The Pentagon just posted an action plan online that discusses how it will wind down the pay-for-performance elements of the the Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System. Interestingly enough, the report says there were three leading factors that caused Defense Secretary Robert Gates to scratch pay-for-performance, even though a NAPA report advised against it: First, the operational tempo in Defense’s intelligence agencies is so high that making such a major change — especially when employees are so concerned about it — could distract employees from their mission. Second, “congressional support necessary to undertake and support such a change at this time…
Monthly Archives: August, 2010
The Onion “reports” that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has come up with the ultimate way to test our national security vulnerabilities: Releasing the five most dangerous prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, into the United States to see whether we can catch them before they strike. “If the Empire State Building or Jefferson Memorial blows up, for example, then we’ll know we have to make some improvements,” she added. “It’s all part of the process.” […] DHS also confirmed that the terrorists, who vowed nothing would stop them from their ultimate goal of destroying all of America,…
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims discrimination cases were up in 2009. So were cases that resulted in a finding of illegal discrimination. What are your theories as to why? Join the discussion in our forums.
The U.S. Marshals Service has stored more than 35,000 full-body scans of people who entered a Florida courthouse, according to the watchdog group Electronic Privacy Information Center, which obtained a sample of images through the Freedom of Information Act. CNN reports that the Marshals Service images are “more ghost-like and far less detailed” than the backscatter images used by the Transportation Security Administration at airports. But EPIC says the Marshals Service images shows so-called “digital strip search” images can be stored, despite government officials’ insistence that they do not keep them.
Listen up, all you Presidential Management Fellows: The Office of Personnel Management wants to find out what you think defines “presidential.” Under OPM’s first video contest, fellows have until the end of August to make and post a one-minute YouTube video describing what it takes to lead the country. The winner gets to have lunch with OPM Director John Berry. It’s kind of a broad assignment. OPM suggests leadership, public service or compassion as themes to explore, but I hope they also get — and post — a few sarcastic entries on what it means to be presidential. (Strategery? Not…
In what would be the stupidest potential lawsuit in almost a month, the FBI is threatening to sue Wikipedia for posting its official seal online. The FBI appears to be concerned that no-goodniks could pull the seal from Wikipedia to make phony badges and documents. But seriously, FBI, the cat’s already out of the bag on this one. Heck, even the FBI’s own site has decent JPGs of the seal that can be found by anyone with rudimentary Google skills. Wikipedia’s response letter leans heavily on the snark, and refers to the FBI’s “creative editing” and “strategic redaction of important…
The FEMA for Kids website is an endless source of entertainment for me. There’s no other site that so perfectly encapsulates how clueless the government can be when it attempts to pander to children, as last year’s 9/11 coloring book kerfuffle showed. I just stumbled upon its “Careers for Kids” page, which apparently seeks to get elementary school-age children excited about jobs in disaster response. But most of the photos are of feds sitting at their desks, doing work they describe in stultifying government-ese. Take William Koplitz here, FEMA’s photo desk coordinator. Part of his job is taking photos for…
The U.S. Postal Service today turned to a department veteran to take charge of its troubled mailing and shipping services division. Paul Vogel, who had retired as the Postal Service’s senior vice president and managing director of global business in January 2009, will be the next president of mailing and shipping services as of Aug. 16. The last president, Robert Bernstock, resigned June 4, shortly before the release of an inspector general report that found he steered multiple no-bid contracts to friends and used postal staff and resources to manage his personal businesses. The Postal Service is touting Vogel’s previous…