Ray has a nice essay in the San Jose Mercury News this morning. It is not every day that the morning paper carries an op-ed relating a classic children's story to "industrial policy aesthetics." Unfortunately, the descriptions of the California PUC and its choices are an accurate portrayal of utility commissions across the country. No doubt this piece will raise the ire of some folks within the tight knit regulatory community. Ire, or no ire, it is hard to see how UNEs are set in a non-arbitrary fashion. Long ago dispassionate telecommunications regulation succumbed to political trade offs.