Even though I’m still under the influence of Dayquil, I am planning to launch the next version of Off on a Tangent with a new look and a new navigation structure beginning tomorrow afternoon (Friday, August 25). What this means is that some time around 4:00 p.m. ET tomorrow, this website will become unavailable for at least a couple of hours.
Tone-Deafness Among Democrats
George Will’s excellent column in the Post this morning discusses exactly why many—myself included—have a harder and harder time paying any attention to the Democratic Party lately (and why the party, unless it drastically changes course, is destined for another electoral flop in 2008). Rather than debating the issues, the ‘Democratic base’ now largely resorts to spewing mindless insults and comes across as a bunch of angry psychos (making Howard Dean the DNC chairman certainly didn’t help).
Sick and Tired (Literally)
So I started feeling a little crappy yesterday (a minor sore throat and general tiredness), and then woke up this morning feeling absolutely horrendous. The sore throat had gotten worse and had joined up with stuffiness, and intermittent cough, muscle aches, and a low-grade fever. w00t!
What’s in A Name? Ask This Traveler
I am generally sympathetic to our country’s crackdowns on terrorists and suspected terrorists. I support the Patriot Act. I grin and bear the added security (as annoying as it can be) at airports, museums, government buildings, and so on. But this commentary piece in the Post by Diana Abu-Jaber illustrates just one example of what we are doing wrong.
Stupid behavior like continually stopping one woman who is clearly not a terrorist every time she attempts to reenter the United States—her home country—is unacceptable. As is destroying people’s film by refusing to do a hand check (ask Melissa about this one). I’m willing to make a lot of sacrifices for security when appropriate and necessary, but innocent Americans should not have trouble every time they enter an airport for something as innocuous as having an Arabic-sounding name.
Newsflash: Mindlessly and unnecessarily harassing law-abiding citizens will not help stop terrorism.
- What’s in A Name? Ask This Traveler (Washington Post, free registration may be required).
$14 for the Visor Clip; $530 for the Other Stuff
So I haven’t talked about my recent car troubles yet. I mentioned earlier that my Chrysler smacked me in the head with flying plastic, but I didn’t mention a strange thing that had happened a few days before that. I was stuck in rush hour traffic, and I noticed that my temperature gauge had shot up to ‘hot’ and had a warning light on. I started frantically running through things in my head (will it make it home? should I pull over? etc.) while watching the gauge, whose warning light went off and the temperature reading dropped back to normal.
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.