Back in Gear

Listening to: Faithless - "No Roots"
Weather: Rain :(
Mood: sleepy

In the midst of my login troubles last week, I neglected to mention that I would be out of town this past weekend. My little sister's new baby boy, Jack, was having his Christening on Sunday in New York so Ashley and I were gone all weekend and Monday. Generally it was a great weekend: The TSA didn't insist on touching my wife's breasts and I didn't set off a single metal detector; the Baltimore Ravens in their "pitch black" uniforms managed to defeat the Cleveland Browns on Sunday night; my niece Madison is old enough to actually talk to (2yrs-10mos, amazing) and she remembers Ashley and me when we come to visit; everyone's healthy and safe (an amzing feat considering that the Mitchell end of the family is almost all FDNY;) and lastly, but not leastly, Ashley and I made our first official baby shopping trip!

Personal Updates:
"Junior" is allegedly over 6" long now! We're still waiting for our first kick. Ashley thinks she might have felt something last week but isn't 100% sure it was baby related. We have our first ultrasound scheduled for next week so we have till then to decide if we want to know the sex. I'll be sure to publish any new images from that as soon as I get them.

I'm all over the place reading right now... I think I have a different book in every room of the house. I suppose that represents the general nature of my mental condition lately. Scattered.

For Lexington readers... I had the best pizza in town last night at Puccini's Smiling Teeth Pizza. The "High Street Pie" made my night. The Indianapolis franchise got this review:

Puccini's Smiling Teeth Pizza

Puccini's Smiling Teeth provides delicious specialty pizzas in a casual dining atmosphere. The pizzas here aren't smothered with spices or oozing with deep-dish debauchery. Puccini's pies have a different appeal, with crispy crusts and fresh, flavorful toppings. The menu is chock full of superb, fresh fixings. Choose between a Veg Head or a King of Hearts -- or ask your server for a recommendation. While the decor in this dimly-lit strip mall restaurant is fairly minimal, the food and service are five star. Puccini's creative pizzas cost about as much as those at your average chain. Pacers star Reggie Miller is said to frequent Puccini's, but so does anyone who knows the score on Indianapolis' best pizza. There are five other locations around the city to serve your cravings.

Also, MOMIX is making its way back to the Bluegrass this year. They'll be performing at the Norton Center for the Arts at Centre College in Danville, KY. They are performing the Opus Cactus show this time around. The last three times I've seen them, they've done MOMIX in Orbit. So this will be somethng new! The Norton Center usually has a great series... I know there is a web page with the whole season on it... I just can't find it right now... I'll have to get back with that later.

Saddam's 'Killing Field'

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Reporter's Notebook: Saddam's 'Killing Field'

The article estimates deaths under Saddam's regime at around 300,000 people. So, I pulled up the stats on Iraq for comparison. 300,000 makes up just over 1% of Iraq's total population. That's a LOT of people! Another interesting (though perhaps coincidental) figure is that in the last election (17 October 1995) in Iraq, Saddam Hussein recieved 99% of the vote. You may ask yourself... what happened to that 1% who voted against Saddam? Well... see above.

Indo-European Roots Index.

Indo-European Roots Index. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000

My research on Indo-European languages has lead to a lot of ideas about the way different cultures behave. The above list of indo-european roots and their meanings, derivations and descendents, helps trace the meaning of a word back to its primordial intent. You can imagine the first speakers developing familiar grunts and noises into a language. Just think of all the words and ideas derived from a simple noise like "tek-". There are hundreds of languages derived from the indo-european base: English, Russian, Sanscrit, Greek, Latin, Celtic, Avestan, Old Irish, etc. If you are unfamiliar with language groups, Ancient Scripts.com has some great break downs.

Etymology of words is a big interest of mine. Since we use words to organize our thoughts, the words we know, and use regularly dramatically influence the thoughts we are able to have. The German philosopher, Martin Heidegger, said that the limits of his language were the limits of his thinking. Trying to have a thought about something for which you have no words is like trying to imagine a color no one has ever seen. The first step to understanding your thoughts is understanding the words you use to convey them. In 1989 I started keeping the first of my notebooks. The notion was simply to set down my thoughts to the best of my language abilities so I would be able to review them later. What it has become is a critical feedback loop for observing the evolution of an idea. The words first used for a thought might dramatically change over the course of a year. Or the words I used to verbalize a thought might give some clue to why the thought seemed correct at the time and now falls short. More importantly writing an idea down clearly is the fastest way to get something clear in your own head as well. Letting your ideas be organized by a collage of images and sounds culled from the television relies purely on emotional reaction to the content for expression. A summarized account organizes that mess into a thought... right or wrong. From there intelligence can flower.

