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Tuesday, December 28, 2004

"I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it." - Thomas Paine

Random Playlist Song: Classic Disney III - The Mob Song (Beauty And The Beast)

***

Job ad (for those waiting for A level results, and other bums):

Part-timers in call centre needed, either:

1) For a short period of time: Lunch time only. Rough timing: 11am - 3pm.
2) For at least 1 - 2 months to handle phone calls - 9am - 6pm

The pay is $7/hour.

Call Markus at 97408504.


Addendum: The vacancies for the above job have been filled.

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Glossolalia

"Glossolalia is fabricated, meaningless speech.

According to Dr. William T. Samarin, professor of anthropology and linguistics at the University of Toronto,

glossolalia consists of strings of meaningless syllables made up of sounds taken from those familiar to the speaker and put together more or less haphazardly .... Glossolalia is language-like because the speaker unconsciously wants it to be language-like. Yet in spite of superficial similarities, glossolalia fundamentally is not language [Nickell, 108].

When spoken by schizophrenics, glossolalia are recognized as gibberish. In charismatic Christian communities glossolalia is sacred and referred to as "speaking in tongues" or having "the gift of tongues." In Acts of the Apostles, tongues of fire are described as alighting on the Apostles, filling them with the Holy Spirit. Allegedly, this allowed the Apostles to speak in their own language but be understood by foreigners from several nations. Glossolalics, on the other hand, speak in a foreign language and are understood by nobody.

Glossolalics behave in various ways, depending upon the social expectations of their community. Some go into convulsions or lose consciousness; others are less dramatic. Some seem to go into a trance; some claim to have amnesia of their speaking in tongues. All believe they are possessed by the Holy Spirit and the gibberish they utter is meaningful. However, only one with faith and the gift of interpretation is capable of figuring out the meaning of the meaningless utterances. Of course, this belief gives the interpreter unchecked leeway in "translating" the meaningless utterances. Nicholas Spanos notes: "Typically, the interpretation supports the central tenets of the religious community" [Spanos, 147].

Uttering gibberish that is interpreted as profound mystical insight by holy men is an ancient practice. In Greece, even the priest of Apollo, god of light, engaged in prophetic babbling. The ancient Israelites did it. So did the Jansenists, the Quakers, the Methodists, and the Shakers."

***

Blurbs:

Someone: "relationships are more complex than higher mathematics

its more fun to listen to jay chou songs
kai bu liao kou
an jing
dong feng po
shi jie mo ri
and he se you mo

soothing!"


Someone else on pretty girls:

"i can't stand snobbish big fuck 16 yr girls who think that just cos they've turned 16 and all the wolves eyeing them can now legally poach them, and that they'v gained a whole lot more attention, they can have all the right to act so

they should just be whacked in the head and humbled"

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RCC Gallery :: Scenic :: 14 - Picture of a man standing beside his car (presumably a Renault)

Comments from people:

"i cant c ur car....i can only c u..."

"i'm very sorry.. but you need bigger pants!"

***

Dude

Scott F. Kiesling
Department of Linguistics
University of Pittsburgh

"Older adults, baffled by the new forms of language that regularly appear in youth cultures, frequently characterize young people’s language as “inarticulate,” and then provide examples that illustrate the specific forms of linguistic mayhem performed by “young people nowadays.” For American teenagers, these examples usually include the discourse marker like, rising final intonation on declaratives, and the address term dude, which is cited as an example of the inarticulateness of young men in particular. As shown in the comic in Figure 1, this stereotype views the use of dude as unconstrained – a sign of inexpressiveness in which one word is used for any and all utterances. These kinds of stereotypes, of course, are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the functions and meanings of these linguistic forms."

***

To Tighten Belts, SIA to Shorten Skirts - "Accordingly, the traditional Pierre Balmain-designed batik sarong kebaya worn by female flight attendants will have its skirt length shortened to halfway up the thigh. The estimated savings in fabric costs is estimated to be around $3m annually."

Why do we have so many temperature scales? - "In addition to the Réaumur scale, which you mentioned, the roll-call of now-obsolete temperature scales includes the Newton, Rømer, Delisle, Leyden, Dalton, Wedgewood, Hales, Ducrest, Edinburgh and Florentine scales. In the 18th century, it was common to have up to four temperature scales (in one example, Newton, De Lisle, Réaumur and Fahrenheit) inscribed on the backing board of a thermometer. Today, the only scales in everyday use are the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales, and (mainly for scientists and engineers) the Kelvin and Rankine scales. Réaumur may be familiar to readers of 19th-century Russian and French novels; the others are largely forgotten."

Was the swastika actually an old Native American symbol? - "The swastika was employed by various American Indian tribes, notably the Navahos, for whom it was a sort of good luck sign... At any rate, the swastika was widespread throughout the ancient world, particularly in India, where it remains in common use by Hindus, Jainas, and Buddhists. Originally it probably symbolized the sun circling through the sky, although many other explanations have also been offered."
"The Swastika and Fascism are all Vedic concepts adopted by the German Nazis"

Average Grade Simulator - "It is not possible to achieve a CAP of [5.00] from your current CAP of [x.xx]. The average grade point you need to achieve is [x.xx], which is higher than A+/A grade."
Damn, there goes my "dream" of joining the 5 or so people in Arts with a perfect CAP. Aww.
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