JaBbA's Hut

Powerful stuff.

[T]he American values we hold most dear have been placed at serious risk by the unprecedented claims of the Administration to a truly breathtaking expansion of executive power.

As we begin this new year, the Executive Branch of our government has been caught eavesdropping on huge numbers of American citizens and has brazenly declared that it has the unilateral right to continue without regard to the established law enacted by Congress to prevent such abuses.

It is imperative that respect for the rule of law be restored.

...[T]he President not only confirmed that the story was true, but also declared that he has no intention of bringing these wholesale invasions of privacy to an end.
...
A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government. ... As John Adams said: "The executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them, to the end that it may be a government of laws and not of men."

An executive who arrogates to himself the power to ignore the legitimate legislative directives of the Congress or to act free of the check of the judiciary becomes the central threat that the Founders sought to nullify in the Constitution - an all-powerful executive too reminiscent of the King from whom they had broken free.

From truthout

Oh, and word point, Gore, for using the word "arrogates" as a verb. Of course, I get the feeling that it was precisely his ability to use interesting words that prevented him from becoming our President. Sad.

During his Rose Garden news conference, W not only used the wrong word but then he went on to define it for reporters, apparently because he interepreted the puzzled looks on the reporters faces to mean they didn't know his fancy new word:

disassemble - that means not to tell the truth.

dis·as·sem·ble
v. dis·as·sem·bled, dis·as·sem·bling, dis·as·sem·bles
v. tr.

To take apart: disassemble a toaster.


dis·sem·ble
v. dis·sem·bled, dis·sem·bling, dis·sem·bles
v. tr.

1. To disguise or conceal behind a false appearance. See Synonyms at disguise.
2. To make a false show of; feign.

As long as I'm nitpicking, I had to put this in.

Kim Cameron's very interesting whitepaper The Laws of Identity gives those of us dealing with Identity Management a great place to start the conversations. An excellent read, and some good points (although as "Architect of Identity" for Microsoft Corporation, I keep seeing Kim in a Sith cloak

But there is one ironic word mistake. Talking about how Enterprises use identity:

The differing contexts of discreet enterprises lead to a requirement

Now as much as I like to think that Enterprises have my privacy in mind:

dis·creet Pronunciation Key (d-skrt)
adj.

1. Marked by, exercising, or showing prudence and wise self-restraint in speech and behavior; circumspect.
2. Free from ostentation or pretension; modest.

[Middle English, from Old French discret, from Medieval Latin discrtus, from Latin, past participle of discernere, separate, to discern. See discreet.]

I think Kim meant that the enterprises were distinct, not circumspect:

dis·crete Pronunciation Key (d-skrt)
adj.

1. Constituting a separate thing. See Synonyms at distinct.
2. Consisting of unconnected distinct parts.
3. Mathematics. Defined for a finite or countable set of values; not continuous.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin discrtus, past participle of discernere, to separate. See discreet.]

David Patel wrote me a nice reply to my post yesterday about his use of the word "ferment" in a radio report. Apparently, Microsoft's Encarta is in the "common use defines correctness" camp. Encarta defines Ferment:

vti (past fer·ment·ed, past participle fer·ment·ed, present
participle fer·ment·ing, 3rd person present singular fer·ments)
1. subject to fermentation: to subject something to fermentation, or be
subjected to fermentation
2. stir up: to stir up somebody or something, or be stirred up
3. develop: to cause, develop or evolve something, or be developed or
evolved
Her brain was continually fermenting new schemes.

Although David did say he would use "foment" in the future, as it is more correct.

(Note that MS defines it as both transitive and intransitive. Other dictionaries define it as intransitive only)

BTW - David is in Amman. Jordan, not sitting in an ivory tower at Stanford.

During BBC's The World yesterday, David Patel of the Department of Political Science at Stanford University, talking about the groups involved in the insurgency said that "foreign [some word] jihadists...want to ferment a real civil war in Iraq".

Well, the feelings that lead to insurgency can ferment:

fer·ment
v. intr.

1. To undergo fermentation.
2. To be in an excited or agitated state; seethe.

But if you're going to cause the insurgency to start or continue, the word you want is foment

fo·ment
tr.v. fo·ment·ed, fo·ment·ing, fo·ments

1. To promote the growth of; incite.
2. To treat (the skin, for example) by fomentation.


[Middle English fomenten, to apply warm liquids to the skin, from Old French fomenter, from Late Latin fmentre, from Latin fmentum, poultice, from fovre, to warm. See dhegwh- in Indo-European Roots.]

