Cloud fell down

Saturday recap:  Texas Tech lost, Northampton won, the Plano festival was a let down, but last night we had a helluva storm, complete with a fantastic lightning show and loud claps of thunder....so cool!

Then this morning I looked outside to find this:

Cloud fell down.

It just feels like autumn today.  Some days this would be the last thing you'd want to see, but today it just feels right.  Now and then I like a day when everything just slows down a few notches.  

Stay-at-home church on the internet, a leisurely breakfast, maybe a trip to Starbucks later for a latte and some quality time with the newspaper and some people watching.  (They have some interesting types come in there.)  I might even check out the Felon Football League for a while.  That's my day.  

CORRECTION:  I've just been informed my presence has been requested at IKEA sometime today, too.  

S

"I didn't do it, it wasn't my fault, I can fix it...."

So everybody is asking, "Why can't the government put together a health care website that works?"  Well, here's one little fact that I'll bet you haven't heard before:

When the government awards a contract to develop something like the HealthCare.gov website they must follow a code called the Federal Acquisition Regulation, which is more than 1,800 pages of legalese.  It all but assures the companies that win the contracts are the ones that can navigate the REGULATIONS the best, NOT the ones who can necessarily do the best job.  In other words, the winning companies have the best lawyers, not necessarily the best techies.

Consider this:  94% of Federal information technology projects in the past 10 years have been delayed, over budget, or performed below expectations....41.4% FAILED COMPLETELY!

IMO bureaucrats rarely do anything well, unless you consider writing endless reams of regulations that do little more than give themselves job security.  At that they're friggin' World Champions!  Nothing that can't be fixed, however.  :)

The men are excited about getting to shoot a bureaucrat. You wouldn't happen to be a lawyer, too, would you?

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I will have to give a reprieve, however, to the Justice Department team that nailed JP Morgan Chase with a $13 BILLION settlement relating to their fraudulent mortgage bundling scam.  And Chase was told they might still be liable for CRIMINAL prosecution, too.  Looks like the pressure being put on the DoJ to not let these formerly "too big to jail" white-collar smug thugs get away with their crime is gaining traction.

Now I understand Bank of America is next in the Fed's gunsight.  I'd love to be a fly on the interrogation room wall as the bankers line up to squeal on each other and try to get themselves a deal.  

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Looks like a fun weekend ahead:  A big Northampton / Saracen rugby match tomorrow am, Texas Tech vs Oklahoma pm, and some sort of food / music / car show event in downtown Plano in between.  And maybe some rain over the weekend, too, which would be welcome.

Hope y'all have a fun weekend planned, too.  ;)

S