Showing posts with label people. Show all posts
Showing posts with label people. Show all posts
Friday, May 4, 2012
Activism civic şi atitudini faţă de protest în rândul tinerilor din România
La inceputul lunii februarie 2012, IMAS a lansat studiul Activism civic si atitudini fata de protest in randul tinerilor din Romania. Studiul isi propune sa fie un instantaneu al relatiilor dintre cetateni si stat, politicieni si autoritate, dar si sa investigheze interesul tinerilor pentru comunicarea cu institutiile statului si clasa politica.
In format pdf aici
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Horia Pătrașcu:
Un miting autorizat e ca un barbat fără testicule. [...]
Să ceri autorizație pentru a demonstra împotriva autorității e ca și cum un ateu ar cere binecuvântarea Patriarhului. Ca și cum ai fugi de-acasă în dormitor. Ca și cum ai renunța la școală, dar numai după absolvire…
Obligația de a autoriza un miting este de fapt o interzicere explicită a acestui drept la exprimare. Că mitingurile autorizate, organizate „conform cadrului legal”, nu sunt decât niște fake-uri penibile, niște caraghioslâcuri tolerate de Putere tocmai pentru că sunt complet inofensive am văzut la ultimele „demonstrații” organizate de sindicate sau de partidele politice. Un miting „legal”, desfășurat într-un anumit interval orar, cu baloane colorate și fluierașe de bâlci, cu muzichie și șepci cu sigle pare un hibrid între o procesiune religioasă și o paradă gay. Un asemenea miting – legal – nu este unul real. Mitingurile reale sunt mitinguri – precum cele pe care le vedem zilele acestea – ilegale, neautorizate, „anarhiste”. Și prefer infinit mai mult un asemenea miting – ilegal, dar real – celui legal, dar ireal, ireal de ridicol – precum dansul pinguinului-profesor „organizat” de niște sindicate din învățământ ajunse de râsul curcilor.
Să ceri autorizație pentru a demonstra împotriva autorității e ca și cum un ateu ar cere binecuvântarea Patriarhului. Ca și cum ai fugi de-acasă în dormitor. Ca și cum ai renunța la școală, dar numai după absolvire…
Obligația de a autoriza un miting este de fapt o interzicere explicită a acestui drept la exprimare. Că mitingurile autorizate, organizate „conform cadrului legal”, nu sunt decât niște fake-uri penibile, niște caraghioslâcuri tolerate de Putere tocmai pentru că sunt complet inofensive am văzut la ultimele „demonstrații” organizate de sindicate sau de partidele politice. Un miting „legal”, desfășurat într-un anumit interval orar, cu baloane colorate și fluierașe de bâlci, cu muzichie și șepci cu sigle pare un hibrid între o procesiune religioasă și o paradă gay. Un asemenea miting – legal – nu este unul real. Mitingurile reale sunt mitinguri – precum cele pe care le vedem zilele acestea – ilegale, neautorizate, „anarhiste”. Și prefer infinit mai mult un asemenea miting – ilegal, dar real – celui legal, dar ireal, ireal de ridicol – precum dansul pinguinului-profesor „organizat” de niște sindicate din învățământ ajunse de râsul curcilor.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Anthony Burgess:
"Unii dintre noi trebuie să lupte. Tradiţia libertăţii trebuie apărată. Nu sunt un om de partid. Unde văd infamie, caut să o stîrpesc. Numele partidelor nu înseamnă nimic. Tradiţia libertăţii înseamnă totul. Omul obişnuit o va trăda, o, da. Vor da libertatea pe o viaţă mai liniştită."
Anthony Burgess, "Portocala mecanică"
Anthony Burgess, "Portocala mecanică"
Monday, January 10, 2011
Iuri Bezmezov:
Cei patru paşi de urmat pentru răsturnare a puterii unui stat, în viziunea KGB, sunt demoralizarea, destablizarea, criza şi normalizarea.
1. Demoralizarea dă rezultate după 15-20 ani, timp în care apare prima generaţie în minţile si valorile căreia au fost implantate, prin propagandă, influenţare, contact direct, aliniere şi racolare sectară sau religioasă, elementele care defăimează, demonetizează si subminează constant valorile împământenite.
Sindicatele fac politici sindicale, poliţia devine un represor iar infractorii sunt simpatizaţi, credinţa devine propagandă, iar propaganda devine credinţă, media se îmbâcseşte cu mediocritate şi cretinism, la şcoala nu se mai învaţă fundamente, ci debilităţi; încet şi criminal, valorile sunt substituite în vederea declanşării destabilizării.