I hear this mistake a lot.

I was watching a talking head show on TV the other day and the one commentator said that someone was "hectored" into doing something.

I'd heard the word, but wasn't 100% sure it was being used correctly. Did he mean "heckled" ?

Nope. Hectored is right:

v. hec·tored, hec·tor·ing, hec·tors
v. tr.

To intimidate or dominate in a blustering way.

[Latin Hectr, Hektor, from Greek Hektr.]

I don't know if I'd give a word point for Eschew normally, but he's been trying to work this one in for a while, so I'll give it to him...

Besides, ever since the '?' campaign, I'll always give him his due...

es·chew
tr.v. es·chewed, es·chew·ing, es·chews

To avoid; shun. See Synonyms at escape.


[Middle English escheuen, from Old French eschivir, of Germanic origin akin to shy1.]

Josh Marshall gets a word point today:

Cheney told one of the more irenic of Democratic senators to "f--k off" in a brief exchange

i·ren·ic Pronunciation Key (-rnk, -rnk) also i·ren·i·cal (--kl, -n-kl)
adj.

Promoting peace; conciliatory.

[Greek eirnikos, from eirn, peace.]

Remember my fun with the word Hagiography? It seems more people are beginning to take note of Karen Hughes' obsession with her boss. In a Salon.com article One Minute From Abnormal (subscription or ad), James C. Moore says:

Actually, Hughes had become unsettlingly close to her boss long before journalism or outsiders began to take note. In fact, her worst critics have accused the presidential counselor of living almost vicariously through Bush. His goals and political ideology have been so inculcated into Hughes' consciousness that she may no longer be able discern between her own thinking and the president's. This undoubtedly is an odd characterization to make of two of the world's most powerful adults. There is, however, no shortage of evidence to prompt the speculation.

Which explains the contents of the book, and Hughes' willingness to say some pretty outrageous things.

Some choice quotes from the article:

I just heard "hagiographical" on The Majority Report -- JG and Sam Seder are talking to Bill Maher about proto-conservative adulation of everything Reagan.

Now I know how to pronounce it!

I should blog about a new word EVERY week, then I'll get to hear it!

I've just come across the word Hagiography/hagiographic twice this week.

The first was when I was reading about the Matyrdom of St. Laurence. There is no historical account of his actual death, and he was most likely put to death, in the standard way, with the other church employees of his time. But "here is where the accounts of historians and hagiographers begin to differ". The hagiography says that he begged to be killed along with his master, and that he was grilled to death, but his faith was such that at one point he said to his torturers "Turn me over, I'm done on this side." (thanks to Weez for the link which wasted part of an afternoon)

Clearly, a work of fiction, rather than history. Fascinating, though.

So it's interesting that in the Time article about Karen Hughes' upcoming book Ten Minutes from Normal, the author writes

Bush aides are counting on Hughes' hagiographic portrait of the President as a near flawless leader in turbulent times to serve as an antidote to the searing criticism in the recent book by Bush's former counterterrorism czar, Richard Clarke, or the one that former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill produced with journalist Ron Suskind. (emphasis mine)

hag·i·og·ra·phy n. pl. hag·i·og·ra·phies

1. Biography of saints.
2. A worshipful or idealizing biography.

Frank Deford on NPR this morning gets a word point for 'apostasy'.

discussing hiring non-players as coaches:
"Toronto and Boston joined the apostasy"

apostasy

\A*pos"ta*sy\, n.; pl. Apostasies. [OE. apostasie, F. apostasie, L. apostasia, fr. Gr. ? a standing off from, a defection, fr. ? to stand off, revolt; ? from + ? to stand. See Off and Stand.] An abandonment of what one has voluntarily professed; a total desertion of departure from one's faith, principles, or party; esp., the renunciation of a religious faith; as, Julian's apostasy from Christianity.

That was a quote from ex-@stake CTO Dan Geer when he was asked about @stake saying that his firing had nothing to do with his participating in the publishing of a paper highly critical of the use of a "monoculture" of technology.

The exact quote:

"The Venn diagram of facts doesn't intersect. The intersection of all of those statements is the null set"

@stake claims that he left the company on Tuesday, but apparently Geer had not been told this, because on Wednesday he identified himself as the CTO of @stake during the conference call about thepaper.

The paper, by the way, is a blockbuster. And a hot potato - finding outlets to publish it has been difficult, because most of the outlets have large advertising contracts with Microsoft. The paper is posted online at the CCIA's website