quinta-feira, fevereiro 16, 2006

Complicit

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Friday, February 17, 2006

According to the OED 'complicit' is not a word ... The other evening I was out with some friends and said, "music that soothes the savage beast"; and was corrected! The proper quote is "Music has charms to soothe a savage breast", and comes from a play by William Congreve, whom I have never heard of ... well, beasts have breasts too alright - who likes to be shown up for an idiot?

The OED does not have Juda or Judah either. I was trying to think of the jewish equivalent of Christendom, Islam, ... and came up with Juda/Judah, but it is not in the OED? A quick google shows lots of uses including the KJV.

'Licit' is ok, 'licitly', 'licitness'; but 'complicitous' not 'complicit' ... again, a google shows lots of uses. Thesaurus has neither complicit nor Juda - Dictionary.com has 'em both.

I think each of us cobbles up an identity somehow, anyhow; reminds me of e.e. cummings:

anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did

Women and men(both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain

children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more

when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone's any was all to her

someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then)they
said their nevers they slept their dream

stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)

one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was

all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.

Women and men(both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain

Then there are those feet of clay that we all have - as was first told to me by my second wife. The idiom comes from Daniel, explaining Nebuchadnezzar's dream: "And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken." The whole of chapter 2 of Daniel is worth a read, good story. The king has a dream and calls in the soothsayers to interpret it. They say, tell us the dream and we will interpret it. He says, no, I have forgotten the dream - tell me the dream yourselves and interpret it too!! Made me laugh.

She told me about 'casting your bread upon the waters' too. This is from Ecclesiastes: "Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days." So it goes with identity and every other thing as well, you name it.

Blake's Nebuchadnezzar, which I posted previously,

and speaking of identity, a remarkable photograph I stumbled onto:

Man! I would sure like to build one of those!    (Fonte dessa maravilha foto: Marion, Another Woman - desculpe mais mil vezes pela descortesia aparente, não era intencional não.)

Thursday, February 16, 2006

The Big Four are in the news today: Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Cisco; around the moral and commercial compromises they have made to get into the Chinese market. 100 million users over there; big money is involved. The arguments are interesting and compelling and convincing on all sides.

For reference, the main websites for: Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and Cisco Systems;
Marketwatch Profiles: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco Systems; and
Prepared Statements: Cisco, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo.

Stock Prices:
    Google: down to $360 from $470 in early January.
    Yahoo: down to $33 from $43 in early January.
    Microsoft: down to $27 from $28 in late January, dip to $26 in late December.
    Cisco: up to $20 from 17 late in December.

I am complicit of course, being both a Google Gmail and Blogspot user, a frequent visitor to Yahoo news sites, (as yet) unable to wean myself from Microsoft products, and undoubtedly enjoying Cisco switches somewhere in my Internet wanderings.

Interesting too that this issue comes to us thanks to questions raised by an American Congressional Subcommittee or some such thing, an American government body in any case - and this while everyone likes to shit on Americans and their culture and so on; well here is that culture in action.

OK, here is the Globe article: Globe: U.S. Congress turns up heat on web giants. It is being blogged apparently, although the author of this fails to include links: Chicago Tribune: Bloggers post updates from Capitol Hill hearings.

Not all that easy to winkle them out:
    Townhall Daily Capitol Report: Google in China
    Redstate Live! House Hearings on US Internet Companies in China
    Rebecca MacKinnon blog

From left to right, Mark Chandler, Cisco's general counsel; Elliot Schrage, a vice president for corporate communications at Google; Jack Krumholtz, managing director of federal government affairs and associate general counsel for Microsoft; and Michael Callahan, Yahoo's general counsel.


Global Online Freedom Act of 2006


Cisco: President John Chambers / VP & Counsel Mark Chandler

Google: Sergey Brin / Larry Page / CEO Eric Schmidt / VP Elliot Schrage / VP Sukhinder Singh Cassidy / VP Vinton Cerf

Yahoo: CEO Terry Semel / Counsel Michael Callahan

Microsoft: Chairman Bill Gates / CEO Steve Ballmer / Lawyer Jack Krumholtz / VP & Counsel Brad Smith

to be continued ...

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Posted fevereiro 17, 2006 9:08 AM by Blogger AW /  

vinha aqui dizer onde encontrei a foto - que publiquei no meu blog e que despertou a sua curiosidade - e o nome do seu autor mas agora que a vejo aqui reproduzida sem cortesia «stumbled onto» desisti !