Language and War in Georgia

Old Tbilisi
Wandering old Tbilisi

Driving outside of Tbilisi on the way to the ancient city Mtskheta, my hosts and I talk about Georgian language and how it has been effected by decades of Soviet Occupation and migration patterns. We also delve into Russian-Georgian relations today and how war is still very much part of the language and memory of the nation.

You can follow one of the guests on this episode via his twitter account. The other guest will remain anonymous.

bm257 Filesharing Philosophy with Peter of the Pirate Bay.

In some parts of the world people still use the term “steal” to describe getting music through bittorent or other systems. At the same time, many people use the term filesharing or downloading to describe that same process. Laws might get passed and moral judgements might be imposed, but how logical are such views when it comes to the sharing or copying of digital material.

My guest today is Peter of the Pirate Bay, one of the most popular sites on the internet, period. Moreover, someone who has a strong commitment to struggle and educate people when it comes to the nature of filesharing. Looking beyond scare tactics and the manipulation of governments by large corporate interests, Peter has alot to say when it comes to how we think or could think about the world reknowned practice of downloading things from the internet.

I also recommend the most recent Yeast Radio, which features Peter in a debate on intellectual property. And a previous edition of Chaos Radio International which provides alot of essential information about pirate bay, why and how it does what it does.

 

Fading Language, Losing Culture

I’m sitting in the Portuguese Consulate in Rotterdam today, for what is always an entertaining adventure. While there isn’t an enormous amount of Portuguese flocking to live and work in the Netherlands, there are still enough so that someone is inevitably standing in front of the little teller windows at the consulate trying to work out some complex paperwork issue. And of course, no matter what it involves, everyone winds up sitting around waiting for extended periods of time while things get processed.

My time is used by scanning the waiting room and piecing together the stories. That man has a newborn baby that needs its Portuguese papers, you can tell by how happy yet tired he is. This couple next to me is speaking in English, hers is Dutch accented and his is Brazilian accented; clearly a match made during some temporary situation where he was either studying or working in the Netherlands, now trying to find some citizenship loophole because of his Portuguese grandparents, hence the very long wait and the frustrated look.

The case that gets most of my attention is that of the father and his teenage son. Dressed up like any 16 year old emo boy, this one comes complete with studded belt and carefully messed hair. His father seems resigned to handling the details for his slacker son, going through each paper and filling in the info. Apparently his ID was stolen, now comes the painstaking task of proving who he is. But thats not the interesting part… what gets me is that his father is speaking only in Portuguese, as do most people who frequent the consulate. While the son, he keeps answering everything in Dutch. At some point the man behind the glass asks the father “doesn’t he speak Portuguese?” To which the father gives a tired answer, he can, he’s just lazy.

Oh how I remember that. In many ways I was looking in the mirror, only it is a different generation and we’re definitely not in the United States. The boy looked ashamed to be in this room with us. He also seemed like a fish out of water, constantly responding to Portuguese questions in Dutch. Again… the reminders of my own teenage years.

I turned to have a look at the bulletin board and try to stop focusing on this father and son. There I see information about the local Portuguese school. Further down, information about all the different levels of Portuguese language exams. As I read everything over, I realize — I’ve done all these things. I’ve taken all those exams and received the diplomas to prove it.

A feeling of relief and pride came over me. Looking back at the boy I thought to myself, maybe one day he’ll go back to speaking Portuguese. Maybe this is the natural cycle of how a culture lives on and the language of one’s heritage is passed on.

At that moment, I promised myself that if I one day have children here, I too will bring my slacker son or daughter to the teller window, and I’ll answer questions in Portuguese, while he-she will rebel and answer in Dutch….. and it will be ok.

Reality Based Language

Greetings from Berlin. As I sat down for breakfast with Tim this morning, the term faith-based community some how came up. Naturally, this was followed by the term reality-based community. He loved the both and laughed through much of the meal.

As he read through the wikipedia entries for both these terms, I started talking about Frank Luntz.. do you know that name? Well you should, because he is and was a key figure in manipulating YOU. (by you im talking mostly to Americans right now)

Yes all those terms you think nothing of these days… insurgent, death tax, culture of life… these are the types of terms this man helped make part of the public conversation on issues. His specialty is taking something, especially a government policy or a proposed policy that would normally upset you and changing it into a name that makes you feel safe and comfortable. Examples: Logging = Healthy Forests Iniative, Drilling for Oil = Responsible Energy Exploration, and apparently Global Warming = Climate Change.

As I sat there going over the art of manipulating the truth and people, that familiar frustration came back. Did this really happen? Did this guy, working for the government, really take words that describe bad practices and policies and twist them into something more acceptable? Even now, it is hard to believe, but he did.

Here’s a link to a video illustrating some of his work.

Many have praised Luntz for his ability to do this. I consider him an accessory to mass murder and various other crimes.