First Blog

Friendship is a bond whose strength is measured in trust. ------------------------- Modern policy and justification.  When one side advocates some policy which works out poorly, there is never an admission is was wrong, or flawed, or anything.  The most common excuses are these: we didn’t go far enough; we didn’t spend enough; we didn’t message enough. The policy, however, is right! The policy belief is paramount.  Some sort of decision commitment  is involved, having little to do with outcomes.  Belief, you may agree, is a lot easier a sell than logic or evidence. It closes doors; it relaxes intellectual demand; it commands single-mindedness of thought.  We seem to have left behind the rational age of Voltaire, Laplace, and Newton, and entered into another universe where truth is decided beforehand. Huxley said it best as paraphrased in, “We live in a brave new world.” The ability to accept that a solution or method fails is essential for progress, personal, polit

June 12, 2012 One claim made by many pundits these days is that the United State has too many regulations,   that regulations are stifling to the economy, that regulations are so arcane they are difficult to penetrate.    True or not, let’s look at the situation.   It is a fact that regulations are necessary for the proper administration of government.   A population of 250 million is too large to handle by local and arbitrary means.   Regulations can serve to stave of legal actions of almost every variety.   Second, with too many regulations there are a number of unanticipated consequences.    A couple of definitions: Policy: A consistent guide to be followed under a given set of circumstances. Procedure: A procedure is a sequence of steps for completing a given activity. Regulation:   Statements to explain the technical, operational, and legal details necessary to implement laws. Law: A   system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to gove