2. Destabilizarea impune intoleranţa, radicalizarea, decredibilizează şi cretinizează instituţii, oamenii nu mai discută între ei, sunt susţinute doar certurile, pun mana pe armă şi se împuşcă unii pe alţii (deocamdată cu bile de cauciuc); apar lideri din neant, grupuri de activişti, ONG-uri, purtători ai diverselor "lupte legitime", media devine total opusă societării, antagonismul atinge un maximum iar agenţii conservaţi ani în şir devin activi şi militanţi, conducând "grupurile legitime" ce aduc societatea în criză, acuzând prin vocea societării civile corupţia şi incompetenţa celor de la putere.
3. În criză apar comitetele revoluţionare, emanaţii, comitetele nealese dar înfiinţate de "prietenii care ştiu de ce", iar lumea disperată aşteaptă un Mesia care să le dea păpică, muncă, linişte şi "normalitate".
Criza se termina numai când are loc o acţiune de forţă din partea autorităţilor, sau degenerează în război civil ori invazie.
Toate comitetele şi toţi luptătorii, pe timp de criză, sunt convinşi că sunt legitimi, societatea colapsează, este aşteptat liderul cu mână forte, salvatorul care nu va întarzia decât dacă nu au avut loc invazia sau războiul civil, ori intervenţia în forţă din partea statului, nu neapărat din partea aceloraşi membri ai guvernării.
4. 'Normalizarea' este etapa în care deja puterea a fost luată de un grup recunoscut pe plan extern, cu legitimitate în faţa sponsorului extern al evenimentelor. E etapa când agenţii, 'profesorii', propagandiştii, promotorii, conservaţii si foştii lideri tac, sau sunt eliminaţi; statistica arată ca se prefera eliminarea acestora.
De regulă, cei care preiau puterea vor stabilitate si linişte, vor "normalizare", şi de aceea elimină pe cei care au fost înainte la cârmă, şi pe cei care sunt consideraţi pericole potenţiale.
de aici
1. Demoralizarea dă rezultate după 15-20 ani, timp în care apare prima generaţie în minţile si valorile căreia au fost implantate, prin propagandă, influenţare, contact direct, aliniere şi racolare sectară sau religioasă, elementele care defăimează, demonetizează si subminează constant valorile împământenite.
Sindicatele fac politici sindicale, poliţia devine un represor iar infractorii sunt simpatizaţi, credinţa devine propagandă, iar propaganda devine credinţă, media se îmbâcseşte cu mediocritate şi cretinism, la şcoala nu se mai învaţă fundamente, ci debilităţi; încet şi criminal, valorile sunt substituite în vederea declanşării destabilizării.
2. Destabilizarea impune intoleranţa, radicalizarea, decredibilizează şi cretinizează instituţii, oamenii nu mai discută între ei, sunt susţinute doar certurile, pun mana pe armă şi se împuşcă unii pe alţii (deocamdată cu bile de cauciuc); apar lideri din neant, grupuri de activişti, ONG-uri, purtători ai diverselor "lupte legitime", media devine total opusă societării, antagonismul atinge un maximum iar agenţii conservaţi ani în şir devin activi şi militanţi, conducând "grupurile legitime" ce aduc societatea în criză, acuzând prin vocea societării civile corupţia şi incompetenţa celor de la putere.
3. În criză apar comitetele revoluţionare, emanaţii, comitetele nealese dar înfiinţate de "prietenii care ştiu de ce", iar lumea disperată aşteaptă un Mesia care să le dea păpică, muncă, linişte şi "normalitate".
Criza se termina numai când are loc o acţiune de forţă din partea autorităţilor, sau degenerează în război civil ori invazie.
Toate comitetele şi toţi luptătorii, pe timp de criză, sunt convinşi că sunt legitimi, societatea colapsează, este aşteptat liderul cu mână forte, salvatorul care nu va întarzia decât dacă nu au avut loc invazia sau războiul civil, ori intervenţia în forţă din partea statului, nu neapărat din partea aceloraşi membri ai guvernării.
4. 'Normalizarea' este etapa în care deja puterea a fost luată de un grup recunoscut pe plan extern, cu legitimitate în faţa sponsorului extern al evenimentelor. E etapa când agenţii, 'profesorii', propagandiştii, promotorii, conservaţii si foştii lideri tac, sau sunt eliminaţi; statistica arată ca se prefera eliminarea acestora.
