In Nomine - The Lotus Land

New Zealand starts its Haka ka mate but then get interrupted by Tonga with their Sipi tau. Every time I watch this my skin gets goosebumps. Quite powerful when you see them perform against each other like this.

See this post about the text of the Haka ka mate and this for the Sipi tau.

So I was updating my input method editors (IME) from the default in Windows x64 (IME 2002) to the ones provided by Office 2007’s language packs. As explained in a previous post of mine you can install the proofing tools and input by passing LAUNCHEDBYSETUPEXE=1 to the execution of the MSI. Now, on my Windows x64 I installed the IME by installing the IME64.MSI with this added variable. The weird thing was that some applications worked flawlessly and yet others showed me the wrong number of icons or no icons at all! It turns out that these applications are 32-bits applications and need to have the 32-bits IME installed as well. So next to installing IME64.MSI of the language you want to install, you will also have to install IME32.MSI. Only after doing this will you notice the applications working as you want them.

Thinking back on it, it makes perfect sense, but while you are in the middle of working with it you keep wondering: “why?”

I will bear criticism like an elephant in battle bears an arrow from a bow. Most people are bad behaviour. (戦場の象が、射られた矢にあたっても堪え忍ぶように、われらはひとのそしりを忍ぼう。多くの人は実に性質(たち)が悪いからである。)

One can take a trained elephant even into a crowd. The king himself will ride a trained elephant. He who is disciplined is the best of men, since he can bear criticism. (馴らされた象は、戦場にも連れて行かれ、王の乗りものとなる。世のそしりを忍び、自らをおさめた者は、人々の中にあっても最上の者である。)

Trained mules are excellent, and so are thoroughbred horses from the Sindh, and so are great battle elephants, but more excellent than them all is a disciplined man. (馴らされた騾馬は良い。インダス河のほとりの血統よき馬も良い。クンジャラという名の大きな象も良い。しかし自己をととのえた人はそれらよりもすぐれている。)

There is no reaching the unattainable with mounts like these, but with himself well under control a disciplined man can get there. (何となれば、これらの乗物によっては未到の地(ニルヴァーナ)に行くことはできない。そこへは、慎しみある人が、おのれ自らをよくととのえておもむく。)

Dhammapalo, the elephant, is hard to control in rut. Even when tied up, he refuses his food. The great tusker is thinking of the elephant forest. (「財を守る者」という名の象は、発情期にこめかみから液汁をしたたらせて強暴になっているときは、いかんとも制し難い。捕らえられると、一口の食物も食べない。象は象の林を慕っている。)

Then a man is a lie-abed and over-eats, a lazy person who wallows in sleep like a great over-fed hog, a fool like that will be reborn time after time. (大食いをして、眠りをこのみ、ころげまわって寝て、まどろんでいる愚鈍な人は、大きな豚のように糧を食べて肥り、くりかえし母胎に入って(迷いの生存をつづける)。)

My mind used formerly to go off wandering wherever it felt like, following its own inclination, but today I shall control it carefully, like a mahout does a rutting elephant. (この心は、以前には、望むがままに、欲するがままに、快きがままに、さすらっていた。今やわたくしはその心をすっかり抑制しよう、＿＿＿象使いが鉤をもって、発情期に狂う象を全くおさえつけるように。)

Take pleasure in being careful. Guard your mind well. Extricate yourself from the mire, like a great tusker sunk in the mud. (つとめはげむのを楽しめ。おのれの心を護れ。自己を難処から救い出せ。＿＿＿泥沼に落ち込んだ象のように。)

If you find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved person going the same way as yourself, then go along with him, overcoming all dangers, pleased at heart and mindful. (もしも思慮深く聡明でまじめな生活をしている人を伴侶として共に歩むことができるならば、あらゆる危険困難に打ち克って、こころ喜び、念いをおちつけて、ともに歩め。)

But if you do not find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved person going the same way as yourself, then go on your way alone, like a king abandoning a conquered kingdom, or like a great elephant in the deep forest. (しかし、もしも思慮深く聡明でまじめな生活をしている人を伴侶として共に歩むことができないならば、国を捨てた国王のように、また林の中の象のように、ひとり歩め。)

