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The Minuteman Come Home?

What to make of a Washington Post story about "Minuteman" border patrols in the Green Mountain State?

Well, it is true that Vermont was the site of a Confederate raid south into the US in 1864...and the it is the first New England state to see this sort of activity. (After all, the Minute man caricuature was a description penned by Boston newspapers.)

But my own guess is that the "Minuteman" local chapters are tired of being accused of racism or targetting Latin American migrants in their hunts. And where else is a better place to break that mold but the progressive Eden of Vermont. The Post is actually doing them a huge favor by writing this story, though there's no telling if more patrols will pop up along the border with our northern neighbor.

It's also a slow time in Vermont as the "foilage season" is over already but the ski season has yet to begin. Though it does give a whole new meaning to Smuggler's Notch.
posted by Thomas at 1:15 AM 0 comments

 

Saving the Best for Last?

As hurricane season has been particularly active and destructive this year, it’s hard to imagine how things could get any worse. But alas, Wilma has already broken the seventy year old record for intensity in the Atlantic basin. Floridians previously breathing sighs of relief that their state had been spared a major hurricane landfall after surviving four of them in 2004 now find themselves boarding up and heading out.

It’s revealing to see that in Florida the real anguish over Wilma is that her arrival cuts into the start of the tourist season which is usually ramping up as temperatures drop in the rest of the country. After all, the state has seen numerous storms within the past decade and escaped from most with only moderate property damage. No one is talking much about Lake Okeechobee.

The likelihood that the dam surrounding the lake burst and floods all of South Florida is pretty small, but it could inundate much of the Everglades to the south which is used to grow sugarcane and vegetables. Not a big deal, unless you like that slice of tomato or lettuce on your hamburger.

But can it be that in a year of peerless natural disasters, the only victim of Wilma’s wrath could be Mickey Mouse? Or is the hurricane season saving its best for last?

posted by Thomas at 1:19 AM 0 comments

 

Best Places to Work: Rating the Federal Government


There is not a lot of fanfare for this list, but personally it’s not all that helpful to a person with a Master in Public Policy. Ranking the OMB first is not that surprising given the relatively small size of the agency and that it is within the Office of the President itself. The GAO gets good marks, but apparently, there’s no breakdown of its ranking. And the CBO, as an arm of Congress, was not even considered.

It’s too bad there are not more surveys done of local or state agencies. Word is that morale in California state agencies is pretty low, but that it’s better at the county or city level.

This is not making it any easier to decide where a person with a degree in policy ought to hang his hat. Although the OMB website is quick to point out that nearly 90% of their positions are career, not political. And hey, it would be cool to say “I work at the White House”. (The offices for the OMB are actually in the Eisenhower Executive Building which is part of the complex but not inside the White House itself.) But it ranks dead last in “family friendly and benefits”. If it hadn’t it would be head-and-shoulders ahead of other agencies in the rankings. Good thing I don’t need maternity leave.
posted by Thomas at 12:11 AM 0 comments