Unprecedented post!

"UNPRECEDENTED"

23.1 million google results for that word.

having no precedent; novel; never before seen or done; unheard of; exceptional; unparalleled; not having the authority of prior example; new.

Those are just some examples of definitions that I found through a quick survey.
This basically means that when an event is one of a kind, or the first instance of that type, it becomes a precedent, and is therefore unprecedented. This does not mean, however, that a certain event is somehow bigger, better, worse, or smaller than previous precedents. Let's say that an event occurs at a level of 1. Then the next time the event happens, it doubles and becomes then a 2. The 2 would hence become the next precedent for said event. But now to say that reaching the level of 2 was unprecedented, would be erroneous. Just because this was the first instance of reaching 2, does not make it an unprecedented event. It was, in fact, first precedented by the first occurrence. It just happens that the next event superseded that precedent and set a new one.
OK. Now that that is out of the way, I can get to my point.
I am tired of reading news article after news article that tries to impress upon the reader the historical nature, ergo the importance, of the article. This is often achieved by called the subject matter of the article 'unprecedented'. Take, for example, the 200 election. Whether or not W stole that election, a stolen election in the 2000 was not unprecedented. There have been myriads of stolen elections in the history of the world, the first of which would have been unprecedented.
But don't tell that to the folks who titled this website and film: http://www.unprecedented.org/

A real funny one is the current economic crisis. (not that crises are funny, but that to not find humor in a crisis is even more tragic.) At first, at the beginning of the down turn, many a journalist could be heard describing the market downturn as not having a precedent. That exact phrase would not be used, naturally, as there already have been precedents set in our economy before, such as the major precedent of 1929. What you would read is that we are suffering an unprecedented recession, as if by adding this superlative you can ignore its meaning, and therefore add more meaning to your article.
Luckily things began changing after the majority of journalists began to realize that a financial meltdown in our country actually had a previous precedent. Then we began seeing this type of article: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47321
"Financial Crisis Unprecedented Since 1930s"
So, just to end my obsessive diatribe let me analyze this title. There was an economic depression in 1929. It was precedented by previous market actions, but by being so grand it set a new precedent. In 1930 the Great Depression was THE precedent for occurrences of its nature. Now that we are in another depression that has yet to reach the size of the previous precedent, we can say that this depression has no precedents from 1930 until present. In other words, there are no precedents to compare this depression within the last 79 years. But if you go back 80, there is now a precedent, albeit a retroactive precedent (pretty sure that is self-contradictory).
Perhaps I am the only person alive who cares about this linguistic devolution that is taking place. I admit it is only one word that has lost its meaning, but if we lose one a week, that is 52 words a year that we lose. I admit that this saddens me. I have been made sad by the loss of one word. Unprecedented? Unfortunately not.

cubo mágico!

O Cubo – por John Boyd


1. Cantos Brancos de Cima - lógica

2. Quatro Cantos Embaixo de Amarelo

a. "Manobra de Sete" – Db Be Dc Bd Fh Bd Fa

-faz até tem um X de amarelo embaixo. quando tem dois cubos amarelo embaixo e os outros dois estão no lado, vira os dois do lado pra trás e faz uma vez o 2a.

3. Olhos de Cima e Embaixo

a. 0 pares – Eb Dc B2 Db Ec

b. 1 par – (esquerdo em cima) (D2 Be D2 Bd)x2 D2

c. 2 pares – (na frente) D2 Te D2 T2 F2 Bd D2

d. 4 pares – (acima) Db Bd Dc Bd Db Bd Dc Bd Eb Be Ec Db Be Dc Bd Fh Bd Fa

e. 5 pares – (5o par atras embaixo) Db Bd Ec B2 Dc Be Db B2 Eb Dc


4. Posição de Ioiô – vira ao lado como ioiô (M = fio no meio do ioiô)

procura um cubo de branco ou amarelo no fio do meio e coloca de cima da face. agora procura o espaço no lado da cor que combina com a outra cor do mesmo cubo (que está emcima e no centro da face) e virar aquele lado pra botar a cor em cima. agora o cubo no meio vai se encaixar no espaço ou na direita ou na esquerda.

