Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Treason Goes Unnoticed

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It wasn’t that long ago that I pointed out Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had committed a felony when she went to Syria and met with its leaders in a foreign-relations capacity without authorization from the president. The so-called Logan Act (USC Title 18, Part I, Chapter 45, §953), passed in 1799, prohibits U.S. citizens from engaging in foreign relations without the ‘authority of the United States’ (and the executive, not Congress, is granted Constitutional responsibility for foreign affairs).

Now, former President Jimmy Carter (D) has committed a similar act. Again, nobody seems to care.

Carter, against instructions from the Bush administration, traveled to the middle-east and held a meeting with the leaders of Hamas. Hamas is a recognized terrorist organization that holds de-facto control of the Gaza Strip and legislative control of the entire Palestinian National Authority. Jimmy Carter might not have noticed (too busy polishing his Nobel Peace Prize?), but we’re in the midst of a War on Terror. An argument could easily be made that by meeting with Hamas leadership, Carter not only violated the Logan Act but also committed treason. A former U.S. president meeting with a known terrorist leader grants that terrorist leader legitimacy. If giving a terrorist leader legitimacy isn’t giving ‘aid and comfort’ to avowed enemies of the United States (U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 3), what is?

The Gradual Disintegration of Windows?

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I do basically all of my computing these days (excluding time at work) on either Mac OS X or Ubuntu Linux. I also have high-hopes for the Haiku OS, even though it’s not ready for prime time just yet. I am not a fan of Windows, as any long-time reader will be well-aware, and only use the wayward Microsoft operating system on the computer provided by my employer and in a Parallels Desktop testing environment.

I just read a really interesting article by Peter Bright at Ars Technica that provides a great—albeit technical—background of Windows and Mac OS as they exist today from the perspective of a former software developer on the Windows platform who has left for the greener pastures of Mac OS.

All-in-all, I agree with Bright. Apple and Microsoft both had aging operating systems in the mid-to-late 1990s that were not well suited for modern applications or for the constant networking (and networking threats) brought by the Internet. Apple started over with Mac OS X, a ground-up redo of Mac OS based on the work of the UNIX community and NeXT. Microsoft, while leaping forward with the technically advanced NT Kernel (the ‘core’ that runs Windows NT, 2000, XP, and Vista) long before Mac OS X made it to market, failed to remove all the cruft that surrounds it and continues to hobble Windows today. Here’s hoping the next version of Windows goes back to the drawing board and brings us something great.

Happy Passover; Life; Cars

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First off, I want to take a moment to wish all my Jewish friends and the greater, worldwide Jewish community a happy, safe Passover. I encourage all my non-Jewish friends—especially Christians, who share much of the Jewish religious heritage—to read up on what Passover is all about and take this as an opportunity to learn about (and pray for) the Jewish people, their history, and their safety. Claire Simmons has an excellent column in the Washington Post today that discusses Passover in the context of the Jewish peoples’ incredible strength and tenacity that held fast even even as some of the worst atrocities in history were committed against them in Nazi Germany. Check it out.

In other news, I’ve been as busy as ever but things are going pretty good. My mom is in town this weekend so Melissa and I got to hang out with her some yesterday and will see her again tomorrow. Meanwhile I’ve continued trying to stay motivated to write both for this site and on more long-term projects I’ve had in mind. So far it’s going pretty well. I’m also mentally preparing myself to get back into biking now that the weather has turned warmer. I probably won’t be able to get out there this weekend, but I’m expecting to venture out on a 10+ mile ride sometime in the next week. I’m going to make a low-budget bike rack for the back of the SUV (inside), a project for which I already have all the material, so I’ll probably do that first . . . maybe tomorrow.

Read more . . .

FCC Reviewing Comcast Broadband Abuses

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Reuters reports that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is reviewing Comcast’s questionable practice of blocking some Internet traffic and whether it is ‘reasonable’. Good.

But, as I have said before, ‘Net Neutrality’ needs to be enshrined in honest-to-goodness law, not just protected by the transient decree of an unelected (and largely unaccountable) commission. The Internet and companies that have spawned from it (Amazon, Google, etc.) have relied on a network that treats all data in a random, equitable fashion. Every bit and byte of information—whether it’s a news web site, iTunes music file, BitTorrent transfer, or software download—is treated the same.

Internet providers like Comcast have a responsibility to provide their customers with ‘virgin’, unfettered network access. Many Republicans claim that Net Neutrality legislation would go against their free-market inclinations, but—on the contrary—it is a neutral net that facilitates the modern, networked free market.

The views expressed in this post are mine and mine alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer, Web.com.

Maybe the $30-Million Hotel Will Be ADA-Compliant

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While George Mason University officials press on with their ludicrous $30-million hotel and conference center plans, more questions are emerging about the University’s ability to manage its existing infrastructure and support its existing students. The most recent story, as reported by WTOPNews.com, has the university on the receiving end of a lawsuit for gross violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

April Cave, who is confined to a wheelchair following a car accident a few years back, specifically requested a 1st floor dorm room when enrolling at GMU. The university, however, apparently thought it would be funny to put her on the 4th floor instead. Not only did the school assign April to a 4th floor dorm room, but they made zero accommodations for her evacuation in the event of an emergency. In November of last year, when the building’s fire alarm went off, April was left to fend for herself. The alarm was a false one (as they often are in dorm buildings at GMU), but the school’s utter negligence—while not surprising—is inexcusable.

Pam Cave, April’s mother, wrote an excellent letter to the editor that appeared in the Washington Post on Sunday. It’s unfortunate that GMU, an academically strong school, is hobbled by such incredible, persistent mismanagement.

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.