Hoggin the Limelight

David Hogg is all over the news. A search of his name reveals many websites with reports, and opinions.

According to some of the reports, he won't return to school, unless new restrictive gun laws are passed. He might as well hold his breath. His temper tantrum only proves ignorance, and his willingness to seek public exposure.

Ten years from now, when he finds his G.E.D. didn't lead to any scholarships, and he couldn't afford the cost of college, his ignorance will let him know his five minutes of fame only led to obscurity.

Maybe They Decided to Move

Scientists discovered a super-colony of penguins. According to the article, the scientist are surprised by this, since this species appeared to be dwindling where previously studied.  Penguin crap covered rocks exposed by satellite imagery led them to the colony.

I wonder if the reason the penguins were dwindling is because they were moving away from the helicopters, motorized vehicles, constant dabbling by humans, and the fact humans are sometimes not very good neighbors?

Since penguins can't talk, and scientists will justify their meddling, the answer may never be known.

When Logic Fails

Over the last few years, nuclear weapons were dismantled, launching platforms were abandoned, and it was all supposedly a cooperative effort between the major powers of the world.

Meanwhile, Putin announces he has nukes that should make the West pay attention.

Logic failed in this situation. Russia, in the process of becoming a ruthless, totalitarian country, murdered millions that either were political opponents, had an unwanted religion, or were just in the way. The resulting Soviet Union led to misery for most of the citizens. Those in power tyrannized their own people to keep their power. Thinking the supposed more friendly Russia has compassion for the rest of the world, or are honest with their deals, is illogical.

So, the United States may be at a disadvantage, which in the cruelty of war, means taking an offensive position. That always ends in defeat, and it's a crying shame the last administration did everything it could to weaken our military strength. Their actions were seditious.

So, Where Does This End?

In my opinion, attrition, and escaping, removed much of the experience required for municipalities to function with anything close to efficiency. Maybe it's always been this way, but I don't think it has.

When I started in the construction field, there were plenty of older, and wiser, engineers with equally competent staff working in the public sector.  Of course, there were always a few that were basically smiling idiots drawing a paycheck, but the main part of the organization was efficient. It's not that way today.

Too many good people either retired, or quit. Many that retired did so in their mid fifties. With their amount of time served, and age combined, the 80 mark was achieved. This allowed the full pension amount, and many still had healthcare. Those that quit just walked away from a possibly good, long career. 

Why did they retire? I've asked a few, and the reason was the same: "Tired of the crap". They were either unable to do their job, didn't have enough time to meet demands, were being crushed by the bureaucracy, or disgusted with the new hires. They'd had enough, saw a way out, and took advantage of the option.

Those that quit did so for the same reason. The misery of working in a bureaucrat Nirvana was too much. They really didn't care for the tons of paperwork, ridiculous reports, bureaucratic mandates, and inability to learn anything but how to fill out reports.

Many that retired found jobs doing the same thing for private consulting firms, with higher compensation. The firms were contracted to perform design, quality control, and inspection. The firms benefited from the wealth of experience. The new employees knew specifications, bid items, quality control, and were on the job to inspect the work. That's a plus for the engineering firms, since they were wading into the bureaucratic mire, and it's best to have those that know the trails.

Some might think the solution is for public entities to cut employees and equipment. That seems like a good idea, until you realize there's a responsibility to taxpayers, and you can't just turn private companies loose. Oversight is needed, and those with this position need to have practical knowledge, with experience. Expecting career bureaucrats to perform this tasks is foolish. Bureaucrats only understand paperwork, ridiculous mandates, and how to justify wasting money.

My solution will probably never happen, since it requires strong supervisors, with a goal of pushing the bureaucracy back into the swamp. Reducing repetitive reports, cutting inefficient employees, demanding accountability, and refusing to bow to more bureaucracy are the qualities needed. Removing the red tape allows those responsible to assemble an efficient staff, and that staff needs to be compensated without thought of how some other employee feels. Good people need good money, and will accomplish more than any two marginal employees. Employees that want to just collect a paycheck need to be terminated.

I don't know where this will end, but know the downhill slide is creating unnecessary costs to taxpayers. The lack of quality people leads to additional costs for errors, and omissions. The lack of experienced leaders is creating a work environment where the bureaucrats control, and bureaucrats are the bane of a healthy workplace. 

Condensed

The Russians used the internet to create false social media accounts, and used the accounts to influence voters to vote for Bernie Sanders

The Clinton campaign took over the Democratic National Committee and used crooked methods to keep Bernie Sanders from becoming the Democratic Presidential candidate.

The Clinton campaign used a crooked firm to create a false dossier, which was used by a corrupt FBI official to trick a FISA court into spying on the Republican candidate. The dossier supposedly proves Russian collusion with the Trump Campaign. To help convince the FISA judge, an article that used the dossier for reference was used as more proof of the corruption.

When Trump won, the same false dossier was used to influence the demand for an independent council to investigate the false narrative of collusion with the Russians. The Russians used their social media accounts to stir the pot, and tried to disrupt the country with division.

What it all boils down to is the Russians wanted Bernie Sander to become President, because he's a flaming Socialist, the Clintons continued the corruption they've so famous for, and the government is trying to hide illegal actions by their own officials.

Meanwhile, a substantial number of citizens are tired of waiting. Crooks need to be tried, corrupt officials need to be fired, and somebody better start making a strong effort to clean up this mess.

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