Read the Manual
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It seems self-evident to me that Islamic Jihadists can not be reasoned with or negotiated with. They do not play by our rules, have no intention of playing by our rules, and will use our rules to hamstring us while they execute their plans for world domination. Apparently this is not self-evident to most of the rest of the West, or even most Americans. So, for anyone who hasn't permanently made up their mind that the Islamic Jihadists are really civilized individuals who can be negotiated into playing nice, I offer the following:

To those champions who avowed the truth day and night......

And wrote with their blood and sufferings these phrases...

-*-The confrontation that we are calling for with the apostate regimes does not know Socratic debates...,Platonic ideals..., nor Aristotelian diplomacy. But it knows the dialogue of bullets, the ideals of assassination, bombing, and destruction, and the diplomacy of the cannon and machine-gun. ***

... Islamic governments have never and will never be established through peaceful solutions and cooperative councils. They are established as they [always] have been

by pen and gun

by word and bullet

by tongue and teeth

This is taken from the front of a manual found by the Metropolitan Police of Manchester, England during a seach of an al Qaeda member's home. It has been translated.

Read the whole thing here.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Thursday, June 30 2005 01:51:18 AM

Things I shouldn't do
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Sometimes at work, some of the younger clients try to get me to play hacky sack with them. I always decline, because, as I tell them, there are some things middle-aged, fat, white guys should not do. Hacky sack is one of them. Riding a moped is another. Both of them just look wrong.

Now that the Head Rat has conned me into watching "Dancing with the Stars", I think it goes without saying that we should be adding Ballroom Dancing to the list.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Wednesday, June 29 2005 09:04:41 PM

Wanted: Nice Home for a pet (in a Dumpster)
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Given some of the things I've said on this site, I guess it should come as no surprise that I am not a big fan of PETA. And, while I know it is just another sign that I am not a nice person and will probably burn in hell, I just can't help laughing at the PETA staff involved in this:

When Ahoskie police arrested PETA employees Andrew Cook and Adria Hinkle last night, they found 18 dead dogs in a nearby shopping-center dumpster (including a bag containing seven dead puppies), and 13 more dead dogs in the PETA-owned van the two were driving. Police observed them throwing several dark-colored bags into the dumpster before the arrests were made.

Apparently, the PETA staff were dumping (illegally) dead animals they had put to sleep (illegally).

More from the article:

In 2003 PETA euthanized over 85 percent of the animals it took in, finding adoptive homes for just 14 percent. By comparison, the Norfolk SPCA found adoptive homes for 73 percent of its animals and the Virginia Beach SPCA adopted out 66 percent. PETA’s required report documenting its 2004 record is currently over 4 weeks late.

(...)

“This is disturbing behavior on the part of self-professed animal lovers, and I hope the public takes notice,” said Center for Consumer Freedom Director of Research David Martosko. “PETA raked in nearly $29 million last year alone, but apparently it couldn’t spare any money to care for the flesh-and-blood animals entrusted to its employees. It’s ironic -- If anyone else were caught red-handed with 31 dead dogs, PETA would be holding a press conference to denounce them.”

by Cziltang 
Posted: Sunday, June 26 2005 08:04:33 PM

Return of the Butter Police
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Back in February of 2004 I wrote an article entitled "Butter Police" (with later apologies to Emeril LaGasse from whom I apparently got the term). In it I argued that a proposal in the Kansas Legislature to spend my tax dollars on a "public service" campaign to get people to eat right was the first step toward making the Butter Police a reality. The money bit:

"So I'm watching these busy-bodies in Topeka drool all over themselves at the thought of spending my money to tell folks to improve their eating habits and it all becomes clear. We start this "Public Service" campaign. It won't take nearly as much, because we've been softened up by years of anti-tobacco propaganda. Then we ban certain kinds of food in cafes and diners because it is bad for you. Then we make it illegal to super-size your fries. Then we make it illegal under any circumstances to feed certain foods to children. Then, using their newly acquired police powers gained under the provisions of the Patriot Act IX, the Butter Police break into your home and arrest you for child abuse because you fed junior a fudgesicle."

Now, via the Agitator, I found the following at The Center for Consumer Freedom.

"Unbridled obesity panic could soon put the Good Humor Man on ice in San Diego. A group of food scolds, commissioned by the city's Board of Supervisors, has drafted "strategies" for combating childhood obesity which, among many outlandish ideas, include "ordinances restricting mobile junk food vendors from areas frequented by children and youth." Such laws would "expressly apply to ice cream vendors."

