Hiatus
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Due to a death in the family I will be out of town for at least the next week and so will be absent from the blogosphere. I'm reasonably sure my absence will not cause the internet to crash or anything.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Friday, May 28 2004 02:48:55 PM

Gas Prices
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Frank J over at IMAO considers the pros and cons of various methods of dealing with high gas prices. Among them:

Drive an Electric Car
PROS: Uses no gasoline. Quiet.
CONS: After nine hours of charging, it has a range of about eight miles.

Go read the whole thing.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Wednesday, May 26 2004 10:25:33 PM

Remind me to never drive in California
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From the "mind your own business and quit minding mine" file. (I got wind of these two items from Jim Doney at Are You High? Unfortunately one of the links didn't work and the other required registration, so I ended up googling for the stories.)

First, this and thank the powers that be that the Kansas legislature is finished for the year so that maybe they won't remember this when the next session opens:

A bill passed by the California state Senate would subject drivers who talk on the phone, put on makeup, drink, eat, smoke, interact with pets or kids, read, write, tune the radio or program hand-held devices like Blackberries to fines of $35 for the first offense and $150 for the second.

I don't care about the talking on the phone thing. It annoys me, but I have a better solution. Let anyone who owns a legally registered handgun have a license to shoot anyone talking on the phone while driving. Some of us get to vent some of our frustration and the rest of you would think twice before deciding to yap while driving.

But seriously, under this law can you read a map? I have to pull over to the side of the road to get rid of a lame song on the radio? If you think you've got problems with road rage now, wait till you get a whole state full of nicotine junkies jonesing for a puff during rush hour...

None of that nonsense comes close to the bit about "interacting with ... kids". I defy any of these pea-brained idiots to drive anywhere in a car with a child without "interacting" with them, let alone if you've got more than one. Face it, this is tantamount to prohibiting single parents from taking their kids anywhere in a car.

And what? You can argue with your spouse but you can't interact with the kid? And has anyone considered the number of accidents that will occur every morning because sleepy drivers can't drink coffee on the road? Or better yet, what about the number of accidents caused by drivers falling asleep from sheer boredom?

Second, also from California:

A state famous for tanned bodies and year-round sunshine would be the nation's first to ban teenagers from artificial tanning booths if a bill passed Thursday by the state Assembly becomes law.

The state Assembly, citing a rise in skin cancer cases in California and across the nation, voted 42-26 Thursday to add artificial tanning to teenage no-no's that already include smoking, drinking and buying lottery tickets.

You can hang out at the beach all day, but you can't set foot in a tanning salon?

The bill, which goes now to the Senate for consideration, requires teenagers to have a doctor or surgeon's prescription before being allowed to tan indoors.

In a year or so we can expect to hear about the new black market developing in forged dermatologist prescriptions...

I think these are two that maybe the "Governator" should just say no to.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Monday, May 24 2004 08:15:42 PM

Can a Stand-up tour be far behind?
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Via Samizdata, I found this article at e-week. The short version:

Linux wasn't written by Linus Torvalds, according to the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based foundation.

This opinion is not terribly surprising, coming from a think tank that has been a past recipient of funding from MicroSoft. But that isn't what caught my eye.

Later in the article, there was a quote from Linus Torvalds, the "father" of Linux:

"OK, I admit it. I was just a front man for the real fathers of Linux: the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. They (for obvious reasons) couldn't step forward to admit that they had gotten bitten by the computer bug and had been developing a series of operating systems on their own during the off-season.

"But when they started with Linux (which they originally called Freax—they do feel like outsiders, you know, and that's a whole sad story in itself), they felt that they could no longer just let it languish in obscurity.

"They started to look for a front man, and since Santa Claus is from Finland, and thus has connections to Helsinki University, and the Easter Bunny claimed, 'He's got good ears, if a bit small,' I got selected.

"Since then, I've lived a life of subterfuge, always afraid that somebody would find out the truth. I'm actually relieved that it's over, and that the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution has finally uncovered the lie. I can now go back to my chosen profession, the exploration of the fascinating mating dance of the aquatic African frog."

When was the last time you heard anything remotely humorous out of Redmond?

by Cziltang 
Posted: Sunday, May 23 2004 06:47:30 PM

Better Men than me
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I started this blog over a year ago as an attempt to make some sense out of my own rather confused thoughts about the world I live in. I realized that what I thought I thought about the world and what I believed to be true about the world based on my actual real-world experience just didn't match up. Over the last couple of years I have significantly altered my thinking on a number of issues, but there is still a lot of fog and fuzzyness in my thinking.