a. (do meio até a direita) Td Mc Te Mb Te Mc Td

b. (do meio até a esquerda) Te Mc Td Mb Td Mc Te

5. Posição X (alinhar as cores nos cantos e o centro)

6. "Cima, 2, Baixa, 2" –

a. Mc T2 Mb T2

- se tiver um canto certo, coloca-o atras e embaixo e faz 6a. se não tiver, não importa a posição dos 4 cubos quando fazer 6a. quando tiver certo dois dos ultimos quatro cubos, coloca os cubos errados em cima. vá ao setimo passo


7. Dupla Mudança (duas peças erradas pra cima e no fio)

(Mc Te)x3 Te (Mb Te)x3 Te


Acabou!


-localização-
D direita
E esquerda
B baixo
T topo
F face
M meio

-direção-
b baixo
c cima
e esquerda
d direita
h horario
a anti-horario
2 duas vezes

Why is James called Tiago??

                    It all apparently started with Jacob, (which is the English for Ya'akov , which is a Hebrew name). When Ya'akov is translated into Greek it becomes Iakobos. It then became Iacobus in Latin, and also Iacomus. Now from the Latin, Ya'akov split into three branches. One of these is the German name; Jakobus. Also in French the name was shortened into Gemmes. It is from that form that we have our James. But it is when the Latin name turned into Spanish that the real interesting change happened.


                    Iaco was taken from the root of both Latin versions and morphed even more into Iago. We get Santiago when we add Sant + Iago. Some experts say that that is where the Portuguese Tiago originates from, and that from that name the Spanish got Diego also. What a mixed up trail!!


                    I have wondered about that strange curiosity for years now. I was so excited when I finally read an explanation. It is funny how I never though that James would come from a Hebrew word that already has an English equivalent; Jacob. The funny thing is, Jacob in Portuguese is Jacó! So Jacó is Jacob, which is Ya'akov, which is Tiago, which is James, which is Jacob, which is Gemmes, which is also James!


                    Isn't it funny how sometimes one object that is called by a certain name at a certain time can also be known by another name in another time or another place. When I thin about that, some objects of spirituality come to mind. Faith, Hope, Love, etc... There is a real object behind what we refer to as love. But it is so easy to transform that object through time depending on what name we give to it. Today some ugly bloke with a T-note can arrange an hour meeting with a complete stranger and "make love". Or a real romantic, a venetian for example, can look across his gondola and pour another glass of wine for the donna he refers as "Amore Mio".





                    I guess this means that it must be true also that true love, capital L Love, is also found in our current culture and language in other names. If Love doesn't boast, then you must be able to find it in the words and actions of the meek and modest. If Love is long suffering, can we also refer to it as 'patience'? And must we be able to say the same about 'kindness'?


                    I am going to spend tomorrow trying to identify appearances of Love that are identified by other titles, other translations.



-next post ----- more about politics and other evilness!


Я имею в виду мои doppelgänger

a girl

So, I am supposed to write something about a girl tonight.... I had been thinking about a topic for quite some time, (the housing crisis, of course!) but I am going to change midstream. Keep in mind, this is not my will....but has been imposed upon me with force. Well, I decided to pull a once-over, and change the object of my exposition. :D
I saw a Salvadorian girl on tv who caught my eye. A very special girl. So, as much as I hate American Idol, and the negative impacts it has had on our culture..... I am stating my official prophecy today that Allison Iraheta will win. Or at least she had better. I was burned with Paris a few seasons back, but I have a new found confidence with this one. It all became clear when Paula asked her what her age really was. I could do nothing, and did not try, to keep an image of Viva a Brotolândia from floating around my mind when she replied "16". (That is the same age that Elis was when she recorded 'Broto', for those of you ignorant of such an important thing!)
So that's it. The girl of the evening calls herself Allison. She is classy, sings amazingly, and has a future.




And so that you don't think that I left you out, I wrote all of this for YOUR benefit! ( and you know who you are!)

pss ( check out this article.....very fascinating! http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0310/p09s01-coop.html )