Tag: Guest Contributors

Guest Contributor – Tregonsee – 24SEP2026 – Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy

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This (bureaucracy) is Jerry Pournelles “Iron Law” at work (full description can be found here https://jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/iron.html) but in total it states

Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people

First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.

Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.

The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules and control promotions within the organization.

A corollary to this seems to be that the second class of people are, by their nature risk averse. They try to mitigate risk by setting constraints or boundaries on the system much like the early Jewish Rabbis setting explicitly tighter boundaries where the Law was more open to interpretation in an effort to avoid transgressing unintentionally. This is not to say rules are per se bad, having unclear or indeterminate rules can lead to friction and discord within a group. However, a subset of Pournelle’s second group seems to get gratification out of controlling others. They are the more critical problem in the mess. In designing a stable system of government these kinds of issues need to be acknowledged and dealt with. To some degree democratic process help to mitigate this as the population 1 folks will restrain the population 2 subset, assuming the balance is random and uniform. One of our weaknesses is that the the population 2 folks have been normalizing population 2 behavior. On top of that, the more controlling parts of population 2 have become VERY aggressive. This has messed with the balance, the populations are “trying” to rebalance but this terrifies the population 2 types as they are change averse so they are trying to subvert the democratic processes into autocratic ones with them in control. Honestly much of this was forseen by the Scottish enlightenment and the US founders and the original constitution did a fair job of mitigating the issues. The weakness may have come from the establishment of a permanent political class. This was certainly NOT envisioned by the founding fathers, and it tends to let power collect in a few groups.

Guest Contributor – Ed Brault – 25AUG2026 – Bureaucracy of the Military Flavor

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I had a similar situation with my Disability pay when I retired from the Army. Due to a snafu about a separation check when I was RIFed in 1986, I could not get my retirement pay until it was paid back. Basically 2 years’ retirement pay. Meanwhile, I was approved for a 70% VA Disability. I figured that would cover most of the delayed retirement. However, the checks did not show up. When I enquired, I was told that the Disability would be withheld until the separation pay was repaid. After careful examination of the paperwork they sent me, and finding that both checks were being put towards the settlement, the math said that the repayment had been completed six months earlier. When I contacted the VA I got the bureaucratic run around until I demanded to talk to a supervisor. You can’t, the drone said. Why not? I asked. “Its POLICY!”

So, I let them have their policy, and filed a Congressional complaint. Neither Bernie nor Lehey did any good, but amazingly, then-Congressman Welch lit a fire under someone’s ass and six weeks later I got not only my retirement and disability, but $36,000 in Disability backpay!
Keep fighting,
Illegitimi non carborundum!

Guest Contributor – Tregonsee – 20AUG2026 – A Primer on New England Politics

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One thing to remember is a historical perspective. In the 40’s and 50’s New England was Republican, somewhere in the late 50’s to early 60’s a swing happened. Part of it I think was due to a shift in economy; much of manufacturing got up and left mostly for the South. Also, colleges shifted from very conservative to very liberal as the 60’s and 70’s went on. The Universities are a source of much of our growth through the 60’s as tech started to replace manufacturing.
The general character of the Old Line New Englander was fiscally conservative and relatively socially liberal (old meaning). In the cities, a far more liberal (modern meaning) variant (with a hint of that puritanism blended in) runs strong. And the populations of the cities and their near suburbs overwhelm the votes in the more old line/townie parts of the states.

