Slashdot Mirror
City Councilman Resigns Using Klingon
Virtucon writes "A city councilman in Indian Trail Town, North Carolina has resigned and opted to write his letter of resignation in Klingon. David Waddell is obviously a fan of Star Trek. I wonder if the other council members know what the hell he wrote? I'm sure a nice Qu'vatlh would have sufficed."
Or should I say Kapla?
Creationist Textbook Stickers Declared Unconstitutional by CowboyNeal
Would have been first except my bat'leth got caught on my cat again. Off to find another cat...
Where's a link to the actual resignation letter?
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
This NY Daily article has much more info, including the resignation letter.
My favorite part is the mayor's response: "I wish him the best, live long and prosper. I don't know what else to say."
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
Especially for a Klingon. I would have expected a lot more blood and growling.
"Today is a good day to resign!"
It looks like he was a buffoon. He voted no on everything including adjournment of the meetings. To top it off, it looks like the only reason he resigned was because he got bored and wanted to perform one last stunt. No one was forcing him to resign.
The icing on the cake being that the idiot still plans to attend the meetings.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
He put the translation in with the letter, so it's not like he was requiring other people to learn the language or anything. He was just having fun.
The main issue is resigning in the middle of your term, which he basically committed to doing when he got elected. As someone else said, "Klingons don't resign."
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Since when does a Klingon resign from anything? This must be a hoax. The only reason the word "resign" would be in the Klingon language is to describe other weakling species. Doh!
Sure, if they were signing a deed for a new ship, and then spilt bloodwine over the signature, they're have to re-sign it.
I'm guessing a Klingon would've chosen to just walk into the council chambers and slaughter all the other members.
#DeleteChrome
Someone resigning after being entrusted with power by the people should definitely go for seppuku instead.
You're right! From the nydailynews article:
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Klingons do not lease. Nor do they buy. Klingons take what they want, over the bodies of financiers and salespeople!
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
>> David Waddell is obviously a (nutjob)
OK, so the guy resigned in Klingon - probably before his local constituency voted him out. However, if he'd run and won using Klingon, that would be news.
Seriously, if you're going to learn a language, why not Spanish or Chinese something else you can use to communicate with and represent real people with real problems. (If you're a politician, that's really your only job.)
It looks like he was a buffoon. He voted no on everything including adjournment of the meetings. To top it off, it looks like the only reason he resigned was because he got bored and wanted to perform one last stunt. No one was forcing him to resign.
Nope. He's a conservative politician in a primarily progressive area whose main shtick (as you mentioned) was to simply vote "No" on everything regardless of sense or reason. So, naturally, he's resigning to campaign for the U.S. Senate where his skills are clearly in high demand right now.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
If I remember correctly, write-ins in NC are not automatically counted ( http://www.ibiblio.org/prism/Feb97/write.html ). Maybe he can get the few hundred who voted him onto the council to petition for his name to be counted in his race against Hagan. If he's serious about getting some attention, he should get billboards with his photo and a quote in Klingon written underneath. Otherwise, he might as well borrow a cloaking device, because he's going to be invisible anyhow.
Doesn't "inside joke" imply that someone else on the council understands why he'd do that or what's funny about it? Or maybe he's one of those people who smiles, and when asked why, answers "I think funny thoughts".
Context is important to whether a joke is funny, or just stupid. If this were a conscientious councilman who was forced by circumstance to resign, this story would be cute. But this is an egotistical blowhard who used his position as a platform for obstructive ass-hattery (e.g., voting "no" on everything, including motions to adjourn), quitting because even he'd got tired of the stupid game. See MrEricSir's link above.
This guy was a disgrace to his office, and now he's brought disgrace on fan-dom.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Just what I was thinking.
"Resign" in Klingon would have to be a polite way of saying "took a Bat'leth to the skull".
He is definitely no Klingon.
