SURE: A Christmas Present for Whom?

The regs on the SURE program were published, and FSA issued the notice announcing the start of signup as Jan. 4.

I give FSA management credit for having the handbook published on the same date.  I don't give the Obama administration much credit for their start time--apparently there's not been any training provided and because everyone will be in use or lose status on annual leave, the start of signup will find people trying to play catchup.  (Of course, FSA people are used to that.)

I see by the handbook the program is being implemented using stand-alone Excel worksheets.  I hope the county people have climbed the learning curve on Excel, that this is not the first time such a process is used. 

How To Get Back to DC

Via Ann Althouse, who used Google Maps to find the distance between DC and Obama's vacation site in Hawaii:

9.

Kayak across the Pacific Ocean Entering Washington

2,756 m

The Problem With Lists

Blogs like Ann Althouse and Powerline are suggesting problems in the Obama administration's handling of terrorism as a result of the Detroit incident.  Maybe, maybe not. 

I do want to comment on one aspect: according to the Post today Abdulmutallab's father grew worried about his radicalism and notified authorities a month or two ago.  However, he may have applied for his tourist visa to the US in 2008.  All of the following is tentative, based on assumptions: assume the various lists, the "no-fly list" and the broader "Terrorist Identities" list really are "lists", that is static databases which are updated with adds and deletes periodically. So the person processing the visa request checks the appropriate lists, gets no hits, and goes ahead and approves the request. 

Ideally, of course, one would like two-way communication, if not in real-time, at least daily, between the various lists/  If visa requests are checked by matching against the terrorist list, any changes to the terrorist list should be matched back to the approved visa list.  So when Abdulmutallab is added to the list of possible terrorists, a process is triggered that results in putting his previously approved visa into question.

Achieving that sort of two-way communication is probably about 10 times more bureaucratically difficult than the one-way communication.

A Conservative Isn't Good at Math

Each year Maureen Dowd, the liberal columnist for the Times, turns her last column over to her conservative brother (it was an Irish Catholic cop family after all).  This year he shows a deficiency in math, as he gives shots to various personalities:

"To Al Franken: So, 250 years of Senate tradition trashed. Stuart Smalley would have done better." (1789 is when the Constitution took effect, so it's 220 years of Senate tradition.  Not to mention that industrious liberal dwarves have found a similar case in which McCain denied his consent to extend remarks, just as Franken did.)

Most Incredible Sentence Today

"In this column, I was not advocating arming passengers on airplanes (though I would not rule out such a policy if properly regulated)."  Randy Barnett at Volokh.com

Bureaucrats Plan Ahead

And Mayor Bloomberg is a good bureaucrat. See these pallets of salt stored in the NYC government's building at One Centre Place (next to the City Hall) and a location with okay restrooms.

I Don't Do Personal, But Others Do

I'm a Presbyterian (by half heritage, if not belief).  But Dirk Beauregarde does personal, and here he has some memories of Christmases past.


And Erin Slivka has her Christmas letter up--a different sense of humor than Dirk. Her site, like Dirk's, features some nice photos (but I want to see the cats).

And Life on a Colorado Farm also has some cute and some good pictures up.

Not personal, but beautiful: Sugar Mountain frosted window.

[Multiple updates]

Merry Christmas

Dairy in the Cold

Via NAL, here's a description of running a dairy farm in cold weather (brings back memories).  I was surprised a bit--the farm milks 700 cows, and has 20 employees, for a ratio of 1 per 35 cows.  That's roughly the ratio I remember from my youth (my uncle had more and did most of the work himself, until his heart attack). I would have expected a bit more improvement in productivity.

The Declaration Over the Constitution

A post at the Edge of the American West describes the travels and displays of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  In passing, this sentence struck me: "The Constitution does not seem to have been exhibited much until the twentieth century.)" The Declaration, and George Washington's commission, seem to have been displayed regularly.  I'm not sure what this means--were 19th century Americans more focused on the Revolution, independence from Britain, and less on the Constitution? Or were they more interested in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and less interested in separation of powers?

I Second McArdle on CBO

Technically, I guess the folks at CBO aren't bureaucrats, they don't follow rules and deal with people, just Congress.  But their contribution is ignored, much as if they were bureaucrats, so I join Megan McArdle in wishing them well and happy holidays.