Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Does the FBI Have Any Real Work to Do?

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) apparently doesn’t have anything to do these days, since they are amusing themselves with threatening spurious legal actions against Wikipedia for illustrating the FBI’s entry with the FBI’s logo. According to the FBI’s letter (PDF link), using the FBI seal as Wikipedia does is a violation of federal law.

There are many, many, many problems with the FBI’s contention here. First and foremost, the law clearly only deals with people displaying the logo “in a manner reasonably calculated to convey the impression that such [work] is approved, endorsed, or authorized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” Wikipedia is doing no such thing in their entry, which clearly shows the seal in a merely informative context.

The FBI argues that Wikipedia facilitates the illegal use of the logo (although it’s unclear how the FBI’s own web site doesn’t do the same thing). Of course, anybody can take the high-quality version of the image from Wikipedia and do whatever they want with it . . . and they, not Wikipedia, are responsible for what they do. Wikipedia clearly explains the legal limitations on the seal’s information page: “Public domain from a copyright standpoint, but other restrictions apply. In the US, unauthorized use of the FBI seal, name, and initials are subject to prosecution under Federal Criminal law, including 18 U.S.C § 701, § 709, and § 712.”

I would think that the FBI has better things to do than harass online media outlets for something that isn’t even illegal, but just in case they don’t here’s some more work for ’em. I’m displaying the FBI logo on my site, just like CNN, CBS, CNET, BBC, the New York Times, the Examiner, AOL News, Google, Microsoft, and more. Oh, the horrors. Come arrest me, I dare you.

Washington Post Endorses Fenty

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The Washington Post has endorsed Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) in the Washington, D.C. Democratic primary. In heavily-Democratic Washington, a win in the Democratic primary essentially guarantees election as Mayor in the general election. I am not a citizen of the District and, as such, Off on a Tangent will make no formal endorsement in this race. Having said that, I do take an interest in D.C. city politics since the policies implemented there have regional impact.

The Post editorial board makes a sound and well-reasoned argument for re-electing Fenty and, watching as an outsider, I have been generally pleased with the city’s direction under his leadership. Fenty’s government has noticeably improved many parts of the District over his four years in office and, most importantly, he has presided over a controversial and much-needed series of public school reforms (led by his appointed Schools Chancellor, Michelle Rhee). In a very short time, D.C. schools have gone from being the laughing-stock of the nation to being regarded as an ascendant system with a chance at real success.

For his (and Rhee’s) ‘no-holds-barred’ reformation of D.C. city schools alone, Fenty deserves praise. D.C. government has many serious problems—crime, corruption, and incompetence leading the list. Education is the key to solving each of them. Well-educated citizens will choose productive careers instead of a life of crime. Well-educated citizens will participate in their government and reject cronyism and corruption. Well-educated citizens will rebuild their blighted neighborhoods and decaying infrastructure. If Washington is to continue to improve, it will only do so with a sufficiently effective public education system. Fenty and Rhee, seizing control after decades of academic institutional failure, have finally started to turn things around.

Once again, I make no endorsement in this race and would not presume to lecture the citizens of Washington, D.C. (any more than I already have) on who they should elect as their mayor. But I’m not going to bite my tongue either: despite their flaws, Mayor Fenty and Michelle Rhee seem to be the best things to happen to the District in a while. I am hoping that the citizens of the District will give them a chance to keep up their very important work.

Taxes and Recovery

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It is counter-intuitive, but has been proven time and time again: If the United States federal government has a revenue problem, it can increase its income (over time) by lowering tax rates. This is acknowledged by honest politicos on the left and the right—including Democratic idol, President John F. Kennedy (D) who lobbied during his presidency for lowering taxes to fund government programs and improve the economy. “Lower rates of taxation will stimulate economic activity and so raise the levels of personal and corporate income,” Kennedy said, “as to yield within a few years an increased—not a reduced—flow of revenues to the federal government.”

