Russ Nelson

I refer you to this Non Sequitur cartoon:

Note the wry observation: "government keeping us safe from our rights." I love it! I've never heard it put that way before, but it's perfectly right. We are born with rights, and only a government (or other band of thugs capable of greater violence) can take them away.

You may have heard that "Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for lunch." (It's not from Ben Franklin.) I don't think that's quite accurate. I prefer this one: "Democracy is one wolf and two sheep voting on what to have for lunch -- and lamb still ends up as the entree."

You don't change the nature of things merely by voting.

We pay quarterly estimated taxes because I work for myself. The September 15th payment is due shortly. My clever wife put the Emperor Palpatine stamp from the USPS Star Wars Series on the envelope the IRS provides. In spite of the First Amendment, the IRS punishes you if you write political speech on either the envelope or enclosed form. I can't see, however, how they could stop us from choosing a stamp with a motive of political protest!

I made myself an external battery set for my Compaq iPAQ. I took a Radio Shack(tm) battery case, attached a Radio Shack(tm) coaxial power connector to some Radio Shack(tm) speaker wire, insulated it with some Radio Shack(tm) black electrical wire, and filled it with Radio Shack(tm) Nickle-Metal-Hydride batteries.

Tried to take it (back) through the Portland Oregon airport after OSCON three years ago. Frigging moron bottom-of-her-class TSA inspector #1 decided it looked like a bomb. I foolishly said that I was uncomfortable watching her handle my possessions as if they might explode. She called the cops on me because I said the E-word. Frigging moron nearly-bottom-of-her-class TSA inspector #1 swabbed it and claimed that the spectrometer said that it had traces of C-4 explosive. I helpfully pointed out that the energy density of a modern battery was the equal of any plastic explosive. Not to be sexist, but a male TSA inspector came by and said "this is all stuff from Radio Shack(tm), what's the problem here?"

So the Portland cops came and bitched me out for having a bad attitude and making threats potentially subject to a $500 fine. I explained EXACTLY what I had said, offered to apologize and that was accepted. The airline representative had to be asked if he would allow me on his airplane. He was like WTF, and piss off a customer, oh, yeah, right "Yes, of course you're welcome to fly."

We need a War on Retreat, and a War on Flanking Charges. After all, we have a War on Terrorism. Why not have a war on every possible tactic?

Is there anybody else out there who thinks that attempting to eliminate a tactic of warfare is not possible? Or even if possible, not wise?

My wife reports that allergy medicines no longer contain pseudoephedrine. Unfortunately, she also reports that allergy medicines no longer work for her. Why is pseudoephedrine deprecated? Because you need pseudoephedrine to make methamphetamine.

UPDATE June 9: Several people point out that you can still get it in a free country like Canada, or from behind the counter. My point is not personal, my point is that we are dying a death of a thousand cuts.

First they came for the terrorists, and I said nothing because I wasn't a terrorist. Then they came for my phone calls, and I said nothing because I had nothing to hide. Then they came for the cryptographers, and I said nothing because I coulldn't even spel the word. Now I can't hide anything.

The Australian Labor Party wants to force ISPs to block violent content. Let me quote one of the founding fathers at them:

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." --George Washington

Continuation of Unrelenting Evil and Unrelenting Evil part 2

Faried pointed to fatwa 1, fatwa 2, and fatwa 3. Fair enough. He also points out that these folks are criminals. It's quite possible that the criminality of the Hussein regime generated criminality among the populace, so one might reasonably claim that the rampant criminality in Iraq has nothing to do with Islam. He also points out that Muslim leaders condemned the Berg murder without exception. I have to wonder, though, who they're leading given the "yesbuts" of the random people interviewed by NBC.

I wish to publicly thank Faried for tolerating my anger and impatience, with polite and thorough emailed replies some of which I have used in these two follow-ups.

I wrote Unrelenting Evil before attending Quaker Meeting later in the afternoon. I feel somewhat better now. It's incorrect of me to say that all Muslims are evil or stupid. Certainly some of them must be peaceful, otherwise they would have killed each other off centuries earlier. I still have trouble accepting a subgroup killing a person whose sole aim was to help the group. Perhaps if I could understand, I might forgive.

Faried writes with several public statements by The Muslim Association of Britain, Palestinians, Council for American-Islamic Relations, (same), and some blogger. and asks:

Doesn't an appeal count as condemnation of the kidnapping?

I have to ask: "Where is the fatwa against the murderers?" More importantly, how many people will believe the fatwa and act on it? Surely if all these quotes from the Qur'an can be believed, then killing an innocent person is one of the worst things a Muslim can do. Surely it's worse than merely publishing a cartoon or humiliating some prisoners?

There were much condemnation for, say, Nick Berg's murder because that was relatively an unusual event; see http://www.answers.com/topic/nick-berg or http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4978424/

I'm sorry, but, no, this is not condemnation. It is excusing the Berg murder with "yes it's horrible but". A condemnation would be "yes it's horrible and". Muslims are capable of absolute judgements. They have uniformly judged the cartoon depictions of Muhammed as blasphemy. Surely if they were members of "a religion of peace", they would be able to condemn a murder of a peaceful innocent without reservation, exception, or excuse.