There was some downtime this evening as I converted Off on a Tangent’s content management system from Mambo to Joomla. Joomla is a fork of the Mambo project which is developed by the same team that had previously developed Mambo. I consider Joomla 1.0 the most legitimate upgrade path from Mambo 4.5.2 (as opposed to the Mambo Foundation/Miro International releases that will continue under the Mambo name).
Bush Nominates Roberts for Chief Justice
President George W. Bush (R) today nominated John Roberts Jr. to become the next Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court following the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Roberts had previously been nominated to fill an associate justice vacancy left by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who announced her retirement in July. Roberts’s Senate confirmation hearings for that position were originally scheduled to begin tomorrow, and he was expected to be confirmed.
Chief Justice Rehnquist Dies
William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, died Saturday evening from complications related to thyroid cancer. Rehnquist has been on the Supreme Court since 1972 and was nominated to become Chief Justice by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. In 1999, he became only the second Chief Justice to preside over a presidential impeachment hearing. He was 80.
Metro in Manual Mode After Door Malfunction
Another prime example of why ‘throw money at it’ is an unacceptable solution to the problems affecting the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA, Metro). These geniuses bought a 192 new train cars for 383 million dollars and didn’t bother to make sure they worked (or seek to have them repaired/rebuilt when they didn’t). Way to put passenger safety at risk, guys!
Anarchy in New Orleans
The situation in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continues to deteriorate as efforts to evacuate survivors continue. Looting continues and rescue teams have come under attack from snipers as hospitals and shelters run out of food and supplies. Meanwhile, there are reports that storm victims are being raped and beaten by mobs at the New Orleans Convention Center (being used as a secondary shelter). Police have been unable to restore order and Mayor Ray Nagin issued a “desperate SOS” for outside help.
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.