De regulă, cei care preiau puterea vor stabilitate si linişte, vor "normalizare", şi de aceea elimină pe cei care au fost înainte la cârmă, şi pe cei care sunt consideraţi pericole potenţiale.
de aici
Friday, December 10, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tax resistance
Tax resistance is the refusal to willingly pay a tax because of opposition to the institution that is imposing the tax, or to some of that institution’s policies.Some tax resisters refuse to pay all or a portion of the taxes due, but then make an equivalent donation to charity. In this way, they demonstrate that the intent of their resistance is not selfish and that they want to use a portion of their earnings to contribute to the common good.
For instance, Julia Butterfly Hill resisted about $150,000 in federal taxes, and donated that money to after school programs, arts and cultural programs, community gardens, programs for Native Americans, alternatives to incarceration, and environmental protection programs. She said:
I actually take the money that the IRS says goes to them and I give it to the places where our taxes should be going. And in my letter to the IRS I said: “I’m not refusing to pay my taxes. I’m actually paying them but I’m paying them where they belong because you refuse to do so.”
sursa: wikipedia.org
Friday, November 5, 2010
"The early theories make no distinction between defense of the person and defense of property. Whether consciously or not, this builds on the Roman Law principle of dominium where any attack on the members of the family or the property it owned was a personal attack on the pater familias – the male head of the household, sole owner of all property belonging to the household, and endowed by law with dominion over all his descendants through the male line no matter their age."
de pe wikipedia.org
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
The Black Bloc
The Black Bloc is not an organization. It has no leaders. Like a spectre, it simply appears out of nowhere, wreaks havoc, then vanishes.
Nobody speaks for anybody in this group. They’re totally organic structures of people that come together in a certain time and place, and then they dissolve. Their actions are reactive to the police presence as well as the tenseness of the situation. "The Black Bloc" is sometimes incorrectly reported as being the name of a specific anarchist group. It is rather a tactic that may be adopted by groups of various motivations and methods.
Tactics of a Black Bloc can include vandalism, rioting and street fighting, demonstrating without a permit, misleading the authorities, assisting in the escape of people arrested by the police, administering first aid to persons affected by tear gas in areas where protesters are barred from entering, building barricades, and attacking police. Property destruction carried out by Black Blocs tends to have symbolic significance: common targets include banks, institutional buildings, outlets for multinational corporations, gasoline stations, and video-surveillance cameras.
Each participant of a Black Bloc wears somewhat of a "uniform". The clothing is used to avoid being identified, and to appear as one large mass, promoting solidarity or creating the illusion of a larger group. If every single person in the Bloc looks relatively alike, it is hard for the police to determine which individual did what. For instance, if a Black Bloc participant throws a brick at a store window and runs into the Bloc, he will easily blend in with everyone else.
Average black workers pants are fine. Black military-style cargo pants are extremely recommended. The cargo pockets can hold any items of use that you may have. All distinguishing characteristics must be removed.
The mask is one of the most important aspects of the equipment. The mask you wear should show nothing more than your eyes.
Ski Mask: We recommend the masks that only have holes for your eyes. If you can only find the kind with the three holes, then that will work. Just take a black piece of cloth and fill the mouth hole.
Bandana: An average black bandana that is tied around your mouth will work too. When choosing this mask, wear something over the top part of your head, such as a simple baseball hat or hood. If your hair and rest of your upper head are exposed, it is not hard to tell who you are.
Gas Mask: Useful if you plan on engaging in some heavy street combat. Tear gas is a widely used deterrent in street battles, and you should not be forced to turn away from your goal because of some gas. In most cases the ones wearing the gas masks are the ones throwing the gas canisters back at the police. Wearing a gas mask is an illegal practice and should be worn with caution.
In developing defensive-offense tactics, your bodies cant provide for everything you have to do in battle. That is why you need to be prepared with the proper tools to execute your goal.
These can include, but are not limited to:
Slingshot: Very effective when used by large groups at once. Should be used with 9 mm to 12 mm steel balls. Here is how you build one.
Smoke Bombs: They are great when dealing with illegal situations. It can shield any media or police cameras from catching anyone on film participating in an illegal act. It can also disorient the police when they are advancing on the crowd. For construction methods, click here.