Every time I try to write seriously about important issues, I find myself wallowing in uncertainty. I know what I feel and believe to be true, but I seem to be unable to communicate it coherently or effectively. I am quite self-absorbed, but I am also capable of detecting good writing. While I am perfectly willing to post crap about trivial issues, I am not willing to do so about things I take deadly seriously. Consequently, I haven't made too many comments about events in Iraq. I just don't have the words.

Fortunately, there are people out there who do have the words:

The primary reason for us to be in Iraq is not to liberate her people so that they can be free. It is, quite bluntly, to liberate her people so that we can be free.

Freedom, prosperity and progress are antithetical to the Death Cult rising in that region and spreading its hatred and violence throughout the world. Iraq presents an opportunity, a chance, for a different way. A free and stable and prospering Iraq demonstrates to everyone on this Earth that Arab society can be free of both secular and theological totalitarianism alike. A functioning, modern Iraq, where people can live their lives free of fear and oppression, where they can worship as they themselves see fit without imposing their beliefs on a neighbor or having them imposed on oneself, where they can perform the simple miracles of going to work each day, earning a living and coming home to a night of television with the family without knowing terror every second of every day: that is what will set them free.

Syria, Iran, Al Qaeda and all the rest fear this very greatly. If we succeed in Iraq – we and the Iraqis, together – they know that their own downtrodden and oppressed people will start asking pointed questions about their own corrupt and joyless societies. And when it is possible to be a Muslim, and have a sense of quiet pride that does not come from death and revenge but from hard work and a safe and prospering family…well, I believe – we, many of us believe – that they will follow Frankie’s advice.

They will Choose Life.

They are human, like we are. They will choose life over death. I believe this with all my heart.

My friends and my countrymen, this is one of those rare things worth fighting for. It is worth dying for. It is even worth killing for.

This is from a massive two-part essay by Bill Whittle at Eject!Eject!Eject! The essay is entitled Strength. This is not simply a recommendation, I implore you to read it. I do not do this lightly, because I am asking for a serious investment of time from you. This is not one of those articles you skim quickly looking for the money quotes. It will take a significant amount of time, but in my opinion, is simply the best thing you can do for yourself today.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Sunday, May 23 2004 03:57:30 PM

I hate interviews
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I mentioned a few days ago that my boss and I are interviewing for new staff. So far we've done 30 interviews. It is really beginning to grind me down. Although we work in corrections, we tend to prize legal but unorthodox approaches to client management. The current popular buzzword is "thinking outside the box", but we've been doing it for quite some time.

Also, in the interview process, I am interested in how people handle stress. Our clients are quite often rude, obnoxious, loud, intimidating and manipulative. My theory is that if you are interviewing for a job in my facility and you can't handle the stress of a fat, middle-aged, hippie-looking guy asking a few weird questions, then you probably don't need to be working for me.

To satisfy both of those ends, I've taken to borrowing questions that are allegedly sometimes asked in interviews for jobs at MicroSoft. My current favorite is "Why are manhole covers round?" I've not yet gotten a correct answer, but the interesting thing is that almost everyone we've interviewed who has a degree in one of the social sciences has given us an answer along the lines of "because people are round." I find that significant in some way, but I'm not sure why.

A few of the interviews have been for a supervisory position we have open. My boss asked all of those interviewees who they thought was responsible for the prison scandal situation in Iraq. Of course we got a variety of answers, but what I thought was absolutely fascinating was the response we got from the two ex-military guys we interviewed. It wasn't that their answers were similar, it was that they were absolutely, word-for-word identical: "Privates don't make decisions like that."

So, what does that tell me? I don't have a clue, I just thought it was interesting. As for the rest, I guess I'm going to have to work on my interview questions. I haven't done this for about five years and apparently I'm a bit rusty. Either that or I'm just not as intimidating as I used to be.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Tuesday, May 18 2004 09:56:08 PM

End of Season Blues
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Well, the European Football season is winding down. The English Premier League is finished and the others will pretty much be done this week. My fantasy league team mostly tanked about mid-year and never recovered. I finished the season 1252th out of 1780 players. Lame, I know. But I have a serious handicap in these sorts of things. Actually, two handicaps: I am a die-hard Liverpool fan and tend to over-estimate their chances, and I despise Arsenal and refuse to put any of their players on my team. If you know anything about the EPL, you know that I'm not likely to win with that combination. So, I'm settling in for the next three months of the off season and I'll give it another try next year.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Tuesday, May 18 2004 09:55:38 PM

Links and more links
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For some odd reason, my boss and I decided we needed to interview 22 applicants for some open positions we currently have. It seemed like a good idea at the time... The only saving grace is that we seem to have a pretty good crop of enthusiastic applicants. Probably has something to do with a whole herd of them graduating from the local institution of higher learning next weekend.

