Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Beaverdam Creek Reservoir

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I had a bit of free time two weekends ago while Melissa was at an art show in Falls Church, and I decided to go exploring. Google Maps shows a large body of water—labeled ‘Beaverdam Reservoir‘—nestled just off of Belmont Ridge Road in Ashburn, Virginia, but although I’ve driven by it countless times I’ve never actually seen it. It’s less than a quarter-mile from brand new housing developments and a major thoroughfare, but if you aren’t looking for it you’d probably never know it’s there.

I figured that my best chance for finding it would be to drive down the aptly named Reservoir Road, which comes off of Evergreen Mills Road on the west side of the reservoir. It was a narrow country road, paved at the beginning, then degrading to gravel, then to earth. But sure enough, at the end, there’s a small public access point to a lovely, 350 acre body of water in the middle of Loudoun County that hardly anybody knows is there.

It turns out that it’s actually called Beaverdam Creek Reservoir, and it’s owned by the City of Fairfax. They use it as a secondary source of drinking water when conditions at their smaller Goose Creek Reservoir, located only two miles further north, are not “favorable or abundant.” According to Fairfax City, “Direct vehicular access to the reservoir is not available at this time, however, individuals are welcome to visit the area to enjoy the property. . . .” They prohibit swimming and motorized boating, but do allow fishing and recreational boating on rowboats, kayaks, and canoes.

It’s a shame that this gem is so effectively hidden. With a public access point, boat ramp, and cordoned-off swimming area it could become a really great recreational asset for the region. I would also like them to allow small motorized boats. As it stands today, the reservoir is underutilized (and, judging by the condition of the access point, it seems to be used mostly as a place for teens to drink and commit acts of vandalism). Fairfax City could make it available free to their taxpaying residents, and charge everybody else a reasonable fee for access to cover the increased maintenance costs associated with greater public access.

Anyway, I took a few photos; you can check them out below.

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The Fiscal Cliff and Shared Sacrifice

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“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” – Fourteenth Amendment, U.S. Constitution

For lovers of civil liberty and human rights, the Fourteenth Amendment is a great thing. It codified into law the legal doctrine—equal protection—that ensures that governments may not treat me differently than they treat you. Although it took far too long for it to take full effect, with grave missteps (like the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine) along the way, we all benefit from it today.

And yet some of the loudest and most insistent defenders of the Fourteenth Amendment are also some of the people most loudly calling for tax hikes on the ‘rich’ and a more ‘progressive’ taxation system that penalizes monetary success. Taxing one person at zero percent and another at thirty percent is the very definition of unequal protection.

Part of what the equal protection clause should foster is an attitude of social brotherhood . . . a feeling that we are all in this together. Each American citizen—black or white, man or woman, young or old, rich or poor—should be treated the same by their government, which helps to ensure that when government malfunctions it will affect all of those groups roughly equally, and all will have a vested interest in fixing it.

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Upgrading Intrepid (Asus UL80J)

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Back in 2011 I picked up a refurbished Asus UL80J notebook as a secondary machine. I christened it ‘Intrepid,’ and overall it’s been a perfectly fine. It did have one annoying flaw . . . its Atheros wireless card was pretty flaky. It would periodically drop connections and would not restore them until I either reset the wireless card or put the machine to sleep and woke it back up. Apparently this is a common problem with this particular Atheros card, and might be caused by a driver conflict.

I tried a number of recommended solutions, but none seemed to work. Updating to the newest Atheros drivers just made things worse, causing the whole computer to freeze up when the connections dropped.

Well it turns out that most newer notebooks have modular wifi cards that can be removed and replaced, so I bought an Intel PCIe half-height wireless card for less than ten dollars and swapped it in. So far, no dropped connections. While I was at it I also replaced the hard drive with a new 128 gigabyte OCZ solid-state drive and did a brand new, clean install of Windows. So for about one hundred dollars total, I have a faster, more reliable, and cooler-running notebook. And, for the first time, I have some notebook surgery under my belt. Some photos of the operation are below.

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United Nations Recognizes Palestine

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Palestinian National Authority

The United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly has voted by an overwhelming margin to recognize the Palestinian National Authority as a ‘non-member observer state,’ essentially granting it recognition as a sovereign, independent country. Previously the U.N. had recognized the Palestinian government only as a ‘non-member observer entity.’

The General Assembly is a body in which all U.N. member nations are equally represented. It is responsible for managing the U.N. budget, appointing non-permanent members to the U.N. Security Council, and passing resolutions that are, essentially, non-binding recommendations. Only the Security Council has authority to pass binding resolutions which may be enforced with military action.

138 General Assembly delegates voted to recognize Palestine, nine voted against, and forty-one abstained. The United States and Israel both opposed the Palestinian recognition bid, despite ostensibly supporting Palestinian statehood and a ‘two-state solution’ to the middle east conflict.

Although this General Assembly resolution is not binding, it does mark an important symbolic victory for the Palestinian National Authority, especially considering the overwhelming margin of votes in favor of recognition. It is, however, unclear what action the U.N. will now take regarding the Palestinian government’s continuing support of terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians, which is a serious violation of the norms of international relations between states.

Chris Knight Fries a Turkey

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For Thanksgiving this year, my sister Kristen hosted the Bradford get-together in Roanoke, Virginia. It was her first time as Thanksgiving host, and I think it went well. A good time was had by all. Kristen’s boyfriend, Chris Knight, graciously provided the main course—a deep-fried turkey. It was very good. Thankfully there were no Shatner-style mishaps.

I took some video, which is included below. Unfortunately you can’t smell or taste the turkey over YouTube . . . but you’re welcome to try. People have done stranger things (like venturing to a mall on ‘black Friday’). Happy Thanksgiving!

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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.