Can we dig out of this? I’m not sanguine about that. MA, CT and RI and so overwhelmingly super liberal democrat in their legislatures that no reason reigns. On top of that RI and MA (and likely CT but I am less connected to that anymore) are rife with corrupt deals which feed back into the various Democrat politicians. VT and ME are overrun with hippy types that moved in and keep folks like Bernie and the other VT “Independent” senator in office. NH gets whipsawed back and forth as the balance swings, it is the most purple of the New England states, but it has voting laws (same day registration in particular) that let havoc happen at the towns containing UNH and Dartmouth. Maine is oddly split: the interior North is clearly Old Line New England and is actually one of its remaining bastions. But the coast (Portland and south) is VERY much indistinguishable from Boston suburbs in political bent. Just taking statewide offices from time to time is NOT sufficient. The state houses MUST be changed as that is where the power really lies. Without that, the feedback loop of Graft-> seats-> graft (repeat) can not easily be broken. If I had a guess, NH has the best chance to break the cycle. Its oddly large house means power doesn’t focus quite like it does in the other 5 states, so graft is less profitable. That combined with volatility in the seats weakens the loop. Unfortunately, when NH succeeds in starting to break away, it gets an influx of MA, VT, and ME folks who want the advantages but don’t buy into the politics, and we see that familiar seesaw effect as NH swings back to the Blue. I fear things will have to get MUCH worse for the head in their lower colon liberals to actually pop out and view the real world. Boston is Bad, but Not yet Detroit. Chicago or San Francisco bad, although Mayor Wu is trying REAL hard.

Guest Contributor – Tregonsee – 01AUG2026 – The Pastramification of Life

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I worked at a Deli/Sandwich shop for two summers in college. We sold a variety of Sandwiches. Our mainstay was Pastrami on Rye (with Mustard). We also had Corned beef . Both were kept in a steam table so they were cut and served hot. I don’t imagine modern health laws would allow it, thogh I’m pretty certain the meats were above the safe serve temperature. We also would make ruebens (side note: DO NOT try to get a reuben at an actual kosher delicatessen, The presence of beef and cheese makes it instantly unkosher) using the corned beef, swiss and some sauerkraut on the grill. We stopped making them as almost no one ordered them even in the early ’80s and keeping decent sauerkraut on hand was a pain (once opened it has a tendency to get REALLY nasty after sitting a week in a fridge even in glass). We also made subs of various sorts (Grinders in CT talk, perhaps in deference to actual subs in Groton CT?) with fresh cut deli meats ( Mostly Italians made with Genoa, Capicolla and Bolgna the actual Mortadella being rather pricey). I could of course produce grilled cheese or grilled ham and cheese.

If you like pastrami, there is a little trick I learned from a local Bagel Shop. Take a good-quality pastrami (E.g. Boar’s Head Point Cut, Do you have Stop & Shop in Dunwich, they usually carry it, though the price will make your wallet scream) sliced medium to thin. Place about 1/4 lb per sandwich in a microwave safe bowl sort of scattered so there is some space inbetween slices (just pile it, don’t leave it flat like it comes from the deli). Sprinkle with water (just a bit) and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 60-90 seconds (more for more sandwiches). Remove bowl from microwave and remove plastic wrap (CAUTION!! the steam coming up from the pastrami WILL burn you, and you’ll want tongs to handle the meat). Place the meat on your bread of choice with condiments (Preferred is Pumpernickel Rye with a little splash of Dijon style mustard), Cheese placed on the meat will likely melt, I’m not a fan of cheese (and cheese is not a fan of me in most cases). Corned beef will work too, making a Reuben is straightforward with the heated corned beef and is left as an exercise to the reader.

Very good approximation to a decent deli sandwich with meat taken from a steam table (trust me I know 🙂 ). Tends to be a bit drier but still better than pastrami cold, which is, well, kind of bleagh,

Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 07JUL2026 – PlatnerGate

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My theory on PlatnerGate.

>Allegations 5+ years old.
>Recollection of events make no sense.
>Let him sleep it off on her couch and doesn’t call police or go to hospital because she didn’t want him driving drunk.
>No police report or SA kit evidence collected.
>She reliably “tells” next partner about assault and an unnamed therapist.
>Campaign drop out date one week away.

“Racicot said she was torn over coming forward in part because she agrees with Platner politically. “One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person,” she said.

Huh?

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Two things can be true at once: 1. This isn’t a defense for Platner’s political positions, online history, nor his multiple personal issues. He is a walking dumpster fire of a candidate that I would never support but Mainers picked him as their choice. Being convicted in the eyes of the online and media public is not a conviction in court. 2. This was a political Samson Option by the DNC that undermines any semblance of their precious devotion to the democratic process. My theory is the calls from donors kept coming in saying get Platner off the ballot by any means necessary, thus the MeToo tactic was revived with smelling salts to be used. Anyone with eyes and critical thinking skills can see a political hatchet job in action. Platner being shown the door does more for the Dems than for the GOP. If that happens, they get to pull the old Biden/Kamala trick and install who they want to run, voters be damned.