This works because lowering the tax burden leads people to do one of two things: Some put more money into savings; some spend. Whichever people do, they are helping the economy with that money. Money spent on goods and services enriches businesses, which then can pay their employees more, hire more employees, or buy more products and services from others. As this propagates through the economy, it reduces unemployment and increases incomes, which increases tax revenue for the government. Even money put in savings accounts provides more investment dollars for the banks that fund capital improvements and investment spending across the economy, leading to similar results in a different way.

Read more . . .

NTSB Gives Metro a Well-Deserved Slap

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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) today released the findings from its investigation of last summer’s MetroRail crash, giving the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA, ‘Metro’) a well-deserved slap in the face. According to the NTSB, Metro exhibited systemic problems well before the crash—both technological (a grossly insufficient automatic safety system) and cultural (a management failure to identify and fix safety problems).

There are few surprises, so far, in NTSB’s report. I covered many of these same points in my initial analysis of the June 2009 crash, and several more times in the months that followed. So far I’m only aware of one new piece of information that couldn’t be determined by attentive independent observers before: the report appears to exonerate the operator of the train. Less than three seconds after the stationary train became visible to Jeanice McMillan, she applied the emergency brake . . . but it was already too late. Even if she had somehow applied the break the very millisecond the train came into view, it would not have been enough to avoid the accident. She was a victim of a failed and un-safe transit system, as were the eight passengers who perished with her and the 80+ who suffered injuries in the crash.

So we arrive at the conclusion we expected: Metro’s failure to implement a fail-safe, redundant collision avoidance system, combined with Metro’s failure to follow previous NTSB recommendations and remove ‘1000 series’ trains from service, combined with Metro’s control system failing to detect that a train had disappeared from its grid, combined with probably another 100 or 1,000 irresponsible derelictions of duty are what caused this crash. The leaders of Metro, including former General Manager John Catoe and the entire Metro board, must be held accountable for their criminal negligence.

More importantly, Metro’s leadership—preferably a completely new, responsible leadership—absolutely must implement all past and present NTSB safety recommendations immediately. All ‘1000 series’ cars must be removed from service; a fail-safe, redundant train detection mechanism must be implemented; the tracking system in Metro’s control center must be upgraded to alert when trains ‘disappear’; malfunctioning track circuits must be repaired and all track circuits must be monitored for anomalies constantly. This is not rocket science; it’s Engineering 101. People’s lives are in your hands. No more excuses. No more blather about how expensive it will be (especially when MetroRail is the most expensive transit system to ride in the U.S.). No more pandering to the employee union. No more posturing. Fix the problems, and fix them now . . . before more people lose their lives.

DISCLOSE Act Before Senate Today

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The U.S. Senate will be voting on the DISCLOSE Act later today (Tuesday, 7/27/2010). This is your last chance to make your opinion known to your representatives, and I strongly encourage you to write, call, or visit your Senators right away.

I’ve written about this pernicious act before, and the dangerous chilling effect it will have on legitimate political speech from both sides. President Barack Obama’s (D) administration has characterized this act as an effort to stymie the efforts of ‘special interest’ groups to influence politics. The act will, indeed, stymie many interest groups, but we cannot delude ourselves into thinking this is a good thing.

The problem is that these interest groups, as I stated in my previous discussions of this law, “aren’t some diabolical, nebulous enemy of our democracy; they are democracy.” You and I, whether we fall on the ‘left’ or ‘right’ of the political spectrum, have the right to support groups we agree with. Those groups we support have the right to spend their money on political speech.

DISCLOSE will muzzle these groups—the Gun Owners of America and Planned Parenthood; the ACLU and FRC; GLAAD and Freedom’s Watch alike. It is a blatant affront to Constitutionally protected free speech and free association. Freedom-loving Americans, whether they are conservative or liberal, must oppose it.

Once again, this is your last opportunity to express your opposition to your Senators. I urge you to contact them today and ask them to oppose this unconstitutional power-grab and encroachment on your political freedoms. The Capitol switchboard can be reached at (202) 224-3121.

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.