Policy

| June 4, 2004

I’ve often said that official policies are intended to substitute for rational thought. This is not to say that leader-generated policies are necessarily ridiculous, but when you let bureaucratic hacks and lawyers into the policy-making process, there is little or no check on their pettifogging micromanagement of the lives, behaviors and activities of the people […]

Playing With Fire

| June 2, 2004

Yesterday I fired up my smoker. The pork shoulder was brined and seasoned/rubbed, the weather was perfect, and I had a real hankerin’ for barbecue. About an hour into the cooking, I noticed that smoke was not issuing forth as it ought to have done. A glance at the thermometer showed the temperature was falling. […]