Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Liberty Crown to Open July 4

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Since September 11, 2001, visitors have not been permitted to climb to the crown of the Statue of Liberty in New York. The National Park Service kept it closed for unspecified ‘security reasons’ that were never properly explained, similar to the torch which was closed after a bombing in 1916 and has yet to be reopened to visitors. Of course, visitors to Liberty Island already have to pass through security twice, are permitted to roam the island, and can even enter the base and climb to the foot of the statue. For some reason, people who were considered safe enough to go to the island and enter the statue were too deemed dangerous to climb to the crown or torch.

Well, eight years later, the National Park Service has come (slightly) to its senses. The crown will reopen to visitors on July 4 and remain open for two years. Only ten people will be allowed up at a time (chosen through some sort of yet-undefined lottery system), and the National Park Service is retroactively explaining their near-decade-long closure as being related to the staircase being narrow and potential evacuation difficulties . . . difficulties that apparently didn’t matter for a century, but suddenly started mattering on 9/12/2001. Way to let the terrorists win, guys.

After two years, the statue will be closed again—this time for a major two-year renovation program which will supposedly permit more people to visit the statue’s crown after it reopens. No word on letting people visit the torch, but I’m not holding my breath. No word on the real story (if any) behind the idiotic eight-year closure of one of our national treasures.

Announcing Website 21: Lean, Modernized, and Faster (Updated)

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I’m very pleased to announce the launch of a major revision to Off on a Tangent, bringing the site to version 21.0. This is the first major revision since my migration to the WordPress blogging and content management system, and the first since I officially dropped support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6. This change in browser support allowed me significantly improved leeway in writing simple, clean, functional code that takes advantage of the capabilities of modern web browsers. Read on for details about what has changed:

Read more . . .

Maine 2nd State to Validly Legalize Gay Marriage

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Maine became the second state in the United States to validly legalize same-sex marriage through its legislative process today, and the first state to do so with a governor’s signature. Maine joins Vermont, which legalized same-sex marriage in April with a legislative veto override, as one of two states to have established legal same-sex marriage through a valid, Constitutional process. Maine’s state legislature passed the bill today, and it was signed by Governor John Baldacci (D) within hours.

New Hampshire’s state legislature passed a similar bill today which has not yet been reviewed by Governor John Lynch (D).

Connecticut, Iowa, and Massachusetts also recognize same-sex marriage, but do so due to illicit and unconstitutional judicial rulings. California recognized same-sex marriage through a similar court ruling last year, but Californians amended the state Constitution in November to reassert the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman. This amendment overruled the illicit court ruling.

The Washington, DC, city council also passed a resolution yesterday which would recognize in the federal District of Columbia those same-sex marriages performed in other states, but not permit those marriages to be performed in the District. Upon approval by Mayor Adrian Fenty (D), who has announced his support for the resolution, it will be sent to Congress for a 30-day review period. After this period, if not rejected by Congress, the resolution will become law.

My Patron Saint: Maximilian Kolbe

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saintm01In Catholic tradition, people entering the church are confirmed in the name of their selected patron saint. The whole concept of patron saints is somewhat foreign to most Christians outside of the Catholic church. The idea is basically that a patron saint—a holy person recognized by the Church as a saint—is one who can act as an intercessor on your behalf in heaven. You can pray to your patron (or any saint, for that matter) and ask for their assistance much like you can ask your friends and family to pray for you in time of need.

While you ultimately get to choose who your confirmation saint is, many would say that you don’t chose your patron . . . they choose you. In my case, as I started considering who my confirmation saint would be, I loaded the SQPN Saints Index and began browsing. I looked at patron saints of places I enjoy, for subjects that are close to my heart (the Internet, pro-life, etc.), and more. Eventually, you stumble upon a saint who’s story touches you and just feels right.

In my case, I was confirmed in the name of Saint Maximilian Kolbe. If I remember correctly, I stumbled upon his page while clicking through the various saints associated with the pro-life movement, and I was nearly brought to tears when I read his story.

He was born Raymond Kolbe in Russian-occupied Poland in 1894. He—like me—was a ‘mischievous’ child and a trial to his parents. He received a vision of the Virgin Mary at the age of 12 which he explained this way:

Read more . . .

Flu Hysteria

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Okay, seriously people. The flu is a very, very common virus. Sure, there are tons of variants—some of which can be pretty harmful—but for a normal person with a healthy immune system, it’s just the flu. It’s like a cold, just worse. It’s just like pretty much any other respiratory virus.

The regular, run-of-the-mill seasonal flu generates enough irrational hysteria every year. Millions go out and get flu shots that they don’t really need (they’re really intended for the very young, very old, and others with weak immune systems). It makes the news when the flu starts afflicting people in the region, and there are regular updates on how effective or ineffective the vaccines have been that year.

But, despite this, most people still seem to understand that the seasonal flu is just the flu. Schools don’t close, people don’t stockpile hand sanitizer, and it’s not the lead story in every news outlet every spring—even though the regular seasonal flu infects 5-20 percent of Americans and kills about 36,000 of them (mostly with weak immune systems) each year.

With all this in mind, let’s have some sanity in our discourse about the so-called ‘Swine Flu’. Yeah, it’s new and different. Yeah, it has the potential to infect lots of people. But, ultimately, it’s still just the flu. It’s still not gonna’ kill you unless you have a weak immune system. It’s not gonna’ destroy society. All evidence so far would indicate it’s not much worse, if it’s worse at all, as compared to a regular seasonal flu. We don’t need to close schools for weeks or months because one student has it. We don’t need to drastically reorganize our lives around it.

Calm down.

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.