Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Internet Explorer 8 Released; Off on a Tangent Ends IE 6 Support

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Microsoft announced today that it has released a new version of its flagship web browser, Windows Internet Explorer (IE). IE version 8 brings many upgrades, most importantly continued security improvements and much improved web standards compliance. IE 8 is available for Windows 5.1 (XP) and Windows 6.0 (Vista) for free download from Microsoft’s web site.

If you still use Internet Explorer on one of these two supported operating systems, I strongly recommend you upgrade as soon as possible to IE 8. For the best web experience, I recommend switching to one of the excellent, free alternative browsers—Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or Opera.

If you are still using Internet Explorer version 6, please pay attention to the following important Off on a Tangent Support Notice:

Read more . . .

A Better AIG Bonus Plan

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While none of us should be surprised that that the American International Group (AIG) has squandered the 112 billion dollars that the U.S. government has ‘invested’ in the business’s unconstitutional nationalization, we’re now faced with a dilemma: what to do now.

The answer is surprisingly simple. There are about 306 million people populating the United States, and we’re all AIG shareholders now whether we ever wanted to be or not. It seems to me that we, as the owners of the business, are entitled to a portion of its largess. It’s a simple matter of math:

112,000,000,000 / 306,000,000 = $366.01 per person.

Now that’s a bonus plan! It’s also ‘change we can believe in’. You hear me, President Obama (D)? If you’re going to continue spending taxpayer dollars on ‘fixing’ the economy, do it by returning that money to the people who actually earned it.

Are You Really Surprised?

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The title says it all: Are you really surprised?

Insurance ‘giant’ American International Group (AIG) received a Federal Reserve ‘bailout’ in September of last year which was, in reality, a nationalization of the business. You, I, and every other taxpaying American are now the proud owners of 79.9 percent percent of AIG—whether we wanted to invest in it or not. In October of 2008, AIG received another ‘bailout’ out of our pockets, and the grand total has reached a whopping $112,000,000,000.00. And what did we get?

The now 80 percent federally-owned AIG—which posted a loss of nearly 62 billion dollars during the last three months of 2008—has blithely gone about its business, sending executives on retreats and paying them bonuses. The massive federal investment has not saved the company from its problems, however, and it’s very likely that their next quarterly report will be just as bad as the last one.

Many are angry that, after a nationalization of the business and a massive taxpayer investment, AIG seems to continue doing the very things that got it into the mess in the first place. I’m angry too, but I can’t figure out why anybody is surprised. I’ve been saying from the beginning that these bailouts are counterproductive, that they reward bad behavior, and that they encourage the perpetrators to continue on their same path and cause broader economic harm. When a company fails, it fails. ‘Saving’ the business with federal dollars simply prolongs the inevitable and makes the process more painful.

So here’s an idea: Now that the federal government owns AIG, the federal government runs the show. Simply bite the bullet and shut it down through Chapter 7 liquidation. No more bailouts, buyouts, or bonuses. Sometimes you have to do something painful in the short term for a long term gain, and an end to these bailouts and corporate welfare programs is the only way to turn the economy around any time soon. With every bailout, stimulus plan, and government ‘investment’ (read: nationalization) we further undermine any possible economic recovery.

Target Mouse!

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Mouse Traps in TargetSo I was in my friendly neighborhood Target store this afternoon and, while Melissa was looking to buy things and I was just looking around awkwardly, I happened to spy these d-Con mouse traps on a shelf.

I’m not sure if these mouse traps were placed there by a prankster, or if the Reston Target has indeed had a mouse problem on the third shelf of the picture frame aisle. Either way, I thought it was pretty funny.

As I mentioned to Melissa, it’s possible they’re trying to replace ‘Target Dog‘ with a new ‘Target Mouse’ . . . though, after going through a d-Con trap, it would probably be more like ‘Target Mouse Carcass’. With that kind of branding, you can’t lose!

One Woman’s Story of Surviving the Holocaust

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We can’t forget World War II. I have long believed, and still believe today, that World War II was the moment where it was all on the line. We could have lost civilized, free society entirely to fascism and totalitarianism. It was the turning point, and it could easily have gone the other way had we (civilization) failed to rise to the challenge.

It is worth keeping this in mind constantly. We must study how Hitler and the Nazi party came to power in Germany, and how they managed to go as far as they did with their racist, totalitarian doctrine.

A touching story appeared in today’s Washington Post about a Ukrainian Jewish woman who, through her ingenuity and quick thinking, managed to survive the Nazi occupation and the greater holocaust that took the lives of her family and most of her entire community. It is an incredible story, and calls to mind other stories of survival like it . . . and the absolute horrors that so many were not able to escape.

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.