Summary of DWP research findings

Might not write that report on DWP after all, since I focus too much on unpaid work. Suffice it to say the following:

(1) the Mayor's opponents will attack his leadership of Solar LA - this will have an unknown impact on Villaraigosa's plans for higher office
(2) Controller Greuel's audit, due in a couple months, will either be buried or blown out of proportion. I suspect it will indicate that Solar LA is too ambitious at current levels of revenue, and recommend either a rate hike, scaling back of solar projects, and/or divestment of some "green energy" projects.
(3) if LA eventually takes over DWP, and LA eventually files bankruptcy, Roy's pension will possibly be toast given McManus's rulings on Vallejo, which filed for bankruptcy in 2008. Vallejo ended up not touching pension terms with currently retired individuals, but did change terms for new hires.
(4) a smart private company will scoop up the inevitable solar divestment by DWP, provided they receive tax credits/incentives. If Edison International or Pacific Gas & Electric aren't looking into this, they should be. I will bring it up in a hiring interview if it comes to that.
(5) Board of Water and Power commissioners serve at the pleasure of the City Council, and especially the Mayor. The last 20-30 years has seen a steady erosion in their independence, reflecting a trend toward accountability and away from autonomy. Don't expect independent oversight. Do expect continued unanimous decisions.
(6) Related to (5) - the DWP was a political punching bag, and willingly took one for the team. This will, unfortunately, help let the mayor and the city council off the hook. You can criticize DWP for a lot of things, but they appear to have been deliberately made the villain. After all, they are the only ones not facing elections.

Quick comparison between Obama's space policy speech on Thursday and Kennedy's Moon speech

Counting words in a speech isn't the same as analyzing content. However, it does provide some quick and interesting clues, especially when contrasted with speeches of similar scope and ambition. That's why I love Wordle. Here's a quick comparison between Obama's space policy address at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, April 15 and Kennedy's "Moon" speech at Rice University.

Obama's Address on Thursday

Preliminary thoughts on the Power Politics at LA DWP/City Council

1. I still hate the general style and substance of LA Times articles, but they are good for highlighting specific points that might otherwise be missed. For example, the LA Times reminds us that the Mayor's office sent out a memo (later leaked) that made the transfer to the general fund contingent on a rate increase.

2. With his personal life, I don't know how Antonio Villaraigosa stays awake, much less effective. Oh, and his Wikipedia entry details lots of less than stellar qualities. Anybody fail the bar four times?

2a. I will being using a litmus test consisting of (1) homeliness, (2) presence of a homely companion, and (3) happily, boringly married. Not sure it would've avoided Sanford, but it would've helped for a long list of names.

3. There are serious governance and accountability issues that stem from the relationships and responsibilities of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners, the Mayor's office, the City Council, and the District Attorney. These problems are chronic and systemic, but there is no easy fix - they represent a trend that reflected a set of preferences regarding accountability and independence.

4. RAND continues to put out good reports, but I'm itching to get a copy of the PA Consulting report. There's a Youtube video that appears to be a presentation to DWP on the report, but I want to get the actual document.

5. It seems that the green energy agenda will not survive the results of the audit. It was a nice sentiment, and Villaraigosa appeared to have staked a significant portion of his political capital on it, but DWP isn't, and maybe ought not, be an R&D outfit/first adopter of these technologies.

6. Wendy Greuel's Wikipedia entry does read like a political advert. I'll need to dig into the archives to see whether her relatively nuanced and careful position as of late is calculated or actually an indication of good temperament and sound judgment. (She was previously a member of City Council, where, no doubt, she had more political leeway to be a bit more aggressive.)

7. This looks like a battle between the Mayor and City Council. However, I'm open to the possibility that Freeman and others at DWP have something to gain from this.

Time to nap and/or chug more Theraflu. Just scratching the surface of this dirty drama.

Suspicious phone call from ADT security representative

I just received a rather strange call from an "ADT representative", who had the homeowner's name and our street address, inviting us to a vague "event" this weekend, which, when pressed, sounded like a door-to-door sales pitch. But it really, really irked me that the representative could not provide an 800 number. I declined to tell him when the owner would typically be home.


This stinks of at best, horrible salesmanship. (He made a lame pitch about just getting one for his mom and his sister.) At worst, I suspect someone is trying to figure out when the house is unoccupied. Be careful out there.

The Taliban are Very, Very Smart

NYTimes article on new Taliban tactics

This is very, very smart. As Stephen Biddle at CFR noted in 2008, the Anbar Awakening happened, in part, because the local tribal leaders were fed up with Al-Qaeda in Iraq interfering with their traditional system of patronage.

This approach -- using existing systems of patronage -- appears to be harder in Afghanistan, in part, because those preexisting systems might involve the drug trade. Setting up a new system can work, but it's more vulnerable, especially to the tactics described in the article (intimidation and misappropriation).

Embrace Life - Always Wear Your Seatbelt

The most beautiful video I've seen in a long time