Spray Cans: These are a very effective and educating method of property destruction. Slogans and symbols can be sprayed on rough surfaces such as brick or concrete walls that are a real bitch to remove. Paint applied on a riot cop's face-mask will mean he has to take it off. Wear gloves to keep the evidence off of you. Any trace of paint on your hands will make it damned hard to deny doing it.
Caltrops: Easy to make, and quite an effective way of stopping cars. To make them, simply bend together two pieces of steel rod and weld in a way that no matter which way the device falls one point is sticking straight up (picture). Make sure that these nails are both long (10 cm or longer) and thick (at least 5 mm) as car tires have a really thick outer layer. Sprinkle these across a road to prevent four-wheeled intruders. They will flatten normal police car tires in under a second.
Rope and marbles: Can be used as tangle-foot for massed riot troops or horses when well anchored off to utility poles or fire hydrants. Marbles in large numbers on hard pavement will trip a horse and panic them.
Clubs: Besides being mostly non lethal when used against the leg muscles, they are normally able to incapacitate in one or two strikes. Baseball bats are the baseline, a police collapsible baton is an excellent choice for concealment, length when extended and effectiveness in bruising an attacker to the point that they retreat or go to the ground.
Unarresting
Going to demonstrations comes with the chance of arrest, especially with the Black Bloc. Unarresting is the practice of pulling your comrades back into safety from the arms of the officers. This is a serious topic that needs to be discussed and practiced.
Most Blocs use the tactic of linking arms. This way, when an officer tries to pull one of them away, it makes it difficult to pull the individual from the arms of the other participants.
Often times, a demonstrator will get isolated from the group and suddenly be taken by an officer. Don't let anyone stray from the group. If someone does happen to stray and be detained, there are some things you can do if you act quickly: let everyone know what is happening and have your group run to the area of the situation. If the cop does not back away by the time you arrive to this situation, your group can fall on top of the person in a pile, and more people will gather around the situation. Make sure you do not harm the person you are attempting to unarrest. You can also get a few people to simply pull him away from the officer.
Remember! Unarresting someone is a very risky circumstance. In some cases, you can be given a harsher charge than the person you are unarresting.
De-Bloc'ing
At all demonstrations, it's often that people are picked up on the way from an action. When leaving a demonstration, you should always leave wearing something different than how you came. When walking away from the scene of a demonstration, remember not to ever be alone. If for some reason you came to the demonstration by yourself, just ask someone that is in a large group if you can walk with them.
Be creative. Think of some new ideas for de-Bloc'ing. Scope out the area of the demonstration before hand and find some good secure places to escape to.
Besides getting away with public criminal acts, there are other reasons to act in a Bloc. Bloc participation can be really exciting, and good for morale—acting in a mass of people who are ostensibly prepared to do what they believe is right regardless of police intimidation is often a hell of a lot more empowering than chanting weakly with the liberals; matching battle-dress is a ritual for inspiring courage that need not be abandoned to our uniformed enemies.
Sources: mlcastle.net, wikipedia, thestar.com, crimethinc.com
NOTE: Apparently, this is the one blog post that attracts most readers. Perhaps because of the strange days we are all living. Note that I do not endorse violence; all you can read in this article is pure theory. It is meant to show that people are able to resist police abuse, not to encourage violent protests. Oh, and leave a comment while you're here.
Further reading: How riot control works
The mask is one of the most important aspects of the equipment. The mask you wear should show nothing more than your eyes.
Ski Mask: We recommend the masks that only have holes for your eyes. If you can only find the kind with the three holes, then that will work. Just take a black piece of cloth and fill the mouth hole.
Bandana: An average black bandana that is tied around your mouth will work too. When choosing this mask, wear something over the top part of your head, such as a simple baseball hat or hood. If your hair and rest of your upper head are exposed, it is not hard to tell who you are.
Gas Mask: Useful if you plan on engaging in some heavy street combat. Tear gas is a widely used deterrent in street battles, and you should not be forced to turn away from your goal because of some gas. In most cases the ones wearing the gas masks are the ones throwing the gas canisters back at the police. Wearing a gas mask is an illegal practice and should be worn with caution.
In developing defensive-offense tactics, your bodies cant provide for everything you have to do in battle. That is why you need to be prepared with the proper tools to execute your goal.
These can include, but are not limited to:
Slingshot: Very effective when used by large groups at once. Should be used with 9 mm to 12 mm steel balls. Here is how you build one.
