Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

NASA Climate Data Miscalculated . . . Badly

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1998 was not the warmest year on record in the United States, contrary to nearly a decade’s worth of it being reported as such. The error in NASA’s climate data, due to a variation of the Y2K bug, apparently mixed a lot of things up. With correct data now available, it turns out that the warmest year on record in the U.S. was . . . 1934! In fact, five of the ten warmest years on record were before World War II. Doesn’t this raise questions about the ‘global warming’ meme, since the data it relied on was grossly miscalculated?

Do Not Incinerate the $800 Piano

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Do Not Incinerate the $800 PianoMelissa was going through our manuals (we have a stash, especially for our more expensive stuff), and found this gem on the product warnings page for her full-size Casio digital piano. Yes, for those of you who were planning to throw your full-size digital piano into a fire, you should be aware that there is a risk of the piano exploding.

The Misguided Art of Government BS

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On Fox 5 morning news this morning, a reporter interviewed the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) chief engineer about bridge safety, in light of the apparently-spontaneous Interstate bridge collapse yesterday in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that killed at least four and injured more than 60 commuters. The reporter asked (paraphrased), ‘Given the Minneapolis bridge was inspected in 2005 and 2006, should we be worried about the validity of our bridge inspections?’ The useless reply from VDOT was (also paraphrased), ‘We inspect over 11,000 bridges in Virginia annually, and our inspection process is reviewed by the federal government. Bridges in Virginia are safe.’

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Attorneys, Investigations, and Moral Consistency (Updated: Gonzales Resigns)

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On December 7, 2006, seven United States Attorneys were dismissed by President George W. Bush (R). This has spun into a controversy because many political opponents of the president believe the attorneys were fired for political reasons. Frankly, it doesn’t matter. Even if they were fired for political reasons, the president can fire his appointees for any reason he sees fit—whether political, personal, performance-related, or silly (e.g., ‘he wears green ties too often’). Further, under Executive Privilege, the president and his staff can refuse Congress’s requests that they explain themselves—internal affairs of the Executive Branch are none of Congress’s business.

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Fixing the American Auto Industry

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Introduction

I thank God nearly every day because I am blessed to be in the United States. I buy lots of foreign products—after all, international trade benefits all—but I take pride in buying from American businesses when I can, especially for larger purchases. Even if my Apple computer was built by a firm in Shanghai, it was designed and engineered by Americans and much of the software it runs was coded by American programmers. There’s something refreshing about finding a quality product invented, designed, and engineered by your own countrymen.

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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.