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“But they’ll lose the race.”

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So what? Susan Collins is a reliable Democrat ringer in the GOP. They do not care if she wins another term. What happens if she does? More voting with Dems against RW domestic issues? More mass immigration from Somalia to Maine? Look up her record and you’ll see another Democrat who ran as a Republican simply to get the office. A RINO.

_____________________________

Honestly, this is bigger than Platner. Sure, he’s a walking disaster all by himself, but the big picture view should show normies of all political stripes how “managed” this entire idea of Democracy really is. From Bernie to Kamala, the illusion of choice by the voters is mostly a farce. The same-day orchestra of a pre-taped CNN interview dropping, multiple rescinded endorsements and ready-made statements from various DNC outlets show how planned the rollout of PlatnerGate was designed for full effect. Making Platner drop out and installing another candidate is a seldom glimpsed example of how the political sausage is made in the backroom. The tattoo and past online comments didn’t sway Maine voters, so the donors got too nervous and demanded the DNC get him off the ballot. Why? Because if he did happen to actually win this November, he’d be a pariah too radioactive as a Senator for public records of donor contributions, or get involved in a political patronage system in the Northeast region. A distraction and cudgel that would be used repeatedly against the Democrats. Pushing him aside also gives the added bonus of Democrats strutting around with the mantle of morality after he is vanquished, pretending that they actually cared. The idea of the Democrat party becoming the moral voice in the room is laughable. This is the party of Ted Kennedy and Scott Weiner. Of drag queen story hour for children. A party that shrugged off Clinton’s “The Bimbo Brigade” as a Right-wing conspiracy.

They don’t believe all women, just particular ones that can be politically useful to them. Progressives only care about power and control, and this is another example of tactics to that end.

Guest Contributor – Tregonsee – 25JUN2026 – More Commies

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Photog said

“Well, nothing new here. Republicans have been screwing up elections since I was a kid.”

Indeed there is a reason they have their sobriquet of the Stupid Party, I just wish they wouldn’t work so hard to earn it.

Is this the apocalypse? I don’t think so, yet. These victories involve ONLY the motivated party types. For example Ms. Chevalier (the most egregious of the DSA winners) won on a vote of 66k voters where the number of voters for the district is north of 750K. What She and the Maine Senate Democrat say is the Democrat party is hurting hard and is afraid to tell the DSA/Socialists to take a long walk off a short pier. The reason for this is their base is shifting. They ticked off the working folks, and many of the Hispanics with favoring other ethnicities (e.g. Sub Saharan Africans) and ideologies (Trans, Islamist, and the underemployed white bourgeoisie wannabes). The Wannabes are young enough and have been inundated with enough nonsense to think Socialism can work and their problem is Nasty billionaire/trillionaires stifling their potential success. The Islamists view the Democrats as useful idiots and a way to power. The other part of the new base loves them some graft and happily provide a cut back the Democrats and the Democrats are hurting for money after Kamala bet the house on a 20-1 shot and a really nice Hermes purse and unsurprisingly lost.

For the present, this lives in the Cities. The hipster wannabes love a city and its close environs (E.g. Cambridge and Somerville in Massachusetts), at present the grifters stay in that vicinity as grifting is harder in suburbs and exurbs where everyone is in everybody else’s business. Islamists, for the present, seem content to be near cities mostly for the conveniences like halal markets and mosques, though those seem to be spreading. As the Hipsters age out will they move to the burbs/exurbs and have kids? For a lot of them I think the answer is no. So we need to keep an eye on cities and subsidies of them. In particular when (not if) New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago Baltimore et alia come to be bailed out at the Federal level The President in charge has to respond like Gerry Ford and say, Drop Dead!!!