It's not just the neighborhood ice cream guy who should be worried. On tap are truly galling calls for zoning restrictions on restaurants, "fat taxes," advertising bans, shutting down drive-thrus, and even absurd odor controls to make food less enticing.

...

Then there was the idea ... to ban "unhealthy" foods from even being brought to school. While some schools are concerned about checking for weapons, apparently San Diego wants to search kids' backpacks for Ho-Hos."

OK. I was hoping the recent news out of the CDC that perhaps obesity isn't the bona fide killer that the original study suggested (a study authored by the director of the CDC, which should have raised an eyebrow or two anyway...) that maybe this kind of crap might slow down for a while. I guess I'll just have to settle for being a prophet.

Meanwhile, on a different front of the war to protect us from ourselves (via Samizdata)

A&E doctors are calling for a ban on long pointed kitchen knives to reduce deaths from stabbing. A team from West Middlesex University Hospital said violent crime is on the increase - and kitchen knives are used in as many as half of all stabbings.

The researchers said there was no reason for long pointed knives to be publicly available at all.

Coming soon to this side of the pond, no doubt...

by Cziltang 
Posted: Sunday, June 26 2005 07:29:31 PM

Tag, I'm IT
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I'm well aware that Ratlands occupies a rather dusty, out-of-the-way corner of the backwaters of the internet, so I didn't really expect to be doing this, but Howard over at The Smedley Log, tagged me with the following 5 questions, so I thought I would give it a try:

1. How many books have you owned?

Several hundred. I don't think I've ever gotten rid of a book willingly (probably has something to do with my father being a librarian) although I suspect that some of the paperbacks that I can't seem to find may have had some assistance getting "lost" by my wife.

2. What was the last book you bought?

Silent America by Bill Whittle

3. What was the last book that you’ve read?

The fifth Harry Potter book. (actually, I read the fourth and fifth Harry Potter books last week while I was home sick) Rat Jr. left them in the living room, I picked one up as an alternative to daytime television and got sucked in.

The last serious book I read was The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge.

4. What are 5 books that have meant a lot to you?

Five seems awfully restrictive.

1. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is hard to describe how much of an impact they had on me. They seem sort of commonplace now, with the movies and all. When I first read them in the mid '70's, I had never experienced anything like them and there were only a handful of us in High School who had. There was almost a sense of shared, secret knowledge amongst those of us who had read them.

2. The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra. A discussion of parallels between modern physics and eastern mysticism.

3. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Walter Pirsig. Although it wasn't my first take on the book, the lasting impact was to help clarify my belief that there is such a thing as quality and that you can discriminate between quality and crap (as opposed to certain fashionable beliefs of a more relativistic nature).

4. Thriving on Chaos by Tom Peters. The first management book I read that actually captured my imagination.

5. Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein. The first science fiction book I ever read. When I found it in the Jr. High library, it opened up possibilities you just don't envision when reading "The life of the Pond."

OK, I admit that I have trouble with authority and arbitrary rules, so I'm going to mention a sixth book. Purity of Heart (Is to Will One Thing) by Soren Kierkegaard. I can't even begin to explain why I've got Danish Existentialism in my list. It was just one of those right time, right place kind of things.

5. Tag five people that haven’t played yet.

I'm going to have to respectfully decline on this one. It isn't that I don't want to play along. It just reminds me too much of dating in high school. (Several girls I'd like to ask out, but contemplating the possibility of rejection is mortifying to the point of incapacitation... And, by the way, if you understand that analogy, I share your pain. If you don't understand it, we will never be able to explain it to you.)

by Cziltang 
Posted: Saturday, June 18 2005 04:52:43 AM

How did that happen?
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I've been real sick the last several days. I spent this afternoon at the doctor's office following up, since I don't seem to be all that much better. While I was waiting, I was listening to Telegraph Road by Dire Straits. I absolutely love the last four minutes of that song. It never fails to send shivers down my spine. I got to thinking about other songs that have that kind of impact on me. Off the top of my head the short list looks like this:

Telegraph Road: Dire Straits

Where the Streets have no Names: U2

What do you want the Girl to do?: Lowell George

The Dance of Maya: Mahavishnu Orchestra

Chalkdust Torture: Phish

Like a Rock: Bob Seger

So I'm sitting there thinking about this stuff, and I realized that for the most part, this stuff is around 20 years old. Somewhere along the line I guess I got old.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Wednesday, June 15 2005 06:55:52 PM

After my own heart...
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Here's an interesting piece from the Q and O blog which makes a point about rhetorical excess in political speech. (Just a little something for those of us who are committed to (reasonably) civilized discourse to keep in mind.)

by Cziltang 
Posted: Thursday, June 09 2005 11:38:45 PM

What Next?
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The Head Rat has the TV on in the other room. I had to stop the project I'm working on to go in there and verify that I was actually hearing what I thought I was hearing. Unfortunately I was not hallucinating. It was, in fact, Paul Anka doing a big-band jazz version of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Now, that's gotta be, like, one of the signs of the Apocalypse, right?

