Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

On the ‘Tea Party’ Movement

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The New York Times ran with an article today about the so-called ‘Tea Party’ movement and, to my pleasant surprise, it was a relatively fair and correct piece. The Times writers and editors couldn’t help but throw in some digs here and there to make it look ‘fringy,’ but the article generally presents an accurate cross-section of the main opinions and backgrounds within the movement.

It does not present the ‘Tea Party’ as some political fabrication of the Republican Party, which would be a complete misrepresentation of the truth. On the contrary, the movement eschews any political party involvement. It is a grass-roots, loosely-organized cadre of individual citizens with widely disparate beliefs (including both the mainstream and radical fringe).

What holds the group together, relatively speaking, is belief in a tightly limited federal government, a desire to end needless deficit spending, and a ‘strict constructionist’ read of the U.S. Constitution and all of the Bill of Rights—not some editorial selection thereof that mysteriously omits the 2nd, 9th, and Tenth Amendments.

Read more . . .

Today is Ash Wednesday

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Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of a 40-day penitential season of Lent in Western Christianity. For us Roman Catholics it is a day of fasting and prayer.

During the Ash Wednesday Mass, the faithful are marked with an ashen cross. The cross is placed on our forehead as a sign that we are dust, and to dust we shall return (Genesis 3:19).

Lent is a season in which Christians reflect on their sins and shortcomings and, more importantly, work toward repentance and correction. Christians everywhere should take this opportunity to self-examine through prayer and sacrifice. The most important single element of Christianity is that—because of Jesus’s sacrifice—salvation is open to us all. We, however, have to accept it by striving to live a Christian life.

Lent allows us, through our own small sacrifices, an opportunity to remind ourselves of this and begin moving in the right direction.

Melissa’s Site and Whatnot

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It’s been a super-busy few days. We celebrated Chinese New Year with our family and some good Chinese food and Melissa’s had a bunch of art stuff going on too. I’ve been focused on a project I’ve had on my to-do list for a while: the redo on Melissa’s web site. She came up with a new design, and I did a template implementation in both WordPress and ZenCart. Now her portfolio and store all look like they’re part of the same site, which is good.

I’m also working on a few other long-standing to-dos that I haven’t done. Maybe, eventually, I’ll feel at least somewhat caught-up. Maybe.

On top of all that, I’m feeling like I might be coming down with a cold or something. Not cool!

Something is Wrong With This Picture

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Something is wrong with this picture. I couldn’t get the photo as clearly as I wanted (given the road-salt-encrusted windshield and ambient lighting conditions), but the bumper sticker captured here says something like this:

Worried about the economy?
BUY AMERICAN
(name of some labor union)

Fine sentiment, I suppose, but a bit ironic seeing it on a Toyota Sienna. Of course, in this mixed-up multinational world, it is worth noting that the Sienna seen here was likely manufactured in Kentucky . . . so it is, in my humble opinion, more ‘American’ than a Dodge made in Mexico or a Ford made in Turkey.

But it was, indeed, manufactured by a Japanese firm, and by non-union workers to boot. I doubt this gentleman’s Sienna would meet with the approval of the folks who printed the bumper sticker.

Adventures in Changing Tires

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So, thanks to my living in a construction zone at least for a little while longer while they finish the neighborhood, I got a nail in my tire. Then I got a nail out of my tire (dumb move, I know). Then I got a flat tire.

Rather than sit around waiting for AAA road-side assist, I decided it was time for another adventure in automotive repair (following up on three previous efforts). I changed my own tire. It’s a miracle.

The tire is only a few months old and had Goodyear’s road hazard insurance, so the good folks at Hogan & Sons Goodyear were kind enough to have everything fixed up good as new within 45 minutes for free. I would have more pictures, but . . . well . . . I was in a hurry to change the tire, and Melissa was holding the manual ;-).

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.