three years, from $26 million in 2003 to $75 million in 2005. Last spring, at an I.R.I. fund-raiser, Mr. Bush called democracy-building ‘a growth industry.'” (Bogdanich and Nordberg, 2006)