Do you speak Interan?

I saw a electronic road sign with an emoticon. At first I though it was strange, but upon thinking about why it seemed even more strange. Was this the evolution of human communication? Or just some kid having fun? Once you notice what is going on with communication these days, you'd probably agree that there is an evolution, and its not just of one language.

More and more people are communicating electronically by text, tweets, blogs, social networking, email bursts and so on. And with more people communicating with others around the world, there is undoubtable a new language being used. Emoticons, symbols, acrynoms, abreviations, code words and other articles are replacing older more established languages. This electronic form of communication is a pidgin ( a simplified form of communication that develops between two people or groups of people with no common language). But there is common language, its just that this form is chosen. That means it develops into a creole (a language developing from a combination of two other languages).

With time and regular use, this will soon be its own recognizable language. There will be no announcement or decleration. But it will soon be a universal language. One that uses symbols, as with hieroglyphics or even symbols as words like Chinese. It could incorporate new words that are abreviations or acronyms of other words. The face-to-face communication can also be altered into short sounds, gestures, grunts, hand signals.

This isn't to say we have the beginnings of Newspeak (Orwell's 1984). Sure the vocabulary may get smaller, but this isn't as scary. It isn't about control. And unlike Newspeak, emotion is limited, this is about expression. At least it's roots are. How it develops, who knows?

If this sounds odd or exagerated, just think have you ever heard someone say lol instead of saying "that's funny" or actually laughing? Just look at your company emails more closely, its even being used there and on road signs and by politicians.

A language evolves from the streets to the establishment. A government doesn't announce it's language (without being oppressive) it adobts the language spoken by the people. The great thing is that is it is not rooted in any country, or race. It can develop as a true universal language. (and no, binary code is not a universal language, you matrix geeks). (also it is not constructed like Esata or forced, or commercial like Net Lingua) There are signs the this is happening today around the world with this new form, founded in the electronic world of communication.

Good luck.

(yeah, I know the title is lame)

I went off to find myself...not sure I found anything special...now where do I lose myself?

Pour dina elixtro wadfhatru, sus?

lost

I've passed that point in life when all the dreams have left me missing by inaction. 

Is it over yet?

I haven't heard anything in a while.

Are the Palestinians all dead yet?

Is the genocide complete?

No? You are not done yet?

Well, tell me how can I help you more than I have already?

My tax dollars were not enough? 

My turning away was not enough?

My silence was not enough?

well, I can sit in my comfy chair and type a blog entry, surely that will help you. 

That way I and many others like me can beat back the guilt and pretend we effect change and return to silence allowing you to complete your task. 

Catching up

Dear accidental reader; 

It has been a while since my last post. 

Sorry, but I've been pessimistacally engaged. 

There are a couple of things worth mentioning.

First, there is that election. I become more suspicious by the day, that this "victory" is a mere illusion, just a bit fancier and more colorful than the last.

Then there is the business of  disgust. I just saw a BurgerKing commercial, "Whopper Virgin" I believe its called. Title aside, there is just something disgustingly wrong about using an Inuit to sell your burger, and something wrong in the notion that she would want a burger, and something evil in spreading your diseased fastfood to the world. Commercialism, capitalism, consumerism have no end, no ethics, no decency, no resposibility. This lastest example just reminds me.

And now for something completely different...The whole shoe throwing incident was as funny as it was pathetic. Have you ever seen a president dodge shoes? A fitting end to a miserable eight years. What makes this pathetic is that we had to endure 8 years and war and hunger and environnmental disaster and so on without challenges. How can we laugh now, when we allowed this for 8years?

And now...the larch. Sorry, I meant ladder. I had a fall off a ladder and would have been bed-ridden if it weren't for the fact that I need to continue to work. Sure, I'm fortunate to have a job, or two when others are in need, out of work, or hungry. I am fortunate; however, If we had universal healthcare I would not fear losing this job, any job would do. If we had governments that truely served their people, then I would not need to feel guilty for having a job when others don't. What's a government good for, if it won't serve its people? Commercialism, capitolism, consumerism, I suppose are to blame. Then doesn't something more social and civil sound better? Will another system help?Am I assuming too much? After all we are human, and it seems to be our nature to take more than our share, take more than we share. 

 

Convulsions of a Politico Masochist

These are trying times.

Times in which an end or a beginning is one opinion swayed.

Or is that one perspective?

Or one piece of propaganda?

Will history repeat itself and a people robbed of hope?

Or will history be made?

For me, I see no source of hope. There is only a bleak end.

What will change? What can change? What will be allowed?

The stage had been set and the rules have been passed.

For every election. I am relegated to the pondering of a vote for a lesser evil.

What will change?

Perhaps a perception of change is all that is needed.

Perhaps the belief is all that is needed to cause change.

Perhaps this awakens democracy and truly a beginning of progress sets in.

Perhaps we are fooled again. 

Every amateur political fan predicting a landslide victory for Obama punctuates his statements with “unless…”

There is always doubt, there is always fear, there is always an eerie whisper of unshameful mendacity.

Will there be change?

Will change be allowed?

What will that change be?

True change comes quickly.

Change is a sudden and radical alteration of present reality.

All else is evolution or stagnation, mindless of its color or promise.

After months of contemplating and complaining, I ask myself, will I vote?

The better question is “if I vote will it count, even if I vote for the winner?”

The conclusion is no, on both counts.

There is a play performed. Democracy, socialism, totalitarianism, and so on, till end, are plays performed. Anyone, a politico, is aware of the play. The roles change to suit the times, the philosophies change to hold the masses, but the play goes on.

And to this end, convulsions temper a mind unable to rest, unable to change. 

Elections 08

take me to Ramadan

this will do just until i energize, just until i find Ramadan and live at least one month of peace.

Mahmoud Darwich 1941-2008

And coffee swirls to mud

The smoke circles up mourning clouds
And I’m left gasping at somber news
The death comes an unbound burn
And he’s gone to join his immortal olive trees
The roots cut and dust replaces our precious fruit