Another shining example of WMATA (Metro) competence. In this time of heightened alert for transit, a MetroRail operator responded to a report of a suspicious bag on the train by telling people to move it so she could close the doors. The train then proceeded through two more stations as passengers frantically evacuated on their own before transit police were finally called to investigate.
Man Shot in London Underground; May Have Been Terrorist
London police officers fatally shot a man on the London Underground this morning, and preliminary reports indicate the man may have been a new suicide bomber. This incident comes only a day after three failed bombing attempts in the system and one on a bus, and just over two weeks after more than 50 were killed in a similar, successful attack.
Small Bombs Explode in London; One Injured
Three small bombs have exploded in the London Underground and one on a bus in London, two weeks to-the-day after four suicide bombers killed 56 (including themselves) in the same transport systems. The attacks were minor and only caused one reported injury, however preliminary reports indicate the bombs were intended to be much more powerful and malfunctioned.
Security Notice Affecting Main Eeltank.com Page
On or around May 3, 2005, there was a security breach at our hosting provider that resulted in a piece of malicious code being added to the main Eeltank.com page (this did not directly affect Off on a Tangent, Melissa’s site, or the Wedding Website). The malicious code loaded information from a website which may have attempted to install a virus or spyware. That site was shut down on or around May 8.
Bush Nominates Roberts to Supreme Court
President George W. Bush (R) announced last night that he will nominate Judge John Roberts Jr. to fill the first vacancy on the United States Supreme Court in eleven years. If confirmed, Roberts would take the seat currently held by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who announced on July 1 that she would step down from the highest court under U.S. law.
Roberts currently serves as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and his confirmation to that court was held up for two years by Democrats in the Senate. As an attorney, Roberts has argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court. Conservatives have already begun lauding the nominee as a strict-constructionist who will faithfully interpret the Constitution and laws of the United States. Some liberals—including some pro-abortion groups—have also begun to criticize Bush’s choice.
Under the U.S. Constitution, presidents must appoint members of the federal judiciary and Supreme Court with the advice and consent of the Senate. Minority parties in the Senate have increasingly used the filibuster to interrupt that process. Roberts’s confirmation hearings are expected to begin after Labor Day.
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.