PDF of 2011 National Electrical Code posted

I tossed this one out to see the reactions. I worked for MITRE, which is structured as a private company doing public-interest consulting funded by federal contracts, another approach to expert technical assistance not subject to bureaucratic and political overhead.

I took the governmentese writing classes, though I wrote only manuals and circuit descriptions. The instructor mostly discussed the various administrative models from the rule-based formalism of a bank to the wild-west power struggles Harold Geneen encouraged at ITT.

We have never agreed on a single model for functions that combine private and public interest. We range from phone-pole monopolies for otherwise private utilities through complete government control (NASA), and some like water works may flop back and forth. Fire departments were once private companies. In the case of the NEC volunteers create standards that become law, a de facto practical compromise between private special interest and elected authority.

jsw

That has always worked well, hasn't it? (see "fox guarding henhouse" scenario)

-- Make up your mind to act decidedly and take the consequences. No good is ever done in this world by hesitation. -- Thomas H. Huxley

They all have the same pool of talent available. When the inefficiency or abuses become excessive we make corrections, like nationalize the railroads or privatize space launches.

jsw

My son works for one of those policy institutes, in health care. It works mostly on government consulting contracts, with some foreign and private contracts tossed in.

That's a dilemma that results from inherent conflicts between a democratic government and private capitalism. We muddle through, but it's a case-by-case thing.

The Federal Reserve is one of the most extreme cases. It depends entirely on the ability of the decision-makers, and their integrity in the face of political pressure.

So far it's worked amazingly well, but we are now living through some of the consequences of ideological conflicts within the Fed. There is no way that I can see to improve it. Having Congress control it would be an absolute disaster -- as it was, before the Fed was created.

HAHahohoho...my fingers slipped off of the home keys while I was watching TV over my shoulder.

Over your shoulder? I have put my desktop on a portable laptop cart like this:

I still can't figure out why nothing gets done around here. :)

(BTW there is no way the tower in the picture can be a mid sized tower. The cart is too narrow for it to fit the way it looks in the picture) My mid sized tower measures 18 inches front to back. The outside to outside distance of the two uprights on the table are only

That's very nice. That's a lot like the setup I used years ago, although yours looks a lot nicer. Mine was a converted typing table. Now I have a home-built corner desk that faces directly away from the TV. Usually I just sort-of-listen to the news, but there was something I wanted to see and, from habit, I just kept typing.

I always type my name so I don't forget it. d8-)

One of the three monitors in front of me is a small HDTV, a 22" Vizio plugged into the computer that records HDTV. Usually it's switched directly to the TV cable and the power-hungry computer turned off.

jsw