(A paper copy of this letter was sent on May 20, 2006. Any response will be published below when received. You may also wish to read a related opinion piece.)
The Right Call on Phone Records
Following recent news (first reported in USA Today) that the National Security Agency (NSA) is collecting some phone records, only Richard A. Falkenrath seems to be talking any sense. His article, which appeared in this morning’s edition of the Post, is a clear explanation of the program, why it’s necessary, and why it is almost certainly legal—despite a lot of congressional blather to the contrary.
‘Sniper-Style’ Attack, Shootout at Fairfax County Police Station [Updated]
Three Fairfax County police officers were shot—one killed and one seriously injured—in a sniper-style attack and gunfight at the Sully District [Police] Station in Chantilly. One assailant was injured by return fire and died at the scene. Despite earlier reports to the contrary, it is believed that the attacker worked alone.
Minor Site Updates (Content & Style) [updated x3]
I’ve been making some minor site updates over the past few days (not enough to bump the version number—still at 17.2). The changes will slightly improve readability and also affect some legacy content. Here are the changes:
Poll Shows Many Can’t Find Louisiana on Map
Despite the wall-to-wall coverage of the damage from Hurricane Katrina, nearly one-third of young Americans recently polled couldn’t locate Louisiana on a map and nearly half were unable to identify Mississippi.Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 fared even worse with foreign locations: six in 10 couldn’t find Iraq, according to a Roper poll conducted for National Geographic.
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.