That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity.
Simple can be harder than complex:
You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.
But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there,
you can move mountains.
Steve Jobs
My Choice for America's Got Talent 2013 Finals: Forte
Fox News Reveals Prime-Time Lineup
I think I commented on an earlier story that Shep Smith was moving to a new role as a breaking news anchor. As I predicted, they opened up Shep's 7 PM slot, but instead of moving Hannity into that slot, they are moving Van Susteren from 10 PM and moving Hannity to that later slot. This makes sense; one would have consecutive shows by former female lawyers. They also hinted that Megyn will cover some late news (which I expected) and some social media input. I'm still not interested in any of it, but what do I know? I thought "The Five" was a bad concept, and apparently it is their second-highest rated show....
Remember the Fourth Amendment?
Detroit's Operation Compliance Kills As Many Small Businesses as Homicides in the City: 383 in 9 Months
I have explained this concept before; when it comes to things like computer software or documentation, a lot depends on usability: can the user achieve his or her task objectives efficiently and satisfactorily? If I have an intuitive interface, if I can figure out what to do from context and can quickly and accurately do what I need to do without being interrupted for technical reasons (like a good waiter whom knows to refill my coffee cup without being asked), if the interface is comprehensive (vs. fragmentary). Yes, if the presentation is novel and cool and the interface is fun to operate, so long as it does not distract from my task, it contributes to my satisfaction; however, I use software to be productive, not to be entertained.
I have seen first-hand how poor software usability has sidetracked powerful application systems, regardless of how impressive the underlying data structures and algorithms. But a lot of these designs were motivated by Procrustean software designer preferences, indulgent architectures with a whole new language and pretentious acronyms...
So, other than pointing out some of my MIS research interests and professional opinions, what does this have to do with government. This is a topic I have repeatedly discussed in other contexts (e.g., taxes): when you increase the costs of compliance, you get less of it. First, government needs to rightsize compliance; this is a problem that is easily seen, e.g., by imposing a whole new set of government mandates, say, when your employee base reaches the magic number 50, give or take a few. (This is a tongue-in-cheek reference to psychologist Miller's magic number 7, an inside joke.) Streamline procedures: common sense things like minimizing mandates (reports, forms), numbers of contacts; provide a government ombudsmen or a single point of contact; minimize tax/permit overhead costs up to a certain revenue level. Stop harassing businesses and citizens with "white glove" compliance tests of dubious, unknown, trivial violations.
Sadly, common sense is not that common when it comes to politicians, bureaucrats, and law enforcement. (I don't focus that much on the latter in this blog, but e.g., tasing 5 times a 64-year-old naked man with Alzheimer's in a nursing home?) In a city with high unemployment and it takes nearly an hour to get a response to a 9-1-1 call, the "mayor" decides that he has the manpower to crack down on entrepreneurs trying to make an honest living?
Progressives and War
This has to be one of my favorite clips. The authors don't mention the example of McCain, but McCain has openly professed his affection for Teddy Roosevelt, whom became the leader of the Progressive wing of the GOP and mounted his independent campaign in 1912 when his successor Taft refused to stand aside. Of course, Reagan and both Bushes were hardly non-interventionists (Grenada, Iraq, etc.). But the Old Right, led by William Taft's son Robert, was non-interventionist, and Eisenhower was drafted by interventionist Republicans in 1952 to deny the Ohio senator the nomination. Barry Goldwater was leader of the fusion New Right, which was more interventionist. I would distinguish the interventionist approaches of the progressives and neo-cons; except for Bush 43's progressive rationalization of the Iraq War in promoting American values, I think the neo-cons saw Communism (and subsequently the so-called War on Terror) as an existential threat.
Military Reunion Videos
Some recent choices from the Welcome Home Blog
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Henry Payne and Townhall |
Boyz To Men, "End Of The Road"