Smoke Bombs: They are great when dealing with illegal situations. It can shield any media or police cameras from catching anyone on film participating in an illegal act. It can also disorient the police when they are advancing on the crowd. For construction methods, click here.
Spray Cans: These are a very effective and educating method of property destruction. Slogans and symbols can be sprayed on rough surfaces such as brick or concrete walls that are a real bitch to remove. Paint applied on a riot cop's face-mask will mean he has to take it off. Wear gloves to keep the evidence off of you. Any trace of paint on your hands will make it damned hard to deny doing it.
Caltrops: Easy to make, and quite an effective way of stopping cars. To make them, simply bend together two pieces of steel rod and weld in a way that no matter which way the device falls one point is sticking straight up (picture). Make sure that these nails are both long (10 cm or longer) and thick (at least 5 mm) as car tires have a really thick outer layer. Sprinkle these across a road to prevent four-wheeled intruders. They will flatten normal police car tires in under a second.
Rope and marbles: Can be used as tangle-foot for massed riot troops or horses when well anchored off to utility poles or fire hydrants. Marbles in large numbers on hard pavement will trip a horse and panic them.
Clubs: Besides being mostly non lethal when used against the leg muscles, they are normally able to incapacitate in one or two strikes. Baseball bats are the baseline, a police collapsible baton is an excellent choice for concealment, length when extended and effectiveness in bruising an attacker to the point that they retreat or go to the ground.
Unarresting
Going to demonstrations comes with the chance of arrest, especially with the Black Bloc. Unarresting is the practice of pulling your comrades back into safety from the arms of the officers. This is a serious topic that needs to be discussed and practiced.
Most Blocs use the tactic of linking arms. This way, when an officer tries to pull one of them away, it makes it difficult to pull the individual from the arms of the other participants.
Often times, a demonstrator will get isolated from the group and suddenly be taken by an officer. Don't let anyone stray from the group. If someone does happen to stray and be detained, there are some things you can do if you act quickly: let everyone know what is happening and have your group run to the area of the situation. If the cop does not back away by the time you arrive to this situation, your group can fall on top of the person in a pile, and more people will gather around the situation. Make sure you do not harm the person you are attempting to unarrest. You can also get a few people to simply pull him away from the officer.Remember! Unarresting someone is a very risky circumstance. In some cases, you can be given a harsher charge than the person you are unarresting.
De-Bloc'ing
At all demonstrations, it's often that people are picked up on the way from an action. When leaving a demonstration, you should always leave wearing something different than how you came. When walking away from the scene of a demonstration, remember not to ever be alone. If for some reason you came to the demonstration by yourself, just ask someone that is in a large group if you can walk with them.
Be creative. Think of some new ideas for de-Bloc'ing. Scope out the area of the demonstration before hand and find some good secure places to escape to.
Besides getting away with public criminal acts, there are other reasons to act in a Bloc. Bloc participation can be really exciting, and good for morale—acting in a mass of people who are ostensibly prepared to do what they believe is right regardless of police intimidation is often a hell of a lot more empowering than chanting weakly with the liberals; matching battle-dress is a ritual for inspiring courage that need not be abandoned to our uniformed enemies.
Sources: mlcastle.net, wikipedia, thestar.com, crimethinc.com
NOTE: Apparently, this is the one blog post that attracts most readers. Perhaps because of the strange days we are all living. Note that I do not endorse violence; all you can read in this article is pure theory. It is meant to show that people are able to resist police abuse, not to encourage violent protests. Oh, and leave a comment while you're here.
Further reading: How riot control works
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
"The power of the Executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist."
Winston Churchill, Nov. 21, 1943
Winston Churchill, Nov. 21, 1943
Friday, September 17, 2010
Florin Iaru:
Există convingerea că nu poţi demantela structurile acestea mafiote, solidificate în 20 de ani...