Interviewing really wipes me out. I hadn't intended to post tonight, but I found something over at Vodka Pundit that intrigued me, so I decided to use this to post a few links I've been meaning to comment on, albeit mostly sans comments.

I don't know if Iron Blog will live up to the hype, but aside from being a bit cheeky, it might be fun.

If you have any interest at all in the dynamics of how a sword works (it is apparently pretty amazing) you should read this. The author has his own blog which I've recently started reading semi-regularly, called Bastard Sword. Definitely right of center, but there is also pretty good song parody material and a variety of other articles too varied to categorize.

If you are interested in pictures of Saturn from the Cassini spacecraft go here.

Sony has just unveiled the world's smallest full-function Windows PC, complete with a wireless stylus.

(OK, so I was unable to post links without comments. In the words of Frank the (Remullian) Dog in MIB, "you can kiss my furry butt.")

 

by Cziltang 
Posted: Monday, May 10 2004 11:26:50 PM

... we sit outside ...
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We sit outside and argue all night long

about a God we've never seen

but never fails to side with me

Primitive Radio Gods

 

I've been pretty wound up for the past few days about attempts to pass an amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would ban gay marriages. And, of course, as is usually the case when I'm really wound up about something, I've been working crazy hours and have been just too tired to write when I got home. (Or perhaps I should say "too tired to write coherently," as I've tried to write this post a couple of times before.)

It appears that the attempt has failed, at least for this legislative session (in Kansas, the session runs about 3 months, and once this one finishes in the next few days, the legislature won't be in session again until January 2005). This would be one instance where I would have to applaud the legislature failing to do something.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not a big proponent of gay rights. But then, I don't think anyone should have to be a proponent of gay rights, because I don't think being gay or gay lifestyle issues are anyone's business outside the individuals involved. I especially don't want the government involved in lifestyle issues.

Generally speaking, the less tinkering we do with constitutions we do, the better off we are. Enacting laws is one thing, but changing the fundamental rules by which the game is played based on some political whim is just a bad idea. Even in States, changing a constitution should be something that we think about over a period of time.

I thought of the song snippet above when I saw the news reports last week about all of the fundamentalist congregations here in Kansas that were having special meetings to "educate" their members about what God wants them to do (i.e. pressure their legislators into passing the constitutional amendment). Those involved would probably say it is simply a sign of my apparent apostasy, but God never told me that a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriages was necessary. I must have missed a meeting, or something.

Frankly, I think this sort of nonsense is a sign that Fundamentalist Christianity just isn't relevant. It is, seemingly, unable to change the world on its own merits. So its proponents attempt to force their view of how I should live on me by means of the power of the state. If you are a Good Christian and you don't approve of the way I am living my life, feel free to tell me about it and you may, in fact, be obligated to do so by your interpretation of your religion. I'm OK with that. If you want me to change the way I live, why not demonstrate the comforts, challenges, rewards and overall superiority of your religious lifestyle to me and convince me that your way is better. I'm OK with that, too. What I'm not OK with is you trying to change the fundamental rules of our society so that I have to live the way you think I should.

And by the way, isn't fundamentalist religious theocracy something we are fighting against in the Middle East? If it is a bad idea there, why isn't it a bad idea here? Oh, yes, I forgot. God agrees with you, doesn't he? I guess I missed that meeting, too.

(A sort of disclaimer: I am not anti-Christian. And I believe that there are a lot of good, vibrant, "spirit-filled" Christians out there, confident in their faith, who are actively trying to get people to change from within, (in their terms, they are living witnesses for God). Not that they need it, or even care, but I applaud them and their efforts. But these people, who embody everything that is virtuous and good about Christianity, stand in contrast to those who are seemingly so insecure in their faith that they are afraid to live in a world where everyone around them doesn't conform to their idea of what's right. Hmmm. Sounds remarkably similar to radical Wahhabism, doesn't it?)

by Cziltang 
Posted: Wednesday, May 05 2004 08:49:58 PM