English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Cerberus

22:00

True.

Alain Pannetier

not to mention some famous boostrophedon inscriptions.

But actually I don't know what fixed it to LTR.

Ancient Chinese is descending columns (because of the bamboo sticks) RTL. Sumerian akkadian etc RTL. Phoenician RTL

Cerberus

But we won.

Alain Pannetier

;-)

Wait till the MPAA turns the Internet into a hell and we all need to learn Chinese !!!!

Cerberus

MPAA?

Motion Picture Association of America?

Alain Pannetier

Yes

Cerberus

22:09

Oh... what is their evil plan this time?

Alain Pannetier

Look up PIPA MPAA

Cerberus

Pipa

The pipa (, ) is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments (弹拨乐器/彈撥樂器). Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26. Another Chinese 4 string plucked lute is the liuqin, which looks like a smaller version of the pipa. The pipa is one of the most popular Chinese instruments and has been played for nearly two thousand years in China. Several related instruments in East and Southeast Asia are derived from the pipa; these include the Japanese biwa, the V...

Alain Pannetier

close!

I have a link in French if you can decipher...

lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2011/06/08/…

This one is in English

Cerberus

Hey I can read French.

Alain Pannetier

ilovemafiaafire.net/MAFIAA-forum/showthread.php?tid=13

Cerberus

22:15

But I already read an article about it in English.

Alain Pannetier

Probably better than I can read Dutch indeed.

Cerberus

Heh.

Why is it that foreign newspapers are so much easier than novels?

Alain Pannetier

So basically end of the DNS in the US. End of the IXP in the US. Internet back to borders.

Cerberus

I have no problem reading French newspapers or internet sites, or academic literature; but I practically gave up on Âmes grises.

Alain Pannetier

True. I can read the FT much better than novels indded.

Cerberus

22:18

@AlainPannetier That would do huge economic damage to America, and Europe would profit...

Perhaps Âmes grises was particularly bad because it has so little dialogue.

Alain Pannetier

Not the first time they shoot 'emselves in the foot.

Cerberus

Yeah... but do you think they're going to pass this Pipa?

It looks too ridiculous to be viable...

Alain Pannetier

When was last time the fear of looking ridiculous stopped the MPAA or the NRA?

If they can buy enough lawmaker it will become a law.

Google can buy more lawmakers that's all.

Cerberus

That's the point.

If Google and numerous other powerful parties dislike it, not to mention the electorate, it won't happen...

Alain Pannetier

Electorate ? Do you mean 'chads' makers?

Cerberus

22:24

Eh...

What?

Alain Pannetier

Remember how tallahassee high court decided Gore electors did not know how to punch their bulletins.

Cerberus

Oh, the voting cattle?

Alain Pannetier

Precisely.

Cerberus

Well, cattle still wants to be fed. If its porn doesn't arrive pronto, it will balk.

Alain Pannetier

:D

Cerberus

22:28

I wonder whether there's a connection between puritanism and harsh punishments.

Alain Pannetier

There definitely is.

Cerberus

Europe is Americanizing, in a way, with England in the lead...

But Calvinist Holland isn't as quick.

Alain Pannetier

I'm not sure how many languages have a single word equivalent for self-righteous.

Cerberus

Hmm... is self-righteous one word?

Alain Pannetier

And I can see things brewing in France as well.

Speed of change leaves many people aside who will feel need for protection.

Cerberus

22:32

Yeah...

Alain Pannetier

But speed of change is unstoppable by its very definition and it seems to have an intrinsic snowball effect characteristic...

Cerberus

To us, it seems a bit as though it was just Sarko's connection to the media lobby that is causing this clamp down on copyright issues?

Alain Pannetier

Absolutely. Before wikileaks you couldn't helped being amazed by the coincidence in the the blooming of "three-strikes and you're out" anti P2P legislations all around the world.

After wikileaks there was no reason to wonder any more.

France, UK, New Zealand, Spain, you name it.

Cerberus

You think Wikileaks is increasing government support for reducing privacy?

Sounds probably. And yet the pace is rather slack in Germany and Holland.

And Scandinavia.

Alain Pannetier

What to you mean ?

WL shows the necessity for accountability.

Cerberus

22:37

I believe it is still officially legal to download stuff that violates someone else's copyright in Holland.

Germany is also quite keen on protecting privacy.

Alain Pannetier

The shocking thing is how the MPAA can interfere with national governments through the [ab]use of the US diplomatic arm-twisting skills.

Cerberus

"diplomatic arm-twisting skills"?

Alain Pannetier

The skills of the State Dep in arm-twisting supposedly independent govs of supposedly sovereign supposedly allied states.

Cerberus

Hmm, what has it done?

Alain Pannetier

If they can do it for Hollywood what else can they do it for?

Cerberus

22:44

Well, the world is partly ruled by lobbies. I think it's always been like that.

