We live in an odd, odd world. I’ve said it a million times, I’ll likely say it a million more. Despite all of our studies, all of our psychologists and psychiatrists, all of our open minded liberal attitudes, all of our political discourse and newfound naturalist tendencies, I have discovered that our society is by its nature creating monsters of repressed—and/or dangerously unrepressed—balls of human mental deformity.
Who Violated That Copyright?
(Written for a Public Law & Judicial Process [GOVT301] class at George Mason University.)
Napster, a once-promising new system of sharing files over the internet, is now essentially dead. After losing its monumental court case against representatives of the music industry and failing to win on appeal, the site today consists of a message declaring the site a “work in progress” and links to Napster merchandise. The file sharing program and its infrastructure no longer seem to exist.1
The Missing Bad-Driver Badges
In a previous rant about driving (“Driving the Point Home”), I was sure to mention that the most dangerous drivers in the northern Virginia area are those with NOVA stickers on their cars. These attendees of Northern Virginia Community College are consistently cutting me off, making illegal lane changes, running or nearly running red lights, and I’ve even witnessed one rear-end somebody before the driver tried to weasel out of it and changing her story six times.
Strike That: Sucking Business Dry
There’s an issue floating around out there which has caused quite a number of problems. It has put companies out of business. It has brought detriment upon the public schools. It has protected incompetent federal workers from being fired. It has purveyed arrogance to millions of otherwise nice people, interrupted power companies and brought work to a halt at thousands of factories.
Sealand and Sovereignty
(Written for a Public Law & Judicial Process [GOVT301] class at George Mason University.)
One of the most fascinating issues to ever deal with international law first graced the floor of a British courtroom on November 25, 1968. A former English major Paddy Roy Bates was charged with various violations of British law after being captured about seven nautical miles off the eastern coast of England by a vessel of the British navy.
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.