The biggest dilemma I have with discussions between people is that words have an established set of meanings which are often ignored by speakers. I think of words as tools for communication. If you're going to use a tool, you should probably be familiar with its operation manual. I'm always looking up words I think I know and always finding new definitions or more exact definitions that I was unaware of. Sometimes I may find that the word does not mean exactly what I had assumed it meant. Thus the importance of language in any interface of minds.

Herald Sun: White House law chief linked to abuse culture [12nov04]

Herald Sun: White House law chief linked to abuse culture [12nov04]

I find it amazing that this is the headline to this article. Sure it will get people to read it, but if you don't... well, you'll end up thinking Mr. Gonzales practically took part in the abuse at Abu Ghraib. This one clearly goes under the Ideological Headline/Introduction category of information warfare. The article actually says that he pioneered the idea that the Geneva Convention does not extend to ununiformed terrorists. Which it really shouldn't. In my opinion, if you expect the enemy to fight fair, then you should too. Disguising irregular combat troops as civilians and deliberately targetting civilians is not under the umbrella of the Geneva Convention either. In an open war between recognized nations, the Geneva Convention hold sway. But under terrorist tactics there is no nation to which you can appeal. So terrorists are not POWs. They have renounced that classification by engaging in terrorist acts:

Terrorism
The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

'Israel hastened Arafat's death'- The Times of India

'Israel hastened Arafat's death'- The Times of India

Boy it's hard to give the Muslims a break when they have so little understanding of the world. Let me explain quickly and we can get on with other things...

"Arafat loved India, mostly because Indians could understand our situation, our struggle. As even India was under forced occupation by the British for 200 years. Indians too were beaten up," Musa said. "The Indian freedom struggle inspired Arafat."

"No, we will not appreciate it if Israel stops beating us up to assert their supremacy. Israel is guilty and will always be guilty. You can't clap for those that stop beating you up, for they shouldn't be beating you in the first place. That's what we believe. It's what our leader taught us," he said.

Certainly we understand that an embassador's job is to pitch his "country's" image in the best possible light to the people he is an embassador to. So the Palestinian embassador to India can be excused for being so utterly wrong. The "Palestinians" have been getting a lot of sympathy from this kind of language for years. They act as if the Israelis invaded their country and took them prisoner and they're fighting for their freedom. But that's not the truth.

Shortly after the establishment of Israel in 1948 the new country was attacked and invaded by Egypt, Syria, Transjordan (later Jordan), Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Since then Israel has been repeatedly attacked by it's arab neighbors. Most of what is considered Palestine is actually land captured during invasions by neighboring countries after they were defeated. The beating the Palestinian embassador refers to is simply the Israeli goverments attempts to stem the terrorist attacks that have been a constant threat to Israeli civilians for 50 years. The groups funded by Syria, Iran, and Iraq have been responsible for countless deaths. For Israel Palestine represents a buffer zone between hostile Arab neighbors and Israelis.

Look at the map of Israel from teh CIA World Factbook and see where the occupied territories are. The Golan heights are between Israel and Syria, The West Bank is between Jordan and Israel, The Gaza Strip is along the coastal boarder with Egypt. There has been considerably less "beating up" going on in territories where neighboring countries has made efforts to normalize relations with Israel. Egypt was perhaps the first country to extend the olive branch and that border with Israel is less of a hot spot than the Golan Heights or the West Bank where money and supplies from Syria, Iraq and Iran flow into the tiny country. Jordan while recently taking a decidedly less militant tact in recent years still bows to pressure from Iraq, Syria and Iran when it comes to moving things through the country.

Now that all the facts are present, can we really say that Israel is the oppressor or are they sincerely attempting to keep the peace and protect their citizens? Maybe. Certainly, after 50 years of near continuous hostilities, the Israelis have lost some of their purely self defense motivated innocence. But we cannot pretend the Palestinians are freedom fighters either. There was no Palestine before. It was part of Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. If it were all about Israeli occupation, then those countries should be pleading their case to the UN, as Kuwait did in 1991. But, these countries in their defeat at the hands of a surprising Israeli military conceded those territories to Israel. Abandoned by their original mother countries, Palestine now wants to be independent.

It's interesting to note again the linguistic predispositions here. You have two Semitic peoples fighting for protection of a destiny. Incredibly stubborn and unwilling to concede defeat to the other at any cost. Add to that the relligious differences and BOOM! We may never see peace there.

On the day after Arafat's death, here's a quick roundup of the post-Arafat rhetoric:

Hamas vows more attacks after Arafat

Palestinians grieve over Arafat death

Arafat Demonstrations Turn Violent

Palestinians pour out grief over Arafat's death

Top moderate resurfaces after Arafat

Israel on high alert, hopeful after Arafat's death

Arafat dead

Palestinian leader Arafat dies at 75

And so on... As always the full gamut of media attention can be browsed at Google News.