If you would calculate the financial damage the farmer's lobby has done over the years in Europe... unfathomable.

Alain Pannetier

The WL dispatches learly show how the gov of say Spain was threatened of being put on some black list.

I'm well placed to know that (farmer lobby)...

Cerberus

Right I seem to remember that.

Are you?

Alain Pannetier

Farmer lobby is very powerful in France

Cerberus

I know.

It is also quite powerful in Holland, though not as powerful as in France.

Oh, and don't forget the health risks we are subjecting the world to by the use of antibiotics.

Alain Pannetier

I remember when the WTO was named the GATT. The whole country was up in arms.

Cerberus

22:46

And the damage we're doing to the economies of the developing countries. Subsidizing agriculture is one of the most damaging policies in history.

Alain Pannetier

True.

And a huge incentive for emigration, low education, lamination of the middle class.

Cerberus

Then there is the American arms lobby. And the European arms lobbies have probably played their part in the WMD scandal as well (Blair).

Lamination? Nice metaphor.

Alain Pannetier

You mean Bliar?

Cerberus

Hehe.

That one.

Then there is the Jewish lobby causing America to support Israel's building new colonies...

Alain Pannetier

But I believe people are waking up to all this. The same thing as the Iraq invasion could not be possible any more.

Cerberus

22:50

...which in turn fuels various conflicts in the Middle East and Asia, again causing America and Europe to go to enormous expense in their battle against terror etc.

Alain Pannetier

This is coming o an end as well.

Cerberus

@AlainPannetier Proabably true. For now.

@AlainPannetier American support for Israel? I doubt it...

Even Europe is paralyzed by its Jewish lobbies.

The Dutch government always supports Israel firmly, even though 70% of the people are strongly against it.

Alain Pannetier

I'm used to saying that we've lost 20 precious years since the fall of the Berlin wall. If we had not had the Middle East question we could have focused on ecology and we would probably be in a much better position now regarding climate.

Cerberus

Yeah well... it's the poor countries that are going to suffer from the climate change.

We'll be high and dry.

Raising the dykes one or two meters is peanuts for us, even in Holland.

Alain Pannetier

Not sure that will do.

Cerberus

22:53

Why not?

Alain Pannetier

All estimations are under estimated.

Cerberus

Even if it's five meters.

It will happen slowly.

Alain Pannetier

This is what is gradually coming out.

Cerberus

Possibly so.

Alain Pannetier

2 years ago there was already an alert no?

Cerberus

22:55

An alert?

Alain Pannetier

Yes a large depression building up between the UK and Zeeland.

When was that?

Cerberus

A depression? In sea level? Never heard of that...

Alain Pannetier

No the depression was atmospheric and the sea level rose many meters In the mean time the winds were pushing the water towards the zuidersee dykes. Can't remember neither the detail nor the date.

Cerberus

Oh? I don't remember anything about that... I would remember if it had been serious?

Alain Pannetier

That was actually 2007

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7086175.stm

I seem to be in flagrant aging denial.

Cerberus

23:07

Heh.

Okay, so there was a tidal surge. Those happen, and you just need to build your dykes higher.

Modern Dutch dykes have been built specifically to counter the kind of tidal waves that caused much damage in 1953.

Alain Pannetier

I love the Dutch. I'd go in the mountains... Well you don't have too many of these actually.

Cerberus

None.

The highest point of the Netherlands is about 300m.

The point is that it isn't a problem at all to live (far) below sea level.

You just need bigger dykes, and dykes aren't that expensive, especially not if you have enough time.

Alain Pannetier

If you have gills you mean?

Cerberus

If you have dykes!

I am below sea level as we speak.

Alain Pannetier

I don't spell dykes that way.

Cerberus

23:11

Eh it's probably dike.

Alain Pannetier

As in dyke-head?

Cerberus

But once I started I felt I had to go on.

@AlainPannetier Che cosa?

Have no fear, our lesbians shall protect us.

Alain Pannetier

Since I was speaking of gills I thought we were in body parts. Intended to be a joke.

Dyke is correct of course.

Cerberus

Ah. I see...

It seems both are correct, by the way.

But now I get it.

slow

Alain Pannetier

The sequence could have been.
- If you have gills you mean?
- If you have dykes!
- Do you mean dicks?
May be not funny.

Anyway. I should be going. I'll have a look at that spelling stuff about why German and many other Germanic languages, although they also had to switch to the Latin alphabet still have so many Ks where English still retains so many Cs.
Thanks for your valuable input.
I trust you coz I know these are the things you are doing on a daily basis.

Cerberus

23:27

@AlainPannetier Oops I missed your departure! Good luck on the c/k thing. Yes I've read my share of (central/late) medieval manuscripts; but it could be that there are patterns outside Dutch and Latin concerning spelling that I missed.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…