Ba poţi! Ştiţi cum aş face? Să zicem că suntem la Ministerul de Interne - îi dau o sugestie domnului Blaga, deşi ştiu că nu o să mă asculte -, intru şi mă uit care este cel mai mic în grad. „Tu ce eşti?", „Sublocotenent, să trăiţi!", „Din clipa asta tu eşti şeful! Vii peste o lună şi îmi spui ce măsuri ai luat." Cu entuziasmul tinereţii - pentru că numai atunci funcţionează asta, până n-ai învăţat că sistemul merge - va lua hotărâri. Foarte mulţi tineri nu ştiu că „sistemul" merge şi nu sunt resemnaţi. Ei cred că acesta poate fi oprit, şi atunci chiar poate fi oprit. În 1900, Academia Franţei a decretat că un obiect mai greu decât aerul nu poate zbura. Logic şi ştiinţific, au dreptate. Iată însă că există o portiţă de scăpare prin care dorinţa a fost mai puternică decât logica şi de cât ştiinţa. Dacă voi combina portanţa cu viteza vântului şi cu motorul, voi putea să zbor.
E valabilă analogia cu ceea ce se întâmplă la nivel instituţional în România...
Sigur că da! E suficient să nu ştii că nu se poate, ca să se poată şi în România.
Ba poţi! Ştiţi cum aş face? Să zicem că suntem la Ministerul de Interne - îi dau o sugestie domnului Blaga, deşi ştiu că nu o să mă asculte -, intru şi mă uit care este cel mai mic în grad. „Tu ce eşti?", „Sublocotenent, să trăiţi!", „Din clipa asta tu eşti şeful! Vii peste o lună şi îmi spui ce măsuri ai luat." Cu entuziasmul tinereţii - pentru că numai atunci funcţionează asta, până n-ai învăţat că sistemul merge - va lua hotărâri. Foarte mulţi tineri nu ştiu că „sistemul" merge şi nu sunt resemnaţi. Ei cred că acesta poate fi oprit, şi atunci chiar poate fi oprit. În 1900, Academia Franţei a decretat că un obiect mai greu decât aerul nu poate zbura. Logic şi ştiinţific, au dreptate. Iată însă că există o portiţă de scăpare prin care dorinţa a fost mai puternică decât logica şi de cât ştiinţa. Dacă voi combina portanţa cu viteza vântului şi cu motorul, voi putea să zbor.
E valabilă analogia cu ceea ce se întâmplă la nivel instituţional în România...
Sigur că da! E suficient să nu ştii că nu se poate, ca să se poată şi în România.
dintr-un interviu de George Rădulescu
Friday, May 7, 2010
Magicienii sovietici
În această imagine, Nikolai Yezhov apare alături de Voroshilov, Molotov, şi Stalin vizitând Canalul Marea Albă-Marea Baltică
În această a doua imagine, Yehzov - între timp epurat - a fost eliminat.
"The Great Purge" was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin in 1936–1938. It involved a large-scale purge of the Communist Party and Government officials, repression of peasants, Red Army leadership, and the persecution of unaffiliated persons, characterized by widespread police surveillance, widespread suspicion of "saboteurs", imprisonment, and executions. In Russian historiography the period of the most intense purge, 1937–1938, is called Yezhovshchina (Russian: Ежовщина; literally, "The Yezhov Regime"), after Nikolai Yezhov, the head of the Soviet secret police, NKVD.
sursa: wikipedia
"The memory hole" is a metaphor for the alteration or outright disappearance of inconvenient or embarrassing documents, photographs, transcripts, or other records, such as from a web site or other archive, particularly as part of an attempt to give the impression that something never happened. The concept comes from George Orwell's novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.
sursa: wikipedia
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Mamihlapinatapai
Mamihlapinatapai (sometimes spelled mamihlapinatapei) is a word from the Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego, listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the "most succinct word", and is considered one of the hardest words to translate.
It describes "a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start."
The word consists of the reflexive/passive prefix ma- (mam- before a vowel), the root ihlapi (pronounced [iɬapi]), which means to be at a loss as what to do next, the stative suffix -n, an achievement suffix -ata, and the dual suffix -apai, which in composition with the reflexive mam- has a reciprocal sense.
(from wikipedia.org)
It describes "a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start."
The word consists of the reflexive/passive prefix ma- (mam- before a vowel), the root ihlapi (pronounced [iɬapi]), which means to be at a loss as what to do next, the stative suffix -n, an achievement suffix -ata, and the dual suffix -apai, which in composition with the reflexive mam- has a reciprocal sense.
(from wikipedia.org)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Comentariu de la : Anonim
Comentariu de la : Doron , 18.09.2008, 10:07
Tigan bun = MORT!
Raspuns | Semnalare
"Tiganii sunt neasimilabili intr-o societate moderna! Locul lor este in negura Istoriei.
TOTI tiganii ar trebui exterminati! Existenta lor parazitara, activitatile lor in afara legii impieteaza existenta pasnica pe teritoriul Romaniei.
