It has been nearly five years since the 09/11/2001 terrorist attacks which plunged the United States of America—and much of the world, for that matter—into a war without precedent. Five years since smoke rose over the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York, a demolished section of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field near Skanksville, Pennsylvania where the last plane hijacked that day went down without hitting its target.
The Lost Action Hero
An interesting piece by Stephen Hunter appeared in this morning’s Washington Post about the fairly vacuous topic of action heroes in film. I find it interesting not because I care much about action heroes (though I do like a good, mindless action movie now and then), but because—in comparing today’s to those of old—the author exposes a serious problem I’ve noticed with modern cinema and television.
Of Friendship and Personal Responsibility
One of the philosophies I have lived by in the past few years is the doctrine of personal responsibility: Every individual is primarily responsible for his or her decisions, successes, failures, feelings, and attitudes. That’s not to say that ‘outside factors’ cannot impact those things—they can—but ultimately people have more control over their own lives and their own feelings than they usually admit.
Statue of Liberty’s Crown to Stay Closed
Very briefly, I wanted to point out an article that appeared on the Associated Press wire last week. For reasons the National Park Service has not sufficiently explained, the Statue of Liberty’s crown is going to remain closed indefinitely. The crown was closed following the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks and has not been open to visitors since.
Ongoing Site & Content Updates
As part of an ongoing effort to improve Off on a Tangent, I’ve been making a lot of seemingly-small changes to the site over the past couple of weeks. This comes as I continue to hone what I want the site to be and how I want it to be presented to the world, and—meanwhile—begin technical preparations for a major CMS upgrade tentatively scheduled later this year.
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.