It is better to travel alone. There is no companionship with a fool. Go on your way alone and commit no evil, without cares like a great elephant in the deep forest. (愚かな者を道伴れとするな。独りで行くほうがよい。孤独（ひとり）で歩め。悪いことをするな。求めるところは少なくあれ。＿＿＿林の中にいる象のように。)

It is good to have companions when occasion arises, and it is good to be contented with whatever comes. Merit is good at the close of life, and the elimination of all suffering is good. (事がおこったときに、友だちのあるのは楽しい。(大きかろうとも、小さかろうとも)、どんなことにでも満足するのは楽しい。善いことをしておけば、命の終るときに楽しい。(悪いことをしなかったので)、あらゆる苦しみ(の報い)を除くことは楽しい。)

Good is filial devotion to one’s mother in the world, and devotion to one’s father is good. It is good to be a sanyasi in the world and to be a brahmin too. (世に母を敬うことは楽しい。また父を敬うことは楽しい。世に修行者を敬うことは楽しい。世にバラモンを敬うことは楽しい。)

Good is good behaviour up to old age, good is firmly established faith, good is the acquisition of understanding, and abstention from evil is good. (老いた日に至るまで戒しめをたもつことは楽しい。信仰が確立していることは楽しい。明らかな知慧を体得することは楽しい。もろもろの悪事をなさないことは楽しい。)

English translation by John Richards.
Japanese translation by 中村元 (NAKAMURA Hajime)

‘Ei e!, ‘Ei e!
(Aye, ay! Aye, ay!)
Teu lea pea tala ki mamani katoa
(I shall speak to the whole world)
Ko e ‘Ikhale Tahi kuo halofia.
(The Sea Eagles is famished unfurl.)

Ke ‘ilo ‘e he sola mo e taka
(Let the foreigner and sojourner beware)
Ko e ‘aho ni teu tamate tangata,
(Today, destroyer of souls, I am everywhere)
‘A e haafe mo e tautua’a
(To the halfback and backs)
Kuo hu’i hoku anga tangata.
(Gone has my humanness.)

He! he! ‘Ei e! Tu.
(Hey! hey! Aye ay! Zap.)

Teu peluki e molo mo e foueti taka,
(Maul and loose forwards shall I mow)
Pea ngungu mo ha loto fita’a
(And crunch any fierce hearts you know)
Teu inu e ‘oseni, pea kana mo e afi
(Ocean I drink, fire I dine)
Keu mate ai he ko hoku loto.
(To death or victory my will is fine.)

Ko Tonga pe mate ki he moto
(That’s how Tonga dies to her motto)
Ko Tonga pe mate ki he moto.
(To her motto Tonga gives all.)

Ringa pakia
(Slap the hands against the thighs)
Uma tiraha
(Puff out the chest)
Turi whatia
(Bend the knees)
Hope whai ake
(Let the hip follow)
Waewae takahia kia kino
(Stamp the feet as hard as you can.)

Ka Mate! Ka Mate!
(It is death! It is death!)
Ka Ora! Ka Ora!
(It is life! It is life!)
Tenei te ta ngata puhuru huru
(This is the hairy person)
Nana nei i tiki mai
(Who caused the sun to shine)
Whakawhiti te ra
(Keep abreast! Keep abreast)
A upane ka upane!
(The rank! Hold fast!)
A upane kaupane whiti te ra!
Hi!
(Into the sun that shines!)

Você me deu asas e me fez voar,
você tocou minha mão, eu toquei o céu,
eu perdi minha fé, você me trouxe ela de volta,
você disse que nenhuma estrela estava fora de alcance,
eu serei eternamente grata, baby,
você foi um dos que me ajudou a me levantar,
nunca me deixou cair,
meu mundo é o melhor lugar por sua causa…

Portuguese translation of Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion

Minha anja do amor, te amo muito… *beijo*

And to the question why people still use Windows try setting up your X environment to properly support MathML with Firefox.

Truly, using new fonts within X is a black art still reminiscent of dark and medieval times when we did not know better. I thought we would have progressed that stage by now.