Baieti, ucideti Javrele astea care se cred oameni!"
Comentariu de la : Anonim , 18.09.2008, 11:00s
Raspuns | Semnalare
"noua dreapta=laba"
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
My dials are pupilated
"Reality is just a refuge for people who can't handle drugs."
Robin Williams
"I've never had a problem with drugs. I've had problems with the police."
Keith Richards
"Don't do drugs because if you do drugs you'll go to prison, and drugs are really expensive in prison."
John Hardwick
"My dials are pupilated."
Unknown
"I don't like people who take drugs... Customs men for example."
Mick Miller
"Animal rights people are historically overt abusers of substances, but you know; if you took as much LSD as Paul McCartney you wouldn't eat anything with a face either."
Unknown
"The cruelest trick came from the Talibans, who allowed plenty of drugs and then banned music."
Unknown
(more on scahr.info)
Robin Williams
"I've never had a problem with drugs. I've had problems with the police."
Keith Richards
"Don't do drugs because if you do drugs you'll go to prison, and drugs are really expensive in prison."
John Hardwick
"My dials are pupilated."
Unknown
"I don't like people who take drugs... Customs men for example."
Mick Miller
"Animal rights people are historically overt abusers of substances, but you know; if you took as much LSD as Paul McCartney you wouldn't eat anything with a face either."
Unknown
"The cruelest trick came from the Talibans, who allowed plenty of drugs and then banned music."
Unknown
(more on scahr.info)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Intifada
"In 1990, 21 Israeli soldiers confessed to frequent repeated brutal assaults against Palestinians. Yishai-Karin reported that Israeli soldiers were exposed to violence against Palestinians during the first weeks of training. The soldiers also expressed feelings of joy when they were given power to instill fear and use physical violence on the Palestinians. One soldier recalls shooting an unarmed Palestinian for no reason, "We were in a weapons carrier when this guy, around 25, passed by in the street and, just like that, for no reason - he didn't throw a stone did nothing - bang, a bullet in the stomach, he shot him in the stomach and the guy is dying on the pavement and we keep going, apathetic. No one gave him a second look,' he said.""The Swedish branch of Save the Children estimated that, "23,600 to 29,900 Palestinian children required medical treatment for their beating injuries in the first two years of the intifada", one third of whom were children under the age of ten years old."
"Until February 2005, Israel had in place a policy to demolish the family homes of suicide bombers. Due to the considerable number of Palestinians living in single homes, the large quantity of homes destroyed, and collateral damage from house demolitions, it become an increasingly controversial tactic. Families have provided timely information to Israeli forces regarding suicide bombing activities in order to prevent the demolition of their houses, although families doing so risk being executed or otherwise punished for collaboration, either by the Palestinian Authority or extra-judicially by Palestinian militants. The IDF committee studying the issue recommended ending the practice because the policy was not effective enough to justify its costs to Israel's image internationally and the backlash it created among Palestinians."
(text and picture from wikipedia, more here and here)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
The way we were
When Florida Attorney Norm Kent received a form letter from Sen. Norm Coleman condemning marijuana, Kent fired off this note to his former Hofstra University smoking buddy.My friend Norman,
Years ago, in a lifetime far away, you did not oppose the legalization of marijuana...
Sure, we had to tape the doors shut, burn incense and open the windows...yet we grew up okay, without the help of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's advice.
We grew up to become lawyers. Our other friends, as you go down the list, are doctors, professors, parents, political consultants and professionals. No one ever got cancer from smoking pot or diabetes from using a joint.
You never said then that pot was dangerous. What was scary then, and is as frightening now, is when national leaders become voices of hypocrisy, harbingers of the status quo, and protect their own position instead of the public good.
In your public life, as an attorney general, mayor and United States senator, you have been in the forefront of speaking out against abuses which are harmful. You have been a noble and honorable public servant... How about admitting that if the Rockefeller drug laws were applied to Norman Bruce Coleman on Long Island in 1968, or to me, or to our friends, and fellow students, you, I and others we knew and loved might just be getting out of jail now?
How about standing up and saying: "I, Norm Coleman, smoked pot in 1969." That "I am not a gang member, a drug addict or a criminal." How about saying: "I was able to responsibly integrate my prior pot use into my life, and still succeed on my own merits."
How about standing up not only for who you are, but who you were?
Norm Kent
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