Opening Post

Howdy,

I figured it was time to get writing, and starting on April 1st seemed like an appropriate time.  

This is the opening post of my first blog.  Probably my only blog, but we'll have to see how things pan out in the long run.

Based on my observation, blogs which do well have a theme.  That is, there are popular blogs out there, as well as plenty of personal blogs.  But bloggers appear to attract an audience if they have a theme, and having an audience also seems to encourage bloggers to contine.  I'd like encouragement to continue this work, so I have brought a theme to this blog.  

The theme isn't one I'm very familiar with, but it appears that most other people are not particularly familiar with it either.  The theme is local government.  I know, I know, there are groans from the crowd at this point.  But this is not intended as a political blog.  Far from it.  There are several facets to government work which go far beyond the disagreements between poltical parties.  In fact, I submit that the founders of our nation were far more concerned with the day-to-day operation of government functions than the process of elections.  This is one of the reasons why our Federal Constitution is one of the oldest in the world, that short document deliniates the method by which government operate, its not too concerned about who should be elected to government.  (Although major arguments about the election process have subsequently occurred.  Like the American Civil War.)

So this blog will have the theme of government operations.  It will cover local governments; their policies, powers, and reasons for giving them the power that is granted to them.  Why should I concern myself with local government?  Simple really.  First, I recently was elected to the Township Board of my township, meaning that I can now see the inner workings of our township and can pass those lessons on to any readers.

 Second, the vast majority of dealings we have as citizens are with our local government units.  While the Federal Government takee our tax money and re-distributes it, the spending of that money is often at a local level by local authorities, and the projects and planning which is done to get that money is done by the local authorities.  In addition, the regulations and laws which most strongly affect people are the local ones.  Sure, the big restrictions are covered by national laws, things like murder.  Most of us really don't need to worry about those.  But you are quite likely at some point in your life to encounter zoning policies that you don't agree with, sewer or water concerns, burn restrictions, home owners associations, trash policies, and a whole lot of things which are regulated primarily at a local level.  It would be good to get some insight into how and why these exist, wouldn't it?

So that will be the theme of this blog, and we shall learn together about this topic.  I may have a slight head start, having been following these decisions for a few years now, but you will soon catch up.  I also will be dealing with the Michigan local structure, because that's where I am.  There are a wide variety of local government levels of authority around our nation, so what I write may not apply to your case.  

Of course, I will not restrict myself to this type of posting.  I will write of other things.  My interests, like everyone I know, are varied.  So I may chime in with a description of some of my travels, or commentary on current events.  I'm hoping to write about science on occasion, I'd like to do a peer-reviewed science article every Friday, but we'll have to see how that turns out.  I'm not a scientist, I'm an engineer by training, but if I can help distribute scientific knowledge and curiosity I will do so.

I have no idea of the frequency of my posting yet.  That will have to develop.  I'm hoping a couple of posts a week, but it may be more frequent or it may be less.

It's customary to name a blog-father for a new blog.  There are three blogs which have inspired me to start my own:  Prof. P.Z. Myers' Pharyngula, Orac's Respectful Insolence, and Mark CC's Good Math, Bad Math.  They cover a variety of subjects, and use completely different styles of writing, but share a common theme: rationalism.  I will endevour to continue that theme in my own discussions.