The people with a big problem are the Democratic Party. Their leadership Either makes Methuselah look like a spry youngster or can’t even render the dignity of a cat falling off a couch. Hakeem Jeffries is next on Mamdani’s hit list, and as more DSA types get in they’re going to start holding the reins in the Democrat party. If the Democrats had any brains they would not officially caucus with ANY DSA person, However if the DSA types put the Dems over the top for the house in the 2026 election, the Dems’ lust for power will (foolishly) overwhelm their fear of taking a shiv in the back. I think things could get ugly if we get there as DSA could control the Democrat party. The only good news is that DSA control would almost certainly result in a 2028 slate for president and representatives that would be shown the door in all but the blue cities, likely resulting in a McGovern or even Mondale class defeat.

Best plan for the present seems to effectively lie back and think of England. The Senate has stopped the clock on Iran and Trump/Vance seem unwilling to, as the video game says, finish them. Financial woes (especially high energy costs) will favor the Democrats as well as the usual advantage of the party in opposition in a mid term election. And 2028 may not be pretty, as there seems to be some Vance/Rubio disagreement around Iran, and Vance seems unwilling to let go of certain previous supporters (e.g. Tucker Carlson). The only saving grace is that at present there is no one on the Democrat side that has other than a very difficult path to 270 electoral votes (short heavy manipulation of cities in the purple zones). Maybe this will light a fire under the Senate for the Save act, but the Republicans are the stupid party…

Guest Contributor – Tregonsee – 16JUN2026 – An Alternative Iranian Plan

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I would love to hear the details of these plans, but so far everything I see is in the “Trust me its Good” phase. Trump is a skilled negotiator, unfortunately, the Islamic tradition holds that negotiating with those not in Islam (Dar Al Harb, the House or Abode of War, any nation NOT under Islamic rule in most interpretations of Islamic tradition) is forbidden except for brief periods and in those negotiations deception is not just acceptable but the rule. This is a culture far more dangerous than say the Japanese of the WWII era with their bushido code. That group took mass firebombing and direct destruction of 2 cities, and without the direct intervention of their Emperor (and luck having a coup fail) we would have had to fight on.

The terms need to be dictated, not negotiated, and enforced with a ruthlessness we seem no longer able to muster. At a minimum, these must include:
1) All enriched nuclear material must be handed over to the US within 30 days. Any nuclear material found in country after that period is grounds for declaring the treaty null and void potential peremptory destruction of the site.
2) There must be constant presence of US/Israeli (not IAEA the feckless boobs they are) inspection teams and they must be able to perform surprise inspections with 3 hours or less notice. Violation of this clause yields the same actions as in 1)
3) All missiles and drones of range greater the 50 Miles shall be destroyed and construction of them forbidden. The presence of the remaining limited range weapons within 100 miles of the Straits of Hormuz is forbidden. Violation of this clause results in the immediate destruction of the offending item by whatever means seems necessary and immediate termination of the treaty.
4) All tanks, IFV, Ships , and Military aircraft (fixed wing or Rotary) shall be impounded in such a fashion that they can be inspected by US National technical means. The removal of vehicles from said impounds without notification shall be cause for the destruction of the removed vehicles as well as ALL other impounded vehicles at the discretion of US/Israeli forces. Violation of this clause will indicate termination of the treaty.
5) The presence of Hospitals and places of worship shall be marked and provided to the Us/Israeli forces. The presence of any weaponry or military items in violation of the traditional codes of war for perfidy shall make attacks on such perfidious sites free of any taint of the violation of the rules of war and be a reason for termination of this treaty
6)The US/Israel may overfly Iran freely for military or national reconnaissance purposes without intervention by the Iranian government. Any resistance to this may (up to and including illuminating said vehicles with search or fire control radars) be met with destruction of said resistance by whatever means deemed appropriate. This constitutes a reason for the termination of the treaty
7) The government of Iran shall officially sign an instrument of surrender explicitly specifying these conditions within 14 days of agreeing to this treaty

Honestly, as draconian as the terms I specify are, I do not believe they would be sufficient, even if we were willing to follow through. The only safe path I see is an ugly one: reduce Iran’s technological level to the early 19th century and then let Israel target them as needed to keep them there. I really hate that, but a Germany/Japan like occupation is just not in the cards. We have neither the stomach, the experience, nor the troop levels to provide that kind of oversight. Our treaties with Saddam Hussein after the first Gulf War have taught us that not responding aggressively to violations is problematic against this particular culture. We need to make sure the nuclear threat to us and our Allies (and it is NOT just Israel, the missiles used to attack Diego Garcia can also reach Paris, Berlin and London) is gone, and let the locals deal with Iran as they see fit.

