William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, died Saturday evening from complications related to thyroid cancer. Rehnquist has been on the Supreme Court since 1972 and was nominated to become Chief Justice by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. In 1999, he became only the second Chief Justice to preside over a presidential impeachment hearing. He was 80.
Metro in Manual Mode After Door Malfunction
Another prime example of why ‘throw money at it’ is an unacceptable solution to the problems affecting the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA, Metro). These geniuses bought a 192 new train cars for 383 million dollars and didn’t bother to make sure they worked (or seek to have them repaired/rebuilt when they didn’t). Way to put passenger safety at risk, guys!
Anarchy in New Orleans
The situation in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continues to deteriorate as efforts to evacuate survivors continue. Looting continues and rescue teams have come under attack from snipers as hospitals and shelters run out of food and supplies. Meanwhile, there are reports that storm victims are being raped and beaten by mobs at the New Orleans Convention Center (being used as a secondary shelter). Police have been unable to restore order and Mayor Ray Nagin issued a “desperate SOS” for outside help.
Donate to the Red Cross; Give Up on New Orleans
There is no question that Hurricane Katrina will go down in history as one of the worst natural disasters ever to affect the United States. A number of major cities on the Gulf coast—New Orleans, Louisiana, and Biloxi, Mississippi, most notably—have been utterly devastated. If you want to help with the ongoing rescue and recovery efforts, please contact the Red Cross.
Minor Display Problems Solved [Updated]
The site had two minor display problems which affected Microsoft Internet Explorer users (links jumped when moused-over) and Mozilla Firefox for Windows users (the site was often displayed slightly too wide for the screen and a horizontal scroll bar appeared). I believe that both of these have been fixed, and the site should now display as-expected in all supported browsers.
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.