Jinn of Quality and Risk (2002-Oct-02)

Jinn?

According to critics, an eavesdropper, constantly striving to go behind the curtains of heaven in order to steal divine secrets. May grant wishes. or use my wishlist (at amazon.com) if you are in the mood for gifts.

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Projects

~~Find a new job, now. Move home, this month.~~ Finish my book, asap. Read, more. Sleep, less. ~~Travel, v.soon.~~

Bio?

Species: featherless biped, chocolate addict
Roots: born in Sweden — lived also in Switzerland, USA, UK — mixed up genes from Sweden, Norway, India, Germany
Languages: French, English, Swedish, German, Portuguese, Latin, Ada, Perl, Java, assembly languages, Pascal, C/C++, etc.
Roles: programme manager, methodology lead, quality and risk manager, writer, director of technology, project lead, solutions architect — as well as gardener, factory worker, farmhand, supermarket cleaner, programmer, student, teacher, language lawyer, traveller, soldier, lecturer, software engineer, philosopher, consultant

2002-Sep-19

Who is the enemy?

The problem with [the islamo-fascist] culture is that in the 20th century it was revealed as being an abject failure. ... The only Arab nations which have prospered have done so entirely because of the accident of mineral wealth. ... They didn't build or create any of it themselves. It's all parasitic. ... The diseased culture of our enemy suffers from all seven of the deep flaws Ralph Peters identifies as condemning nations to failure in the modern world [...]: restrictions on the free flow of information; the subjugation of women; inability to accept responsibility for individual or collective failure; the extended family or clan as the basic unit of social organization; domination by a restrictive religion; a low valuation of education; and low prestige assigned to work.

They are profoundly handicapped by the very values that they hold most dear and that they believe make them what they are. ... They hate us because our culture is everything theirs is not. Our culture is vibrant and fecund; our economies are successful. Our achievements are magnificent. Our engineering and science are advancing at breathtaking speed. [Steven den Beste, USS Clueless via Eric Raymond, Armed and Dangerous]

There are some similar problems in Europe: censorship, dependence on the collective (the State), xenophobia and racism, and low prestige assigned to entrepreneurship. Granted the situation is not as bad, but long-term Europe will have to either improve or deteriorate (stagnation is not possible in a high-tech society).

Forgetful Germans

By not wishing to associate themselves under any circumstances with any decisions of the Security Council on Iraq, [Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his foreign minister, Joschka Fischer,] are weakening the authority of the United Nations and hence trampling on a fundamental principle of German foreign policy--the strengthening of the U.N. ... What is wrong with Germany? Are Germans ungrateful? Have they such a short memory that they have forgotten who defended peace and freedom in Berlin in the Cold War, and who made it possible for the country to be reunified in peace and freedom in 1990? ["Berlin's Isolation: How Germany became Saddam's favorite state," by Wolfgang Schäuble, member of the German Bundestag, CDU's shadow foreign and defense minister]

It is especially irritating and ominous to see Germany's social-democrat government choosing to side with a fascist dictatorship against the rest of the civilised world, in order to gain more votes in their upcoming national elections.

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Current Events

2002-Sep-19

Who is the enemy?

Forgetful Germans