Saturday, October 12, 2013

Grumpy People's Judean Front

I've settled in to D.C. There have been many personal adjustments, not the least of which is having to pay for things again (i.e. food, rent, and when did cable TV get so outrageously expensive?). But the upsides outweigh the frequent deductions from my bank account (figuratively, not literally). I can walk to work, I have a full kitchen at my disposal, and I can eat sushi whenever I feel like it.

There have been some adjustments at work, too. This is my first assignment at Main State and I'm still learning how the building works (and why corridors seem to end without warning). Part of my job is to keep track of certain naughty organizations. This is not as easy as you might think, especially when these groups are about as stable as the Judean People's Front from Monty Python's "Life of Brian." Or is it the People's Judean Front? Judean Silly People's Front?

Maybe it's because I've just gone through the State Department PCS voucher silliness, but I have an idea to disable all insurgencies and terrorist groups - let's export USG-style bureaucracy. If the illogical standard forms and opaque performance evaluation procedures don't cripple them, then we go one step further and impose our 2-party bicameral form of government on them. That will stop them in their tracks.