So, what's next? Republicans being fiscally conservative? Democrats with an actual constructive agenda? The Constitution actually meaning something again?

(Update: just a small note to Howard: it's a moot point if the one you love owns her own gun.)

by Cziltang 
Posted: Wednesday, June 08 2005 11:33:35 PM

Get us out of D.C.
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I'm late for work this morning so I don't have time to do this right, but this is too good to pass up.

As an American you are more likely to be shot and killed in Washington D.C. than you are in Iraq.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Tuesday, June 07 2005 09:41:03 AM

If only I had been drinking instead...
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(I've spent the afternoon looking for a particular turn-of-phrase I ran into in a Blog some time ago. The problem is that I can't remember which one, or how long ago it was, or more importantly, anything about it other than a vague recollection of the argument it was used in and a gnawing sensation in the back of my head that it was a perfect, concise statement of the point I'm wanting to make. Some comedian, somewhere, sometime (another of those things I can't remember) said, "Sure drinking kills brain cells, but only the weak ones." Apparently most of my long-term memory was handled by the weaker parts of what was formerly my brain.)

I got home a bit before 6:00 this morning. At this point I wish it had been because I had been out drinking. Unfortunately, I seem to have the hangover, but didn't get to enjoy it. Work is like that some times.

I spent a good portion of last night handling a formal disciplinary action on one of my 3rd shift staff members. It seems so simple to me. "X" happened. It was not appropriate. "Y" disciplinary action ensues. Oh yeah. Silly me. I keep operating under the inconvenient illusion that there is an objective real world out there and that actions have consequences.

Frankly, I wasn't expecting to run into a full-blown moral relativist during a simple disciplinary action. (By simple disciplinary action I mean that I wrote down the behavior that was wrong, referenced the organizational policies that prohibit the behavior and formally asked the staff member to read the policies (again) and acknowledge that they were aware that the behavior was wrong.) This young woman was adamant that she didn't do anything wrong. Never mind that she knowingly and blatantly violated specific policies that she was fully aware of. Never mind that she potentially endangered other staff members and clients. Never mind that she came close to starting a riot. Never mind that we could be sued over the disclosure of confidential information. Never mind that she lied to me about the situation. She was right to do what she did because she thinks she was helping a victimized client, and that makes it OK. She fervently believes that she was right. And it is this intensity of belief that convinces her that she was right, because she believes it so strongly.

The actual document I had was about a third of a page long: a simple description of the issue, what was wrong and the requested remedy. She wrote a 3 page rebuttal that basically said "I didn't do anything wrong because I'm sure I was doing the right thing, don't talk to me about policies because I know I was doing the right thing, and besides, you are a horrible supervisor if you can't see that I was doing the right thing, and my co-workers are conspiring against me."

This sort of thing is intensely painful for me, not because in my objective reality there is any doubt that I'm right, but because I was just like her about 20 years ago. Logic, rules, evidence and common sense be damned, I'm right because I really, really, really want the world to be the way I want the world to be and if you can't see that I'm right (or that the world really is the way I say it is) then you're an idiot. That sort of sloppy thinking embarrasses me now. But 25 years of having reality shoved in your face will straighten out some of that sloppy thinking if you have anything remotely resembling intellectual integrity.

So what's the point? Well, probably none. I can't give out enough details to allow anyone to make a rational judgment on the situation. So I guess the point is that this is just an extended whine.

(except that I'll probably get sued for my efforts)

by Cziltang 
Posted: Sunday, June 05 2005 10:21:53 PM

?
link

Ok, it's 6:00 AM. I've been up all night dealing with some problems at work. And now, while I'm trying to wind down enough to go to sleep I find these:

Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-Fight

A publisher is touting a new edition of the Gospels that identifies Christ as a woman named Judith Christ of Nazareth.

(both of these via NIF)

(Update: just so you know, the Lion story was a fake. As near as I can tell, the re-writing of the Gospels to make them more emotionally satisfying isn't.)

by Cziltang 
Posted: Saturday, June 04 2005 05:59:58 AM