Guest Contributor – Tregonsee – 09JUN2026 – Tregonsee’s Three Pronouncements About Stuff

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Long ago my wife and daughters found my pronouncements amusing. I codified them in a set of rules (which became referred to as the Rules of Acquisition after the Ferengi rules in ST: Deep Space 9). I have three related to fiction and opinions

16. Opinions are like certain bodily orifices. Critically important but not something decent people expose in public.

17. In fiction (Written, Visual, or Interactive) I desire a story and escape. If I want morals I’ll hear a sermon, if I want to work at something I’ll go to work and get paid for it.

18. This is not to say a writer or other content producer may NOT provide meaning or morals. Just don’t shove it in my face unceasingly (Remember that orifice in rule 16? You wouldn’t shove that in my face either).

And yes Clarke and Asimov are far more of the “Idea” arm of SciFi. Asimov often has to work to make his male characters two dimensional. His female characters rarely rose to that and are almost literally paper cutouts. Clarke uses some stereotypes in his early short stories, but almost all his stories even the Big ones like 2001 , Childhood’s End and Rendevous with Rama depend far more on story (and the first two are reusing parts of several short stories pasted together) than on character. I think it is why Asimov and Clarke excel in the shorter forms (up to about Novella) but struggle more ion the longer forms. This may also stem from the fact that from mid ’40s to mid 60’s the primary form (and most financially viable form) of Scifi was the magizines either as short stories or serialized for longer pieces. These forms make character development harder I would think.

Guest Contributor – Chemist – 02JUN2026 – Adios John Cornyn

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I’m a Texan.
I was unhappy about John Cornyn’s love for amnesty but let it slide because “he was the one who could win in the general”.
Then Cornyn stabbed us in the back on gun control. That was a bridge too far. I swore then that I would vote for a democrat for US senate before I would vote for Cornyn again. My reasoning was that we would have to put up with the dem for 6 years and then we could replace him with a real conservative but that Cornyn was there until he died.
Apparently, I was not alone in this and John picked up on it announcing that this would be his last term in the senate.
Didn’t care. Didn’t trust John to keep his word anyway.
(BTW, John was warned. He was warned by constituents such as myself and by organizations like GOA and NRA that if he supported Biden’s gun control he would face an expensive and grueling primary. He did not care.)
Then along came Ken Paxton. Fresh off 4 years of suing the Biden administration to a standstill, Ken was the guy who could beat John.
I sent Ken money in the primary and in the runoff and I will again for the general.
We are sick to death of RINOs pissing on us and telling us it is raining.
I am very happy to see John Cornyn in the rear view mirror.
Don’t go away mad, John. Just go away.

Guest Contributor – Tregonsee – 25MAY2026 – Dystopian SF

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My experience with PKD through The Man In The High Castle is similar. It is beautiful prose and a fascinating idea but the sheer unpleasantness of the reading experience is off-putting. This is not to say I totally hate Dystopias. I think one of the most beautiful pieces of Science fiction (let alone Dystopias) is Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Liebowitz . With it’s Sarcastic Humor, and it’s crazy story that interweaves (Spoiler to a 60+ year old story the Wandering Jew wanders through all three sections and it MAKES SENSE) all sorts of mythology and Catholic and Christian trivia into a very odd resolution it is very compelling. I reread it, but not too often, it tears at the soul. Both PKD and Walter Miller (who later commits suicide likely due to PTSD from being a B-17 gunner in WWII in the raids on Dresden) were clearly troubled men. They are also very skilled writers. Their writing, to some degree, drags you into their madness, and this can be a very uncomfortable place to go. I do not find The Man in the High Castle compelling enough to experience the discomfort where A Canticle For Liebowitz seems to ultimately yield some release,