From a user perspective Windows definitely wins hands down in this, drag a file to a Fonts folder, done.
No, X wants us to use crazy incantations of mkfontdir, mkfontscale, fc-cache, ttmkfdir, xset with various fp options and hope xlsfonts shows the font you are after.

Users do NOT want to be bothered with foundries, weights, encoding types, and what not. They just want to add a font, select it in their favourite application and go: “owww, pretty!”

Is that, anno 2004, too much to ask?

Apparently…

Кто знает закон Бытия,
Помог бы и мне найти ответ.
Жестоко ошибся я:
От смерти лекарства нет.

He who knows the Law of Genesis
would have helped me to find the answer
I was cruelly mistaken:
there is no medicine for death

From братья

Found the following two links, just wonderful examples of humour in the smallest things:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/7/195425/367

http://www.vandenb.com/archief/2004/10/17/hier_vertaling

In 2008 the Olympic Games will be held in Beijing (北京 : bei - north, jing - capital) China (traditional: 中國, simplified: 中国).

There are probably a whole lot of Chinese people who do not support their own government in some of the things that they do and for those I feel pity for what I am going to do. I am going to file complaints about the games being held in Beijing, China due to their continuous violations of human rights, especially with regard to Tibet and its inhabitants.

I sincerely wonder why the IOC is so reluctant towards listening to these complaints of human rights violations. In the Athens 2004 opening speech the President of the International Olympic Committee, Dr. Jacques Rogge, was heard saying:

“Our world today is in need of peace, tolerance and brotherhood.”

Where is the peace for the Tibetans Mr Rogge? Have they as a people complained as loudly as the Palestinians? The Israelis? Have they demanded liberation through armed forces? No, they have been quiet, they ‘fought’ their fight through what they uphold as very dear in their life, their buddhist upbringing, the knowledge that their political and spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is safe in Dharamsala, India. How then can you speak of peace, tolerance and brotherhood while you allow to let these games take place in a country that shows some of the least interest in giving people their universal rights as determined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948? (source: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html)

Some examples:

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

• “Religious practice was forcibly suppressed until 1979, and up to 6,000 monasteries and shrines were destroyed.
• After serving arbitrary sentences imposed for pro-independence activities, nuns and monks released from prison are frequently banned from rejoining their nunneries.”

(source: http://www.freetibet.org/info/facts/fact1.html)

Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

“March 19, 1959. Fighting broke out in Lhasa late that night and raged for two days of hand-to-hand combat with odds stacked hopelessly against the Tibetan resistance.

At 2.00 am the Chinese started shelling NorbuLingka. The Norbulinka was bombarded by 800 shells on March 21 Thousands of men, women and children camped around the palace wall were slaughtered and the homes of about 300 officials within the walls destroyed. In the aftermath 200 members of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s bodyguard were disarmed and publicly machine-gunned. Lhasa’s major monasteries, Gaden, Sera and Drepung were shelled -the latter two beyond repair - and monastic treasures and precious scriptures destroyed. Thousands of their monks were either killed on the spot, transported to the city to work as slave labour, or deported. In house-to-house searches the residents of any homes harbouring arms were dragged out and shot on the spot. Over 86,000 Tibetans in central Tibet were killed by the Chinese during this period.” (source: http://www.tibet.com/Status/10march59.html) Do note that the 86.000 number is the Chinese government estimate, numbers from Tibet were sooner up in the 430.000!

“Some 1.2 million Tibetans are estimated to have been killed by the Chinese since 1950.” (source: http://www.freetibet.org/info/facts/fact1.html)

On the 31st of March, 1959 “[i]t is estimated that 2,000 people died during the three days of fighting between the Tibetans and the Chinese army.” (source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/31/newsid_2788000/2788343.stm)

“Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, one of the most important religious leaders in Tibet, has been sentenced to death (suspended for 2 years) by China for a crime he did not commit and could be executed in December 2004.” (source: http://www.freetibet.org/campaigns/tdr/index.html)

Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

“[...] These protests consisted of two incidents on 1 and 4 May 1998 in which both criminal and political prisoners shouted slogans in support of the Dalai Lama and of Tibetan independence during meetings at the prison to mark the visit of a European Union “troika” delegation. The 4 May protest coincided with the visit to Drapchi of the EU ambassadors, though it is still not clear whether the protest took place before or after their visit. Prison officials had selected representatives from different units, including more than 60 monks, to attend a meeting on this date when prisoners suddenly started shouting “Free Tibet” slogans. According to unconfirmed reports, political prisoners who were being held in cells nearby joined in with the shouting. Prison officials retaliated by beating political prisoners and inmates involved were isolated from other prisoners in solitary confinement cells. Six nuns, three monks and one layperson reportedly died following torture and beatings at the prison.” (source: http://www.tibetinfo.co.uk/news-updates/nu150999.htm)

“Beatings and torture with electric shock batons are common; prisoners have died from such treatment. In 1992, Palden Gyatso, a monk who had been tortured by the Chinese for over 30 years, bribed prison guards to hand over implements of torture. The weapons, smuggled out of Tibet, were displayed in the west in 1994 and 1995.” (source: http://www.freetibet.org/info/facts/fact1.html)

Palden Gyatso with in front of him the tools of torture (click on the photo for a bigger one):

“The primary objective of Tibetan Torture Survisors Program is to provide holistic treatment and rehabilitation to Tibetan torture survivors who have escaped into India, and create awareness of the mental health problems in the community in exile. Treatment is provided through the use of both allopathic and traditional Tibetan medicine. In 2002, the programme provided treatment to 136 clients, and it is estimated that it will provide treatment to 160 clients in 2003.” (source: http://www.irct.org/usr/irct/home.nsf/unid/JREW-5MSCPK?Open)

Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Also from that source (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/31/newsid_2788000/2788343.stm): “The Dalai Lama was offered asylum in India and settled in Dharamsala, in northern India.

He was followed into exile by about 80,000 Tibetans, most of whom settled in the same area, which has become known as ‘Little Lhasa’ and is home to the Tibetan government-in-exile.”

“To date 16 Tibetans have been detained, arrested or disappeared in relation to this case (of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche), some for simply trying to pass information on the case to the outside world.” (source: http://www.freetibet.org/campaigns/tdr/index.html)

• “Some 3,000 people are believed to have been detained for political offences since September 1987, many of them for writing letters, distributing leaflets or talking to foreigners about the Tibetans’ right to independence.
• The number of political detainees in Lhasa’s main prison, Drapchi, is reported to have doubled between 1990 and 1994. The vast majority of political inmates are monks or nuns. A political prisoner in Tibet can now expect an average sentence of 6.5 years.
• Over 230 Tibetans were detained for political offences in 1995, a 50% increase on 1994, bringing the total in custody to over 600.”

(source: http://www.freetibet.org/info/facts/fact1.html)

Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

“The Chinese have refused to allow independent observers to attend so-called public trials. Prison sentences are regularly decided before the trial. Fewer than 2% of cases in China are won by the defence.” (source: http://www.freetibet.org/info/facts/fact1.html)

Also, as your Executive Director, François Carrard, said on the thirteenth of July, 2001: “Some people say, because of serious human rights issues, ‘We close the door and say no.’ The other way is to bet on openness. Bet on the fact that in the coming seven years, openness, progress and development in many areas will be such that the situation will be improved. We are taking the bet that seven years from now we will see many changes.”

The comment above is extremely fragile in light of Amnesty’s reporting: “In April 2001, the central authorities issued directives to intensify the ‘’strike hard” campaign against crime. This resulted in tens of thousands of arrests and a record number of executions in the following weeks. Within three months, from April until early July 2001, Amnesty International recorded 2,960 death sentences and 1,781 confirmed executions. This rate of executions had not been recorded in China since a previous major ‘’strike hard” campaign against crime in 1996.” (source: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA170282001?open&of=ENG-369

So I ask you, Mr Rogge, what more? How many more examples do you need? World War II cost about 5 to 6 million Jews their lives, yet we have been standing by whilst 1,2 million Tibetans already died. How much more can we, as mankind, bear to have on our name by being apathic? So we reward a country that has been treading your motto –our world today is in need of peace, tolerance and brotherhood– with combat-booted feet since 1950 by giving them the privilege to be the host for the Olympic Games? I sincerely hope you have moral issues with this.

Support the Tibetans, free Tibet!