If people can conduct public business in Spanish, he can do it in Klingon. If you don't like it, I urge you to support measures to make English the only legal language for official use in the country.
Klingons simply announce that they are leaving, and fight to the death anyone who objects.
That's hardly professional or mature for an elected official, inside joke or not.
This is a mentality I just can't get down with.
OK, so maybe resigning in Klingon wasn't the best decision he could have made; but, when you start pointing out a certain expectation for the 'professional or mature' attitude of elected officials, you're pretty much assuring that the only people who will fit the bill are the same kind of career politicians that have been fucking things up for your entire life.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
When you resign in Klingon it only works if you go all-out Klingon: Either kill your opponent or kill yourself. ... unless ...
Should Sen. Kay Hagan be worried?
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
As the subject says, he's a petaQ! However, it would have been more interesting if he had stood up in the council chambers, said "taH pagh taHbe' " (to be or not to be), and then disemboweled himself with a handy d'k tagh dagger was carrying. It would have been even better if appeared in Klingon warrior's armor.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
You are making a false equivalency between people's right to do official business with the state and with a buffoon who handed in a resignation in a fake language.
The "Preview" button is not a command, but it is a very strong suggestion.
Hey, at least slashdot got it right for once. This truly was "news for nerds".
And nobody else.
John
This guy hasn't contributed anything of value in his entire career(seriously zilch), and seems to only have gotten his office on account of the fact that the people of Indian Trail don't actually know what the Constitution Party is.
Come on, this is Klingon - they should execute him.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Surely he's the first to disgrace fandom?
if you're going to learn a language, why not Spanish or Chinese something else you can use to communicate with and represent real people with real problems. (If you're a politician, that's really your only job.)
Because, politician? I dunno, it seems like politicians haven't been interested in public service for a couple hundred years now. Maybe longer.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
Thank God the US Constitution doesnt prescribe a legal language or there was a good chance it could have been German at that time. But there are defacto languages of government used in legal precedents and communicating legislation with citizens. Klingon is not one of them.
In handing in his resignation, he was doing business with the government. Furthermore, Klingon is as real a language as any. People can write and converse in it, and some classics have even been translated to it. I recognize it is a stunt, but it is no more wrong than doing business with the government in any other non-English language.
Seriously, if you're going to learn a language, why not Spanish or Chinese
As someone who speaks Spanish and Chinese, I respect anyone who learns a language, for whatever reason.
Most likely he just used an online translator though, he can't actually speak it.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Again, I'm not saying this particular guy isn't a moron.
What I'm saying is that when you state such a lofty expectation for behavior in politicians, you pretty much ensure that the only people who will ever qualify for said positions are people who spend their lives being groomed for it. Which leads to political dynasties. Which, IMO, generally suck for the people who aren't part of the aforementioned powerful families.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Seriously, if you're going to learn a language, why not Spanish or Chinese something else you can use to communicate with and represent real people with real problems.
It would surprise me not-at-all if this is a setup.
"See?", some other nutjob politician says, "English should be the official language, just to prevent this sort of stuff from happening."
No one speaks Klingon natively. Ergo literally any other language is more useful.
Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
Well, it's a contributing factor, but you'll never displace winner take all elections for causes of "2 terrible choices" situations.
Klingons do not resign. They may be forced to accept discommendation, but they never, ever give up and 'resign'.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Isn't Hegh'bat the equivalent of a Klingon Resignation?
It make me strangely happy to realize that there is a Klingon Language Institute.
Wrong!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/19/darmond-speers-dad-spoke_n_363477.html
Try again.
. Define sqrt(x) as something really evil like (x / rand()), and bury it deep. Watch your coworkers go nuts.
1) The guy's wife was speaking to the kid in English so evidently this would be considered bilingualism.
2) Obviously of the 2, English was the vastly more useful one to communicate with *literally anyone.*
3) That's a horrible thing to do to your kid. Don't do experiments with extremely young children. Just don't.
Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
That's a horrible thing to do to your kid. Don't do experiments with extremely young children. Just don't.
A lot of our understanding on how people learn is through experiments on extremely young children. Without it, rather than using the scientific method to figure out the best ways of teaching new things, we are left with randomly trying untested things out on large groups (ie: public school policy).
It make me strangely happy to realize that there is a Klingon Language Institute.
Yes, it means that Klingon is like French, a language defined by a committee.
or finding continuity errors in star wars novels.
Novels?
What about the continuity errors in the Star Wars films!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Albert_experiment
Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
I have a feeling a real Klingon would kill you where you stand for that statement.
I don't undestand. What's so strange about being a Libertarian Socialist?
I'm about to paint with a very broad brush. I mean no insult to anybody.
Socialist generally try to create a utopia through targeted policies of taxation and welfare spending. In other words, they are for redistributing wealth and government intervention.
Libertarians, on the other hand, generally believe they can create a utopia despite government intrusion... and the less of it, the better.
These seem quite contradictory. To answer your question, this is why it seems strange. Ultimately, though, it depends on what you mean by the terms. There are all sorts of ideas that are called Socialist, and all sorts of ideas that are called Libertarian.
I won't join Slashcott. OTOH, If Beta goes live, I just won't be back until it's fixed. Sorry Dice.
You have insulted my councilman's honor, I challenge you to a death duel!
I'm sorry, we are FAR past expecting our elected officials to be either professional or mature.
Have you seen any broadcast from Congress or the Senate? We had more reasoned debate in kindergarten school.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
That P'tach didn't even know Klingon. The coward used Bing.
A wookie? That doesn't even make sense!
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
I wondered about that. How can the Klingons have an economy if everyone is a soldier? Soldiers need to eat too. Don't they have farmers? Soldiers need weapons. Don't they have armorers? A spacefaring race would need engineers, navigators, mechanics, pilots, even more mundane things like meteorologists. You'd look real stupid as a spaceship captain if your ship crashed because you didn't go around a hurricane on your descent through the atmosphere.
I thought the same thing about the Spartans after watching the movie 300. I found out later they kept slaves for the mundane labor. Do the Klingons keep other species slaves to grow their food?
I'm thinking about this too much. I need to get back to bed.
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
I know nothing about this particular guy, but from what I learned about J.R.R. Tolkien, serious linguistics freaks often use invented languages to study patterns in language in a clearer form than available on living languages. Basically, it's a sandbox environment to play around with.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Yes, Klingons have 'subject races.' Also, castes other than warrior.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
No, we need to draw some lines. Klingon should not be recognized as a real language, and every municipality should be able to refuse to do any sort of business in it and to deny any accommodation to people who speak it. There is no comparison with Spanish in the U.S., and it's insulting to claim one.
It is a fake language - the first cases of it were isolated words made up for a Star Trek movie (by James Doohan!), and it later was extended, but it's a fabricated language, no one depends on it as their first language, and we should take this mild step in order to protect legitimate languages.
I'm pretty confident in stating that the U.S. would be better off if the amount of effort spent on Klingon were directed to improving English proficiency for native U.S. residents whose first language is English!
I don't consider expecting a normally written resignation exactly lofty.. just normal.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
I agree, English only, except in cases where we need to deal with foreign citizens and such.
There is no such thing as a fake language. It is a constructed language, like many before it throughout history. You can think of French as partially constructed, since it has had an official group determining its vocabulary and evolution for over 300 years.
Doohan made some first bits of Klingon, but after that it was completely created as a whole language by a known linguist. It has all the elements of a functional language, and people can write and converse in it. It is no more a "fake language" than Esperanto or Interlingua. Klingon even has its own ISO language code.
People learning Klingon are doing that on their own. Aside from that, I agree, we should work on improving English, but for everyone in the US, especially immigrants. I prefer the Swiss model where if you don't learn of of the local languages within a certain time, you get deported.